John Geldard
John Geldard
John Geldard farms 175ha
(430-acres) near Kendal.
Stock comprises 50 suckler
cows, with progeny finished
alongside 300-400 bought-in
stores, 1000 ewes plus 250
ewe lamb replacements, of
which 160 are pedigree
Charollais, and a 25,000
bird poultry enterprise.
John Geldard farms 175ha
(430-acres) near Kendal.
Stock comprises 50 suckler
cows, with progeny finished
alongside 300-400 bought-in
stores, 1000 ewes plus 250
ewe lamb replacements, of
which 160 are pedigree
Charollais, and a 25,000
bird poultry enterprise.
WET, wet and more wet. That seems to be the mood of the weather at the moment and the sheep are really making a puddle through the gateways.
After lambing the Charollais ewes in early December, we lambed a small batch of commercials the week before Christmas. The next batch is of just over 50 Llyens – all are bred pure and most of them were AId to our Royal Show Champion Wraycastle Magic. They are due to lamb in mid-January.
We have just scanned the main flock which is to lamb in March. Its not quite as heavy a crop as sometimes, with the ewes scanning at 198% and the shearlings at a 188% including barrens.
Just prior to tupping we spread a lot of FYM and poultry manure expecting it to get washed in and produce a good flush of grass. However, we got three weeks of dry, warm weather which resulted in a lot of the fields being rather scorched. Could this be the reason for a small percentage drop?
We have got the finished lambs down to just 27 and I am not sorry. The only bright spot on lamb finishing this year is that we have fed them on grain beet – the same as we finish our cattle on. Lambs have finished very well at a relatively low cost. Our best pen of Charollais x Llyens at Lancaster, on Dec 29 was 39kg and sold for £42 a head, £20 a head down on 12 months ago.
However, I do believe that as farmers we have made much progress during the last month in moving our protests from the ports and turning them into promotions of British food. The protests at the ports played a very important part in getting things moving, but at Heysham we felt after a week or so we had to change tactics.
We organised a short march into Kendal, our local market town, without disrupting the public. We had proper printed boards with the right sort of slogan – the main theme was to promote shops and stores that were backing British. The reception we received from the public was overwhelming and very encouraging, and therefore this is going to be repeated in other towns in the locality.
This morning I received my pay-slip from Lancaster Auction Mart for cattle and sheep sold this week. The deductions were commission of £259, which I believe is value for money. But I really scratch my head over the next column which reads "MLC levy £127". And after the progress of our successful promotion of British food, it just begs the question: Is it time for a real overhaul of the MLC? *
After receiving his pay-slip for cattle and sheep sold at market, John Geldard wonders if paying the MLC levy is worthwhile.