'The little white book is missing... how do I tell Tim?'

The little white book is missing and I’m losing sleep over its whereabouts. It’s the second week of April, the last calf is one week old and I’m baffled. Since the end of January, I’ve known where it was at all times.

There is a special covered plastic black box in the calf shed for the calf passports. That is where the book is supposed to reside when it is not in my pocket.

Colm does all the tagging and registration of the calves. I like to be with him when he is tagging.

Each calf’s band identification is in the white book, entered by me. All the other details are there too – the dam and sire, date of birth and sex. I write in my own notes as well such as B&W, that means an even distribution of black and white.

I write B&W for a calf that is more black than white, so you can guess what W&B means. There might be socks and stars or even a panda face. Every piece of information is valuable to avoid mistakes.

Time to come clean

Of course, genotyping probably makes me and the little white book somewhat redundant but I value the paper trail. If the book is not in the box in the calf shed then it should be on a small shelf in the office or on the kitchen unit.

If somebody uses it and removes it from the shed, then I expect them to put it back.

But, it’s missing two weeks now.

I know the last time it was in my hands. Then again, maybe I don’t. Memories of movements and where we put things can be conjured and that is why I’ve turned the shed and the house upside down trying to find it. I’ve even checked under the bed.

There were years when Tim ordered two copies of the book from ICBF to be printed. He’d copy my entries every few days without the flowery descriptions. In January, he handed me the 2025 book saying, “I only got one printed this year so mind it. I don’t need it until after calving is done.”

I did take it with trepidation, feeling the responsibility. The information can be accessed online. But it is the farmer’s entries that make it an invaluable tool. Tim puts in the grass walks and lots of other farm data that he collects during his working day.

When I realised that the little white book was probably gone for good, I knew I had to come clean and tell Tim.

It is important to pick the right time. The last few days have been really busy.

So, I’d be just about to blurt it out when he’d say, “Smiths are here for reseeding. Can you give them a bit of lunch,” or some other important piece of information that indicated that his mind was well occupied. And so it went until I couldn’t take the pressure any longer. Tim came into the calf shed. “Tim, the white book has been mislaid,” I said.

Admit my incompetence

He began his own line of questioning and searching which I knew was futile. He added that at least he’d no entries in it yet and he’d manage on one of the old books. At least all the calves were tagged. I wondered why I’d procrastinated.

Deep down, I knew that it was because in telling him, I had to admit my own incompetence. He suggested that we go through the big blue farm bin. Not the nicest job but just maybe worth it.

I’ll keep you posted.