So, you think you know farming and the countryside? A quiz for all the family this New Year!

Below are 40 questions, plus answers, based on facts about the countryside from Jill’s book. You can have some fun this New Year putting your family and friends to the test!

QUESTIONS:

1. What’s a “store animal”?

2. Name two common breeds of beef cattle in Britain today?

3. What is a “freemartin”?

4. A castrated beef animal is called what?

5. At what age are beef cattle usually slaughtered?

6. Nearly 90% of British dairy cows are what breed?

7. What is the maximum number of litres of milk a cow can yield per day? 8. A “herdwick” is (a) what species? and (b) native to where?

9. What is a “hogget”?

10. When is a mule not a mule?

11. How many front teeth do sheep have on their upper jaws?

12. A gallon of ewe’s milk will produce what weight of cheese?

13. Which major type of British farming receives no British or EU subsidies or grants? 14. How long is a sow pregnant?

15. Why do pigs have rings in their noses?

16. Two things are stamped on a British egg: name both of them.

17. How long does it take a hen’s egg to hatch?

18. To within 25, what is the number of eggs an average “layer” will produce in her life? 19. What lethal gas is produced in damp poultry litter?

20. What is a male turkey called?

21. Can turkeys bred for the table mate naturally?

22. Where are most ducks farmed in Britain?

23. In what year were veal crates banned in Britain?

24. Where does Britain get the majority of its sugar?

25. Which crop turns fields blue in mid-summer?

26. In which month does the British carrot harvest begin?

27. How many registered crofts are there in Scotland, (nearest 1000)? 28. What is a “garron”?

29. How many species of deer are there living wild in Britain?

30. How many million people live in the UK today?

31. How many species of mammal live wild in and around the British Isles? 32. Which British hardwood is used to make rifle butts?

33. What are “withers”?

34. How long does the pregnancy of a mare last?

35. What percentage of thoroughbred horses in training ever win a race? 36. How many offspring can a breeding pair of rats produce in 12 months? 37. What was the oldest British fieldsport?

38. What is a family of partridges called?

39. Which game bird is never artificially reared?

40. When was fox hunting banned in Britain?

ANSWERS:

1. One bought for fattening

2. Hereford, Limousin, Aberdeen Angus, Charolais, Simmental

3. If a cow gives birth to twins, one male, one female, the female is always infertile. She’s a freemartin

4. A steer

5. Up to 2 years

6. Holstein or Friesian

7. 60 litres

8. A Lake District sheep

9. A sheep in its first year between January and the first shearing

10. When it’s a cross-bred sheep

11. None

12. Approximately 2lbs

13. Pig farming

14. Typically three months, three weeks and three days or 114 days. 15. To stop them digging

16. Lion and sell-by date (21 days after being laid)

17. 21 days

18. 300 eggs

19. Ammonia

20. A stag

21. No, they are too heavy and bulky to mate. AI is used

22. East Anglia

23. 1990

24. Over 50% of our sugar is home-grown

25. Flax or linseed

26. Mid-June

27. 17,000

28. A “garron” is a highland pony used to carry stalked deer off the hillside

29. Six

30. 68 million

31. 107

32. Walnut

33. Shoulders of a horse

34. 11 months

35. 5%

36. 800

37. Hare coursing

38. A covey

39. Grouse

40. 2005

If you enjoyed this quiz there is much more to learn. Everything you wanted to know about the Countryside (but didn’t dare ask!) by Jill Mason is available in all good bookshops and online.

And, we have a special reader offer of £22 plus p&p, ring 01584 877456 from 3 January 2023, or use discount code FARM23 on the website www.merlinunwin.co.uk