Farm Diary

We recorded 33ml of rain on Wednesday and it rained from before dawn to well after dusk. It really is unusual for it to rain steadily for so many hours without pause.

The maize has enjoyed the large drink and a third cut of grass silage is in the bag, with plenty of grazing now secured into August. Mind you, we have most of our cows back in again while we wait for better conditions and the cow tracks have taken another beating.

Second-cut silage seems to be stable now and the early analysis indicates it is rather good.

We fed it from the day it came in as fresh grass and continued to feed it as it slowly fermented and turned into silage. We have seen no detrimental effect on intakes or yield. If only I had known that this could be done, it would have saved some serious hassle over the years. Third cut will be in soon, and as we are only cutting the new lays it should be very good indeed.

Furious calculations are taking place in my office daily as I attempt to cut costs and protect my margins. As feed, fertiliser, fuel and power costs have risen sky- high, the very good milk price we all receive at present is all going to be eaten up unless I do something.

Attempting to cut purchased feed and fertiliser means more power and contract costs.

Grass and maize silage are still, however, the best bet, and if yield and quality are really very good the financial gap between home- grown forages and purchased feed has grown, despite the increased fuel and contract charges.

We cut our purchased-fertiliser bill year on year but it is getting more and more difficult to find ways of cutting it further.

If I take the bull by the horns I could re-seed the remaining acreage with clover-rich swards. We only buy 100 tonnes of nitrogen and this year I will have some left over.

For full feature buy the West Sussex Gazette July 16, 2008