Farm Diary

It was the right decision to cut the grass although it was a very light crop, but it would not have bulked up much more in this heat, and quality would have suffered.

The maize is looking good and will enjoy the sunshine as it begins to tassel and grow the cobs.

The rain in early July should ensure good cobs, and with the high price of feed this coming winter, we need plenty of good maize silage for the cows. I still have not committed to any feed prices, but I did cover tonnages of wet feed luckily, as the allocation for our area is very tight.

I suspect that the company involved is going to maximise its income by delivering as close to the plant as possible, leaving areas such as the South East with less tonnages due to the cost of fuel.

We had to move a clamp of silage into the field last week in order to make way for the site contractors.

Glebedales sent in a couple of trailers and two loading shovels and reclamped it expertly in the field. There is around 350 tonnes there, and as it took all day to move, I did not get around to sheeting it down until next morning, and as I checked the cows at dusk, a roe deer and her twins were tucking into it!

I expect she has them in training, and has told them of the delicious maize silage and other goodies to be had at the farm.

By the time you read this, we shall be in France on holiday for two weeks.

Time to switch off and relax; think about things in general and plan. There are many challenges ahead, both in agricultural politics and on the farm.

We need to raise our game on the farm in order to meet the challenge of rising costs, which are going to eat rapidly into our margins in the coming months.

Attention to detail, earlier intervention when problems occur, taking the right decisions and seeing them through; these are the management challenges I face this autumn on the farm.

On the political front, as NFU Dairy Board Chairman, the challenges facing the industry are again numerous.

There is a need for milk prices to go up at the farm gate in order to cover the increase fuel, fertilizer and feed costs.

Farmers need to be persuaded that as the market is for once in their favour due to shortage of supply, they could insist on changes, which would put them on a better footing to face the future (a proper milk contact would be a good place to start).

The Government needs to be challenged on its indifference to TB in cattle and wildlife, putting the reputation of this country at risk; ignoring the suffering of animals and farmers alike as they pander to the extremist's minority.

There is also the issue of NVZ (nitrogen-vulnerable zone) which now covers 70 per cent of England's farmland, and in three years time every farmer in the NVZ area will need to comply with the new regulations announced last week.

Greater slurry storage, closed periods for slurry application in the autumn and winter, and an array of other rules, will see more farmers leave the industry, especially in 2011 when those who cannot or do not want to invest the 50,000 average cost of complying with this directive.

The current high cow prices must seem more attractive than ever to those who have doubts about their future in the dairy industry and I am attempting to highlight this to milk buyers, who are reluctant to change their attitudes and seem unable to adapt to the new world of milk shortages in this country.