FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
Gerald Murphy
Gerald Murphy runs a 107ha
(275-acre) farm in partner-
ship with his parents in
County Waterford on the
south-east coast of Ireland.
Dairying is the main
enterprise with emphasis on
milk from grass. The mainly
all-grass unit carries 110
Holstein Friesian cows and
also grows forage maize and
cereals for home
consumption.
WERE back to using the calendar to check grazing rotation length. It hasnt been required for recording match dates since our local team was knocked out at the semi-final stage. So, no more rushing around on Sunday mornings to get away to matches.
Speaking of rotation length, were now running at 35 days and a good thing too, because the weather has deteriorated badly since the start of September and grass growth has slowed considerably. If we hadnt lengthened the rotation before now wed probably be feeding silage now in an effort to lengthen it.
Our real difficulty with the poor weather is weve still got 20 acres of spring wheat to cut. Just before the weather broke we decided to try and cut it, but the moisture was too high so we held off – a decision we may come to regret.
An interesting contrast in standards between what is expected of Dept. of Agriculture officials and farmers came to our attention recently. We had our combined TB and brucellosis test in early June. Towards the end of that month we got notice of a re-test on some of our cows and in-calf heifers.
About a fortnight ago we got a list of the 13 animals wanted for testing. For our older animals born before double tagging we have a cross check between the small brass TB tag and each animals freeze brand. We went through records to find which animals were wanted for testing. The alternative was to put 145 adult animals through the crush and read each tag – not something which any sane being would contemplate.
As we went through the list, we discovered, with the help of the digit check on our computer, that not only that seven of the animals werent listed in our herd now or ever before, but that these numbers were never issued to any animals. The official who compiled this list will face no sanction.
By contrast, we sent in a beef premium application form which didnt actually contain any errors, but one of the cards sent in had a correction on it. Yesterday this card was sent back with a terse "advice" letter telling us that all premiums were being held up until a certain procedure was followed for the re-issue of a new card.
On this basis wed probably have got a suspended prison sentence if we had made mistakes on a par with the aforementioned Department official. There is a huge double standard here, a mistake by a Dept official is a clerical error but mistake on a similar level by a farmer is regarded as fraud. *
Peter Wastenage
Peter Wastenage, in
partnership with his parents,
farms a 121ha (300-acre)
farm tenanted from Clinton
Devon Estates. He milks 175
cows, rears his own
replacements and grows
40ha (100 acres) of maize
ONCE again, the weather has dictated the workload for the last month. The end of August left the farm parched and barren, but September has brought persistent rain.
As usual, in the week we hoped for some dry weather to cut the maize and plant grass seeds, it rained again. Grass seeds are going to be drilled after stubble turnips which although very badly covered with weeds, yielded quite well.
After the rain, all grassland has currently received 160kg/ha of ammonium nitrate fertiliser. But, any nitrogen that is used on grass from now on will be in the form of urea, just in case the weather gets colder.
Cows are being restricted on grass, which will let some grass grow ahead for use later in the autumn. Milkers are also being fed some silage, which I expect to have to feed for about a fortnight before we have enough grass to cut the silage feeding back. Cow yields are suffering from not receiving concentrates and silage earlier, when the weather was poor, so our herd average will drop this year.
After last months comments about the milk price, it was good news to hear the price increase Milk Marque has achieved. This increase will not lift the industry but at least its a step in the right direction.
However, this will in no way compensate for the drop in calf prices, especially with the end of the calf scheme nearing. Any calves, except Continental bull calves, will seem virtually worthless. If we have to pay for passports, ear tags and milk to feed them on, the hunt kennels will surely be in for a busy time.
Bactosan levels have been returning at between 30 and 40 since early in the year. I expected this to fall with the drier weather and cleaner cows but they increased to over 50 which puts us out of the elite bonus band.
The cause of these high results seemed to be poor circulation when washing out. We have now linked the milk lines at the end of the milking pit and the water circulation now runs in a loop around the pit, hopefully this will result in lower Bactoscan readings. *
Dennis Bridgeford
Dennis Bridgeford farms
50ha (125 acres) at Petley
Farm in Easter Ross, about
40 miles north of Inverness.
The farm comprises of a
480-sow indoor unit
producing 95kg pigs for one
outlet and 85kg pigs for a
more local abattoir. A further
320 sows are run outdoors,
with progeny sold at 7kg.
I WAS asked this week if I could see a light at the end of the tunnel? The answer? I cant even see the tunnel.
The Scottish pig industry lost a prominent pig farmer, a man whose drive and enthusiasm for the industry is legendary, when his business went into liquidation last month. Has the Government taken any action? In one word, no.
Its pretty obvious they dont give a damn about farming, let alone pig rearing. We employ seven people directly on our two units. We may not be a big employer in the south of England, but in a rural area its fairly substantial.
If government want the countryside left in a wilderness they are going about it the right way. We have been sold down the river, getting rid of sow stalls, not using meat and bonemeal, so we now produce the best pig meat in the world. After all this they allow imports without any control whatsoever. I bet the French government would find a way of protecting its pig farmers.
We are due our annual visit from the bank manager within the next few weeks, so I have been busy doing our budget and cash flow prediction for the next year – not an easy task, but it sharpens the mind.
We have resisted the urge to stop using an enzootic pneumonia vaccine as its working well, with lungs staying healthy and no coughing in the finishing house. However vaccine makers will have to review the price. There is no doubt when our profitability has gone, there will be more slack in their margins.
Last week we decided to review our pig diets to see if cost can be reduced. As a home mixer we have been resisting dropping fishmeal from sow and finishing rations. But the fishmeal price has not come down in line with soyabean meal, so we have now taken it out of all diets except for lactating sows and young pigs. If it works we will save a considerable amount of money, if not, pig growth will slow.
August is normally a very dry month in our area, its not unusual for us to have no rain. But to make things even more depressing we have had over 2.5in. Thats put us to over 21in for the year. The only benefit is that our spring barley is looking well, if we can cut it between showers. *
John Alpe
John Alpe farms in
partnership with his parents
at New Laund Farm at
Whitewell near Clitheroe in
Lancashire. Besides the
tenanted 80ha (200 acres)
at New Laund Farm, the
family own a neighbouring
farm of 36ha (90 acres), and
rent a further 40ha (100
acres). About 60 dairy cows
and 60 followers, 500
Swaledale and Mule ewes
and 250 store lambs are run
on the farms. Bacon pigs are
also fed on contract
OUR farm is situated in the southern area of the Hodder Valley, where land is generally of limestone composition. Most property and land is owned by the Queen and Im sure it amounts to a very attractive estate.
However, farms at the northern end of the valley are owned by the North West Water Authority. Peaty heather fell land provides ideal gathering ground for water, which supplies the large neighbouring towns and cities of Blackburn and Preston. As part of their work, NWW monitors rainfall carefully.
In an average year, the expected rainfall is 60in. But official measured rainfall for June, July and August is 27in, so almost half the years total has fallen in three summer months. These statistics confirm that summer here has been the pits!
In an average year, we hope to make around 800t of silage which I guess we have managed to achieve. It has been analysed at 29.5% dry matter which is pleasing given this years circumstances. Since the only change was to run through rows of grass with a swath-wilter, Id say the credit must go to the machine.
Along with silage, we usually make about 100 big round bales and 3000 conventional small bales of hay – with 1000 bales sold straight off the field. However, this year we made the grand total of 400 big hay bales and eventually managed to make 600 small hay bales on the last day of August.
Bad weather and inaccurate forecasting has actually cost us about £1000 – through making more big bales instead of 2400 small bales. Thats not to mention additional stress or how we intend to go about feeding it. In addition, nothing has been sold yet, so whether big bale haylage has much value remains to be seen.
We were also unlucky with straw this year. A wagon and trailer of straw was ordered from our local contractor. It was loaded and delivered on Sunday August 16. One would expect a glorious summer day, but alas it poured down while being loaded and rain didnt let-up all day.
It proved to be one of those rare occasions when I kept my waterproofs on to avoid splashback from bales as they hit the barn floor. But out of adversity opportunity springs, the straw contractor must be on a winner because rainwater for around £50/t should be a good sale. *