March 2008 - Posts
So, finally, a weekend when I had nothing planned – a chance to relax and spend some time with the nags… who was I kidding!?!
I had a stressful work week, not helped by yet more timewasters coming to see my horse. I could tell the poor lad was getting as frustrated by it all just as much as me, and eventually I asked the latest lot to sling their hook as I soon realised that they had no intention of buying a horse, they were just out for a free ride! He is, therefore, still sat here, mooching about – he needs to be sold soon as I have another youngster that I am desperate to bring in and work with for the summer season.
No, my mare has still NOT foaled!! Chatted to the vet on Saturday – everyone is scratching their heads rather, as she was due two weeks ago, and is a mare that normally foals early. Still, can't blame her as what with the big storm, and then the snow, things haven't really been ideal. The last few days have been pretty sunny, and her milk has started to thicken (a sign that means normally just 24 hours to foal) so fingers crossed that I might soon have better news, and plenty of cute pictures.
Right, that’s most of the horsey news over with – now to the farming side of things! It's certainly been an interesting week. Wheat prices held pretty firm until the end of the week, and have now nosedived to just over £165/t . The trouble is, with new crop (August) holding firm around the £135 mark, and old crop (July) still sitting at £170, either one will have to rise or the other fall within the coming weeks. My money is on old crop falling, as most mills have now reached their quotas or have full books, but I am sure someone will prove me wrong!
Talking of wheat prices, I had an interesting conversation with a chap in the pub yesterday. He was of the opinion that farmers are the evil of the world, and the reason that he now pays 16p a loaf more for his bread. I pointed out to him that the cost of wheat per loaf is only approximately 12p, and the rest of the price is made up of packaging, labour, tax and so on. He hadn't finished with me there however, and went on to argue that a year ago wheat cost just £80/t whereas now it is £350/t – despite my arguing to the contrary, he would not be placated, so I simply suggested he gave me the number of the buyer whom was paying £350/t as I would have an awful lot of business for him. The conversation soon moved onto pensions and ex-pats, which of course, he also knew everything about.
Rape also fell today, with new crop plummeting almost £12/t and resulting in trade around the £300 mark! Old crop also fell, and has dropped almost £70/t from the highs we saw a couple of weeks ago – the volatility continues! Most farmers I have spoken to are heckling for yields in excess of 5t/ha and whilst I am a reasonable novice in the fertiliser industry, I would seriously suggest taking a look at Oilseed Extra – with prices from just £166/tn and with a proven increase in yield, can farmers afford not to consider it?
At home the lambs are growing well, and fingers crossed it should not be too long now before some are sent down the road and bring in some much needed revenue. The local market continues to trade well, with no new season currently forward (well it is pretty early) and some farmers now trying to offload some pretty ropey hoggets that refuse to fatten.
It seems that one of the cows will soon produce, which is good news, as they are Red Polls (a rare breed) so fingers are crossed for another heifer. At the moment bets are being taken on whether the cow or the horse will produce first. I think my money would be on the cow!
Well, I have had another busy weekend, although still no sign of the foal – I think he/she has decided it is far too cold to appear! The horses kept me running around this weekend – I spent most of Friday battling the elements to, among other things, sort out a haylage delivery (this isn't as grand as it sounds, as it simply involves the better half (he is reading this so I have to suck up now!) loading a bale of haylage onto a trailer, and driving it half a mile to the stables).
Saturday proved pretty uneventful however, I had some people come to try a horse that I have for sale. Despite telling them on the phone that under no circumstances would I let him go out on trial, they came (over 100 miles) tried him, liked him, but then said they would only have him if they could have a trial! I informed them that they had wasted their own time as well as mine, as due to past experiences I no longer let horses go on trial. I am not against people trying a horse as many times as they like taking them out on the roads, or a hack over fields, riding and jumping in the school or even trailering them to the local cross country course. But after having one horse ruined, and another put permanently out of action while on trials, I would no longer let a horse go on trial. What a complete and utter waste of a Saturday afternoon!
Sunday, however, was more eventful, as close to a foot of snow fell and settled. This meant it was mandatory to build a snowman (big kid) and take plenty of pictures of the horses galloping around the fields. I haven't seen snow like that for many years. Unfortunately by the evening most of it had melted, with several ice-block snowmen still standing guard in the village. The main excitement came in the evening, when, just as we were sitting down to dinner we got a call saying that our horses were running around the village. Images of dead horses on the side of the road filled my head, as I jumped in the car and drove the half mile to the winter fields. I have not been so scared in my life – although the horses all belong to me, one was 'gifted' from a close friend, and I was terrified that something would happen to her, and that my friend would never forgive me. However, when I arrived at the field, it turned out that just one horse had gotten out (how is still a mystery but we have our suspicions) and he had already been caught by a villager. We moved the remaining horses into another field (just in case) and averted disaster this time. However, it does look very suspicious as Ollie's headcollar is missing (without a trace) and the theory is that someone tried to remove him from the field, he slipped his headcollar and run. Anyway, they are now back in 'summer grazing' behind the house, so a bit more secure.
Monday brought a dusting of snow (nothing too major) and another person to try my horse. The lady seemed very interested, and I am currently awaiting her phone call, so fingers crossed. I also managed to get the house blitzed (finally) and I can now get in the front door without tripping over horse rugs and abandoned saddles!
Not an awful lot to report on the farming front this week – I have spent most of last week walking fields, and it seems that generally the crops are growing well, although pigeons have hit the rape quite badly this year. For those entrepreneurs among you, it might be worth looking at the HEAR contracts for 2009 – some pretty amazing offers to consider here. My own tip for rape growers is to take a look at Ovation, a good variety that seems to get left alone by the pigeons. Talking of rape, the markets fell a bit last week, and have continued to fall this week, with futures prices down £30/t on where they were 10 days ago. Old crop has fallen by as much as £70/t over the same time period, making the HEAR contracts look even more rosy.
Wheat prices are fairly firm at the moment, however, although further rises seem unlikely at the moment, as many city traders try to unload commodities. Barley also took a bit of a hit, but is starting to rally again, especially the popular varieties of Optic and Tipple.
The other half is still ticking along; everything has lambed now, bar a few stragglers that seem to be holding out for better weather. The lambs seem to be growing well at the moment, and with hoggets at the local market selling for near £70 a head, the race is on to get them fat and get them down the road. Fingers crossed for an improving year in the livestock sector!
Well, it's been a busy week! I have spent the majority of it sleeping in my horsebox, waking every hour to check on my in-foal mare. Needless to say, she has still not given birth! This has led to me "running" on a mixture of Dr Pepper and chocolate brownies – very healthy – in order to stay awake for both the night, and for work the next day!
Add to this the lousy cold that I have picked up, and you can imagine the will power needed to not give up, and continue camping out night after fruitless night. I haven't had a cold this bad for years – it started with the normal sore throat and stuffy nose, and just as I thought I was getting rid of it, along comes a lovely cough as well! My stocks of Halls Menthol and Covonia are dwindling (trip to shops later I think).
In the spirit of St Patricks Day, I have started to feed one of the horses a tin of Guinness every day! According to his previous owners, it helps him to put weight on, and he certainly needs something as he is looking like a hat rack at the moment, despite huge bowls (you know those massive rubber trug things) full of feed three times a day, and an endless supply of haylage! I think he is just one of those horses with a horrendously fast metabolism! (Yes he has been wormed, vaccinated, vet checked etc)
The weekend did bring some fun though – my little star in the making (another Irish horse that I have recently purchased) flew over some 5ft fences like they weren't even there! I can't wait to take him out and do some dressage – he is such a quick learner!
As for the farm – well, things are ticking over. I haven't set foot in the yard this weekend – far too busy! Spent most of last week on farm (not my other half's) listening to an agronomist advising people on T0 sprays. What are people's opinion on T0 generally? It seems a lot of farms in the past have not bothered with them, and by doing so this year, people will be wiping out the extra profit they could be making on the inflated grain price. From an amateur point of view, it seems to me that farmers are not going to be any better off now than when the grain price was £60 a tonne, simply because although the wheat price might have tripled, so have the fertiliser, chemical and machinery costs. In fact, those farmers with mixed or livestock units are going to be in an even worse situation. With farmers talking of hope for a 5t/acre harvest, they are spending phenomenal amounts of money in an attempt to get it – have they even realised that perhaps it is a false economy?
My key thought for the week – keep an eye on finances, don't get distracted by offers of almost £200/t without looking at the rising input prices – things aren't as rosy as people think they are!
Wow – what a hectic week! After a slow(ish) start, things really picked up the pace! Wednesday saw me hurtling up to Manchester for the rest of the week, leaving the horses under the care of a close friend. I have to say that a night out in Manchester is the most BORING night out that I have ever experienced (no offence to those who live there). We spent one night going from pub to club, failing to find a single busy night spot. Eventually we gave up, and journeyed back to the hotel early (pre midnight) and tucked ourselves in for an early night. Some of our group stayed out, however, and an interesting story involving the police, a dog unit, and a random house has been circulating…
I got back late Friday night, grabbing a Chinese on my way home (far too late to cook!) settled in front of the TV, and watched "Ice Road Truckers" before going on a cleaning spree of the house.
Saturday was the usual chaos – the here, there and everywhere routine. The landlady from the village pub was off to Crufts, so I was called in to work the bar for both the lunch and evening shift. Combine this with having to ride my new show jumping superstar (a fantastic Irish horse that just skips over a 5ft fence) and arranging for another horse to be collected, I had a lot to fit in. I was meant to be teaching (riding) as well, but decided to postpone the lesson to Sunday (which I then regretted as I spent all of Sunday rushing around as well!)
Sunday started off busy, and got worse. Up at 6.30am to feed and muck out before a morning of moving horses. I had to take some down to the winter pasture to be "turned away" and bring in the broodmare that is (meant to be) weeks away from popping. Just about had some time for lunch, then rushed off to teach before the first of the rain set in. By the time the lesson had ended, and I had arrived back at the yard, we managed to muck out, tidy the yard and assemble some electric fencing before the light ran out. The final check on my broodmare left me panicking that she was about to foal any minute, so I spent the entire night on foal watch!
Monday has arrived, and I was left with the big "do I, don't I" in regards to coming to work today. From 4am I was sat poised over a monitor, sat in the shelter of a spare stable, warm in a sleeping bag reading Horse and Hound. When I finally decided nothing was going to happen, and dragged myself away to make morning feeds and fill haynets, my mare became extremely restless, licking and chewing her lips, and refusing her breakfast. I stayed with her for another two hours, but she eventually started munching her haynet and looking as relaxed as normal. Leaving phone number for the vet, three work numbers for myself, and strict instructions that any change should result in a hasty call, I hurriedly got dressed and raced off to work… Now sat here on tenterhooks, wondering if I have done the right thing…
So, perhaps tomorrow will bring news of a new arrival – I really don't think it will be long… Exciting times!! One thing is for sure – if the foal arrives today, it will have to be named "Storm".