National Insect Week -23rd - 29th June 2008

Never one to let an opportunity go to get children out onto the farm, up pops the first National Insect Week.

On Monday 23rd, I have The Nursery/Reception Class and Class 1 from Crossgates CP School, coming to the farm for the day. (approx 35 children), then on Monday 30th (we're only a day out!) I have class 2 coming out for the day. arriving at 10.00am both classes will have the opportunity to seek and find out about the different insects that can be found in different habitats;

• A wild meadow lane


• A cattle shed


• A Pine wood


• A river


• A pond

We are providing them with a bar b q style lunch, drink and ice cream, which we hope made it more affordable for the parents to afford the £1 transport each child has to find to get a bus to deliver them just 4 miles up the road.

The cost of transport is the major factor in being able to get children out onto farms and with increasing cut backs and other drains on schools incomes, very often trips have to be funded by PTA's or parents.

Keeping our fingers crossed that the weather isn't too bad, although the weather forecast seems to be allowing fro showers, still it may change...

I'll let you know how it all goes.

Hooray ....We've Gone Clear of TB!

Thursday's testing showed a clear result on all of our cattle to TB, including the bull, who last time showed as inconclusive.

We were able to put all the animals back out to pasture on Thursday afternoon, knowing we wouldn't have to test again for 6 months, by which time many will be housed again for the winter, which will make testing much more logistical than chasing 17 young heifers and bullocks around and round the fields in blistering heat.......

Several of our neighbours, who also went down with Tb for the first time, at the same time we did, have also gone clear. Which leads tot he question where did it come from?

We operate what is known as a closed herd. We breed our own replacement cows, and only buy in bulls once every 4 -5 years. When a bull, or indeed if any other animal was purchased into the herd it would undergo a pre-Tb movement test, so technically your Tb status should be preserved. Our cattle have tested negative to TB for years before our breakdown in Autumn this year, ........so where did it come from???????????

TB Testing again today

With temperatures set to hit max. 26degrees today, I am sitting in the cool of my office catching up and remembering running around in the heat of the late afternoon yesterday getting the cattle in for TB testing.
Tb testing although a pain is much more easily structured in the housing months as obviously the cattle are, in the majority, mostly already in doors. It is just a matter of running them into a cattle crush, and then back into the shed again.
During the summer months they are all out on their grazing ground, so we have to get them into sheds the previous day ready to test them all and then get them all back in four days later to read the test.
Philip, Len & Colin were out yesterday after lunch sorting out the cattle sheds, moving gates etc and then they would begin to get the animals in. Then Philip hobbled in,( with Len & Colin in tow obviously looking for some tea!) he had been lifting and pushing the cattle crush and had felt something go twang in his calf muscle followed by tremendous pain. A couple of hours later, a trip to Llandrindod to the Docs, a torn muscle confirmed, rest, ice and feet up advised (as I had already suggested .... oh I am so wise!), and Philip is now sitting watching cricket moaning that he is bored, whilst Wyn, Len & Colin see to the TB test.
We can only keep our fingers crossed that we go clear this time. 6 weeks ago one of the Bulls read inconclusive, so hopefully this time we will be in the clear, because as he came from a TB free herd, and was tested free of TB pre-movement onto our farm, there is little chance of him having TB.

Will keep you up to date with the results.