New Sheep

Hi All,

This week at school we have been given our exam timetable for our Year 9 Mocks. I have about ten exams beginning on the 30^th April. I need to start to revise as I am hoping to get some good grades. I need to do well at my GCSEs and A levels as I want to go to Agricultural college. However right now I’m looking forward to breaking up for the Easter holidays, I bet the weather changes just as the holidays start!.

                                                

This week, my business partner and I have been talking and we have decided to buy another ewe and lamb. When we first started the business we had 4 ewes but a few months ago we sold one at Hereford Market. We had always planned to replace it and this week I have found a good ewe and a very strong lamb to buy. The ewe is a Texel, a breed that we like and have researched.  One slight problem is that the lamb is younger than our other lambs and will take longer to finish than the others.

I am going to move my ewes and lambs to another field for a couple of weeks to allow the original paddock time to grow. It is looking a little brown. This is because of the lack of rain as I mentioned on my last farming blog. The local farmer thinks my lambs are about 24kg now and in another month or so they will be ready to sell. We are thinking of keeping one lamb to breed from.

I’ve got a few plans for the holidays including visiting my grandparents in Northumberland and visiting Country Tastic on the 12^th April at the Three Counties Show Ground (www.threecounties.co.uk). I’ve been to this event for the last few years and love seeing others learning about farming. It’s really popular with younger children and they get the chance to speak to the farmers and see the animals.

Happy Easter!

Jack

Weather

Hi All

In these last few weeks, I have been working hard on my local farm. We have lambed about 500-600 ewes already and we have 190 ewes to start lambing on the 1st April. The farmer was teasing me when I told him that I will not to be there for the first 2 weeks of April as I am going to my Uncle's house, who will be half way though the 2500 ewes that he has to lamb. I love going there, as i get to spend time with my grandparents too.

As you are probally well aware, the grass is not as green as spring grass should be!! This is because there has been no rain. Many areas of England are in drought.

The places that are most affected are the Midlands, Anglia and The South East. In the overall Midlands rainfall trend is  rapidly decreasing. In the South East average rain fall has been below average. Most southern counties are theatening to have hosepipe bans. In the South West of England they have had the driest 12 months since 1975/76. Severn Water companies in the southern and eastern counties of England said that they will put water restrictions after two very dry winters have left rivers and reservoirs below normal levels. Southern Water, South East Water, Thames Water, Anglain Water, Sutton and East Surrey, Veolia Central and Veolia South East are all going to enforce hosepipe bans. All of them have said that the restrictions will start on the 5th April  but Sutton and East Surrey and Anglian Water have said that they will say that they are still waiting to decide when to put in place the ban. “East Anglia and south east England are in drought. Parts of central England, south west England and south east Yorkshire continue to be affected by dry weather. It’s anticipated that the risk of drought in the spring and summer in these areas is high.” – Says the Environment Agency. The drought is slowly rising north and it's expected parts of Yorkshire will probally be included soon. Most reservoirs in the southern half of England are currently below half their normal levels for what it should be for this time of year. In the north many reservoirs are overflowing.

Speak again soon, let's hope we have some rain soon!

Hope you are well.
Jack

Schmallenberg

Hi all,

         Sorry it has been such a long time since my last blog but I have been working every spare minute for my local farmer who is lambing.

         My sheep are looking brilliant at the moment and the lambs are coming on well. They are looking strong and I am proud to say that they are my own. This morning I dagged the ewes (this means I cleaned their backsides which were dirty from being on fresh grass!). I then gave them a dose of worming drench.

         You have probably heard already that a disease called Schmallenberg has hit  England. The disease happens in cattle, sheep and goats. A total of 83 farms in the south of England have been confirmed to have Schmallenberg. Across Europe a total 1,129 cattle, sheep and goat farms have been affected by the new disease. Germany has been the worst affected area in the world. Schmallenberg was thought to be brought over here by biting midges. Cattle and ewes were bitten in Autumn of last year when they were pregnant.

       Schmallenberg virus is the second midge-borne disease known to have invaded the U.K., with bluetongue virus having arrived in 2007. Professor Matthew Baylis pinned the blame on climate change. "The spread of bluetongue virus was driven entirely by the temperature changes in Europe," he said. "Our changing climate is making it more likely these things happen."

      I am lucky as my ewes have lambed but I feel really sorry for all the farmers who have been affected by Schmallenberg and I also feel sorry for farmers who are still to lamb as they do not now if Schmallenberg has attacked their ewes.

Speak Soon
Jack