This month we are thankful.
We have just had our annual TB test. Mercifully everything went clear for us this time, but having had inconclusive reactors in July last year, we’ve known the difficulty of being under restriction while beef and bull calves come thick and fast. This year we prepared for that unhappy eventuality as best we could, by testing at the very end of calving, and making sure that we had as few bull and beef calves on the ground as possible. We only have a few Angus and some Yaks about at the moment, and sweet as the fluffy little yaks may be, we are very pleased not to have to find out what a six month old yak looks like. We’ve had one winter of rearing beef calves, alongside our heifers, and that was more than enough for us!
As I write this, the maize clamp is being sheeted up. The silage clamp seems to expand and multiply every year, to the extent that Liz, who is originally from Swansea, almost feels like she is back in the Welsh valleys! The team were very happy when all was done, having had more than their fair share of mechanical failures, and John was particularly pleased that everything was finished in time for the Harvest service. At Harvest we celebrate the fruit of the land, the work of farmers, and the provision of God, all of which we can vouch for daily. It is a festival of thankfulness, which we can easily identify with right now.