Louis Baugh
Louis Baugh
Louis Baugh and his wife
farm 186ha (460 acres) at
Neatishead Hall and 91ha
(225 acres) at Beech Farm
near Norwich in Norfolk.
About 100 autumn calving
Holstein Friesian cows and
followers are grazed on
Broads ESA marshes with
forage from Italian ryegrass
and maize.
Louis Baugh and his wife
farm 186ha (460 acres) at
Neatishead Hall and 91ha
(225 acres) at Beech Farm
near Norwich in Norfolk.
About 100 autumn calving
Holstein Friesian cows and
followers are grazed on
Broads ESA marshes with
forage from Italian ryegrass
and maize.
WE have administered the second dose of Rispoval RS and hopefully have seen the back of our early winter pneumonia problems.
Another area of concern was our cubicles, I wrote late last winter of hock problems. We have had little trouble so far this winter, the cubicles are scraped out, chopped straw littered twice daily and treated three times a week with hydrated lime. We find this maintains adequate straw on the mats to give a high degree of comfort with clean legs and udders, minimising the need for washing in the parlour.
The winter routine is being broken by preparing three animals for the Norfolk Holstein Friesian Clubs Winter Fair, a one-day show where we pray for a mild day. It gives the autumn calving animals a chance to be judged at their peak.
In this season of goodwill I hope the editor permits me to make a few observations off farm. The programme of winter meetings is underway, and the expression of frustration and becoming marginalised is a recurring theme. Frustration at the high moral ground seized by food retailers which is driving the plethora of welfare and assurance schemes on the premise "this is what the consumer wants," whilst marketing foreign produce to which none of the former applies. True we must not attack any part of the food sector, but lets recognise and promote our high hygiene, safety and welfare standards.
At two recent meetings 95% of farmers expressed a wish, by a show of hands, to enter a European Monetary System sooner rather than later. It would be refreshing to see politicians recognise the importance of agriculture and its current problems by backing it with something more substantial than rhetoric.
So my Christmas wish would be for an agrimoney revaluation compensation application and a successful "Buy Best British Pro-motion".
Then I awoke from this fanciful dream remembering I still had to complete my adjusted budgets for the overdue meeting with the bank manager! A happy New Year to you.n
Scraping cubicles out and littering them all with chopped straw twice a day and treating with hydrated lime three times a week is helping Louis Baugh counter hock concerns, giving a high degree of cow comfort and maintaining clean legs and udders, minimising need for parlour washing.