Yet again its been a busy few weeks. I was lucky enough to attend the NFU conference last month which was a great priveledge. My thanks go to NFU North East for sponsoring me to attend. I was particularly keen to attend the livestock session as well as the next generation meeting. The livestock session was encouraging and give me lots to think about as did the next generation forum. I hope the NFU takes full advantage of its Next Generation group to try and drive our industry forward. One major highlight of the whole conference must have been the dinner which had been kindly sponsored by a range of companies. I would love to meet the farmer who reared, and the chef who cooked, what was the best piece of beef I have ever had. You can find out my full round up of the NFU Conference here.

Limousin Show

I had an enjoyable time at the Carlisle Limousin Show and Sale also last month. Seeing a bull go through the ring selling at £126,000 is not something you see every day. Returning from Carlisle, I was straight into the Northumberland Young Farmers Pantomime competition. We got through the first round to the County final and came an amicable second which I was very pleased with.

Second place for Charolais

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The same day as I sold my calf, I finished university for the Easter break. I was wise enough to book a holiday some time ago so am looking forward to a week off before I start lambing again. Being this far north, we haven't, touch wood, had any cases of Schmallenberg disease but it quite worrying for the industry. It could have a great effect on exports and the price of sheep meat. As we go into the main lambing period, only time will tell what extent this problem is across the country. You can catch up with all that's going with Schmallenberg by tweeting hashtag #Schmallenberg.

Exams passed

Finally, to end on a good note, I passed all my exams for Semester 1. Once I'm back at Newcastle, it won't be long until we are into Semester 2 exams and will be finished for the year. Where does time go?

Happy Lambing.

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