Farmer Focus Livestock: Julian Ellis learns from Nuffield trip

The Nuffield scholarship trip to London and Brussels with fellow scholars from across the world was a good experience; mixing with people and visiting places I probably would never otherwise have had the chance to.

One thing I learned were that problems facing our industry are global and I don’t envy the task of the policy makers.

After 10 days in Belgium it was back to reality at Boscarne, with heifer calving, ploughing and contract drilling to be done. Unfortunately, there has been no time to test my grandfather’s theory that we shouldn’t drill spring barley until you can sit bare-cheeked and feel the warmth from the soil.

Recently we decided to invest in a new cattle shed. We are eager to hear from planning so we can start on the project and, I hope, be ready for winter. The shed will allow us to increase numbers slightly, but, more importantly, house existing numbers more comfortably.

With a built-in feed passage, this will be our first step away from the reliable ring feeder. Up until now we have been a predominantly grazing-based system, but living in an area where land is let for more than £250/acre a year, we may find in time we will have to buy in more feed and get the milk from less acreage. The better facilities and more room will allow us to use a mixer wagon if we decide to.

Things aren’t great on the car front. The farm car blew up during the MOT emissions test and I didn’t feel comfortable in my Reliant Rialto the other day when the gearstick came off in my hand and we had smoke coming from the air vent.