Archive Article: 2001/05/18
Richard Thompson
Richard Thompson farms a
325ha (800-acre) mixed
arable and dairy unit near
Kings Lynn, Norfolk. The
200 dairy cows average
6500 litres on a simple, high
forage system. They are
allocated 40ha (100 acres)
of permanent pasture,
44ha (110 acres) of short
term leys and maize grown
in the arable rotation
ONE lesson to come out of the foot-and-mouth crisis is the confirmation we sell our produce into a hard-nosed market. If ever there was a case for paying producers a fair price for their produce, it should have resulting from this crisis.
However, F&M presented the meat industry with an opportunity to drop prices, which it took without hesitation. We must try to strengthen our selling position by keeping live markets open and encouraging dairy producers to become involved in farmer-owned milk processing.
Grass growth this year continues to be appalling. We seem to be constantly battered by cold north winds. Grass regrowths have been so slow that, in the first week of May, cows are grazing for only six hours a day.
I am glad we have a feeder wagon and have altered our system so we always have plenty of maize silage to cope with the vagaries of our climate. The cows are on 30kg/day of mixed ration to complement limited grass.
We started serving cows on Apr 20. So far things are going well with cows bulling nicely. However, it is early days and historically we have often started well but ended suffering from poor conception rates.
BVD has reared its ugly head again. Every few months we do a bulk milk test to keep a check on levels. They have been low generally, until this spring when they suddenly rose dramatically. It seemed to coincide with the new influx of heifers.
Once again we were faced with the dilemma of what action to take. One problem of a single 10-week block calving herd is there is no room for compromise over fertility. So, we decided to vaccinate the whole herd.
Sensibly, the manufacturer has brought the vaccine price down to a level which makes the decision easier to make.
Maize drilling got under way on May 2. On light land it has gone in well, but achieving good seedbeds on heavy land has been difficult this year. I am grateful we have our own drill, giving us flexibility to sow different areas at optimum times. *
Cows are bulling nicely on Richard Thompsons farm, but going on past experience, he fears conception rates may decline as serving progresses.