Letters from Transylvania!

July 2007 - Posts

• Input supply

  Just picked up on the comment about input supply and how it compares with the Ukraine. It is probably a little different here if you happen to be in the right place. We are not. Seeds I am looking to bring in from Germany/Austria (thankfully I have good contacts in the seeds business). I have tried local suppliers and they are a disaster. Parts are a constant problem and they mainly have to be brought in. About the only things we source through the normal channels are for out Greggoirre Besson ploughs and then do not ask for parts for the skimmers, they are still a novelty here. We work closely with a Dutch friend and he is now the importer for much of the kit we own - we provide demo equipment. Amazingly it includes some pretty good brands who have failed ot get into the market, probably because they are expensive and local importers want to sell at full list prices! With fuel I need to install a proper tank and I expect that will mean loads of paperwork. Pretty well everything has to be imported. It certainly puts an emphasis on self-sufficiency and having a good mechanic and workshop. Thankfully we now have the latter. Posted Jul 30 2007, 05:55 PM by Stuart Meikle with 2 comment(s)

• Hay and straw

  Again, what a contrast to back home. Started the second hay cut last week. Not expecting a lot on the buffalo farm as the reseeding has not been going as one would wish. Hope for better next year. Given the the farm was unused for many years it takes time. Our large arable unit had land in need of a 'rest' so that carries a lot of leys and they provide the bulk of the forage whilst also putting the soil back in better order. Our risk now is no rain so we are baling all our straw and anything else we are offered. The next two weeks will prove to be very busy with the combine returning at the weekend, hay-making and straw to move. After that August looks quiet. If we get some rains in the next 10 days we will even be looking at a third hay cut by then! If not we will need everything for grazing. Thankfully the young buffalo can get by okay on straw and grain, although the grains will not be cheap this year if we have to buy in after a disappointing cereal harvest. At least we are not up to our necks in mud and our animals are not starving through lack of forage and grazing. Even hearing reports that in places in Romania they also are without water. A serious crisis looming I am afraid and especially for those people with a handful of cows and no money. Posted Jul 25 2007, 06:58 AM by Stuart Meikle with 1 comment(s)

• Harvest update

  Just taking a break here between the wheat / triticale and the oats. What a contrast with the UK. Temperatures 10C above normal and yields 50% below! I am far from happy with our yields but then we have doubled the national average and in one case quadrupled it! The latter at just over 5,000kg/ha is, however, the only crop I am happy with. Several factors like planting three weeks late in the autumn, a hot spell in late spring that took a month off the growing season and half the crop was on derelict land and the other half on land that has seen few inputs for years (not a great intro for organic). I reckon the planting cost us 750 kg/ha and the hot weather about 1,000kg/ha. The locals tell me to be happy about it because we are getting what they would be happy with! The other thing of note here is how far behind the plant breeding is. Will only used western bred seeds from here on. Posted Jul 25 2007, 06:56 AM by Stuart Meikle with no comments

• Romanian dairy sector

  For those of you who may have read my comments in recent weeks about the changes in the European milk market, it may be of interst to learn that Romania is seeing a massive surge in imports of dairy products from the EU. Given the dire consequences of the drought and problems for expanding herds from the quota allocation, this can only be the start. The sources of many of these products will be northern Europe so it should be no surprise if available supplies of milk in these regions are getting a little tighter. Posted Jul 20 2007, 05:28 AM by Stuart Meikle with no comments

• Harvest highlights!

  Not so much highlights as lowlights! Just read a report that the average wheat yield in Romania is going to be below 1,500 kg/ha. What a contrast to north-west Europe as this is all drought related. I have heard as low as 500 kg/ha. Typically the Government is only talking about helping those who have crop insurance, not having worked out that no one can afford to pay the premiums, 50% subsidy of otherwise! At least in the bad old days pre-1989 they the country had 3.2 million hectares irrigated. This has nearly all been destroyed since! We are having 35C predicted for the next week and that means we are seeing yield disappearing fast, a pity as we at least had something half decent. Now just hoping we can secure our own winter feed supplies for the buffalo. Thankfully the support side is showing signs of kicking in and this may well compensate us for the losses from not having crop to sell - a pity as prices are beginning to look crazy. The real downside of this is that I hear of people only receiving £50/head when slaughtering their cows. A combination of no fodder for the coming winter, unable to meet minimum hygiene standards, producing micro-quantities of milk, being too small by far to invest and thinking that they can cash in on selling their newly allocated quota. The only question is just how many cows are going to die this autumn, probably not an insignifcant part of the national herd. Overall a real disaster for a country that should first be an agricultural nation! Posted Jul 20 2007, 05:02 AM by Stuart Meikle with 2 comment(s)