William and Andrew Cowx: A breed of ewe which only produces twins wanted

We have our triplet bearing ewes inside at night, only bringing in the odd ewe withvery finely skinned lambs. Last year we took a lamb off the triplets, rearing them artificially, but it proved very expensive and time consuming.

This year they have gone out with three lambs and we will try to look after them well and get them on creep feed as soon as possible. The ewes are mainly in good condition but we have a few showing signs of twin lamb disease and when they lamb have been carrying three or four lambs.

We sold some nine-ten month old bulls and heifers recently averaging £800, rather less than last year but they are not eating expensive concentrates. We got the highest price we have ever had for a cast cow - £1,204. 

Scans of our autumn calving cows had mixed results, they are in three groups - the heifers and older cows scanned quite well, but a batch of heifers were disappointing with half not in calf when they should have been.

We thought there was a problem with so many returning to the bull. The vet was here doing some work so we got them blood tested to see if there was any deficiencies and await the results.

Fertiliser has not arrived but as soon as it does we will have to spread some. I do not like putting it on until there are signs of growth, it is too costly to waste.

We should be grateful we live in a part of the world not affected by earthquakes, tsunamis and civil unrest, but in spite of being a long way away these events affect commodity prices. After being told the world is going to be short of food, I see a professor speaking at a conference in Carlisle who says consumption of lamb and beef will fall and chicken, fish and pork will be what is wanted - who are we to believe?

‘It’s a Farmers Life for Me’ on TV last week annoyed me. Couples have been competing for the tenancy of a 61-hectare (25-acre) farm for a year. I could not decide if it was serious or just a comedy.

It portrayed farming as an easy job when in fact it is a highly skilled profession requiring a lot of experience and knowledge to be successful. The prize of a farm for a year is ridiculous. The runners up projected a £54,000 profit off the farm - I think I will get them to come and advise us.

The barn conversion is progressing slowly. We did not realise how many rules, regulations and decisions there were to be made - thankfully the builders are doing an excellent job.

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