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/