FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
Lloyd Jones
Lloyd Jones farms 175ha
(430 acres) at Hall Farm,
Westbury, Shropshire.
Cereals and potatoes are
rotated with grass and he is
an NFU council member.
Buildings house potato and
cereal seed dressing lines
AS the year ends and a new year and new millennium dawn, it is difficult to find much optimism in agriculture.
However, one ray of hope is the British public. They do seem to understand our problems, as we witnessed recently at a West Midlands NFU promotion in Birmingham to "Thank the public for buying British". We gave away several thousand rolls filled with British bacon, sausages, pork and beef as well as milk, drinks and apples. The public reaction was excellent and they went home with our messages on quality, welfare standards, hygiene and livestock feed. It was a very worthwhile PR exercise made possible by our sponsors and the efforts of members and students from Walford and Reaseheath Colleges.
The weather has, as usual, played tricks with us over the past year, with wettest, driest, or warmest months on record – usually in the wrong order. Recent stormy conditions have put an end to the spraying programme with a small area of wheat and oats missing out on autumn applications. Shortly, the sprayer will be off for a service and MOT.
Having got the building bug with the new farmhouse, weve lodged an application for a new building to house machinery and store grain short-term. We have a very good steel fabricating company a mile down the road from us in K&M Engineering who are going to erect it, subject of course to gaining planning permission.
Simon, who joined us this summer, seems determined to create order out of chaos in our workshop. We can now find our tools and he is checking over, greasing and repairing, where necessary, the field machinery for winter storage.
With the festive season approaching, it is time to hunt out the Christmas stocking. Perhaps our agriculture minister can pull something out for the European hat to start filling it, and then prices could improve to fill it a little more. Hopefully, it will be full enough to farm for another year! Happy Christmas. *
The sprayer has been put away for winter at Hall Farm and Lloyd Jones has been to Birmingham to rally public support for farming.
Andrew Hebditch
Andrew Hebditch farms
285ha (700 acres) of
owned, tenanted and
share-farmed land at Coat,
Martock, Somerset. Silt
and clay soils support
winter wheat, barley and
oilseed rape, plus spring
peas, linseed and beans
I RECENTLY heard that our new man in the NFU is putting forward ideas about retirement schemes and allowing hungry young blood in to the industry.
That idea is flawed in many ways. First, all it is doing is further subsidising an already over-subsidised industry. Farmers sons would be paid to do what they were going to do anyway, but at a younger age. Second, youth and an eagerness to work hard will not allow success in an industry that is simply unprofitable at the moment.
I wish there was an easy answer to our problems, but with the industry suffering globally I fear an early retirement scheme is not it either. Reportedly, some hill farm incomes are as low as 80p/hour, so I can see no justification for encouraging people to work for a wage that would, if employed, be illegal.
With little rainfall to worry us through November, ploughing for the spring peas and beans has nearly finished. The bonus this year is the continued use of the press which should allow quicker and cheaper seed-beds in the spring. Our planned linseed area is on some very heavy clay ground, which, after this years trial on 8ha (20 acres) of riverside silt, should go in following a pass or two with the discs. Yield last year, unconfirmed, was about 2.1t/ha (17cwt/acre).
The ipu and Treflan (trifluralin) has done a good job this year, applied early under ideal damp conditions. On our worst blackgrass we added Hawk (clodinafop-propargyl + trifluralin) and that is showing signs of a good kill too, estimated at 90% or more without Avadex (tri-allate). Peas and beans have had 0:21:32 compound applied at 250kg/ha. Linseed ground is having a compound holiday this year and the P and K will go on with nitrogen in the cereal and rape crops next year to ease workload.
Finally, may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and an extremely prosperous New Year. *
Early retirement or support for young farmers are misguided policies, says Somerset grower Andrew Hebditch.
Justin Blackwood
Justin Blackwood farms
770ha (1900 acres) from
Grange Farm, Great
Brington, Northants, on a
range of farming
agreements. Cropping
hinges around winter wheat,
plus winter barley, rape,
peas, oats and occasionally
linseed
WE have just sold our first load of wheat for less than £60/t. Admittedly that was after deductions, mainly for moisture, but there was no profit in that 25t.
If we believe what we are told, and I see no reason why we should not, then £60/t could be the average feed wheat price next year.
With that in mind, one has to look for savings. But there is little scope with variable costs. A bit less seed and farm-saving wherever possible, maybe, but present nitrogen levels will still be cost effective at £60/t for wheat, as long as nitrogen prices dont rise. Phosphate, potash and pH must be maintained, though one should be careful not to apply unnecessarily. We cant farm with weeds and the strobilurins give almost as good a return as nitrogen. So what is there left to cut back on?
As always, the main area to look at is fixed costs, ie labour, machinery, management and rent, or land owners first share for us non-owners. Over the years I have seen many people try to reduce fixed costs, mainly by taking on more acreage. But almost always they have upgraded a tractor, bought a new drill and employed more labour. If you do that today you will be lucky to stand still, let alone reduce costs.
The only answer is to establish crops more cheaply; the days of recreational cultivations are long gone. Good seed-bed preparation is still vital, as I believe the potential for high yields is won or lost at drilling. Regardless of your system, the requirements for that dont change: Correct any existing soil structure damage and avoid causing new damage. Incorporate the previous crop debris, conserve moisture, drill to an even depth with good seed to soil contact, and in an environment that does not favour slugs.
Reduced cultivation can achieve all that. However, management and records, especially regarding soil damage, become increasingly important. *
Fixed costs are the only area where significant savings can be made, says Northants grower Justin Blackwood.
John Jeffrey
John Jeffrey runs two
tenanted farms in
partnership with his father
from Kersknowe, near Kelso
in the Scottish Borders.
Two-thirds of the 730ha
(1800 acres) is arable,
growing seed potatoes,
oilseed rape, wheat and
winter and spring barley
WHAT a difference a year makes. Last year it was a nightmare to go looking at the winter crops. Now it is a positive joy to walk around the farm and see how well the crops look as they head for hibernation.
The only problem is that we are plagued by geese, which are proving extremely reluctant to shift. Ive never thought geese are intelligent, but they do seem to know exactly when they are within range – about barn door distance in my case. At this point they take off and land in the next field. This continual game of leap-frog is testing my patience, but I am determined my stubbornness will win in the end.
The oilseed rape is looking splendid having had its usual Butisan (metazachlor) at sowing, followed more recently with Contrast (flusilazole/carbendazim) for light leaf spot. There is hardly a bare patch in sight and the resulting huge reduction in the slug pellet bill will help reduce growing costs.
Both the winter barley and wheat are proud and well forward. Apart from two smaller, wetter fields which were never rolled they have all been sprayed with their usual autumn herbicide mix of diflufenican and isoproturon.
The headriggs of the winter barley are starting to yellow, but any application of nitrogen would be purely cosmetic. So I will suffer my neighbours jibes until spring.
November and December should be rechristened "the conference months". This year I opted out of this annual circuit/circus, as they all seemed like a death wish. They remind me of watching a repeat of Dads Army with Wilson saying: "Were doomed Captain Mainwaring, were all doomed."
There is far too much negativity about agriculture at present. If we dig ourselves a big enough hole we will eventually fall into it.
It is time we focused on the positives of our industry and started to talk our trade up. Im sure our prospects would follow.
Remember, tis the season to be jolly. Merry Christmas, everyone. *
New Farmer Focus writer in the Borders, John Jeffrey, says tis the season to be jolly – not the message you will get on the conference circus!