What a roller coaster of a year! An extended drought and extreme summer temperatures, three Prime Ministers in a calamitous political period, the death of our Queen after achieving a memorable Platinum Jubilee of her reign and, of course, a new King! Couple that with an economic downturn and industrial unrest of epic proportions and we have a perfect storm.
The good stuff first! The Platinum Jubilee celebrations started with an official beacon on top of our hill, along with many hundreds of beacons throughout the country. A perfect evening, loads of people from the village, coffee, hot chocolate, prosecco and fireworks to round the evening off! A totally outstanding and memorable event.
At this stage of the year it’s almost possible to forget the summer weather and drought. Our grassland resembled a desert from very early on and meant supplementary sheep feeding was needed, months ahead of the norm. With the pastures taking such a hammering it will be necessary to rejuvenate some of the areas to bring everything back up to speed. Despite this, the sheep fared well and are already into their breeding cycle aiming for a late February lambing. Scanning at the start of January will reveal all!
Our flock of Llanwenog sheep is expanding and another ram was purchased from the pedigree show and sale at Llanybydder, west Wales. A great day out, learning more about the breed apart from experiencing a truly rural farming event!
Crop yields this season have been outstanding, bearing in mind the pessimism we had during the drought! Our milling wheat and winter barley yields reached an all-time high, although the beans only achieved average expectations. Crop prices have improved considerably and returns bode well from the arable side of things. However, before we get out the champagne everything is tempered by the ridiculous rise in the cost of our farming inputs, particularly fertiliser, feed and fuel! As an example, fertiliser prices have more than doubled which has led to many farmers reviewing their cropping policies for next year.
We’ve sallied forth and intend doing much of the same as previously. We have a good rotation which adds fertility to the soil, and grow cover crops over the winter period, providing sheep grazing and also a fertility and soil conditioner for the following crop. Our main crop will be milling wheat and the crystal ball predicts sound returns from that commodity if, and a very big if at that, we can produce a product which meets exacting specifications for the millers!
So, we look ahead to 2023 with a degree of trepidation and hope. World events have thrown forward planning into turmoil and we must be even better at our business management than ever before.
Christmas is always a special time for our family and Boxing Day should see a house full of big children and little children. As ever, Christmas has suddenly rushed up on us, the church has been decorated and a tree is sparkling outside for all to see. Our new sheep dog Sid, is just over a year old and a great character already. We seem to have established who is the boss and training is coming along – pretty well, I think!
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
