Urgent Appeal in Saving a Cornish Farm

This picture above is a healthy pregnant cow, she was carrying her calf. Unfortunately it had to be shot today to know fault of it's own.
This is one of Jack's favorite cows . Where ever Jack goes Chubbers follows. Jack is known for leaving his coat anywhere so Chubbers always pinches it and takes it back to her bed.
My name is Debbie and I'm writing this heartfelt message after probably one of the worst days of my family lives.  We are a small dairy farm in Cornwall with 125 milking cows and about 100 young stock as we rear all our calves. 


The farm is run solely by my husband Fred and my son Jack who is nearly 18.  Jack has always wanted to do farming from the day he could walk around in his wellies because of his passion for the animals/countryside.

With this in mind and Jack finishing school his dream of wanting to carry on the family farm was his goal/passion in making the family business grow so we decided to borrow a large amount of money so we could invest in the best shed for the cows and to give them the best environment to live in as the old facility was not suitable for the current high welfare standards that are expected, they even have beds that are like tempur mattresses, rubber floor so its soft where they stand, lots of fresh air, sunlight and fresh water all to hand...like a 5 star hotel apart from when they are outside grazing in the sun.

Then on Friday 8th Jan we had TB test where every animal on the farm is tested, even a calf.  We have 25 cows that tested positive to this strain, this means it showed as reactors which basically means that a fifth of our herd  will now have to be shot and taken and see if they have TB or not.  3 of the cows were due to calve in the next few weeks too. The test isn't even 100% accurate, and you can't appeal. 


We will now be 25 cows short, which means we will lose 700-800 litres a day at 28 pence a litre. It takes about 2 years to rear a cow and is not cheap, so replacing them will cost about £1800 each. We will be at least £6000 a month short of income because we can’t restock for a minimum of 2 months and yet our investment still needs to be paid for and the cows need to be fed and looked after. 



Hopefully we will find a solution, but if we can't find the income it is set that we will have to sell our family farm and home.  I have lived here since I got married 23 years ago, Fred and Jack have lived here all their life and in 1 quick TB test we are set to lose it all...the government will pay us some compensation for the cows but not for what they will cost to replace and nothing for the loss of income. Then in 60 days time we have to go through all of this again in retesting all the remaining animals, after that we can hopefully then buy some cows to increase our herd size again.

We are completely stuck....

When I see my husband and son work 7 days a week in all weathers for not a lot of money and then we get hit with the worst news ever in our lifetime breaks my heart.  It’s not something I would wish anyone to go through what we are as a family right now. This news is absolutely devastating and something I don't want to experience again in our lifetime.

Any money donated would be used to see us get through the next 60 days and to be able to invest in buying more cows once our 60 days are up and keep our family farm.

I appreciate your time in reading this as I know the world is a hard place at the moment, so stay safe everyone.

 Many thanks

 Debbie



This Video says it all. That's why we must save Ryan Park Farm......

https://www.facebook.com/1270593451/videos/10226497975576908/