Farmer Focus: Solids lift is worth 3p/litre to us

There have been more wholesale changes in government, and the war in Ukraine shows no sign of slowing up, so the quietening down of things on the farm brings a welcome contrast to the news.

We have happily settled into the winter routine, which I personally enjoy. The system is at its slickest with all the cows housed.

See also: How to train heifers in robotic milking systems

About the author

Tom Stable

Tom Stable and family, Ulverston, Cumbria, milk 350 Holsteins three times a day, producing milk for Arla and ice cream for their Cumbrian Cow brand. The 300ha operation, of which two thirds is rented, grows grass, maize and winter wheat and cows average 11,800 litres.

Read more articles by Tom Stable

The cows have settled onto this year’s maize nicely, although slightly sooner than I planned. This resulted in a lot of grain coming through the muck and cows dirtier than I like to see them.

We decided to add a yeast to the ration, which we probably should have done sooner, and this has helped no end.

The milk quality has improved following the switch from biscuit meal to Alkagrain. Yield is at about 33 litres a cow a day, fats have been at 4.15% and protein at 3.45%.

The Arla contract really encourages milk quality, and this increase adds about 3p/litre to our milk price.

I am hoping this will translate into better fertility, which has been poorer than I’d have liked through the summer months, with conception rates bumbling around 30%.

Our home-grown feed and contract-bought straights are sheltering us from the worst of the feed markets, but other inputs are really adding up.

Diesel in particular will warrant a bit of a review into some of the running around we do in a bid to make us more efficient.

We completed our winter drilling on 11 October, and the crops have all emerged without too many embarrassing mistakes.

I ordered fertiliser for next year the same day I ordered the wheat seed, since one isn’t much use without the other.

The mild weather, coupled with sand manure we spread after fourth cut, has seen grass growth explode, especially around home.

No matter how many sheep we find, it seems to outpace them, but I’m sure they will catch up fast as soon as it cools down.

At the end of October, we welcomed local NFU members for a farm walk, which provided a good opportunity to have a tidy up.

Around 30 members turned up and we had an enjoyable day discussing current farming issues. It’s the first such thing we’ve hosted post-Covid and went extremely well.