A little publicised European directive to reduce the nitrate levels in ground water is causing great concern, particularly in the dairy industry. Under these new regulations, known as NVZ (Nitrogen venerable zones), farmers are required not to spread slurry between September and January. This in itself is not really a problem, but as well we are now required to have enough slurry storage for 5 months, although the closed spreading period is just 3 months. This extra unnecessary storage will cost the average dairy farmer £50,000 - £100,000, an additional cost with no prospect of additional income, so where will the extra money come from?
This extra burden was the last straw at Hoe Grange, along with yet again falling milk prices, rising costs and being fed up with working 70 hour weeks for very little reward. In July the entire dairy herd will be sold at auction, marking the end of a family enterprise of 50 + years and dairy farming at Hoe Grange for 100s of years. it is a sad fact that 30 years ago the parish of Brassington had over 20 dairy farms, but now there are less than 5!
The good news is that we will still be farming beef cattle, and are planning to expand our holiday log cabins from 2 to 4.
I hope you all like water on you cornflakes because in a few years time there won't be any dairy farms left in the UK, they will all be driven out of business by poor returns and over burdening red tape.
But Hey...... I wont be milking cows on Christmas morning.....
If you want to help those dairy farmers that remain you could sign the online Fair Trade for British Dairy Farmers Petition, which is asking retailers to:
- source British dairy products
- use transparent and stable pricing mechanisms for liquid milk and cheese suppliers that offer producers a sustainable milk price
- promote the Red Tractor logo on all own label British dairy products
go to www.farmersguardian.com
Monday, June 15, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
A new spring tine for Spring time!
Like everything else in our modern world today, farm machinery is ever evolving and one of our Peak District Holiday farmers has replaced his traditional chain harrow with a new type of mechanically folding spring tine harrow.
For those who don't know harrowing the fields is an important Spring job to rip out the dead grass and aerate the sward, allowing the younger grass to come through quicker. It also levels out molehills, flattens uneven ground where cattle have trodden up the mud and breaks up and distributes any manure which has already been spread. It has to be done when the conditions are just right - too wet and the tractor churns up the fields leaving tyre marks and a muddy mess, too dry and the dead grass is difficult to pull out. The early Spring sunshine this week has been ideal - you will notice that the fields around the Peak District are gradually becoming beautifully stripped as the harrowing process continues. This process is then followed by rolling to level out the ground ready for the new grass to push through - very similar to raking and rolling your own domestic lawn, just on a larger scale!
The new spring tine harrow has proved a lot easier to transport from one field to another than the old chain harrows as it has folding arms, which also means that you don't get stuck in awkward corners! It is more effective as the tines grip into the ground and are more vigorous than the traditional chains. As the tines are spring like there is less breakage - chain links always seemed to be breaking on the old set of harrows and time was wasted welding them back together. It also saves time as it is wider and because it's easier to handle even on steep upland ground.
The dairy cows have also been out for the first time this year enjoying the Spring sunshine - just like us they love to be out and about when it's sunny - it's a fantastic sight to see them running up the fields, kicking their heels and gamboling about like lambs - you wouldn't believe how agile they can be for such large animals!
For those who don't know harrowing the fields is an important Spring job to rip out the dead grass and aerate the sward, allowing the younger grass to come through quicker. It also levels out molehills, flattens uneven ground where cattle have trodden up the mud and breaks up and distributes any manure which has already been spread. It has to be done when the conditions are just right - too wet and the tractor churns up the fields leaving tyre marks and a muddy mess, too dry and the dead grass is difficult to pull out. The early Spring sunshine this week has been ideal - you will notice that the fields around the Peak District are gradually becoming beautifully stripped as the harrowing process continues. This process is then followed by rolling to level out the ground ready for the new grass to push through - very similar to raking and rolling your own domestic lawn, just on a larger scale!
The new spring tine harrow has proved a lot easier to transport from one field to another than the old chain harrows as it has folding arms, which also means that you don't get stuck in awkward corners! It is more effective as the tines grip into the ground and are more vigorous than the traditional chains. As the tines are spring like there is less breakage - chain links always seemed to be breaking on the old set of harrows and time was wasted welding them back together. It also saves time as it is wider and because it's easier to handle even on steep upland ground.
The dairy cows have also been out for the first time this year enjoying the Spring sunshine - just like us they love to be out and about when it's sunny - it's a fantastic sight to see them running up the fields, kicking their heels and gamboling about like lambs - you wouldn't believe how agile they can be for such large animals!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Gourmet Meals for cows!
In an attempt to survive the current recession businesses have to become leaner and fitter, and reduce costs whilst increasing output. Just like any other business the same can be said of farming and to that end one of our Peak District Farm Holidays dairy producers has made a substantial investment in a new feeder wagon - yes gourmet food for cows is now on the menu!
They say that "we are what we eat" - I hope this is true of cows as well as humans. Basically this wonderful new machine is just like a giant food mixer so the cow's staple food, sileage, can be chopped and blended with other ingredients such as straw to give roughage, and molases to improve palatability. The resulting blend is easy to digest and provides a high fibre diet that increases the quality and quantity of milk produced per cow. That's the theory, let's hope it works in practice. It is early days yet, but feeding is simple and it seems to be working - we will let you know if the proof is indeed in the pudding!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Drilling for oil????
The driller moved in to Hoe Grange this week, but what are they looking for? oil???
Unfortunately not, although an equally precious resource for a dairy farmer - this drill is looking for water. With the average dairy cow drinking around 100 liters of water every day our heard of 120 cows, along with 150 younger animals, gets through an awful lot of water, all of which, unless you are lucky enough to have a spring supply, has to come down a pipe and through a water meter! So with a water bill that runs into thousands of pounds a year it's time to look for an alternative, especially in the current economic climate.
Being on top of a limestone hill means that water is a long way under ground, probably somewhere between 100 and 150 metres. When the drill finally reaches water it will be tested to ensure it is clean and pure, then an electric pump will be installed at the bottom of the shaft, pumping the water to the surface. It will then be collected in a holding tank before being pumped around the farm for cattle to drink and for cleaning the buildings. If the water is of suitable quality it may be treated to reduce the hardness and used in our holiday cabins and our own home!!
So keep drilling lads, and if you do find oil by mistake I won't complain!!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Green Power in New Mills
I am pleased to announce a Hydro Electric power scheme has been completed in New Mills, a town located in the North Peak District. The scheme is unique in both the design and the way it has been funded. An Archemedies screw has been installed on the site of an old water wheel which used to power a large cotton mill next to the river. The weir which dams the Goyt and Sett rivers is still standing strong, centuries after it was built. It has now been reincarnated with the help of 21st centuary technology to produce enough electricity for 70 homes in the town. 
This is also one of the first communitee owned renewable energy power projects in the UK, with many local residents buying shares and supporting the scheme. The electricity produced is sold for a premium to the local Co-op store who also helped with funding. The ground breaking project has recieved lots of press coverage, one of our local papers ran this story giving details about the archeological finds the team made during construction, Buxton Advertiser.
To get more information visit the Torrs hydro Blog which has some excellent pictures and videos taken on the site during construction, and also some interesting finds including half a boat which appeared during one heavy storm! For information about how the power is generated from the Archemedies screw visit the Torrs hydro Website
Monday, July 21, 2008
Pretty flowers?
We all love to see wildflowers blossoming in the meadows, bringing bright colour to the countryside in the summer months. A dominant colour at this time of year is that of the yellow ragwort flower, which may look pretty, but can be "pretty" lethal to most livestock. If cattle or horses were to eat ragwort, the poison contained in the leaves collects in the liver of the animal and over a period of time can reach a lethal dose, causing liver failure and death. Althougth the foul taste of the plant prevents animals from eating growing plants, once the plant is dying it becomes more palatable and cattle and horses have little sense and will chomp their way through large quantities. This is one of the reasons why our countryside needs to be correctly managed.
It is a difficult plant to get rid of due to it's biennial cycle and the fact that each flower produces thousands of seeds. Using chemical herbicides is an effective method of control, however the land cannot be grazed for 8 weeks until the plants have completely died off so this is not an entirely satisfactory method and certainly not organic.
An alternative, but time consuming method is to pull each individual stalk by hand, which we sometimes do at Hoe Grange much to the disgust of our children and farm workers, particularly as they have to wear fetching rubber gloves to prevent the posion passing through the skin! When faced with a 20 acre field full of yellow plants you can imagine the complaints.
By far the most effective method of control is using mother natures best secret weapon and ragwort destroyer supreme - the sheep.
They are too stupid to notice the horrible taste and even seem to prefer it to grass at times! Strangely the poison in the ragwort has no effect on them and they happily munch away till it is all gone. We got rid of our sheep a few years ago and the ragwort has become more of a problem, so we now borrow our neighbour's flock during the flowering season.
Perhaps sheep are not so stupid after all!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
A Tale about Silage Making Season
Well let me start by apologising for the lack of activity on the blog but all the group members have been too busy on their farms to get started with it! Having returned home from uni and travelling 2 years ago to work full time on our dairy farm (Shaw Farm) I have sadly reached the conclusion there is no such thing as a quiet spell on any farm, hence me sat in bed writing this at 11pm after having just finished the last of our first cut of silage.
Silage, and please let me just clear up this point, has nothing in common with either slurry or sewage as many of my friends seem to think! It's actually very similar to hay, in that it is grass that has been cut and left to dry so it can be used as feed in the winter. The difference to hay is that silage is collected when it is still damp rather than dry like hay.
The grass is mown and then left to dry for 24 hours in the field. We then collect it using two methods, either by baling it in the field:
and then we cart it to a stack where it is wrapped in black cling film.
The other method we use is to chop it and cart it to a large pit where it is made into a pile which is rolled with a tractor to squeeze all the air out.
The pile of rolled grass is then covered with air tight sheeting.The finishing touch is then to cover the sheets with smelly, wet and dirty old tyres to hold them down, one of the most unpleasant jobs of the year as any farmer will tell you!
When harvested and stored in airtight conditions the grass will naturally ferment and pickle itself, becoming acidic (approx pH 4 in case you get the urge to try making some). Sometimes an additive is applied during harvest to make sure this process happens correctly and prevent any spoilage or mould. The silage is then fed in the winter with all the animals getting to fill their jolly little bellies in our sheds rather than having to paddle about in cold muddy fields. We spoil them, we really do.
This job is actually harder than it sounds as it is totally reliant on good dry weather, this year has been a typically bad one with no decent dry spells in the last three weeks ! Seasons like this usually end up involving much muffled cursing after having bothered to listen to the weatherman only to find the crop floating away in a thunderstorm. Luckily this year we managed to dodge most of the showers and have got the crop safely in the last three days. We have made about 500 tonnes of chopped pit silage and another 200 bales of wrapped silage.
We have to get help in to make the silage as most of our machinery is now too old and clapped out to rely on. The contractors bring monster tractors and equipment that puts ours to shame. In one day then can cut, cart and stack more silage than we used to be able to do in a week when we did it ourselves. The other great benefit of contractors is that someone else gets the privilege of bouncing up and down our farm tracks in a tractor for 12 hours a day rather than me, perfect! We do help out though but it takes me longer to mow our largest 20 acre field, than it does for the contractor in his 300 horsepower tractor to do the other 60 acres.
The main problem we had this year was because the poor weather stopped us cutting at the right time the grass got another two weeks of growing time which meant we had to try and cram as much into our pit as possible. This proved highly entertaining because it has a roof on it which is very low, as he was pushing the silage in one of the drivers accidentally slammed his tractor into one of the steel beams holding the roof up, making a huge bang and shaking the entire shed. It was only when I opened my eyes and found I wasnt buried in a heap of twisted steel and rubble I was pleased to find he had only cracked a few roof sheets rather than demolishing the entire building. I think he was trying to give us a gentle hint it’s time we built a new silage pit with a much higher roof over it big enough for his tractor to fit in! Sadly he will probably have to wait until our cows come up with a way of turning grass into gold rather than milk. This is a picture of the contractors filling our silage pit with chopped grass.
Well I hope that covers what silage is and why we make it. It also explains why if you’re in the countryside at this time of year there is a good chance you could get stuck behind a tractor doing 20mph! Please have some sympathy as there’s a good chance the 18 year old driving it has probably been working 18 hours a day for a few weeks, but I agree its still a right pain in the tail when the little oiks never pull over to let us past!
The next job I’m doing tomorrow is spreading slurry onto the freshly cut fields to help the grass grow for the second cut of silage we will make in August. This is the ultimate example of recycling as the bulging slurry store is the end result of our cows filling their greedy snouts with silage all winter! If you have any questions or comments about silage making or farming in general please leave them below.
Silage, and please let me just clear up this point, has nothing in common with either slurry or sewage as many of my friends seem to think! It's actually very similar to hay, in that it is grass that has been cut and left to dry so it can be used as feed in the winter. The difference to hay is that silage is collected when it is still damp rather than dry like hay.
The grass is mown and then left to dry for 24 hours in the field. We then collect it using two methods, either by baling it in the field:
and then we cart it to a stack where it is wrapped in black cling film.
The other method we use is to chop it and cart it to a large pit where it is made into a pile which is rolled with a tractor to squeeze all the air out.
The pile of rolled grass is then covered with air tight sheeting.The finishing touch is then to cover the sheets with smelly, wet and dirty old tyres to hold them down, one of the most unpleasant jobs of the year as any farmer will tell you!
When harvested and stored in airtight conditions the grass will naturally ferment and pickle itself, becoming acidic (approx pH 4 in case you get the urge to try making some). Sometimes an additive is applied during harvest to make sure this process happens correctly and prevent any spoilage or mould. The silage is then fed in the winter with all the animals getting to fill their jolly little bellies in our sheds rather than having to paddle about in cold muddy fields. We spoil them, we really do.
This job is actually harder than it sounds as it is totally reliant on good dry weather, this year has been a typically bad one with no decent dry spells in the last three weeks ! Seasons like this usually end up involving much muffled cursing after having bothered to listen to the weatherman only to find the crop floating away in a thunderstorm. Luckily this year we managed to dodge most of the showers and have got the crop safely in the last three days. We have made about 500 tonnes of chopped pit silage and another 200 bales of wrapped silage.
We have to get help in to make the silage as most of our machinery is now too old and clapped out to rely on. The contractors bring monster tractors and equipment that puts ours to shame. In one day then can cut, cart and stack more silage than we used to be able to do in a week when we did it ourselves. The other great benefit of contractors is that someone else gets the privilege of bouncing up and down our farm tracks in a tractor for 12 hours a day rather than me, perfect! We do help out though but it takes me longer to mow our largest 20 acre field, than it does for the contractor in his 300 horsepower tractor to do the other 60 acres.
The main problem we had this year was because the poor weather stopped us cutting at the right time the grass got another two weeks of growing time which meant we had to try and cram as much into our pit as possible. This proved highly entertaining because it has a roof on it which is very low, as he was pushing the silage in one of the drivers accidentally slammed his tractor into one of the steel beams holding the roof up, making a huge bang and shaking the entire shed. It was only when I opened my eyes and found I wasnt buried in a heap of twisted steel and rubble I was pleased to find he had only cracked a few roof sheets rather than demolishing the entire building. I think he was trying to give us a gentle hint it’s time we built a new silage pit with a much higher roof over it big enough for his tractor to fit in! Sadly he will probably have to wait until our cows come up with a way of turning grass into gold rather than milk. This is a picture of the contractors filling our silage pit with chopped grass.
Well I hope that covers what silage is and why we make it. It also explains why if you’re in the countryside at this time of year there is a good chance you could get stuck behind a tractor doing 20mph! Please have some sympathy as there’s a good chance the 18 year old driving it has probably been working 18 hours a day for a few weeks, but I agree its still a right pain in the tail when the little oiks never pull over to let us past!
The next job I’m doing tomorrow is spreading slurry onto the freshly cut fields to help the grass grow for the second cut of silage we will make in August. This is the ultimate example of recycling as the bulging slurry store is the end result of our cows filling their greedy snouts with silage all winter! If you have any questions or comments about silage making or farming in general please leave them below.
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