Hill farmer readies flock for post-2020 CAP
If hill farming is to have a profitable and vibrant future it must become more resilient to market forces and to changes in the way environmental payments are delivered, says Cumbria hill farmer Will Cockbain.
And getting his own family’s business into a production cycle that fits the farm’s capabilities – and can operate as efficiently and profitably without relying heavily on bought-in inputs – is the ongoing challenge
See also: Upland beef producer boosts forage quality
The Cockbain family runs a traditional hill farming system at Rakefoot Farm, near Keswick, in the heart of the Lake District. The farmstead stands at 260m and has fell land rising to almost 610m.
While the farm’s Swaledale flock is its backbone, the business has bred predominantly pure rather than following the popular trend of producing Mule lambs.
The farm also carries suckler cows and for the past 20 years has run a pedigree flock of Berrichon sheep.
“We’re now looking very closely at every aspect of the business – how we market our stock, ways of improving our herd and flock health and in general terms how we can make our hill farming more efficient.
Stewardship scheme changes
Under CAP reform, farmers not in an existing Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme will have the opportunity to apply for the new five-year Countryside Stewardship schemes this year, aiming for a start date of 1 January 2016.
Applications for the higher tier of the new Countryside Stewardship schemes will be by invitation only. Hill farmers who have important environmental features – a Site of Special Scientific Interest, sensitive habitats or water catchment areas – will be approached directly by Natural England and invited to apply.
See also: Get the latest detail on CAP
Payments will be in line with HLS schemes but not all farms in HLS will automatically qualify for the higher tier in the Countryside Stewardship scheme.
There will also be a mid-tier of Countryside Stewardship, but it will be competitive. It replaces Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), which had a guaranteed acceptance subject to meeting the points threshold.
“Rebalancing brought about by the Basic Payment Scheme will see severely disadvantaged areas and lowlands achieving parity as well as a moorland uplift to compensate for the phasing out of Upland Entry Level Stewardship (UELS).
“This rebalancing was seen as vital to hill farmers facing CAP reform. It will go some way to making up for the loss in UELS payments on farms that are not successful in joining the Countryside Stewardship scheme,” says Mr Cockbain.
“The main aim is to make the farm more resilient to outside forces that can effect profitability. Hill farming is probably looking at perhaps five or six years of relative stability in terms of the next Rural Development Programme for England, so now is the time to consolidate,” says Mr Cockbain.
While he believes there is some stability with the Basic Payment Scheme until 2020, he is already looking further ahead. “Now is the time to be sharpening the focus of the business and improving profitability in readiness for post-2020.”
Rakefoot Farm is run in a partnership between brothers Will and Mark Cockbain and Will’s sons John, 34, and James, 32.
“We considered producing Mules about 20 years ago but decided to concentrate on managing the Swaledales as a pure flock because the farm is more suited to running a traditional hill flock system.
Sheep income comes from selling draft Swaledale ewes, surplus purebred gimmer lambs and finished wether lambs, as well as breeding pedigree rams. Last year the family sold its highest ever priced pedigree Swaledale shearing ram at auction for £23,000.
About 150 ewes from the lower end of the flock are crossed with the Berrichon to produce a crop of prime lambs.
“We’re getting more demand for Berrichon tups from sheep producers wanting easy lambing and hardiness in their cross-bred lambs. All our Berrichon-cross Swaledale prime lambs are finished off grass with no feed whatsoever. The first were sold in mid-November averaging 20kg deadweight.”
Maintaining a flock health plan is in line with the focus on efficiency. Rakefoot has previously been an Adas Focus Farm looking at ways of improving flock health. Five years ago the decision was taken to vaccinate all sheep for foot-rot following problems with sheep sent away for winter grazing.
“Now we routinely jab all the sheep as hoggs; any that develop foot-rot after vaccination receive a booster jab. We can record all the health treatment information in our ID scanner.
“If a sheep shows a further breakdown to foot-rot it is culled so that we can keep on top of flock health and avoid issues that can cost money in terms of lost production.”
The suckler herd is now predominantly Normandy-cross Simmental – an unconventional cross, but one with traits that meet the business’ criteria of minimising costs and losses.
“We started buying Normandy-cross Angus but have gradually moved over to Normandy-cross Simmental cows. There’s not a lot of difference in the Charolais-sired calves bred out of both crosses but there’s more value in the Simmental-bred suckler as a cull cow.
“We like them because they are healthy cattle; we don’t see much mastitis and they calve easily. We’ve had one caesarean in 12 years. They are very quiet, placid cows. There’s no need to be at war with your cattle,” adds Mr Cockbain.
The farm sells forward store calves by the Charolais at about 15-17 months old. Last August the brothers realised up to £1,335 and averaged about £1,250 for bullocks.
“We feed very little concentrate to the stores – perhaps three bags a head before we sell them. And keeping bought-in feed costs low is paramount for any hill farming business. Both Berrichon-sired lambs and Charolais-sired calves thrive off grass. That’s what we can grow and that is the cheapest way of turning grass into flesh.
“The more we can isolate ourselves as hill farmers from the vagaries of the grain market, the better. It is all part of developing a hill farming system that is less vulnerable to outside influences and can remain profitable by not overstretching its resources.”