A break from cutting grass silage

As I take a brief interlude from silage cutting in the last week of May to write this article, crops and ground conditions are great, but weather conditions are very mixed with sunshine and showers.

A lot of farmers have elected to wait on the hope of a more settled spell, but we have decided to battle on before the grass loses too much quality.

Recently, another successful Royal Show took place at Balmoral, it being a “blue” day for “Clougher” livestock as second prizes were the order of the day. On the last day, the topic of conversation was about the speculation that this may well be the last year the present site hosts the show. I would wish all the best to those involved with the decision-making, but urge them not to be scared of change.

Last week, we had an Australian beef and sheep farmer visit. It was amazing to hear how his returns for his sheep enterprise had risen so dramatically that their lamb prices are now higher than ours. Also it was interesting that he got paid for the skins of all the lambs he killed, which to me has been a well-kept secret from UK farmers with our meat plants managing to achieve this perk. Wool prices have risen more dramatically so that a merino fleece was worth about A$45 (about £30) – Wool Board take note.

More from Victor Chestnutt and the other Farmer Focus farmers