Farm Diary - October 7 2009

The last load should arrive this week, in time to sheet up the stacks before it rains.

We generally stack enough to keep us going until Christmas, preferring to have loads delivered in after that, due to the difficulty of keeping it in good order.

Generally, we find that we can stack straw outside for three months or so without waste, but after that it deteriorates despite our best efforts.

We therefore have a deal with our supplier, where he stores our requirements for next year in a barn, delivering it each week in the new year; it does cost a bit more, but with no waste it works out about the same price.

No doubt, as soon as we unroll the first sheet of plastic today, the wind will blow!

With such a massive amount of maize silage in the clamp, we have had a little problem with the grass silage. The pressure of maize silage on top of the grass, has caused the remaining third cut to break away (avalanche) from the second cut.

It is a problem we have not had for many years (avalanches on silage faces are known to happen), and is a real pain.

Luckily is does not involve a massive tonnage, but will take a while to sort out just the same. Talking to local farmers, it appears that maize has yielded very well in the South East this year, with some reports of incredible tonnages.

Most of the South East will have finished all the maize by now, and the weather has been the best ever.

The land is still rock-hard, and our guest lambs are enjoying very good conditions to graze the surplus grass.

I have topped a few fields to tidy them up, and where 'crown rust' (a fungal disease that turns your foot-wear 'day-glo' orange as you walk the fields) has taken hold.

Once the lambs have been around the whole farm, we will be set up for next spring. Our August drilled grass seed is very slow, suffering from lack of moisture. Last year, I drilled in September and some fields failed totally, so this year I made sure it was all in by the 10th of August; you can't win sometimes.

With no Germans on site, we have taken charge of the Anaerobic Digestion plant.

The first tower is now being heated by the rather large (and thirsty) boiler on site, putting up the temperature by one degree a day. We are only allowed to heat the concrete by one degree a day, to make sure that there is no damage done to the structure.

We are having to do this manually at the moment, monitoring core temperatures on the computer screen, as the specialist valves that normally allow this to be fully automated are the wrong ones!

Rather than wait on Germany, we are doing it manually in order to save time and energy, as the tower was starting to lose temperature in the cooler temperatures.

Dairy commodity markets are on the move at last. The milk auction in Northern Ireland has seen prices bid for milk increase over the last few months, and cream prices in Europe are up from 750/tonne in February to 1350/tonne last week, due to a shortage of butter, and very little in private storage.

This rise alone represents an extra 3.4p per litre to milk processors, but milk prices have not moved since May and the fight is on to get hard pressed dairy farmers their share of this money.

Cheese production is down, especially blue vein cheeses (down 36%) and Cheshire cheese (down 21%), and production in both Northern Ireland and the Republic has fallen on the back of very low prices.

European production is still falling as prices remain far worse than they are in the UK (first time I can remember this), consequently, we could see a tightening of supply, with the USA significantly down in production, New Zealand has had a slow start to their spring production, and Asian demand picks up.

We do of course have significant stocks in EU intervention (which will be managed prudently we are told), but overall it does seem that supply and demand is balancing out, with recovery in sight.

The last few months have been very difficult for dairy farmers across the globe, and I do hope that we see sustained recovery without too many peaks and troughs, although closer proximity to world markets makes that unlikely.

I read with interest and enthusiasm that British butter is at long last making real progress in the market. British butter has languished behind imported brands from New Zealand and Denmark for years, and I could never understand why that was.

Well, now we know! An advertising campaign by Dairy Crest for the only major British brand 'Country Life' butter, featuring (ex: Sex Pistols) Johnny Lyndon, has increased volume growth by 18%, beating 'Anchor' butter for the first time. Why? Because consumers thought 'Anchor' was British and not imported half way around the globe from New Zealand!

Hot on the heels of his 'soil strategy', Hilary Benn is now involved in the 're-wilding' (I know) of the countryside.

'We cannot preserve the countryside in aspic' he said enthusiastically, as the re-introduction of white tailed eagles, beaver, wild boar and lynx were discussed.

Ignoring the obvious risk to farmed animals (lambs and piglets), crops and fences (I have seen wild boar damage in Germany and Hungary), how does Hilary Benn think the general public will cope with this new 'landscape'?

Given that we now have people in this country who are so far removed from their roots that they get into trouble with a few cows whilst walking our footpaths, how does he think they will cope with some really wild animals?

Is it government policy to now wind back the clock in the countryside? Should I get myself a spear and club?