Farmer Focus: A friend has decided to ‘give up’ milking

I have a good friend who has decided to sell his cows and stop milking – more commonly known within the industry as “giving up”.

He runs a great farm in a good area, but finding staff has become more difficult and the next generation has decided they’d rather find other ways to make a living.

Not an uncommon situation. It’s the phrase “giving up” that intrigues me. In any other career, if you were told you could earn more money from fewer hours, less commitment, less stress, and less capital, I think you’d consider it a no-brainer.

See also: Low milk prices eat into dairy farmer margins

About the author

Tom Stable

Tom Stable and family, Ulverston, Cumbria, milk 300 Holsteins twice a day, producing milk for Arla and ice cream for their Cumbrian Cow brand. The 215ha operation, of which half is rented, grows grass, maize, and winter wheat. Cows average 10,800 litres.

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For him, it’s deciding to take a step back, rear youngstock for a neighbour and spend a bit more time with his family.

But I try to keep these articles and my general demeanour optimistic.

On a positive note, the maize harvest has cheered me up. We pushed on and chopped all 60ha (148 acres) over the weekend of 16-17 September.

It looked a catchy weather window, but turned out better than forecast. Since then, things have turned wetter and wetter, so I’m glad we went for it. 

Overall, it yielded 45.7t/ha at 31.8% dry matter, about 15% more dry matter than I had budgeted for.

I haven’t had a chance to compare the two completely, taking everything into account, though I bet there is very little difference in the cost per tonne of dry matter between the maize and grass silage.

We still have fifth cut to clamp and 45.7ha (113 acres) of wheat to drill where the maize has come off, so another break in the weather would be good.

The new cubicle shed is getting there; by the time you read this, the low-yielders should be in.

The high stocking rates in the shed and the lows grazing without buffer have really hampered our milk quality this summer. Hopefully, this should soon improve.

Anna has recovered well from her slipped disc, although she will have to be careful with her back for some time, but it’s nice to have her back on the team.

Although “giving up” isn’t on my radar, this current financial squeeze that dairying finds itself in does leave me asking whether I really want to nurture the interest my own two sons are showing in dairy farming.