Farming Folk of MN assemble!

[Scrowy]

Just because it annoys me that the rural living topic appears to be populated by people who clearly have no idea what rural actually means.

I know there are loads of us on here. It's our connection to the outside world during the long lambing and silaging nights. Our 'keeper awaker' on nights where you have a cow calving.

So here is the thread for general farming chit chat. Would be nice to have a rough/vague idea of area/farming type and breeds.

Also happy for non farming folk to join in and ask questions about anything farming and food related.

I'm Scrowy. We have a hill farm in the Northern Lakes and we are beef and sheep farmers. Mainly swaledales and Lim xs

Oh dear lord! Just read that!

Yep, living the life of Riley here thanks to SPS! Twonks!

Haven't seen DH since about Sunday. And this isn't even a "busy" time!

Hats off to the 'real' farmers, thus excluding the top few percent that own far too much and the bottom few percent that are scruffy/lazy.
Started reading t'other thread earlier. Have friends in farming, I don't think 'townies' understand the sheer dedication needed.

Just tapping my toes waiting for @WellErr and @Derxa to turn up and keep me company too

Hello!! Just seen this - I've got three Rs

We farm about 600 mule ewes but also do lots of contracting.

Going to look at the other thread now!

Bumping this. Because I just need to live vicariously through you all. I won't be any trouble at all. Think feral barn cat hoovering up your mice!

Hello! I live right next to an arable farm (rape; wheat;barley) with a lovely small beef herd who calve about 30 each year. I love it and love learning about it. My lovely neighbour had a column in the parish newsletter which is fascinating. He's kindly let me home some hives on his land too.

Hi, I'm not from a farming background but live in a village in the middle of mainly arable farming land. Can't get to pre school on time because of all the farming traffic at the moment! I love watching how the fields have been changing since January. It's really interesting to me but I've not idea what's growing in most of them.

Does anyone remember a school video shown in the 90s about how you shouldn't play on your neibours farm because you'll die a gruesome death? Think silage drowning and the like . It was so grim. I don't think they'd show that to school kids these days

Hello - crofter here. Currently just the 14 North Country Cheviot ewes, but hopefully getting another 18 acres later this year with associated common hill grazings, and aim to build up to 150 from hoggs to 5-year-olds.

Currently watching the weather forecast and wondering if I'm going to get a gap to cut my 5 acres of hay fields this year. The farm on the corner got their silage done in 3 days earlier this month, but I need about a week, as (a) I want hay and (b) I'm using an MF35 and equally vintage fingerbar mower, PZ-300 and square baler, so I'm a lot slower!

Hello
I'm on a beef and sheep farm, we are getting frustrated with the weather, we still have 5 fields left that need mowing for hay, hope we get some sun in August.

Marking my place in case this thread is revived...

I grew up on a farm and still live in rural mid Wales. Although I don't currently farm myself I work in the industry.

I'll place mark in case it has a revival as well.

Dairy farmers' daughter, defected to Lincolnshire and married an arable farmer, I'm a land agent for my sins, I specialise in portfolio management rather than sales and acquisitions so don't blame me for land values.

we are getting frustrated with the weather ....... hope we get some sun in August.

Not sure why but I don't seem to be getting notified that people have been posting on this, assumed it had died a death!

Hasn't this summer been awful!

Winter seems to be coming round too quickly this year.

has anyone been watching this farming life on BBC 2?

Slightly removed in the fact that family owns acreage that is mostly tenanted to dairy farms, but some left for in house farming, mainly sheep with a few beef cattle, I have done numerous lambing seasons, and winters working in the dairies but only hands in now are our small motley crew of mainly Portlands, (one an escape artist who ends up in the kitchen) and suffolks, and hoping to start small enterprise turning fleeces into knitting wool.

Fivegomad

We recently had a Norwegian spinner staying with us in our cottage who told us that Blue Faced Leicester wool is the most sought after for spinning in all the spinning groups.

I think the gruesome film where kids died in farming/ country side activities was called APACHE. As in 10 little indians.
We had to watch it every year at school in the seventies due to living rurally.
Bloody miserable film.

Dairy farm here. Tho i try to have nothing to do with as I flippin hate it. Having lived rurally all my childhood, During my happy 20s - 30s, I discovered living in a city was bloody ace. But now I'm back living in a field and miss civilisation soooo much.
Sorry to pop the rural idyll bubble ☹

I knit with Blue Faced Leicester, it is indeed lovely, it I love my Portland and will be interesting to see what it turns out like

I remember that film ticklady

Stuff of nightmares, you can find it on YouTube, we (not the kids) watched it a few months ago. As bad as we'd remembered - dh and me both farm kids that survived the 70's!

Yes me and dh looked it up on you tube but I couldn't bring myself to watch it, tho I feel i should make my kids!!! But I know they would be freaked out by it.

Yes, weather's been terrible - I've managed to get enough hay off the fields round the house to get me through winter, but still have an uncut 2.5 acres out on the point. Fingers crossed the guy who says he'll do it for me when he does his nearby might be able to get it this week as the forecast is saying 6 dry days, otherwise I think it's just going to have to be grazed off. Managed to break both the mower and the haybob this year, otherwise I'd be out there myself.

Long shot, but anyone got one of the NJ Phillips drencher/vaccinator guns that goes up to 12.5mm? I think I've lost a bit out of mine,as it's not working, but none of the ones on their website look like the one I've got, so can't check the parts diagrams. I think there should be a valve between the barrel and the nozzle and I think it must have disappeared down the sink when I was cleaning it last :(

Hi all, I'm hoping this thread isn't completely dead. I've recently married a dairy farmer, who's family own a small organic dairy farm in Lancashire. I'm expecting our first child in summer and will move into the farmhouse in the next few months. I'm dreading it!! It's not remotely rural however I'm really going to miss having neighbours who put the bin out for me and the constant stream of other neighbours walking their dogs past and waving. Add to that the damp and my in-laws (who are genuinely lovely people) becoming even more involved daily and I'm honestly bricking it.

There is a great FB group called Ladies who love Livestock - just FYI. V active.

Farmer's daughter here, and I remember seeing That Film in the 1970s. I was terrified by it - went home from school and didn't shift from the house for days. Cried myself to sleep at nights. Horrific stuff!

I'm no longer directly involved in farming, but live and work in a rural area, and still have contact with some now middle-aged farmers I knew as Young Farmers.