Tywydd

Well the weather has been rubbish, the odd dry day, but still far too much rain and not enough heat, and because of this grass growth has been particularly slow, especially on the heavy clay land that we have. By this time last year the sheep had been shorn for a good two weeks, but there's no prospect of shearing so far this year. The cows have almost all been sold now, 4 went this morning and the final 5 are expected to go to the mart next week, it will be a particularly sad time when the final cows leave the farm. Lambs are coming on slowly, and after weighing them recently I was pleasantly surprised, but they don't seem to have the bloom they usually have, I blame the rain!!

Since I wrote last I have been to the AGM in Torquay, and we had a fantastic time. There were numerous successes for Wales YFC members including Aled Jones of Dyffryn Cothi YFC winning the NFYFC Senior Member of the Year and Builth Wells YFC winning the pantomime competition. The county rallies have started too, and so far I have visited Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan with many more in the pipeline. The agricultural shows are about to start in our area too, and it will be nice to visit St. Clears Show this weekend to accept my first judging invitation to judge the Texel section.

To close, I'm afraid I must report that my bike ride training has been hopeless over the last few weeks. Between the numerous meetings I have attended and the rubbish weather the bike has been in the shed more than on the road. I will have to pull my finger out if I want to do this bike ride without killing myself!! Hopefully by the next time I write I will have been training a lot more, as well as finished shearing and done a lot more of work on the house.

Bye for now,

Beefy

Hello!! Hope you're all keeping well!!

To be honest, I can't believe it's May!! Can you? Christmas only feels like yesterday!! But there we go...I suppose that time flies when you're having fun!! There's never enough hours during the day...especially when the Young Farmers rally is on Saturday! For a change, as a club, we thought that we were relatively organized this year! But no...it's last minute as always!! We have been practising the cooking, dancing, crafting every night this week! My best friend at the moment is the paint and PVA glue!! However, this is one of the highlights within the Young Farmers. Everyone coming together for a fun day out!! Brilliant!! I only hope the weather behaves, or the tug of war will be a little bit messy. The rain we've had these past few days has been awful. If you are in the area this weekend, why won't you come and join us in the Anglesey Showground, Mona, Llangefni, Saturday the 12^th of May, 9:00a.m start!! I can promise you a fantastic day!!

As part of my University course, I am fortunate to have a variety of short placements to complete throughout my current module. This week I have been on a short placement for a day with the health visitor. As a student midwife I have witnessed the strong communication between the midwife and the health visitor as we transfer the care of the mothers and their babies to the health visitor. Then the health visitor continues the partnership with the women and their child until the child enters primary school. It is highly important that we work together as a team to allow effective care for the women. Also this week I am on a short placement with the practice nurse to allow myself to learn about her role within the primary healthcare team which I'm sure will be very interesting.

That's it for now, thank you for reading.

Best wishes,

Siân Pierce Roberts

Well the dry weather is well and truly behind us, and seems a bit of a distant memory, after the recent rainfall it is very difficult to fathom that there are many parts of the UK classified as in a drought. Cattle were turned out fairly early this year, but soon we may be contemplating bringing them back in because the fields are getting so wet. Ewes and lambs are also taking a bit of a battering recently; they really don't appreciate the wet weather. The wet weather wouldn't be so bad if grass was growing, but there doesn't seem to be enough warmth in the soil to stimulate growth. We've also received our soil analysis reports back, I was pleasantly surprised to see that level of the main nutrients (Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphates) were at good levels, however the soil seemed to be quite acidic, and we have been advised to apply 2 tonnes per acre of Lime in order to correct the pH.

As Wales YFC Chairman it is always a busy time, last weekend I was fortunate enough to be invited over to Northern Ireland for the YFC Ulster AGM and this weekend I'm heading down to Torquay for NFYFC of England and Wales AGM (and I haven't written my speech yet!!) Also recently there have been a number of field days culminating in the All Wales Field day in Brecon a few weeks ago. Counties will now be focusing on their county rallies and looking ahead to the Royal Welsh, and speaking of the Royal Welsh I have just looked at my diary and realised that between now and then I have something on every weekend. So plenty to keep me busy!!

I have been out training on the bike recently too, things are coming very slowly, but I am getting some miles under my belt, I would like to have more time to go out for a ride, and hopefully as the days get even longer (and hopefully a bit drier) I will get a bit more time, and considering I have 500 miles to cover, boy do I need it!!

Oh and I almost forgot, I must congratulate my wife, Louise. In the last few weeks she has been chosen to be Carmarthenshire YFC Lady Ambassador for 2012/13, it's something she has wanted to do for years, and I am extremely happy for her. I'm looking forward to seeing her in her new dress on the Rally day on the 5^th May.

Until next time

Beefy

  Hello!

I hope everyone is keeping well.

It's been slightly cold on Anglesey recently, although we have seen some sunny spells over the past week. By now we've finished lambing and the lambs are out and about on the fields. The milking cows have also been turned out since about three weeks and I can certainly see a difference when milking takes place. Recently the quality and quantity of the milk has increased by far, which is showing the benefits of good quality grass.

The time has come for one of the main events on the YFC calendar - the Rally!! And of course the winners of the Rally will go on to compete in the Royal Welsh in July! The theme this year is 'wedding', therefore the majority of the competitions will be based on the wedding theme. It's an interesting theme to be honest! (I love weddings!!) Whether the competition is crafts, dancing, singing or the tug of war there's plenty of choice! We have decided who will be competing in every competition and we have even started on the odd competition. The guys are in the middle of building the sign at the moment - this is an additional competition; we have to advertise the Rally across Anglesey, therefore every club is responsible of making a sign to advertise the Rally and place it in a convenient spot in the clubs area. If you're in the area on the 12^th of May, come to The Anglesey show ground, Mona, Llangefni to support and to join in the fun!

We had a party on Friday to celebrate, congratulate and to thank our county President for all her hard work over the last year! We have been very lucky to have such an enthusiastic President who has been ready to help anyone in any situation! We decided on a theme for the evening, and therefore the Anglesey Young Farmers members were all dressing up as 'Casualty' on the night...the party was full of doctors, nurses and patients!

Thank you very much for reading,

Bye for now,

Siân Pierce Roberts

Hasn't it been lovely!! The weather we've had on Anglesey has been gorgeous. When I'm passing the fields on my way back and forth from home to my placement I can see that some farmers have already started with the seeding and ploughing...which of course shows that the weather is pleasing. My father and brothers have been seeding although on the other hand..they do say that it is slightly too dry to roll the fields. I love this time of year to be honest, the lambs are enjoying themselves on the fields, the tractors out...the beginning of all the summer activities. My brother is still lambing his welsh mountain sheep with around a hundred ewes in lambing left. Stock prices are very good at the moment and therefore we have just sold some of our beef cattle and late born lambs last year.

Since the Pantomime we have had various interesting nights in the club by beginning with Mari Jones from 'Agriscop'. Agriscop helps farmers or people with a farming background to develop the interest further. There were many members interested and therefore I'm sure that the evening was very successful. Also we had another successful evening held by the local vet. We saw all various aspects of the veterinary surgery form the main desk, to the store room, to the scanning room to the treatment rooms. A brilliant evening! We are having a 'break' for now for the Easter holidays but we'll be re-starting towards the end of April, and of course...what will be on our minds??....The Rally!!

I am currently on community placement and thoroughly enjoying the experience.  I count myself very privileged I must say! I am thoroughly enjoying the course and I learn something different every day!! I love it!!

Well that is all for now...

Enjoy the sun!!

Sian Pierce

It has been over a month since I wrote here last, but as usual it has been a busy time. Lambing has been fairy uneventful, only one left now.

It has been fairly mild over the last month or so, but even with all the talk of the dry weather and drought in the East of England, it is still quite damp underfoot here, and the soil is quite slow in heating up as well, meaning that we will have to wait a bit longer for some substantial grass growth. However we have ventured to turn out the ewes and lambs, as it is far healthier for them outside than it is inside a shed. The tack sheep have also gone home by now, so there should be more grass for our sheep in the coming weeks. We are also planning on going out to sample our soils this week in order to find out the pH level, as well as how productive the land is. By doing this we can work out how much and what type of fertiliser we need to use. I am hoping this will be a worthwhile activity, as we have not done it before.

I have ventured to many YFC Pantomimes  performances over the last month, and it has been a pleasure to watch each one, and I'm very grateful for all the invitations I received, the only disappointing bit was that I could visit every one! However, last weekend Wales YFC welcomed members from all over Wales to Llandudno for the Entertainment Feast, the finals of Wales YFC Pantomimes. A huge congratulations goes to Bro Ddyfi and Builth Wells YFC's for winning the Welsh and English Sections. It was a great weekend and I'm now looking forward to the highlights programme on S4C.

Well time is getting the best of me once again, and if I have any intention of watching Wales take on France for the Grand Slam, I better get on with it. Things to do and people to see!!

Good luck Wales.

Dylan Beefy

It has been such a beautiful start to the spring with the sun shining upon us. Although it is still quite cold the rain and snow has kept away so far. The weather is very important at this time of year as we have many newborn lambs going out into the fresh air and enjoying themselves on the field. At present the first batch of lambing is over but there is no keeping on the colostrums as the second batch, my brother's Welsh ewes are due in two weeks. As the spring comes nearer there are many farmers preparing for ploughing and seeding therefore good weather is very important.

I am not quite sure if I mentioned our little puppies, but around three months ago we had a little 'surprise' one morning when we saw three puppies in Jill's hut.  Shock did I hear you ask? No wonder next door's dog liked coming over. Of course, my father has thoroughly enjoyed having Mali, Jess and Lili, the three new additions to the family, but unfortunately two of them have been sold this week...therefore we had to say our bye bye's!

The last time I wrote a blog was when I was busy preparing for our county pantomime. I must say every pantomime that performed that evening was brilliant!! Unfortunately our club weren't the winners but I assure you...the club that came first was fantastic!!! The talent they have in the club is outstanding and I do wish them the very best of luck in the Wales competition this weekend in Llandudno!!

An event was held last week in our county that was a little different to the ordinary. We had a conference for all the members of the young farmers on Anglesey to discuss the young farmer's image and development. We discussed our county logo, yearbook, marketing etc. It was a very successful evening with several different ideas being shared by the members. We hope to develop our image with the new ideas discussed last week.

As you might already know, Anglesey is going to be the county sponsors for the Royal Welsh Agricultural show next year (2013). My brother and I are members of the fundraising committee on Anglesey and there are many events planned for the future year. Therefore I will give you an update on these events just in case some of you are in the area and might like to come. We would be very grateful for any support.

In my next blog I'll have more news on the lambing and more stories from the Young Farmers.

Take care,

Siân Pierce Roberts

 I myself have never been one for the cold - however through every shower of snow and every gust of wind; the show must go on down at the farm.

 Over the past few weeks, we've been focusing our attention in preparation for the fast approaching lambing season. The first step was to select suitable rams in late September at the local Sheep Market in Crymych in time for tupping. These would be introduced to the flock of roughly 130 sheep on the 5^th of November; four very fortunate rams. The length of pregnancy for a sheep will last for a period of just under 5 months; therefore if tupping begins on Guy Folks Night (5^th of November), we should expect new born lambs on April Fools' Day (1^st of April). However some farmers choose to undertake lambing season a few months earlier in order to capitalise on higher market prices during the Easter holidays. Despite this, consideration of higher overall costs should be taken into account, as well as the inclement weather conditions that we're all too familiar with. Greater grass growth in April means that we can turn the lambs and their mothers out to the fields earlier, enabling us to keep feed costs at a minimum. The fewer cheques Mam has to sign the better! Favourable weather conditions that are associated with spring are welcomed, and the Easter holidays away from school and university fall conveniently for Aled and myself in order to step up to our shepherding duties. In preparation, we scan the sheep for pregnancy in advance of lambing in order to foresee what April may bring. I'm pleased to say that the vast majority of the flock are Mums-to-be with over 80 sheep expecting twins. Good work boys! It's apparent that the rams I'd chosen certainly do take their work seriously. We therefore look forward to the new arrivals come April, and maybe not so much to the related lack of sleep that will inevitably be the case.

 On the 23^rd of January, the time had come to farewell the remaining of last season's prime hoggets (ram lambs). I did however choose to keep one Suffolk ram for future breeding; you're likely to hear more about him again nearer to September. Nonetheless, trade was raring at Cardigan Mart despite the plummeting temperatures. In a previous blog before Christmas, you may remember me mentioning of prices of £99.50 a head. Exchange rates with respect to the euro (€) and the sterling (£) have been highly influenced recently due to the uncertain economic climate that exists in Europe, with the possible collapse of Greece primarily responsible. Wales' agricultural products are highly dependent on exports to foreign markets, and therefore market prices have reacted with respect to the changing exchange rates. Despite European confusion, succeeding to sell the hoggets at £92 a head as well as ensuring a high price per kilo (kg) was a promising result!

 We've also been busy in recent weeks with the cattle. Just under a month ago, we decided it was time to wean the calves from their mothers as they were approaching 8 months old. Also, I and Aled checked the whole herd for missing tags and subsequently replaced any that had been lost. It's important to keep on top of this in order to comply with the strict measures that the Assembly have in place for farmers. I and Mam ensured that the associated paperwork was also up to date - a true family effort.

 Moving on to a few other goings-on, congratulations goes to the pantomime crew at Hermon YFC on beating Eglwyswrw as they go on to compete in the final round at Llandudno. All the best to them with their efforts! I also had the opportunity recently to take part in the new series of 'Jacpot' on S4C, a thrilling experience! 'Dim jacpot' (no jackpot) this time round, however I get another chance to compete in the next series - can't wait! In my next blog, I aim to keep you up to date with the on-going preparations of the lambing season as well as mentioning a little about the YFC field day. Remember to stay dry in this heavy rain!

Until then - take care and thanks for reading,

Carwyn Bwlchclaw'.

Doesn't time fly - we're already half way through February! The shops are full of Valentine's gifts and the Easter eggs closely following behind. We have been very lucky in Anglesey that we have managed to avoid the snow - but the temperature has dropped and the ice is very dangerous on the roads. As the average farmer's working hours are increasing this time of year - it is indeed very cold outside for them! As my mum would say, "there is a need for Long-johns!!" The weather does not only affect us as farmers but has also affected the Rugby Six Nations as Ireland's match was postponed against France as the ground was too icy. Although having said that, the weather didn't affect our national squad last weekend as the match finished with a score of 27 - 13 to Wales against Scotland. Brilliant news! We're getting closer to the Triple Crown and by crossing fingers the Six Nations Championship will be coming home with them!

I hope that you all enjoyed the S4C programme "Ffermio" last week as our Young Farmers Clubs was highlighted on the programme! It was a brilliant experience for all members and the programme allowed the public to see behind the scenes of competing! Speaking of competing, the Pantomime is nearly here! There is only a week to go until the competition! Everything is nearly ready... Costumes - tick! Props - tick! Learning the script - half a tick! The set - half a tick! I'm guessing that my job this week will be painting! I'm very glad to hear of Dylan's news in his last blog that he will be bike-riding around Wales visiting every county! We'll be looking forward to seeing you, and I'll make sure that there is a brew and a few biscuits waiting for you!!

I had a week off University last week therefore I was busy working with my mum and her business. This was no ordinary week for mum as there was little cooking involved. Instead, we had a very interesting meeting with the ex-buyer for 'Harrods' and 'Fortnum and Mason' as there is a vast interest in my mum's products in London! I am very proud of her I must say!  As for my work placement at the University - I'm currently moving from the hospital back into the community. I am glad to say that I have passed every one of my exams in January and therefore one step nearer.

Thank you for reading my blog, until next time, take care,

Siân Pierce Roberts

Well the mild winter has gone and the cold winter has come to meet us! By now we have had numerous nights were the temperature has fallen way below the freezing point, and unfortunately this has led to frozen pipes to some of the sheds (as well as the caravan!!). Apart from the pipes freezing (which to be fair defrosted pretty easily), the cold weather hasn't troubled us too much, as all the stock are in eating silage. However we will be eagerly looking forward to see how long this cold spell lasts, as there is no hope of grass growing when it's this cold!!

The sheep have been in for over a month now, and lambing is just around the corner, so long days and short nights await us. When we have our first lambs I will try to the share the pictures with you on this site. The house has moved on quickly in the last month, but as the work has moved on, the bills have mounted up, and there's no sign of them easing up as we have just had quotes for further work that needs doing! Ah well the show must go on!

Talking about shows - There is a busy time ahead of us with the Young Farmers too, with numerous clubs all over Wales preparing for their county finals of the pantomime competition. I have received invitations from many counties to go and watch their pantomimes, but unfortunately it will be impossible to go to them all, but I will try my best to go and watch as many as possible. I'm looking forward to watching the YFC talent on stage once again.

I told you last time that I was going shopping for a bike, and I can now tell you that I have bought one. The reason? Well in order to raise money for Wales YFC's chosen charity of the year Wales Air Ambulance.  I have decided to try and cycle around all the Wales YFC county offices as well as the three air bases that the Wales Air ambulance operates out of. It will be quite a challenge for me (especially to consider how unfit I am!!), but I am determined to complete this 500 mile journey in order to raise money for this worthy charity. I have just started a Facebook page to promote the attempt, therefore if you require further information on "Beefy's Bike Ride" follow this link http://on.fb.me/xdu6U3 .I will update this page with dates and the latest information. If you have any tips or advice for me or you can offer me any assistance on my journey, please feel free to contact me.

That's enough for now, I'm off for a spin on the new bike.

Ta-ra

Beefy