Farmer Focus Livestock: George Moss is planning for change
It has been a dry, windy and warm October.
Mating is in earnest on both farms with submission rates well above normal, which is pleasing.
We are looking to cut silage this week, but I think it’s going to be a light crop.
The challenge will be deciding how much grass to “roll forward”, given the dry conditions we are experiencing, and how much to harvest. Purchased supplements are likely to be expensive, driven by a combination of good milk price and reduced supplies both locally and internationally.
Milk production on the organic farm is slightly up for the season and slightly down on the conventional farm. We managed to contain costs to less than last season on the conventional farm, but costs have “blown out” on the organic farm as a result of the larger milk silo and a series of unforeseen breakdowns.
Costs are going to increase further on the organic unit as we have decided to improve the effluent system to make life easier for the manager – as well as reducing the risk of penalties for non compliance.
Planning is going into changing systems for next season on both units as we lose the lease on the 12ha we milk on and the 40ha heifer grazing and organic support block.
The plan is a reduction both in total cows and cows a hectare for the home farm and either a 125-cow totally self-contained organic unit or a 170-cow conventional unit for the organic farm. The switch will be driven by the amount of organic feed we have on hand this autumn, the financial performance of the unit and staff preferences.