Once we were more or less up to speed on the stock management; or as up to date as is possible with sheep, repairs and maintenence became the priority. The major project in the "plan" was to subdivide the main stock handling area into smaller pens, all interleading and gated, so the flocks could be split up, for various procedures. This was accomplished rapidly, and we then moved onto windmill maintenance. For some reason, there would be a windmill breakdown at least once per week. Critical as they are, one just has to put up with their temperamental nature, and fix them as soon as they break down.
Fences and gates were also a priority, and several gates were taken down and rewelded and rewired at the house. The main irrigation system suffered a lightening strike, so that meant a huge amount of expense and frustration.
The biggest frustration came not from the farm directly, but from the local farmer who grazed cattle for a fee on the property. It was a 'grazing only' contract; no management by the farm staff was included in the fee, but this guy would frequently arrive and insist that the staff help him with whatever needed doing - dosing dipping feeding etc. Not wanting to antagonize him, he being a stalwart in the community! I let it go for a month or two. The final straw was when he was busy, in my absense, with his bulls, and the broke the main gate to the handling facility. No note, no phone-call, no offer to repair.
I let it be known in the 'community' that this was not the right thing to do, and a couple of days later he arrived with a new gate which was installed until he returned with the old one, fully repaired. Shortly thereafter, I gave him notice of termination mid month, and he moved the cattle a few days later. He even had the temerity to ask if I was going to charge him for the half-month grazing. Definitely! He paid up without a problem. Such are the joys of living in a small community.
No comments:
Post a Comment