Duchy College's very location may add to its value to farmers across the UK, particularly as the effects of climate change start to be felt more keenly.
Over the next few years the skills and experiences developed in Devon and Cornwall may prove especially valuable for the whole country, writes Richard Soffe, head of the college's Rural Business School.
Here we are in February. OK, when you read this, it may be in a blizzard or in Siberian temperatures. But the chances are that most days will be relatively mild for the time of year. Here in Cornwall, you are looking at mild, sometimes very warm and wet weather. And this may be the picture of things to come for many more farms across the UK.
All that means the techniques and data developed at Duchy will prove increasingly valuable. The lessons we have learned may apply to you, maybe even in the next two or three years.
Grass keeps growing
Year-round grass growth, and how best to exploit it, is a case in point.
Through Grassland Challenge, an extensive collaborative project involving farmer focus groups and partner farms, Duchy College has become a leading source of advice in Devon and Cornwall on grass.
Now, in February, is the time to plan grassland management to get maximum returns, writes Paul Ward, one of the Rural Business School's specialists, with a particular interest in grass, environmental best practice and making land management more profitable.
Grass growth at Duchy this month will reach about 15kg/ha (average dry matter), not very significant, but still growing. That will pick up very soon in March to 80kg, with a peak in April and May at 120kg. By contrast January and February growth in East Anglia can be nil.
In the past, a prime concern at this time of year was whether soil temperatures were high enough for the first application of fertiliser. This was seen as a key factor for profitability. What we have seen in the past three years is that soil temperature is not the limiting factor.
Wet soil
The critical point in our wet, warm winters is ground condition and how wet soils are. If the soil is wet, we see fertiliser leeching losses, which mean losses in profitability and detrimental effects to the environment, particularly water quality.
Some farmers might be considering an application in early February. But applying early fertiliser now can be a mistake if conditions are not optimal. We have found that assessing nutrients more carefully really pays off.
The important thing should be assessing nutrient status, planning to use the residual, making sure it is used by the crop, and putting off extra fertiliser. Farmers are increasingly relying on residual fertility from the autumn to support early grazing.
Poaching is another consideration. Duchy College is championing methods to reduce poaching, including changing access and creating alternative ways into fields, and grazing for a few hours only at the beginning of the season to ensure cows are only eating rather than trampling swards.
Now is the time for ensuring you have good access to fields, and keeping fencing and track maintenance up to date. Make sure if your cattle are turned out early that you are ready to get them in with different entry points.
Reducing costs
These methods have already become standard practice for some farms. Duchy College is keen to show that others can do this, too, with good results, reducing winter costs of labour, housing and feed.
This is not tinkering at the edges. Using early grass can save on feed costs. At Duchy College's farm and on some focus farms, savings on purchased feeds have been 1.3p/litre. Including fixed costs, where early grazing has been part of a strategy to produce an extra 2000 litres a cow a year from grazed grass, the savings were equivalent to 5p/litre. Even in the higher yielding herds of over 9000 litres a cow, savings of 0.5p/litre have been achieved. That is not just savings in Cornwall. The same applies across the south west and as far afield as Cheshire.
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