Livestock Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Weather extremes squeeze drilling and silagingI often start with the weather and how it’s affecting things on the farm. But when it changes so much from one month to the next, as it has this… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Capable staff allows me guilt-free time offI’ve been looking forward to May for a while now. The beginning of this month saw Amy, Freddie and me going away on our holidays for a week near Carcassonne… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Adapting grazing mindset helps biodiversityWe desperately need some rain here. Luckily, we had a shower the other day, but it wasn’t enough and we could definitely do with some more. The grass isn’t really… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Pumping slurry out to fields costs £2k moreWith calving finished, everyone has had a week’s holiday somewhere. My partner Louise and I managed a week in Fuerteventura, where the weather was mostly dry, but being nicknamed the… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Dock spraying delayed by late first cutIn the past couple of weeks we’ve finally started to see the sunshine and enjoy some heat. We’ve certainly had to be patient this year, but thankfully all spring crops… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Finding cost-effective maize ground isn't easyIt’s been a busy few weeks at Newlands. We had our annual TB test, which I’m pleased to say was clear. It’s always a huge relief when the last animal… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Constructive chat from environment inspection“Mr de Feyter, this is so-and-so from the Environment Agency. Your holding has been selected for a random inspection; we would like to arrange a date to come and see… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Lambing losses hit hard after thorough prepI have been really knocked backwards by lambing. I had thought all the planning was in place and was really looking forward to it. The silage was the best ever,… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Lameness lessons to learn before next lambingThe March lambing group lambed well, with ewes in good condition, good strong lambs and plenty of milk. The downside: having to pull more lambs than usual with heads and… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: 10 years on, we’re a proper family farmIt has been busy here, but definitely a good busy, rather than a bad busy. We are eight days post due date for our spring-calving suckler cows. So far 40%… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Calving reveals outcome of breeding decisionsCalving and lambing have, on the whole, been going well. We have had a relatively mild winter and we have good grass growth for this time of year. The ewes… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Time-saving milk cart eases bulging calf shedsSix weeks since the start of calving, and it’s definitely been a whirlwind as we hit 70% calved within four weeks. Like everything in life, though, the good times don’t… More articles
