Farmer Focus: Brittle straw has benefits, I suppose
The cows are still munching their way through half their winter diet. This would be a problem if I didn’t have half a clamp of third cut and half a clamp of wholecrop wheat to use before maize harvest at the end of September, both of which were made with the intention of summer feeding.
With 2kg a head of expensive rape meal and an average of 6kg a head of expensive cake fed to yield through the out-of-parlour feeders, the cows are yielding a healthy 35 litres of expensive milk a day.
Providing maize yields as it usually does, we should be sorted for winter, although I think the cob will struggle to fill out this year unless the heavens open for a week or two. At least we haven’t had to cut it as it has been dying off, as I have seen in some parts of the country.
See also: Drought pressures cattle weights in dry South
The hot dry weather has made our straw-baling campaign very easy. I can’t remember a year when I didn’t have to turn some straw.
And with the straw being so brittle this time, I do wonder if I’d have lost some if I had needed to turn it in the field.
Straw being dry and brittle has ended up being a happy accident as far as diesel consumption is concerned. We drop a bale of wheat straw in the diet feeder and let it chop for the dry cow ration, usually for 20 or 30 minutes at a pto speed of 750 rpm. This year’s straw is only taking five minutes, so I’m seeing a significant reduction in fuel use in a year when it really matters.
I also can’t remember a year where I have been so paranoid about accidentally starting a fire.
The baler was getting blown off and greased up midway through the day so I knew I had done all I could to prevent one.
The home-made ice cream is continuing to draw new and returning customers to our new diversification, Curlew Fields Dairies. My partner, Sophie, and I are still using some of our spare time to improve and expand the business, which sells ice cream, milk and milk shakes. Last week we were fitting the kitchen, and next week we will be plumbing in the coffee machine.
After that and a bit of cosmetic work on the sheds, we will be set for our first winter as an ice cream parlour/coffee shop.