The Year Round: Bonus as cattle still grazing late in year

None of us knows what the winter will bring, but it has been shortened on this south Pennines farm in the Halifax area.

Although our homestead is 1,000 feet altitude and well above the cereal growing line, there are several small valleys low down in which stock can shelter from most winds.

Our milk goes straight to retailers who need a steady supply, so we aim at having one cow a week calving between now and Christmas.

There will no doubt be the usual problems of householders ordering too much before the holiday then cutting right back.

Two newly calven heifers have been sold at reasonable prices.

Another show and sale is at Skipton Mart on Saturday. We have entered the pork trio class.

These pigs have lived useful lives consuming surplus milk and other waste products.

Their rations would remain the same but they will need a clean-up before the show.

Our 100 breeding ewes have all been tupped and may be scanned around Christmas time, so we shall know how many lambs to expect.

These sheep are Mules (Blue Faced Leicester Cross Swaledale) run with Texel rams.

They start to lamb in February so some offspring should depart from late summer onwards.

A very heavy crop of holly decorates much of this valley.

One tree is a mass of scarlet. People have their own opinions about whether this means a hard winter.

Young Farmers' Clubs are staging various events in the run-up to Christmas, but we seem less inclined to venture out on these dark, cold nights.

Several people have mentioned my photograph in the Yorkshire Post recently.

A gratifying number were non-farmers so there is obviously a genuine interest in how the countryside works.

CW 27/11/10