Sam on the Farm: March Madness!

By Sam Walton

As I write this, I’ve just been given the incredibly sad news that The Royal Cheshire County Show has been cancelled for 2020. A decision which I know won’t have been easy to make, but with the huge worry that COVID-19 is currently causing everyone and the guidance from the Government, I think it is the right decision to make. The world is a crazy place currently and I know that we haven’t seen anything like this before and hopefully we never will again. However with all the turmoil that is being caused by coronavirus, the work on the Farm still has to continue – there’ll be no self isolation down on the Farm!

It feels like spring may finally have arrived after one of longest winters I can remember. You come to expect the weather to be pretty harsh during the winter months but it’s not so much the snow and ice that’s been a problem, just so much rain! It will take a long time for the fields to dry out before we can even think of getting on them with a tractor, but it’ll just be a matter of being patient. A few of the “old school” farmers I’ve spoken to have said we’ll be in for an Indian summer now after all this rain at the start of 2020 and going off how we’ve started this year with all the ups and downs, it really wouldn’t surprise me!

The cattle are still being fed outside just until the grass starts to grow more, hopefully it shouldn’t be long now. Native breeds of cattle like ours do incredibly well in the winter months and looking at our girls now they’ve certainly been looking after themselves! Lambing isn’t too far away either and it’s time to start preparing before the busy few weeks really kick off and we welcome some more lambs onto the farm!