This Week in Farming: Milk fears, new Quadtrac and SFI opens

Hello and welcome to This Week in Farming, your regular round-up of the best Farmers Weekly content from the past seven days.

Here’s the five key topics the FW team have been obsessing over as the rain lashed down and autumn began in earnest.

Milk haulage woes

Millions of litres of milk are at risk of being wasted after one of the nation’s biggest hauliers, Lloyd Fraser, is reported to have gone into administration.

Farmers supplying a number of large processors are braced for a wave of cancelled collections, including those sending milk to Arla, Muller, Meadow and others.

Contingency plans are currently being worked on and we expect more on this story in the week ahead.

SFI 2023: Here at last

It feels like it’s had a longer gestation than an elephant, but for farmers in England who wish to try the latest iteration of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the wait is over as the scheme opened for applications this week.

Defra says farmers who have a live SFI agreement before the end of the year will receive an accelerated payment – worth 25% of the value of their agreement – typically in the first month of their agreement.

The department has been eager to push back on claims that it will be sitting on a pile of cash that should be in farmers’ pockets, amid claims that funding saved from cuts to the Basic Payment Scheme is not being pushed back out the door fast enough via other means.

Too big to fail?

The Case Quadtrac is one of the world’s largest tractors offering stupendous amounts of pulling power to match even the largest arable operator’s need for grunt over a large area.

But will it be what the farmer of the future wants and needs?

That’s the question the machinery team attempt to answer following the launch of the latest and largest model yet – which tops out at eye-watering 778hp.

The heavy beast may tread softly over terrain thanks to a track at every corner, but soil-quality obsessed growers will be mulling the advantages of a larger fleet of smaller machines – particularly if they can be put to a wider number of tasks through the year – perhaps even driverless vehicles.

Better beef management

With many beef farmers counting down to weaning and winter housing, the livestock section swung into action with a special selection of beef rearing advice pieces this week.

Livestock reporter Michael Priestley took a look at three very different weaning methods all attempting to minimise the impact of this stressful period, including use of a creep gate, nose flaps and behind an electric fence.

Getting the balance right between over- and under-supply of minerals can be an important factor in maximising growth, so there’s also a look at the various options on offer to plot a cost-effective course.

And finally, winter housing isn’t for everyone of course, so deputy livestock editor Shirley Macmillan pays a visit to Cheshire farmer Graham Parks to see how he manages 600 dairy-beef cattle outdoors at his farm near Macclesfield.

Good week/bad week

Finally, who should we celebrate and who should we commiserate with?

For the former, let’s celebrate the bracing honesty of columnist Lucy Nott, who details her comeback from tough physical and mental challenges through the restorative power of sport and exercise – something which our Britian’s Fittest Farmer winners often pay tribute to.

But it’s been a bad week for anyone who is in the market for fertiliser as energy prices climb once again. Charlie Reeve brings you all the information on why the outlook for input prices is darkening.

Listen to the FW Podcast

Don’t forget the latest edition of the Farmers Weekly podcast with Johann Tasker and Hugh Broom.

Listen here or bring us with you in the cab by downloading it from your usual podcast platform.