Farm Diary February 4 2009

We shall be spreading some fertilizer around very soon on the new grass leys, mainly potash and phosphate with a little nitrogen to start things up. Should it dry up in the next few weeks, we will start spreading some separated slurry water on the grass at Crouchlands, cutting down on the very expensive chemical nitrogen as much as possible.

I have only purchased 75 per cent of last year's nitrogen fertilizer, hoping to save the other 25 per cent by utilising our own manures. Last year's usage was half the amount we were using five years ago, so I do feel that we are making real progress, especially as almost all the maize is now grown with our own solid manures.

Following the theft from the farm and farmhouse, I've spent most of the last week dealing with the police, the insurance men and the firearms officer. The police have actually been very good, and have made useful progress considering their very limited resource.

We have had significant developments, and with the assistance of some spirited local people, good progress is being made. At a local farmer meeting the other night, many farmers were telling me of the persistent thieving and break-ins which blight their lives.

Many of their houses have been broken into, and some are taking a fairly practical approach to defending their families should it happen again. One farmer told me that there is only one way to deal with vermin!

We've been hit with a milk price cut along with everyone else. It seems that the industry has taken more or less two pence across the board, some of which is due to commodity price pressure (on cheese for example), but others have cut (on liquid milk) just because they can.

With the cost of animal feed and fertilizer rising rapidly again and the major investment needed on many farms to comply with new environmental regulations, I expect the exit rate of dairy farmers from the industry (currently down from 3 to 2 a day) to increase once more.

The country as a whole is producing less milk than ever and likely to fall below core requirement for the first time.

For the last 20 years milk supply in the UK has fluctuated between 13 and 14 billion litres of milk, but since 2004, it has been on the decline, and last year we produced the lowest level since 1974. The core requirement of the country, which allows for liquid milk, regional and added value cheese, is around 12.95 billion litres, and by the year end (March 31st), we expect to be under that figure.

Next year will certainly be lower still, and unless something dramatic happens, or stability and confidence returns with retailers and processors showing some willingness to form proper partnerships and ensure a fairer distribution of margins through the supply chain, more and more imports will be sucked into the country, ultimately depriving the consumer of proper choice.

My Australian friends are in much worse trouble, suffering a milk price cut of almost 40 per cent, high input costs and now a massive heat wave in Victoria. Temperatures have been as high as 45 degrees C (or more!), which is so desperately hot that dairy cows can barely cope, certainly not grazing with many not even drinking; just standing with their tongues out on the hottest days.

Many fires have been raging through thousands of hectares of forestry, burning down many houses and perilously close to some of the extensive open cast coalmines; some of these fires were deliberately started. Australian farmers are facing a challenging time once again, and I hope the weather breaks soon, before all the pasture is burned up.

Back home I see that the RSPB has suffered the embarrassment of seeing bird numbers fall on its Cambridgeshire flagship farm; well I never! The RSPB are blaming the weather, which they admit is even beyond their control, but it is about time that this fund-raising organisation was brought down to earth (pardon the pun).

Many factors affect wild bird population, extreme weather, predators and creeping urbanisation to name a few. The RSPB has had the ear of government for too long, blaming intensive agriculture for the decline of farm birds. Most birds have been on the increase for a number of years, but only the ones on the RSPB's very limited list seem to matter. Now that they are in the same predicament on their farm, common sense may prevail.

Jamie Oliver (celebrity chef) did his bit for the British pig industry last week, highlighting the inferior welfare of imported pork and bacon. He made some very good points including the way the British pig farmers are disadvantaged by higher welfare legislation as supermarkets, the Government (Treasury), the House of Lords, Scotland Yard (to name a few) buy foreign pork and bacon because its cheaper. Labelling was tackled by the energetic young man, as he then demonstrated how to cook the cheapest cuts, which are of course full of flavour.

It seems that if only consumers bought the cheaper cuts (which are currently exported for little money); the pig farmer can be saved. No one refuses an invite on to Jamie's show (the world we live in these days), and he lectured Government ministers, Supermarket buyers, Multinational processing companies about their lack of clarity (honesty?) on labelling, not sourcing British, and not promoting the cheaper cuts.

I knew many of the people on the show, and most would not know one end of a pig from the other. Well done Jamie Oliver. I bet it does make a difference.