Rural Community – Rhi Pinches
Welcome to the newest segment of our rural blog where we are featuring farmers from all kinds of backgrounds to raise their profile and help represent the incredible work that goes on in the rural community – told by none other than the farmers themselves! In this post we’ve collaborated with Rhi (@the_farmer_not_the_wife), who is a farmer based in Shropshire.
My name is Rhi Pinches, a 20 something year old, suckler beef and sheep farming, mother of three girls. I farm alongside my Dad in the Shropshire Hills, AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty)
Our enterprise, practising over 450 acres, has recently been reduced to consist of 135 suckler cows, of a variety of breeds and 500 breeding ewes. We see all of the young-stock through to finishing. This means that everything born here is grown and fattened with care and detail, to produce quality British beef and lamb.
The male calves remain in tact and are sold direct to the abattoir at around 15months, ideally at a 400kilo dead-weight. The females too, are mainly sold directly to the abattoir at a slightly steadier rate. Our lambs tend to be sold at around 9/12 months, after they have been fattened mainly by grass. However, due to significant changes I have introduced creep feeders already with our April born lambs in a bid to sell them faster.
If you cant already tell, I am a British agriculture fanatic. I completely live and breathe farming for the love of the livelihood, the rewarding environment we strive for and the unusual, extra special opportunities it brings with it. I am a lover of John Deeres, Huntaway dogs, hearty home-cooked food, sunrises and most importantly, all things that make me “Mummy”.
I am thrilled to be delivering regular updates from our family and our farming life, and I hope to shed plenty of light on the workings of a small family run livestock farm as we face new challenges within our sector. If you’d like to see more of my pictures, or get to learn a little more about me before my next blog, you can find me on Instagram @the_farmer_not_the_wife.
