Alan Montgomery
Alan Montgomery
Alan Montgomery runs
a 300ha (750-acre) mixed
farm near Downpatrick, Co
Down, Northern Ireland.
As well as cereals and
potatoes, the farm supports
a 130-cow suckler herd,
950 breeding ewes and
1000 store lambs
READING the June columns of my fellow contributors most have struggled, like ourselves, with the continuous abysmal weather.
It appears the only difference between summer and winter is the number of daylight hours and a few degrees in temperature.
Silage harvesting, which normally takes 3-4 days, was spread over two weeks. Spare a thought for contractors contending with big crops of wet, stemmy grass. For many, this season will be a financial disaster.
Fortunately, on our farm, ground damage has been kept to a minimum. We have left a 3ha (7.5-acre) low-lying hollow for the round baler when conditions improve. Fertilised aftermaths are slow to recover, the only saviour being they have not dried out like concrete.
Eighty yearling cattle reluctantly left the comfort of their housed accommodation on June 27. They are now on our flat, heavy meadows where grass is out of control.
A requirement for two consecutive dry days to shear means ewes remain unshorn. As conditions do not favour blowfly strike and scratching posts have helped prevent sheep from rolling on their backs, there is no immediate pressure to shear.
Subsequent to last month and our request for an additional 5p bonus on U2 and U3 lambs at the expense of a 5p deduction on the R4Ls, our negotiations were successful.
Fine, in theory, until we hit a run of 4L carcasses, brought on by a combination of the cold, wet weather, single lambs and creep feeding. Lamb creep feeding has become a feature of this farm in recent years. All lambs born before mid-March receive a home mix of 60% oats, 20% beer shreds, 15% soya and 5% mineral, costing about £100/t. It is fed at 0.5kg a lamb a day on walk-in creep feeders. With a coating of hydrated lime on the ground, this system works well.
The late Harry Ferguson, pioneer of the first Massey Ferguson tractors, would be devastated by the news that Agco is to cease production at its Coventry plant. Another victim of UK manufacturing being sacrificed on the global market. Sadly, the people that could do something about it suffer from apathy. *