Spring has finally arrived at Ardhuncart after the longest-lasting winter we can recall. Spring cultivations took place later than in normal years due to the excessively wet and cold ground conditions in the locality. Plans can be made – but mother nature plays the final trump card and the results can fall in your favour, or go against you with dire consequences.

At lambing time this year the sheep had to battle snow, sleet and lashing rain along with chilling wind for four weeks, with no let up. This could not have arrived at a worse time for them – late pregnancy and early lactation. The Beast from the East raised its ugly head and we suffered heavy lamb losses as a result.

The ewes were in good order for the conditions, having strip-grazed the turnips during the month of January. This meant that we did not need to feed as much concentrate pre-lambing as in previous years. However, with the inclement weather we did need to double the number of feed buckets, along with a load of turnips and a load of fodder beet until there was adequate grass growth.

As a result of not selling all of our summer calving heifers last year, we have carried through 11 of them to join the main herd. This has allowed us to cull harder, but it has meant that we have had extra mouths to feed and bed.

Feeding and bedding costs this year have been expensive and there is no surplus to carry forward. Purchased straw averaged £20/bale delivered leading to costly muck, but the FYM benefits the ground by improving soil structure and feeding future crops.

To reduce this cost, if possible, we are looking to create an outside feed stance on the hill for next winter.

The trade for our spring-calving heifers with calves at foot was good, with 18 sold over the course of two May sales at Thainstone – which was pleasing. Our average was up slightly on the year by nearly £70.

Producing these homebred heifers takes a long time, with some being three by the time they leave us. So while we make a return, we need all of it to cover our costs and leave a margin for the work put in.

Grazing

The grazing fertiliser was applied earlier this year, going on in the last days of March. The benefit of this is now being seen in the field we have set up for paddock grazing. As with everything else, the grass took a long time to come. However, when the soil hit 5°C we were out with 100kg/ha of Sweetgrass, a 23% nitrogen fertiliser that also has added sodium in it. Our soil samples show that we are low in sodium, so we are trialling it in the fertiliser to see if there is any effect.

The paddock grazing field is being split into four, with semi-permanent fencing set up. After seeing how well the paddocks have done for some of the other focus farmers, we are keen to see how it will do with us.

Last year we direct-reseeded a 20-acre field into grass. It is a steep field, that is not really suited to cropping, although it has been in the past. The weaned lambs grazed the field last autumn and then it was shut off until spring. In February we did consider grazing it off, but held back. This has served us well, with a good cover of grass ahead of the sheep now.

The fencing is being done with wooden posts and a four-wire electric setup. Last year, for grazing the turnips, we bought a portable solar-charging, electric-fencing unit. We are using this to power the fence and water is coming from an IBC that we keep topped up. The IBC and water trough are on a frame that is easily lifted by the forklift for moving along with the stock.

All of the ewes and lambs are now on there and are grazing it well, but growth is starting to get ahead of them. We have also found that the sheep are well trained to the electric wire as they were behind one when they were grazing the turnips.

Unfortunately, with the field being as steep as it is, it is not really suitable for taking silage from. Some of the grass is getting away from the sheep and we are now looking to put some cows and calves onto one section to get it under control, without wasting the grass.

Arable

Spring barley went in the ground in good conditions and ended up being only two weeks later than last year’s crop, despite the weather. The drilling was contracted out and with just over 40ha to go in it was all done in less than three days, allowing us time to attend to calving and lambing.

With the success of the turnips for the ewes last year, we are putting more in this year. Two of our grass fields took a lot of punishment during the poor autumn of last year and certain areas need attention. We have decided to put turnips and kale into those and the remainder of the grass fields beyond will provide the runback come grazing time. In total, we will have just over 2ha of forage crops in.

We have all of the silage fertiliser on now and are hoping to get a good yield. Last year really challenged our feed supplies and it would be good to get a few tonnes ahead of ourselves for next year.

With the change in the fallow requirements, we have been able to bring in the two fields that were previously fallow as silage ground. This will help us to boost reserves a bit more and with the clover stand in the bottom of the fallow grass, it should be good quality too.

By the time you read this, the autumn sale heifers should have started calving. There are 15 of them to go. The plan is for them to go to the sale in September, with two to three-month-old calves at foot, similar to our spring-calving heifers.

The market currently favours spring calvers as opposed to backend ones and we are unsure whether to continue with the autumn-calving heifers.

Add to this our lack of winter accommodation and high wintering costs, the profit margin diminishes.