John Alpe
Youngstock block
HEALTHY young cattle is the aim when using Dallas Keiths Young Stock feed blocks.
The 20kg blocks are supplied in plastic buckets for ad-lib feeding. They contain proteinated trace elements, said to be more available to animals than traditional minerals. Selenium content is high to aid reproductive development and extra vitamin E helps develop the immune system, says Dallas Keith.
A molasses-based formulation ensures steady and regular intake and provides an additional source of energy, says the firm.
The cost is 6p a head a day (01993-773061, fax 01993-771338).
Circulation trough
IMPROVE efficiency in storing and recirculating cleaning liquids and water in the dairy with the Circulation Wash Trough, says manufacturer Paxton.
Made of plastic, the trough is free standing and contains a sump in the base with a pipe designed to reduce the problem of sucking air into the system.
The trough has a lid and double skinned outer walls, filled with an air jacket which is said to provide good heat retention for the water and cleaning liquids.
It has a 182-litre capacity and internal calibration markings in gallons and litres designed to allow accurate measurement, it says.
Each trough costs £135 (01922-726060, fax 01922-643422).
Handbook covers husbandry issues
KEEP your animal husbandry and welfare knowledge up to date with a new edition of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare Farm Handbook, Management and Welfare of Farm Animals.
The organisation says the handbook puts a strong emphasis on the welfare aspects of different husbandry systems and considers emerging problems and issues concerned with keeping farm animals.
As well as covering the main farm species it also contains additional chapters on red deer, quail, guinea fowl and fish farming.
The book costs £17 (01582-831818, fax 01582-831414).
Cattle grid can move to any gateway
BLOCK gateways anywhere on the farm with the mobile Gunhill Cattle Grid.
Manufacturer, Ritchie, says no excavation is required, making it cost-effective to install and enabling it to be sited anywhere.
It can be driven over by four-wheel drive vehicles, tractors and quad bikes, but helps avoid unwanted traffic because ordinary cars are unable to pass.
Made of square hollow section galvanised steel, the grid measures 2460mm (8ft 3in)wide and long and stands 280mm (11in) high. Side rails are fitted and it is supplied with four drive-on ramps.
Cost is £866 (01307-462271, fax 01307-464081).
Richard Hinchion
Richard Hinchion milks 60
dairy cows and rears 40
replacements on 34ha (83
acres) at Crookstown, west
of Cork city, in southern
Ireland. With a fixed quota
of just over 300,000 litres,
the emphasis is on low-cost
production. Cows yield
5800 litres from 350kg of
concentrate
SUMMER rain has finally arrived. We have received a good week of wet humid drizzly rain, which is helping drought- stricken grass back to its original green colour.
Its also been warm and sunny with temperatures of 22-26C. Grass has been jumping out of the ground in the past few days, so I plan to stop feeding baled silage and reduce concentrates.
Despite the constant balancing act between grass, concentrate and silage, cows are milking very well, averaging 27 litres a cow/day for June, which is 3.5 litres better than June last year. We are still on target for quota with 10 less cows. Currently cows are producing 25-26 litres a day.
Dairygold, our farmer-owned milk co-operative, dropped the May price by a further 0.6p/litre, thereby giving 20p/litre for 3.6% fat and 3.5% protein milk. This has led to disquiet among some farmer shareholders who are seeking an extraordinary general meeting of the co-op to resolve the matter.
Edmund Walsh, my scanning vet checked 25 cows on June 22. The good news is that only two of the 25 are not in calf. We hope to finish breeding on July 17, after 12 weeks, and we are now using our stock Whitehead bull.
Our 19 young calves are about five months old and received their first worm dose on June 26. They have moved to first cut aftermath and are receiving no concentrate. We plan to treat cows and in-calf heifers for flies now the sun is out more often, to reduce the risk of summer mastitis.
My new student, Peter, and I are currently painting sheds and farm buildings as well as power washing calving boxes for winter.
Second cut silage should be fit for cutting on July 20 after the recent rain. We will cut 34% of the home farm and no additive will be used if sugars are high enough.
We will still be short of silage for winter, so we hope to make baled silage out of surplus grass on the farm during July/August. If we do not reach our target we will have to buy concentrates or pressed pulp to make up the deficit. *
Dennis Bridgeford
Dennis Bridgeford farms
50ha (125 acres) at Petley
Farm in Easter Ross, north
of Inverness. The farm
comprises of a 480-sow
indoor unit producing 95kg
pigs for one outlet and 85kg
pigs for a local abattoir. A
further 320 sows are run
outdoors. Land not used for
pigs grows spring barley
OUR purge on costs goes on. Its getting pretty obvious that the pig industry has been thrown to the wolves and we are going to survive by our own wits.
Over the years, the local water authority has been allowed to charge on a most ad-hoc method. While all our mains water has gone through a meter, other businesses pay on estimated usage. Last quarters invoice came to almost £2000.
I am sure that it charges on the basis that its a monopoly. I have decided enough is enough and we have been busy moving all the pigs over to our own bore hole. In the past, weve had the odd problem with some grit coming up with water, so to prevent any problems with power washers we are going to install online filters.
Now that electricity has been deregulated, we have decided to move from our existing supplier. Grampian Pig Producers, who we market all our pigs through, has secured a deal which should save 20% a year. Our annual electricity account runs just short of £20,000, so savings should be significant.
I managed my annual trip to the Highland Show, where for the first time in three years the sun shone. Its amazing how a little bit of sunshine managed to make even pig farmers smile. It was also quite interesting that the rest of farming appears to be struggling almost a year behind the pig industry.
I had a chat with the Grampian Food Group pig division managing director. He was very wary of predicting when prices would reach £1/kg. But to be fair, he was very encouraging.
I also managed my annual lunch from the bank. It must have had sympathy for the pig industry, the serving of ham was very appropriate, it was also first class. Looking round the show, there didnt appear to be anything new – and to be quite honest, we have no inclination to spend any money.
One area that we are beginning to struggle with, is the purchase of quality barley. There appears to be plenty of rubbish, unfortunately poor quality barley is always over-priced. The penalties for low bushel weight grain really need to be looked at because it has a strong bearing on feeding quality. *
Peter Wastenage
Peter Wastenage, in partner-
ship with his parents, farms
a 121ha (300 acre) farm
tenanted from Clinton Devon
Estates. He milks 175 cows,
rears his own replacements
and is converting to organic
production
PEA silage has now been cut, two weeks later than I originally intended. It was cut and left in the swathe. My intention was to spread and wilt for 36 hours before harvesting, but had this been done the pods would have shattered.
The weather remained good from start to finish and we were pleased with how pea silage looked in the clamp. Several people suggested we should use an additive, but as it will predominately be fed to dry cows we decided not to. Time will tell whether weve been prudent, or too tight for our own good.
Once again a large part of our time has been spent either cutting weeds under fence-lines or topping pasture, mostly to stop any weeds seeding. Fence-lines which were once kept clear by a knapsack sprayer, now have to be done by hand.
Ragwort was historically a problem on our farm, but after many years of cutting and pulling I think we have it under control. Our main problems now are the road verges which run through our farms. After many phone calls to the council each year, it used to come and pull it. But always after it had seeded, so now we pull it ourselves. I feel particularly sorry for those who farm next to motorways or waste ground with massive weed burdens.
When grass growth slows down, like it has at the moment, the question has to be whether to top or not. Recently Ive had two farm walks here. One group thought I topped too much and the other not enough.
We want to maintain grass quality and not reduce too much grass cover, so we are only topping when there are too many weeds in grass paddocks to be controlled by hand cutting.
Cows are milking very well. Weve been getting over 21 litres a cow/day from grazing, with 1.5kg of concentrate a cow taking the average up to 24 litres. But I am worried that were going to run out of grass any day now and hope that it will soon rain. I saw some rain on a recent trip to Somerset, so it has rained elsewhere. But when I got home I realised it had missed our farm. *
John Alpe
John Alpe farms with his
parents at New Laund Farm,
near Clitheroe in Lancs.
Besides the tenanted 80ha
(200 acres) the family own
36ha (90 acres) and rent a
further 40ha (100 acres).
Stocking is 60 dairy cows
and 60 followers, 500
Swaledale and Mule ewes
and 250 store lambs
GRASS growth in the early part of summer has been slightly below average. Persistent cold, wet weather in late May and early June was a major influence. Pasturelands have only just managed to keep up with livestock feed requirements.
Fortunately, the weather improved by the end of June and we have enjoyed a dry spell and some welcome sunshine. During this time we were able to silage and clamp 70 acres. The crop was reasonable, but certainly lighter than usual, with the exception of 10 acres which was positively poor.
Generally this is a wet piece of land and it has not really recovered from above average rainfall over winter and last summer. Added to that a cold season, and it has really taken its toll on the sward.
Grass for silage was mown with a mower conditioner by contractors. We then went through swathes with a swathwilter and left it for at least a day in hot breezy weather before foraging. The result was very dry grass being harvested. I like a high dry matter silage as it reduces the amount of silage effluent produced.
We also made around 150 big bales of haylage and 800 conventional small bales of hay, again in perfect weather. Compared with last years fiasco, it has been a real pleasure to harvest grass this year.
A neighbour recently sold his dairy cows. The herd average was over 7000 litres which in a marginal upland area is very impressive. Generally being much better cattle than our own, we were interested in purchasing some dairy youngstock. We managed to buy 10 heifers between three and 12-months-old. Hopefully, in 18 months to two years time they will calve and the market will have improved.
We have been doing some digging work on land away from the homestead. For this type of work we usually hire an operator with a JCB. The driver stopped me one morning to sadly inform me that he had found two of my brothers sheep dead in his digger bucket – he was convinced they had committed suicide. Being curious, I asked how he knew that. To which he replied: "They left me a suicide note in the digger cab reading please bury me." *