This month Roger Evans discusses the current farming situation at home, this years grass growth, milk prices and milk quotas.
I always read these articles several times before I send them off and I also read them again when they subsequently appear in print. I am yet to write anything that couldnt be improved with hindsight.
When the last article appeared in print I was at a low ebb we had just been given 12 months notice on a farm, not far away, that we had rented for 20 years.
Somehow, I dont think we will be alone in this sort of thing. Farm Business Tenancy rents have been high, driven by Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) money and all that is about to change. Landlords have benefited hugely from BPS money.
All that is changed now as this money dries up and landlords and their agents will be attracted by the high cereal prices which are current and are down to the war in Ukraine.
But I dont stay at a low ebb for long. We have been quite busy. We have been selling grass for mowing and grazing and my son has been inundated with people wanting him to milk.
Weekend milkings
He is involved with one herd close by, but most of the others want him to milk at weekends. This tells its own story, but he quite fancies a few weekends off himself. He would like to watch his boys play cricket and rugby and his daughter play hockey. How do you put a price on that?
People have also approached us to winter heifers for them and one farmer wanted to put some cows here and for us to milk them. They are all part of a future we are yet to evaluate, but at least we have lots of offers.
Other contributors to Dairy Farmer report this to be a grassy year, but around here it just hasnt grown. I take my lawn-mowing exploits as my guide.
In May and June, I used to cut the lawn twice a week to keep it tidy, but the cost of putting petrol in the lawnmower was getting ridiculous, so now I only cut them once a week and I have raised the mower up a notch.
Yesterday I cut the lawn and there was so little growth it was a job to see where to drive, if there hadnt been the daisies and plantains and some mole hills about I would have really struggled.
Reminiscing
Looking back, and I am doing a lot of that at present, I cannot remember a time when we were paid enough for our milk. We have surely been 10ppl off the pace for as long as I can remember.
Its true that we had a couple of good years while the processors came to terms with deregulation. But apart from that I cant remember a time when I didnt hope things would get better.
We probably owe that to the fact that milk has spent most of that time languishing in supermarkets as a loss leader.For most of that time we needed 13 milk cheques every year. Not a 13thpayment, a 13thmilk cheque.
During my career, obstacles have been put in our way. I remember milk quotas in particular, at the time I was selling 650,000 litres, I had 96 cows on 80 acres, but I ended up with a quota of more than 300,000 litres. It took any spare money I had to get back to where I was.
There was some land for sale that adjoined us. Usually I would consider this to be a no-brainer, but it involved more cows and more quota and when we did a budget, quota at 6p to lease made 10p, so it didnt and wouldnt have worked.
If I knew what I know now I should have bought it and worried about the consequences after.
The other big negative has to be TB. I get the clear impression that no-one is really doing anything except waiting for a vaccine to come along.
We also rear point of lay pullets. Our sheds have been empty for six months. I wish I knew more about the economics of egg production, but I am sure it cant be easy, what with avian flu and the high cost of feed.
December cheque
I always thought that when that big cheque we had got used to in December was phased out it would be a watershed moment for all of us, but the high cost of bought-in feed will make us all look at what we do.
I met a friend the other day who I hadnt seen for some time and we were reminiscing. The conversation turned to his late brother, who was a bit of a rascal. He was a bit of a charming rogue really, but I wouldnt say that if he was still about.
Anyway, during his life this brother had a friendship with this beautiful girl. But her family didnt approve. One day this brother received a letter in the post. It was an empty envelope, except that it contained five orange pips.
He was confused as to what this meant so he made enquiries.
Turns out that her family was Sicilian and five orange pips is an old mafia warning of imminent death. He quickly moved on and found a new girlfriend.
Off-hand, there is only Dairy Farmer that gives life and death information like that.
