Overseas News – 2015
In June we took four male kids to Belgium for Renaat Devreese. Two Charnocks BT’s & two Ardross BS’s. All nice boys.
My small Ifor Williams P8 trailer had to be re-licensed in early July. This is a rigorous inspection which covers all the requirements for long-distance (over 8 hours) transport. All went well and it is now legal until 2020.
A shipment of AN’s has been booked for Romania. My client is currently filling in paperwork to allow importation to her farm. Fingers crossed.
A shipment of AN’s has been booked for Poland in 2016. There is a lot of interest there for AN goats & semen.
Overseas News – 2014
A difficult year with Keith suffering ill-health & a move from our home of 23 years. But life carried on. Early January saw me in Bristol Docks with my dry shipper carrying Boer semen. I had previously sent a small tank from Bristol to St. Helena by sea. A distance of 5000 mls. This time the shipper was going by air. The agent transported it to Brize Norton where it flew with the RAF to their base at Ascension Island. Then it went by boat to St.Helena for CVO Joe Hollins. I have recently (Aug 2015) received pics from Joe of super 50% Boer kids sired by Janas Mebe. Quite amazing!
In June I took a a shipment of Beech Hay Boers to Gatwick. They flew to St Lucia in the Caribbean & a wonderful home. Lucky goats.
In September there was another excellent Farm Walk at Phil Ormerod’s commercial herd nr. Skipton organised by the RABDF. His brand new automated feeding system was very impressive and his goats as always in excellent condition.
Overseas News – 2013
The Edible Garden Show at Stoneleigh (Smallholder Marquee). Fay & I took the BGS stand again for three days in March. Milking, grooming, foot trimming demos with goats from the Willowbank & Horsehay herds. A baby Togg male kid was a huge attraction with the public. 13000+ visitors attended this event.
In early June Keith & I took a super Boer male kid from the Beech Hay herd to Guernsey for Theresa Abbott & Colin Gardner. We stayed for a few lovely days which included a memorable day trip to Sark.
Off again in July with AN’s from the Hurstpier, Ivans & Colemans herds for Switzerland. A repeat order for Theresia Marbach-Jund near Mauensee. All their milk is turned into wonderful cheese. We also had the great pleasure of visiting Hermann Odermatt & his family at their superb cheese dairy in Dallenwil. Sadly Hermann was not well and died just a few months later. We also spent a couple of days with Martin & Trix Lehmann at Schwanden near Glarus. They too turn all the milk from their herd of Chamoisée goats into cheese. Martin is also an accomplished blues musician & great character. I watched him one morning leading his his herd out for browsing up the steep, stony hillside barefoot!
October saw Keith & I setting off again on the very long trip to Greece. We had a shipment of Monach & Stawley AN’s & a lovely group of whites from the Goosemead herd. A trip of this length is hard work for the drivers but amazingly the goats cope brilliantly. They soon get into a routine. Lying down when we’re on the move and eating & drinking normally when we stop which we do frequently to check them. We unloaded for a 24-hr rest period at a Control Post in Perugia in central Italy. Then carried on to Bari where we caught an overnight ferry to Patras in Greece. Some of the goats were off-loaded in the Peloponnese then we caught another ferry to the mountainous island of Kefalonia ( as featured in the film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin). We’d previously visited our eldest son Joshua when he was doing 6 weeks field work on Kefalonia for his micropalaentology degree. The island is just east of a major tectonic fault line where the European & Aegean plates meet at a slip boundary, similar to the more famous San Andreas Fault. In 1953 a huge earthquake destroyed most of the houses. Fortunately there were no tremors while we were there!
Another excellent RABDF commercial goat farm walk took place on Nov 14th. One of the best herds I’ve seen with high-health status goats bred from quality Goosemead stock. The condition of the herd and the stockmanship was impressive. http://www.rabdf.co.uk/training-and-events/forthcoming-events/commercial-goat-walk-gloucester
Overseas News – 2012
2012 proved to be a very difficult year for EU exports due to the Euro crisis and the recession. This was particularly difficult for clients in Greece and Spain who were unable to proceed with their bookings for goats.
Two BA male kids flew to Milan, Italy in June for Erica Franzini in the province of Sondrio. Erica breeds BA look-alike Frontalascas (or Frisa Valtellinese). http://eng.agraria.org/goat/frontalasca.htm
The Irish Goat Producers Goat Tour. This took place on August 28th/29th. It involved a lot of work by organiser Bernie Whyte & myself to set this up. Visits to two pedigree show herds (Charnocks & Philday), two large commercial herds (St.Helen’s & Phil Ormerod’s) & a meat herd (Cockerham) took place. Bernie had 32 bookings with just one or two absentees. I met the group at Manchester airport (wearing my Guinness hat) where we boarded our coach. It was a fantastic couple of days. The IGPA are a great & enthusiastic group of goatkeepers. http://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2012/1638/GoatStudyTour.pdf
Fay & I took the BGS & Goat Genetics stands to the Dairy Event again in Sept. Now re-branded as the Livestock Event. With just the two of us we were kept busy with numerous visitors. We always attract some overseas ones too which is good. We didn’t like having to carry all our kit up the hill to the car park though at the end (heavy machinery was blocking the parking by the hall!)
It was a difficult year for BA’s. Lincoln Thackorie in Trinidad would have liked a shipment of 2M & 20F. A high % of kids this year were male and in the end I could only source 3M & 4F for him. So this shipment was topped up with AN’s which flew from Gatwick in early Sept. Numbers of Saanens & Toggs being registered annually are very low and could BA’s be heading the same way?
Overseas News – 2011
Cian Condon the goat advisor for “Teagasc” (the agriculture and food development authority in Ireland) had a successful visit to English meat & dairy herds in September 2011. Unfortunately I was transporting goats to Greece at that time so was unable to accompany him. He found it interesting and informative to see farms varying in size, set up & location. His notes will be passed on to farmers in Ireland. http://www.teagasc.ie/
A shipment of 44 dairy & meat goats to Greece was successful but difficult. My husband was unwell shortly after we set off and I ended up driving to the Peloponnese & back with no co-pilot. But we managed (somehow) to keep to the schedule and all goats arrived in good condition for Vasilis Kotretsos.
Two shipments of AN’s & whites went by air to Trinidad on Sept 2nd & 8th. For BGS member Lincoln Thackorie.
Maureen Ross, Jane Wilson, Fay Ogden & I manned the BGS & Goat Genetics stands at the Dairy Event at the NEC on Sept 6th & 7th. Plenty of visitors including BGS Hon Vet David Harwood.
Fay & I also took the BGS stand to the RABDF Commercial Goat Farm Walk at Bromes Farm near Taunton. A well-attended & enjoyable day at a good herd. And to the three-day Edible Garden Show at Stoneleigh (smallholder marquee) with huge crowds.