It seems appropriate today to dig out the photo of me milking our cows for one of the last times.
Taken on the 17th March 2009 & we sold our herd of Jerseys on the 23rd April 2009.
Looking at this I was definitely not looking my best...wrapped up in thick coats & over trousers I look enormous but it was cold & we didn't care what we looked like!
A hard life with long hours 365 days a year but we enjoyed it very much.....just glad we aren't doing it now!
When our son Brian said he wanted to emigrate to NZ we were not surprised but Harry in particular was upset to have to sell up but looking back now it was the best thing we did. They are happy over there & making a decent living & we are glad to be retired.
As you might have heard on the news today farmers are again worried about the milk price which has dropped by as much as 5 pence a litre over the last 4 months or so.
I know we were happy just to have enough money to pay the bills with some left over for re investment of expensive equipment & machinery but when you worry about having enough money at the end of the month it takes all the pleasure in your work away.
I know there are some very wealthy farmers around but in the main the family farm is dying which is a great shame. The sons don't want such long hours with little reward....some farms cant afford to keep a son or daughter at home milking even if they want to.
Happy days though & a great community to be part of!! We still miss our lovely Jersey cows.
Three good things:
1. Good smells coming from the kitchen....two Toad in the Hole suppers in the oven.
2. A fresh & clean cat smelling of tea tree oil....all biddies gone!!
3. The sun is out at last drying the washing.
It's good to hear the stories behind the headlines, hard work indeed, must have been especially hard during the winters. We had a gorgous day yesterday, wet, windy and cold today and the rest of the week apparantly, enjoy it while it lasts.
Thanks for sharing this picture and the very interesting narration of your farm experience. Definitely very hard work that the consumer doesn't realize when buying the gallon at the supermarket. Enjoy your well deserved retirement.
It's always the smaller operators who lose out isn't it? The big guys have enough buying power to force down prices at source and only the massive producers can afford to make a living out of it. The consumers get what looks like a good deal without realizing where the burden falls ... it's certainly not on the supermarkets!
Lovely to see you milking Pat. I sympathise with the farmers over milk prices, I try to buy my milk from Booths who claim to sell fair priced milk, but I am also aware that is a selling ploy. They also used to sell lots of Bowland milk but they have a poor selection now.
My daughter has married into a farming family in north Yorkshire and they have dairy cows, so we get to know first hand the struggles the farmers are experiencing.
What a fantastic photo. What hope is there for the small dairy farms with those enormous intensive dairy farms that are becoming so common now? Sun?? We have had rain all day today.
Thank you all for your lovely comments.....I look terrible here but it was a happy time....we loved our 120 jersey cows, some of them were real characters. We did used to milk Holstien Freisians but gradually changed over to Jerseys, better on their feet, made less mess on the land, converted feed into milk more economically & ate up the grass tidier so winners all round.
Lucy you would have made an excellent farmer & of course Jan is one already!
Linda will know first hand the farming life & all that it entails.
Good to know that you all understand the joys & worries of life on the land.
Wonderful memories! I always wanted to live/work on a farm. Good honest work but certainly many factors you have to deal with out of your control. The farmers in my area are fighting to keep their lands from developers - the problem with growth and land value.
Thank you for sharing with us a glimpse into your life pre retirement and sharing your story -- wonderful to reminisce - and such lovely memories to be able to work along side Harry .
Looks a very skilled job. Everything is becoming more profit driven. Personally I would rather pay more for my food and know that animals and the environment were well looked after but Tesco's marketing doesn't work that way... cheap cheap cheap - even if people put some of it to waste. Still Waitrose has a very nice organic cheese range!
love your wollie hat pat and a nice look back at your life pre-retirement.
I always like pictures like this as it helps us know a bit more about the people we follow, our virtual friends. It does look hard work !
@beryl was ok Beryl & considering we were always around each other you could say we have had double the time most people spend in their married life...good to have the same interests though....
@boxplayer@rustymonkey yes long hours but we could go in the house & have a sit down & cup of tea...I was t outside all the time...I did have a life other than the farm. It wasn't like being away from home all day like some poor people ...lucky in that sense.
@fueast So much paper work Alison......that's what spoilt it....passports for cows, regulations with health & safety , single farm payment stuff...movement books, I could go on...like any business it's the rules & regulations that are so time consuming. The supermarkets want every last drop out of their suppliers...not just farmers. Our milk went to make cheese but they used to drop the price in line with everyone else.
That woo lie hat is still around Phil! @phil_howcroft
@maggiemae yes I think it kept us fit maggiemae.....none of us ail much. It was good to work with family.........was very strange when Brian & family went to NZ as we had been used to having them around all the time. A big hole in our lives.
It is a sad state of affairs how long will it be before the dairy farmers can keep going. It reminds me of when I was doing the milking , certainly a labour of love
Great shot Pat... all loks very familiar .. look as if you could easily be in a NZ cowshed.. and sounds like the problems with the small family farm is world wide... fav
@happypat After leaving agriculture Collage , I had a job as herds women on a farm n Hertfordshire .It was an early start 5 45 am to fetch the cows in and do the milking 6 & 1/2 days a week twice a day. it was quite an old fashioned farm , with none of the modern equipment . I also had to help out with all the other work on the farm
Great photo of you, shows us your working life. It's great that you had and enjoyed that life for so long and that your children are able to enjoy it too even if far away, I find it very sad that small farmers are being driven out, a real loss to our country,
Our farmers do really get a raw deal now, it must have been a very sad day for you, having spent your life in the cattle business, fond memories, thanks for sharing.
@snowy good to know that Diana...you & I have lets in common besides our ages!! Old fashioned is good in this instance I think.......a quieter time with no paperwork much to worry us. Or rules from Brussels too now come to think!
@happypat haha, that made me laugh Pat, you saying that we are farmers. We just play at keeping a few animals, and I know how much hard work and expense that involves. You were the real deal!
What an interesting story. My husbands family were all farmers, so I know how much hard work is involved. I can see why your son wanted to emigrate too. We felt the same when we returned to the UK after a 3 year overseas tour with the RAF. After spending a huge chunk of our adult life being 'married' to the Forces we discovered that with Forces pay going up and down (very down) and after living in married quarters all of that time, we wouldn't be able to afford a house in the UK. Best thing we ever did was to leave the RAF and join the RAAF. Out here they look after their Servicemen much better than they do in the UK. We too are glad to be retired though.
It is a shame, but today it is getting harder and harder for farmers to make a decent living, yet without them where would we be? I bet all in all you hated giving it up, didn't you?
Great to see your jersey herd. Such lovely cows. My grandfather had them and for many years supplied a local cheese factory but as you say these small family businesses are coming to an end in the world of global dairy business. Sometimes it's hard to say who is running this country - the NZ government or Fonterra.
You do look less than impressed! I was shouting at the radio about the price of milk - supermarkets making billions of £££ profit (apparently that's not enough) and farmers barely getting by. 4 pints at Waitrose £1 with a card (though I think that's a loss leader - they are better than most with their farmers) - £2.75 in the farm shop - made me think!!
@judithg that is a massive difference Judith but milk will be a loss leader as you say. We are no different to other business really taking cuts...a sign of the times I'm afraid but we don't want to be working all hours & days for a loss.
My daughter has married into a farming family in north Yorkshire and they have dairy cows, so we get to know first hand the struggles the farmers are experiencing.
Thank you all for your lovely comments.....I look terrible here but it was a happy time....we loved our 120 jersey cows, some of them were real characters. We did used to milk Holstien Freisians but gradually changed over to Jerseys, better on their feet, made less mess on the land, converted feed into milk more economically & ate up the grass tidier so winners all round.
Lucy you would have made an excellent farmer & of course Jan is one already!
Linda will know first hand the farming life & all that it entails.
Good to know that you all understand the joys & worries of life on the land.
I always like pictures like this as it helps us know a bit more about the people we follow, our virtual friends. It does look hard work !
That woo lie hat is still around Phil! @phil_howcroft
Thank you all........such lovely comments as usual......interesting bits of history from you all too....amazing how many have that bit of farming background!