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
HAVING recently received our accounts for the last financial year, I was pleasantly surprised by the result. Of course, the single factor that makes such a difference was the improved and almost respectable milk price.
Our average milk price for the year was 19.1p/litre, a point at which I believe all sectors of the dairy industry can be profitable. The way things are going, this year we could well only achieve about 16p/litre. On my 2m litres that is £30,000 that will be in someone elses pocket and not mine.
With this scenario in mind, I was heartened by the news that Milk Link have invested in more processing capacity in a deal with Express. At long last, as a producer, I feel that we are actually marketing our milk by adding value via products such as Long Life milk.
Meanwhile, back at the farm this continues to be one of the grassiest seasons for many years. This is in contrast to the maize crops locally with some seriously considering the crop a failure, as many plants are still only 15cm (6in) high, yellow and swamped by weeds in mid-July.
We managed to snatch a second cut of silage between the showers, as well as 16ha (40 acres) of more mature grass for dry cows. These aftermaths will be back into the grazing rotation by the end of July and should help keep the milk up, while the summer season payments apply. The cows are still averaging 24 litres/day from 3kg of concentrate a day.
The two Limousin Bulls that we had on hire have gone home for a well deserved rest. Fertility is the key to a tight block calving pattern and I am still concerned with the number of cows returning to service. I am convinced that we need to feed more energy during the service period and that is something we will focus on next year. *
Chris Knowles is concerned by the number of cows returning to service this summer, believing low energy may be to blame.