John Davies: Rain affects shearing, but crops love it

The much-needed rain arrived just in time for the fields we had re-seeded. The spring barley was also appreciative of a soak.

What did not work quite so well was the fact the day we were due to shear our ground ewes, it was also wet.

However, we managed to get them all into sheds, and with a little bit of lorrying and horse boxing from the bottom shed to the yard, we managed to get them all done.

We also ran the lambs over a bit of formalin, which has helped the scald. We had one outlying small bunch left, so Geraint and I sheared them one sunny day. I haven’t shorn for a few years now, but it didn’t do me any lasting harm.

We mowed in Lampeter on May 21, a little later than normal. Crops are not quite so heavy, but are of excellent quality.

On the contracting side of things, it’s all a couple of weeks later, but it looks as if it’ll get busy from now on. New Holland has done a number of upgrades and the forager seems to be going well.

Brecon cattle sale trade was disappointing, but not unexpected. Trade was surely back around £100 a head. Steers averaged £763 and heifers £716.

On leaving the box, a good friend, our wool board representative, advised me less beef, more wool. They have done a good job, but that could be a bit optimistic.

It’s worrying the way our percentage of retail price has been reduced in the last few months for finished cattle. We sold some Welsh Blacks, which are more stable, but still pretty tight.

Some of them were bought for a good price in spring, have looked nice and left some good FYM behind, but not much else.

We sprayed the thistles in last year’s new leys. It’s now very satisfying to drive through them and see them all crumpling up. Winter corn has had its final sprays - hopefully - and is looking well. The talk is of straw being expensive this year, so at least we’ll have some.

Our YFC rally took place last Saturday, hosted this year by Erwood YFC, who also won. Well done to them. The sun shone all day and an excellent night was had by all at the barn dance.

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