Ready to tear into 2022

John Scott reflects on the disruption to life at Fearn Farm and looks forward to a better 2022.

WELL 2021 WAS A BUGGA WASN’T it. Glad to put that one behind us and lets get ripped into 2022, surely it will bring us a path beyond what is becoming our far too-familiar new mate Rona (coronavirus). We had a wee gathering planned for just before Christmas. Haven’t had one for a while and you could tell that our friends were lining up for a break-out. You know the sort of night where the local farming community is noticeably MIA the following morning.

It had to be postponed and rightly so. We have had quite a few friends in isolation over Christmas, hopefully it will get rescheduled before the spring work kicks in and obviously we will need to fit it in around the six nations rugby.

Over the festive season we have been running on half power in terms of our team as everyone has had a well-deserved break. Hopefully they will return with renewed enthusiasm and we will hit the ground running in January.

“I really hope there are plenty of youngsters planning their OE once things settle down, it’s vital that this tradition continues in both directions.”

We plan to organise a couple of team-building events before the spring chaos starts. Senior staff have been delegated with planning something so who knows what they will come up with but it’s needed. There have been virtually no farm-based CPD events for almost two years now and there’s no doubt that it’s had a negative impact on team morale.

Our sheep team is still short so we are casting the net again at the moment, not many Kiwis on the go over here at the moment who would often fill a gap. I really hope there are plenty of youngsters planning their OE once things settle down, it’s vital that this tradition continues in both directions. It plays a huge part in personal development and the friends that are made for life are irreplaceable.

Lambing is now not that far away with 400 broken mouthed and older ewes due in mid-February, we had stopped this early lambing but the lure of the boost to cashflow in midsummer which can be a bit tight was too strong a temptation. It also gives us the chance to train the greener members of the team in the art of indoor lambing, a practice we have mixed feelings about.

In an ideal world we would lamb everything outside with little assistance and no predators (badgers, foxes, ravens, hooded crows and black-back gulls), awesome weather and experienced staff who understand sheep and how to manage them on grass during lambing. In reality cash is king and we need as many lambs on the truck as possible and the best way we can achieve that is through a hybrid system which involves lambing both inside and out spreading workload and responsibility throughout the season.

The bulk of our lambing and calving has been scheduled for mid-March and April when James and Izzy (No 1 and 2 offspring) will be home to supervise (run the show).

There’s no doubt 2022 has the potential to be a fairly busy year at Fearn. Along with normal farming activity we have various construction projects which will mean a fair bit of upheaval. First, we have sold some of our less-productive land to Glenmorangie distillery for warehouses which they will store barrels of whisky in. While this makes financial sense it does mean we are losing some sheltered fields and two sheds which will need to be replaced.

I can visualise a fellow columnist from the Wairarapa getting very excited as he reads this and he will no doubt be over once they are built to patrol the boundary fence for an entry point as I know from previous experience that he’s partial to a drop of the good stuff.

Also on the agenda is the relocation of our sheep and cattle handling undercover which will make handling stock easier and more efficient whilst certainly making it more pleasant on wet and windy winter days. By doing this we free up a decent space with a cracking view of Fearn Abbey which was originally built 10 miles away in the 1220s but moved in 1238 to its current site to avoid the turbulence caused by the northern clans while gaining the benefit of better soil.

We are weighing up various options for the space vacated, but it’s likely we will try and add value to what we already do at Fearn.