A belated Happy New Year to all. I hope that lambing is or soon will be going well for everyone.

The Annual General Meeting will be held at Mr Parson's farm in Newport, I.o.W. on 16th May, 2004 at 10.30 a.m..

Plans for the annual Open Day are taking shape and the date has been changed to suit the May lambing folk. It is now on Sunday 16th May at 10.30 a.m. at John and Mark Parson's farm, Chillerton, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 3HE, Tel. 01983 721248. For accommodation booking phone IoW Tourist Board on 01983 813813. It is advisable to book the ferry which takes about an hour. This can be done for the Southampton / Cowes crossing by phoning 0870 4448898 or for Lymington / Yarmouth and Portsmouth / Fishbourne on 0870 5827744 (this crossing is approx. 45 mins.). Below is the agenda for the Open Day:

10.30 A.G.M. (Members Only)
11.00 Welcome and introduction to the farm by Dr John Parsons
11.30 Inspection of the flock and tour of the farm
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Afternoon session - Prof. Rolf Minhorst from Dusseldorf, Germany willl speak on the development and future of single purpose meat sheep to be followed by any questions and a discussion.
16.00 Depart

The Isle of Wight is a fascinating place with plenty of places of interest to visit so hopefully we will have a good turnout. Please let me or Mr Parsons know so that we can have an idea of how many to cater for. We are fortunate in obtaining the services of Prof. Rolf Minhorst of Osnerbruck, Germany, who will speak on his work developing a similar breed to the Easy Care called Nolana. Remember that it is a business trip so you should set it off against tax - that is if you are making a profit. If not, keep more Easy Care and you soon will be!

I have an enquiry for Maedi Visna accredited sheep. If any breeder has sheep in this scheme or are organic please let me know.

There have been many enquiries about Easy Care and if you have not had any you soon will. Remember only to sell higher quality sheep as most buyers are trying them for the first time. Only sheep carrying the official Easy Care tag can be sold as Easy Care. These tags are available at £1 each and I shall have plenty available at the Open Day. We also intend having a stand at Sheep 2004 at the Three Counties showground in Malvern on July 28th. Please come and help us spread the word. We have negotiated with the Traditional Breeds Marketing Co. Ltd. who have agreed to pay a premium for our killing lambs. The current rate is 20p per kilo above the MLC price and they have abbatoirs at Stoke-on-Trent, Leintardine, Machynlleth, Llanidloes and Wrexham. When you have some to sell please phone T.B.M.M. on 01285 869666 and give them a months notice.

Hope to see you all in the Isle of Wight in May.

Kindest regards,

Iolo Owen

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