As the evenings role in it is all too apparent that winter will soon be here. Autumn is usually a time for celebration on the farm, with the harvest gathered in and a bit of respite before winter really arrives and the monotonous daily feeding starts. We sell the majority of our lambs during the autumn and winter, so cash flow improves which helps. It is also during September/October that you sort out the breeding ewes and have a good count-up of the flocks and assess which ewes will breed again, which will be sold, as well as a general tally-up of how successful the last year has been.
As I have said in previous articles the spring was as bad as we can ever remember, with the wet winter and the ‘beasts from the east’ hitting us in March just as our ewes were about to give birth. Now we are selling lambs, it is becoming apparent how significant that bad weather was with our numbers well short of normal expectations. The bad weather hit everyone and sheep farmers all over the UK had it tough, and that is now showing in the markets. Breeding ewes and young females are well down in value, suggesting that most sheep farmers are either keeping fewer sheep or giving up sheep altogether! Fortunately, the price for prime lambs has been good which should help balance things - but as breeders who sell females it isn’t helping.
In 2007, supported by HRH The Prince of Wales, the Dartmoor Farmers Association was formed and I have been involved as a director ever since. Since then, we have been supplying beef and lamb to local pubs, hotels and butchers on a fairly small scale, but we will now be breaking new ground in partnership with Morrisons who will be stocking Dartmoor farmers’ lambs from the start of October! Dartmoor farmers have a unique product and our flocks and herds of hardy native-breed sheep and cattle have been selected and bred to thrive amongst the tors of Dartmoor. They graze and maintain the diverse and wild landscape, enjoying the benefits of living free-range for most of the year. The superior texture and flavour of the meat is a result of the grass-fed, wide-ranging farming process on the moor. Farmers and their grazing livestock have been custodians of this unique and beautiful place for generations, helping to secure their own future and the future of the national park!
On a lighter note, it seems like a long time ago that Gemma, the boys and I were driving through France on our summer holiday, where we had a lovely time with plenty of wine and cheese. Obviously I got pretty bored with the toll motorways so took every opportunity to drive the back roads which wound through lovely French scenery - a few wheat fields, sunflowers, numerous grape vines and some lovely looking Limousin and Blonde D’Aquitaine cattle! The downside of course was that a 5-hour journey took 9 hours and Daddy was not that popular with either the boys or Gemma!
Mat Cole, Greenwell Farm