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It's that time of year again when sheep breeding sales are in full swing with plenty of pedigree ram sales already been and gone with many more to come over the next few weeks along with commercial and early breeding ewe sales.

It's a reminder that in a rapidly changing world the farming calendar remains very much the same. Harvest might be earlier, the weather drier or wetter than it has been in the past, world event impact on commodity prices, but in spite of the challenges farmers adapt and innovate to cope with this and continue to produce food for the nation.

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To showcase the sheep farming calendar, myself and the rest of the Farmers Guardian livestock team are about to launch a new video series – Sale ring stories – a year of sheep sales.

Starting with Lazonby's store lamb sale we with be visitingÌý a whole host of different types of sales as the year progresses to showcase the diversity of the sheep industry and how it follows a stratified system – so look out for the first installment.

Also, voting is now open for the Mart's The Heart awards which highlight the vital role auction marts have in the agricultural and wider rural community.

So now is the time to support your favourite market, auctioneer and market café –

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