»»

THE TRANSFER WINDOW has gone for another year with the Swaledale sales completed . New signings have been made and sales too . By the time you read this the new strikers in the form of tups and regardless of whichever farm they have joined should all have done their job , scoring quickly from the end of October ! That ’ s certainly what the Porters will be hoping has happened once again at Low Oxnop and

Low Row in Swaledale where Steven and son William , Steven ’ s brothers , Bryan and Greg and Greg ’ s son , Chris are all engaged in the family enterprise producing Swaledales and Mules .

New signings and the sale of tups were once again completed at this year ’ s breed sales held in each of the Swaledale Sheep Breeders ’ Association ’ s five districts in October . It is a time that Steven , who lives at Summer Lodge

Farm , Low Row with wife , Carol , son , William and daughter , Rebecca still regards as fraught with stress no matter how many years he has been involved in buying and selling ‘ strikers ’. He ’ s good-humoured about the season but there is inevitable concern as this is perhaps the most serious time of the year and as any professional practitioner knows , to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail . ‘ As you get older you ’ d think it should get better , but

I ’ d started having sleepless nights before the sales as I always do ,’ says Steven . ‘ You ’ re all the time thinking what will our own tups do ? Will we buy the right ones ? And will ours sell ? I guess I ’ m not the only one who feels this way and at least the tup sales take our minds off Brexit for a while .’

The twin threat of how lamb exports may be affected by European shenanigans and how hill farming subsidies may