29th October 2007
Lorries have been arriving in all directions, sand on one, for the cement mixture, cement blocks on an other, for building, while a huge cattle float ambles it s way up the single track road to transport the lambs away to market on the mainland. One very busy happy farmer then!

Saturday saw a day of frustrations for an old friend. The happy farmer had warned the friend, when he mentioned the fact that he was planning to get his cattle scanned on Saturday that the forecast was not good.

‘It’s going to be a perfect day’ was the friend’s response, as he borrowed the happy farmer’s cattle crush, ready to load the cows into for scanning.

Saturday arrived. We watched as the float pulled up; the happy farmer went out to help chase the cows on. The rain was torrential, the wind, howling. Worse was yet to come.

The happy news, all of the cows are in calf. The not so happy news is that the lovely Belgian Blue bull has not been working at all. He has been living in idle luxury in among those girls, and not getting down to business at all!

It was the ‘chaser’ bull, who could only arrive the other week, when the foot and mouth restrictions were finally lifted, that did all of the positive mating that was going on out in the fields. Usually the ‘chaser’ bull would have been in with the girls a lot sooner, but movement between farms was banned in the wake of the foot and mouth crisis down south. The happy farmer did of course kindly offer the services of a handsome Highland Bull in the near vicinity at the time of the restrictions...…

The outcome this sorry tale is a late calving for our farmer friend. Those cows will no longer be calving in April as planned, but will now calve in July, which brings with it a whole heap of awkward implications in terms of having to rear those calves through the autumn and winter, missing the best of the weather and the grass, not to mention the fact that the cows will not be ready for the bull until much later next year, plus the whole financial implication of not having calves to sell early on.

Rain and gales, you would think it doesn’t get much worse wouldn’t you. How does that song go….’It’s such a perfect day….’

Until next time …..