‘You dairy farmers are having a hard time then’ said a well known local retired farmer, having read Farming Matters last month. ‘Well yes’ I said ‘things are quite difficult at the moment.’ ‘You buggers are always moaning’ he said ‘beef farmers have had it difficult too.’ He is right, all sectors are having problems, and by far the worst, are the pig farmers who have lost huge amounts of money and many of them have been forced out. I tend to comment most on dairy farming, as that is what I do, and it is the main enterprise in this area. The threatened price cut I spoke of last month has unfortunately happened which is very bad news. Many farmers are having to decide whether to get out now while they have an asset to sell, or to tough it out and hope things eventually get better. Judging by the number of dispersal sales at the moment, a lot of farmers are choosing to call it a day. In the longer term, the more farmers leave, the better it will be for those that are left. I hope I can survive long enough to be on of those left.
I recently had a very enjoyable evening in the company of Jane Addy. During the course of a lively debate on ‘sustainability’ the subject of farm subsidies came up, and could we survive without them. Given that the pint which you buy costs around 40p, and we get less than 10p of it, I question just who is being subsidised.
I pointed out to Jane that her profession (teaching) is 100% subsidised. We have to milk 100 cows with no paid labour. 30 to 40 years ago, a family on this farm would probably have made a good living milking 40 cows with paid labour.
Last month I proudly announced that we turned the cows out on 10th March. Today (20th April) as I write this, it is pissing down and the cows are back in. I had hoped, like all farmers, that with such a wet Summer, Autumn and Winter, we might have a decent Spring. With the drop in milk price, we can do without the extra cost of feeding the cows especially as we are having to buy in silage.
Sunday 9th May is Rogation Sunday when we ask for God’s blessing on the crops, the livestock and the gardens. An open air service (or in a building if wet) is being held at 3.00pm to which you are very welcome.