The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 28somewhat debatable." Murray says.
With sheep farming. Murray says,
the income versus investment ratio is
good compared to some types of
farming. Nearby. for instance. is a
similar sized farm with a 4000 -head
eaner hog barn that's for sale at
$ I.8 million. "Our farm wouldn't
even be worth a quarter of that. and
ae derive. or at least we're trying to
support. a (family) income from it
Nhile Fm not sure if you could
derive an income from that farm or
not
Murray had been farming the
t1fth generation farm for
two years before he and
Doris married 13 years ago. Today
their two children Graydon and Erin
are starting to be involved in the
operation. Erin has a 441 lamb and
Graydon is "a good Iamb catcher"
when Iambs need caring for.
"It's a lot nicer having the kids
around sheep than it was around milk
cows" says Doris. "They can be right
in there helping you with them."
While sheep allow more
flexibility in the schedule than dairy,
it's not a lazy person's dream.
"He's just as busy," Doris says of
her husband, "but it's different stuft
year 'round."
One of the things that takes up
Murray's time has been learning the
art of shearing. He first began
learning how four or five years ago
but the last two years he and
neighbour Steve Hallam have
sheared their own flocks themselves.
Learning shearing is one of the
opportunities in the sheep industry,
Murray says. "There's Tots of people
looking for shearers. The good ones
make it look so easy. There are
certainly right and wrong techniques
for it."
Though shearing is a cost of
production for sheep farmers, there's
little return for the wool itself. Often
the price received for wool wouldn't
cover the Lost of shearing, Murray
says.
The Clarks profess not to be
anything special in their sheep
operation but they do manage to
make a full time living from sheep
while having time to take part fully
in their community and their
industry. In this day of people being
too busy to find time for involvement
off the farm, that's becoming a rare
achievement.0
24 THE RURAL VOICE
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