September is such a positive, exciting month for us here at Yellingham. The weather continues to be good – hence the B and B is still thriving, but importantly for us it is the start of a new sheep year. This year’s lambs are not fattening as quick as we would like due to the continuing lack of rain and hence grass growth – hard feed and hay are still very much on the menu for them all. But for the ewes and rams, it is a time of selection, culling and the purchase of new rams. For some sheep farmers, this task is well underway or even done and sorted. With the Jacob and Black Welsh Mountain sheep that we keep, we find that putting the rams in earlier than October is of no real advantage to us. Lambing in March is a good month, when hopefully the grass is growing and the weather reasonable – not like 2018.
So in September we go through all our ewes to check that they are fit and strong to put to the ram – good udders, good teeth and good feet. Any that don’t meet this criterion are culled. For some cull ewes, the end of the road is not imminent as I always keep back a few as dog training sheep – they know the ropes, they do as they’re told and they are steady. All good criteria for training a young dog.
This year I also need to buy in new rams, new bloodlines and hopefully they will reward me with good strong lambs for future flock replacements and good meat lambs. As I write, the sales are well underway. Let’s hope I can purchase some great new stock rams.
On another cheerful note, we hosted a fabulous lunch this month for a marvellous group from Sidmouth called “Living with Cancer”. We catered for 17 wonderful guests and cooked a 2 course Sunday lunch including Yellingham Farm Beef and seasonal Blackberry and Apple crumble – all from the farm. The group enjoyed looking at the animals, walking in the orchard and just enjoying the peaceful countryside in which we live. It was a real pleasure to have the Group here at Yellingham.
Janet East
