Gordon and Mary Capstick
Gordon and Mary Capstick
Gordon and Mary Capstick
farm 230ha (569 acres), at
Milnthorpe in south Cumbria.
Stocking is 100 suckler
cows, with calves finished
alongside 100 purchased
stores, and 1200 Mule ewes
producing prime lambs.
About 10ha (25 acres) of
barley and 6ha (14 acres) of
soft fruit are also grown.
IM WRITING this sitting in the "pick your own" pay box with the wind whistling up the field and people picking strawberries in their top coats. So much for summer.
Nearly all the early lambs have gone and while prices have not been sky high, I think they have been workable. Silage is made. Although this happened a week later than planned, we made it without rain or damage to the land.
As I write, we have 5ha (12 acres) of grass cut for hay and I hope we dont have to resort to big baling it for haylage. The job furthest behind is clipping, but with the weather as cold as it is, Im sure the old dears are glad of their jackets.
Clipping always seems to dry ewes milk up. Some shepherds tell me a ewe gives little at this time of year, but try telling those two big lambs that keep coming for a suck.
Grass seems to be disappearing fast and some of our pastures are so poached they will take some time to recover. For the first time in three years, coccidiosis in March born lambs has reared its head, despite putting coccidiostat buckets in fields. This is probably due to wet conditions, so we have had to dose lambs.
The 20-day standstill is still with the livestock industry. As we get closer to autumn trading, it is a worry to us. How can we buy tups and replacement sheep, while selling store cattle and cast sheep, all within a short time span. It seems nearly as bad as last year, although everyone tells us things are back to normal.
The government is certainly making us pay for its mistakes. When will Tony wake up? Are we going to have nothing left of Great Britain? Massey Ferguson has just announced the closure of its factory at Banner Lane, after making 3m tractors, with the loss of 1000 jobs. Im sure it will lead to many other businesses teetering on the edge. Thats the trouble when the country is run by lawyers and accountants. *
The pick your own season is well underway at Gordon Capsticks farm, but until recently pickers have been wearing winter coats.