It is a year now since I started writing Farming Matters, and much to my amazement the Editor has allowed me to continue. I have tried to be topical and at times controversial.
A year ago I outlined the serious state farming was in. Since then things have gone from bad to worse with a further 2p cut from the milk price, 1p in April and the other 1p from October this year. The Dairy trade have been successful in their relentless campaign to break Milk Marque which will be split into three regions from April next year. This may be a disaster for Dairy Farmers, or it might create exciting opportunities for farmers to again come together in large groups to hopefully start to drive the price upwards and so begin a recovery. Is this wishful thinking? We will see.
To carry on farming you have to be an optimist. As each price cut has come along we have tried to find ways of coping by culling our labour force, cutting other costs where possible, increasing cow numbers and generally trying to do the job better. We are now running out of options, and this year, as well as the milk price cuts, we have had to see 17 good Holstein/Friesian bull calves disposed of for nothing, calves which if we were allowed to export them would have made £100 each.
Farming at the moment is economically unsustainable and if things continue as they are much longer, many of us will be driven out of business. It is all very well for those on Agenda 21 to talk about environmental sustainability, but if all the small farmers are driven out of business, and all that is left is large scale farming, then the environment, not to mention the rural way of life as we know it, will be totally buggered anyway.
Having got that off my chest, I must congratulate Agenda 21 for the excellent job they did once again organising Bradworthy fair. It has become an enjoyable day out for the village. I always think how lucky we are to have such a large Square to hold event such as this.
At home, from a practical farming point of view, things are going well. We managed to get all three cuts of silage in fairly dry conditions, so we should have plenty of good silage to see us through the Winter. We have had 45 cows and 25 heifers calve since July and most of them are milking well. Unfortunately so are everyone else's, which will probably make leasing in quota expensive.