Keep us posted on what you decide, and if you get into something new that you can take us along for, I am sure many of us would be interested in following the new journey. This channel had a huge shift when your dad passed, and it was able to keep going, I am sure what ever comes next could be another large shift. I wish you luck in what ever you decide.
Too many of us farmers carry on with the same thing year after year ,without stopping and reevaluating what they’re doing ,as like you they spend lots of time and effort and get little reward. I admire you for having making the decision to think of something different,I hope whatever you decide works for you
Thank you, yeah in a way it would have been easier to keep ploughing on in the same manner but it was feeling very difficult and combined with the campsite it was feeling like too much !
Whatever you decide to do, we will support you, and wish success, heart in you and Nick‘s lives. Take this opportunity, to heal, believe in your ability , not only in your intuition, but your heart, and who you are. We your internet family, are believers in both of you and Nick; find the beauty and the passion you both have for the next chapter.❤️
Well done Jo I wish other farmers the courage of their convictions when the evidence is saying you need a time out. Its no big deal you do what is right and sensible at the time.
I thought about you yesterday for some reason hadn't seen no new videos. Selling your sheep had to be a hard decision. Good luck with what ever you decide . Things always seem to have a way of working out. Take care
Sorry to see you selling most of the sheep. I have enjoyed seeing all your sheep videos. I can understand why you have done this. I wish you every success in what you do. Colin
hey joanna again a new video of dale farm. i found it a nice video of almost 19 minutes very interesting and educational. i look forward to a new video of your farm. 😘🤠🍁🍂🇳🇱
Hey Y'all, It is nice to see you today. The lambs did look nice and clean. I am so happy you are taking some time to assess and evaluate the next best direction to go. I do know I have been watching your channel for about 18 months. I have seen you work hard and put so much effort into the farm and lambs. I have seen you care for the animals with love and so much care. I know your father is very proud of you and would support any direction you choose to go. I will pray for the two of you. God bless take care
Thank you for the lovely comment , it’s definitely been a tough decision to make but I can always get more sheep again in the future if I feel it’s not working out! And I want to take the opportunity to try something else and the sheep were so time consuming
@@DaleFarm I do see several of the long time channels that add different animals to what they are doing and some even change over from one group of animals to another. Life is short try to do what is fun and yet profitable.
If all the work it took for you and Nick to raise those sheep was not profitable enough, you have made the right decision to sell them and re-group your priorities on the farm. Best of luck and best wishes for a brighter future. (PS - when is the wedding?)
Thank you , the sheep required both of us for a lot of the work , whereas before it was dad and I, taking us both away from the campsite business which meant we would feel pretty stretched and for very little financial reward it doesn’t make sense right now
Farming is up and down and you have to accept that some years will be awful and other year's things will be better Sheep can be very hard work and there does be losses with Sheep some lambing seasons can be dreadful if the weather is bad. You did well in your Sheep sales If your health is good there is no reason why you cant run a ramb with your remaining ewes and see what happens and unlike your other followers i think you should remain in sheep
Joanna, trust your intuition; reevaluating life, and the next steps are a very important part of navigating in today’s ever-changing world. I applaud you and Nick for taking a pause. Not sure what are mule lambs? Always sending you both the best in life. ❤️🙏🏼
Thank you for understanding- it didn’t come easily to me. I know we will still be busy with things here , but it’s definitely been hard to manage since dad has been gone
Totally understand and respect the decision. Your dad will understand 100% and support you on the new path where ever it may lead. Good to wait and see if the government changes or comes to their senses for all of farming. Keep the faith. Cheers
Whatever you & Nick decide is fine by me. Sometimes you just need to take a break. If you still have Bambi, please give her a little attention from me. All I know is I just don't know how long you can keep this up. Sorry the sale was so disappointing. Whatever Nick & you decide just keep well & safe.
Hi Roberta. Yes we will have Bambi and the favourites that I bred at home! It’s been a really difficult few years never really chance to breathe and take a moment so I hope now I can feel a little less pressure while I reasses xx
My recommendation would be to put the tup in, bring the ewes in to lamb. Not to scan them. There will be plenty of grass and they should thrive. But instead of selling at market, look to butcher the lambs and sell to campers and maybe some boxes sold locally. You would need a couple of big chest freezer to keep the meat for the campers. Burgers, kebabs, steaks, chops. Campers to preorder and you get them out to demand to thaw. Only do a couple at a time while you see how the boxes go. I’d also fatten some highlands on the spare grass. There is demand especially where customers see the care taken of the stock on your channel and will pay premium prices. But that’s just me. Good luck whichever way you decide to go 👍
Please keep posting so we can see how you are getting on. It is good to sometimes step back and evaluate your direction. It can be too easy to be side lined by the every day. You need to do something that you enjoy. Farming frequently does not reflect the effort.
Sheep farming is one of the hardest forms of farming there is and at times for little reward. It also puts stress on relationships, health and worry/stress. I think with yours and Nicks skill sets you have a lot of options. I wish you the best of luck going forward Joanna. You also are the custodian of a rather outstanding beautiful place up in the hills there.
Thank you for the lovely supportive and understanding comment. It’s definitely been a tricky time to find a new way of being and doing since dad passed and I have tried really hard to keep everything going but there’s also felt a lot of pressure on me with the sheep particularly and we increased the numbers and then had a difficult winter and a spring and difficult lambing with a disappointing sale season, it would be maddness to blindly continue without reassessing what might work better
Thanks for your lovely reply I think personally a years time out and possible reset is the way to go. There’s a whole wide world of options out there. Your Dad imho was a great man but his era was somewhat different to the challenges you are facing now with the weather, political instability and poor financial reward. You both have struggled but fought your way through and proved you can operate in that environment. Your Dad would be rightly proud of you but I suspect if he was alive today and the same age as yourselves he would be looking to other avenues, his was perhaps more of a golden age of farming more predictable weather patterns and more stable farm gate prices. I really wish you the best. Who knows prices etc could face a turn around but certainly farming is not the best outlook unless you are a big landowner with a farm manager and a good sized labour force etc xx
Hi Joanna. Speaking from experience it's a very tough time when due to various circumstances an aspect of your farming operation becomes unviable to the point where you are stll working very hard but simply turning over your own money with little to no profit. This happened to us with our dairying which had been a significant part of our farming operation and profitability for decades. The government (its always government interference) took steps I won't go into detail here that effectively killed off the dairy industry for produces milking less than 200 head. It was heartbreaking to sell our herd which was carefully bred over decades and exit the dairying industry. For us this occured in the 90s. Since then all local dairy factories are long gone with many, many jobs lost. All this from left-leaning government interferance and insanity. We then diversed into producing more grain, cattle and external income like hay contracting etc. Anyway Joanna, sorry about the rant I could go into more detail but it would take too long. As always my sincere best wishes to you and Nick. Take care.
Time to refresh & look forward se totally understand the situation you had with the sheep so best of luck going forward now in whatever lays ahead & take care now 👍👍👍
I think like all farmers who make the decision to stop or scale back their farming operations its really hard and can be painful but its your life and we only pass this way once.you have each other and live in a beautiful part of the world whatever you decide to do just be happy.
This is true james, I strongly felt i could Keep struggling on and on or I could try a change and see how it works out. So although if felt very sad and uncomfortable to do, at the moment i feel I had to try something
I raise Katahdin hair sheep. The reason is work load. With a shedding sheep you cut the labor significantly. No shearing. No docking. Much more parasite resistance. Almost NO fly strike. You still have good mothers with lots of milk. Cross with the Texels and you should still have a great market lamb.
Hi Jo I’m sorry about your disappointment in selling ya sheep and sheep farming in general really. You both need a break as you have been working non stop and as you say it seems like it’s for nothing Have a chance to think about what you really want to do and obv ya Camp site which seems to be doing ok Please let us know what you will be doing next Take care Chill for a bit too Love Kim x x
Its totaly reasonable . When i started to watch you you helped your Dad . Now its different . I learned alot from Farmer P about sheep and cattle . If I was going to go into farming it would be cattle . Dexters or highland .or a cross . Sheep are hard .and they ruined the wool market . So sad . You mite think about going more into cattle if you want more in the farm ?? . Just a thought . You and nick have been none stop and have done well . Take care ..
Thank you Nancy , it’s definitely changed and we have achieved a lot the last few years but it has taken its toll on me, Especially the stress and uncertainty of buying the farm, the pressure that brings and the bad weather as well last few winters have been horrible and shocking lambing weather! I just need to slow down a bit and get back to feeling a bit lighter x
I image this decision, at this time, has been very difficult for you for so many reasons. It is brave of you to take this step aside to give you more time to evaluate what direction you wish to take in the future. I will be keeping you in my thoughts. Take care and as always have to remind myself.... take a breath and time. i
Thank you Donna. Have still got some sheep and lambs which feels nice because I do enjoy having them , but less of a burden so I can enjoy it more hopefully
i think it would be much better to find a local butcher who would buy your lambs rather taking them to market .Even if you dont breed the lambs yourself buy them really young bring them on yourself then sell them to a local butcher or maybe do the same with beef .Bring a lot of young beef in and bring them on then sell them to the slaughter house or a local butcher .The government are doing everything they can to kill the British farmer off with all the rubbish they have brought in .Including the cloud seeding and weather manipulation that has given us constant rain since last autumn and the taxes etc
@@DaleFarm It is totally wrong .Britain could easily be self sustaining and should be ,the meat etc that come from other countries is often crap compared with what is produced in this country and our farmers work bloody hard for hardly any reward it really upsets me .
A big decision, but I did say several months ago at less than £100 a lamb, what is the point in even bothering. You already have the campsite and you also have the drive to do something new and diversify the farm further. There are numerous options available to you for sure. Good luck...😁
As always, your honesty and authenticity are appreciated and your long time viewers only want you to succeed whatever you do. But I will give you two words of inspiration if you are thinking about your TH-cam channel: Highland Cattle Anytime you show them even for a second, I smile.
Can’t argue with you for near enough getting rid of the sheep, farming is in a bit of a state at the min and I know how hard the campsite is to run! Gotta admit, it’s a bit disappointing after all the fencing work you’ve done but least it’s still there for what ever is next. If only you were closer I’d be on for making hay off the empty fields 🤪🫣
It's a very hard job farming with what you get in return. The hours and money you have to plough into the business is very worrying and frustrating. You have to look after yourselves and decide what is best for your health and happiness. Take care xx
Thank you for supporting, it’s been a long few years getting sorted buying the farm and learning how things are without my dad , I am needing to adjust to make life a little less stressful and the sheep Were definitely causing me a fair bit of stress ,‘I want do a good job with them But then the return is so poor which is. A shame
I hope you do not quit as I follow just because of the sheep. Sheep farming always has had it's up and downs. Maybe shed lambing would work better for you. Just visited a sheep farm running 300 ewes and farming with full time jobs to boot
My heart goes out to you. In my opinion, you & Nick work too hard for too little compensation. Although I have a friend who says she loves her work so much she'd do it for no pay, that's extremely rare. You deserve more happiness & your talents are such that there are all sorts of things you can do that won't grind you down.
Thank you. We still have plenty to go at here with the campsite , the land, the cattle and some other projects we may wish to pursue here so freeing myself from the sheep is really a good thing , and I still have some sheep which is nice because I do enjoy them x
a good few around me here have gone away from lambing ewes ......they are working off farm full-time and are not there when they are needed around lambing time ........they instead run on a ewe lambs around the place all winter and do not put them in lamb .......they get no nuts just grass ....... feet trimmed the odd Saturday and dosed ......... they are then stocked tightly come may when the grass is growing well to stop them getting fat ......shorn in June and grown on till sold in the breeding sales in September . and they are replaced by ewe lambs again .........surplus summer grass is baled in silage and sold to dairy farmers ....... all done by contractor ..... they would die rather than rent out their farm , this allows them the. best of both worlds ......doing a little bit of farming and having the income of an off farm job that is generally only school hours ......not having to work day and night for very little as they would if they tried to farm full time ....... glad u got shut of the mules ......they might be good mothers and produce good crops of lambs but the lambs are that bit harder to fatten and the cull ewes are not worth a lot ...... all in all you made the right decision ......if you really miss all the hardship of lambing. you can always go back into them again ..
@DaleFarm the sheep game 🎮 is hard and no money in it good lady u and nick will find something better than sheep omg we used have 300 sheep 20year ago on our farm now there 55 breeding ones there to much work for little return from them u nick will find something better good 👍 lady wish 🤞 uses well in future
Looks like Ireland are the ones getting great prices for lamb - because the Scottish lamb is no longer being shipped over by the truck load because of blue tongue so the Scottish lamb is flooding the UK market instead
Such a shame not to get the price you were looking for the lambs. I guess the market is strongly seasonal, so Easter and Eid are probably the big upward movements. Someone should sit down and come up with a properly decent lamb Christmas dinner. Any chefs around? 🙂
Thankyou Graham , there’s so lamb factors which influence the outcome of lambing being a good year or not. It felt like an uphill battle and I have to put my energy into the areas of the business which will do better
If the camp site makes money, then farm people, perhaps have a smaller flock, pedigree ?, showing , to have days away from the farm, meet like minded farmers. Sheep are hard work and time consuming, have a short holiday break and an idea , opportunity will appear . As one door closes another always OPENS. GOOD LUCK.
Sorry to hear that the sheep have been more pain than gain for you. I really like mules but i wonder if they are too commercial for your farm. No harm in letting the pastures rest while you take a moment without the endless problems the sheep bring. I think you probably have been fighting fire since the sudden loss of your dad.😢 It is a shame you are left feeling dissapointed. But i expect that will wear off as you enjoy not having to hay feed through the winter. I do hope you breed your home bred lot though.
Thank you for the comment and for your understanding! It’s definitely been a hard 3 years since dad died and the time Prior to that was Covid which was also stressful for our business and lives ! So it’s been 5 hard years and I am so very worn down!! I just need to pause and reassess and re group. Maybe I will get a different breed yes , it will be an adventure
Well done Joanna you made your decision - sheep farming is not profitable at the moment, no money in the wool in fact that costs to deal with, drenches etc have just gone up in price and lamb prices are not great - I remember clearly Cammy saying his Accountant said just do youtube and your merch the sheep are costing you money
I'd have been disappointed with those prices too. Your lambs are better and worth more than that. Perhaps you could consider putting a reserve on them next time. I reckon i'd want £120 '/head. Also, consider taking them home and fattening them. By the time they are fat, the market usually goes up as well, so it pays for corn and extra keep. Whatever you decide, never be afraid of making changes to suit you better and market conditions. Your dad would agree too i'm sure
I know what I would do differently in the future if I was going to continue but for now, I have to accept the decision I made lead to disappointment!! I could have brought them Home ( others were ) but it’s more time out to take them again and no guarantee of them doing better
We all have to take stock of our lives at some point often more than once. Farming is having a rough ride at the moment but my gut instinct tells me things are going to get better. As i said in my last comment take time to rethink the future sheep although traditional in the dales have not really been viable as such for decades. If you want to raise sheep you need to be looking at the rare breeds but highlands or shorthorns would be a better option. Good luck with your decision.
Typical of most farming produce all the financial reward is at the supermarket end 🤬, good luck in whatever you decide to do but as you know when your born into farming anything else rarely hits the spot 🙂 .
I do apologise in advance because this will probably rub people up the wrong way who maybe don’t understand farming. But the sheer number of sheep you run it’s never going to be financially viable. We (2 of us) run 600 ewes and we work of that we need to sell 500 ‘good’ lambs to just cover of costs for running the farm for the year then the rest are ‘profit’ so ultimately it’s not a shock that you’re not getting the financial return you’re expecting
Hi , no need to apologise , the farm is supported by our campsite business, my dad also had the campsite and stabling horses as well as working for other people so the farm has for a long time required additional streams of income !
We have expanded the campsite in the last 9 years and for a while dad was around it would keep the 3 of us busy working on the farm and running the site, my dad had a job for us mowing the grass and helping with the bins and recycling. We all worked 7 days a week. Now we are doing it all , but having to pay wages for the help we need which makes the sheep farming aspect pretty much unviable because it takes us away from the campsite which is also 7 days a week and demands a lot of time
That’s completely understandable and I do appreciate that wholeheartedly and apologise if it came across wrong. I just wanted to add an input from a farm where we don’t diversify like yourself and how I view the numbers game of sheep farming
@@jg5520it definitely came across in the right way I’m sure and I don’t take any offence! I just thought I’d explain how things were working before and how it’s changed over the last few years
2019 until now we have always sold some lambs late and done well. The prices this year were lower than last year at the same time. Previous years the late sale lambs fetched more so I can only go from my previous experience. I think that it was an unlucky draw on the day and I paid the price
Well the number one bird in the whole world is chicken you get meat and eggs but those pigs run a clothes run anyway with your time off you can go on a honeymoon 😁😉🐝
We're not living in the dark ages. There is absolutely no point in blindly slogging away when the opportunity is there to invest time and energy into something more profitable and that brings more peace of mind and better wellbeing.
It’s a crap price given a lot of current trade, especially for mules. But I would agree about it would’ve been nice to know what ages of ewes etc and weights and condition of lambs
@adamfooks7248 this time last year 4 year old/1 crop ewes were between 80 to 120 quid the best money I seen for ewes was when they were in lamb after being scanned and they only made between 100 to 200 depending on twins/single and breed. Anything over 5 years old will take a big knock in price as they are nearing the end of prime breeding age
Hey,life isn't disappointing you just need to find yourself again something that makes you happy 🫠..farming can take it's toll ,you're right to take a step back and mind yourself 😊
Keep us posted on what you decide, and if you get into something new that you can take us along for, I am sure many of us would be interested in following the new journey. This channel had a huge shift when your dad passed, and it was able to keep going, I am sure what ever comes next could be another large shift. I wish you luck in what ever you decide.
Thank you ☺️ it doesn’t have to be permanent but I needed to do this
Take care we miss the videos .😊
Too many of us farmers carry on with the same thing year after year ,without stopping and reevaluating what they’re doing ,as like you they spend lots of time and effort and get little reward. I admire you for having making the decision to think of something different,I hope whatever you decide works for you
Thank you, yeah in a way it would have been easier to keep ploughing on in the same manner but it was feeling very difficult and combined with the campsite it was feeling like too much !
The right decision for you to take and a real honest one.
Best of luck in your next chapter.
Thank you xx
Whatever you decide to do, we will support you, and wish success, heart in you and Nick‘s lives. Take this opportunity, to heal, believe in your ability , not only in your intuition, but your heart, and who you are. We your internet family, are believers in both of you and Nick; find the beauty and the passion you both have for the next chapter.❤️
Well done Jo I wish other farmers the courage of their convictions when the evidence is saying you need a time out. Its no big deal you do what is right and sensible at the time.
Thank you for the lovely comment and understanding
I thought about you yesterday for some reason hadn't seen no new videos. Selling your sheep had to be a hard decision. Good luck with what ever you decide . Things always seem to have a way of working out. Take care
Sorry to see you selling most of the sheep. I have enjoyed seeing all your sheep videos. I can understand why you have done this. I wish you every success in what you do. Colin
hey joanna again a new video of dale farm. i found it a nice video of almost 19 minutes very interesting and educational. i look forward to a new video of your farm. 😘🤠🍁🍂🇳🇱
Hey Y'all, It is nice to see you today. The lambs did look nice and clean. I am so happy you are taking some time to assess and evaluate the next best direction to go. I do know I have been watching your channel for about 18 months. I have seen you work hard and put so much effort into the farm and lambs. I have seen you care for the animals with love and so much care. I know your father is very proud of you and would support any direction you choose to go. I will pray for the two of you. God bless take care
Thank you for the lovely comment , it’s definitely been a tough decision to make but I can always get more sheep again in the future if I feel it’s not working out! And I want to take the opportunity to try something else and the sheep were so time consuming
@@DaleFarm I do see several of the long time channels that add different animals to what they are doing and some even change over from one group of animals to another. Life is short try to do what is fun and yet profitable.
If all the work it took for you and Nick to raise those sheep was not profitable enough, you have made the right decision to sell them and re-group your priorities on the farm. Best of luck and best wishes for a brighter future. (PS - when is the wedding?)
Thank you , the sheep required both of us for a lot of the work , whereas before it was dad and I, taking us both away from the campsite business which meant we would feel pretty stretched and for very little financial reward it doesn’t make sense right now
Farming is up and down and you have to accept that some years will be awful and other year's things will be better
Sheep can be very hard work and there does be losses with Sheep some lambing seasons can be dreadful if the weather is bad. You did well in your Sheep sales
If your health is good there is no reason why you cant run a ramb with your remaining ewes and see what happens and unlike your other followers i think you should remain in sheep
Joanna, trust your intuition; reevaluating life, and the next steps are a very important part of navigating in today’s ever-changing world. I applaud you and Nick for taking a pause.
Not sure what are mule lambs? Always sending you both the best in life. ❤️🙏🏼
Thank you for understanding- it didn’t come easily to me. I know we will still be busy with things here , but it’s definitely been hard to manage since dad has been gone
The mule ewes are the ewes we bought in - the breeding sheep x
Totally understand and respect the decision. Your dad will understand 100% and support you on the new path where ever it may lead. Good to wait and see if the government changes or comes to their senses for all of farming. Keep the faith. Cheers
Thank you ❤️❤️
You have to do what you think is best for you Joanne'.
Best of luck in future
Thank you so much xx
I've been trying my very best to support British sheep farmers, my new mattress has British wool in it ❤
We all appreciate support for British farming
Whatever you & Nick decide is fine by me. Sometimes you just need to take a break. If you still have Bambi, please give her a little attention from me. All I know is I just don't know how long you can keep this up. Sorry the sale was so disappointing. Whatever Nick & you decide just keep well & safe.
Hi Roberta. Yes we will have Bambi and the favourites that I bred at home! It’s been a really difficult few years never really chance to breathe and take a moment so I hope now I can feel a little less pressure while I reasses xx
My recommendation would be to put the tup in, bring the ewes in to lamb. Not to scan them. There will be plenty of grass and they should thrive. But instead of selling at market, look to butcher the lambs and sell to campers and maybe some boxes sold locally. You would need a couple of big chest freezer to keep the meat for the campers. Burgers, kebabs, steaks, chops. Campers to preorder and you get them out to demand to thaw. Only do a couple at a time while you see how the boxes go.
I’d also fatten some highlands on the spare grass. There is demand especially where customers see the care taken of the stock on your channel and will pay premium prices.
But that’s just me. Good luck whichever way you decide to go 👍
This is definitely something I would be interested in doing !!
Excellent video again thanks for sharing what ever you decide to do you will do great at it I have total faith in you my friend xx
Thank you for the support
I totally think you’ve made the right decision. You are an amazing presenter, I fully expect you to be on countryfile soon.
Thank you ☺️
Please keep posting so we can see how you are getting on. It is good to sometimes step back and evaluate your direction. It can be too easy to be side lined by the every day. You need to do something that you enjoy. Farming frequently does not reflect the effort.
Sheep farming is one of the hardest forms of farming there is and at times for little reward. It also puts stress on relationships, health and worry/stress. I think with yours and Nicks skill sets you have a lot of options. I wish you the best of luck going forward Joanna. You also are the custodian of a rather outstanding beautiful place up in the hills there.
Thank you for the lovely supportive and understanding comment. It’s definitely been a tricky time to find a new way of being and doing since dad passed and I have tried really hard to keep everything going but there’s also felt a lot of pressure on me with the sheep particularly and we increased the numbers and then had a difficult winter and a spring and difficult lambing with a disappointing sale season, it would be maddness to blindly continue without reassessing what might work better
Thanks for your lovely reply I think personally a years time out and possible reset is the way to go. There’s a whole wide world of options out there. Your Dad imho was a great man but his era was somewhat different to the challenges you are facing now with the weather, political instability and poor financial reward. You both have struggled but fought your way through and proved you can operate in that environment. Your Dad would be rightly proud of you but I suspect if he was alive today and the same age as yourselves he would be looking to other avenues, his was perhaps more of a golden age of farming more predictable weather patterns and more stable farm gate prices. I really wish you the best. Who knows prices etc could face a turn around but certainly farming is not the best outlook unless you are a big landowner with a farm manager and a good sized labour force etc xx
Hi Joanna. Speaking from experience it's a very tough time when due to various circumstances an aspect of your farming operation becomes unviable to the point where you are stll working very hard but simply turning over your own money with little to no profit. This happened to us with our dairying which had been a significant part of our farming operation and profitability for decades. The government (its always government interference) took steps I won't go into detail here that effectively killed off the dairy industry for produces milking less than 200 head. It was heartbreaking to sell our herd which was carefully bred over decades and exit the dairying industry. For us this occured in the 90s. Since then all local dairy factories are long gone with many, many jobs lost. All this from left-leaning government interferance and insanity. We then diversed into producing more grain, cattle and external income like hay contracting etc. Anyway Joanna, sorry about the rant I could go into more detail but it would take too long. As always my sincere best wishes to you and Nick. Take care.
Very nice bunch of lambs
Thank you Leona x
Best of luck with which ever endeavour you decide upon,
Time to refresh & look forward se totally understand the situation you had with the sheep so best of luck going forward now in whatever lays ahead & take care now 👍👍👍
The sheep took up a lot of my time , worry and focus and financially not bringing in very much when all costs are deducted
Thank you for understanding
Just go for it whatever you do will be ok and good luck
i love your videos short or long i enjoy them very much.................... do what you need to do for you and Nick hugssssss
Thank you Tammy 💙💙
I think like all farmers who make the decision to stop or scale back their farming operations its really hard and can be painful but its your life and we only pass this way once.you have each other and live in a beautiful part of the world whatever you decide to do just be happy.
This is true james, I strongly felt i could
Keep struggling on and on or I could try a change and see how it works out. So although if felt very sad and uncomfortable to do, at the moment i feel I had to try something
I raise Katahdin hair sheep. The reason is work load. With a shedding sheep you cut the labor significantly. No shearing. No docking. Much more parasite resistance. Almost NO fly strike. You still have good mothers with lots of milk. Cross with the Texels and you should still have a great market lamb.
Hi Jo
I’m sorry about your disappointment in selling ya sheep and sheep farming in general really.
You both need a break as you have been working non stop and as you say it seems like it’s for nothing
Have a chance to think about what you really want to do and obv ya
Camp site which seems to be doing ok
Please let us know what you will be doing next
Take care
Chill for a bit too
Love Kim x x
Its totaly reasonable . When i started to watch you you helped your Dad . Now its different .
I learned alot from Farmer P about sheep and cattle . If I was going to go into farming it would be cattle . Dexters or highland .or a cross .
Sheep are hard .and they ruined the wool market . So sad .
You mite think about going more into cattle if you want more in the farm ?? .
Just a thought .
You and nick have been none stop and have done well . Take care ..
Thank you Nancy , it’s definitely changed and we have achieved a lot the last few years but it has taken its toll on me,
Especially the stress and uncertainty of buying the farm, the pressure that brings and the bad weather as well last few winters have been horrible and shocking lambing weather! I just need to slow down a bit and get back to feeling a bit lighter x
I image this decision, at this time, has been very difficult for you for so many reasons. It is brave of you to take this step aside to give you more time to evaluate what direction you wish to take in the future. I will be keeping you in my thoughts. Take care and as always have to remind myself.... take a breath and time. i
Thank you Donna. Have still got some sheep and lambs which feels nice because I do enjoy having them , but less of a burden so I can enjoy it more hopefully
i think it would be much better to find a local butcher who would buy your lambs rather taking them to market .Even if you dont breed the lambs yourself buy them really young bring them on yourself then sell them to a local butcher or maybe do the same with beef .Bring a lot of young beef in and bring them on then sell them to the slaughter house or a local butcher .The government are doing everything they can to kill the British farmer off with all the rubbish they have brought in .Including the cloud seeding and weather manipulation that has given us constant rain since last autumn and the taxes etc
Yeah I agree with you, the market doesn’t seem to be working out ! Thanks for the ideas , it’s good we have different options to explore
I agree the government does not want farmers
@@DaleFarm It is totally wrong .Britain could easily be self sustaining and should be ,the meat etc that come from other countries is often crap compared with what is produced in this country and our farmers work bloody hard for hardly any reward it really upsets me .
Good luck guys. Do what makes you happy money is great but there is nothing like the real thing.
Thank you xx
Some nice looking lambs there. Mint sauce 😋
A big decision, but I did say several months ago at less than £100 a lamb, what is the point in even bothering. You already have the campsite and you also have the drive to do something new and diversify the farm further. There are numerous options available to you for sure. Good luck...😁
Thank you for the understanding of the situation ❤️
As always, your honesty and authenticity are appreciated and your long time viewers only want you to succeed whatever you do.
But I will give you two words of inspiration if you are thinking about your TH-cam channel: Highland Cattle
Anytime you show them even for a second, I smile.
Thank you so much for the kind and supportive words, I will be showing the cows in the next video so that’s good you enjoy them !
Can’t argue with you for near enough getting rid of the sheep, farming is in a bit of a state at the min and I know how hard the campsite is to run! Gotta admit, it’s a bit disappointing after all the fencing work you’ve done but least it’s still there for what ever is next. If only you were closer I’d be on for making hay off the empty fields 🤪🫣
We still have the cattle obvs and nothing is going to change otherwise - just going to see how the next 12 months goes.
It's a very hard job farming with what you get in return. The hours and money you have to plough into the business is very worrying and frustrating. You have to look after yourselves and decide what is best for your health and happiness. Take care xx
Thank you for supporting, it’s been a long few years getting sorted buying the farm and learning how things are without my dad , I am needing to adjust to make life a little less stressful and the sheep
Were definitely causing me a fair bit of stress ,‘I want do a good job with them
But then the return is so poor which is. A shame
I hope you do not quit as I follow just because of the sheep. Sheep farming always has had it's up and downs. Maybe shed lambing would work better for you. Just visited a sheep farm running 300 ewes and farming with full time jobs to boot
My heart goes out to you. In my opinion, you & Nick work too hard for too little compensation. Although I have a friend who says she loves her work so much she'd do it for no pay, that's extremely rare. You deserve more happiness & your talents are such that there are all sorts of things you can do that won't grind you down.
Thank you. We still have plenty to go at here with the campsite , the land, the cattle and some other projects we may wish to pursue here so freeing myself from the sheep is really a good thing , and I still have some sheep which is nice because I do enjoy them x
And thank you for understanding
Your Dad would have not wanted to be miserable. Do what is best for you and your relationship.
Thank you Diane xx
a good few around me here have gone away from lambing ewes ......they are working off farm full-time and are not there when they are needed around lambing time ........they instead run on a ewe lambs around the place all winter and do not put them in lamb .......they get no nuts just grass ....... feet trimmed the odd Saturday and dosed ......... they are then stocked tightly come may when the grass is growing well to stop them getting fat ......shorn in June and grown on till sold in the breeding sales in September . and they are replaced by ewe lambs again .........surplus summer grass is baled in silage and sold to dairy farmers ....... all done by contractor ..... they would die rather than rent out their farm , this allows them the. best of both worlds ......doing a little bit of farming and having the income of an off farm job that is generally only school hours ......not having to work day and night for very little as they would if they tried to farm full time .......
glad u got shut of the mules ......they might be good mothers and produce good crops of lambs but the lambs are that bit harder to fatten and the cull ewes are not worth a lot ......
all in all you made the right decision ......if you really miss all the hardship of lambing. you can always go back into them again ..
O welcome 🙏 back beautiful blonde lady 😅and nick still in his shorts I bet kind regards from South Ireland 🇮🇪 viewer
Thank you 🤩
@DaleFarm the sheep game 🎮 is hard and no money in it good lady u and nick will find something better than sheep omg we used have 300 sheep 20year ago on our farm now there 55 breeding ones there to much work for little return from them u nick will find something better good 👍 lady wish 🤞 uses well in future
Looks like Ireland are the ones getting great prices for lamb - because the Scottish lamb is no longer being shipped over by the truck load because of blue tongue so the Scottish lamb is flooding the UK market instead
It would be nice to have 30 or 40 ewes lamming around 1st April 2025 😮
no ......more trouble than they will make
Very good lambs
Thank you
All best from notts
Thank you x
Put ram with 16 late lambing keep smaller lambs too
☺️☺️
Such a shame not to get the price you were looking for the lambs.
I guess the market is strongly seasonal, so Easter and Eid are probably the big upward movements.
Someone should sit down and come up with a properly decent lamb Christmas dinner.
Any chefs around? 🙂
Thankyou Graham , there’s so lamb factors which influence the outcome of lambing being a good year or not. It felt like an uphill battle and I have to put my energy into the areas of the business which will do better
If the camp site makes money, then farm people, perhaps have a smaller flock, pedigree ?, showing , to have days away from the farm, meet like minded farmers.
Sheep are hard work and time consuming, have a short holiday break and an idea , opportunity will appear . As one door closes another always OPENS.
GOOD LUCK.
I like your ideas , yes definitely there are options ❤️
@@DaleFarm New to your site therefore dont know your situation , just be very POSITIVE ,U will be OK.
Thank you 🤩
Sorry to hear that the sheep have been more pain than gain for you. I really like mules but i wonder if they are too commercial for your farm. No harm in letting the pastures rest while you take a moment without the endless problems the sheep bring. I think you probably have been fighting fire since the sudden loss of your dad.😢
It is a shame you are left feeling dissapointed. But i expect that will wear off as you enjoy not having to hay feed through the winter.
I do hope you breed your home bred lot though.
Thank you for the comment and for your understanding! It’s definitely been a hard 3 years since dad died and the time
Prior to that was Covid which was also stressful for our business and lives ! So it’s been 5 hard years and I am so very worn down!! I just need to pause and reassess and re group. Maybe I will get a different breed yes , it will be an adventure
Thanks
It’s a pity the views aren’t worth money 🎉you would be coining in ££s😊good luck for the future 🎉
Thank you andy! I’m sure it will all work out for the best
@DaleFarm 90 pounds equal 108.15euro great price your lucky it was not in euro 😄
Well done Joanna you made your decision - sheep farming is not profitable at the moment, no money in the wool in fact that costs to deal with, drenches etc have just gone up in price and lamb prices are not great - I remember clearly Cammy saying his Accountant said just do youtube and your merch the sheep are costing you money
I'd have been disappointed with those prices too. Your lambs are better and worth more than that. Perhaps you could consider putting a reserve on them next time. I reckon i'd want £120 '/head. Also, consider taking them home and fattening them. By the time they are fat, the market usually goes up as well, so it pays for corn and extra keep. Whatever you decide, never be afraid of making changes to suit you better and market conditions. Your dad would agree too i'm sure
One chicken can make more cashflow than one sheep if you sell eggs
Have you included the wool of the sheep?
@@Menapho sadly shearing a sheep for its wool is now heading to a negative cash flow operation for many farms
@ no really! That is sad news. Any glaring issues that are causing this? Less wool in textiles for example.
Takè then on a thursday they sell them after the fat lambs if not happy with friday sales
I know what I would do differently in the future if I was going to continue but for now, I have to accept the decision I made lead to disappointment!! I could have brought them
Home ( others were ) but it’s more time out to take them again and no guarantee of them doing better
We all have to take stock of our lives at some point often more than once. Farming is having a rough ride at the moment but my gut instinct tells me things are going to get better. As i said in my last comment take time to rethink the future sheep although traditional in the dales have not really been viable as such for decades. If you want to raise sheep you need to be looking at the rare breeds but highlands or shorthorns would be a better option. Good luck with your decision.
❤❤
You are doing great. Stop second guessing yourself.
Thank you xx
Typical of most farming produce all the financial reward is at the supermarket end 🤬, good luck in whatever you decide to do but as you know when your born into farming anything else rarely hits the spot 🙂 .
I do apologise in advance because this will probably rub people up the wrong way who maybe don’t understand farming. But the sheer number of sheep you run it’s never going to be financially viable. We (2 of us) run 600 ewes and we work of that we need to sell 500 ‘good’ lambs to just cover of costs for running the farm for the year then the rest are ‘profit’ so ultimately it’s not a shock that you’re not getting the financial return you’re expecting
Hi , no need to apologise , the farm is supported by our campsite business, my dad also had the campsite and stabling horses as well as working for other people so the farm has for a long time required additional streams of income !
We have expanded the campsite in the last 9 years and for a while dad was around it would keep the 3 of us busy working on the farm and running the site, my dad had a job for us mowing the grass and helping with the bins and recycling. We all worked 7 days a week. Now we are doing it all , but having to pay wages for the help we need which makes the sheep farming aspect pretty much unviable because it takes us away from the campsite which is also 7 days a week and demands a lot of time
That’s completely understandable and I do appreciate that wholeheartedly and apologise if it came across wrong. I just wanted to add an input from a farm where we don’t diversify like yourself and how I view the numbers game of sheep farming
@@jg5520it definitely came across in the right way I’m sure and I don’t take any offence! I just thought I’d explain how things were working before and how it’s changed over the last few years
Maybe you could make some quality hay for sale. Sheep are hard work during lambing.
can you lease land out
I don’t want to do that at the moment , xx
Be careful of the tax man!! Buy gimmer lambs and sell or tup next year as shearing??
I think you you might of left them far to late in year to sell as they been alot more price than you got
2019 until now we have always sold some lambs late and done well. The prices this year were lower than last year at the same time. Previous years the late sale lambs fetched more so I can only go from my previous experience. I think that it was an unlucky draw on the day and I paid the price
Well the number one bird in the whole world is chicken you get meat and eggs but those pigs run a clothes run anyway with your time off you can go on a honeymoon 😁😉🐝
If we all give up everytime somthing gets tough !
Nothing will ever get better !
I don’t see it as giving up, it’s a calculated decision based on a combination of financial factors and other more personal decisions
Or as farmers have found it might get progressively worse
We're not living in the dark ages. There is absolutely no point in blindly slogging away when the opportunity is there to invest time and energy into something more profitable and that brings more peace of mind and better wellbeing.
@@hels2608 exactly
90 a piece for breeding sheep isn't a bad price, if we knew what age they were would know the value better
It’s a crap price given a lot of current trade, especially for mules. But I would agree about it would’ve been nice to know what ages of ewes etc and weights and condition of lambs
@adamfooks7248 this time last year 4 year old/1 crop ewes were between 80 to 120 quid the best money I seen for ewes was when they were in lamb after being scanned and they only made between 100 to 200 depending on twins/single and breed. Anything over 5 years old will take a big knock in price as they are nearing the end of prime breeding age
Sheep are a waste of time on a good day. Best thing you could have do. 1 word for you. Chickens.
Thank you! X
Go for you to realize that if there's no money in sheep it's time to move on....
☺️ it’s not been easy but it felt like the right thing for this moment in time
First
Hey,life isn't disappointing you just need to find yourself again something that makes you happy 🫠..farming can take it's toll ,you're right to take a step back and mind yourself 😊