Farmer Focus: Drought looks to be over as winter comes

I was criticised last month for not being funny. Perhaps managing sheep brings fewer opportunities for humour than, say, grocery delivery does.

I found a website recently listing substitutions given to shoppers on home delivery when the item they wanted was unavailable.

It’s good for gentle humour – my favourite was delivering a home pregnancy kit when the condoms ran out.

We have 14 bunches of sheep on 10 farms, all needing moving in rotation. Matching grass with numbers and the day’s feed is quite demanding.

However, the incredible autumn weather has given us great growing conditions and the sheep have improved well after the lean summer.

See also: How a grazing and stocking overhaul reduced sheep costs

About the author

James and Belinda Kimber

Livestock Farmer Focus writers James and Belinda farm 850 commercial and pedigree sheep and 30 pedigree Simmental and Charolais cattle in Wiltshire across 95ha (45ha owned). James also runs a foottrimming business and Belinda has a B&B.

Read more articles by James and Belinda Kimber

It’s probably best not to comment on politics – I just hope we have a bit of stability to calm things down (I am writing this before the financial statement/budget is announced.)

The warnings are that every department will have budgetary cuts. Agriculture is an easy target with so few votes lost, and food security seems to only be getting lip service. 

Calving has started. After we had issues with incorrect Charolais semen last year, I didn’t think anything else could go wrong, but it all happens here.

Calves have been small and easily born so far after cows have been on poor grass silage.

The post-calving ration must be a lot better to get them milking and back in calf again.

The recommendation is to put molasses with urea into the mix to balance the top-quality maize (39.8% starch) and poor-quality grass silage.  

Early ewes will be scanned on 5 December. Depending on the numbers, the ewes will need some soya in their mix for colostrum production.

The longer they stay on keep, the better, as grass quality is excellent. Ground conditions will need constant rain to alter, as we still have surface cracks.

We haven’t made it to any calf shows or the bull sales this autumn, and it’s amazing how quickly your mental health can go downhill without a break.

Equally, it is amazing how a few favourable comments from a visiting friend can lift things again. I hope you all have that friend or are a friend when needed.

The media seems set on negativity, which can be infectious, so l think it is as important as ever to lift each other.