BRITISH calving and lambing season is currently in full swing as cows and sheep from around the country give birth to their young.

‘Spring’ calving and lambing season traditionally begins in January each year, and sometimes runs through until as late as June.

And despite the weather becoming increasingly unpredictable in the midst of climate change, it seems as though Britain’s ‘rain of terror’ will not affect this year’s crop of young farm animals.

So, with the season now in full flow, The Leader speaks to a Flintshire farm owner about their calving and lambing season so far, and about how good old British weather is proving to actually be… Good.

Hayden Sigsworth, owner of Midlist Farm in Halkyn, Flintshire, said: “It’s been a very good lambing season this year.

“The weather is the main thing during lambing season, and 2019 is a total contrast to last year when we had the ‘Beast from the East’ and when the terrible weather went into May.

“This year we’ve had really good weather, so the lambs have survived.”

But this has come at a bit of a cost for farm owners around the nation as while more lambs are surviving, sheep are actually giving birth to less of them to begin with.

Mr Sigsworth added: “There’s a lot less lambs about this year because of the dry summer.

“The sheep weren’t in as good condition, so they don’t give you as many lambs, and that goes around the country. There’s less lambs on the ground, but they’ve survived a lot better.

Midlist Farm, which overlooks the Dee Estuary from its position 600 feet above sea level, presently homes 400 breeding ewes and 150 cattle on its 200 acres of land, meaning the work never stops for Mr Sigsworth.

Each morning he checks his sheep and lambs to make sure nothing has happened over the night, before going on to feed all of his animals and ensure they’re all in the fields they should be in.

Speaking about his produce, the Holywell farm owner says: “The lambs go to the local markets in Mold, and the buyers there will generally supply locally, while our cattle go to an abattoir in Preston which supplies supermarkets around (the nation).

“The people who buy our animals demand what we give them really.

“We have to supply to their specifications, and if we don’t then we get penalised on the price they pay. Now and again we can get a little bonus, but it’s very one way and very much on their terms.

“People want cheap food, and we’re here to supply it. Farming is a way of life, so we cope with what is thrown at us.

“We used to supply directly to the consumer, but when we’ve gone into the problems with cutbacks and people not having as much money, it was a big hit to the farmers market.

“So, we went back into the commercial side of farming which has given us a lot more time.