Bill Metcalf
Bill Metcalf
Bill and Jonathan Metcalf
rent 89ha (220 acres) of
grassland, plus moorland
grazing, near Barnard
Castle, and own a further
unit 12 miles away, both
are situated in the Less
Favoured Area of Teesdale.
The farms are stocked with
120 sucklers, including 20
pedigree Blonde
dAquitaines, and 1200
ewes with 200 replacements
OUR remaining wether lambs have recently been sold to one of our regular cattle buyers. Direct selling of store cattle and lambs to a regular buyer is worthwhile, when we can feed relatively cheaply and sell on potential.
Thats better for us – putting flesh on at an early age to make them in an auction marketable condition. The last batch of Blonde x bull stirks that he took graded U, except for one E, which we were happy to hear.
This winter, we have seen compensatory weight gain in some heifers which had it tough through the summer and autumn, due to foot-and-mouth restrictions.
They have put on between 60kg and 100kg in the 50 days since they were brought inside, with young pedigree bulls putting on similar amounts.
Three more breeding bulls have been sold locally in the last couple of weeks, with two just over a year old to one purchaser.
On the sheep front, scanning took place this week. Results show a lighter crop, as expected, particularly in the batches which have been struggling for grass because of extra mouths to feed. The lambs we have kept had to be given grass which would usually have been used to flush ewes.
We recently had a night out at our county NFU dinner. One of the guest speakers was a working director of Morrisons Supermarket who gave his opinion about what the customer wants. Put simply, this is quality food at competitive prices.
It has tried selling organic and other supposed assured quality lines, but in general customers did not want to pay a premium for these. He said we should take note of this before signing up to any higher costs in the hope of charging more for end products.
This reminds me of a joke: "Why is it the rest of Europe is up to its waist in the quagmire of red tape and bureaucracy, when Britains farmers are only up to their ankles? Its simple, we dive in head first."
This appears to be true, as we agree to even more regulation from the government – modulation, welfare and assurance – and dont even get stricter import checks in return. *
This years scanning results are disappointing, yet expected for Jonathan Metcalf – ewes were short of grass at flushing.