Green, Green Grass of Home
Hello again everyone. As ever, I’m writing this well after the deadline has passed. I’m my defence when the deadline came we were on a much needed family holiday.
When you live at your place of work it can be very difficult to get away. I haven’t exactly kept records but we had a week away in October and I think between then and the end of `July I had 3 days where I didn’t work. It was lovely to escape and spend time as a family but it was also lovely to get home. When I went away I got my deck pretty clear, but unfortunately admin soon piles up. I have had to do a lot of catching up.
I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who works on the farm and the shop. It was so nice to see everyone, see smiling faces and to find everything had gone so well in our absence.
I know you would all like sunny weather but the warm rain has done marvellous things for the farm. I have never seen the grass growing so fast this time of year. A month ago we had cut all our fields to provide winter food and the yields were so low that one of our silage pits was still completely empty. The rain has rectified the problem and it looks like we might not have enough silage pits for our grass!
The photo is of one of my new heifers, Emma. Notice how well she is looking and how green the grass is. I always worry about the impact of global warming on our farm as the weather we receive determines everything we are able to do. Mum has been to church and said a prayer in thanks for the rain we’ve had and asked for some warmer weather to help with the harvest. The outlook is looking much better so by the time you read this hopefully we will be bathed in sunshine and up to our knees in grass.
We have had another tb test on the farm. Before it started I had felt that two or three failures would be the result. When we started the last bunch we were still clear and things were looking hopefully. Unfortunately three failed in the last group. It now looks as if we wont be able to sell a bull in this calendar year. That will have worrying financial implications for the farm as well as implications for the animals.
I don’t normally talk about private things here but some of you who know our family will know that my parents are not very well. Dad has been really poorly for quite some time, now mum has a long term health condition too, on top of this she fell and broke her hip 6 weeks ago. When they have both been fit and active all their life it is very hard for them and for all the people around them.
I hope you all have a good summer, see you next time.
Stuart Luxton