4 EDITOR’S INTRO
APR/MAY 2018 • farmers-mart.co.uk
It’s been an interesting
couple of months,
and generally not in a
great way. The start of
the lambing season was
beset with difficulties caused mainly
by the weather we experienced.
Heavy snows and torrential rain
made the start of the season fraught
with many problems. If that wasn’t
difficult enough sheep farmers
have had to contend with a growing
rise in attacks on sheep by dogs.
WE’VE seen a growing increase
across the country sheep wor-
rying, every day there are posts
on Twitter by farmers and police
describing in graphic detail
attacks on sheep, either showing
the horrific injuries caused or the
needless death of sheep and in
some cases lambs. There seems
to be an increase in irrespon-
sible dog owners who allow
their animals to run free around
livestock.
A national campaign has been
launched to raise awareness to
the issue under the title ‘Take
the Lead’. Its aim is to highlight
the need to keep dogs on the
lead when around livestock in
the countryside. All dogs have
a natural instinct to chase, and
just because a family pet is loving
and friendly doesn’t mean it
won’t chase livestock in a field.
The dog may not bite whilst
chasing, but the act of chasing
down sheep may cause the
animal to die through panic and
fear.
The harsh weather also
caused problems for those who
would normally sow spring
crops at this time of the year.
With the heavy snows followed
by torrential rain, meant that
fields became water soaked
delayed farmers sowing the first
crops of the year. This is likely
to hamper harvest yields later
in the farming year. Many farms
around the country have said
they are a month behind which
will have a knock-on effect going
forward. Hopefully as we move
into May and beyond the worst
of the weather is behind us.
In this issue we have started a
new feature looking at a par-
ticular breed, in this issue we’re
looking at the Teeswater Sheep
breed. We’d love to hear from
other breed associations who
would like to be featured in fu-
ture issues of the magazine. Any
breed association who would
like to be featured should contact
me on my email; jason@cvgroup.
co.uk. I would also like to hear
from anyone who has restored
a classic tractor or piece of ma-
chinery and wou