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Well, we managed to dust the pigs last night in their stable and waking up today to such a wet and stormy morning means that there is absolutely no sign of the white powder on these girls anywhere. I should have photographed them last night as they were really WHITE! Let’s hope it’s worked and relieved their discomfort, hard to tell so far as nothing ever puts them off their food!
It is so wet and so windy the trees seem to have lost half their leaves overnight and are now piled on what pretends to be a lawn no doubt the rest will follow by nightfall? Still it is 1st November and the leaves have lasted a long time this year. It is however still mild.
Swift is happy enough out in the field in his waterproof rug, no riding today on account of the storm, not a good idea on a young horse. I will change his rug for a drier one later on if the rain persists all day, but he is ok for now. He is still wearing the thinnest weight rug, I tried him in the warmer one when he got so wet yesterday but it is too warm and he sweated up underneath it which was no good so I changed it back.
So I shall retire to the kitchen and have a baking session: pasties, cake and some other delicious goodies to see us all through the week. It will undoubtedly cheer Jethro up when he returns very wet and bedraggled [a certainty today] from his daily sortie to check all the animals in all the fields. Sunday remains a working day on a farm, but a glance at the Sunday papers and a roaring log fire to keep out the damp will make for a pleasant few hours after lunch until it is feeding time for the livestock once more.
4.45 pm Here is the photgraphc evidence of my labours in the kitchen.. a case of now you see it, now you don’t delicious… mmmmnn. “Any more” said Jethro?
Gone in a moment.. but golly they were good!
Animals! The wordly wise know very well never to work with animals.. but we are somewhat stuck with hundreds of them.
The latest problem is the young sow, no use to us for breeding anymore and shortly destined for sausages has gone down with lice or mites just a few days before she was due to be sent away.
This is a big problem. We cannot give her the usual veterinary treatment for external and internal parasites as there is a 28 day minimum meat withdrawal on this stuff. [We always go well over the minimum]. She must go this week as we need the sausages for a market later in the month.
We have consulted with our vet and collected from the vet’s an organic herbal powder [similar to this] with which to anoint her with. There is no withdrawal period on this as it is made with natural products and it should help considerably. The only problem is we will need to use a whole lot of this powder to take effect and will have to don goggles and face masks in order not to suffocate ourselves in the process. The pig as you can imagine will not like this particularly and not stay still, so I expect a complete whiteout, or a re-run of the black and white minstrel show, but much more pungent. At least we shouldn’t catch any bugs.
PS Swift and I had a 15 minute ridden meander in the field today. So far so good.
Reading last week in the Telegraph about life inthe countryside made me laugh out loud.
Why has there been such a long a gap in my blog entries .. not due to any shenanigans on my part that’s for sure. And there it was again on Sunday - in You magazine, the very same topic .
Laugh, we haven’t stopped! Well, in between wondering what expenses will next be charged to the public purse by over 600 professional persons and simply coping with all the after effects of all the sex and all the seeds.
Yes, I did say SEX, but sex is as normal an occupation for animals as breathing or eating. Sex, or service as it is often referred to in the farmyard, happens a lot in our herds and in our flock and Spring is the main time of the year for us to reap the consequences. It is just as well, putting it simply, if there was ‘no service’, they’d be no animals and we wouldn’t be farmers.
So far we have had over 300 lambs and are already in double figures for calves. We have one young pig due from 24th May and another two sows now do look to be in pig [fingers crossed]. We have a lot more calves due and still about sixty sheep to lamb.
The ‘dodgy boar’ may not be dodgy after all, he can be forgiven though as he was however young when he met the ‘muddy girls’ and a complete virgin, so perhaps it took him longer to put the pieces of the jigsaw correctly together. They are after all out door, and very free range, pigs and it has become clearer to me quite why some rare breeds are so rare! The friendly boar has has a ’stay of execution’ and will get another chance to sow his seeds again if the two sows produce good litters of piglets. We are all hoping all will be well and he will go on to be a champion sire.
And while I am on the subject of seeds I can report that the arable crops are doing well and I have a forest of tomatoes waiting to be turfed out into the unheated greenhouse from the ancient conservatory. However as the greenhouse is currently full of seedlings [caulilower, red cabbage, broccoli, leeks, lettuce, cabbage, more cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, and sweetcorn] ready for the large vegetable garden, and the large garden is waiting for Jethro and his rotavator it may still take some time. I have resorted to feeding fertilser to the plant plugs that look sad to avoid the work and expense of totally repotting so many plugs just before outdoor planting.
At the weekend I sowed lettuce, radish, more lettuce , basil , carrot, spinach, swiss chard and hoed all the onions and garlic. I have been late with the sunflowers and have had complete failures of certain types of courgettes and runner and dwarf beans. So bad were the failures that I have wondered if they were all sown in the same bag of compost. The beans and courgette seeds just vanished. Normally I have very green fingers and it is very unusual for germination to fail and on such a scale. The later resowing of beans are just erupting now so it looks second time lucky for them. It is too soon however to see if the new courgette seeds have worked but the one courgette plant I bought early on from a road side stall for fifty pence is almosty in production so next year I must be much earlier for the indoor ones.
We are now desperate for rain here. It appears to be the sort of year where the grey clouds come and are swept away on these strong cold easterly winds. Jethro says this is a farm that either gets all the rain or none, and after two washout years in succession this could be the latter.
the sun has got his hat on
29th October 2008, a real shock to the system. What a change from this picture ! We also endured a 14 hour power cut as the temperatures plummeted to -8′C. Since that night I have stocked up with camping gas for the lamps and lots of candles so hopefully we won’t need them again although I’ve heard that there is a letter somewhere in the village from the electricty company saying we will have an interrupted supply this winter, or is it just a rural rumour?
ice skating anyone
We survived this extraordinary sheet ice all over the yard with no broken bones. Feeding the animals in their loose boxes was extremely challenging and not for the faint hearted. The surface was just like polished glass and I am not sure that the picture shows this clearly. We now have grit ready if it happens again, however this was so early in the year, and the temperatures so very low after freezing rain and snow that it took us completely by surprise
Does anyone else suffer from sleepless nights just now? I bet they do. For me it was not the credit crunch or the potential bank bail out that woke me but a random thought about the quantity of sausages made when we sold the last batch of pigs. Too late [or too early!] to wonder about it now - the pork is sold and has proabaly been eaten or frozen and the next pigs, lambs and steer go next week.
Sleepwise, I was done for and eventually after several cups of tea and a very wakeful few hours I managed a few final winks before the day’s work on the farm unfolded, while the world’s finances took another dive.
There is something solid about working on the land and with animals, there is a routine to the work and I might once have said a rhythm but with the changeable weather of the last few months I think the usual rhythm has gone. We have not had a single day off since July, and we are all very tired.
The ground was too hard last week and then it rained, and simply carried on raining so it will be a few more days of dry weather before drilling with Jethro’s latest invention – the seed drill – can start again.
It is great to be able to report that at long last we have had a completely rain free week, and in the last two days some welcome sunshine which has lifted our spirits somewhat.
By tonight the corn that has remained standing in the fields should finally all be in, and in the garden the onion crop has is lifted and is now drying outside in the sun.
Today, everyone is working on the land, ploughing, combining and carting corn and the animals are relaxing in the sun.
Recently, there have been huge developments in the fight against Bluetongue (BT) disease. I have received a lot of information from far flung parts of the country and it takes time, on top of a busy life here at the farm, to finally put it on here in a coherent manner.
The first information came from Wales which became a Protected Zone (PZ) earlier this month, allowing vaccination to start and trade to be allowed with all other PZ’s.
However this is not as straightforward as it seems as Wales is a huge livestock area, comprising many small farms, with incomes to match. The vaccine is expensive and there is much conflicting advice as to how best to proceed.
Apart from imported livestock [where does it state clearly anywhere in the public domain if these tests were for antibodies or actual infection] no actual new case of BT has been reported in the UK this summer, and apparently DEFRA have not looked for any. It is also quite cold, and farmers generally find it hard to believe that BT infected midges will cause havoc especially in Wales and in the north this year. Farmers have or are just about to put their rams in with the ewes. It is a generally recognised fact that vaccination will have to be repeated next spring. So the question from Wales is why repeat it next Spring, why not give primary vaccination next Spring?
The second information came from Scotland who have announced a compulsory vaccination programme for all farm livestock to be completed between 1st November this year and April next year. Additional details can be found in this article from The Herald.
This heartfelt message came by email:
“There are no clinical guidelines on vaccine use and rumour is rife: muddles with half heard stories and Europe’s experience last year, also there is the alleged cop out from the vaccine companies who want to guard themselves against being sued, and DEFRA who appear to not take any responsibility either.
The confusion is such: don’t vaccinate your rams now or they might be infertile, don’t vaccinate ewes from 2 weeks before serving until 2 weeks after- the rams remain in with the ewes for 9 weeks here [Wales], so Christmas will come before it is ’safe’.
The rumours continue: the vaccine may cause foetal loss, may disturb cattle cycling, vaccination may reduce milk yield in lactating cows or goats and buyers of store lambs don’t want it as they are fearful of temperature affects on the meat. Then there is the problem about fitting it in with other vaccines and medicines another raft of cautions given by the manufacturers excluding its use with any other medicine.”
Another famer asked if they should put off giving anti-liver fluke treatment for the vaccine but after such a wet summer missing a crucial dose against liver fluke would be a major mistake. Jethro once bought sheep from a fluke area [unknowingly] and they were very ill before we learnt what was wrong and treated them accordingly.
And another email came from a farmer with a strong background in human medical science:
“Really with farm animals that are about to get pregnant, are pregnant, are suckling young or fattening for the butcher the cautious advice from the drug companies means that hardly any can be safely vaccinated according to their guidance. Of course the vaccine has been taken off the shelf as quickly as possible so perhaps some of the safety testing that might have been done on young or pregnant animals for example has not been completed yet.
There is no one for the vets to turn to for clinical guidance [unlike in human medicine], there are no consultants in veterinary infectious disease to ask for advice, so they must bow to the farmers who must pay for everything and withstand any financial loss.
Even my own vet is going to wait and vaccinate his sheep flock next Spring. Really, I have to agree that that is the most sensible and economic policy, however I have vaccinated my own livestock.
Vaccination next Spring is really the most important vaccination time. It would be most convenient when the animals are in and before lambing. Somehow farmers must also learn they have to vaccinate the young next summer as well before there is a window for infection when maternally derived antibody has waned, in convenient batches.”
The livestock here at Prosperous Farm were vaccinated in May and June this year. We plan to vaccinate the cows and the ewes next March in what will become a routine annual vaccination. The calves and lambs will get some immunity from their dams, and will be individually vaccinated at around one month of age. The calves of course will receive a second booster dose 3 – 4 weeks after the first.
It is a horrible situation for the whole industry. Conflicting advice, multiple rumours, lack of actual science and the sheer practicalities [and costs] of vaccinating millions of animals who reside for most of the year in the far flung hills and dales of Britain are truly formidable. Initial reports suggest that Cumbria and Northumberland will follow the Scottish plan but there is a meeting organised by the National Sheep Association to be held at Hexham on 30th September so it will be interesting to see if the consensus changes in October.
There is one other important point to make and it will be a very contentious one. BT is a notifiable disease and by law must be reported to DEFRA immediately. However, even if farmers were able to identify that they had a suspected case of BT [clinical signs are not always obvious] in all honesty why would they actually bother to report it? There is no compensation, and it seems that there has been little routine testing by DEFRA out looking for this infection, or if they have been testing it has been kept very quiet.
The consequences of reporting a potential case are all financial: movement restrictions, lack of trade, and potential longer term consequences especially if the farmer has pedigree livestock. I think that with human nature being as it is will mean that nothing will be said, except perhaps by a few.
Nevertheless this worries me as I do firmly believe that the British farmer is generally honest, reliable, hardworking and cares deeply for his animals, it is the attitude of powers that be and lack of genuine concern for the industry that have let the farmers [and their animals] down and brought us sadly to this point.
My Jethro is famous for his invention - a seed drill that revolutionised agriculture and still in the 21st Century he has not lost the desire to improve on the latest designs.
Inventing is never easy, and yesterday was a particularly frustrating day for him. While the combine harvested the oats on one part of the farm, and the local water company spread their sewage sludge on the wheat stubbles, Jethro tried his newly designed subsoiler drill. Unfortunately, the drill could not cope with the combination of the current wet conditions in the field, the trash [chopped up straw], and the thin coating of the sewage sludge on the top, even when pulled by a massive 350 horsepower tractor it simply would not work. Today Jethro has reverted to last year’s design which simply distributes the seed behind the subsoiler and in order for this to work properly the oil seed rape seeds, which are tiny anyway must be thoroughly cleaned. He has been on the latest [new to us via ebay, but actually very old] seed cleaner since 8am this morning, and was before lunch sitting at his computer, covered in thick dust and organic particles [which covered the floor too], while trying to order more parts through his computer. Modern farming, like all aspects of our hectic lives is becoming more and more reliant upon the internet. What would we do without it?
I hope to post photographs on here to illustrate this blog soon but I am learning how to work the blogging technology just as fast as I can, while keeping up with all the work that I also have to do.
Hay crops in many parts of the country have been totally written off with many farmers simply waiting to dry it sufficiently to burn the stinking blackened remains, whilst still hoping that September will give enough dry weather to cut, dry and bale any remaining uncut fields. The lateness of the forage making season has an impact on the animals too. Traditionally, the grass that grows after a crop of hay or silage is made is known as the aftermath. This grass is normally best utilized for finishing fat lambs, or ‘flushing’ ewes to ensure the sheep is in peak condition for the breeding season. If the hay is made too late, unless we have a very warm autumn then the grass will not grow sufficiently to be of value to the livestock or the farmer. [It is a combination of day length and the night time temperature that controls the growth.]
Genuine tiredness is becoming a problem, on top of this there are many unfinished conversations and consequently many unanswered questions, as the intense daily work load does not lessen. Meals are eaten quickly and are uncharacteristically quiet as the logistics and problem solving over machines and weather related issues never ceases.
I have been asked by a blog reader about sewage sludge. There are many myths and worries about the application of this and there is a lot or prejudice against it. I can confirm it does smell, as it is being applied to all the fields around Prosperous Farm this year, but as it is soon turned over and incorporated into the ground the distinct pong soon disperses.
Careful record keeping over many years of sludge application done in strict rotation all over Prosperous Farm has shown increases in soil fertility and a significant reduction in the application of artificially manufactured fertilizers, which currently costs £390 per tonne for nitrogen. The structure of both the heavy clay soil and lighter chalk land is also improved and this in turn improves crop yields. Yield mapping technology on the combines allows for careful monitoring of every part of every field in the hope of improving the crops and also cutting costs.
In farming some things never change and yet others vastly improve with the appliance of tried and tested science.
Harvest update: The oat crop is now in one of the grain stores and we have started to gather in the Spring barley. It was a relief to everyone to be making steady progress, albeit slow, however with the weather slightly more settled it is now the turn of the machinery to cause problems. At dusk tonight the combine broke down and we need spare parts, however it is not too serious, and providing we can get the parts quickly we should be going again tomorrow.
For heavens sake, we are an Island!
Why, why, why do we import animals AND THEREFORE NASTY DISEASES in to this country, especially from an area with a known disease problem and we are still learning about this terrible disease and its effects?
We have good livestock in this country already [some of the best in the world], and other countries have import bans on live animals to protect their own industries. I am entirely with the Icelanders on this issue. Their Parliament decreed in 980AD that no imports of horses, and other livestock would be allowed, and this ruling still stands today. Icelandic animals may have developed a certain uniqueness over the last 1028 years, nevertheless they also have an enviable disease free status too.
Other countries also have restrictive import polices or outright bans from certain areas of the world and many are far better than us at policing the import of food, especially meat, through the airports. Why can’t the UK be better at all this, and try looking after ourselves for a change.
Today there are 2 reported case of BLUETONGUE disease in the south of England, both could have been prevented by not importing. Whatever were the farmers thinking?
More on this and the regular update later…
PS For more indepth info regarding the outbreak and further in depth facts please go to Mary’s site
