Farming news - clouds & silver linings

This summer the Cole family set of on holiday to Northumberland. Don’t tell anyone but it was a real gem of a place! We rented a cottage in a small coastal village near Bamburgh Castle. There were beautiful, long, empty, sandy beaches around every turn, the weather was warm and sunny, castles everywhere (perfect for children into Harry Potter), lovely villages and pubs, stunning landscapes and best of all, in comparison to Devon and Cornwall, it was empty. It was great to get away and feel normal again after a very strange and challenging last 18 months!

The only dark cloud was the call I received on the way up from Animal Health letting me know that an animal I had sent to ‘the big field in the sky’ a few days before I left had shown signs of TB. I was told we would have to test every animal on the farm within a month! Given I was going on holiday for nearly two weeks my relaxed persona soon turned to panic, frustration, dread, and annoyance. With the realisation that our cattle are spread far and wide on their summer pastures on and off the moor, I quicky realised the magnitude of the task and wondered if I need to turn around and go home! Fortunately, as I was away, I was able to negotiate an extra week before we tested. I spoke to my brother and the vet and between them we quickly booked in the three tests we would need to do logistically to get to all the cattle. My brother Neil and I made an action plan for gathering and I continued to Northumberland leaving him the task of rounding up all the cattle on the moor before I got home!

Neil and his team accompanied by my sister’s daughter set off on horses to round up the biggest bunch of cows, grazing on the south of Dartmoor in the area around the head of the Rivers Plym and Erm, which is a seven-mile walk home. I knew this bunch would be the worst to gather as they are the furthest away and they were also due to start calving any day. They certainly had their work cut out as they found not only all the cows, but 11 baby calves. It was not good for the cows and babies to have to walk that far given how young they were, but they took them as steadily as they could and managed to get them in. It had to be done to comply with TB regulations, and if we had waited any longer, there would just have been more calves to deal with and it was a massive relief to know they were in, safe and ready. We are very lucky that we are able to rely on family and a good team when we are away to look after things. This time they properly put their shoulder to the wheel for me and Gem, allowing us to enjoy our summer break.

On my first day back, I had to attend my grandfather’s funeral, which is a story I will tell another day. The following day we were TB testing cattle which will continue for two days every week for three weeks. We will have to repeat the test in two months and then test again in another two months. If we are clear we then get to enjoy a six-month interval between testing. It is such hard work for any cattle farmer, but we do it because we are bound by the law to test and protect against the spread of TB. It is just a shame that stories of Geronimo the alpaca get more prominence than real farming businesses across the country on the front line of this TB battle, losing thousands of cattle every year.

On a brighter note, we had our first big sheep sale of the year at Tavistock Market selling mule ewe lambs which are a very sought-after cross breed. We managed to turn out just shy of 300 quality lambs and smash our record price with a fantastic average for the day. It is a very strong trade for sheep at the moment and the whole team enjoyed a beer in the Market Inn that afternoon!

by Mat Cole, Greenwell Farm