Michael Burley 26 Rhondda
Another new entrant joining the programme this year, Michael has high ambitions. He currently works as an employed head shepherd running 800 ewes, including 140 of his own, on an upland sheep and beef farm in the Rhondda valleys of South Wales – but is keen to one day secure a medium to long-term farm business tenancy to become a first generation, full-time farmer in his own right. Michael has implemented several new approaches to the running of the sheep flock he works with and hopes the ambassador programme will help him build on his knowledge and experience to help him with this further. He says: “I applied to be a part of the NSA Next Generation Ambassador group as after graduating university I have found the opportunity for further learning from industry experts to be less easy to access. I want to continue to develop my knowledge, skills and become more involved within the sheep sector to help those from non-farming backgrounds progress within the industry.”
Michael kept a blog in 2022
March. Lambing is about to arrive in earnest here in sunny South Wales ... or at least we hope it will be. With 800 ewes all lambing outside from 18th March, all efforts to ensure the ewes are in optimum condition and the system is geared up to deliver this year's lamb crop are about to come to fruition. Our first NSA Next Generation meeting was in February, which was hugely successfully and I cannot wait for our next session in May. The real highlight was meeting like-minded people who want to strive to push the industry forward and excel in their own aspirations. This winter has seen a lot of covid-related disruption to the normal YFC winter programme but thankfully we have seen a drastic reduction in infection rates and our club, Maendy YFC, competed in Glamorgan County's pantomime festival. Which we won! As a result, we will be heading to the NFYFC finals at the end of April in Leamington Spa. A huge achievement for everyone involved and a chance to compete at the highest level within YFC. Just over a fortnight ago, the Welsh Blood Service were taking donations at one of their regional hubs local to myself. I've been giving blood for several years and it's imperative that as many people do so. Donations are vital to helping the emergency services and for many other treatments. With such great demand, 30 minutes once every 12 weeks doesn't seem unreasonable.
April. Lambing 2022 ended this week. I imagine like many other shepherds, the feeling of relief and satisfaction when the final ewe delivers the last of the season's lambs is second to none after many long weeks of very little sleep and hard work. We have been blessed with fantastic conditions for outdoor lambing. Apart from a few wet and very cold days, it has stayed mostly dry throughout. However, the South Wales valleys never cease to amaze me how we can experience every form of weather in a single day! During the couple of days of sunny, warm weather, we did have a number of issues with members of the public chasing lambs in the fields in order to create social media content. There were also dogs off the lead and gates left open, resulting in 40 of our yearling replacements wandering next to a busy main road. There is never a dull moment in farming, just dull people! Performance recording has been at the forefront of our attempts to improve the profitability of our flock, which is really starting to pay dividends with less assisted lambings and lower lamb mortality. Over the next few weeks, we will be bringing in around 1,200 lambs for tailing and the ewes will be receiving a blowfly preventative ahead of shearing. Plenty of work for the Huntaway after a long rest during lambing! As mentioned in last month's blog, Maendy YFC were fortunate to compete in the NFYFC national pantomime finals. Squeezing in practices during lambing has been extremely challenging for everyone involved. It was, however, undoubtedly worthwhile as we won and brought the trophy back home to Wales. An incredible achievement for all involved!
May has been an extremely busy month! Firstly, all the ewes and lambs were gathered for tailing. Over the course of a week, the lambing fields were mobbed up and brought down to the sheds. A great job for the Huntaway after a quiet winter and lambing. Everyone was very pleased with the quality and number of lambs that came through the system. Secondly, the cows were in full swing of calving, which brought it' s own issues with regards to a few bad tempered cows at tagging. A few close calls and the decision has been made to not retain any of these for the next season. No cow is worth any injury. However, no assisted calvings, two sets of twins and 94% calving in eight weeks, the performance of the herd has been second to none. Our ambassador group also met up for the second time this year. We travelled to Welshpool and what a fantastic few days we all had! To be around like-minded people who strive to push the industry forward and learn from the best in the business on our farm and business tours really is inspiring. Finally, the end of May is our YFC county rally day. My club came second but were joint winners overall for the competing year. Another great achievement!
June started off with a bang here in Wales. After winning our World Cup Qualifier, the national football team has earned its place in the finals tournament in Qatar. The last time we qualified was in 1958! Make no mistake, there was plenty of celebrating that weekend! Back on the farm, all the lambs have received a pour on against flystrike, a yellow drench as per a faecal egg count test and a cobalt supplement. The yearlings have been sheared and the ewes will be clipped during the last week of the month. This has been a very busy few weeks for the dogs gathering the hills. For me, this is the highlight of all the farm work. You just can't beat working dogs and gathering big mobs of sheep across the mountains. There is no better office view!
July saw all the ewes gathered for shearing and the first lot of fit lambs sold into Raglan Market. Hopefully the price holds through the next few months as the markets see a larger throughput leading into the autumn. We bought a new Limousin bull from a friend I went to university with, to go with our Hereford heifers and some surplus Welsh Black cows that we don't require replacements from. The last of our hay and haylage has all been baled to fulfil the livery yard orders for the winter. Two trips to Cornwall for a stag do and the wedding of friends from my university days saw some well-earned time away from the farm, in addition to the return of the Royal Welsh Show. A very busy month of catching up with friends.
August. A very busy month indeed! We kicked off with our penultimate NSA trip as Next Generation Ambassadors to Malvern. Several farm tours, a trip to grass breeding specialists, Barenbrug, talks from Liz Genever and AHDB, as well as the NSA Sheep Event itself. This ensured we had a very informative and enjoyable three days away. Not forgetting the dinner at the Three Counties Showground before the Sheep Event, which was a great do! Back on the farm, all the lambs have weaned from the ewes. By using FECs we found a high nematodirus egg count for the second time this season which perhaps is highlighting a shift in the seasonality of the parasite, along with a high strongyles count. All lambs were dosed with a clear wormer alongside a cobalt supplement drench and flystrike application. IT was a very busy few days sorting lambs. One of my goals for this year was to start selling produce boxes to complement my lambs and encourage further locally sourced, healthy and sustainable food. To date, I've successfully sold free range eggs, lettuce, peas, runner beans, cucumbers, apples and blackberry jam. With more still to come yet! My YFC recently held its AGM and it was voted that I would become Chair for 2022/23. A great privilege and a challenge I'm looking forward to.
End of year comment. The programme has been one of the best things I have done since leaving university. Expanding my knowledge of the sheep industry, meeting like-minded people and personal goal setting have been the fundamentals of the programme. We have visited some incredible places and met some very positive, forward-thinking people, encouraging me greatly. The farm tours were brilliant to see different systems and meet the people who manage them. I was really impressed by our chat with Adam Henson on our first trip and the flock health workshops we did with Phillipa Page. Our final trip to Hexham and the sessions with the agricultural business advisers really resonated with me, as it gave us all a real insight into preparing budgets and applying for farm tenancies. This was backed up by the session with Development Consultant Wyn Owen, who facilitated a goal setting and career pathway exercise and gave me the encouragement to share my goals and identify a step-by-step approach. The major talking point of the programme has to be the friends you make and people you meet along the way. The inspiration, confidence, learning and friendships you come away with are second to none and I personally now feel closer to reaching my ambitions than ever before.
Another new entrant joining the programme this year, Michael has high ambitions. He currently works as an employed head shepherd running 800 ewes, including 140 of his own, on an upland sheep and beef farm in the Rhondda valleys of South Wales – but is keen to one day secure a medium to long-term farm business tenancy to become a first generation, full-time farmer in his own right. Michael has implemented several new approaches to the running of the sheep flock he works with and hopes the ambassador programme will help him build on his knowledge and experience to help him with this further. He says: “I applied to be a part of the NSA Next Generation Ambassador group as after graduating university I have found the opportunity for further learning from industry experts to be less easy to access. I want to continue to develop my knowledge, skills and become more involved within the sheep sector to help those from non-farming backgrounds progress within the industry.”
Michael kept a blog in 2022
March. Lambing is about to arrive in earnest here in sunny South Wales ... or at least we hope it will be. With 800 ewes all lambing outside from 18th March, all efforts to ensure the ewes are in optimum condition and the system is geared up to deliver this year's lamb crop are about to come to fruition. Our first NSA Next Generation meeting was in February, which was hugely successfully and I cannot wait for our next session in May. The real highlight was meeting like-minded people who want to strive to push the industry forward and excel in their own aspirations. This winter has seen a lot of covid-related disruption to the normal YFC winter programme but thankfully we have seen a drastic reduction in infection rates and our club, Maendy YFC, competed in Glamorgan County's pantomime festival. Which we won! As a result, we will be heading to the NFYFC finals at the end of April in Leamington Spa. A huge achievement for everyone involved and a chance to compete at the highest level within YFC. Just over a fortnight ago, the Welsh Blood Service were taking donations at one of their regional hubs local to myself. I've been giving blood for several years and it's imperative that as many people do so. Donations are vital to helping the emergency services and for many other treatments. With such great demand, 30 minutes once every 12 weeks doesn't seem unreasonable.
April. Lambing 2022 ended this week. I imagine like many other shepherds, the feeling of relief and satisfaction when the final ewe delivers the last of the season's lambs is second to none after many long weeks of very little sleep and hard work. We have been blessed with fantastic conditions for outdoor lambing. Apart from a few wet and very cold days, it has stayed mostly dry throughout. However, the South Wales valleys never cease to amaze me how we can experience every form of weather in a single day! During the couple of days of sunny, warm weather, we did have a number of issues with members of the public chasing lambs in the fields in order to create social media content. There were also dogs off the lead and gates left open, resulting in 40 of our yearling replacements wandering next to a busy main road. There is never a dull moment in farming, just dull people! Performance recording has been at the forefront of our attempts to improve the profitability of our flock, which is really starting to pay dividends with less assisted lambings and lower lamb mortality. Over the next few weeks, we will be bringing in around 1,200 lambs for tailing and the ewes will be receiving a blowfly preventative ahead of shearing. Plenty of work for the Huntaway after a long rest during lambing! As mentioned in last month's blog, Maendy YFC were fortunate to compete in the NFYFC national pantomime finals. Squeezing in practices during lambing has been extremely challenging for everyone involved. It was, however, undoubtedly worthwhile as we won and brought the trophy back home to Wales. An incredible achievement for all involved!
May has been an extremely busy month! Firstly, all the ewes and lambs were gathered for tailing. Over the course of a week, the lambing fields were mobbed up and brought down to the sheds. A great job for the Huntaway after a quiet winter and lambing. Everyone was very pleased with the quality and number of lambs that came through the system. Secondly, the cows were in full swing of calving, which brought it' s own issues with regards to a few bad tempered cows at tagging. A few close calls and the decision has been made to not retain any of these for the next season. No cow is worth any injury. However, no assisted calvings, two sets of twins and 94% calving in eight weeks, the performance of the herd has been second to none. Our ambassador group also met up for the second time this year. We travelled to Welshpool and what a fantastic few days we all had! To be around like-minded people who strive to push the industry forward and learn from the best in the business on our farm and business tours really is inspiring. Finally, the end of May is our YFC county rally day. My club came second but were joint winners overall for the competing year. Another great achievement!
June started off with a bang here in Wales. After winning our World Cup Qualifier, the national football team has earned its place in the finals tournament in Qatar. The last time we qualified was in 1958! Make no mistake, there was plenty of celebrating that weekend! Back on the farm, all the lambs have received a pour on against flystrike, a yellow drench as per a faecal egg count test and a cobalt supplement. The yearlings have been sheared and the ewes will be clipped during the last week of the month. This has been a very busy few weeks for the dogs gathering the hills. For me, this is the highlight of all the farm work. You just can't beat working dogs and gathering big mobs of sheep across the mountains. There is no better office view!
July saw all the ewes gathered for shearing and the first lot of fit lambs sold into Raglan Market. Hopefully the price holds through the next few months as the markets see a larger throughput leading into the autumn. We bought a new Limousin bull from a friend I went to university with, to go with our Hereford heifers and some surplus Welsh Black cows that we don't require replacements from. The last of our hay and haylage has all been baled to fulfil the livery yard orders for the winter. Two trips to Cornwall for a stag do and the wedding of friends from my university days saw some well-earned time away from the farm, in addition to the return of the Royal Welsh Show. A very busy month of catching up with friends.
August. A very busy month indeed! We kicked off with our penultimate NSA trip as Next Generation Ambassadors to Malvern. Several farm tours, a trip to grass breeding specialists, Barenbrug, talks from Liz Genever and AHDB, as well as the NSA Sheep Event itself. This ensured we had a very informative and enjoyable three days away. Not forgetting the dinner at the Three Counties Showground before the Sheep Event, which was a great do! Back on the farm, all the lambs have weaned from the ewes. By using FECs we found a high nematodirus egg count for the second time this season which perhaps is highlighting a shift in the seasonality of the parasite, along with a high strongyles count. All lambs were dosed with a clear wormer alongside a cobalt supplement drench and flystrike application. IT was a very busy few days sorting lambs. One of my goals for this year was to start selling produce boxes to complement my lambs and encourage further locally sourced, healthy and sustainable food. To date, I've successfully sold free range eggs, lettuce, peas, runner beans, cucumbers, apples and blackberry jam. With more still to come yet! My YFC recently held its AGM and it was voted that I would become Chair for 2022/23. A great privilege and a challenge I'm looking forward to.
End of year comment. The programme has been one of the best things I have done since leaving university. Expanding my knowledge of the sheep industry, meeting like-minded people and personal goal setting have been the fundamentals of the programme. We have visited some incredible places and met some very positive, forward-thinking people, encouraging me greatly. The farm tours were brilliant to see different systems and meet the people who manage them. I was really impressed by our chat with Adam Henson on our first trip and the flock health workshops we did with Phillipa Page. Our final trip to Hexham and the sessions with the agricultural business advisers really resonated with me, as it gave us all a real insight into preparing budgets and applying for farm tenancies. This was backed up by the session with Development Consultant Wyn Owen, who facilitated a goal setting and career pathway exercise and gave me the encouragement to share my goals and identify a step-by-step approach. The major talking point of the programme has to be the friends you make and people you meet along the way. The inspiration, confidence, learning and friendships you come away with are second to none and I personally now feel closer to reaching my ambitions than ever before.
