Wednesday 27 November 2013

Longer Nights


If I lived indoors all day without a clock I would still know the clocks had changed and the days had become shorter as the number of meetings in my calendar grows. These meetings are not to sniffed at though, and two in particular have been especially interesting.

The results of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy will be at the forefront of all farmers minds. The NFU held a briefing in Kirkby to outline how the new regime is coming together. After years of EU deliberation DEFRA is consulting farmers and a host of interests with differing expectations. The NFU certainly has a different view to The National Trust, or to a host of green lobbying groups. As matters stand today it appears that hill farms will benefit from the new deal, with the settlement providing equal payments per hectare for lowland farmers and their colleagues in the uplands. Previously the split benefited the lowlands. That is good news! However the picture is vague for grass based businesses. Arable farmers know they will be subject to a number of new ‘greening’ measures, but so far there is a vacuum for grass farms. It is certain that the Entry Level Stewardship scheme is no more, but what replaces it and how much funding (modulation) will it draw from the main subsidy pot? It is all up in the air.

The Sun Inn, Bilsdale, was the venue for a North York Moors Quality Sheep Association meeting. The group encourages Moors sheep farmers to get together and discuss stock sales and other matters. A hot topic at this session was the introduction of Electronic Identification for sheep. A government led IT project, the idea is sound in principle however the technology fails to log all sheep passing a computer device. Farmers are principally upset as the failure to record sheep properly rests with us and can result in being fined by government!

Back on the farm I am continuing to monitor the pigs versus bracken project closely. I am really happy with progress to date, the girls are healthy and they are clearing the land excellently. In fact they have cleared enough bracken to offer views I have not taken in before.

Winter finally arrived this week. The drop in temperature is noticeable; I have even broken out my woolly hat! Of course the sheep just carry on regardless. But the hay racks are in place and as the grass loses its protein value our stored forage will come into play. We had a good summer, so will we pay for it? We will wait and see.

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Hashtag Mob


Helping communities to understand the benefits of social media was one of the topics of the first National Park Community Forum in Pickering. It was fun to speak in the school hall at Lady Lumley’s. My twitter account has helped me to ask more knowledgeable folk questions about a range of farming topics. If you were to look as I write I have been lucky enough to exchange comments regarding high stock density or ‘mob grazing’ techniques.

Parish councilor David Hugill was at the Forum; luckily for me he was wearing his #clubhectare jacket. #clubhectare is a farming group set up to share business concerns, solutions and a bit of gossip. To group their conversations together people use a name or hashtag. The National Park has its own hashtag: #northyorkmoors.

Everyone likes a nice surprise every now and then. Being able to use a mobile phone, even for emergencies, on the Moors would be welcome. So it was a surprise when the ‘Park announced that 18 phone masts could appear before March 2015. If you really want to press the importance of having improved mobile phone coverage you should write to your local councilor or MP. Anne McIntosh replied to my correspondence this week and has passed on my supportive views to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller.
 
Our neighbour Ken’s pedigree Charolais bull had been lodging with us for a fortnight. He had been getting a little impatient with some of his maturing male offspring, so we kept him and a small harem out of trouble until the calves were sorted for Farndale’s suckler sale. The picture shows him making his way home. The two walkers he and I encountered by the Chapel were impressed by the old boy!
 
The other picture shows Curly (anyone guess why she’s called that?) one of our older Whitefaced Woodland ewes enjoying the rare sunshine. Fluke, a worm that can infect the liver of sheep and cattle, can be prevalent in wet periods so we are keeping a close eye on the girls. The newspapers are now suggesting November will be very wet; surely that can’t be true!

Producing food for public consumption is obviously the core of what farmers do. Recently it has been satisfying to take rare breed, free range pigs through to a local butcher and receive good feed back from him. My main aim however is to sell the majority of our meat direct to our own customers. We are finishing pigs for pork and bacon now and want to develop that relationship. This winter we need to work hard on our box scheme, including the labeling that will show just where the meat came from, and from which animal. Saddleback ham for Christmas anyone..?

Originally written and published in the Esk Valley News, November 2013 issue.

http://www.eskvalleynews.co.uk/