This weekend has been about having a little outing before lambing starts. So on Saturday we went to Tenby, just lunch and a walk on the beach, get that sea air in the lungs. Lovely walk around, spent a bit of money on some clothes I won’t wear for ages, but I am now prepared for the lovely spring weather when it comes round.

Sunday was all about last minute preparations in the sheep shed before we get busy. A handful of older ewes lambed earlier this year, with our main flock due 10th March – so in theory (because farming always follows theory 🙈😂) we will start lambing on 10th March this year. Yes Mothers Day – sorry Mam!

Yesterday was spent cleaning bits and pieces, making sure we have stock of things we need, writing a shopping list of the things we haven’t got etc. Good productive day, and the weather was lovely which always adds a spring to a step.

You may have read before that lambing is my favourite time of the year. It is great, having the lambs born, turning them out and seeing them run and jump in the fields. It doesn’t always flow quite as easy as that because, well, we are working with sheep, livestock. They have various problems, the weather can be different from year to year so you prepare for as much as possible, and then hope for the best!

We lamb inside, so all the ewes are in the shed. Last night as we were doing the evening feed, I noticed one starting to lamb so we kept an eye on her to see how she progressed. We try not to interfere unless it is necessary. We have a flock of Lleyn ewes which are a maternal breed, so should (in theory) lamb quite well on their own. After a few checks, something was showing….a tail. Not what you want to see. Breach means action is needed quickly because the cord can break while the lamb is still inside the ewe, leading to suffocation. But the swift movers that Dad and I are, we got in there, lambed her, and the lamb although a bit slow to start, got to breathing and standing quite quickly. All good. She had a second lamb coming superman style (one leg back) so helped with that one too to make sure she was okay. All fine.

After this I went to do another job and had quite a feeling of euphoria. That sounds dramatic, and I tend not to be that dramatic, but I had a real natural high for helping that ewe and making sure the lambs were okay. This to me is what it is all about.

This got me thinking about the consultation that Welsh Government have open at the moment called ‘Keep Farmers Farming’ and why it is so important to do exactly that.

From a selfish point of view, I love sheep, lambing, everything about farming sheep. I don’t want to be stopped because of policy changes. On a wider scale, though, it is just about me enjoying what I do, it is about producing and providing safe food that has received good animal welfare, and is available to everybody. I take great pride in this part. Producing food for people is an incredible thing to do – without food, we have serious issues.

Lamb is a healthy meat. It is nutrient dense which means you don’t actually need loads of it to be good for you – it performs very well! Plus, it is mega tasty! More people should be eating it, and more should have access to eat it.

During the year, as well as sheep, the farm has had some work done – last year double fences were replaced, and some more to do – also planting alot of flowers this year. This is all good for us, and good for biodiversity as well. We have seen snipe on the farm this year along with a myriad of other wildlife, which is great news.

Of course sheep farming isn’t the only type of agriculture in Wales or UK, do not forget the beef, the dairy, the poultry and the horticulture and honey producers.

So why the protests? I think there is a mixture of anger and fear, feelings of being undervalued and misunderstood. alot of new legislation with Agricultural Pollution regulations, continuous and ongoing of heartache of TB and now the new SFS proposal we are invited to consult on.

The point I am trying to make is that it is vitally important we respond to this consultation – to put our own stories across, explain the issues it will cause us with examples where we can, and highlight the things we think could work well. It is also a good idea to provide suggestions where a factor doesn’t work – but it could if done differently. I could start on my views of each point but that would be a very long read 😂

Take the ethos of if there is a problem, think of a solution for it where you can.

There are many places to get some help to complete if you want to – both farming unions have been very busy ,FUW and NFU both have support so if you are a member do get in touch with them. Wales YFC have a link you can complete as well. There is the link below, which is where you can complete it yourself (you can save and get a link of your progress sent to you too which is handy).

https://www.gov.wales/sustainable-farming-scheme-consultation

So please complete and submit a response, so you have been represented in this way – it is all so important!

I am back to the work at Rural Advisor for one week before lambing starts, one week until Mothers Day, and just a few days before the consultation response is due in (I confess I have not submitted it yet but I promise I will). It will be a busy week I reckon!

#keepfarmersfarming

Thank you for reading……and if I can help with a response please get in touch! x