I was checking out all the hype on the sheep trade and wanted to see the record prices in marts for myself when I overheard a great yarn between two neighbouring farmers.

One farmer said to the other: “I would have never thought you lambed down 170 ewes until I saw the numbers sprayed on the side of the ewes.”

The other farmer said: “And you’d be right, I only lamb down 100 but start marking from 100 up – it will keep our competitive neighbour up the road guessing for a while.”

You can’t beat neighborhood politics.