Can we still shoot ???

[Baldcoot 2,352]

Uk farming is more essential than ever Ben ,all the supermarkets focus on cheap imports well thats gone south hasnt it .Local lamb and beef and pork doesnt travel over a 1000 miles and pass through lots of infected hands to spread the latest virus.

We are just watching are last leg of Welsh Hill mutton slow cooking ,but cant go and fetch anymore from my friends in Snowdonia so it,l be Venison n Pork or Beef for a while .

The way we all shop and view food has changed forever and this will sink in to the great unwashed ,Farm shops and local with be king again imho and god help us all Harvest time no 1 going to let 50,000 eastern europeans in to pull up cabbages/cauli,s and the soft fruit crops .Times are changing and its going to get interesting

[BenBhoy 4,706]

4 hours ago, Baldcoot said:

Uk farming is more essential than ever Ben ,all the supermarkets focus on cheap imports well thats gone south hasnt it .Local lamb and beef and pork doesnt travel over a 1000 miles and pass through lots of infected hands to spread the latest virus.

We are just watching are last leg of Welsh Hill mutton slow cooking ,but cant go and fetch anymore from my friends in Snowdonia so it,l be Venison n Pork or Beef for a while .

The way we all shop and view food has changed forever and this will sink in to the great unwashed ,Farm shops and local with be king again imho and god help us all Harvest time no 1 going to let 50,000 eastern europeans in to pull up cabbages/cauli,s and the soft fruit crops .Times are changing and its going to get interesting

Hope your right mate. All our lamb & beef goes through our farmshop or to local pubs, restaurants & a couple of schools. We don't sell to markets, everything goes dead so we are absolutely reliant on people buying local, basically it pays my wages. 

Have seen a astronomic increase in custom in the shop these past 3 weeks. Really hope some of the new customers can see/taste the quality and the fact they can see the animal's right there in front of them.

Our cattle are slaughtered about 35 minutes away, and the lambs are killed in same village as farm, about 0.75 food miles!! 

Sorry for long post, I'm just very passionate about field to fork and people knowing where their food comes from. 

Thanks 

[Stavross 15,383]

I think this will be the start of something good for you Ben and my farmer mates, we are only a couple of weeks into this now and it has completely changed the way I shop and feed myself, I use 2 local butchers, a local fruit and veg supplier ( who has had to change because he supplied restaurants) I even have a spud and egg man, this is what we should of been doing all along supporting our local community, keep up the good work mate

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Globalization ain't as good as they made out!

[airbourne 128]

I have not read all the threads on this topic, me and the wife work in the local food industry so classed as key workers I can tell you this, it is SCARY they have diffrent agency workers coming in daily from God knows where, most of them are none British and don't abide by this social distancing, or don't understand or should I say don't want to abide by it (you feel like punching their lights out) it's bad enough working with people you have know for years. I would like to go out shooting just to get away from all this sh** , it's like having a loaded gun pointed at your head waiting for someone to pull the trigger, so god knows how the NHS workers feel being in the front line, and now if I went out shooting on my own in the middle of a field, I could end up with a fine and or loose my licence. I can understand why the government have put the lock down in place but target the one's that are abusing it like parents still letting their children play out and boy racers still driving up and down the streets with their mates in the car etc. Keep safe 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stavross 15,383]

7 minutes ago, Sausagedog said:

Globalization ain't as good as they made out!

Your not wrong mate, I’m sure someone will of said this before but I think this could be the end of the EU and hopefully the free movement of people, the only part of that that could be a problem is labour, I know a few people from Norfolk and this could be a major problem for their business when the are harvesting 

[Baldcoot 2,352]

Ben my mutton comes from a friends,the venison I shot my self,the pig is from a farm in Telford, the beef is British. Our fruit n veg from the oldest shop in our town eggs from a chicken farm 3 miles away supermarket old stuff doesn't come close. 

Once you've got people accustomed to those bright yellow yolks,fresh cuts of meat and know their suppliers Mr Tesco is done.Before the bug he and asda were shutting their meat and fish counter so I think they knew they'd lost it to local independent producers. 

After all farm to auction then distribution centre,then store then butchered and packed. How old is it when Mrs Smith picks that polystyrene tray ?

From your shop it's a lot fresher and then some. And this isn't going away anytime soon, British farming got a massive sale's drive and its called cronkyvirus atb 

[BenBhoy 4,706]

1 hour ago, Baldcoot said:

Ben my mutton comes from a friends,

Now you're talking. Lambs pay my wages but in our fridge we prefer hogget, those extra 6 months on grass make all the difference. 

[lllluke1 329]

36 minutes ago, BenBhoy said:

Now you're talking. Lambs pay my wages but in our fridge we prefer hogget, those extra 6 months on grass make all the difference. 

I've got to agree with you there.  We got a herd of Balwen's on one patch of land.  Never tried one of them yet, might try one this year.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

7 hours ago, Stavross said:

Your not wrong mate, I’m sure someone will of said this before but I think this could be the end of the EU and hopefully the free movement of people, the only part of that that could be a problem is labour, I know a few people from Norfolk and this could be a major problem for their business when the are harvesting 

It was a false economy anyway stav. The end result of supermarket price wars dictating terms to the farmers.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

7 hours ago, airbourne said:

I have not read all the threads on this topic, me and the wife work in the local food industry so classed as key workers I can tell you this, it is SCARY they have diffrent agency workers coming in daily from God knows where, most of them are none British and don't abide by this social distancing, or don't understand or should I say don't want to abide by it (you feel like punching their lights out) it's bad enough working with people you have know for years. I would like to go out shooting just to get away from all this sh** , it's like having a loaded gun pointed at your head waiting for someone to pull the trigger, so god knows how the NHS workers feel being in the front line, and now if I went out shooting on my own in the middle of a field, I could end up with a fine and or loose my licence. I can understand why the government have put the lock down in place but target the one's that are abusing it like parents still letting their children play out and boy racers still driving up and down the streets with their mates in the car etc. Keep safe 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is why I can not live in a city! It would kill me. I am poor but I refuse to live in a city! I would rather have nothing than live in a city and I have close to nothing but I ain't in no city.

[BenBhoy 4,706]

31 minutes ago, Balaur said:

There was talk of bringing all students in to pick fruit etc, would be a good idea imo, as long as the virus has taken a nose dive, but they're probably the safest age group and must be bored out their heads, earn a bit of dollar be somewhat social....

I'd imagine veg harvest would be too much like graft for your average student, bloody back breaking.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

1 hour ago, Balaur said:

There was talk of bringing all students in to pick fruit etc, would be a good idea imo, as long as the virus has taken a nose dive, but they're probably the safest age group and must be bored out their heads, earn a bit of dollar be somewhat social....

Nice idea but if they are anything like the students I see at work forget it!

[shovel leaner 7,650]

The problem is that a lot of our kids are soft and spoilt with zero work ethic . The unemployed moan about “foreigners “ coming in and taking their jobs . But with our benefits system they would rather sit on their fat arses and watch daytime TV . The Eastern European’s that I’ve encountered come here to work and they work hard . We have a pig farm near me and a mate runs it , all the staff are Polish and they are excellent. We need our unemployed to get to work , but that’s not going to happen . So we need a system that allows people to come here and work , otherwise we will find growers and farmers unable to stay in business , or change their business model .

[BenBhoy 4,706]

33 minutes ago, shovel leaner said:

The problem is that a lot of our kids are soft and spoilt with zero work ethic . The unemployed moan about “foreigners “ coming in and taking their jobs . But with our benefits system they would rather sit on their fat arses and watch daytime TV . The Eastern European’s that I’ve encountered come here to work and they work hard . We have a pig farm near me and a mate runs it , all the staff are Polish and they are excellent. We need our unemployed to get to work , but that’s not going to happen . So we need a system that allows people to come here and work , otherwise we will find growers and farmers unable to stay in business , or change their business model .

When I first moved to England I worked on & eventually managed a outdoor pig breeding unit. Had 12 lads working for me, couple of locals but rest were polish, slovakian & Lithuanian. Had a few fellas come because they'd put down on their dole thing that they liked being outdoors so job centre arranged interviews for them. One chap got out of car, saw size of pigs apologised but said "no way look at size of that focker" and drove off again. I only hired people with right attitude.