Livestock Farmer Focus: Silaging has been delayed for Adrian Harrison
Unfortunately, I have plenty of time to write today because I was expecting to be silaging. Alas, the contractors are unavailable and with the impending forecast of thundery showers I thought it was better to leave it a few days.
The forecast is for rain for the next week It doesn’t look as though I am going to win the bet with my wife that I can manage to be in a good mood for a whole week.
Silaging problems are a real issue. Mother Nature has messed with us so badly this past 12 months with the extended winter leading to a tense spring. This has resulted in my brother-in-law and I having a ‘daily silaging hotline’ with the main topic being who’s blade of grass is the longest and trying to keep our nerve going for a little extra volume over quality.
This may sound silly, but when your neighbour has taken his harvest, it makes it all the harder to follow your instinct… So why has first-cut silaging become so competitive? I’m sure Wensleydale isn’t the only location where this is the case.
The good news is the badly needed rain we received in the last couple of weeks, coupled with the warmer weather has made a real difference and the impending low volume disaster seems to have turned the corner.
Dairy commodity prices compared to farm gate price has led me to think it is time to apply pressure to the powers that be. Just recently I have been looking to change my vehicle. How can it be that the price of a car has almost doubled in the last 15 years, yet the price we receive for a litre of milk is unchanged? Something is seriously wrong somewhere.