Archive Article: 2000/03/03
Chris Knowles
Chris Knowles farms in
partnership with his parents
in the West Penwith
Environmentally Sensitive
Area near St Ives, Cornwall.
The farm consists of 97ha
(240 acres) of grassland and
45ha (110 acres) of rough
moor land, stocked with 160
dairy cows, 80 followers and
50 assorted beef animals
AT the end of any past quota year, I would have been happy to be 3.5% over quota, but on Apr 1 this year our milk will be sold to a different company.
Our change in milk buyer coupled with national over-production leaves us in the same position as many others, with no threshold. In this corner of the country many of us are pinning our hopes on Milk Link succeeding.
During the few dry periods in February, I have been busy spreading slurry on fields destined for first-cut silage. Historically, a split application of fertiliser was used on these fields to give 150kg/ha (120 units/acre) of nitrogen. But nowadays I aim to spread 2760 litres/ha (1500gal/acre) during February and then in early March apply 61kg/ha (3cwt/acre) of 30.6.16.
A Galloway bull is running with heifers, easy calving being the principal reason for this breed choice. We keep any bull calves and give heifer calves away to anyone willing to rear them.
One of our neighbours, a hobby farmer with about 1ha (3 acres), agreed to take two heifer calves recently. Mother, father and daughter turned up in their VW Polo, and the two calves joined their daughter in the back. As they drove down the lane, I could not help wondering if regulations governing live animal transport covered VW Polos.
We have recently vaccinated the 4-5-month-old calves against husk. Last year, for the first time in many, the calves were not vaccinated. This decision proved to be a false economy, as a group of 20 heifers had to be treated with antibiotics and we ended up losing one. The incident served as a valuable lesson that cutting animal health costs can have exactly the opposite effect.
But cost cutting is still vital as milk prices continue to fall. I have been working on a budget cash-flow for the next financial year, which, although time consuming, highlights our precarious balance between income and expenditure.
From our budget two options emerge: The first is to make some new notches in our belts, the second is to buy a new calculator. *
Februarys been a wet month for Chris Knowles, but when it has been dry hes been spreading slurry on fields destined for first cut silage.