Food for Thought

For the sheep sector there are many farmers now planning to scale back, meaning fewer replacement ewes will be needed this autumn. Additionally, many of the hill and upland farms which breed these replacements have limited numbers to sell, but the lowland flocks buying them want large numbers.

This could leave many of these smaller vendors struggling to trade. Markets have traditionally provided the solution, these are of course still prohibited. And with multiple pick up movements also banned, few lowland flockmasters will want to visit farms to buy just 50 or 60 ewe lambs, they will want to source all their sheep from one farm on one day.

Each and every movement will also incur a 20-day standstill, something farmers will also want to minimise as they attempt to buy and sell sheep at the same time.

Suckled calf producers face many of the same woes and there main sales season is fast approaching too. For these farms the number of cattle they are offering will again be a key consideration, fewer than a lorry load and many buyers will be far from keen to entertain a visit.

For those farmers in the foot and mouth risk area and the bluetongue control zone, the news is much worse. They still can't move animals between units and now they can't move any stock out of these areas either. This, as far as I can understand means movements to slaughter too. Unfortunately, there are precious few significant abattoirs in these areas meaning these units will struggle to sell any stock at all.

The outlook may on the face of it be rosier, but scratch the surface and once again a whole raft of issues emerge.

For my part I'm still stuck with rams I can't trade and prime lambs and cull ewes will limited options too, thankfully I don't need to buy any replacements, that really would have been the final straw. As it is I shall survive, although with a feed price of £198 for delivery this week and higher for October, concentrate use will be severely limited this autumn and winter.