Our Day Out
Chimene Haines, Accounts Manager at Green & Co, writes about our recent team building day…
At Green and Co, a large proportion of our clients are farmers and it had been mentioned that a lot of our of staff admitted to having had no experience of farming. So it was decided to broaden their horizons and have a day out in the country.
Our first stop was to the new market at Raglan which was in the process of being cleaned following the previous day’s trading! Hugh gave us the guided tour and we had the opportunity to see some stock being loaded into lorries. We also saw where the cattle are paraded prior to sale.
Our next stop was at Nick and Caroline Turner’s farm in Raglan. This coincided with the sun making its appearance for the first time. After coffee and biscuits (thank you Caroline) we wandered out to the lambing shed to be introduced to the tiddler lambs. Nick did his own version of lambing live – without the graphic bits (!) – and hopefully some of our questions were relevant.
Next stop was a wander up the farm to check on the cereals! Again, a very informative description of what is involved in getting the crops from seed to harvest made us all realise that there is more to farming than you think. After a visit to the shed to look at some of the “toys” involved in the job, and a wander to look at the ewes and lambs in the field, we changed out of our wellies to enjoy lunch in The Beaufort Arms.
After a lovely lunch we took a trip down the A449 to Redwick for a look at a dairy farm. We went to Tom and Kath James (and not forgetting Josh and Milly) at North Court farm on the moors to get an idea of dairy farming. Following coffee and cake (and a sample of fresh milk for some – again thank you Kath!) we heard a breakdown of what is involved in providing Milk to Sainsbury’s (being only 1 of the 5 farms in Wales to do so). Our tour started with a look at the calves – some only a few days old – and the older ladies who were waiting to calve. We then went into the parlour in small groups to get up close and see what happens. This was possibly a bit too close for some people!
All in all, a good day was had by all. We were all amazed by how much is involved. Hopefully, when we pour milk onto our cereal in the morning we will think of the Turners and the James’ and what they have done to feed us!
