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Lambing started back in February, on the farm I work on all year round, continuing into March and then I went away in April to lamb for someone else. Doing night shift wasn’t bad but I’m pleased it’s over and done with for another year.

I’m now back at University after the Easter break and it seems to be straight in at the deep end with plenty of work. Animal physiology, crop pests and soil management are all assignments due in this week which I should have probably completed over the Easter. Progress is being made, albeit slowly, with the aid of coffee and a local bakery taste test.

My thoughts are now turning to the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs (NFYFC) AGM which is a week today. With some exciting events, DJ’s and bands planned and also ‘Explore the Future Food Chain’ which is the re-brand of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Forum, it should be an enjoyable weekend. Hearing from Yeo Valley, DEFRA and other high profile speakers will be interesting and I’m keen to hear what they have to say. Also, a couple of young farmers along with myself will speak at the meeting to talk about challenges we face. I only hope it proves useful and some good, optimistic discussion comes out of it.

Finally, as May draws closer, so do exams. It doesn’t seem like five minutes since I started at Newcastle and within a month or so I will be finished first year. Where does time go?

While I haven’t yet looked at the results, it will be interesting to see how Farming Online’s lambing survey compares to the sheep I have lambed. Overall it seems to have been a good year with some early hot weather causing some prolapsing in ewes and some later snowy weather here causing some lamb losses out in the field.  But with a mild winter, reduced feed costs will hopefully make sheep margins a little more positive, making up for some of these losses. I’m only glad that we in the North have not been declared in a drought like many of our southern counterparts have.

To read Matty's last column click here.

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