Dairy Diary

Maize harvested at last

2012-11-16T11:58:00Z

I would like to start this months blog with some positive news. Our herd TB test was clear. It is a very worrying time, to fail a test would put pressure on any farm. Being unable to move or sell cattle is not a good position to be in. The last of this years calves have now been sold so no calves to feed until June !! One of the benefits of a block calving system not having to do all jobs all year.

The maize was harvested at the end of last week. As expected the yield was well down but the cobs seemed to have matured quite well.Conditions were not too bad. The trailers brought some mud onto the road but it was quickly brushed away by my brother Phil who stayed on the tractor and brush all day. A friend came with his large crawler tractor. It was more as a precaution but was needed on the steeper banks to pull some tractors back to the top.He then returned the next day to subsoil the field to remove the ruts and wheel marks to prevent water from lying there all winter.

We sheeted the clamp up on Thursday but reopened this Monday to start and feed. The cows have responded well with the milk going up 1 litre per cow per day already. They might not go up much more but it is definitely the right direction as they had been starting to drop off a bit.

The service period is going ok. We now have about 90 cows incalf. So with replacements on top we could be calving up to 200 in the first 2 months of the 4 month block. The maize should give them a welcome energy boost,this should help them to hold incalf.

The last of the slurry has now been pumped now that the weather conditions have improved. Lets hope for reasonably dry winter so we don't fill up too quickly.

Alex is learning lots at college and is asking me varied questions. I know a bit about most things but I draw the line at pig reproduction !!

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thanks John

Winter comes early.

2012-10-17T15:32:00Z

Winter has arrived early for us this year. The last cow calved today and the herd has already been housed full time for nearly two weeks. We would normally try to keep them out until about the twentieth but the rain has returned and the nights became to cold so the decision was made to bring them in. They are being fed third cut silage at the moment, its a bit wet and like most people the milk has dropped !! We never did fill the bulk tank as we are now under prediction. Lets hope the maize silage will help us out that is if it ever dries up to harvest. The crop is not as tall as normal but most plants have a good cob so we should get a high starch silage even if the bulk isn't there.

Milk prices have started to rise at long last after continued pressure on the dairies. I really think they will be short of milk this winter as silage quality is poor and feed prices continue to rise. I don't think farmers will be able to afford to feed their cows well enough to make up for the poor forage quality.

We decided to buy three Angus bulls to run with the cows. I used up the remaining straws of semen left in the flask from last season for the first three weeks then we put them straight in while the cows were still grazing giving them a good chance to catch a few cows before they come in onto concrete. The vet PD'd the first few this morning and checked the non bullers. We made a steady start with twenty due in the first week. Lets hope it improves and fingers crossed the bulls are working. The vet also returns tomorrow to read our annual TB test. It is a worrying time as the disease seems to be getting closer.

On a lighter note my son Alex started Reaseheath Ag college full time this year and he really seems to be enjoying it. He is learning fast and has lots of course work to do. He will have to get used to paper work if he wants to be a dairy farmer!!!

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John

Calving almost over for another year.

2012-09-10T13:24:00Z

After a couple of weeks of warm weather and some sunshine things are almost back to normal. With 225 cows now milking and only 25 left to calve in the next 4 weeks, all the hard work over the last few months is starting to pay off. The cows are milking well off some good quality grass. They are averaging 34 litres per cow at the moment which puts us well ahead of budget. We are keeping a close eye on the tank at the moment as we may be short of capacity if they carry on milking this well for the next month. Calving the cows in a block has worked well this year. We have had a few problems along the way, the odd milk fever and a couple of twists when the diet was changing between grass and silage, but it will feel good going into the winter knowing there is nothing to calve or calves to feed until next June!! The next task is to get them back in calf. We started serving last Monday. Every cow has a heatime collar and an auto ID tag for segregation, this helps us to AI as many cows as possible in such a short space of time. I do the AI myself but we will run a sweeper bull in November and December to catch the last few. Aberdeen Angus semen is used on all the cows as we don't rear our own replacements. We changed from British Blue to give the cows the easiest calving possible. The benefits of less assisted calvings and down cows, far out ways the loss in calf income between the two breeds.

I managed to get to Livestock2012 last week. It was a good day as I took my two boys Alex and Simon with me. We were able to catch a lift with our feed rep and was even given a free ticket to get in by a random salesman in the queue who had a spare. My boys enjoyed the day picking up the usual free pens and random items. Alex starts at Reaseheath Ag college tomorrow. I'm sure he will enjoy college life and make new farming friends. For me it feels like the start of a new "farming generation". Lets hope by the time he finishes his three year course our milk is valued a lot more than it is now!!

Will things ever come right.

2012-08-06T17:07:00Z

Second cut was done early last week. We were in a queue so missed the best of the weather but it bulked up more than we thought. Most of the grazing paddocks were mown as well,so the cows had a clean start when they eventually went out last week. The clamp filled up quickly so we did'nt buy any wholecrop but the maize still has a lot of catching up to do. We are now over the peak of calving and the last cows to calve have been dried off. As we were short of feed all the barrens have been sold, so it feels better to be milking all fresh calved cows. We are now back on to every day collection after been caught out (the tank ran over), when the milk went up quicker than expected .

Phil and I have also had some time off during the school holidays which was a much deserved rest after such an awful season. The weather has picked up but we are well behind the milk prediction after having the cows in for so long. The bank balance is not good at the moment. It sounds like a perfect storm !!!

things can only get better !!

2012-07-19T16:11:00Z

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. Lots happening, normally all at once, so I will try and give you a quick round up. At the end of June I went on the Cheshire Grassland Society trip to the isle of man. A quick two day trip visiting four farms and the creamery. They seemed to be suffering with the wet weather like the rest of us. My wife Sue is a primary school head teacher and her school has been twinned with a school in Kenya. Sue visited them back in February and they recently visited her school at the beginning of July. The came to the farm and were overwhelmed by the amount of machinery we had as they rely on many hands to make light work. They really enjoyed their visit, two cows calved right on queue !!!

We are still suffering with the wet and the milking cows are all inside. Second cut still has not been cut, so silage quality is going to be poor this winter. The maize crop isn't growing very fast, I hope we get some sun or else it will not mature at all !! We may buy some whole crop wheat as an insurance for the maize but I'm not sure if cash flow will allow it at the moment as we are due another milk price cut on the first of August. We have been to one of the NFU sos milk meetings. I am really not sure what we can do about it but its annoying when you hear on the news that the price of chips has gone up due to the price of potatoes rising because of the weather conditions. So why cant the supermarkets put the milk price up when our costs increase due to the wet weather ????

Thick and fast.

2012-06-27T17:22:00Z

We are now nearly a month into our calving block. After a slow start they are calving thick and fast at the moment. We had eight calve on Monday and the calf pens were nearly all full but the first ten to be born our now three weeks old so were sold today which has given us a bit of breathing space. Calf prices are good at the moment, it makes a change for something to be higher than budget ! We had hoped to keep them for another week but the milkers have been back inside for the last week so we cant set up any calf pens in the cubicle shed as planned. A cow calved on Tuesday which we had bought in calf to either an Angus or Hereford bull. She had twins, one of each breed.

Lets hope the weather improves next week as we have over a hundred to calve in July and it would take the pressure off if the cows were back out.

Calving in full swing.

2012-06-19T10:14:00Z

After a break over the school half term we are now busy calving. The weather is not helping at all. Cows are currently calving inside because the calving paddock is too wet !! I am having to get into a new routine of tagging calves and applying for passports on a regular basis. I had almost forgotten how to register on line as we have had nothing calve since last October. The last of the replacement cows, all 50 of them, arrived yesterday. We vaccinated, id tagged and Heatime collared them when they arrived which took a while. With a block calving system we are able to tick jobs off ie no more new cows till next spring, last cow to be dried off early august etc. This then seems to give us more time to concentrate on specific jobs at certain times of the year rather than a bit of everything all the time.

All caught up.

2012-06-03T16:38:00Z

The end of a busy week. All the grass in, slurry spread and fertiliser applied. On reflection things worked out quite well. Phil managed to drop the lagoon quickly as we have our own pumping kit. I milked on my own this week so Phil could get caught up before the weekend. He is now off for a 4 day break at the caravan in Anglesea. We will catch up on Wednesday before I have my time off Thursday to Sunday, making the most of the school half term with my family.

4 cows have calved so far. A mixture of calving before due dates or slipping twins a month early. I'm sure calving will get into full flow next week. Lets hope the weather improves as it is now raining again !!

Silaging finished.

2012-05-28T17:13:00Z

I cant believe the weather. We mowed early to give time for the ground to dry but by Sunday the grass was starting to go to hay. Ground conditions were not a problem and 120 acres were picked up in record time. The clamp is now sheeted and we are planning to spread slurry/fertiliser for the rest of the week.

Full steam ahead.

2012-05-25T14:10:00Z

The maize is now safely in and Phil is busy mowing. We are now next in the queue and are hoping to start chopping on Sunday. We are leaving the grass in swaths for as long as we can to try and let the ground dry out. Some of our neighbours have been making a mess,getting stuck picking their grass up but I am sure it will have dried a lot by Sunday.

The first cow calved last night, sorry make that two !!! Both a week earlier than planned but both seem ok. We had almost forgotten what calves looked like when we haven't had any since last October.

Progress at last !!!

2012-05-23T09:35:00Z

The week has started well. The maize ground is worked down and should be sown today. We were not the earliest to sow but maybe the conditions are better now for a quick germination. Our neighbours are busy mowing for first cut. Ground conditions are still a bit soft but the sun is shining for a change. I think we will be starting at the weekend as there is a queue for the contractor. All the cows are out again, a relief to them and us. The first cow due to calve is starting to alter and the rest won't be far behind. Let's hope we can get the silaging finished before they start calving.

they are now fit enough...

2012-05-17T20:07:00Z

A big sigh of relief as the TB test was clear last week. The council inspector was happy with my records so we shouldn't see her again for a couple of years. It did feel as though she was checking up on things already covered by our farm assurance.

We are starting to fetch the silage we have just bought for the cows. It is a bit dry but well fermented so it will fill the gap until the cows go out again. We are sending seven barrens to market tomorrow as they are now fit enough and their milk is starting to tail off. Lets hope they sell well because I am in the office tomorrow paying bills and will need some money coming in soon to help with cash flow after the recent milk price drop. It was the domino effect, once one dropped the rest followed !!

Back in again....

2012-05-10T19:33:00Z

We made the decision on Tuesday to turn the cows out hoping the weather was on the up. It was short lived because after a heavy nights rain we have brought them back in again today. We are completely out of silage but have managed to find a clamp full locally but it really feels wrong to be paying for feed at this time of year. Today I have checked my cow medicine records are up to date as we have a visit from a County Council inspector on Monday and my farm assurance audit is due soon. Tomorrow the vet is reading a TB test , 15 tracers which were bought last September. Fingers crossed they go clear !!

only seven sides..

2012-05-06T16:13:00Z

My Dairy Crest rep had no real answers for the drop in milk price. She was only told two hours before us !! I told her to take a warning back to those further up the food chain that with all this bad weather most farmers have used up any remaining silage stocks. First cut will be late this year and quality down, maize is only just being planted if at all. So this coming winter milk volumes may well be down as well as farmer numbers if milk prices continue to drop this summer !!!

Milking is getting shorter as we are only milking 7 sides in the parlour. We continue to dry cows off and may get down to just 120 being milked before we start calving in June. We have had a sunny weekend but we are waiting to see the weather on Countryfile tonight before we decide to turn the cows back out.

best made plans...

2012-05-02T17:22:00Z

Our first calving due date is now only a month away."C" MINUS 30. This was meant to have been our quiet period but we just seem to be spending money on the cows instead of being as efficient as possible, grazing fresh grass and feeding very little corn. So much for best made plans !! The aim was to calve all 259 cows outside between June and early October. Next week we will start and sort out the first to calve into a separate pen and they will be fed a precalver nut for 3 weeks prior to calving. Lets hope the weather improves so we can get the milkers out next week.

Tomorrow I am having a visit from my Dairy Crest rep, the meeting was booked well before the milk price drop was announced. Lets see if she has some good reasons for the drop !!!

and it keeps getting wetter.

2012-04-27T19:20:00Z

The rain came like the weatherman predicted.The fields are a wash and it keeps getting wetter.There doesn't seem to be an end in sight to the wet weather !! The cows seem quite content being inside but it is now starting to cost us as we are having to buy silage in as well as bedding.

When we wrote our 'about' we said that we would share the highs and lows of our dairy farm. Yesterday was definitely a low as we were told that our milk buyer will be dropping our milk price by 2 pence a litre from the beginning of May.This will have a big impact on our business this year. Our consultant came today to run through the budget for this financial year and the price drop has knocked a big whole in our bottom line.It seems very unfair that your milk buyer can give you just 3 days notice of a price change yet you must give them 12 months notice if you want to leave !!!

Calm before the storm....

2012-04-24T18:10:00Z

What a beautiful day. It almost felt like spring today but I'm sure it's the calm before the storm as the weather man says high winds and heavy rain is on its way. Phil has been busy pumping slurry today, giving some of the grazing paddocks a quick dose. Hopefully this will give them a boost when the weather warms up. I have been trying to finish my budget today in between starting and stopping the umbilical pump. Consultant coming on Friday , let's hope the figures stack up !!!

...it feels like the winter routine.

2012-04-23T17:27:00Z

The decision was made on Friday to keep the cows in. With all the cold and wet weather the cows were starting to make a mess. Our farm is very heavy clay so we can grow grass all summer but when it comes wet the cows can tread up the ground very quickly. The cows are being fed on grass silage and brewers grains. It feels like the winter routine: scraping, feeding, bedding. I am sure we should be moving fences not muck at this time of year.

Lets hope the weather picks up soon as we have maize to sow and first cut silage is normally done in early may !!

John

Quick fix...

2012-04-20T16:40:00Z

With all the wet weather one of our field tracks has taken a lot of stick over the last couple of weeks. We were planning to cover it with concrete sleepers later this summer when money allowed but access to sixty acres of the grazing platform has been restricted by the muddy track so a quick fix was needed. Three hundred sleepers were bought last week and laid yesterday.

John

New arrivals....

2012-04-18T19:25:00Z

The first of our replacement cows arrived today. We source them from spring calving herds where they have fallen out of their system but drop into our late summer block perfectly calving in July. The new cows will get chance to settle into the herd before calving later this summer. I have also been catching up on paperwork today trying to finish our year end figures. My next focus will be this year's budget aiming to set targets to increase the efficiency and profitability of the business. The cold wet showers are not what we need at the moment as grass is struggling to grow just when we need it. Bring back the warm sunshine !!

Making the most of a quiet spell...

2012-04-12T13:29:00Z

I am sat writing this first blog as I wait for my car to be MOT'd. My brother Phil is away enjoying his Easter holiday in Anglesey with his family. I had my break last week with my wife and two boys.We are making the most of a quiet spell following what felt like a long winter.

After an early turnout and some lovely spring sunshine we are now getting some heavy showers. I'm sure the cows are missing the sun on their backs as much as we are! I have just started to dry the first cows off this week, giving them their MOT - checking tags and replacing Heatime collars to save time later when we are busy calving.

John