A Norfolk farmer: 3 months in pictures.

So a whole lot of workin' an' not of lot of blogging has been the story of the last few months. So i have grabbed a few pictures of what has been going on at Church Farm. I spent most of the summer in my fabulous (wife says that might be a bit camp for a farmer but I'm sticking to it!) hire tractor from Evergreen tractors. I hire a 120hp tractor every year and this year Harriet from evergreen kitted me out with a 6430 with the auto-power gearbox and nearly every extra out there. What makes this tractor so good in a nutshell is that all the controls are literally at your fingertips and you can command power and precision with the slightest of movements. The tractor is fully automatic so no clutch work. Working with a top of the range tractor with my very capable baler i was producing one bale of straw every 45 seconds. It was a very sad day when i had to return the 6430, in fact its bringing a tear to my eye reminiscing!

From tiny calves -

- mighty steers do grow.

Over summer we have had three steers finish and go to slaughter, including my first born (calf not son) Mason. When we slaughter we round up the beast the night before and bring them into the yard for the night. The next day I load them onto a trailer and they travel 4 miles to local abattoir arriving at 7.30am and they are processed by 8.00am. Mason had the honour of providing the meat for my sisters wedding to her long term boyfriend Oli. During his speech to friends and family he recounted the origin of Masons name, it happens to be my biggest professional gaff since owning cattle and something i hoped would stay private but no such luck. As he told them I'm going to tell you. The cattle arrived on 1st March 2008, 15 in calf cows and some young stock, on the 10th March when checking the stock on my wife's birthday i spotted a brown blob in the middle of a 45 acre field. It was a horrible day, sleeting with a NE wind so i rounded up mum and calf and forced it on't'tit. Now for the embarrassing bit. I turned the calf over and spotted 6 pink nipples or mini udders and therefore announced to the family that the first heifer had been born and was called May (my wifes maiden surname) and we were all right chuffed. A few months later Dad and I were checking the stock and he noticed that May was peeing out the middle not the back and uttered the embarrassing statement, funny looking girl boy! So Mayson was born. Safe to say i am always on the look out for a ball sack now!

My sisters wedding was just fab and a really good family day on farm. She has got lots of images on her blog and is well worth a look. This cracking picture was taken by the very artistic Katie.

I also reached the big 30, time to start pushing on the farm before i start getting really old!