Chris Knowles
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
THIS years autumn rains arrived a full month later than normal, right at the end of September. This put my well laid plans for building a high cover of grass for autumn grazing into disarray.
During the last few days of September I covered 60.5ha (150 acres) with the fertiliser spreader applying straight urea at a low rate. Although slow to respond, by mid-October grass was growing at 45kg DM/ha a day in perfect warm and wet conditions.
To build up grass covers we have fed quite a lot of silage. We have been using clamp silage during the day and big bale silage at night. Cows have still been going out both day and night, but only to a limited amount of grass.
This change in management has left our cows dazed, confused and in a general state of shock as it is many years since they were turned out each day with a bellyful of silage on board.
They have shown their disappointment to this management change by a significant drop in daily production.
The farming Press has recently been full of headline-grabbing messages from the people sent to sort out the agricultural industry. The likes of Margaret Beckett and Lord Haskins are very keen to tell us that our production subsidies will be switched to areas like rural development and agri-environment schemes, which we are told is what the public demands.
Now that our country is officially at war with terrorism, the sudden unease around the world should serve to remind us that putting food in front of 60m people every day is more accurately what the public demands.
Meanwhile here in Cornwall, the European Objective One Funding programme is gathering momentum. One proposal, for which there is a great deal of interest, is the establishment of a machinery ring.
This would be a great asset for West Cornwall as many farmers enjoy getting out and doing the work on their own farm, but simply cannot afford the costs of purchasing ever more expensive machinery. *
Getting their own back…Chris Knowles cows are less than impressed with their new grazing arrangements.