Harry has been helping our nephew Graham all week as his wife & co-farmer is in hospital after a major operation.
Sale day last Friday & Harry & Graham were up at 4.00am to get the calves & cows separated.... the calves were going in their vehicle & the cows were being taken in a cattle wagon.
An hour & a half drive away Carlise Market is extremely popular with all the farmers in the area & has some very large cattle sales.
The cows & calves had to be washed & brushed, checked in by paperwork matching with tag numbers before the sale started.
Graham is the man in the greeny colour in the ring.
They took ten cows with calves at foot but the trade was so bad they brought 3 back with them. The winter has been so long no one has any spare feed to give them , grass is not growing so the price was really down.
Very disappointing as Graham wants to cut his amount of work this summer & there is also a threat of TB restrictions in the area which might close him down completely...a neighbouring farmer has cases of TB so they put a restricted zone around the area which can be extended. It would be complete disaster if that happened.
TB was the cause of the slaughter of 38,010 cattle last year in England & Wales!!!!!
Just might add here this is Andrea's favourite cow & didn't sell so back home with calf ....she will be pleased!!
Ps. Cheated here as Harry took this photo!!!
Three good things:
1.Nice & warm in the house because it's certainly cold & rainy out.
2. New friends.
3.Doing nothing!
Such interesting and informative narrative, Pat. I know virtually nothing about farming/cattle raising. It seems quite a stressful way to make a living when one has to depend so much on the weather and, now, the health of the neighboring cattle! Hopefully, things will work out for Graham. Nice shot, Harry!
Harry did a great job! I bet he wasn't too upset about doing a bit of farming as well - especially knowing that it's not forever. She is a very bonny cow - I'm not surprised Andrea is pleased but what a nightmare this year has been for farmers. The grass seems to be growing well now so hopefully things will improve. Just having a chuckle about tractor shots (nothing wrong with them!) Good things 2 & 3 - 1's not so great!! Spoke to the punt people today - still doom and gloom for them too - It's been a very bad 12 months.
@judithg Another op on Tuesday Judith, she fell against a feed trough last year after being knocked by a cow & over the last few months lost the feeling in her leg. Doctors kept sending her to physio but to cut a long story short a bit of bone that broke off her shoulder blade travelled across her back & embedded itself in her spine & started to grow! Had an eleven hour op to get it out but it has slightly punctured her spinal cord. Op on Tuesday is to seal the hole again...a long job & a fluke accident.
An interesting capture -I could not be a farmer -too soft hearted could never take a favourite animal to be sold or even worse to the slaughter house - yet not a vegetarian -- so where's the logic !!
@happypat Oh my word - who'd have thought that could happen?! Poor thing! One of our teachers has had a complete nightmare with an undiagnosed fracture in her ankle (kept making her do physio and told her she was making it worse by not 'working through the pain') - just had a second op to remove bone splinters because the heel bone (I think) keeps growing down into her foot - thank goodness they at least know what is wrong with Andrea now.
@judithg So many mistakes can lead to pain & dispair & seem to take so long to sort things out although i must say we have only good things to say about the NHS. They thought Adreas was a trapped nerve I think & only when Graham kicked up a fuss & asked for a second opinion she had a scan & whipped into hospital! Hope your friend is on the mend though a growing bone in her foot doesn't sound good!!
@beryl A great life Beryl with great communities & I always think if you did your best with the animals in your care as we did & all the farmers we know, you have given them the best life possible.
I have a few vegetarian friends & I am thinking of going vegy on the next flight but if we were all vegetarian there would be no animals in the fields ...we certainly wouldn't keep them as pets!!! So keep eating meat, the beef you eat will have been well monitored & looked after or they don't do well & grow.
@happypat Yes Pat I know what lovely people the farming community is- as I was born & brought up in rural mid wales among sheep & mix farming folks the happiest time of my life but since my teaching carrier brought me over the border !!
@happypat She demanded a second opinion as well - sometimes you have to get somebody thinking outside the box. We are very lucky too with our local hospital but you still have to stay on the ball - I think they should listen more to patients who are not all hypochondriacs!
@judithg I agree & we are so keen not to be a nuisance but sometimes you have to bang the drum!!! Perhaps if they looked at the file & saw that this person never goes to the doctor much so must be something wrong....we know our own bodies after all!
What an interesting story. So sorry to hear about Andrea and also the disappointing sale. The grass is growing here as the cows are back in the field where I sometimes take Betty for a walk. I don't go there once the cows are back as Betty just runs out and walks along the path outside the field.!
Such an interesting photo and narrative, Pat. I don't think we non-farmers can begin to appreciate and understand the hard work and hardships that farmers face on a daily basis. Reminders like this elevate my level of gratitude immensely.
If there's a silver lining behind the poor sales, it would have to be that Andrea's favorite cow is back on the farm with her calf.
Stay tucked up and warm on this cold spring Sunday...it's a chilly, rainy day here too.
I'm just glad there are still people who want to farm with all the things that nature throws at them and that are out of their control! I love my meat and feel a meal is not a meal without it! That sounds awful about a broken bone beginning to grow!
Great shot and narrative. We all moan about the weather but it really impacts on farmers livelihoods. Hope things improve soon. The added TB problems don't help either.
I guess farming is the same no matter where you go. It's a rewarding life, but a terrible livelihood. But, I guess if it was easy, everybody would be doing it!
So sad to hear that you had to sell your complete herd. You must miss them terribly.
I have a few vegetarian friends & I am thinking of going vegy on the next flight but if we were all vegetarian there would be no animals in the fields ...we certainly wouldn't keep them as pets!!! So keep eating meat, the beef you eat will have been well monitored & looked after or they don't do well & grow.
If there's a silver lining behind the poor sales, it would have to be that Andrea's favorite cow is back on the farm with her calf.
Stay tucked up and warm on this cold spring Sunday...it's a chilly, rainy day here too.
So sad to hear that you had to sell your complete herd. You must miss them terribly.