Farmer Focus: Difficult week with TB and organic inspections
© Richard Stanton During most normal weeks, the itinerary that lies ahead does not really bother me. It is just a matter of getting on with it.
But there was one week at the end of September that really challenged us. The week in question had a TB test and an organic inspection.
Taking into consideration our history with TB, our six-month interval was a real test to see if we could keep our clean status. Fortunately, we did.
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The organic inspection was not your ordinary inspection.
We were invited by our certification body to host a contingency from North America observing the UK organic standards, with the aim of opening markets for organic meat to the USA and Canada.
We had nine people around the table observing our paperwork with inspectors inspecting inspectors.
Having one such makes me nervous, but having nine is certainly not good for your health!
We needed to pull out all the stops. We pressure washed all of the yards, docked all lambs, and trimmed the ears of the young cattle to clearly show the double tags.
We also cleaned their tails to show them at their very best out in the field.
But all this was not what affected us the most that week. Midweek we attended a funeral of a close friend, Eifion Cefncoch, who had helped us so much over many decades.
For many years he had a lime spreading contracting business. His tractor driving skills enabled him to spread lime on hillsides that most of us would find it difficult to walk on.
Later in life his engineering skill were used to fabricate steel. We, like many other farms in the area, have so many samples of his work.
Gates, cattle grids and all the other inventions that makes our farm work so much easier.
Due to his quality of workmanship, attention to detail, and insisting on using the very best materials, these will serve us well for many decades to come.
All his hard work had been channeled to build a successful farm business.
More than all this, he was a character. A normal chat turned in to a lively discussion that could lighten up any miserable winter day. Eifion will be sorely missed.