Despite the complete uncertainty that has tainted everything to do with the Brexit debate, there seems to be one common thread running through all sides of the argument.

It is that agricultural support is most likely going to decrease over time; the six-million-dollar issue is, of course, by how much.

Despite, or because of, all these great unknowns, a multitude of opinions are being offered in the press and media regarding the format of financial support for the future.

If you listen carefully to these views and dissect exactly what is being said, there is a common theme – everyone is pushing an agenda that just so happens to suit his or her business rather favourably.

Bearing that in mind, I see no reason why I shouldn’t throw my hat into the ring and suggest yet another option for a futuristic view of agricultural payments. Why not make (where applicable) clean grazing a compulsory requirement on mixed farms?

This would benefit the anthelmintic resistance issue by greatly reducing our reliance on the regular use of wormers. Nor should it be too difficult to police, given the availability of aerial maps for Basic Payment Scheme claims, and there would be a very real financial benefit to farmers with a reduced spend on these products.

And think of the marketing potential of selling a clean and green product that hasn’t had any sort of chemical poured down its throat – how desirable is that to our urban shoppers?

However, the real bonus would occur due to an increase in the physical performance of young stock, with the potential, for instance, of lambs on grass alone matching the liveweight gains of those on creep feed.

Reminder

I practice a certain amount of clean grazing. There are too many sheep on the farm to do it exclusively, but I can manage to have nearly half the ewes with young lambs at foot eating grass that hasn’t had any sheep on it for at least a year.

And every time I weigh lambs from these batches, it is a stark reminder that I should strain every sinew to maximise this acreage.

Of course, there are going to be areas, particularly on rented land, where it will prove difficult to follow this best practice.

One of the biggest hurdles I had to overcome is a field that is fenced for either cattle or sheep, but not both.

For years, I just wouldn’t bite the bullet and spend the time and money putting up extra fencing. Gradually, this issue is being addressed, and between reseeded swards last autumn and fields that were grazed only by bullocks, about 130 ewes have been on worm-free pasture since lambing.

Practical

To put it into practical terms, one flock of 50 ewes that lambed in early March had 25 lambs sold by the end of May (most of them were well overweight), while an identical flock on ground that has been grazed with sheep for years, had none ready by early June.

Farmer satisfaction has to be considered too. When I walk through one of my batches that aren’t thriving so well, there is always a nagging doubt that maybe they need mineral supplementation, or another dose of wormer, or maybe treated for coccidiosis. Meanwhile, the ones on clean grass are skipping down the field as if on springs.

Reseed

Sheep-only farms would obviously be at a disadvantage in my novel plan, but could be encouraged to reseed fields by traditional methods.

A lot of articles are written about the benefits of reseeding regularly and many different methods are discussed.

Something that is rarely mentioned when discussing some of the low-cost options is the complete absence of the clean grass principle.

I can’t help but think that all the advantages of establishing a sward of new, fast-growing grass is greatly diminished by not ploughing down all those worm eggs instead of leaving them to wreak havoc as before.

Our forefathers had no access to our armoury of chemical weapons, so they had to practice mixed agriculture as a means of farming efficiently.

Would it be so bad if we were forced to return to that line of thought?