Archive Article: 2001/05/18
Christian Fox
Christian Fox manages 130
spring-calving cows and
followers, on a 200ha
(500 acre) mixed farm in
West Sussex, with 150ha
(380 acres) of arable crops.
He is aiming for high pro
be until growth overtook demand? The net result is little grass and a move to supplementary feeding. Cheers mate.
The improvement in weather this week heralds two important annual events: The start of AI and the start of the wind surfing season. Of course many farmers AI or windsurf all year round, but I am both a fair weather sportsman and fair weather inseminator.
Our submission rates for the first week of AI have been average. We need to serve four cows a day to have submitted 90% in the first four weeks of AI. But this week we have averaged three a day.
My wife Kate has been doing an excellent job of spotting bulling cows at Cucumber, no doubt helped by our eight-month-old daughter, Emily. I have spent a lot of time away trying to get the new farm going – not easy, having moved more than 300 cows in the last month and just started AI.
Some cows have no freeze brands and some share the same number with others, so we have developed an interesting system of marking cows with spray and tail tape. Far too complex to describe here, but it does seem to be working.
I have been awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to study dairy benchmarking systems this winter. This is exciting, but I have made a promise not to only visit countries with good skiing or surfing facilities. Although I understand that New Zealand has both. Lets hope we get some grass growth before then, or I will start taking advice from Kiwis with a pinch of ammonium nitrate. *
Where is all the grass? Unfortunately weather has been more UK than New Zealand this spring and grass is below demand, says Christian Fox.