Crystal Fullerton Fine Art

Where's my Supper?

Crossbred Lamb

Clun Forest Weanling

Move it or lose it!

I do not have any finished paintings to view today. Things seem to be moving tediously slowly. Could be this bone melting heat wave we are experiencing and it could be the fact that I took my camera on another farm tour!

I visited Nant Y Mor Farm today. There are breeders of Purebred Clun Forest Sheep and this is where we purchased Bella from. Nant Y Mor is one of only a dozen breeders of Clun Forest Sheep in the country so I had to go get some photos of these special girls. The 33 degree temp had them hiding under every morsel of shade they could find and it was only the enticement of grain that had them running hell bent for leather!

I was reading the latest Jersey Canada magazine (online- how clever Russel!) and saw an article about the Jersey cow having a smaller carbon foot print than other more traditional breeds of dairy cattle. This piqued my interest as I have long speculated about Heritage breeds and their carbon foot print. The Cluns are a known grass finishing sheep which means they can reach optimum market weight without all the added grain inputs of the more popular "meat" breeds. With the cost of transportation increasing exponentially I wonder how long it will take the face of agriculture to catch up with the cost of doing business?

If a farmer can raise a market lamb to slaughter weight in 120 days but he requires huge amounts of grain inputs does this make sound business sense when compared to someone who can raise the same amount of lamb on pasture with only a few more weeks added?

I know I have been giving this a considerable amount of thought. Breeds I once considered "prime" are now less desireable to me. Unfortunatley the public knows little to nothing about where their food comes from. When we were transporting our market lamb to the butcher we stopped at a gas station where a woman approached us to pet the lamb. She naively asked where he was going and when we explained his purpose she was horrified.

"How can you eat him?"

When I asked her where she thought lamb came from she proudly announced she didn't eat lamb. I questioned whether she was a vegetarian or not and she quite happily told me she loved chicken, beef and pork.

She didn't make the connection.

That makes me very sad.