An organisation which could be close to all of our hearts. the RABI dos not just support farmers but people in the farming community and that could be any one of us locals in years to come. We don't see much about these organisations but they are there with financial help when people really need them and usually able to make decisions very quickly and effectively, with many cases handled by sensitive volunteers
RABI helps people in the farming community who are suffering from illness, bereavement or crisis in their lives. For example, during the flood and FMD movement restrictions of 2007 we helped hundreds of working farmers and farming families in addition to our long-term beneficiaries.
Give it some welly!
Have fun and show your support for the farming community
What is welly week?
Welly Week is an exciting fundraising campaign for farming’s national charity, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.
Welly Week asks you to take part in any activity involving wearing wellies between Saturday 11th–Saturday 18th October 2008.
By using this opportunity to raise funds you are supporting people from the farming community who are experiencing hardship or distress through no fault of their own.
RABI NATIONAL WELLY WEEK -Get Involved!
Saturday 11th–Saturday 18th October 2008
We were helped as a family during the 2001 Foot & Mouth Crisis and now I feel I can help give something back, so I have decided to wear my wellies for a week and ask for sponsorship, I hope many more of you will be able to do something and have fun in your wellies, I will of course be approaching our local schools to organise some events.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
End of the Summer Holidays
Back into the office.......... it's a little bit like riding a bike, you don't forget, but it's hard work to get used to the routine again!
As I still have relatively young children, I tend to take what I laughingly refer to as a break through the summer period, when the children are off school. It always amazes me how I class myself as irreplaceable, but the business still manages to tick over (well I write the cheques out twice in that period, and obviously bank the money!) So I am now at the stage of easing myself back into it.
I have also not been very well for the past few months, the past two where I have known I am not well, previously just not felling well, but with no diagnosis I have carried on wandering why i have no energy, am tired and loosing weight, ... yes i know I am a farmer and these ailments go with the territory but there is a limit - and I reached it - so after a nice break here I am again.
Well I'll give you a quick overview of the summer we have had here in Wales on the farm........... Wet.
Yes it's all there in one word, and it's been the same for most farmers over Britain. Our cattle are discontentedly mooing all around the farm, they think it's time to come in, and time for us to be dropping a few straw bales on their fields so they can fill up on good dry stuff. However up until yesterday. we did not know if our supplier could provide us with the amount of straw which we would usually have and so we have been holding back on distributing what is left from last year, last night a relief phone call informed us that our supplier has our straw stacked in his shed- slightly discoloured, (which we assured him didn't matter), but ready for delivery. So our nightmares about how do we lamb with no straw, what will the cattle eat out now, how will we cope with our cattle in and no straw for bedding, how many cattle will we therefore have to sell - and so on and so on, anyway everything is now sorted!...........
Our organic conversion at Caergynant is going well, our harvest was as good as any ones was this year, apparently it will be next years which will tell. At the Royal Welsh Show, which by the way, was superb, I visited the 'Basic Slag' stand and in due course the bags for me to take soil samples in, arrived. (although it has been so wet ever since I received them that I have been unable to get said soil sample) Apparently it is best to apply basic slag to the fields in dry conditions and I feel that the appropriate time has not yet arrived.
All of our ewes are looking good, we have all of our Buleah Speckleds at Caergynant,- that way it's easier for the men to remember which is organic which is not!
We have put into place a Farm Health Plan aided by Liz from the local vets, we have decided to take our flocks in hand, and eradicate foot rot, so there has been months of extensive foot bathing, segregation, monitoring, marking, and culling, all of which we hope will pay dividends, especially when it comes to lambing in the spring. we have decided not to vaccinate against blue tongue, which is now available in our area, mainly due to the inadequate information there is a bout the long term effects of a vaccine which has not been tested over a nominal space of time. Amongst farmers and farming press their are accounts of high abortion rates in cattle and vets are advising not to give to ewes prior to tupping, or after tupping, and as it is a voluntary vaccination there will be no compensation if the effects of the vaccine are adverse. Another strain of blue tongue is sweeping across Europe currently and as the present vaccine doesn't cover this, will we need 2 vaccines next year? and at 56p per dose so £1.12 just to cover against blue tongue the sheep industry just can't afford the additional input costs, already suffering from minus profit margins.
The farmers Markets took a downturn in the early part of the summer, probably due more to the credit crunch scare mongering by the public press than to anything else, and has started to pick up again now.
Philip has a place on the All Wales steering group for farmers markets, and I am looking forward to taking part in the Challenge of rural leadership course in November.
As ever there is a huge list of things to do in front of us, looking for alternative accommodation for a farm shop, selling one of our properties Windy Ridge in Penybont, Arranging events for British Food Fortnight, Arranging an event for Wellie Week (see further blogs) helping the church with it's harvest festival supper, having our extension built (we hope!) setting up a community enterprise company to enable more school visits and accommodate them more effectively and help with transport costs, and repairing damage to one of our properties which the excessive rain has caused...........- Oh yes it's good to be back in the driving seat!
As I still have relatively young children, I tend to take what I laughingly refer to as a break through the summer period, when the children are off school. It always amazes me how I class myself as irreplaceable, but the business still manages to tick over (well I write the cheques out twice in that period, and obviously bank the money!) So I am now at the stage of easing myself back into it.
I have also not been very well for the past few months, the past two where I have known I am not well, previously just not felling well, but with no diagnosis I have carried on wandering why i have no energy, am tired and loosing weight, ... yes i know I am a farmer and these ailments go with the territory but there is a limit - and I reached it - so after a nice break here I am again.
Well I'll give you a quick overview of the summer we have had here in Wales on the farm........... Wet.
Yes it's all there in one word, and it's been the same for most farmers over Britain. Our cattle are discontentedly mooing all around the farm, they think it's time to come in, and time for us to be dropping a few straw bales on their fields so they can fill up on good dry stuff. However up until yesterday. we did not know if our supplier could provide us with the amount of straw which we would usually have and so we have been holding back on distributing what is left from last year, last night a relief phone call informed us that our supplier has our straw stacked in his shed- slightly discoloured, (which we assured him didn't matter), but ready for delivery. So our nightmares about how do we lamb with no straw, what will the cattle eat out now, how will we cope with our cattle in and no straw for bedding, how many cattle will we therefore have to sell - and so on and so on, anyway everything is now sorted!...........
Our organic conversion at Caergynant is going well, our harvest was as good as any ones was this year, apparently it will be next years which will tell. At the Royal Welsh Show, which by the way, was superb, I visited the 'Basic Slag' stand and in due course the bags for me to take soil samples in, arrived. (although it has been so wet ever since I received them that I have been unable to get said soil sample) Apparently it is best to apply basic slag to the fields in dry conditions and I feel that the appropriate time has not yet arrived.
All of our ewes are looking good, we have all of our Buleah Speckleds at Caergynant,- that way it's easier for the men to remember which is organic which is not!
We have put into place a Farm Health Plan aided by Liz from the local vets, we have decided to take our flocks in hand, and eradicate foot rot, so there has been months of extensive foot bathing, segregation, monitoring, marking, and culling, all of which we hope will pay dividends, especially when it comes to lambing in the spring. we have decided not to vaccinate against blue tongue, which is now available in our area, mainly due to the inadequate information there is a bout the long term effects of a vaccine which has not been tested over a nominal space of time. Amongst farmers and farming press their are accounts of high abortion rates in cattle and vets are advising not to give to ewes prior to tupping, or after tupping, and as it is a voluntary vaccination there will be no compensation if the effects of the vaccine are adverse. Another strain of blue tongue is sweeping across Europe currently and as the present vaccine doesn't cover this, will we need 2 vaccines next year? and at 56p per dose so £1.12 just to cover against blue tongue the sheep industry just can't afford the additional input costs, already suffering from minus profit margins.
The farmers Markets took a downturn in the early part of the summer, probably due more to the credit crunch scare mongering by the public press than to anything else, and has started to pick up again now.
Philip has a place on the All Wales steering group for farmers markets, and I am looking forward to taking part in the Challenge of rural leadership course in November.
As ever there is a huge list of things to do in front of us, looking for alternative accommodation for a farm shop, selling one of our properties Windy Ridge in Penybont, Arranging events for British Food Fortnight, Arranging an event for Wellie Week (see further blogs) helping the church with it's harvest festival supper, having our extension built (we hope!) setting up a community enterprise company to enable more school visits and accommodate them more effectively and help with transport costs, and repairing damage to one of our properties which the excessive rain has caused...........- Oh yes it's good to be back in the driving seat!
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Saffy - Our Hound Puppy
