FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
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
MY Kelso Grain agronomist must know more than I give him credit for. He told me in the middle of February that he was off to Portugal for a fortnight. As we were already top-dressing and my neighbour had started sowing it did not seem the ideal time for an agronomist to go on holiday. But one week later I realised why he had fled the country.
Firstly, there was the dreaded outbreak of foot-and-mouth and this was swiftly followed by the worst snowstorm to hit this area since 1963.
Thankfully the cattle were inside but all the sheep, including heavily pregnant ewes, were outside. The full extent of the damage will not be known until lambing is over but there are still some walking around with snow-blindness. We dug 40 out of one particular snowdrift. It is an horrific feeling delving into packed snow and digging out layer after layer of sheep.
I know how sick I felt and we only lost 12 sheep. So I can only begin to imagine how it must feel to watch your whole flock or herd slaughtered because of foot-and-mouth.
It makes one question the wisdom of our government. On the one hand, they stipulate, quite correctly, hygiene and welfare of the highest standards in our own food production. But then they allow imports of unhealthy rubbish. They now promise us a better deal for our efforts and in our struggle against the supermarkets. Do I smell an election coming?
It would have done some of the so-called greenhouse effect and global warming experts some good to try living here a fortnight ago. Being totally blocked-in for four days and with no electricity or telephone for six days certainly helps concentrate the mind. Even when we were eventually re-connected the central heating didnt work because the pipes were frozen inside the house.
However, every cloud has a silver lining. Because I was snowed-in I couldnt get to Twickenham for the rugby!
"This chap knows more than I thought…" thinks John Jeffrey (right). Agronomist Paul Chambers holiday meant he missed the worst snowstorm in the Borders since the 1960s and the start of foot-and-mouth.
Ian Crawford
Ian Crawford farms 570ha
(1425 acres) of rented
ground from Ashley Hall,
Altrincham, Cheshire,
growing crisping and
pre-pack potatoes, milling
wheat, oilseed rape and
beans. He also owns and
manages 2000ha (5000
acres) of mainly arable
land in Australia
HANDS up all those potato growers who voted to retain the British Potato Council?
I have yet to meet one single progressive potato grower who did. And like fools we all continue to pay to keep them in existence and receive nothing in return. It cannot carry on.
We are still loading potatoes out of store although trade has slowed a little this week due to ambient stores being emptied.
Next year we will not be storing crisping potatoes long term because it just does not add up. Shrinkage, waste and rejections are not calculated into the price and the risk is too high. It is just not on. Instead, off the field and November contracts will be taken and hopefully life will be a little easier.
The plough has been busy for the first time in ages, burying sludge cake and preparing land for spring oilseed rape and beans. It is so long since tractors were working in the fields that it seems quite a novelty. But the crows think so too and hammer everything we drill!
Although all our cattle went two months ago, we still have sheep grazing rye grass here. Foot-and-mouth restrictions mean they cannot be moved off the farm, so we cant plough, fertilise or prepare for potatoes, which could soon be a problem.
However, we are enjoying peace and quiet and privacy for the first time in living memory as the footpath which runs up our farm drive and past the farm buildings is closed. We have had no thefts, no tools going missing, no litter up the drive and no stock being worried; its marvellous.
Is it right that we normally bear these costs with no contribution or solution from either the county council or Ramblers Association?
The soil sampling on our farm in Australia is complete and it looks like huge savings in fertiliser will be made. The dry season last year meant nothing like the amount of nutrients we expected were used.
"Did you vote to keep the BPC? Nor did I," says Cheshire grower Ian Crawford.
John Best
John Best farms 320ha
(791 acres) from Acton House
Farm, Pointspass, Co Down.
Wheat, conservation-grade
oats and potatoes are main
crops on his 220ha (544 acres)
of clay loam arable land
AS each day passes we become more hopeful that perhaps we can avoid any more spread of the foot-and-mouth disease in Northern Ireland.
It was confirmed in South Armagh on Feb 28 and we have some land seven miles away – just inside the 10km surveillance zone set up around the outbreak. Movement restrictions have prevented the sale of any more hoggets housed there and suckler cows wintered on that farm have started to calve and cannot be moved home. As a result, a considerable amount of travelling is unavoidable. The ewes start lambing next week, so space will be at a premium.
At times like this we see the benefit of having our own Assembly and a minister who is in regular contact with the Farmers Union and not afraid to take positive action promptly. Needless to say, it would not be Northern Ireland if there were not a few politicians, on both sides, who could not resist attempting to score political points from the crisis. What infuriates me is to see the people involved in importing the infected sheep described in the press as "farmers" and "innocent victims". In my view they fit neither category and never did.
The publics response to appeals to control the spread of the disease has been tremendous. Hopefully, this crisis will make consumers more aware of the benefits of fully traceable food and the problems associated with food imports.
Just 45mm of rain in February allowed the last winter oats to be drilled and all part-drilled fields finished. Wheat drilled on frost in January is just beginning to appear and while it has a long way to go and a lot of crows to contend with, I am becoming more optimistic.
Last years oats have nearly all been delivered and while yield looks to be up to expectations, bushel weight is disappointing. So it was interesting to hear about recent Department of Agriculture work indicating bushel weight is not a very accurate measure of Kernel content.
Empty yards at Acton House due to foot-and-mouth. Co Down farmer John Bests cows and ewes are stuck on a farm seven miles away.
Jim Bullock
Jim Bullock farms 283ha
(700 acres) in partnership
with his parents and brother
at Mill Farm, Guarlford,
Malvern, Worcs. Two-thirds
is rented or contract farmed,
the rest owned. Cropping is
winter wheat, winter oilseed
rape and winter beans
WITH foot-and-mouth on a farm less than 10 miles from here, we are not moving off the farm more than is necessary. Footpaths are closed, giving wildlife a timely opportunity to re-establish. Given the publics increasing concern about the loss of farmland birds, perhaps a spring closure should become an annual event.
Until recently soil temperatures were still very low, so there was little urgency to start top-dressing. The oilseed rape will be the first crop to get a dose of nitrogen and sulphur, and then we will start on the more backward wheats. Mid-January drilled spring beans have yet to come through though they have germinated. I am glad we did not go on to drill the rest of the crop under what would have been less than ideal conditions. Drilling date is less important than emergence date.
My trip to the Innovative Farmers of Ontario conference in Canada last month was an eye-opener for both my audience and me. My paper surprised many of the delegates as they were under the impression that we are making a fortune in the UK while I heard about most topics of concern to the members, from no-till, pollution legislation and climate change, to crop marketing opportunities and adding value to produce.
I was also lucky enough to visit a few farms where the overriding message was grow what sells, dont grow something to sell. Grain quality and disease resistance take priority over outright yield and "Identity Preserved" crops are the norm. Those reluctant to join assurance schemes take note. A John Deere dealer I visited had 94 employees and sold 84 combines last year, 24 of which were the latest STS machines. Clearly some farmers were making money!
Public image of farmers is as much a problem in Canada as here. A suggestion put forward was to offload your old farming magazines at your local doctors surgery so people are educated while waiting to be cured. Take two strobs four times a day before meals…
Perhaps spring footpath closures should become an annual event to give wildlife a chance to re-build, says Jim Bullock.