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As I write, we are putting 80 acres of silage in the clamp. It has been on the floor for two days and looks like coming at 28% dry matter. Luckily, we have hired a four-tonne roller made of 13 railway wheels to roll the clamp continuously while filling. I am satisfied the sugar content is up and the nitrogen levels are down; this might not have been the case a fortnight ago.
The last two weeks of rain have caused a distinct lack of harmony in the household, as every meal had a fair helping of “if only you had gone when I said”, as the rain battered on the window panes.
The recent spell of rain has caused a spurt of grass growth, as during the first two weeks of May it was distinctly flagging. The cows are now on their fourth rotation.
There is rising concern of compaction caused by bigger and bigger contracting machinery. For example, the tractor pulling the inline forage harvester this year was 250hp. At a recent grassland meeting, one woman spoke of a trial where they used GPS to keep the silage machinery on tramlines. She also stated that contractors did not make full use of the on the move inflate and deflate equipment which is now fitted on tractors.
Conference
Last week, I was lucky enough to attend the Dairy Industry Newsletter conference in London. By far and away the best speaker was Aaron Forde from Ornua and Aurivo, a man of great drive and vision. Phrases which are still clanging in my subconscious include: “we used to fly into countries like corporate seagulls, do a deal and fly out, now we have offices all around the world” and “you can’t change the political landscape so you must work within it”.
Mike Gallacher, former CEO of First Milk, gave a good delivery of how he had moved the dairy processor from the brink of disaster to where it is today, two years later. He said he found the dairy industry a very closed shop when it came to talent, as it continually recruited from within and was probably missing a trick by not recruiting the best brains from outside.
On the subject of Brexit, Conservative MP Liam Fox let slip that he wants to wean farmers off of subsidies, and former Defra secretary Owen Patterson wants to see a New Zealand-style, unsubsidised, free market, with spectacular increases in technology to led production, so we can spend more on environmental issues.
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