Farm Diary

I keep telling them that the cost of feed has doubled, and all the diesel being burned to feed and clean up after them twice a day is now twice the price of milk per litre.

Cows have this 'Am I bovvered?' attitude when I try to explain the economics of milk production to them. As far as they are concerned, we are in the service industry, and they are the customer whose currency (milk price) is now re-valued to an all time high.

I am in a rather weak position to argue too much it seems. I am concerned that we are eating valuable silage stocks, when the stale cows at least should be outside grazing, if only to start the rotation. We have plenty of grass, and the next problem will be that it will get away from us during peak growth period, next month.

The young stock are grazing very well at Tillington, having got used to the big outside world and electric fencing! They are the future, and it is vital that we look after them and maintain growth rates through the summer months.

They spend very little time in the shed, even in the cold wet weather, but they have access to good barley straw, which helps to counter the effects of cold, wet grass. The grass at Tillington is growing quite strongly, as one would expect on the sand, but so are the thistles and ragwort and every other weed under the sun. The sprayer will be calling in any day now.

Two weeks ago we had an almost new mini-digger stolen from the farm. It was being used at the time to repair the farm drive, but in the morning it was gone! It's quite a shock to find that such an expensive piece of equipment (20,000) has been taken during the night without anyone hearing or noticing a thing.

It then became clear that a 'misunderstanding' over whether this machine was hired or borrowed, meant it was likely to be uninsured, and although I was myself not involved, I was certainly going to be!. As this sickening thought embedded itself in the depths of my brain, in the area which deals with trauma, it occurred to me how cheap insurance premiums really are, and how I must never complain about insurance costs, ever, ever again.

Miraculously, the villains were intercepted at 3.30am on a back road near Lurgershall, by a private security firm 'Protex Security', which is run by Mr Mark Hillman, an ex: police officer. It was being towed on a stolen trailer (from elsewhere), behind a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

There was another car travelling in front, and when the 'Protex Security' vehicle gave chase, the 4wd vehicle and trailer pulled across the road, and the driver jumped in to the car in front and the villains made their getaway. Back at the farm we were contemplating the end of a beautiful friendship, when the news came through that the digger had been found; to say that it was a relief, is understating the position somewhat.

I see that the organisers of the Kent County Show have caved in to the demands of animal rights extremists. The fanatics are protesting against the sheep shearing competition being held, as it is infringing the rights of the sheep!

They claim that the way to shear sheep, is at home on the farm, where the element of speed and competition does not come into it, and therefore the risk of cutting the animal with the shears. The reality is of course that shearing competitions are a demonstration of the best sheep shearers in the country, with international shearers coming over to compete as well.

The standard of shearing is very high, with farmers and the general public enjoying the spectacle and the competition. Who is going to tell these ignorant, sad individuals that enough is enough, and they should sling their hook? The RSPCA, which is sadly just a political organisation these days, have predictably joined forces with the sad ones; no surprises there then.

Whilst there are food riots in some parts of the world, Defra have been discussing the 'carbon foot-print' of hedgerows, which I'm sure you will agree is vastly more important, and causing no end of anxiety to the average person in the street.

Has the pressure from environmentalists to cut hedges every two or three years increased the carbon foot-print? Now that hedge-cutting machinery is cutting two or three year growth, it seems that it might be emitting more than two or three times the pollution of cutting hedges annually? These are the important matters that occupy the minds of those that find themselves, increasingly, making matters worse by attempting to make things 'greener'.

Elin Jones, the Rural Affairs Minister for Wales, announced plans to 'eradicate' Bovine TB last week. She commented on the devastating impact of the disease on the health and welfare of cattle in Wales, and the 'unsustainable' rising costs of compensation (risen from 1.8 billion to 15.2b in 7 years).

The Minister commented that 'managing' the disease via the measures that are currently being applied would be irresponsible. The main measures will be a 'one-off test' for all cattle in Wales in order to establish the extent of the infectious disease, a review of the compensation scheme in order to encourage farmers to comply with best-practice, and establishing a pilot area where all on farm sources of infection are removed; that is cattle and wildlife.

Meanwhile in England, Hillary Benn continues to dither, and farmers are poised to take matters into their own hands. Elin Jones wants to see healthy cows and healthy wildlife, and I fully support that aim.

his was first published in the West Sussex Gazette April 16