FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
Mike Allwood
Mike Allwood is owner-
occupier of a 82ha
(200-acre) farm near
Nantwich, Cheshire. The
175-cow dairy herd block
calves during May and June.
Mike is also director of Farm
Produce Marketing, based
on the farm, which
manufactures and sells
Orchard Maid frozen yogurt,
and puts packs of Cheshire
milk onto airline breakfast
trays
AN ambition of mine since I started farming – to make Burland Farm bigger – has finally been realised by the purchase of 32 acres from a retiring neighbour.
The chance has come at an ideal time, since we should now be able to maintain cow numbers at 175 during our organic conversion, rather than drop to 140 cows as originally planned.
In the past, I have always included the cost of extra quota, cows, building and labour when assessing land purchase, and it has never added up. This time, the only cost to us is the land itself. A summary of the rationale is that we are now going to pay in interest what we previously spent on fertiliser.
Actually, the bank now owns more land, and I have agreed to buy it from them over the next 20 years. I persuaded them that this was a good idea by submitting a plan which I cooked up on a computer forecasting package called Winforecast. I hope that it works since I will be the one to lose out if it does not.
Our accountant has had a field day: He has come up with a scheme whereby we pay only interest on the loan to the bank and build up a fund using PEPs and ISAs – whatever they are – to pay off the principal sum in 20 years time. Sounds dodgy to me, but the bank bought it.
The KISS philosophy – keep it simple, stupid – was something that I thought I followed. Imagine my consternation, therefore, when on expounding the above to my farm staff for the ad nauseamth time there was a sharp intake of breath, and the gist of the response was: "Every time you come up with some new scheme, our life becomes more complicated. You should practice what you preach." Fair comment, on reflection, I was just forced to concede.
Perhaps, now that I do not get my wellies dirty every day, I may not always grasp the minuses as well as the pluses. As a result, I have decided to come up with a list of time saving ideas and jobs that we do not need to do.
The list will be published in a later article, if farmers weekly has not sacked me by then. Journalism is a precarious business. *
David Maughan
David Maughan farms with
his brother, Peter, on two
farms totalling 272ha (425
acres) in Co. Durham on the
Raby Estate. The 40ha (100
acres) grass supports an
18-month and a silage beef
system. Cattle for the 18-
month system are reared
from purchased Continental
bull calves, with Continental
bull and heifer calves for the
silage beef system
WITH the benefit of a dry third week in September all crops have now been safely gathered in for this year.
Wheat yields proved better than we feared earlier in the summer, at an average of 3.65t/ha.
Much of it was combined at sensible moisture levels, which will ease drying costs at our local Farmway grain silo. We were also pleased that straw was won in fine fettle. Good straw is always appreciated as we use much of it ourselves.
After delaying purchase of our first group of calves in August, believing them to be over-priced, we have started cautiously filling the first 43 pens. Calf value has declined by about £20 in that period. Whether it has declined sufficiently shall be apparent in the early months of the new millennium when they are marketed for beef.
One concern we have is that the Beef Premium they will attract could be scaled back due to an overshoot because of an inflated number of animals coming forward after the calf slaughter schemes demise.
We received our first new Cattle Passport application form – incorrectly completed – a couple of days ago. The system should prove easier when we have all become used to it.
Grazing cattle have visibly performed well this season and should complete their final grazing rotation next week, when we propose to house them. Apart from a small group, we have not judged supplementary feed to be necessary with grass quality appearing to have maintained itself throughout summer and autumn.
It was an interesting experience to attend the NFU crisis rally at Blackpool last Sunday. New minister Nick Brown climbed on to the platform above Blackpool FCs centre circle to address a crowd three times the average home gate. At that time, he must have had an insight into how Madame Guillotines victims felt as they made a similar journey. But he kept his head and gave a fair account of himself.
During our later march along the Golden Mile not many farmers were seen crossing fortune tellers palms with silver, they had already had a glimpse into the future. *
Ewan Brewis
Ewan Brewis 700ha(1750-
acre) farm is split into two
units. Lempitlaw, the main
420ha (1037 acre) holding
near Kelso, Scottish Borders
and Gattonside Mains with
180ha (455 acre) grass
(LFA). Stocking is 340
sucklers, a 40-cow pedigree
Aberdeen-Angus herd, 20-
cow pedigree Charolais herd,
60 pedigree Suffolk and 960
commercial ewes
MUCH as I would like to be able to write my column in an upbeat, confident and optimistic manner, at Lempitlaw we have little to be cheerful about.
The month started with a huge improvement in the performance of Mac, my sheepdog, only for him to run out of a gate a few days later to be hit by a car. Yes, you guessed it, this time he did not survive.
This was followed by another accident when a car struck three gimmers just as they were coming out of the field, killing two of them.
These things usually happen in threes, and sure enough on Saturday night some bullocks had lifted the gate off its hinges and strayed on to the road in thick fog. One was attacked by a passing motorist, but luckily on this occasion, the result was only minor damage to the car.
The tup sales came and went, with our average price dropping by £70. Although not acceptable to us, it appeared to be better than most. But we ended up dipping into our pocket to buy a Suffolk ram lamb from Bartlehill to tup the 28 remaining pedigree ewes. We also bought a Texel shearling from Greenlawdean.
After the tup sales, we had a week of greatly improved weather, which allowed us to finish harvest. Although yields were poor, moistures were acceptable.
Ground conditions have dried considerably and with an upturn in temperature, silage aftermaths have greened up quickly, allowing us to flush ewes on new growth.
Calving at Gattonside is drawing to an end, with only nine cows left. The number producing twins has risen to a record nine.
The next highlight in the stock calendar will be Perth Bull Sales in October. Preparation of cattle for sale continues. The only problem is one heifer has slipped and done the splits and consequently will miss the sale.
This week saw us discussing our autumn vaccination programme with our vet, Robert Anderson from the Merlin Veterinary Group. The conclusion was to use a similar schedule to last year, vaccinating younger cattle for IBR/PI3 and using Cydectin for worms, and vaccinating older cattle for IBR only. If this is as successful as it was last year, then it will be money well spent. *
John Helliar
John Helliar has a 130ha
(320-acre) farm on the
Longleat Estate, near
Warminster, Wilts. He milks
180 cows, rears his own
replacements and grows
45ha (110 acres) of maize,
which comprises 70% of the
winter ration. 1500 store
lambs are put out on winter
grass keep in October for
sale as fat lambs in
January/February
AFTER two dry autumns, this one looks to be getting quite wet. Nearly 2in of rain has fallen in the past few days, which after a wet summer is a bit disappointing.
In fact, it is the wettest summer since Ive been recording rainfall with 19in from April to September, making 27in in nine months.
Our cow tracks are fine when dry, but become non-cow friendly when wet. Then moving cows becomes a slow and laborious business.
The crown rust problem we encountered last autumn has not reappeared, possibly because we have applied fertiliser right through until early September. Other than the normal fouling of pastures, grazing quantity and quality has been excellent.
Further blood samples were taken from the herd to see what had happened to high globulins, recorded in the last test – after which we added chopped straw to the ration. The result; nothing.
Globulins are still high in all six cows tested, which now indicates too much protein in the ration, so 1kg of soya/rape mix has been replaced by 1kg of crimped wheat. This seems to have worked as milk is up and, most importantly, more cows are seen bulling with stronger heats.
Last years maize harvest started on September 25, when the dry matter was 33%. This year on the same day it was 25% DM so it looks like a mid-October start to harvest. Yield is likely to be down and grain content poor due to cob size.
A few neighbours drilled maize after taking first cut silage in the middle of May. Im watching with interest to see if their crops mature. It looks far better than a lot of early drilled fields. From my point of view if we could graze our undersown ryegrass in March then leave it for silage in mid-May it would be well worthwhile.
Heifer calf rearing has come to the end, with 66 in total, all fed on whole milk, 50% of which was colstrum and discarded milk the rest fresh milk – 9000 litres. When you take out quota leasing cost the milk value was £1080 or £16.36 a calf. Using a milk power at £1.12/kg for half the rearing period would have cost about £14.50. However, we had no scour or health problems and much bigger and stronger calves at six weeks old. *