Farmer Focus: Preparation under way ahead of lambing and calving

With lambing and calving a few weeks away it is always a great time to get all the loose ends tied up.

The sheds are nearly all cleaned out, the cows have been vaccinated for clostridia, BVD and leptospirosis, and they’ve all been bolused, ready for calving. Hopefully, the first application of fertiliser will be applied any day now, and we’ll get some dry weather just to make life that little bit easier.

With a reduced lambing percentage this year it will allow us to house a higher number of singles and triplets and give the doubles access to some sheltered grassland.

This should allow us to shut ground up for silage a little bit earlier than normal. I have recently embarked on some soil mapping and testing with the aim of improving grassland output and more strategic fertiliser placement.

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Despite the cost of all this we will hopefully see better yields and a general improvement in our soils. I for one have been guilty of thinking permanent pasture is quite limited in its potential, but having seen some results on other farms, I see no reason why we can’t maximise it.

I am definitely no expert on grassland management, and I always tend to look at the rest of the world with envy in many respects on their low cost of production. On the flip side, we have plenty of water and the ability to grow grass cheaply, which is surely something we must capitalise on if we are to compete globally.

I have officially turned into something I never thought I would: a ‘mamil’ – in other words, a middle-aged man in Lycra. Early last year my father-in-law Bryan was diagnosed with motor neuron disease.

This came as a great shock to all the family. There is no cure for this cruel disease, so seven friends and family have decided to cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise money and awareness. We start on 3 May.

Due to work commitments and a general lack of fitness, I have opted to ride the last three sections, which will be 300 miles in three days. I’m not a natural cyclist and training is tough.

At the moment, my backside feels like I have been sitting on a cheese wire for a week. Anyone who knows me or knows anyone affected by this terrible disease, please donate to www.justgiving.com/cyclingforbryan.

James Evans farms 300 Stabiliser suckler cows and 1,110 Llen cross ewes across two units, totalling 825ha, in Shropshire. He was 2012 Farmers Weekly Beef Farmer of the Year