The weather has turned colder and wetter since harvest time. Snow and sleet showers a couple of weeks ago were a reminder that winter is just around the corner. The late cold wet spring followed by the driest summer remembered in Kildrummy meant we were continually short of grass and this is evident in our silage stocks. A feed plan for the winter has been implemented – an early spring next year would be a boost to all livestock farmers.

Barley yields were slightly below average but at just over 6.25t/ha. The barley grown this year were both feeding varieties because in the past our nitrogen levels have always been too high to hit the malting specifications.

Over 150t have been sold to both an animal feed company and local farmer.

The price per tonne was significantly higher than last year with malting barley being in short supply pushing up the feed price.

Weatherproofing straw

Having our own tube-liner allows us to weatherproof our straw and store it outside as we use all the buildings on site for livestock accommodation during the winter.

Our baled silage is also tube-lined and this has worked well in the past as it requires much less plastic than individually wrapped bales. With the changes to the disposal of plastic wrap on every farm coming into effect on 1 January 2019 tube-lined bales will result in a reduced disposal cost.

Stubble turnips have been grown in the Haugh field. All the straw from this field has been tube-lined and is situated along the dyke side. When the cows go down on to the stubble turnips no straw will have to be carted down as it is already on site. This should make feeding easier with cleaner ground conditions and result in less time taken to feed the stock group.

Straw supply

As mentioned in previous articles, we will have less pressure on our straw supply this winter as the store cattle and the back-end cows with their calves are going to be bedded on wood fines. The wood fines cost £40/t – significantly less than straw would have been.

When this is coupled with the time and diesel, we will save not having to bed as often. We are looking forward to a lower cost winter. The spring cows and calving heifers will stay bedded on straw.

The wood fines will need to be composted for an extra year before they are spread but we are looking to make a saving on bedding costs this winter.

Part of our fertiliser requirement for 2019 was secured in August when an arctic load of 27-6-6 + sulphur became available. At £250/t more should have been bought as prices are on the up on the back of the high grain prices. This fertiliser will be used for both grazing grass and to top dress the spring barley.

All the cows are now home to Ardhuncart and are grazing the fields near to the steading. By the time you read this, the calves should be weaned, housed and onto their winter diet.

As mentioned in a previous article, silage yields are back around a third this year. We knew there would be a shortage after first cut and booked 75t of draff. This was delivered in the middle of August and has been pitted at the end of the silage pit.

After harvest we finalised the winter ration diets and realised that there is still a shortfall in our fodder stocks. A further three loads of draff have been booked for early in the New Year. The draff is an extra cost to us but a much smaller quantity of liquid feed will be used this year this will offset some of the cost.

The draff is going to be fed at 5kg/head/day to the stores and the calved heifers. This will not only replace the silage, it will also give them a source of quality protein to get them growing. They are also going to get 3kg/head/day of barley too. The plan is to start selling the strongest stores in January, with the remainder being sold in early spring.

New bull

Still with the cows, we have purchased a new Simmental bull for the herd. Garmouth Iceman 17 joined the herd last month and has settled in well.

Prior to going to the bull sales, we went through the catalogue and picked out several bulls that matched the calving and growth figures we were looking for and bloodlines that would complement the other Simmental bulls already in the herd. Our bull was bought quite early in the sale and prices appeared to increase shortly after we had made our purchase.

Four new shearling rams have been purchased this year, two Texels and two Millennium Blues. The rams all went in on the 19 October, meaning that lambing will start three weeks later next year.

The bulk of our sheep are lambed outside and the bad weather at the peak of lambing in both 2017 and in particular 2018 resulted in heavy losses. We are hoping that by lambing a little later, the weather will be more on our side. This should reduce the amount of feed the sheep need over lambing. Fewer losses and reduced feed costs and hopefully extra lamb sales should result in a better margin for the ewes.

There are still a small number of 2018-born lambs on farm. It is unusual for us to have lambs still here so late in the year.

The dry weather really held up grass growth across the farm and this in turn held back lamb growth. We are going to go through them and pick out the fat ones. Those that are left will be sold store as they are going to compromise grass supplies for the ewes through the back end and in to spring.