FWispace

Diary of Becoming a Farmer. The Best Man's Speech

viewfromtheothersideofthefence — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:48:00 GMT

The story of a young mans efforts to become a farmer without the aid of inheritance!

So when our second child was born we were already sure that *** was Best. Everything seemed to be ok. But until some milestones had been passed I wasn't going to get too relaxed. I was determined to enjoy this child. And he is a joy.

We had planned that my wife would stay at home and raise the children. Sexist. No. It's what she wanted to do. We had planned it that way from the start.

However, I continued working. We needed some money. But I did change my job. Became more of a specialist in my field. Working for the same company but, crucially, for more money. It did involve more traveling though and at short notice. That was no problem. When I wasn't working away my shifts were longer so I didn't have to go to work as many times. Day's at home during the week. Great.

Before long the calls came in. Phone calls that started with the question, "How long will it take you to get to the airport?" It was great, flying around the world. I was still young, keen and being challenged.

The job involves, planning ahead, setting everything up when you arrive on site and then changing everything at short notice, when the circumstances changed, as they invariably do. Sound familiar to anyone. No it's not farming, but I do regularly find myself having to think on the hoof, and digging people out of the manure, metaphorically speaking. But I like it because it appeals to that sense of achievement I mentioned in my last blog, "I made that "

Days at home with the wife and H were great. Watching him grow up and hitting those milestones. Crawling, standing, toddling, getting his first tooth. It is great to see those light bulb moments when they succeed at something. A grin of pride on their face. That to me is what life is really about. Watching them play with a cardboard box. No I've told you before, I'm not a Yorkshireman. But it doesn't matter how expensive the toys are, if you leave a cardboard box in the room with a small child they will always play with the box for hours.

After 18 months of my new job I must have been at home long enough to conceive our next child. Shortly afterwards we went to visit my uncle's farm. We seemed to make a habit of going when the better half was pregnant. It was great. H was toddling by now. He was already into tractors and animals and thought it was great to feed my aunt's chickens. Although he was trying to persuade them that they where machines and should produce several eggs each per day, through the day. Also whilst feeding the cattle would shout, "Moo in there!" which was quite cute.

My cousin had also found the girl of his dreams. She was from farming stock, laughed at his jokes and most importantly, could drive a tractor. He asked me to be his Best Man. I was delighted. I had been Best Man once before for my best friend, which was Scary. I performed all my duty's with success. Organised the stag night. (Nothing too racy.) Managed not to loose the ring. Kept the groom calm when the bridal car broke down and she was 20 minutes late. However there was of course one other duty to perform. The speech!!!

This I was most nervous about. There was lots I could say. But what could I get away with !!

We had sat down for the meal and I still had not written the speech. By now you didn't want to be up my end of the head table. What with the father of the bride and me sitting together. He was more nervous than me. I'm sure you could smell the fear.

Half way through the meal I had to stand up and read fifty congratulations cards. Then it came my turn. The MC announced that attention was required for the Best Man. I was so nervous that I hadn't drunk a thing during the meal. The sips of the Toast were my only fluid. I gave my speech to roars of laughter and applause. It was great. I sat down and drank the glass of wine, champagne and a pint all in one go. It was over and I wasn't going to do that again.

So here I am. My cousin asks me to be his Best Man. I'd promised myself I was not going to go through that again. Did I do it?......

Harvest, breakdowns, the election, and plunging prices.

kansasfarmer — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:17:00 GMT

I got a nice start on harvest, several weeks late but the corn yields are good. I have harvested the earliest and latest planted corn now, as well as the best land and the poorest. Corn made 130 on the poor ground, I binned it off of the best land but I guess it at about 150. Remarkably uniform across both soil types, varieties and planting dates. It shows that if we could have temps that stay below 95F and rain all summer, Kansas could be Iowa.

It is raining tonight, as long as it doesn't rain too much it is welcome, as we could use an inch of rain. I have managed to get 65 acres of triticale drilled for grazing(thanks mostly to my dad) and it definitely could use the rain, the forecast highs in the 70s mean it will grow nicely with a good drink. Baled up the last cutting of alfalfa for the summer yesterday just a little too wet because of the forecast rain, it was beautiful hay cut with a nice weather forecast that never really materialized, hopefully it was dry enough to keep.

After a summer filled with rain we put the Sudan grass up for silage, on top of the corn silage. It was the best thing to do I think what I tried to hay I could never get dried even after laying for 13 days, the pit is now the fullest it has been since the days my grandfather filled it. The day after I got done filling I stood atop it one morning just because it felt good to have that much feed under my feet, a cowman can never have too much feed.

I blew a hydraulic line on the combines 4WD unit yesterday afternoon, dumping all the oil instantly and bringing me to an abrupt halt. One of my best friends broke down with his 9500 yesterday as well, we did a joint parts run today since it was raining we didn't hurry home and had a good day except for all the fretting we did over our financial crisis. We talked quite a bit with the John Deere dealer who told us that it was company policy that within 5 years they want all dealers to do $100 million a year in business,or be part of a group that does that many dollars in sales. Once again, John Deere seems intent on driving out the mom and pop dealers that have served our nation so well, for no good reason I can see.

As I am certain you know, our markets once again were a wreck Monday, with no one quoting an actual cash price on grain. Cattle were down the $3 limit straight through as well, with only hogs gaining any ground at all. For us this is approaching crisis level, the bulletin board at the JD dealership was plastered with farmland auction bills for the coming month(not due to financial distress, this is just the time of year much land sells), it will be very telling to see how farmland prices fair with all of this upheavel, I saw one prediction on the internet this morning of a 25% fall in farmland values in 2009. I figure todays markets took $15000 off my income if they do not recover. I had hoped the $700 billion bailout would at least slow the slide, however from what we see now the rest of the world is joining us in the troubles, perhaps from what I read it is time to sell out and head for Australia, we are use to bad weather, fire and drouth, so should feel right at home.

I can't speak for all of America, but in my tiny corner of it there is seething anger against our government. I keep dwelling on this because I think it is important it is understood in the UK just how angry we are, they don't begin to understand it in DC. This anger most certainly will propel Obama into the Whitehouse a month from now, barring divine intervention. Obama is the last thing we need right now, but he is what we are going to get. It is reported on some internet sites now that an army division has been deployed in the US to deal with civil unrest, I do not know how accurate this is, but if it is true, it gives an idea that the government sees just how angry the people are, and the potential for huge problems beyond the economy in the not so distant future. I have heard the terms "civil war" and "revolution" more in the last few days than any other time in my life, I am not suggesting we are on the brink of anything so severe, I am suggesting that people are much more serious in their anger than at anytime in my life, this anger runs deep, and will certainly be felt at the election booth. I think many of us in the middle class feel we have just seen our country sold out from underneath us.

Matty Moo

matty s — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:54:00 GMT

As promised... i have some pictures. I decided to dress as a cow for my mams cowboy and indian birthday party. After all, i'm a boy and i went as a cow = cowboy.

Here you are then....i got all the great jokes such as ''your udderly rediculous'' and ''moooove over''. I even showed my bro and sister how to milk a cow....how educational!!

I'm trying to avoid the word facebook and youtube at the moment as i know theres lots of footage and embarrasing material that could find its way there.....

AND, also, just so you know, i had udders!

Sorry to see Rooker go

Jane King — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:30:00 GMT

So the straight talking Brummie Lord Rooker has stepped down from his post as junior DEFRA minister in Gordon Brown's latest reshuffle. While his departure is over shadowed by the Prime Minister's more audacious move to bring Peter Mandelson back to the Cabinet, for farming Jeff Rooker's departure is a big deal.

He is that rare breed - a plain speaking Government man who says it as it is and who has listened and supported the industry well. Often described as "a farmer's friend", Jeff has been prettty vociferous in farming's favour on the major issues, most memorably for action over bovine TB. He was prepared to get out on farms and understand the real issues on the ground and he pushed hard up the line to influence Benn's thinking.

Jeff had a lot of experience with the farming brief because he also served as a junior minister for the old MAFF from 1997-99 where he presided over the BSE fallout. The word on the block in recent times was that he became a frustrated man, particularly disappointed by Hilary Benn's procrastination on key decisions.

He's not the only one. DEFRA's indecision on farming matters and its lack of a coherent policy on food and agriculture is causing widespread concern. We'll need new advocates within Parliament now if the message is going to sink in.

It is difficult to know at this stage whether the introduction of the new Energy and Climate Change Department will help or hinder things. One could argue that the split of these twin issues from DEFRA allows for greater focus on them and lightens the load for a beleaguered department that was struggling to cope with such a wide ranging brief. Perhaps now DEFRA will be better organised and able to concentrate on mainstream production matters. They've got no excuses now not to get on with it.

In principle, Farmers Weekly supports the need to give energy and climate change greater resource but, like the Country Land and Business Association, we expect the crucial role lfarmers play in creating renewable energy options and mitigating the effects of climate change will not be overlooked now the issues are split between departments.

Finally, Jeff Rooker you will be greatly missed in farming but maybe we can find a way of keeping you involved in some shape or form in the future? The industry needs strong champions and to lose one of his calibre is a great pity.

Norfolk Four Course Rotation (1950's at college)

fretaw — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:29:00 GMT

All the young farm college students will laugh me off this page, because there does not seem to be such a thing as a full rotation these days. It seems a rotation for pests and diseases, and that's all. What you young un's must understand that there is a rotation to cope with weeds , mostly annual weeds. These are what build up in arable land into a "seed bank" this needs a break and a rest for a few years in grass. We were learned the basic rotation devised by "Turnip Townshend"...(read more)

Ploughmans in a packet!

matty s — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Wheat harvest is just about drawing to a close up North. Thank god i hear alot of people saying, theres still the beans to do though...and a fair bit of drying of crops! I know of 110 acre of oats left to do (Unlucky!) on a neighbouring farm but generally, everyones working land....when weather permitts. Lots of ploughing is going on after fields are well rutted. I seen a field or OSR emerging the other day....i was massively surprised!!

Anyway, i had a nice lunch today...adding a bit of farmin'! It was the usual sarnies etc but i tried walkers new crisps-the ploughmans. I think there a new flavour which are supposed to taste like a ploughmans lunch. There quite nice actually, worth a taste especially if you cant be bothered to go and buy an piece of cheese, Branston Pickle, piccalilli and/or pickled onions, crusty bap (no jokes pasty) or chunk of bread, and butter. The other good point about walkers, they buy british!

First Days At College

lizzie j — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:56:00 GMT

Well I've now spent almost two weeks at college. There have been moments which I've loved, but there have also been disappointments.After A levels and a year of working in agriculture, I saw starting college as a further step into adulthood, and to some extent it has been. But, as part of a large group of students, you inevitably tend to get treated like kids. Great sometimes, hard at others.

As a Higher Education course it is very classroom based. The business and science sides I am enjoying (and realise their importance) but it was hard in the first week to live next to a farm and have no involvement with it. I miss vaccinating sheep and trimming feet, as mad as that may sound to some people. I've met many students, who are back for their second and third years, who say they felt the same when they first arrived. This is about to change to some extent, as I now get to sort out a work placement once a week, and have the opportunity on a Wednesday to help with morning milking at the college. (More about that in the next article.)

Two technical hiccups have been the connecting of computers with a network (apparently someone put a spade through the cables), and there being little to no mobile signal on campus. No ringing mums and boyfriends from your rooms; you see people wandering about trying to get a signal. However, we are living in a brand new building with en suite rooms throughout. The rooms are lovely, and mine has an entertaining view of the sports fields and a huge range of different machinary working. There is new development of the campus and facilities going on everywhere, and it's exciting to watch the progress each morning, when walking down to coffee and lectures.

I've found that the first week has been one of realisations after high expectations, followed in the second week by settling in and really starting to enjoy myself. Has anyone reading this had a similar or different experience of college? It doesn't matter if it was recently or years ago.

Wales starts the countdown

Bovine TB — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:38:53 GMT

October 1st. saw the start of the Principality's plan to eradicate bovine badger TB from its 13,835 registered cattle herds. The three point strategy kicked off this week with a sweep of cattle testing through the entire country. A one-off test for Read More......(read more)

Give it some beans.

TeslaCoils — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:02:00 GMT

Well, since last post we have gone to wet and moody, to dry and sunny, and now its looking like back to wet. In the mean time, all the crop is now in the shed....just.

I say just becuase we have run out of shed. The yields are incredible, even if the last wheat will not win any beauty awards. Rape, wheat and beans have all beaten records (well, rape has done better, but not over the acres). Land is ripped up, and new wheat is being planted into great seedbeds, even if the drizzle has meant we cant roll.

And yet we are sad as wheat is now very cheap.And UK AN is apparently over £400 a ton. It may be that despite selling wheat for Christmas at £160 a ton, we may be selling some for more like £80 a ton next week. Beans that were £240 last year are under £140 today. I dont complain about the price, just the wild swings that make planning more than a year ahead impossible.

Back at home, little boy is 13 months today and can now walk. It seems incredible that he took his first step a month ago and now is confdent an having lots of adventures.

We have done some good business today, and so happy was I that I bought a Chinese takeaway, and turned the heating on for an hour. I enjoyed crispy aromatic lamb, and duck in plum sauce in the warmth of my living room.

Simple things for simple minds.

Plough on!

To Farming College I Was Sent

fretaw — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:38:00 GMT

Tipped us all out into a huge rhubarb patch, the clumsy driver was the head of department, that cart was decommissioned shortly afterwards as too unstable for the job. This is a story as it happened, of some of the highlights of my year at college This is a picture the old Hall, the windows on the second and third floors were the dormatories for the male students. One hot night one of the lads moved his bed out onto the narrow balcony above the french windows, (good job he got out of bed on the correct...(read more)

Young Farmers?

pasty girl — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:11:00 GMT

i read an artical recently about hilary benn encouraging youngsters into UK agriculture, this all seems ok to the british public, but to youngsters trying to get into agriculture its different. There is a lack of funding for people doing NVQs, in my opinion the best way to learn , as we are work based learners the goverment feels we should not recieve EMA or learning support grants.. seems like they want to encourage us to go on the doll which im sure we'd all be better off,

anyway thats my wrant over!

matty wants me to mention him (not sure why he just luvs the attention i recon)

Harvest is over well 2 weeks ago now and cut and baled 2nd cut silage ending on tuesday ...

im broke

You are a winner....

Isabel Davies — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:31:00 GMT

Got some exciting news for you all. You've just picked up a nice award. Confused? Let me explain...

Last night FWi won a gong at the annual Association of Online Publisher's Awards. It was an award aimed at sites - like us - that have been finding ways to get readers talking more to us journalists and each other through things like forums and blogs.

The judges said they liked what we were all doing because we were showing that traditional business journalism can have a fun, social side (Farmer Frank must have bunged them a tenner or they realised from the forums that farmers must have a sense of humour to keep farming )

They were also impressed by the way you are helping us to do our jobs better. I guess a good example would be this summer's wet weather. Thanks to the tips and photos everybody sent us to Harvest Highlights etc, we were able to do a better job at reflecting the fact that farmers were experiencing the worst harvest in living memory.

Anyway I just thought I'd let you know. It's a publishing award so probably doesn't quite generate the same excitement for you all as the Farmers Weekly awards . But it is one that - quite literally - we wouldn't have got without you.

PS I might treat you to a picture of us at the event later on. If nothing else, it will give you a laugh! [:D

Surprise in store....

matty s — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:39:00 GMT

Right, i said a little while ago i had a surprise for My blog readers ( yes you 3!).Well, its this Saturday night. Heres my clue - its a fancy dress party with a cowboy theme.... wait and see what i go as......

Matty

Pasquali tractors

baldingbert — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Does anyone know anything about Pasquali tractors. How they rate them, how versitile, how reliable, etc ?

So the end is near. At least for another year....

viewfromtheothersideofthefence — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:20:00 GMT

The Tories conference has just closed. David Cameron has made his speech. Was it enough to steal a march on Gordon Brown? Is it setting out a different policy for the country? Is there anything between the two parties, (Labour & Tories?)

It should not be about the the Government giving the industry money. It should be about a true partnership between Farmers and Government. On the one hand they want us to stand on our own feet and not come crying for money each time there is a disease break out. But then they tie our feet together with red tape and beaurocracy.

If land owners just sat back and said "I can make much more money not producing food and selling my land." Then this country really has things to worry about. Fortunately for the government the credit crunch has made that much less likley. I do wonder what they would do if we just all stopped producing food for a year!

But unfortunately the credit crisis in America has drawn the attention away from important domestic issues for Agriculture and the importance of Food Provenance.

Where will it go next?

Ladies in agriculture

Jane King — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:57:00 GMT

You get the best invitations in this job. I had the pleasure this week of attending a ladies in agriculture lunch hosted by Coutts bank at their grand headquarters on the Strand. This was the first time they've organised such a gathering with some 40 women across all aspects of the industry present. Female farmers, breeders, food chain specialists,policy makers and entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to mingle and swap ideas in a relaxed environment.

As posh lunches go, it was a fabulous affair - champagne, stunning food and a grand archive tour of the head office. It was a great way to meet the female movers and shakers in agriculture and what an impressive lot. The guest list included Elizabeth Buchanan, the private secretary to the Prince of Wales on farming, environment and business, Christine Tacon, general manager of the Co-op farms and farmers Hilary Wood from Cornwall and Debbie Macbean MBE from Scotland.

Apparently, one third of the Coutts client base are women and the bank is very keen to woo and influence us. Keep the wooing going - it was wonderful.

The day ended as it started by sipping champagne in the equally glamorous venue of the London Hilton. The team from our website www.fwi.co.uk were wined, dined and applauded as we won a glittering prize for our online community building work with farmers. Farmers Weekly's website was up against The Sun and won the Online Community of the Year title in the UK Association of Online Publishers Awards. This prize is as much farmers as it is ours because it's you, the web users, who have made www.fwi.co.uk such a great place to interact, buy equipment, find a job,get up to date information etc etc.

Sorry about the bragging, but it has to be done..... the judges were impressed with the level of farmer involvement in the site from thousands of shared pictures, lively discussion forums and farmers driving news stories for both the magazine and the website.

The judging panel said: "Fwi demonstrated there can be a light hearted approach to a business to business site, providing social interaction and community tools relevant to its members and pushing the business media boundaries with its Muddy Matches dating service."

Well done everyone who has participated in our online community. If you haven't had a go yet, it's well worth grabbing a cuppa and setting aside a few minutes to take a look.

Verse to theThe Wheelwrights' Shop Seighford

fretaw — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:47:00 GMT

This was the first I'd seen dead body, and shook me dam well ridged, Out with his tape and pencil, see how big to make the coffins image These men Jim and Bill were the same age and era as my parents, they both retired in 1985 when there was no more call for traditional wooden carts and wagons, metal gates were being peddled by Gypo's in Transit trucks, and the tractors were matched up to three ton hydraulic tipping trailors. The age of the "thimble cart" ( a tipping cart with shafts...(read more)

Will the world stop revolving?

viewfromtheothersideofthefence — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:40:00 GMT

So the Americans House of Representatives has rejected $700billion bailout.

Has it stopped raining? Have cattle stopped getting Badger TB? Will we all still need to eat tomorrow?

Of course it will have huge knock ons for the whole of the western Capitalist world, but surely everyone will come to their senses shortly.

The age of instant information, instant news, instant coffee. Non of which are much good for us in heavy doses.

Looks like it will put pay to my dream of owning my own farm in the near future.

Going up

Bovine TB — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:34:12 GMT

We are not referring to nationally acquired toxic debt, although a whole new blog could be devoted to the last few years' obsessional pyramid selling of unsustainable credit to people who hadn't a cat in hell's chance of ever paying it back Read More......(read more)

The village wheelwright and his family

fretaw — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:26:00 GMT

They had a little grey Fergy tractor, which was used to cart the muck out to the field in winter, and in the summer, they would mow the meadows for hay. This is the village shop on the left, a farm cottage next along and the third one along was the White Cottage the smallholding which was also the wheelwrights shop. On the extreme right is the village pub the Holly Bush The White Cottage. [ Or The Smallholding ] This cottage opposite the pub was occupied by Mr and Mrs Clark. It was a small holding...(read more)

Its still dragging on in the North...

matty s — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:19:00 GMT

What a weekend!Went into work on Saturday and our assistant manager was AWOL. He was off to get married this weekend and was off for a week or so, so with our ''drier technician'' having to run a grain store and drier by himself he was in need of a hand! We had a local girl (farmers daughter) on the weight bridge, Kev on his forklift running the dryer and i was promoted to pusher upper er and general running around idiot.Combines get going and I’m in need of a flying JCBSaturday was busy, with our 3 combines plus everyone else’s (Oh yes, forgot to mention we have a Lexion 570 on tracks now to go with our lexion 580 and 570) running in we were rushed off our feet. With the shed filling we had a couple of lorries in but not nearly as many. Sunday came, the shed was nearly full, the pads just about full and this was just lunch! By 2, we had 3 Lorries in to take some grain away but the shed was about full. With 5 tractors on the bridge, 1 tipping they had to be stopped so they got halted on the bridge as i flew all over moving grain from pad to pad while kev pushed it up. Quite literally the JCB wouldn’t go fast enough and eventually we cleared a hole for a few ton to be tipped. A few loads are still in the trailer and the drier will probably be shut down now till we can get more wagons.Lots still in the fieldWe have LOTS of grain to be dried, 150 acre of wheat to be brought in on the grain store farm and then the rest of the wheat to be brought back in at home farm there’s still lots to do. One farmers hydraulic pipes burst today - he went home full and made a canny mess!Back to school tomorrow, the shooting season is starting in a few days so looks like were cutting wheat and shoot pheasants at the same time eh? Had a good laugh this weekend though so its all worth it! 1 week off at the end of October to which I was planning on relaxing……how I can laugh – with bad weather on the way looks like its going to be drying corn!!

The Queen is dead...

kansasfarmer — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:03:00 GMT

Field Queen that is. Probably very few in the UK are familiar with Field Queen, although I might be wrong about that. Field Queen made one of the first self propelled silage cutters in America. I don't know when they quit making them, quite a few were made carrying the Hesston name after they bought Field Queen.

Part of farming here on the border between the cornbelt and the Great Plains with all our tempermental weather is I think without a doubt we run much older equipment on average than you do in the UK. I bought my Field Queen Standard several years ago from a neighbor, it had cut a jillion tons of silage when I bought it. I bought it cheap, to replace a pull type Gehl that had merely cut a billion tons of silage and was actually alot newer than the Queen. I can't say the Queen was a reliable cutter, but we managed to cut most of the silage I wanted. This year however right out of the chute the Queen was problematic, as in she would only cut six loads of silage then quit. It has Murphy switches on it, that shut it down if it has low oil pressure or gets too hot, and a really bad feature of Field Queen is they for the most part relied on a throw away Cat engine, either a 3160 or a 3208. Finally, after several days of attempted diagnosis, much swearing, and 41 loads of silage cut, I blew a head gasket. After some deliberation and prayer, along with phone calls to the Maize corporation in Maize Kansas(the company that makes parts for Field Queens,we are sort of a cult) it was decided by me that it was time for the Queen to simply die, and perhaps donate a few of her vital parts so that other Field Queens might live a more productive life. I was very sad, because I was not getting my silo filled, and buying a different cutter was not on my list of 2008 or 2009 priorities.

Then, just when all appeared to be lost, a phone call from Roger at the Maize corporation. The widow of a fellow Field Queen owner wanted to sell his cutter, and it was only 30 miles from me, what luck. He had looked at it and told me it appeared respectable. It was about 10 years newer than mine, and quite advanced compared to the old Standard. Without hesitation I loaded my friend Bobby into the pickup(Bobby did alot of my chores while I was in the UK, and is the chief silage truck driver and coon killer on my spread). We raced to the farm, and were pleasantly surprised to find a very usable cutter. I was uncomfortable negotiating with a recent widow, especially considering her husband had died just a month ago of cancer, but we managed to agree on a price without much difficulty, and Mrs. KF was surprised to find me roaring into the yard tonight, with the announcement I decided to give her her Christmas present early this year......what a lucky woman, a new hoe for her birthday, and a vintage silage cutter as a 3 month early Christmas present, that I have already agreed to run and care for for her. She is so lucky she found me. God save the Queen!!

What Makes a Brand? The Aberdeen-Angus Experience

Land Strategies Farming Blog — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:16:00 GMT

Two news clippings caught my eye last week. One, in the Times, told us that French gastronomes have selected Aberdeen-Angus beef for La Bocuse d'Or, apparently the world's most prestigious cooking competition. The director of the competition said Read More......(read more)

This is a follow on to the thread "Trotters"

fretaw — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:56:00 GMT

We watched when we were kids, fingers in our ears, Then bang the butcher shot him, cut its throat mid tears, I never knew who owned the pig bench but it went round all the village to who ever had got a pig ready for killing. I Remember Killing the Pig About once a year the butcher called, for to kill a pig, Scrubbed off the pig bench, it was heavy and big, Don't know whose it was, but around the village it went, To lay the pig on when it's killed, four wooden legs all bent. Starve the pig...(read more)

'Bovine' Tuberculosis is a misnomer

Bovine TB — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:12:43 GMT

We have been castigated on this site many times for flagging up the many victims of 'bovine' TB. "It's 'bovine' the comments shriek, and "what bit of 'cow' don't you understand?" But this clever little bacterium Read More......(read more)