Farmer focus, livestock: Bryan Griffiths

More than three-quarters of our lambs have now been sold and our thoughts have turned to next year’s crop. The breeding flock that has been set stocked at more than 12 ewes an acre on old pasture since weaning, has now been moved onto better fields for flushing. They are still in remarkably good condition in spite of such tight stocking. Forcing them to forage in the wetter field margins must have increased the risk of exposure to fluke, therefore, they will receive a flukicide prior to tupping.

Liz and I recently accompanied members of our local sheep group on a tour of Herefordshire and the Welsh borders. We visited six diverse farming enterprises, ranging from hops to potatoes to cider apples, and inevitably beef and sheep. The one common thread was the host farmers’ enthusiasm towards their businesses and their generous hospitality towards a group of 29 Devon sheep farmers.

Seeing such a variety of crops and the abundance of grain and straw grown on light friable land with only moderate rainfall confirmed my belief that in our soggy corner of the south west we must stick with grass and livestock production. It is a shame it is so difficult to access funding for such study trips, which are clearly both educational and socially beneficial, when consultants seem able to tap into our modulated money to run some rather tedious desk-bound “training projects”.

This month saw a couple of new and thrilling experiences, the first, my freefall skydive strapped to an instructor went flawlessly. The second, a rapid descent down a steep, grassy field strapped in a land rover went less well, resulting in a new front wing, bumper and several fence posts.