A November Birthday
There is excitement at Hill Top Farm as Jack celebrates his birthday. How should he mark the occasion? He decides to to spend the day with Dad and Grandad at a farm sale. A perfect day out!
A year older
Mum always made a special effort with birthday cakes. This year, she printed a picture of a New Holland T6.180 on icing, and it sat on top of the cake, with candles and sparklers. Tommy helped me to blow out the candles, of course. Everyone enjoyed a piece. Mum asked how I wanted to spend my birthday. I thought about going to a trampoline park or go-karting, but when Grandad mentioned taking me to a local farm sale, I thought that would be just perfect. So, a day out with Dad and Grandad, chatting to our neighbours and eyeing up bits of well-used machinery, became my birthday treat.
A new chapter
The farm sale was only 4 miles from home. The farmer was retiring and had decided to sell up all of his machinery and stock. Most of the local community turned out. There were a few hundred people there, having a chat and a good look around to show support. There were 500 Welsh, Speckled and Mule ewes for sale in lots of 25. There were also about 100 ewe lambs and around 400 store lambs to be auctioned. It must have been very difficult for the farmer to come to the decision to sell. Grandad says that farming is a way of life, not just a job. If your way of life goes under the hammer at auction, you must feel quite sad about that, as you have given so much of your life to build it. It really is the end of an era for any family that decides to move on. The livestock was bought by neighbouring farmers, so at least the lambs and ewes would stay nearby.
A new project
A Fordson Dexter was included in the lots. It was used for scraping out the cattle, so was not in tip-top condition. In fact, it would need a lot of work doing to it to get it back up to scratch. Grandad was really quite taken with it, as he used to drive one just like it when he was younger. There was one other bidder interested but Grandad managed to buy it for the right money. I loved looking at all of the machinery. There was a McHale straw blower, a Massey Fergusson 590, a Lely mower, a quad bike trailer and various odds and ends. Dad bought a few sheep troughs and a present for me at auction too. A crook. It would come in handy for lambing. I have wanted my own crook for ages, so I was pretty chuffed with that. Grandad brought a low-loader trailer behind his Land Rover. He had a slow puncture in one of the tyres last week but had managed to get that sorted out in time. The Dexter fired up straight away, black smoke filling the air. We tied it down with ratchet straps and chains and headed for home, along with our new purchases.
Jack – Farmer in Training
Jack was born to farm. He just loves helping out his dad, and his trusty dog Meg is never far away. Farming is in his blood and bones. He has his own small flock of sheep, a few hens and some calves. He has great plans to expand his own enterprise (though Dad says he has to learn to walk before he can learn to run). He may be little but his ambitions are huge.
