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Having been away for a week, I come back to newly saturated ground and young cattle still only out by day. So the year is back to normal after the exceptional February.
The paddocks already grazed during February have received around 1,500 gallons of slurry and are recovering well but they are nowhere near ready to graze again. I hope that all the young cattle will be out day and night next week.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we would probably run out of straw as we had sold so much last autumn. We have temporarily solved the problem by using oilseed rape straw we had sold but stored on the farm. As the straw is essentially only supplying the fibre for the rumen, it seems to be perfectly satisfactory. We have received an offer of some straw at a reasonable price if we run out, so I will keep that in reserve.
On the tillage side, everything has had its first nitrogen as part of a 10.10.20 compound fertiliser and the oilseed rape has had its application of ammonium sulphate. The crop looks to be as good as I have had for several years and is about a fortnight to three weeks off full flowering, when we should see that uniform vivid yellow. I was relieved, on my return, to see the beans finally emerging – five weeks after sowing. As usual, the burrowing and rooting of the crows is visible, with some young stems broken across. I assume that the actual percentage damage to the crop is small but some areas seem to be badly affected.
More serious has been the forward price for grain. The price quoted by my major customer for winter barley at 20%, with payment in September, is €147/t. That compares with a final price for the 2018 harvest of approximately €210/t so, on present indications, this represents a reduction of €63/t or, on a 3.5t crop, €220/ac. While it is too early to panic and we can hope for some event around the world that will shift the price, it brings home the huge volatility farmers are exposed to. As well as a probable price reduction, costs will also be up with significantly higher fertiliser prices already incurred and probably lower straw prices.
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