PHOTO - dusty work

HI Gang;
A father & son team run Island Farm on the "island peninsula" on the coast 1 mile from here. It raises from sea level to 465 feet, some 600 acres of which 300 are cultivatable; the rest is rough cliff grazing. Since 1947 they ran it as a mixed farm growing oats & barley, potatoes, fodder beet for sheep feeding, and short term grass leys. The stock comprised of beef cattle, sheep and pigs.
With the rapid decline in farm produce prices over the past few years, they changed from arable to rearing beef cattle (which are being phased out) and Llyn pedigre sheep (native breed from North Wales). The eventual aim is to run 6 ewes (and their lambs) per acre = 1800 ewes. Some fodder beet wil be grown for fattening the lambs.
1st May late afternoon they were preparing a fine seed bed to re-seed a grass field. Only a few hours of rain have fallen since 19th March, its bone dry even on this clay soil.
Cheers David