Stocken Farm Diary Part 4

LIFE ON STOCKEN FARM Joan West's report for Hallmark, July 2007 to October 2017 inclusive

JULY 2007

READ BETWEEN THE LINES

The supermarkets suddenly seem to feel the need to advertise themselves as the good guys.   One has an excellent ad. for fresh local milk on the television at the moment and that must be really useful.    After all ads. don`t  come cheap.  But read between the lines and count the number of counties mentioned and note “small” dairy farmers are being helped.   “Small dairy farmers barely exist any more.   Legislation and rising overheads have caught up with them and most of them have gone long ago.   It is good that any left are being helped for they certainly need it.    We have opted to get bigger and I must admit that we are running to stand still, and at present we are just not winning.

SUCH LONG JOURNEYS

The sale of animals is an important part of farming.  Our best beef animals go to Yorkshire to be slaughtered for Waitrose.   The lesser quality to Mertha Tydfill for Tesco.   There are no local abattoirs left.   The lorries are sectioned to keep the animals steady, but it seems an awful long way to me.

CREMATION

Should an animal die or be badly injured and put down on the farm they have to be taken to Cambridge for cremation.  No, you can`t just dig a six foot hole, although the cost of transport and cremation makes this idea tempting.

LIVESTOCK MARKETS GONE

It is absolutely alright to sell straight from the farm to another farmer, but to get a yardstick for the price a livestock market is needed and there are hardly any left.   High Wycombe`s is now a multi-story car park,  Aylesbury`s a cinema and car park, and even the famous Banbury market has gone.

THAME MARKET

The only livestock market left for miles around is Thame, and this is under threat.   It is situated in the town and its lease expires in fifteen years.   To implement more legislation it needs to expand and there just is not room.   It needs to relocate.   This will cost money but there is still some value in the lease if things could move more quickly.   There is the opportunity to move to adjoin Thame Show ground.   The facilities would benefit both.    Cattle handling and lorry parking for starters.  There has been much delay in getting planning for this move and time is getting very short.   Thame market belongs to the farmers.   It was the only way to keep it in business.   We are fighting for its very existence.   If we get planning soon a wonderful centre of agricultural and rural activity could be established and what a bonus for Thame to keep its reputation as a famous market town not just another urban centre like all the others.

THAME SHOW

Did I hear you ask “Thame Show?”   Don’t miss it on the third Thursday of September.   On the Risborough Road as you approach Thame.

OCTOBER     2007

CATTLE & CORN

There is some sense in saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, for if one thing is not doing well there is just a chance that something else will do better.   Things do go up and down and with luck it averages out.   As overheads and equipment have gone up farming has become more specialised.   We used to have a flock of sheep, herd of pigs, poultry for Christmas and a flock of laying hens.   All have gone to enlarge the dairy herd and improve facilities and machinery for them and the cereals that we also produce.    We do preserve as much for the cattle as we can, mostly in the form of silage, but this has to be supplemented with feed that must be purchased.   Our farm is about half in cereal crops and half in grass.

CHANGE

I have previously mentioned bio-fuels and touched on climate change, both of which are having a dramatic change throughout worldwide agriculture.   Farming used to be a steady routine year after year.   It takes many months to change crop and animals cycles and is not undertaken lightly, but we are in a global market and things are changing fast.  Yearly, crops have failed due to climate changes whatever the cause, and abnormal droughts and floods have made commodities in short supply.   Crops are being converted into bio-fuels instead of food, be it for humans or animals.  In China and India the standard of living has been raised so there is a much greater demand for meat.   It takes an enormous amount of grass or grain to convert it into meat.   Unprofitable land is now being brought back into use, much in the USA and even here the government has seen fit to do away with compulsory set-aside land.   So where do we stand now?   If only we knew the answer!

YO–YO PRICES

Good husbandry and good management can be learned.  They, and dedication, are imperative for survival.   But now with commodity prices fluctuating like a yo-yo, so much also hinges on buying or selling at the right moment.   I am talking agriculture but it seems to be affecting other things throughout the world too.

E.G. MILK

Two examples that are having a direct effect on us.   Firstly there is a promised increase in milk price.   This is because there is a total shortage of butter and cheese and other manufactured products.   No other reason.   We will be almost back to what we were getting for our milk eleven years ago.

E.G. GRAIN

Not having all our eggs in one basket we produce grain to sell, but we also use it for our cattle, having milled and mixed it with other ingredients for a balanced ration.   Grain prices have changed over the years both up and down.    From sowing in the autumn to harvest, storage and selling is at least a year, often longer.   It is usual to make a contract at any time for an agreed tonnage, price and specification, to be collected sometime in the future.   Break the contract in any way and you hit penalties.  Usually you spread your sales over several months, hoping to get a reasonable average overall.

PRICE WENT CRAZY

Last August the market went crazy.   What might have been an increase over the season was happening day by day.   Those not committed to contract made a killing, those who had prudently committed their crops to contract were gnashing their teeth.   The backlash of this was to break the pig and poultry producers whose animals are fed on bought grain, and that is most of them.

SHOPPERS BEWARE

Beware the EU jointed poultry.   Much of it comes salted from South America and maybe the Far East.   It is desalinated on the Continent and then sold as fresh from the EU.   This is quite legal !!   “British” is a good label to look for.   At least you know the high standard to which it is produced, but it will be dearer and may be more difficult to find.

DISEASE

Right now the farming community is again suffering from the restrictions of foot and mouth and an outbreak of blue tongue.   There are huge sales of live sheep and cattle in the autumn, sold to different farms for their next stage of growth.   The culmination of a year’s work.   The sales have been cancelled and this spells disaster for these commercial breeders.

EXPORT BANNED

Exports have been banned.   Much meat is exported, beef and vast quantities of lamb.   Live international pedigree animals cannot be sold.  These are individually sold as very special animals but now the breeders are stuck with them.

GUILTY

This is all because the government did not keep its own house in order.  There will be compensation paid to those poor souls whose herds have to be slaughtered, and please remember these animals are personal from the time of conception right through their lives.   No compensation is paid for distress or any of the other problems.   I have never known the farmers so angry in all my life.  So much for foot and mouth restrictions.

BLUE TONGUE

Blue Tongue is transmitted by midges.   It has been working its way up through Europe and has now got here.   Is climate change involved here, I wonder?    Animals may survive but will have very poor health afterwards.   Some really cold weather would reduce pests and diseases.   Good for the land even though it makes life more difficult looking after the animals.

THINK OF THOSE WORKING

Might it be a white Christmas?   Whatever it is we wish everyone a great time, and spare a thought for those everywhere that are working during the celebrations.    Merry Christmas.

JANUARY   2008

MULLING

At Christmas I was mulling over my wine and this article.  I thought that I must make this one more light-hearted and still try to keep it interesting and also to keep to my sort-of brief to throw more light on our farming world.

‘THE ARCHERS’

Many years ago I stopped listening to ‘The Archers’. It was so well tuned to the farming wavelength that it was no entertainment for me, just the same story of our lives with the attendant difficulties.   It is however a good ambassador for farming because it is entertaining as well and very much to be congratulated.

OTHERS CHIP IN

Then along came January and the TV, radio and newspapers have all been inundated with food and farming topics.   A farmer being asked her opinion about food said that her cows had a much better balanced diet and she knew where it all came from, more that could be said for many human foods.   I thought “How right you are”.   I could write a whole article about cattle food and that might just surprise you, for many by-products from our foods are used, not just grass and corn.

PUNCH DRUNK

Maybe by now you are punch drunk with all these programmes about chickens and what you should eat.   If you are like me, at the end of the day I need to be entertained not lectured to.

MORE EU REGS

I haven’t seen all of them, but I must say that, accurate, though what I have seen  have seemed to be, I do hope that it has also been explained that the EU has more husbandry regulations in the pipelines, now counting down to deadlines.

UNREGULATED IMPORTS

Our producers cannot compete with unregulated products imported from elsewhere now, never mind when they get even tighter.  It is a very uneven playing field indeed.

THE N.F.U.

Then farming problems were brought to my mind in a quite unexpected way and I decided to enlarge on that instead.   The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has two functions.   Firstly, to look after the farmer’s interests.   Unfortunately they do not have a lot of clout for there are just not enough farmers.  Secondly, they have an excellent insurance arm.    Small to medium claims are dealt with by local assessors who work on an expenses only payment.

LOCAL AGM

When John went to the local area AGM in December, he was presented with some engraved glasses commemorating that he had been an assessor for twenty-five years.   When called to a case, they have to write a report giving their recommendation of settlement, being the value of the animals, crops or machinery damaged and what in their opinion has occurred.   The NFU Insurance has a policy of paying promptly with seldom a quibble.

EXAMPLE CASES

1.      So what sort of problems arise which are outside the usual run of difficulties to be expected?  Ok, so animals can get out for various reasons, but so many gardens are open plan now and, of course, the other man’s grass is always greener.   Obvious problem.   Add to that a lot of gardens now have swimming pools.   A green cover on a pool also looks tempting and having a cow in a pool is neither good for man nor beast, nor pool.   I leave that one to your imagination.

2.       A woman from her kitchen sees a runaway tractor come down the slope, collect her washing from the line and bring it draped around it straight through the wall and into her kitchen, demolishing all in its path.

3.      Pulling out of Bradenham Road at Walters Ash a farmer looked back to see his trailer load of straw on fire.   Maybe a spark from an exhaust or even a flint thrown up?

4.      We had a branch fell off a big chestnut tree.   Not that very big old one at the top of the drive but the one on the other side of the entrance.   It fell on a car windscreen and the vehicle was crushed.   It was a miracle that the driver wasn’t hurt.   For this, special tree inspectors had to be called in.  They found the tree perfectly healthy and could give no reason for what had happened.   The claim was paid.   It had no other big branches over the road, but when the big tree opposite was split open in a storm police said it had to come down immediately.   That left the other somewhat one sided so that was taken down too.

5.      Probably the strangest one that John was called to was ten cows dead in a field.   Not a problem to assess the value, but how did they die?    When all the detective work was done, it transpired that they had been standing in a bunch fairly near the fence.   There had been a torrential thunderstorm and lightening had struck the wire fence, run along and down the metal posts, the ground being awash it travelled across the water to the animals which were standing in it, thus electrocuting them.  Not an everyday problem, fortunately.

Sometimes someone tries to pull a fast one, so that is something to look out for too.   It is an interesting job and John went to inspect many claims over the years.  Just one more aspect of our farming world.

APRIL   2008

MAGICAL

Today is Sunday 6^th April and I am jotting some notes as I eat my porridge.   Porridge is appropriate because outside is a winter wonderland of snow.   The cedar trees drooping under it and every pink blossom capped with it – magical!

EASTER SNOW

We have had the cold March winds and April always was the month for showers to bring forth May flowers.   But April showers can sometimes fall as snow, soft, wet and heavy, the sort that does not stay long.   It set me reminiscing.   In 1978 Lacey Green Cub Scouts were formed.   The following Easter they went for camping experience, our son amongst them.  Heavy snow during the night caused their tents to collapse.   Snow-hopping in their sleeping bags to nearby shelter all adding to their experience.  This is my opportunity to salute those who ran the troop for so long.   It’s nothing to do with farming of course unless it is another indication of a changing weather pattern.   It was an unusual amount of snow and there must have been several inches of it to bring their tents down.

700 FOOT BENCH MARK

This morning there is just a pretty covering.   At the farm there is an ordinance benchmark at 700 feet, so quite high here, but there were daffodils in flower in the driveway in the first week of December.   Are they not really expected until the spring?

FARMING IN CORNWALL

DAFFODILS

Talking of daffodils, their production has been an industry seriously in decline in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly for many years.   The weather and the soil there is perfect for them, but the marketing was the big problem, especially from the Islands and of course the competition from imports.  This has been overcome by sending direct by mail-order, thus cutting out the markets.   New communications are saving the day.   This employment in the spring is critical when their main income from tourism comes later in the year.

VEGETABLE PLANTS

Another big industry in Cornwall was the growing of vegetable plants, largely cauliflower, sold commercially, bare rooted. Cauliflowers have a nasty habit of all being ready at the same time.   Those who grow their own will be familiar with having to eat them every day for a fortnight, then there are none at all, which by that time is a relief because you are fed up with it.   Trade for the plants had virtually gone when one enterprising grower came up with the idea of producing them in modules (small individual pots that decompose).   Planted one seed in a pot, the production is staggered and the plants sold as required.   Again better communication, packed, train to London and out to garden centres or shops for next day delivery.   This business is thriving, growing rapidly and now with other plants too.   They too have also started mail order.

FARM VISIT

Bucks Grassland Society has a visit to them arranged in May.   It’s an opportunity not only to see for ourselves but also to ask questions, discover how this idea is working out and meet these people who are solving problems that appeared to be insurmountable.

BLUE TONGUE SPREAD

Farming just gets over one crisis when the next one rears its ugly head.   Last year blue tongue disease hit East Anglia.   Brought from the Continent by midges.   Farming has always benefitted from good hard frosts to kill pests and diseases.   We have not had a spell of severe weather for years.   It makes a lot of work for us thawing water for the cattle and of course England would completely grind to a halt, not being used to it any more, but it would do a lot of good too.   The danger area for blue tongue has been enlarged and we are now within it.

VACCINE

The upside is that we will be the first allowed to order the vaccine.   The downside is that the vaccine will not be ready in time for the summer.

DO NOT CROSS LINE

A special show and sale had been arranged at Ludlow, Shropshire for Simmental beef cattle.   A local farmer entered two pedigree beef bulls.   Then the blue tongue area was extended to just beyond Ludlow.   Cattle must not cross that line.   Most of the potential buyers are outside the new area and his animals did not get a single bid.

FARMERS STRIKE, ARGENTINA

Farmers in Argentina are on strike.   They have a huge export market and have had between 33 to 35% export tax imposed on them for years.    It is going up to 45%.   They have got over this by sending nothing to market at all.   The shops there have nothing from them either, so it is hitting home and farming is an important industry there.    It is having an effect here already.   We were buying soya a year ago at £120 a tonne.   Then, as with all commodities, it had gone up until it was £158 a tonne.  This week a month’s supply was delivered.   20 tonnes at £320 a tonne.

WORLD CHAOS

The world market is chaotic.   Returns are up.   Costs are up.   Much of the food production is being converted into fuel, driven by the price of oil.   In some poorer countries there has already been rioting over shortages and costs of food.  Where is it all leading?   And what on earth can we do about it?

JULY 2008

I thought I had come up with an idea of what to write about then farming was in the news and I felt I should respond to that.   The news is that despite the decision made by the government in response to a long awaited report, to trial a badger cull, it is not to happen because it was felt that ‘the public would not like it’.   What a waste of an expensive investigation and is that a good reason?

TB

Does the public know what it is all about?   If not, the answer is tuberculosis.    TB was a scourge for humans.   The council hostel off the B4010 along opposite the Rose and Crown was a TB sanatorium at least up to the 1960s.   Isolation and fresh air for many months was the prescription.   The wealthy went to live in the Alps but most went to sanatoriums in the countryside if they were lucky.

MILK TESTED

The government wisely set out to eradicate it.  As cattle could get it all milk was, and still is, tested to make sure it was safe.

CATTLE TESTED

All cattle have to be tested to see if they react to an inoculation test.   In high risk areas in the west every six months, here at present every three years.  It is a huge task, every animal having to be brought home twice to be put through the handling crush, but it does get results.   If an animal does show a reaction it has to be slaughtered.   This can be devastating for a pedigree herd where the blood lines are so important and also for pet cattle.   Its upsetting enough for a commercial herd, where the animals are home bred and with you for generations.

COMPENSATION

Compensation is paid for slaughtered animals out of the government coffers (out of your money and mine).    Last year 28,000 animals were put down.   The public does not seem to mind cows being killed or paying the compensation.   The concentration of this started in the West Country and has rapidly spread eastwards until now there are quite a number of cases in Oxfordshire.   So it is not far away.

CONTAMINATION OF PASTURE

The badger population is in direct relation to the spread of this disease.   They too get sick with TB.   As with all wild animals, they do not foul their homes.   They keep their setts immaculate so it follows that they contaminate the land around.   This is very often pastureland as they favour hedgerows and woodland.

PROTECTED

The problem is complicated by two factors.

1.         Badgers are a protected species.   This was done because they are an aggressive animal and were being used for badger baiting, a disgusting sport and rightfully now banned.

2.       The public does have a soft spot for them, particularly those who have read ‘The Wind in the Willows’, with wise old badger.   It never seems to occur to people that these animals can get sick.

  From my experience, I would say that all farmers respect wildlife.   The only things we do not want on the farm are rats and mink, which were released by animal rights protestors from a local mink farm and are extremely vicious.    We are not too keen on mice but we live with foxes and badgers, even though the deep holes of the setts need to be avoided and as for the foxes, suffice to say we no longer have any pet chickens despite our cautious care.

BUT

If the badgers were to become sick and our cows become reactors and have to be slaughtered will we feel so tolerant?  It is true you will be paying us compensation but that will not bring back the cows which we have nurtured all their lives.

MATERNITY LEAVE

Strangely enough that all leads on to one of the things I had thought of writing about.   We may have three hundred cows and they may have numbers on their backsides but they are nevertheless personal to us.   There are a number calving at present.   All the cows should give birth once a year as they have to have a calf in order to give milk.   They are milked for ten months and then have two months maternity leave.

BIRTH

A close watch is kept on them when due to calve.  It is preferable that they are born in the fields and most manage unaided.   As long as the calf is presented correctly it should be ok.    Two front feet and then a nose looks good, one foot and a nose spells trouble.   That is when the sleeves have to be rolled up and against the straining of the cow, the calf must be pushed back again and the missing leg found and brought forward.  They can be born back feet first and this needs help too, for it must be a speedy delivery so that the calf can start breathing as its head comes last.

SPELLBOUND

A successful birth – wonderful.    Lots of children have been looking at the cows in the front field on their way past the drive.   These are those due to calve.   I don’t know if any have seen a new-born calf as it totters to its feet and instinctively searches for its mother’s milk while the mother licks it clean.  Or maybe even seen a calf being born.  If they have I can only imagine they were spellbound.

A TRAVESTY

Those calves and their mothers are of special concern, as I said they are personal.   An accidental loss is a tragedy, but deliberate slaughter is a travesty.   Something urgently needs to be done to get some control over the whole TB situation both wild and domestic.   The government did well controlling it at first, even if initially it was human health that made them act.    It is not so now.   For the animals’ sake they need to find a solution to this and act fast.   We can put man into space, surely something positive can be done about this challenge here on earth.

OCTOBER 2008

ECONOMIC MELTDOWN

The country is reeling under the prospect of an economic meltdown and we are still staggering from the most difficult harvest we can remember.   Not the best of times. The summer never came and we just couldn’t get the crops in.  We were not alone.   Some places were even worse off than us.   It might be poor soil up here but at least we were not flooded.   However, the crops didn’t get a chance to dry and we got it in bit by bit up to 22% moisture, when it should be 15% or less.   We did eventually get the fields cleared, which enabled us to start the autumn cultivations in readiness for planting next year’s crops, already very late, but at least that is now under way.

WET GRAIN

We are left with two massive problems.   Firstly, the grain is very wet.   We do have some drying bins here and a portable dryer.   It is all very slow and expensive, but we can’t sell until it is dry, so we are stacked out with wet grain and having to shift it around.  Undesirable, difficult but necessary work.   Secondly, we grow and contract to sell high quality bread-making wheat.   It is the most costly to produce but should give a better return.   This year our contracts are not worth the paper they are written on because the wet ruined the hagberg in it so it is unsuitable for bread making.   Left without a contract in place we have to sell it on the animal feed market, which is flooded out with that grown for it, plus all that from the broken milling contracts.   We are not alone - the problem is nationwide.

IRONY

The ironic thing is that the crops had looked so promising.   As usual, we had entered the Chiltern Hills Agricultural Society crop competitions.  These are in a ten mile radius of Wendover, split into north and south by the Upper Ickneild Way.   We won four firsts, two seconds and two thirds.  Luckily all the judging was done before the summer failed to arrive.

ANOTHER MYTH

The grass grew well but it was all a bit watery and the cows do enjoy the sun.  We did win the grassland class too, so that was good.   But if it were true that cows sit down when it’s going to rain, they wouldn’t have had time to get up to be milked.

SHEAVES FOR CHURCH

Last weekend was an eventful one.   Friday and Saturday the maize was harvested, chopped up and clamped for the cows in the winter.   We grow several fields of it and have to hire a special harvester.  It’s too tough for our combine to tackle.   On Sunday it was the Harvest Festival, and the harvest was truly gathered in, wet though some of it still is.    Once again, we did remember to stop the combine and take enough out of the cutter header before it got threshed in order to make two sheaves to take to the church.   Remembering to do that is always touch and go.

MAIZE MAZE

I’ve not written about our summer maize maze.   Of course this too was effected by the weather.  It is so much nicer when the sun shines and people can picnic and relax in our beautiful countryside.   But we are a stalwart nation.   People still came, bringing their visitors from all over the world when it was reasonable weather and coming with their children even in the rain – coats, boots and umbrellas at the ready, especially as the holidays were going by and the children were stuck at home driving parents scatty.

MEETING PLACE

Lots of people come not for the maze but to meet friends for tea or coffee.   You can bring your own, but we make hot drinks to order, have a huge selection of cold drinks, including of course flavoured milk and the wonderful local Beechdean ice cream, not forgetting a mean selection of cakes.   I’m afraid this reads like an advert, that’s why I waited till after it had closed to write about it.   The tea shop is not making a big profit, it is a facility for the maize.   On the other hand you could look at it as a summer facility for the village.   An outdoor tea/coffee shop, open every day, free parking, and you don’t have to do anything but chill out with your friends.

GOLF COURSE MODELS

We only closed one day despite this “summer” when everything was simply awash. For all those who came we are so pleased to see you.  We hope you had a good time.   Were you impressed with the models of the windmill and the church?    Perfect replicas of those in Lacey Green, now built into our crazy golf course.   Our model-maker insists on remaining anonymous so no good you asking for one.   Sorry.

PERFECT VILLAGE SCENE

If you didn’t come, perhaps next year we will have a glorious summer and we can tempt you up our hill.   A flock of swallows wings its way around us and on a Saturday it is a perfect village scene with the cricketers in their whites playing below. It gives me great pleasure to see village life going on just how it should be.   And as that must be at least one good thought with which to end the year, I’ll just wish you a very happy Christmas and a better 2009 for everyone.

JANUARY 2009

CREDIT CRUNCH

January 2009.  So what is new?   “Credit crunch” seems to be the buzz phrase on everybody`s lips and I guess that absolutely everyone is affected by it to a greater or lesser degree.   Like a pebble dropped into a pond the ripples are felt all round.   As for the farm of course it is biting there too. It is ironic that 2008 when our crops which had looked so good and won so many prizes were ruined by the weather so the year went completely pear shaped.

NATIONAL AWARD TO CONTRACTOR

Our main contractor who also has a large farm won the award for the best environmental farm in the country.   It was presented at a ceremony in London, and our agronomist was nominated for best agronomist.   It all looks so good on paper.   But it is the bottom line that counts.

DAIRY IN TROUBLE

With the chill factor of ‘credit crunch’ cutting in I cannot pretend that things look rosy.  Imports of fuel, fertilizer and soya went through the roof.   The price of our milk was cut, just as it had crawled back up to the 1995 level.  Now we learn that the dairy to which we send our milk is in management trouble and has really slashed our price.

MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN

The milk producers have been obliged to contribute a considerable amount of capital to the dairy over the years, but now it has every appearance of going down the drain - taking our milk and money with it.   We start 2009 knowing that we do a professional job and hoping against hope that we can hang on until things get better.   We shall certainly have to run a tight ship - as if we weren’t already!    

RECYCLE

Meanwhile we are exhorted to recycle. It`s unfortunate that the Chinese have their own credit crunch and don`t want our old paper any more to make their cardboard boxes, just as we had all got well trained to put out our paper.

FOOD WASTE

However the headline that caught my eye begged people not to throw away so much food.   To me, as a food producer, that is nothing short of sacrilege, especially if insult is added to injury by complaining about the price.   It highlighted to me how much had changed just in my lifetime.

IN WW2

Wartime rationing was in force when I was growing up and certainly no food was wasted then.   I doubt if any of my generation would waste food -  we just weren`t brought up to it.   And as for imported food.   What imported food?   The village communities fared better than most.   Many still kept a pig to eat the vegetable peelings and then they ate the pig.  Shared it out with others who killed theirs` at a different time.  Vegetable growing was standard practice.   Better soil if you kept a pig!   A few hens too, eggs and a bird for the pot in the end.   Probably had to be boiled but what a flavour!

FOOD IN 1870

John`s great uncle, born in the 1870`s had a small farm.   He had a field where he probably made hay and maybe they kept a house cow.   But they lived on rabbit, pigeon, ‘stray` pheasants, and wonderful vegetables from his garden.   He must have sold some things for cash, for there was always a warm welcome when you called, a glass of sherry and a piece of Auntie Lizzie`s delicious fruit cake.

MY NANNA

My father`s mother would visit and happily prepare rabbit for us.   How I hated the smell.   I still don`t like rabbit.   She was fond of rook pie.  They were considered a menace and shoots would be held.   After one near her daughter’s, where she had been staying, she left her clothes there and filled her case with rooks.   On the bus coming home the case burst open revealing its contents.   It didn`t stop her, she just had a strong leather strap round her case after that.  That probably left people wondering what could possibly be in it.    They were indomitable that generation.   Soldiering on through years of ups and downs.   Mostly downs through the twentieth century.   About fifteen years ago I was told by a still very active ninety year old “You just don`t know you`re born girl, times have never been so good”.   That made me think.   And I guess we will still keep soldiering on, we owe it to them as well as to ourselves.

RADIANT HOARFROST

It has now been freezing for many days.   The cows need lots of water and it is frozen.   Everywhere that the pipes come above ground to troughs it has to be thawed.   Then again and again.   Cold work and very time consuming.    But today everywhere is a scene of exquisite beauty because the trees and shrubs are coated with a thick layer of hoarfrost.   This is the second day of it.   Now the sun coming out has made it absolutely radiant.   Country lore says it will last three days and then it will rain.  The red kite that likes to perch for ages at the top of the old ash will be glad.   His usual statuesque pose is ruined by a continual fidget.    Maybe he cannot get a good grip on the icy branch.  Either that or he just cannot stand his cold feet.   Either way he and all the birds must be very glad when this cold weather ends.

SILVER LINING ?

It is said that every cloud has a silver lining.   Keep looking, maybe things will not turn out to be as bad as they seem right now.  Make the best of 2009.   We will if we can.

APRIL 2009

WATER IN HOMES

Water was an important consideration in the past.   It had to be conserved as much as possible and no doubt used very economically.   Most cottages would have had an underground tank to collect the rainwater off the roof for domestic purposes.   This would usually have provided enough water for the families.   These tanks were beautifully made, lined with brickwork which was skimmed over with a thin layer of “cement”.  Above it would be a pump and the bigger houses would probably have had one into the kitchen and another in the washhouse.

WATER ON FARMS

The farms would have had a considerable number of tanks, mainly because they had a lot of roofs, not because there were a lot of animals kept.  There were six at Stocken but no cows until 1934.   There were no dairy herds, a few families might have a house cow.   Milk was not something to drink but to cook with - a pudding perhaps.   Butter springs to mind but dripping was more likely the order of the day.   Many people kept a pig.   They got them extremely fat so there must have been vast quantities of dripping.   Sheep were kept but they need virtually no water; they get fluid from grazing.   By far the most important animals were the horses.   A very few were riding horses but the farm horses were special.   Most of the farms up here produced hay and straw and the horses were essential to work the fields.   The water for animals came from ponds.   These “dew” ponds were capped with clay, which would have been puddled-in so they held water.   When the enclosures were made in 1823 the ponds for public use were listed.

HAY & STRAW FOR LONDON

You may wonder why produced hay and straw when there are so few animals to eat it.   Both products are notoriously difficult to produce in England, even more difficult before the advent of modern machinery.   Both rely on good weather particularly the hay.   However there was a ready market for both in London.  There were a great number of horses kept there for riding and commercial purposes and hundreds of herds of dairy cows.  These were probably of less than half a dozen animals and they were kept inside all the time.   The Lacey Green farmers delivered their goods and brought back the manure for their own land, without which this land would grow very little indeed.   A good bit of recycling, you could say.

HAYMAKING

A good farmer has to be very good at predicting the weather, for hay takes about four days of hot weather to dry.   The farmers used to call in as many extra hands as possible, for it involved much labour, tossing and turning, carting and stacking into ricks when it was completely dry for it must not go mouldy or overheat.   A great many people were glad of extra work so a ride through the village shouting for all hands to the fields was all that was needed.  Many children skived off school to the despair of the teachers, but the parents would rather have them helping.

ARABLE CROPS

Barley, wheat and oats could be grown up here.   Either sold or used for the horses.   Again, lots of labour, but getting it dry enough was not quite so critical.   It could be reaped and stooked (stood up in sheaves) until dry enough to bring home into ricks.   It would then be threshed at a convenient time.   Then the straw was available to sell.   It was a long journey by horse and cart to London and dangerous.   Willian Saunders from Stocken Farm was particularly distressed when he was stopped during the First World War at Holtspur and his best horses taken for the army.   And to make matters worse he was left up the A40 with a wagonload and nothing to pull it with.

JULY 2009

NEWS HEADLINES

Dairy Farming hit the headlines on 3rd June when the collection dairy “Farmers of Britain” called in the receivers.    It was reported on the television and radio news and in the papers with interviews with affected producers and ancillary companies.   It even got in the papers for it made good headlines.   There is no doubt that this was a body blow to an already struggling industry.   A great many dairy farmers had already packed up this year, but this exodus will certainly become a rout.

BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH

Why so?   DFB (Dairy Farmers of Britain) collected one tenth of the milk production from farms, many smaller than ours.   We, with 300 cows are now relatively small.   We had become concerned with the way their management was behaving before Christmas, I even mentioned it in Hallmark at that time.   Since then we had been looking at other possible dairies to move to just in case.   So when the moment came we were ready and signed up with another collector the same day.  Three other farms, Dyson`s at Bledlow, Reading University Farms and Angus Dent`s at Didcot all with DFB did so also.   We are all now with “Arla”.   We were their last call in the afternoon and contracts were signed.    They told us that they now had as many producers as they could take on contract.   We were the last they were prepared to sign up.

OTHERS’ HEART BREAK

Other dairies will be in same position, and people unable to obtain contracts may get their milk collected but will have to take a spot price, less than the contract price and as things are, way below cost of production.   They cannot continue like that.   Secondly the majority of the smaller producers left are in remoter parts of Wales and in the north-east.   No other dairies collect at all in these regions.   Once again the small farms that have soldiered on because their farming families have devoted their lives to them are the ones that will suffer.  I have tried to explain before that a dairy herd becomes personal.   Every cow, every bull every calf bred is of total concern.    So to say “goodbye” to all that?    Heart breaking!

PRODUCERS’ LEVY

DFB had been producing cheese and in order to do this had been acquiring processing plants.   To fund these a levy had been taken for many years off the producers’ monthly milk cheque.  Thus the producers had invested in the company with the promise of long term repayment when they packed up.   In our case this amounted to about ninety thousand pounds.   So “Goodbye to that”.   Well we never had it at the time, but it`s our capital lost.

MILK TAKEN, NEVER PAID

What we do rely on is the monthly milk cheque.  This just covers our monthly costs.   The company had taken our May milk then called in the receivers so we will not be paid for it.   In this case around fifty thousand pounds.    This was very serious.   Breakfast time the bank manager rang.  “We will support you all we can”.   Good for them, not so good for us!!   We own about half our land, of course they would lend to us, they know they can take it if we fail.   Those who rent their farms do not have the collateral to put against borrowings.  How will they cover the loss of a whole month’s milk cheque?   There you have another group having to face up to the big “Goodbye”.      

OCT 2009

EVERY CHANCE COUNTS

How often do you use the weather as a topic of casual conversation?   Maybe more than you realise.   On the farm it is not in passing conversation that it is used.   In fact rather the other way, it dictates to us what needs doing and what it will let us do.   We are often at its mercy.   In fact, if you do not co-operate with it, things will usually go wrong or at best be much more difficult.   However well a farm is managed it is essential to make the most of what conditions are thrown at you.   And boy, it is so fickle.   Last year when the crops looked so good, turned out to be one of the worst ever, with such a dull grey summer.   This year the summer was much nicer.   There was probably never a truer saying than `make hay while the sun shines`.  This equally applies to the harvest, because there is no telling how long good weather will last.   If the grain comes in dry it saves a fortune in handling and the cost of drying, so while the weather holds every hour is precious and long hours are worked to push on while it is possible.

MAIZE MAZE

As it was a pretty good summer the maize maze was able to open every day, there were a few grey days and a number of wet nights which make the paths slippery but we must be a stalwart nation for people still came, suitably shod, umbrellas to hand, just in case, and there were a lot of lovely days as well.   When the children went back to school it was closed and the harvest was all in, just in time for the Harvest Festival.

ALL GATHERED IN

One thing that John has to remember to do before the corn is all cut is to get the combine to stop and to collect enough from the big cutter bar across the front before it is threshed to make two sheaves to put in the church for the service.   Big problem if he should forget.  Where to get some?   You would think that someone else hadn`t finished theirs yet, but when you eventually stop and look around all the others have been just as hard at work getting theirs done too.

THE NON STOP YEAR

But the farming year never stops.   Now the ground must be cultivated and planted to give next year`s crops a good start before winter.  The first thing to be harvested is oil seed rape and not surprisingly the first to be sown also.  This has only been grown in recent years so there used to be a little more gap.  We had to fix our wedding the third week of September to accommodate this.  These days I guess we would never have made it to the altar.

INDIAN SUMMER

But back to “the weather”.  This year all seemed well and everything was planted for next year’s crops.   Then we had `an Indian Summer` even better than the summer.   While people were enjoying this bonus weather we were worrying about the dry ground.   It was unlikely that things could grow in it.   So much for a headstart on winter!   The glorious sunshine continued and our fears increased.   What if the seeds had started to germinate and then dried out?  They would almost certainly die.   As I write this it has now rained and we will be watching anxiously to see if anything begins to grow.   So the best laid plans of mice and men are once again at the mercy of the elements and we can only wait and see.

DEPRESSING PRICES

Meanwhile there have been many calves born, the cows enjoying the good weather.   The milk has started going to a different dairy and so far so good.   However, figures just published do not make encouraging reading.   In the past year to date producers’ gross margins were -3p per litre, processors gross margins soared to 22p per litre and retailers’ gross margins to 19p per litre.   Do you wonder that the producers are still quitting in droves?    They just cannot carry on in this crazy situation.   At least we can use our skill to mitigate the weather, but this?   It`s not just here, in Belgium, farmers are dumping milk on their fields and ploughing it in to protest.   Any ideas what could be done here?

JANUARY 2010

NO NEW POLICIES

So 2009 is behind us.   It would be so easy to write about what happened then and keep explaining the difficulties until you wonder why we continue to farm.   Quite frankly we wonder that too.   But we are still continuing.   We keep working round the problems best we can.   So here is 2010 and Stocken Farm with no major resolutions for policy changes of our own making.

WHY DO IT?

Going back to the big question “Why do we continue to farm”, or anyone else for that matter, is something I’ve been thinking about.  It’s certainly not the family thing it used to be.   Very few children are following on.   When the older generations cannot physically or economically carry on they have to sell up, the land often being taken by adjacent farms, where getting bigger seems the only way to run to stand still.   Not too bad if you own your land, pretty hopeless if you rent it or are a manager.

OUR FAMILY FARM

Stocken Farm is very lucky and unusual in that it is still a family farm.   John joined his parents in 1957 after leaving College, and our son Richard joined in 1990 when he too qualified at college.   Both wives became partners in the farm and took over a great deal of the paperwork, monitored phone calls, which they could often deal with.   So it is truly a family farm, and as there are livestock it means that it has to be a way of life.   We own about half our land, renting the rest.   In total about 1100 acres.   Ideally a farm would be a compact unit, such as could be ring-fenced. Ours is spread from Kingshill to Terrick and surrounded here by a village.   So even if we decided that as it was in our blood and we just had to farm, why not sell up and move to a better location with better grade land?   Another good question with what must seem a silly answer to many in this day and age, when people move around so much.  We have roots here.   Both John and Richard were brought up in Lacey Green on the farm.   They know every field and how to make it work to the best advantage, for every field reacts differently.   They have a feel for it all.   That knowledge would not be included in the purchase of a farm.   It’s easy to think “the other man’s grass is greener”.  But it would be like asking if you wanted to live abroad.   It’s great to visit, but isn’t it much more comfortable to come home.   In any case a lot of people would like to live in Lacey Green, in an old house, and own a little bit of God’s earth.   Some do, and then they don’t know what to do with the ground.   Luckily a farmer is surrounded by countryside, which he does know what to do with, it’s his world.

UNDERSTANDING

When travelling around, that knowledge which comes with understanding the land and how it ticks, the appreciation of a crop well grown, the beauty of the countryside, knowing the flora and fauna, understanding the differences from region to region, the animals and specialist crops produced, makes it not just a journey from A to B but a wonderful story unfolding before our eyes.   It’s an appreciation maybe hard won, but we have a bonus from our life’s work that few others would be able to enjoy.

WINTER SETS IN

I had just finished writing this, extolling the joys of being a farmer, when winter set in with a vengeance.   It certainly looks fantastic with everything covered with snow.  But deep snow and ice make everything difficult.   Water for the animals has to be kept running.   Access for the milk tanker cleared, not to mention having to tow it up the steep roads to get here.   Everyone is bundled up against the cold and slipping and sliding underfoot.  Fortunately we have enough cover to get most of the animals inside, but those outside still have to be fed and water kept running.   The area where the milking cows live has to be kept scraped clean in the passageways and hopefully their presence will prevent it from getting icy.   Their bedding cubicles are dry with straw.   At the end of a longer than usual day’s work there is the prospect of having it all to do again tomorrow.   And we are told, probably the next ten days also.

ROADS BLOCKED

With so many roads in trouble our deliveries are not getting through and we are getting very short of a number of feeding stuffs.  There are cars abandoned up the Bradenham Hill.   We have towed the milk tanker up it but now we need to get here a 44 tonne load on an articulated lorry.  The lorries are so big now.   We doubt even our biggest tractor can do it.   Two tractors?   Three?   Even if the company is prepared to risk it.   It needs to be today, there are another four inches of snow forecast for tonight.

NOT ‘GREEN & PLEASEANT’

It is not a time to appreciate the view.   I revise my previous summary to say that “England is ‘usually’ a green and pleasant land for the farmer to enjoy”.    

APRIL 2010

THOUGHTS

I am writing this 23^rd March as John and I are going to Yorkshire for four days to a golden wedding celebration of college friends, and when we get back a new tax year will be looming up for the staff and the paperwork that entails so I am trying to get ahead a little.  My thoughts on the past weeks have been a mixture of ups and downs in no particular order so I am just going to jot them down as they spring to mind.

FARM MARRIAGES

This golden wedding for instance.   They were friends when he was at agricultural college, marrying three years after he left.   They have invited quite a number from those days and is it not fantastic how many are still with their original partners?   There are no doubt varying reasons why farming marriages stick together, for it cannot be all plain sailing, but they do seem to.   I think I ought to have added it to my list of good things in farming in the last edition

BLUTITS

The last few days we have derived great pleasure from watching the blue tits peeping into our nest box.  Will they or won`t they?  That is the question.

MUNTJAK

We have had a frequent visitor in the form of a muntjak deer.  We were fascinated to see it in the garden in the daytime which seemed unusual.   It appears to be very fond of a photinia shrub which it has indiscriminately pruned.   Luckily this is a quick grower and should withstand the unwarranted attention.   If it gets alarmed it wriggles through the field gate incredibly fast and bounds across the field to the farm in about three amazing leaps which has to be seen to be believed, in fact it all happens so fast you wonder if you have been imagining things.

RED DEER

Red deer also have been seen in the fields.  This always feels exciting, then you realise it`s your crops they eating and hope they won`t increase too much.

LUCKY HEIFER

The badgers have been enlarging their sett at Grimsdyke. They dug such a deep hole that one of the heifers fell in it and was stuck on its back.   Luckily our stockman Dick, on his daily check realised one was missing.  Also lucky that in this day and age we have the machinery to lift it out.   It probably could not have survived like that for long.

FOUR YEAR TEST for TB

This part of the country is designated a low risk area for T.B.in the cattle.  The milk is tested daily but the stock only has to be tested every four years.   It is a massive job which every farmer hates.  Every single animal has to be put through the cattle crush and given two injections by the vet.   Returning three days later it all has to be done again to check if there are any reactors.   It takes a long time.   More straightforward if the animals are at the farm but if they are out in the fields they too have to be rounded up.   Our four year test was due.   At the second inspection the two injection sites must be as they were, with no swellings.  If there are you are closed down until a clear test has taken place.   We are at present in the position of having two calves that were inconclusive - they were not sure.   They have to be isolated for sixty days and will be tested again.   If they are still not sure the whole herd will have to be done again.    It is very worrying.   If they are conclusive they will have to be slaughtered and the farm will be unable to sell any stock until the whole herd goes clear, being tested every sixty days until it is.   Compensation is paid for slaughtered animals.  The government payed out one hundred million pounds in the last twelve months.

SHOW CLOSED

We were very sorry to learn that the five day Royal Agricultural Show at Stoneleigh has closed.   It was the highlight of many farmers’ year.   It used to move around then probably thirty years ago a permanent site was established, with roads, exhibitors’ accommodation, and permanent pavilions.   It seemed superb, but times change and now it has gone.   Two other shows that were on our calendar every year about fifty years ago were important events, the Dairy Show at Olympia and the Smithfield Show at Earls Court, this last had fatstock and carcase classes too and also machinery trade stands.   They were not the best place for the animals as London before the coal fires were banned would get such dense smog (yellow sooty smoke and fog) that some of them died, and sometimes we found it impossible to even see across the road.  The Dairy Show moved to Stoneleigh, then to the N.E.C at Birmingham.   Smithfield Show folded.

NATIONAL POULTRY SHOW

There was also the National Poultry Show in London.  As a child I entered my bantams for that.   Took them in special crates to Saunderton Station, where the stationmaster put them in the guards van to London.   From there they were delivered to Olympia and the birds put in their show cages to be judged.   What an incredible service that was.   We would go up the next day to see if they had won anything.   They often had and there was quite a lot of competition then.  One year mine were awarded three silver trophies, one of which had been won many years earlier by my grandfather – nice!

FATSTOCK MARKETS

Locally very many local towns had a special Christmas Fatstock Market, the prize winners being bought by butchers to display in their shops.   We used to show our turkeys and cockerels always hoping for the red rosettes.   The market was there weekly and a favourite meeting place for the farmers.   It continued until about 1980 when the site was sold for development.   So sad they have all gone, even the famous Banbury market has closed.   Locally, Thame is the only one hanging on.

SUMMER SHOWS

In the summer agricultural shows abounded.   Wycombe held one down on the Rye.   Princes Risborough held one in the big field across from the bottom of Woodway.  Locally, Thame Show like the market, still continues, no longer in September, but brought forward to July hoping to get more families going to it, so why not go along?   Also Bucks County show, lots to see at that.   Don’t miss it.   These two are well worth a day out not just for the farming community but the general public as well.

JULY 2010

ALL CLEAR

It was with a huge sigh of relief that we greeted the test results on the inconclusive TB tests, when they came back “All clear”.  We keep hearing on the news of cases ever nearing to home - so there is increasing cause for concern.

GENTLY RAIN

It is mid July as I write.   Everywhere extremely dry and crops are turning colour ready for the harvest.   We do need rain urgently – preferably not thunderstorms, although a hot spell often ends that way.   The oil seed rape is particularly vulnerable as the little seeds can just be lost if the brittle pods are shattered.   Some good steady rain would do the world of good right now and then the grass would get a chance to grow back, plus the arable crops would ripen, not just die off.   If this perfect scenario takes place it would then stop raining so we could get on with the harvest, bringing in the corn in sunshine without having to dry it.

GRASS HARVEST

The first thing we harvest is grass.   A great many people fail to realise that this is a cultivated crop grown to feed the animals.   The indigenous grass here which can sometimes be found under fences grows up to a couple of inches high, and has little or no nutritional value.   We conserve our grass for silage to feed the animals in the winter from fields that are not grazed.   Taking the first and heaviest cut at the end of May, then it will re-grow to take a second.   This year that was not great and it is too soon to know about a third and unlikely to get a fourth.   It is our policy, because the winter conservation is so important, to cut some of our wheat just before it is fully ripe, chopping up the whole plant putting it in a silage clamp for the winter feed the same as we do for the maize which is our last harvest in October when it has thoroughly dried out.

FIRST PRIZE WHEAT

As usual we have entered the farm in the Chiltern Hills Agricultural Society Competitions.   It was a pleasure to learn that the wheat crop we entered had won first prize.   This beautiful crop was one we had ear-marked for cutting for “whole crop silage” – which has now been done.   One of life’s ironies!

GOOD WEATHER

But of course our world is governed by the weather, we have to work to the best of our ability within what we are given.   By the time this edition comes out we shall have an idea of what sort of summer it will be.   For everyone’s sake I hope it’s a good one, obviously for the farm, but after all the hot weather we have had, more in the holidays would make such a difference for the children too and their parents.   I’m keeping everything crossed for us all.   Here’s hoping for a Great Summer!

OCTOBER 2010

JOHN WEST

30th July 2010.   John, head of the family and senior farm partner, died.   He was at the farm every day, unless we were away, right up to the day he was taken into hospital.   And even if we were away it was, more often than not, to study farming, not only in the U.K. but also many countries of the world.

FARM MUST GO ON

Whilst reeling from the shock of losing John the farm had to continue as if nothing had happened.   As normal the last three months were exceptionally busy but this year after a good start getting in the harvest became very frustrating due to the intermittent rain which often fell in the night.   At the very peak three weeks the crops never had time to dry out.  It was only after much deliberation that we had invested in a new dryer to replace ours which was very ancient and slow.   It was to prove a godsend.   When we could grab a day combining in a dry window of time very long hours would be worked because the better weather rarely held.   Such a day’s work bringing in corn of up to 24% moisture would take five days drying to get it down to the requisite 14%.   We were always playing catch-up.   Luckily the crops did not go flat.   If standing, the quality holds better.   We contract to sell ours for bread making.   Too much wet especially when down flat makes corn deteriorate so the necessary gluten drops.   Only at the very end of the season did this happen to the last 400 tonnes.  This now has to go for cattle feed, but in view of the damp conditions it could have been much worse.

SUMMARY

The combine was closely followed by baling, straw carting, cultivating and drilling for next year’s crops.    Luckily the oil seed rape crop had been the first to harvest without any storms to knock it about, when we were enjoying what turned out to be all the summer we had.   This gave a pleasing 43% oil which would produce about 730 litres of oil.   This has a variety of uses such as biodiesel, industrial oil and an extremely good quality vegetable oil similar to sunflower oil.   Of the five fields of maize, including the one in which the maze was held one has been harvested to date (9^th October) the others will hopefully be done next week.   It is cut and chopped and put in the silage clamp for winter feed for the animals.  We have to hire a contractor for this as it is very tough and needs a special forage harvester.   Meanwhile numerous calves have been born, which are delightful.   More about them next time.

WINTER ROUTINE

Time now to settle down to a winter routine of milking, feeding, scraping yards and doing all those things that have cropped up but are waiting for that proverbial rainy day which despite the miserable weather so far never seems to have come.   No doubt there will also be day to day problems as they occur.   High priority must also be given to maintenance of machinery, buildings and land.  Plenty to keep us busy until Christmas.  It seems a bit early but have a good one

JANUARY 2011

FROZEN

In October I stated that until Christmas the farm would be on routine work and maintenance.   I did not mention a freeze up.   I cannot remember such a prolonged cold spell before Christmas in the last fifty years.   Winter of 1962/3 was heavy drifting snow that lasted for weeks, but not before Christmas.

WINTER NOW

So much has changed since then.   Then there were thirty milking cows, now there are over three hundred.   Cows drink vast amounts of water so it has to be kept running.    No winter shelter then and they lived in an open yard behind the farmhouse.   All day kettles were boiled to keep water flowing.

WINTER HOUSING

Now the winter quarters are an open-plan complex where every animal has an individual cubicle to sleep, helps herself to food and water and passageways are scraped clean daily.   The walls are vented and the big doors for tractors are half-doors; this is because it is imperative to keep air flowing to prevent pneumonia.   Therefore although the heat generated by the animals must help, it is still possible for water, particularly at taps and ball-valves to freeze.   This cannot be allowed when there are 300 thirsty mouths to quench.   Similar buildings house the bull, young stock, dry cows and calves.

ICE UNDERFOOT

This time we did not get substantial drifting- when snow can keep blocking a door faster than it can be shovelled away, but it did become very icy and men and vehicles still had to get about.   At the end of the day the men are exhausted, and knew that by morning that extra work would need doing over again.

50 YEARS AGO

Fifty years ago those thirty cows were milked in a cowshed. The milk went through a cooler in the adjoining shed then into churns which were put on a stand outside be collected on a small lorry.   Our tractor, though small, could keep a way open to the farm.   Gerald Bedford, who then lived at Naphill, would go home on the tractor.  The council only cleared the road into the RAF camp, throwing up the snow across the Lacey Green road.   Gerald needed to clear a way through it to get to work thus rescuing people stuck on the Lacey Green side.   The bus route finished at Walters Ash then.

NIGHT TOWING

Things are very different now.   The milk is collected in an articulated tanker.  These are not good on hills anyway, and as it currently comes to us towards midnight the roads were not only steep but often icy as fresh snow fell and froze.   Richard, just as exhausted as everyone else, had the added pressure of waiting for a call from the tanker saying it was stuck.   At that point he would have to take a tractor and tow it up the hill.   The driver also has to take it back down the hills, which is treacherous with these vehicles.

REFRIGERATED MILK TANKS

In 1963 our first milking parlour was installed, and churns became a thing of the past.   The milk was piped to a refrigerated tank.   Both parlour and tank have been updated a number of times as the herd grew.  That first tank was four feet square and three feet high, and the herd was increased to 60 cows.    Last year Richard and John were mulling over a huge decision.   The current tank held 10,000 litres.   Every other day collection was muted.   We needed more capacity.   How big should we go to?   Eventually a new tank holding 25,000 litres was installed at a cost of £65,000, including milk cooling equipment incorporating a heat recovery system.

CRISES POINT

With 9,000 litres a day production we were holding 18,000 litres when one snowy Saturday the tanker just could not get to us.  After the next morning’s milking the tank was holding 22,500 litres.   We could not hold the afternoon milking’s milk.   Then the snow plough went through, clearing one side of the road.  We blocked Woodway to other traffic so the tanker had a clear run to pull up the hill on the wrong side of the road.   The new big tank and that driver saved the day.   The alternative would have been to tip the milk away.   Many farms are isolated.   Milk could quickly become very scarce!

NEW BIRTH

As Christmas Eve came it was hoped there would be nothing else extra to contend with, and at least that Dick Clacy who looks after the calves, could go home early.   What happened?   Four cows had their calves.  Well, Christmas is a time for new birth!

13^th APRIL 2011

NORWEGIAN RED

In the spring we are looking for the grass to get growing in ernest.   We cannot let the animals out of their winter housing until there is sufficient to keep them satisfied.   It was good last week to see the first ones out in the fields.  These are heifers and should be expecting their first calves this summer.   The heifers are reared from calves born to cows in our dairy herd which are all Holsteins.   Last year, as a first time experiment some of them were mated with another breed - Norwegian Reds.   The resulting females were kept for the herd and will come into milk when their expected calves are born.   We will be watching them closely to see how they perform.   It is thought that they may have easier husbandry needs but this remains to be seen.   The Holsteins have a proven track record as milk producers and we are used to them. These new young animals do look quite “beefy”, there will be a lot of pros and cons to weigh up.

EDMUND & FRANK

Most of the cows are expecting too.   Today one of the Hereford bulls was put with them.  His job is to identify any that are not in-calf and put matters right.   We have two bulls, this one was ‘Edmund’ the other is called ‘Frank’. They have posh pedigree names but we don’t use those.

MOST IMPORTANT CROP

It was great to get the sunshine and we were delighted, but now the ground is like rock and some rain would do a lot of good just to keep the grass growing.   Trouble is, once it starts after such a long dry spell will it know how to stop?  Grass doesn’t just happen it is our most important crop.   It is very important to us for it to continue with the grass growth because not only do the animals need to graze it but in May we should be cutting for silage in fields we have shut up for that purpose.   Silage is the main component of all the animals winter feed.  Preferably we would make three or four cuts for silage during the summer, but it hinges on the amount of grass that has grown, which of course depends on the weather.

WHOLE-CROP SILAGE

This last winter we have not had enough grass silage to see us through due to last year’s dry spring.   It is starting to look similar this year.   If it stays dry we will probably end up cutting the growing wheat and making that into silage (whole crop wheat silage), which is what we had to do last summer.   Food for the herd has to be given preference over corn to sell.

CROPS SUMMARY

MAIZE

Having said all that, it goes without saying that it’s never perfect.   We walk a very thin line.   We need warmth and moisture to make things germinate and grow.  Essential for the maze fields which will be planted the end of April.   WHEAT

Also the corn fields which were planted last autumn and are up, but now need to be growing fast if they are to reach harvest in the summer - fine weather at that time please.

OIL SEED RAPE

The oil seed rape is looking O.K. not too many pigeons so far, keeping our fingers crossed.   It has taken a long time coming into flower.   At the bud stage pollen beetle is an increasing problem.  With no flowers to satisfy it, it burrows into the stem causing untold damage.   The flowers are just coming now and they will do no harm to them.  Very soon the fields should be a sea of yellow.

WEATHER

The one thing that is always true is that we can do nothing about the weather.   We have to do the best we can with what we get.   We always try to improve management and husbandry but juggling with the day to day weather is probably the greatest challenge of all.   What will this summer have in store for us?   We shall have to wait and see.   Whatever it is have a good one everybody.

JULY 2011

MAIZE PLANTED

In mid-April I was commenting on the dry conditions and how concerned we were getting.   And still it continued.   At the end of the month we drilled the maize as usual.   This cannot be done until the risk of frost is past.   We grow several fields of maize besides the one in which we design the maze.   It is made into silage for winter fodder for the animals, as is the grass and sometimes when grass is short, the arable crops also.   For weeks it didn’t germinate the ground was so dry.

“WEED”

I used the word “Weed” when talking to someone recently and was promptly told that a weed was only a plant in the wrong place.   This may well be so but it seems to me that in my world weeds have an extraordinary ability over and above most plants to thrive when others are struggling to survive - as my garden bares testament!    Crops were at a standstill.    In places with sandier soils than here some crops actually died and were ploughed up.   Luckily on our poor old soil they hung on and then, at last, it rained.   I thought of the 1950’s song “Love Sweet Love” with the line “The day that the rain came down, mother earth smiled again”   It was sensible rain, not violent storms that just run off, but such that it soaked in *.    The ground had become deeply warmed so then everything grew really fast.   It all smelled so invigorating.   Things have turned round quite quickly and what looked like being a grass shortage now promises a reasonable year.

THIS WEEK

So now it is mid-July.   This has been an extraordinary week when so much has been going on, apart from the daily routine.

1.       We brought 460 bales of barley straw from Slough Bottom, (near Saunderton railway station) bought from a farmer who has started his combining.   It had to come on small trailers because of the low bridge there.   It was good that we were able to get it as we were down to less than one day’s supply needed for bedding up out of the 35,000 bales we started with last year.

2.       We mowed, turned, baled and stored 30 acres of hay at the far end of Naphill.      

3.       We made 35 acres into silage at Kingshill, Parslows Hillock and the maze car park.

4.       Thursday the foot trimmer dealt with about forty cows’ feet.   The land is so flinty here that they are prone to getting them in their feet which is obviously very painful.

5.       A rubber floor was installed in the milking parlour to give them a better grip than on the concrete.

6.       Two days training was fitted in, three men on each day on the industrial loader.   It is a legal requirement that training is given

INDUSTRIAL LOADER

The industrial loader is used for loading and unloading lorries and trailers.   Much is delivered on pallets and the bales of silage and straw weigh between a quarter to half a ton.   It lifts the ingredients for the animals’ food into the mixer wagon which after mixing spews it out into the long troughs that serve as a self - service buffet.  With over three hundred dairy cows and their younger followers this is one major job of every day.  The loader is very versatile from clamping silage (maize) to cleaning out buildings which is being done now ready for harvest.

HARVEST READY

The machinery is being serviced ready to start on the harvest any day now.   Oil seed rape first, then wheat and lastly in October the maize.

DRY NOW PLEASE

We have now had enough rain.   To have it dry for harvest would be a wonderful bonus.   Next rain around 10^th September would be perfect, after the oil seed rape for next year has been planted.   Did some-one say “And pigs might fly!”   We dream on!!!

*by Pierre Delaney. English lyrics by Carl Sigman and Gilbert Becaud.

OCTOBER 2011

ANNUAL TURN ROUND

It is true that the farm work never stops, but in September a great turn round takes place.   The harvest hopefully is in, which I’m glad to say ours was, and the quality was good, despite having to dry most of it.   The oil seed rape did particularly well with a very high oil content.   We have fixed the price for much of the grain for different months of sale.  Will we end up with above average price?  There is no way of knowing.   Like all commodities it is traded on the futures markets and can be hedged many times over.   But time is of the essence and close behind the combine, balers and carters, in went the cultivators and seed drills in preparation for next year’s crops.   What to grow had already been decided, the seed purchased and was straightway planted.  As I write this in mid-October there is only one crop still to harvest.   This is the maize.  We grow several fields of it but it is not native to the U.K.   It is not frost hardy so cannot be planted until late April and has to be completely mature before it is chopped up and clamped for cattle food.   Hence October.   Our main crop of all is grass, which we harvest on off lying land all summer, starting in May until it stops growing.   It is made into silage for the animals in the winter.   The grass within walking range is used by the cows for grazing.

WINTER QUARTERS

Soon the dairy herd will be in their winter quarters.  When going in for milking twice a day the ground soon ends up a quagmire as I very well remember.   On every dairy farm could be seen cows struggling over their knees in mud, even people leaving their boots behind in it.   Who says it was the ‘good old days’?   It’s not what we want and the cows hated it.    Even in the spring when there is enough grass for them and they first go out it only takes a bit of cold and they are right back in again, they have that option.   Some beef cattle stay out but get fed in the field if the grass cannot support them.   The dry cows, calves and yearlings are under cover of their own and have to be fed appropriately.

COW RATIONS

Feeding three hundred+ milking cows is quite a commitment.   Hungry cows are not happy cows!   Our aim is to keep them contented, healthy, able to milk well, get in calf quite quickly so that they calve annually and maintain their body condition.   With all this in mind it is critical that their rations are as absolutely perfect as possible.   In winter the grass in the fields is replaced by grass, maize and whole-crop silage produced on the farm during the year.   To it is added wheat that we grow and other feeds which we buy, mainly by-products from human foods such as rape meal, soya bean meal, confectionary waste, sugar beet pulp, orange peel pulp, and brewers’ grains.   To this mix is added minerals, yeast, limestone flour, ground linseed, and salt.   A nutritionist visits regularly to help formulate the ration.    If we get all this right our cows will be productive and give us a return on our efforts to look after them.

CHRISTMAS – NO CHANGE

It is not only cows that need a healthy diet.   It is now repeatedly stressed that we humans do too.   But there is one very significant difference.   The animals need theirs to stay the same.  Changes need to be very gradual and if some commodity becomes unavailable we have to be very careful with what we replace it.  Their routine at Christmas will be just the same as every other day.   They will not be given a special Christmas dinner, no rich extra treats, so they won’t get upset stomachs, or indigestion.    Spare a thought for happy, healthy cows at Christmas, as you celebrate whichever way you choose.    Happy Christmas.

HALLMARK JANUARY 2012

STILL WINTER

Now mid-January and the days are lengthening just a little.   It is now three weeks since the shortest day and the change at first is so slow, but it is happening and it will soon speed up.   Throughout winter the farm work is largely routine back at the farm, but there is field work to be done as soon as the conditions and the time are right.

PARLOUR UPDATE

We are looking to update the milking parlour.  This would be a costly and major upheaval, but things move on so quickly and it is worth keeping up to date if possible. Yesterday I found a diary I had kept in 1963.    It was in the January that we were installing our first milking parlour.    Prior to that the cows were milked in the cowshed, the milk cooled in a plate cooler, put into churns then lifted onto a stand and from thence collected daily.   The parlour changed all that.   The cows now came to the man, stood at hand level and the milk went through pipes into a stainless steel refrigerated tank to be collected by a tanker.  The whole setup has been improved and enlarged several times since then.

ANTIFREEZE CONCRETE

January 1963 was bitterly cold, well below zero with driving sleet and drifting snow.   The cows had steps up into the parlour and the concrete was mixed with virtually neat antifreeze.    The cows quickly adapted to the new system but it was the end of February before all the drifts had gone.   That was nearly fifty years ago and the parlour has been gutted, redesigned and enlarged several times since then and we should probably do it again soon.

1963 APPALLING SEASON

That whole year of 1963 proved difficult weatherwise.  We let the cows out in April with barely any grass it had been so dry and cold.    A cut was taken in May for silage, but we like to take two, even three in a good season.    June came and hay rotted in the fields with too much rain.   Storms bashed the arable crops.   Harvest started late.   Oats were completely flat and the combine had great difficulty picking it up.   The machine broke down continually as well as getting jammed.    In despair we decided we must get a new combine.    A contractor was brought in with his.   Ours arrived.   With two combines we should catch up.  Then the contractor’s broke down.   The best laid plans of mice and men!!!    Baling the straw was almost as bad.   It was all in all an appalling season and we had to get things dry in the fields for at that time we had no drying facilities.   And so the year went on.

GLOBAL WARMING

Reading that sorry tale made me think about the present predictions for global warming.    Longer wet times and longer hot times I have heard.    I do believe we are reckless in the use of fossil fuels, but that could be another issue.   Certainly over the last sixty years the winters are not so cold.    Last winter’s cold snap before Christmas brought everyone in a tizzy because nowhere was prepared for it.   Up to the 1980s snow barriers were put in all the fields adjacent to the roads.   They worked, but they haven’t been used for thirty years.   The trees, flowers and crops are earlier.   Some birds that migrated are now overwintering here.   Is it caused by global warming or part of much greater cycle?   The debate is open.

R.M. WEST & SON

Meanwhile the farm goes on.    In summer 2010 we lost John, the senior partner.   There are still three partners in R.M. West and Son. (R.M. West was John’s father.)   Last year was the first full year without John.

THRILLED FOR RICHARD

As usual we entered classes in the Chiltern Hills Agricultural Society which covers ten miles radius of Wendover.   I was thrilled for Richard, who does the day to day management of the farm.   It was his first full year without his father as his farm partner.

We won the classes for: -

1.      Best Large Farm

2.      Best Arable

3.      Best Winter Wheat

We came 2^nd in the classes for: -

1.      Grassland

2.      Dairy Youngstock

3.      Winter Oil Seed Rape

4.      Forage Maize

Also a sprinkling of 3rds.    

GOOD RESULT

It was a great result overall.   It was so gratifying that the standards we had always adhered to were being so well maintained.    I am unashamedly proud of our son.

PREGNANCY

Although there are calves born throughout the year a large proportion of the cows should be in-calf now.  The vet was here one day last week pregnancy testing by examining the animals - quite a skilled job.    In all we have over three hundred and twenty to calve in 2012.   The cows have a two month holiday from milking before they calve and then start producing milk again.    It will be interesting to see how the new crossbred cows perform.   We think they may not produce as high a yield but hopefully might not incur as many vet. bills.   Something to watch carefully.

APRIL 2012

LIME DEFICIENCY

Now comes our busiest time for looking after our crops.  Our whole farm business revolves around successful growing of crops.  The grass fields have been tested for lime deficiency.   Over time the land turns acid, especially north facing banks and level top Chiltern land.   Untreated this often has a PH of 5.3 – 5.6.   Most crops need a PH of over 6.   This year we have put on over 200 tonnes of chalk.

SOIL TEST

We started to turn the cattle out in April keeping the field shut off where we intend to make silage (grass preserved for next winter feed).   We have harrowed where necessary and rolled in stones so they do not get picked up by the forager which can break the blades.   We should make first cut silage in May.   Fertilizer has been applied, again after soil testing for deficiencies.

CROP SUMMARY

Arable crops, also going through their growth stages, have been fertilized and early germinating weeds controlled, but more will come later in the season.   Rape is coming into flower and we hope any late frosts will not be too hard thus killing the buds that eventually turn into the seedpods.   Rape and wheat will both be sprayed with suitable fungicides.  It is one of the most important aspects of growing these crops.   Maize will be planted end of April/early May as it is not frost hardy.

HOSE PIPE BAN

A hose pipe band has been imposed.    Since then there has been some rain here every day, plenty to get the crops growing although for the bigger picture there must still be a shortage.    As far as the farm is concerned we cannot irrigate our crops so are dependent on the weather.   For example: last year we were short of grass for silage. Solution: we cut some of our wheat crops before harvest and made them into silage.   Result: enough feed for the cattle, but down on our wheat sales, so a costly success.

DOG DANGER

A major problem arose recently.   It was caused by ten of a neighbour’s cattle being chased by an uncontrolled dog.   The animals got very upset, broke onto our land on the Naphill side of our farm, through all our fences down to Highwood Bottom up to another neighbours land near the Pink and Lily.   Nine were retrieved, but one that had lost the others turned up at another farm so traumatised that it was impossible to do anything with it.   I believe it was four days before it was returned to its home.  All this was at a cost of about 25 man hours spent searching and catching them, considerable damage and very exhausted and upset cattle.

All because of an uncontrolled dog.

JULY 2012

GRUMBLE

20^th July and if you think the farmers always grumble about the weather, well, 2012 looks like being the worst for years so I am about to prove you right.    First, drought, then flooding caused many events to be cancelled.    Here, our summer holiday maize maze was cancelled, so were many three/four day events such as The Yorkshire Show, The Game Fair, in the Midlands, and local Steam rallies to name but a few.   Also many one day events had the plug pulled, all causing havoc for organisers, competitors, stall holders and public alike and wasting vast sums of money in planning and set-up costs.

WINTER YARDS IN JULY

Stocken Farm has had i’s difficulties.   Note, one good point, at least we don’t get flooded!  But the ground is often saturated beyond use.   The milking cows are still in winter yards, disruptive for them and expensive for us.

MAIZE MAZE

The maize was planted three weeks late in a brief dry gap followed by wet and cold which it hates.   Now when we should be opening the maize maze tomorrow it is sparce and barely knee high when it should be over waist, hence the cancellation.

FORAGE MAIZE

Another forty acres have been lost, either it didn’t germinate, was pulled up by rooks or eaten by slugs.    Several other fields of maize, grown for winter feed as silage are stunted and look like yielding very little.   It should get to eight feet high when harvested but no way will it get there.

SILAGE 1^st CUT

End of May, the first cut grass silage was on time.   Ironically, heatwave conditions virtually turned it into hay in one day, when we only want it to wilt.

SILAGE 2^nd CUT

Second cut is now three weeks late (too wet) and the quality is deteriorating fast.

HAY

Hay making, ideally in June, looks like being nearly August, but by then quality is lost, the grass coming into flower and really too old.

WHEAT

Milling wheat, for bread making is showing signs of fungus it has been damp so long, thus downgrading it to cattle feed.

MILK PRICE DOWN, CATTLE FEED UP

We also have a double whammy of milk prices coming down and feed (grain) prices going up.   Unfortunately with such poor crops for winter conservation we will have to purchase more feed to get us through     It will have to be imported and world market prices have risen to record highs for the time being.   Milk prices have already been slashed by 2p litre.   It may not sound much but image a big tanker full every day.   On august 1^st another 2p cut should come into effect.

PROTEST LOBBY

The crisis caused has been brought up in parliament and last week about three thousand dairy farmers went to Westminster from all over the U.K.   There are not all that many dairy farmers and they cannot easily leave their cows for a day.   It speaks for itself how desperate they are feeling.

MASS EXODUS?

Apart from manufacturing, all milk goes through dairies to supermarkets.    Currently the good guys are Tesco, Sainsbury, M & S, and Waitrose paying cost of production.   Others could be up to 6p less.   Dairy farmers have been leaving the industry faster and faster over recent years.  Will this now become a mass exodus?  I fear it might.   They are an endangered species.

DATA

In 1996 there were 34,570 dairy farmers, latest figures give 14,500, a loss of over 20,000.

TO SUM UP

I like to end on an up- beat thought.   I asked Richard if there was anything good I could report.   He said “Er, um” and his reply tailed off.   So I guess that sums it all up.  Today the school breaks up for the summer.    Surely the sun must shine after all we have weathered.   I do hope so.   I am sorry we won’t have the maze to meet you – I shall miss that – but next year all being well I look forward to seeing you there, meanwhile I wish everyone a great summer.

OCTOBER 2012

WHEAT HARVEST

Back in July I was recounting what an appalling year it had been with record-breaking rain and low milk prices.   Since then we have been doing what we can to mitigate the situation, but unfortunately the wet trend has continued.   A brief spell of decent weather let us get the wheat harvest in by working some very long hours.   The quality is the poorest in our memory.  The all-important bushel-weight was down to 58, when good quality wheats can be up to 80.   Because so many grains had rotted off in the ears we have had to put it through the cleaner to get rid of the chaff (rubbish).   We are not alone.  Throughout the U.K. the harvest was down 12% on a five year average, which will probably lead to higher flour prices later in the year.   We have planted about half next year’s crop.  The seed corn is not very plump so it does not bode well for 2013, but time will tell.   It is October when we harvest the maize.   The maize maze field is the worst.   It will cost about a thousand pounds to harvest that one alone. If we do!

PIGEON FOOD

Next year’s oil seed rape has been sown and most of it is up.   Already the pigeons are flocking onto it.   It is not their first food choice, more a survival food.   It must mean a shortage of other food, particularly beech mast and berries such as ivy and hips so I imagine the trees have had a bad year too.

FRUIT TREES

Certainly there has been a virtual failure of fruit crops.   Our apples, usually overloaded, barely had enough for a pie.   Maybe a late frost but more likely a lack of sun and too much rain.

WILD BIRDS

By late spring the birds appeared to have given up all hope of nesting and have been absent for months.   At last a few are appearing to eat the seeds and nuts put out for them.   It seems sure they are going to need a lot of help to get their strength up to see them through the winter.

HEDGEHOGS

In contrast slugs are doing particularly well, as they have all summer.  Our young crops are under real threat from them.   Luckily hedgehogs love slugs, but whilst tidying a barn recently we found three fast asleep in the hay.   Were they already hibernating having given up all hope that summer might still come?  We can understand if that is the case.  Meanwhile the slugs have a free run.

CANCELLED

The ploughing match of the Chiltern Hills Agricultural Association, this year at Ilmer (Thame side of Longwick) was cancelled due to rain the week before.   The land there is very heavy grey clay that holds a lot of water.   At least on the hills our land does drain quite quickly.

ROTTEN TREES

Concerned about safety we engaged tree surgeons to take dead branches off the old trees, most of which are extremely high.   On their advice we felled two ash trees which did prove to be rotten, which is just as well considering the high winds we have had and the fact that so many overhang the main road path.

GRATIFYING THANKS

While on the subject of trees it is my chance to mention that we are very aware that few people have the room to plant hardwood trees but we do, so thinking of the long term future we have over the years planted over eighty round the farm.   We don’t expect people to notice so it was enormously gratifying when a villager congratulated us for doing so.   Thank you.

MILK

Milk production nationally has dropped mainly due to the weather.   Good weather is important to cows, and the quality of ensiled crops is critical.  Market prices have risen and supermarkets are looking to protect their supplies.   As a result the price has firmed back to where we were months ago!   Yippee!!!   Unfortunately it was not much to write home about then, and now, like our fellow farmers, our cows are not milking so well.

NORWEGIAN RED UPDATE

Latest update on the experiment of crossing some heifers with the Norwegian Red breed.   In due course the calves were reared, put into calf, then after calving brought into the herd and have come to the end of their first lactation and now some statistics are beginning to emerge.   Of the nineteen that entered the herd all are still with us and pregnant with their second calf.   The cows have two months holiday from milking before their calves are born then it is critical that they get in-calf again as soon as possible.   This was achieved by them much better than our whole herd average.   We are still monitoring every aspect of health and stamina.   So far things are looking good.   The volume of milk they give is slightly less than the Holstein, but if their health traits are better that will be worth it.

THE FLECKVIEH

To carry this experiment further we are now going to introduce a third cross, a “Fleckvieh”, a breed from Austria and Germany to make the cows stronger yet.   It will be four years from now when we start to get a picture of their performance.

KEEPING PLAYING

Farmers always have to plan ahead.    It’s in the rules of the game.   And I guess you can tell we are planning to keep playing.   It wasn’t just us though, anybody that grew things had a difficult year.  I hope for everybody’s sake that next year is kinder for us all.   Happy Christmas,

JANUARY 2013

WILD BIRD FOOD

Mid-January, and the last few days have been getting colder.   As I write a driving fine snow, a hard frost and an easterly wind are looking ominous.  Of course it brings extra problems to different people, except maybe the children who hope for snow, preferably enough that the school will close and they can enjoy it.   It is already making life very hard for the wild birds who are really appreciating food and water. Every morning it is a relief to see they have survived another night

TREE MAINTENANCE

A few days ago after a slightly heavier snow the branches of the evergreen trees were drooping under the weight.   It helps to shake it off rather than let it build up but luckily it thawed so no problem.   Frost can do even more damage, getting into damp and dead wood which can break off branches.   Actually on the farm we have done a lot of maintenance work with the trees, starting back in the autumn.   For the very old hedgerow trees, many over a hundred feet high we had to engage tree surgeons.   They cleared out all the dead branches and it was necessary to fell two of them.   I did mention it last time and no doubt don’t need to remind the mums and children about it because the footpath by the main roads was closed off for several days, making the proceeding not only “educational” but at the same time inconvenient.   More importantly high winds and severe frost will not be so dangerous now.

CEDAR UPROOTED

Over the last forty years we have planted many trees and are encouraged that they are growing well.   Having said that, two years ago, a cedar only planted six years earlier, then about 15 feet high was blown by a strong wind and partly uprooted when the ground was absolutely saturated, as it is now.   It was lashed back to a post and rail fence and seems to be O.K.   Thick with needles it just caught the wind and the ground couldn’t hold it.

EXTRA WORK

Regarding the farm I imagine it is obvious that winter, never mind the cold working conditions, makes extra work.   Freezing temperatures and driving winds get into everything, the most critical thing being to keep water flowing in the drinking troughs.   Thawing frozen water can become a non-stop task and of course the usual daily work still has to be done.

A TYPICAL DAY

Typically the day starts at 4am when the herdsman arrives.   After checking the maternity ward (the front field) for cows calving or that have calved since the late evening check, milking the 300 cows is started.

NEXT

At 5am another member of staff starts cleaning the cattle beds whilst they are being milked.

THEN

At 6am our calf man arrives to feed the calves and feeds young stock that are outside in off lying fields, undoubtedly having to thaw their water troughs these days.

THE REST

The rest of the team start at 7am. helping to clear up after milking, to bed up the yards and to feed the cows.

EXTRA JOBS

More bedded yards to be cleaned out, foot trimming, maybe a routine vet visit, say pregnancy testing, and nearly every day inseminating cows that have been identified to be on heat, important to spot that as there is only about six hours in which to do it.

P.M. MILKING

At 3pm milking starts again, cleaning beds again, baby calves fed again, cleaning up and everything finished, about 8pm.

LATE EVENING

But we haven’t finished yet.   Between about 10pm and midnight the cows close to calving are checked again.   If they have started they are checked that everything is presented correctly, then all should be okay, if not, steps will be taken to put things right.   The big dread is that a really difficult calving is on your hands and the vet needs to be called out say for a caesarean.

CHECK COWS

This is also a good time to check for “bulling” cows as it is an activity easier to spot when the cows are generally fairly inactive.  These cows will be served the next morning.

CHECK FOOD & WATER

Lastly make sure they have food and unfrozen water. It is surprising how often they will wake to have a snack in the night. It’s very late now but it’s not long till its 4am again.

ANNUAL TESTING

T.B is something farmers dread. Here we have always been in a four yearly testing parish, which means “considered low risk”.  There have been some cases in Bucks, mainly in the north end of the county.   In Defra’s battle with the disease Bucks has now become an annual testing county.   This brings many new rules and much more to work to us.   The test involves putting the cattle through a handling system twice in three days, the test being done by a vet.   Stressful for both man and beast and even worse if you have a positive animal which will be slaughtered and all cattle movement from your holding severely restricted.   Also it all has to be done again every 60 days until all are pronounced clear.  The very thought fills every farmer with dread. Now we will have to subject all animals over eight weeks old to this every year.

HOLDING NUMBER RULES

Years ago the Chilterns were a mass of tiny farm holdings, each with a holding number.   Many of them amalgamated or were bought up for their houses and the land rented out.  All land keeps its own holding number.  We rent some of these.   Another new rule is that if animals are moved between different holdings they will have to be tested again.   We farm about half a dozen holdings which could mean that where two adjacent fields are divided by just a fence we should test the animals before letting them through the gate.   Cows are inquisitive animals – they are certain to have been making friends over the fence already, but that’s the new law.   It does seem a full time job keeping up with new rules and regulations.

HOPING

We are really hoping for an early dry spring to let us catch up with the field work that was a washout last autumn. Then we really will be busy.

APRIL 2013

OUT TO GRAZE

April 25^th and at last the grass has grown enough to let some of the cows out to graze.   Well yes, there was hail and a bit of snow yesterday, but it didn’t settle for long.   There are other signs too that spring is underway.  A duck with about 10 ducklings was seen proudly watching over her brood as they took to the water on a large puddle in one of the fields, a facility not usually available, flooding not being the norm here on the hills.   But then there is always the pond.   One of the farm cats has turned up with five good sized kittens in tow.   The chestnut trees are coming out in leaf, and the daffodils are at last with us.   The earth has been cold so long, hopefully it will warm up from now on to keep things improving.   The weather continues to dominate the farm, as it always does, but the last twelve months have been trickier than usual.

SPRING SOWN CROPS

There is a lot of catching up to do.  Very little autumn wheat was sown, which is usually our main crop.   Now we will plant spring grown crops.   This is second best but better than nothing.   Having said that, it is a treat to be able to get on the land again.  We have had to replant winter rape as it 100% failed, due to a combination of cold wet weather last September and October and severe slug activity.   It’s not just us, many farmers have been patching or replanting crops.   Just so anxious to get on and hoping that it will be alright does not always pay off, but you have to take any chance and sooner or later it will work.   Slugs have been in unprecedentedly high numbers for a least a year now, as all keen gardeners will know.   We are still having trouble on the winter wheat which survived the autumn, but normally should have grown away from trouble by now.  Also all crops planted this spring - barley, spring rape and maize will have to be watched very closely.

BOUGHT CATTLE FOOD

After last year’s poor maize harvest we were hoping for an early turn out for the cows as silage stocks are not huge. Although the ground was dry enough it was only in the last two weeks that the grass has grown sufficiently as it was so cold.   We buy in quite a lot of feed to supplement the cow’s diet.   Current demand has caused the price to spiral out of control.   Much of the feed is waste product from our food.   For example: -

WEETABIX

Recently Weetabix have shut some of the production lines for its oat products because it cannot source enough oats.   Cause: last year’s poor oat harvest.   In their production process there would always be wastage, which ends up in animal feed.

BREWERS’ GRAINS

Spent grains from the brewing industry have gone up 60% this winter, that is, if you are able to get them.   It would help if people were to drink more beer!

SOYA BEAN

Soya bean meal has risen from £350 tonne to £450, mostly from Brazil and Argentina.    Brazil has done most of its harvest, which is reported “good”, but the infrastructure is so poor it cannot get out of the ports.   Currently there is a queue of ships waiting to be loaded to export the crop around the world.

CONTRACTS

China has a huge influence.   If they are buying the price will change.   Timing of contracts is critical. We have bought on contract a good percentage of our feed requirements to April 2014.   Time will tell if we have made good decisions.

PARLOUR UPDATE

We are in the final stages of updating our milking parlour with some of the technical improvements coming on line.   The computer in the office will now record the cow’s milk yield every time she is milked.  Also her activity or lack of activity each day, and the quality of the milk.   This will tell us when things change and indicate how she is.   We really hope this turns out to be a wise investment.

JULY 2013

HEAT STRESS

Mid July and this month has been scorching.    I have commiserated with those who work inside, but if you work outside it is now just too hot, not only for the men but also the cows whose optimum temperature is 4 to 8 c, so they are suffering from what we describe as heat stress.

SEEKING SHADE

They have been milking well since Christmas, currently averaging 29 litres a day, approximately 50 pints each from two milkings.  The grass growth is slowing down now and soon we will have to supplement the grazing cows’ food.   If you notice, those in the front field, they will be seeking out the shade, and sitting for hours chewing the cud but their coats have benefited from their time grazing in the sun and are looking really good.  These are not being milked as they are on two months holiday before calving again.   Quite a few more will be dried off soon.   Calves keep being born, and although we haven’t done an analysis of data it does feel that recently we are getting far more bull calves to heifer calves.   This is not good when trying to breed replacements for a dairy herd.

EUROPEAN DAIRY CLUB

Each year Richard and Maxine visit a European country with the “European Dairy Club”.   Last month they went to Sweden.   They said they were mainly in the south of the country and it was very similar to here.  The Swedish dairy farmers spend a fortune on cow housing, which has to cope with warm summers and regular minus 20C in winter.   One Swedish farmer from the north said it got down to minus 46C last year.  Now that could just be enough to put you off milking cows.

ARLA

One farm visited was the farm of the Arla chairman.   Arla, as you may be aware, are building one of the biggest dairy milk processing plants in Europe at Aston Clinton, due to open later this year.    Arla is a Swedish/ Danish Farmer Co-operative.    Recently a co-operative of English dairy farmers also became members.  They will be paid a European price.  We have been supplying Arla with our milk for some time, but we are not members.   It is a situation to watch for it has every appearance of a company with big ambitions.

MAIZE MAZE CANCELLED

We have just done our second cut of grass for winter silage, just over five weeks after the first cut.   Yields were acceptable considering that we had little rain since the beginning of June.   Shortly we will be ready for harvest.   Crops have improved since their very poor start and hopefully the yields will be reasonable.   However we will never forget last year when the crops had looked really good at this stage and we ended up having the worst harvest in memory.   Nothing is ever guaranteed!    It is with regret that we have again felt it necessary to cancel the maize maze.  This is not planted till the end of April.   It is a warm weather crop and it couldn’t cope with the ground after the coldest spring for decades.   It has only now begun to grow.   Only inches, not feet high.

PRESSURE IS ON

We hope it will be a good summer for everyone.   We have to get the harvest in whatever the weather and we apologise now for the extra tractors and implements on the road if they cause hold-ups and the long hours that we work, but every hour counts when we are able to use it.   Before the next edition we must get in the harvest, collect straw, spread slurry, prepare the land and plant next year’s crops.  The pressure is on for us.    Your patience is appreciated!    Happy hols!

OCTOBER 2013

FARM SUMMARY FROM RICHARD

“Mid October and as the weather turns more autumnal we can reflect on the past summer.   Largely we have had a good period of weather.   Generally dry for harvest, with warmth in June and July to improve the grain quality.   Quite the reverse of last year!   That’s the good news.   However, because of the poor planting conditions last autumn, together with the low quality of the seed corn, Britain has had a wheat harvest well down on average.”

“WORLD SUPPLY”

“The bad news for us is that world supply is looking abundant.  This had led to a price drop in the region of 25%.    Ironically this is less than last year when the wheat was much poorer quality.  The local mill to whom we send much of ours, last year bought a big percentage of their requirements from Germany and Canada.   This year they can find more good quality locally.   One more example that we are not just an island but very much part of a world market!”

“GOOD NEWS”

“On the plus side this will help the cows.  With wheat prices coming down, reduced animal feed costs will be good for us.   Milk prices are currently higher so we hope for a reasonable winter.  The cows have been calving at quite a rate.   We currently have about eighty on calf milk powder.  This is mixed twice a day and put into individual clean buckets.  The challenge is to get them to put their head down to drink (their instinct is to put their head up to the udder).  They will suck your milky fingers and with luck you can lead their head down to the bucket.  They are not always obliging so it is a job to be done by someone with the patience of a saint.  You just get fond of them and then they move on to dry food, but more will be born to challenge you.”

“1^st TIME MUMS”

“The new young cows (heifers) having had their first calf are being brought into the herd for milking.  This too can be a testing job, again calling for patience.  Quite a few will kick the milking units off as soon as you are not looking, or kick you, or even turn around so the herdsman will find that instead of looking at her udder he is looking at her head.   It is surprising however, how quickly they settle into the routine. At this time of the year though, there are always more waiting in the wings, waiting for their first calf to be born.   Must seem a strange time for them!”

SPRING RAPE

Last autumn we were unable to plant winter oilseed rape so had to plant spring rape. This is not our choice as it does not yield as well.   The result was that instead of starting harvest with it, it was the last to bring in.

NOT UNUSUAL

We were extremely lucky as on the day that we cut the very last field at Naphill.    There was a weather phenomenon that I have noticed numerous times before.   We had a torrential storm in Lacey Green, with wind, hailstones, the lot.   It didn’t last long.   I saw a loaded trailer go down the drive and thought the rape seed must be drenched, and we really don’t want that.   When I commiserated with Richard he said that it had not got wet.   There was a line somewhere across the road from Walters Ash to Lacey Green, dry on their side, wet on ours.   Other farmers were not so lucky and fared far worse, as hailstones shattered the rape pods and up to 80% of their crop was lost.   A reminder that farmers should never count their chickens before they hatch!    The maize harvest is imminent.   It comes later than everything else.   We are just waiting for some dry weather to avoid bringing much mud onto the roads.  It had a very slow start due to the exceptionally cold spring but the hot weather has helped.   It looks quite acceptable now.

FIELD NAMES

We have recently been looking at some farm maps and talked about field names.   People give their fields names and many stick for decades.   Sometimes when they change hands they get new ones, maybe because they haven’t been passed on.   Then they will often relate to the previous owners or houses.   You may know or be able to guess some of the following though -- - - - Miss Sampsons, Nanny Coopers, Mrs.Hawes, Floyds, Knoxes, Mrs.Kings, Rubra’s, Nellies Bank, Buly, Soldiers Field, Garner’s, Lester’s, Kingswood, Buckingham’s, Chimneysweep’s, Watham’s, Palmer and Harvey.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

The farm is getting ready for it’s winter routine.   Maybe you are all getting organised for Christmas.   I guess that it what I had better think about soon too.    Hope you all have a lovely one.

JANUARY 2014

MUD

Once again the farm in the last three months has been influenced by the weather.   It turned to rain in October and November.   We were harvesting the maize for silage at this time and had to hire a road sweeper to keep the mud that we were bringing onto the road in order.

SHEEP GRAZING

We had hoped to make a further cut of grass for silage, but it became so flattened that being afraid of spoiling it with earth we let most of it for sheep grazing.   This involves another farmer bringing his sheep and sheep fencing, while we get a little income per sheep per day.    A drier period in December allowed us to plant the last of the winter wheat opposite Culverton Manor Farm which is now just emerging (mid-January).   No field work over Christmas but naturally all the routine work with the animals of feeding, cleaning, bedding-up and milking continued as normal.

COW PEDOMETER

About a year ago when we updated our milking parlour we installed a computer system which so far is proving a successful herd management tool.   Maybe last summer when the cows were in the fields you noticed a blue pedometer on the front legs.   These record the cow’s daily activity.   It is read as she comes into the parlour, together with the time, her yield and the conductivity of the milk, which is an indication of quality.   A sudden increase in the activity reading probably means she is in heat and needs inseminating.   A decrease and she may be under the weather.  Either way she needs further examination.   It is critical to get the cows in calf quickly to maintain a regular calving pattern.   Although expensive this investment is proving to be worthwhile.

A.I.

Recently, showing a group of Young Farmers round the farm the topic of A.I. was raised. 90% of our cows are made pregnant by artificial insemination.   This enables us to use top quality bulls from around the world.    Knowing the cows genetic history our mating programme will prevent inbreeding and if there is a possible weakness, say feet or legs, pick a bull to improve this trait.   If a cow is to have a healthy productive life it is really important to do this.    Having chosen the bull we buy “straws” of semen which are frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen.   Most cost between £10 and £20 and we have a herd conception rate of around 35% per insemination.

THE Y.F.C.

The Young Farmers Club is a young peoples’ organisation for teenagers up to 25 years (iclusive).   There is a branch at Princes Risborough.    It is a national organisation and you do not have to have anything to do with farming to join.   It covers a wide variety of interests.   If you have an opportunity go along to a meeting, you may really enjoy it.  This year Princes Risborough is staging the YFC country show (an annual county event) at Lord Carrington’s Manor House Farm at Bledlow.    For more information see www.bledlowcountryshow.   It is a great day out for absolutely everybody of all ages.   You would be very welcome and it is a good opportunity to see the organisation in action.   It will take place on 31^st May 2014.    Why not pencil it in your diary?

APRIL 2014

ALL BEHIND

Spring is here and as soon as the sun came out we felt we were behind with the jobs.  Yearly, we roll the grass, spread manure and slurry on the maize ground and prepare the land for planting the spring cereal crops, then around the end of April the crops planted in the autumn need fertilizing.  There are also fences to check so that the cows can go out into the fields and will stay where they are meant to.  This winter we had many branches and trees blown down and these needed tidying up and usually the fence was broken at the same time as most trees are part of the hedgerow boundaries.  So plenty to do.

T.B. TEST

In March we completed our annual T.B. test.   In this time-consuming procedure all the cattle over 42 days old have to be presented to the vet twice.   She injects them on the first day then three days later they have to go before her again to see if there is a swelling reaction indicating that they may have T.B.   These are called reactors and have to be tested again sixty days later.   If the same result is found the animal is culled and as it may still not have T.B. the carcase is examined for confirmation one way or another.   We have never had T.B.   We once had a reactor but she passed the next test.   We passed this year, no problems.   But we look at this disease as “when” rather than “if”.

NOT FAR AWAY

We know there was a case in Bishopstone recently so it is not far away.   Anyway we are good for now as T.B. in your herd has serious consequences for selling stock and having to do that double test every sixty days.   In the winter this is not so difficult as most of the stock is indoors.    In the summer the cattle could be in as many as eighteen different fields and it would take ages to round them up and test.   As it was, it involved everyone on the farm best part of two days plus hiring a vet.

TWO TROPHIES

Richard, Maxine and daughter Charlotte together with herdsman Ian and wife Sue attended the Bucks Herd Competition Dinner at Winslow.  For the first time ever we won two cups at this, one for Best Yielding Heifer and the other for the “Genus Supercow”, based on inspection and performance.   A cynic may say it is because most of the other producers have given up but we prefer to think those left know they won’t win and in any case we like to think we are improving.

RED TRACTOR LOGO

Another annual event, the F.A.B.B.I. man came. Passing this inspection scheme means our produce when it reaches the shops carries the Red Tractor Logo.   It keeps us on our toes and makes farmers improve their practices.   Heart may sink when he rings for an appointment but for the first time ever he left without requesting any improvements, so that was another relief.

DORMANT MAZE

Once again we have decided not to run the “Maize Maze”. We look on this enterprise as dormant rather than extinct – Hopefully next year!

JULY 2014

AMAZING

Please note, “The weather this spring was good for both crops and grassland.” (Not many farmers ever say that!)   Well the deer got that feeling too and did keep us awake during rutting.

CONCRETE

John came home from college in 1957.   At that time nowhere was concreted.   He set about putting this right, taking advantage of grants which were currently available.   For years any money that could be spared went into this project.   After 50 odd years of ever heavier traffic it was breaking up.    Previously, although the mix came readymade, all the levels were done by John with a cowley level, shuttering placed and tamping done by the farm staff.  What had taken years was all redone this spring by local contractors who have done a really good job and we would recommend them.   We still had to get the milk tanker in, so for two weeks we used a route in from Kiln Lane.   We used to take the milking herd down there daily to graze Hillocks (on the left at the cross tracks), also have brought in silage trailers and once a fire engine.   It was good to get that big milk tanker back using our newly concreted yard.

POLICE HELP

The phone call we always dread is one reporting cows on the loose.  Recently some got their gate off its hinges.   Half got on the A4010 near Princes Risborough, the others got into the area of houses above the Esso garage in the town.   We eventually got them back in their field with the help of the police.

FARM REPORT FROM RICHARD

“Agricultural prices have been going down over the last 2 months; milk by 7%, crops 20% as is beef.   Currently the world has reasonable carry-over stocks, but the general outlook is positive.   The energy industry is taking ever more acres competing with food supplies.

BEAR WITH US

We will be cutting some whole crop wheat.  This will not mature for grain but make winter feed silage.  This wheat is affected with a disease called “take all”.   It looks good now but will not make the quality grain we are looking for.  By the time you read this we will be in the busiest time of the farming year.   Not only harvesting, straw baling then replanting, but also the busiest time for cows calving.   We are aware that we are more visible on the road.   Some of our machines are 4 metres wide.   We make dust with combining, cultivating and lime spreading; create smells with slurry and dung spreading and noise doing all of them, often until late.  We have to go whenever possible for we cannot trust the weather.   Please bear with us for at the end of the day we are producing food for us all.

NEONICINOID BAN

The first crop to harvest (keep fingers crossed against thunderstorms or hail) is rape, for oil.   Then replant by end of august.  The EU has banned neonicinoids (a seed dressing to protect against flea beetle). This is a trial and controversial.   It is a bid to protect bees.   Even bee keepers are not sure.   Of course no-one needs bees more than the farmers but it is recommended we revert to “old chemistry” insecticides and spray once or twice in the first three weeks.   Can this better than a dressing put on the seed? Well we are stuck with it.   Our agronomist will walk the crops to monitor whether we need to spray.”

YOUNG FARMERS’ SHOW

It was a lovely day for the Princes Risborough Young Farmers County Show at Bledlow.   It was a massive event.    I find it so inspiring knowing young people (25yrs max) can be so enthusiastic, hard-working and have such fun.

NEVER TOO LATE

It has been said that it is never too late to learn.  It’s certainly so in farming.   In the autumn I am going with a study group to farms on Salisbury Plain.  Three days of dodging army manoeuvres as I understand it.

DAIRY CONFERENCE in SWITZERLAND

Richard and Maxine went to the European Dairy Conference, which this year was in Switzerland.   Richard went to Dumfries and Cumbria looking at dairy production.  Luckily our industry is not secretive but good at sharing ideas and results.   It could be unique in that respect.

OVER TO CHATLOTTE

Always one to delegate I have asked Maxine and Richard’s daughter to write my last part, so from me “Have a great summer”, now over to Charlotte.

THE HARPER ADAMS EXPERIENCE

In early July I went to visit Harper Adams Agricultural University.   They have a weekend for 16 to 17 year olds, where you stay the night on campus and get a feel for it and what it would be like if you chose to go there in the future.   On the first night they had a party so everyone could meet including some of the students that are there now, and get a feel for the social life that university offers.   On the second day we each picked two courses to have a small taster of what that sort of course would involve.   We also had the option of getting up early to watch the milking as Harper has its own farm on campus complete with a dairy unit with a ‘rotary’ parlour.   It was brilliant to watch the rotary in action as it is different from ours at home which is a ‘herringbone’

MILK PRODUCTION & FEEDING COWS

There are many different courses but as I’ve lived on a farm all my life agriculture has always been something that has taken my interest, so the two courses I chose were “milk production” and “feeding the crops”.  I had sometimes helped with the milking and fed the calves at home, so I knew a bit about cows, therefore this really caught my attention and I understood quite a lot of what was being said.   The second one I really didn’t know what to expect from this but thought I’d have a look anyway.   It was all about different soil types and fertilisers, about which I knew nothing.  But this was interesting all the same and I really enjoyed going out to a field to look at the soil and work out what type it was.

FAMILY FOOTSTEPS

The reason I went was because I think I may want to do something in agriculture, and as both my grandad and dad went to Harper and enjoyed it, it was definitely somewhere I wanted to look at myself.

OCTOBER  2014

LAND ABANDONED

One hundred years ago Britain was in the grip of agricultural depression.   The traditional seven fat years and seven lean was not the case.   It had been O.K. up to the 1870s, then went downhill right up until WW2.   The value of Stocken Farm will give some idea of the situation.   In 1877 Charles Brown sold the farm of 167 acres to John Forrest of Grymsdyke for £8,250, who built two semi-detached houses on the site of Graham Cottages.    In 1911 the farm, including the new houses was sold to William Saunders for £3,400.    William Saunders already owned a large field called ‘Hillocks’ which he added to Stocken Farm.    In 1934 Stocken Farm, including the extra acres and the new houses was sold for £3,225.   Land was being abandoned.   The new owner rented it out to Dick and Hilda West.   Hilda’s stepmother acted as guarantor to pay the rent, for that was a requirement in those hard times.

NO MAINS WATER

In 1914 there were no cows kept here.   Cows need a lot of water and piped water didn’t come until 1934.   The farms produced hay and straw for London for the many horses and the numerous tiny dairy herds there that supplied the city.  Here the farm horses drank from the ponds.

HORSES TAKEN

William Saunders was extremely distressed when at the top of White Hill, at Holtspur, taking a loaded wagon of straw to London to have his best horses taken by the army during the First World War.

ARMY IN THE VILLAGE

The army was at the farm here too.   The Royal Engineers were billeted in the village.  The horses were stabled at the farm and exercises done in the ‘Home Field’ which stretched from the drive to the school. (The only houses there were Graham Cottages).  They also took the small schoolroom.   The farm dining room was an army hospital and the old workshop their smithy.

RICHARDS SUMMER REPORT

“Recent months farming income has had a drop in all sectors, mainly due to good supplies.   Our milk price has dropped 18% so far since July.  There is probably 10% more milk in Europe than last year.

QUOTAS ABOLISHED

Also, next year milk quotas are being abolished in the E.U. after 30 years of limiting production.    U.K. production has kept within quota for many years.

RUSSIAN BAN

Russia has put an import ban on European dairy produce, in reply to sanctions on them regarding events in the Ukraine.   Our dairy ‘Arla’ did export to Russia and this is probably costing us 2p litre, where every fraction of a penny makes a huge difference.

WORLD PRICES

Cereal prices are down about 40%.   It is predicted that world stocks will have increased again by the end of the year, with high yields throughout the northern hemisphere.   The U.K. harvest was up in volume by about three million tonnes.    Beef prices had gone down but may have turned the corner now.  These changes can happen very quickly and some are difficult to predict.   Interesting to watch but not something we can do anything about.

AN O.K. HARVEST

Our harvest was O.K.   Rape yields were reasonable with oil content above 45%.    Wheat yielded well and hopefully will go to ‘Heygates’ in Tring for milling into flour, i.e. not downgraded for cattle feed.

MOST IN FOR WINTER

We are now preparing for winter (this is written on 14^thOctober.)   Most stock will come indoors as the grass stops growing enough to support them and the ground conditions become too wet.  The young heifers are coming in now, prior to serving next month.  Those already in-calf will be in soon.   We don’t want them to lose condition prior to calving and subsequent milking.  The rest of the milking herd is already in.  The beef cattle tend to be hardier and will stay out all winter.

NEW RULES

New rules from DEFRA.

1.  Grow three different crops.   We do, but some farms don’t.

2.  Grow a ‘greening’ element, such as a nitrogen fixing crop, or leave land fallow.    We may grow lucerne to make into silage for the cows.    Lucerne is related to clover.”

SPECTACULAR

Whether it foretells a hard winter or not I wouldn’t like to say, but the hedgerows and trees have been spectacularly laden this autumn.    Wildlife has had a bonanza.    It is my own belief that they are responding to the conditions they have had, not forecasting what is to come.    Whatever the case we shall have to accept what we are given.  And as this is the last Hallmark before Christmas I hope you are given precious memories and joy at that time.

JANUARY 2015

NATIONAL NEWS

Last time I mentioned that the dairy industry was once again in dire trouble.   As this has even got onto the national news now I am going to leave it at that except to point out that 60 dairy farmers went out of business in December even before ‘Dairy First’ failed to pay it’s producers in January.   How many will go this month?

FARM YARD MANURE

Meanwhile the farm has been getting on with the winter routine work – on the land if the ground is fit enough (not often).   Actually, the first week of January was frosty which did let us take all the dung out.   This is heaped in the fields to be spread later in the year.   Yes, we do feed our land in this traditional way, and certainly the land on the Chilterns needs all the food it can get.

PIGEONS

The winter wheat, sown in the autumn, is up and the oil seed rape has been up some while.   It is very vulnerable to pigeon damage.   So far the birds have been eating ivy berries and beech mast following last year’s bumper crops but the hedgerows are getting sparce now.   I feed the songbirds and the pigeons are always on duty to clear up any dropped seeds.  They perch precariously on the crab-apple tree eating the fruit.    We can scare the flocks of them off the rape with ‘bangers’ but they simple move to another site.   Left to their own devices they can completely strip a crop.

T.B. TEST DUE

Otherwise there is the daily routine of running the dairy herd which is all inside now, and checking and feeding the beef cattle who are still out.   All animals will have to be rounded up twice next month for the annual T.B.test.   So fingers crossed for that.   Also a time for maintenance if the winds will let us catch up without creating more damage.

A BULL CALLED JOHN

In December we purchased a new Hereford bull. His name is John.   Our two bulls Excellency and Frank had to go because they had got too heavy and were liable to squash the cows.  This just cannot be allowed.

FARM PHOTOS

I have been compiling photographs taken of the farm since 1934 when John’s parents came here.   At that time the whole country was depressed including farming.   Land was lying abandoned, so it was a risky thing to do, and Dick was not one to take risks.   But if farming is in the blood then that is what you have to do.   WW2 helped in a strange way, for food was desperately needed, but things didn’t alter much until the late fifties, which happened to be when John came home and joined the partnership.   Since then there have been enormous advances in buildings, husbandry, and   technical knowhow.

MOBILE PHONES

In 1957, when I came on the scene, the farm had a telephone but it was a shared line with the Black Horse pub.   Made for some interesting calls perhaps!   Not many houses had even that.   It wasn’t until the eighties that mobile phones came into their own.   We had 80 acres of land at Terrick, 8 miles away long before that, which was continuously planted with wheat.   One day, roasting hot and the roads overheating the tyres on the trailers caused frequent punctures.  The drivers had to find a phone, usually off a generous householder, but they are few and far between on the road home, past Chequers and through Hampden.   A nightmare!

CRISIS NO. 8

At the farm I kept answering the phone calls requesting new tyres and jacks to support a trailer load of corn.   Late afternoon my heart sank as the phone rang for the eighth time.   “Not another puncture?”  I said, “No, a wheel has fallen off the trailer”    On the bend by the Pink and Lily the road was blocked with wheat.  Not a good day!   Lovely weather though!    Were you caught up in that fiasco?   There was no Hallmark through which to apologise that month, so if you were, please accept a belated apology.   Mobile phones have made such a difference.   Today all the staff carry them and Richard’s is always busy.

GERALD’S RETIREMENT

Every year until John came home from collage his parents had had a student who lived with the family.   When Gerald Bedford retired, having worked all his life on the farm, we invited them all back for a farewell party.   It was good that they had all kept in touch and a compliment to Gerald that they all came.   Only one exception who was farming in Ireland, but he phoned to talk to him.

LYNN

Christmas is the time to catch up with people which is great.   However, there is one person I have lost contact with.   She came as a schoolgirl before Christmas wanting to work on the farm because she wanted to be a vet.   The men laughed, they would never considered a woman vet.   We were plucking turkeys at the time.   They would tease her and put a really heavy bird on her lap.   She managed wonderfully.   Came back again next year.   Our own vet of that time remembers her.   Says he was impressed with her.   She became qualified in Ireland, and married another vet, who I think she met there.   Now she has three children.   I get a card from her every Christmas but I don’t know her married name or her address.  Can someone put me in touch with Lynn?

WOMEN VETS.

Incidentally, all the vets. that come to us now are women.    Interesting isn’t it?

APRIL 2015

FARM REPORT FROM RICHARD

“Spring has had a job to arrive, but at last it is here. The grass, wheat and rape wake up and turn a darker green and before long the trees will begin to come out.    Look out for which is earliest the oak or the ash.   It is a busy time on the farm.

ALL CLEAR

The T.B. test (now annual) was all clear again.  Always an anxious time so a great relief.   Once again the cattle have been vaccinated against IBR, BVD and leptospirosis and the young cattle also against lung worm.  They are nearly ready to go out but before they can we have to check fencing.  Some we know will need replacing. The grass will also need fertilizing.  By mid may at least half of them should be out.

QUOTAS GONE

The EU abolished milk quotas on 1^stapril this year.   The UK has not been restricted for some years as the country kept under quota.   Other countries have been over their quota for years, in particular The Netherlands, Ireland and Italy.  Those over were charged a superlevy by EU.

FREE FALL

Milk prices are in free fall.   Quota going can only bring more milk onto the market, adding to the problems.   Never have we known such price differences in the UK.  There are different contracts farmers can have but it is difficult to change from them.   With a supermarket aligned contract Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and M & S have been paying 31-34p litre all winter.   Arla,1/3 of the UK  market, has been 24p, down from 33p last year.   First Milk, another 1/3 are down around 20p litre and with delayed payments their situation is very serious and a number of producers may be forced to sell up.  The average cost of production is around 29p litre.   At these prices dairy farming cannot continue for long.   Some costs have come down but only 1 or 2p.

COSTINGS GROUP

We are one of a group of nationwide farmers that compare costs of production.    Recently they met in North Wales and also Cheshire.   Farmers are good at talking and open about their costs which helps to achieve best practice.

DAIRY CONFERENCE – GERMANY

Max and I will go In June to the European Dairy Farmers Conference.   This year it is in Germany, which should be fascinating to see how farming has developed since Germany was unified.

ON-LINE? - NO NOT ON-LINE

Many farmers rely on subsidy payments to make ends meet.  This year a new scheme was agreed in Brussels.   This has many new rules and we are trying to get to grips with them. The UK decided the whole application should be online.  This February Richard was at the NFU conference in Birmingham when the Rural Payments Agency was very confident that it was now online.    Recently Defra announced that the website cannot deliver, so it is all back to a totally paper system.

RPA FINES

NOTE.  In the past the RPA (Rural Payments Agency) has been so poor at delivering payments that they have been fined many millions by the EU.

FIELD WORK

Back home to the crops.   Slurry and FYM have been spread and hopefully by May our maize (for silage) will be planted.   Wheat planted last autumn has come well through the winter.   Oil seed rape should soon be in flower.

BEE RESEARCH

You may have noticed what looks like a polytunnel in the rape near Princes Risborough.  This is for doing research into bee activity in the rape.   It is a crop they love and will go miles for.   The honey is very pale and sets very hard.   FEELING THE PINCH

Cereal prices are in the doldrums and only just covering costs.   Beef is not much better.   It is unusual for so many sectors to feel the pinch at the same time.”

SCHOOL VISITS

In March we ran two visits for the newly formed ‘Childrens’ Outdoor Club’ of Lacey Green school.   With ages ranging from about 5 years it was difficult to pitch a meeting at the right level.    Richard was impressed by some of the questions they asked and the interest they showed.

CHINESE FARMERS

In May we have a party of Chinese dairy farmers coming to visit.

CHARLOTTE

In the Summer Charlotte is going to be running small group visits around the farm in an effort to raise funds for a World Challenge trip she hopes to do. For more details contact Charlotte on 07923433115.

MAZE NEEDS

It looks like the maze will not run again this year.   It needs a fair bit of input to prepare and it needs two day-to-day managers to pretty much run the operation.   They need a car and are needed from 9.30am to 6.30pm every day throughout the school summer holidays.   Maybe we can get it together for next year.

JULY 2015

FARM REPORT FROM RICHARD

“July has been a relatively quiet month for Stocken Farm.   Many of the cows are outside, the 1^st and 2^nd cuts of silage have been completed and a clamp of wholecrop barley has been made (cut green for silage.)  We had a dry, cold spring. 1^st cut silage was late and 2^nd cut very light.   Maize looked very poor for 8 weeks but the heat in late June gave it a great boost, apart from one field near Great Missenden, nearly entirely eaten by Canada Geese.

NEXT YEAR

Now we are planning next year’s crops.  Difficult when this year’s are still a month away from harvest but the seeds must be ordered now.   We can only review how this year’s varieties are doing on our land and hope we choose right.  The results of trials done throughout the country are published soon after harvest, and you may then find that what you have ordered, even planted, has been superseded.   Next year we are planning more milling wheat, less oilseed rape and barley drops out of the rotation with a block of new seeds grass for silage.

TOM & JOHN

We have another new bull, a South Devon.   His name is ‘Tom’.  He can be found on Instagram under @ stocken farm.  Meanwhile thanks to Coles and Blackwell Mechanics at Walters Ash who helped round up our heifers and another bull, John, who broke out of their field.    Fortunately their help prevented more getting onto the main road, but they did have a good trip around the R.A.F.housing estate.”

GERMAN DAIRYING

Late June, Richard and Max went to a European Dairy Farmers meeting in Germany. About 400 dairy farmers descended on Rostock formerly in East Germany.  They had a fascinating insight into how farms developed post war and since reunification. There are now many very large co-operative style farms with many fields in excess of 200 acres.   Big herds of cows of 500+ although the herd average for the whole country is only around 50.   Germany is the biggest milk producer in the E.U.   It is big in green energy with multiple anarobic digesters, solar panels and wind turbines.  In one area they could count 60 wind turbines within sight.

MORE DAIRY FARM GO

Our big problem at the moment is the value of milk.   It has dropped over a third in a year and now valued at 22p litre is way below cost of production.   It is not in balance with demand as many countries are upping production due to the abolition of E.U.quotas.   For ages the decrease in dairy farms in the U.K. has usually been about 10% per annum.   That is easily going to be exceeded this year.

OCTOBER 2015

NOT SAFELY IN

Harvest seems like a distant memory.   Contrary to popular belief however all is not safely gathered in.   Maize is never mature until October and this year it will be very late.   It had a slow start in April and May as it was too cold then August and September were too dull.   A spell of beautiful weather improved it recently, so it should be ready by the end of the month.  This maize is grown to make into silage to feed the cows in the winter.   It is not like sweet corn for our consumption, but very dry and hard and we have to get in a contractor with a forage harvester to cut it.

RICHARD’S REPORT

“It feels like being in a straightjacket with farming at present.   Whichever way we turn nothing looks encouraging.   We grew equal amounts of wheat and oil seed rape this year.   The rape yield was average, with good oil at 46%.  This will eventually be taken to a crushing plant at Erith to be made into vegetable oil.   Unfortunately the story of the price has what is becoming a familiar ring.   £250 tonne this year, four years ago over £400.   There are serious questions regarding the viability of this crop, especially when you take into account the problems of flea beetle, slugs and pigeons all making a living from it as well.

WHEAT

The wheat yielded well with heavy bushel weight, a “full spec.” milling wheat.  The current price at £105 tonne barely covers costs.   So any profit must depend on a good yield per hectare.   Ours was well over 10 tonne so fingers crossed.  The low value of the arable crops is good news for the livestock farmers.  Their prices are not good at the moment either, but they should be able to buy the feeds that are used to supplement their grass products at lower prices, which will help this sector a little.

BACK TO TWICE A DAY

We have been very busy with cows calving, with 150 calves born since the beginning of August this has put a strain on our calf feeding system.   They are individually fed on a powdered milk for eight weeks, by which time they are able to be weaned.     Due to a member of staff moving on, combined with the low milk prices, we have gone back to twice a day milking.    For many reasons we prefer milking three times a day and will keep this decision under review, but at present it is just not economic.

www.SUREFIREBUSHCRAFT.CO.UK

Throughout this summer “Dave Knott” has been running Bush Craft Survival courses on our farm.    Go to“www.SUREFIREBUSHCRAFT.co.uk” for more information.   This happens less than a mile from Lacey Green.

FARM TOURS

Charlotte is still running her farm tours, and these are different from the summer as things change with the seasons. They are now at weekends only due to the dark evenings and term time, Charlotte now studying for “A” levels.   See her website, “laceygreenmaizemaze” for details.”

COMPETITION RESULTS

The Chiltern Hills Association competition results are in.  These cover an area 10 miles radius of Wendover, the crops being divided north and south, “south” being south of the Icknield Way.   We are glad that we had a better year than last year.

Three 1^st prizes.   Best Large Farm, Best Dairy Herd, Best Forage Maize.

Two 2^nd prizes for Dairy Youngstock, Small Arable Farm.

Three 3^rd prizes for Grassland, Winter Barley (south), and wheat samples (this class shown at the ploughing match).

“R.M. WEST & SON” ENGRAVED

I am particularly proud on Richard and Maxine’s behalf to win the Best Large Farm competition.   It will be great to see “R.M. West and Son” engraved once more on that cup.

JANUARY  2016

GOOD-BYE CHURNS

It was January 1963 when our first milking parlour was completed.    It was a bitterly cold winter, deep snowdrifts and biting wind.   It went on for several months.   For the outside steps the concrete was mixed with antifreeze, it was that bad.   John had been insisting that we install one.   His father was not convinced, for it would be very costly, but eventually gave in to pressure.   It revolutionised Stocken Farm.

GOOD-BYE COWSHED

Milking parlours were a completely new concept.    At that time there were at least six other dairy farms locally.    We were probably the biggest with about 30 cows.   Now we are the only one.   Some with only a few, say a maximum of 10, probably less, were still milking by hand.  Some, like us had installed an air pipeline that worked the clusters by vacuum.   But the milker still had to bend to the cows, one by one, carry the milk to a cooler then tip it into churns which were collected by lorry.

MILKING PARLOUR

The parlour did away with all that manual work.   Now the cows come in at eye level a batch at a time.  The milk is automatically piped into a refrigerated tank and piped into a tanker when collected.  The whole system is then automatically washed out.   It is times faster than anything before.   Concentration is the order of the day now to keep everything running smoothly.

GOOD BYE MIXED FARM

Until then the farm had been a general farm in every sense of the word, with cows and their followers (calves and beef), sheep, pigs, hens for eggs sold at the door, even a few turkeys plus arable crops.  But pressures were starting to build.  New equipment and more advanced technology was rapidly being developed.   If you didn’t keep up with the times you were in effect going backwards.  But it was all very costly.   Overheads were escalating.   Something had to give.   It was no longer possible to do everything well.   Stocken Farm has gone down the milking route.   We now have 340 cows and their followers plus the arable land.   Everything else has been discontinued.

PAPERWORK

Other farms had similar problems plus others where we were more fortunate.   Crucially we were able to rent extra land which enabled us to grow until we were big enough to employ extra men.   For the family farm that cannot, it is truly a 24/7 life.   In recent years the extra paperwork imposed by the EEC has simply been the last straw for many.   You might decide to keep doing the farm work but after a long day outside nobody wants to start on paper.    Not unusual for wives step in there but very few children now even consider going into farming.   So end of the family farm?   Not completely.   Hereabouts there are a couple where farming is in the family blood so to speak.  College Farm at Loosley Row which I believe is purely arable and Promised Land Farm where they have a beef suckler herd.  The butcher in Princes Risborough had a couple of beasts from them a while ago and I can vouch that it was excellent.

DIVERSIFICATION

Some have diversified into horses.   Speen Farm now the Home of Rest for Horses,   Widmer Farm an equestrian centre with a large feed shop.   Horses also on what were smallholdings.   Smalldean Farm owned by the National Trust has a manager and beef cattle.   Woodbyne Farm with the land sold to a farmer, now a Gym.   Grymsdyke Farm, a private house, much of the land sold and the buildings with several tenants.   Windmill Farm still lived in by the family, 10 acres with suckler cows, self-catering unit and beauty therapy in the converted barn.    Many of the farms have been sold to become private houses and the land been sold or let to other farmers.   But as no building is permitted outside the village curtiledge, obviously all the land is still here, Its just that it is farmed in different ways.

RICHARD’S FARM REPORT

“Back to 2016.   Milk prices are still a problem, but the cows are milking well, which reflects the quality of the silage of last year’s hot summer.   We have just stopped serving the cows to dairy bulls, hoping to have enough replacements for the herd in June to October 2018.   We are now serving the rest with beef bulls for calves to rear for beef or sell on, using Belgium Blue, Hereford, South Devon and Limousin.  These will be mature early 2019.  Annual TB Test soon.   So many consequences if there are inconclusives or failures we really have fingers crossed for that.

APRIL 2016

RICHARD’S FARM REPORT

“Spring is the time of year when we apply fertilizer to the crops.   All the fields have their soil analysed and from this we know the status of the potash, phosphate and nitrogen levels and also the ph. (acidity) of the soil.

CHALK

Most of the Chiltern land will occasionally need applications of chalk to raise the ph. level.   It has to be above 6 for crops to do well and for the other fertilizers to work at their optimum.   We can usually keep the potash and phosphate levels correct with applications of farmyard manure and slurry from the cattle yards.   They also produce nodules on the roots of the grass which helps it to grow.   We are growing lucerne and some grassland has red clover in it which also fix their own nitrogen.   But we do have to apply additional nitrogen.

SULPHUR

We buy either urea, ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulphate which contains sulphur of which most plants need a certain amount to thrive.   This we have to apply.   Sulphur used not to be needed here and it is thought that there used to be enough drifting from the fallout of Didcot Power Station which is now closed.

AGRONOMIST

Our agronomist recommends what should be applied, always adhering to the legal requirements laid down in DEFRA’s book RB209, and always taking into account the previous cropping, the current crop’s requirements and the analysed results.

GRADE 3

Nationally, British land is graded from 1 down to 4.  Here, we are grade 3.   Left to its own devices it would grow very little, poor grasses and eventually reverting to rough scrub and then certain trees.   To work it for farming and gardening it has to be nurtured.   The old village gardens have a big advantage, having had the domestic waste dug into them for years, but new ones will know they need help.   Nitrogen is expensive.   For that reason alone we only apply what is necessary, but also if we applied too much the crops would be no good.   The wheat would grow so soft it would collapse and barley would become tainted and unsaleable.   They have been called “artificial” fertilizers, but potash, phosphate, nitrogen, sulphur and chalk are all naturally occurring substances so I’m not sure what is really so artificial about them just because they can be bought in a bag.

INCONCLUSIVE TESTS

We will be anxiously waiting for the results of a second T.B. test in early May.   We had 7 ‘inconclusives’ in the first one.   If they test inconclusive again they will be treated as if they had T.B. and the whole herd will have to be tested every sixty days until we have had two clear tests.   We are hoping for a good result as testing is not only time consuming and expensive but until we have two clear tests, restrictions would prevent us selling any other animals from the farm.  There have been T.B. problems in the Chesham area which is alarming but we think cattle to the east of us are clear.

NEOSPORA

Another problem we have encountered this year is Neospora.   This causes abortion in the cows and it is believed to come from ingesting oocysts shed by infected dogs on their grazing or on grass made into silage.”

LAMBS KILLED

Whilst on the subject of dogs, please keep them under control near sheep.   A friend had nearly twenty lambs killed overnight by a dog less than 5 miles from Lacey Green.

COWS GO OUT

Despite the problems Spring is here which always lifts the spirits.    As soon as the ground has dried enough after the winter, so that it won’t get all poached up and there is enough grass, the cows will be turned out.   To see them so full of excitement is an uplifting moment for a farmer.   His cows are full of the joys of spring, and there is less workload with them out.   The fences will have been checked but as they gallop off across the meadow just keep your fingers crossed that they will actually stop when they reach the fence for in this mood they are quite capable of jumping over it, inelegant though it might seem.

JULY 2016

NOT CLEAR

RICHARD’S FARM REPORT

“Our annual T.B. test back in February produced eight inconclusives.   Which is just what it sounds an ‘inconclusive’ result.  These were retested 60 days later.  There were still two inconclusive.   DEFRA took the two, both bullocks, to slaughter to test for T.B. They have found nothing.  They also grow cultures from the samples taken from the carcase.  These have also been negative.   We have lost our T.B. Free status, which means we cannot sell any stock to other farmers, only direct to slaughter.    As a result we are building up stock numbers, particularly calves of which we would normally sell about 50%.

TEST AGAIN

To recover our T.B. Free status we have to have two clear tests.  This involves testing all cattle over 42 days old.   We have just had the first test.   It meant that we had to bring all the cattle back from the fields in order to handle them safely while it was done, which took many man hours. Three days later they were again examined by the vet to see if they had reacted.   Fortunately this time all were clear.   We will have to do it all for a second time in mid -September.

FUSARIUM

The steady wet weather in June is a concern for the wheat crop.   If there is lot of rain while the wheat is flowering there is a high risk of a fusarium infection.  This can lead to shrivelled grain causing a yield reduction and high micro-toxins which can cause it to be rejected for bread making, which is our aim.

SPOT PRICE

There is a glimmer of hope that milk prices have reached the bottom.  The ‘spot’ market, which is really for surplus milk has gone from 10p a litre up to 20p in the last 3 months.  This has yet to filter through to our contract which has a price announcement each month.   We imagine this might put say 2p on the price we receive.

NOT THAT GREAT

It is not that exciting as currently we only get 56% of the price we received 2 years ago.   The ‘spot’ market price rise is mainly due to farm deliveries quickly dropping at present.  The UK is producing 4 million litres a day less than this time last year.   Europe is not dropping as significantly.

BREXIT

DEVALUATION

As a result of the weakening pound we have seen about 10% increase in wheat prices as it makes the UK more competitive in export markets.    It is estimated that milk prices may go up 2p litre due to devaluation.   Our milk buyer, Arla, is a co-op of Danish, German, UK and Swedish farmers.   We are paid in Danish krona.   The effects on this business are uncertain.

BEEF

The UK is about 75% self-sufficient in beef.  Since the vote imported beef has risen in cost.    Irish beef was 319p kg, it is now 347p kg

IMPORT PRICE

The downside is that imported feeds, such as soya will be more expensive.   This has gone up 25% in the last 3 months as it has also been effected by supply shortages.   Many tractors and combines are imported and therefore getting more expensive.

BIG QUESTION

The biggest question is “What will the post-brexit agricultural policy will look like?”.   Does DEFRA have a plan B?   Farmers will hope for some direct support, reduced red tape, good access to labour, protection from cheap imports and a basic safety net should markets fail.  DEFRA will probably have a different agenda.   Now led by Andrea Leadsom.   We shall see!”

THANK YOU

“Thank you” to all those who came on Charlotte’s farm tours.   As you know it was to raise money so she could take part in a World Challenge Trip of personal experience and voluntary work in Equador.   She is out there now, so obviously she will not be doing her farm tours this summer.   Perhaps another time.

OCTOBER  2016

SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!!

A farmer saying the weather was perfect.    A good yield of wheat, all brought in dry enough to store without further drying – almost unheard of!   And such a saving in time and money.

SILAGE

Silage.  Food for the cows and youngstock throughout the winter.  The grass kept growing.   Our usual three cuts were made, four on some land.  The cows are still out grazing, it being fairly dry, so they are not poaching up the grass.   Lucerne, a new crop for us, was harvested.   Allied to clover, a useful crop as it improves nitrogen in the soil.  Maize, recently cut, the last to add to the clamps.

FARM TOUR – DEVON

26^th to 29th September.   My annual trip with Bucks Grassland Farmers, 24 of us based at Exford.   It was a packed itinerary which included:-

Shire horses

1.       A bee farm with 1000 hives.

2.      We learnt about the wild deer on Exmoor, with the annual cull.  This is done to keep the numbers stable and in good health.   The Hunt meets 3 times a week but the supporters just follow to watch at a distance.  Only the huntsmen hunt, using a couple of hounds each to bring the chosen animal within range.

3.      Next day we went to the meet, where at least 70 horses followed.

4.      We spent a long time inspecting and discussing a fully automatic milking parlour, of which perhaps more another time.

5.      A visit to Lynmouth Museum of the Flood of 1952.   Returning from holiday when I was 13 we were one of first to cross the bailey bridge that the army had put in place to open the road.  The whole wide valley was wrecked with torn down houses, uprooted trees, boats, cars, debris everywhere.   An unforgettable sight.   It looks so serene now.

6.      One night Stanley Johnson resident expert on Exmoor was our guest speaker to round off the day    Very entertaining and no mention of Boris (his son)

7.      Picking up on ‘bees’.   At Quince Honey Farm at South Molton we all realised how little we knew.   They also have an excellet exhibition which absorbed us for ages.   Late summer they move the hives onto Exmoor for the heather which provides lovely honey.

LOCAL HONEY

Back home a local bee keeper dropped in with some honey.  He said it had been an unusual year as usually he is swamped out with honey from the rape crops.    This is very hard, almost white and some people don’t like it.    I explained that the rape crop had virtually failed.

RAPE DRESSING BAN

It was the first crop grown since an ‘experimental’ ban was put on the nicotinoid dressing put on the seed against Stem Flea Beatle before sowing, as it was thought it might be effecting the bees.   We inspected our crops after dark in September as they emerged.   The beetle was present.   We sprayed them at night when it is most active.  The beetle will eat the young cotoledon, or if the plant survives will lay eggs on it, hatching into larvae that live in the stem cutting off all the nutrients.   The majority of oil seed rape crops, certainly around here were ploughed back in.

NO DIFFERENCE

Many bee keepers think the ban has made no difference but it has not been lifted.   If the other EU countries heeded the ban too, there could be a shortage of rape oil next year.   Perhaps you should stock up.   We did harvest a little off one field and it is a crop we would like to keep growing being an alternative to continually growing cereals.   It was always prone to slug and pigeon damage, both able to decimate it and now with Stem Flea Beatle it really is a challenge.

T.B.CLEAR

Back to the good news.   We are now clear of the TB restrictions imposed after two inconclusive animals were slaughtered several months ago.

PLOUGHING MATCH

1^st October we hosted The Chiltern Hills Ploughing Match at Walters Ash.   Competitors are judged on how well the stubble is buried, how straight the furrows, and how neat the start and finish.   Winners can go forward to national matches.   Ploughing has been out of fashion but could well come back in order to bury black grass seeds, a pest.   But you can’t do it again the next year as you bring them up again.  Sometimes it is just difficult to win.

CHARLOTTE

P.S.   Charlotte West, has just started at Harper Adams Agricultural University.

JANUARY 2017

RICHARD’s FARM REPORT

“A new year with a definite chink of light at the end of a long haul.  The dairy farm milk price has risen steadily since the summer, from a low of 18p litre.  We are expecting 26p litre in January with more price rises to follow.   With many dairy farmers on their knees this may be too late.   With huge debts built up some will still throw in the towel.

CHRISTMAS WORK

Christmas brought nice calm weather which makes life easier.   It is always a worry that key machines might break down at a time when it is difficult to get parts or people to do repairs.    For instance, should the milking parlour be out of action and it cannot be mended within 6 hours we would have a massive crisis.   We obviously rely on staff working over Christmas and the New Year and are lucky to have a reliable team.  To run the farm we have a minimum of 25 hours work a day.  We are reminded that our business needs 24 hours, 365 days a year.   Animals don’t have bank holidays.”

GOOD SILAGE

At this time we reassess our silage stocks and try to make them last until turn-out time.  The cows are milking well now although not as well as last year when our silage was exceptional.  The daily yield per cow often peaks in January, mainly because they thrive on a consistent diet and that the silage made back in the summer is fully fermented and stable.

FENCING

While the cows are housed we are repairing fences and improving water supplies.   We have put the old maze maize field into grass for a while, so that will need re-fencing as it has not been used for grazing for a number of years.”

ORION FARMERS

Richard is currently a director of ‘Orion Farmers’.  This is a buying group helping farmers to buy their inputs at the most cost effective price.    It has over 300 farming members, based in 17 counties around Oxfordshire.   It places orders for them.   Part of its role is giving contracts to feed companies to supply compound feeds.   These are an important part of a cow’s diet on many farms.   This winter the feed committee will visit a number of feed mills - Heygates in Northampton, Mole Valley in Bridgewater and George White in Shepshed to audit them on behalf of the members.   These are some of the closest feed mills so they all have a long way to make deliveries.   The mills buy raw materials that they then blend, mill and press into cattle nuts.   It is fascinating to see the scale of these businesses.   For example Heygates is producing 60 different feeds including rabbit, alpaca, goat, horses and cattle.  They also have 3 flour mills to whom we sell much of our wheat.   It is ground into 16 qualities of flour which all have different uses such as white, wholemeal and pitta breads, burger buns, biscuits and cakes.  They also have bakeries in Banbury and Manchester supplying well known supermarkets as well as being farmers themselves.

SHEEP

Over the winter a friend has had his ewes on our grassland behind the farm.   They have been running with the tups so will lamb in the spring.   They do a good job for us as they eat the grass down low, so there is a clean start in the spring.   Sheep farming presents many challenges.   One of them is keeping them confined in the field where you want the grass to be eaten.   So our thanks to all for the phone calls and texts letting us know where they are heading next and we hope they have caused no damage on their travels.   These sheep are Herdwicks which are hefted, so maybe they are trying to get back to The Lake District.

GERALD BEDFORD

We are all saddened by the passing of Gerald Bedford who had association with Stocken Farm for about sixty years.    He worked with three generations, Dick, John and Richard, although he retired soon after Richard came back from college, so perhaps two generations was enough. The changes in his agricultural world seem unbelievable from horses to the tractors of today.   It is difficult to imagine where technology will take us in the next sixty years

APRIL 2017

RICHARD’S FARM REPORT

Spring seems to have arrived very suddenly.   In February and the beginning of March we very much felt it was winter.  Then the dullness was swapped for vibrant green as the plants came back to life after their dormancy, a flash of yellow with daffodils, oak, ash and beech with their new leaves and “sticky buds” on the horse chestnuts.   Spring was here.

VACCINATION

The cattle look out of their winter accommodation with anticipation.   Unfortunately much to their distain there is a lot to do before they can be let out.  March and April are really busy months in the livestock farming calendar.  There are several annual vaccinations to be done – much easier when the animals are in than having to round them up every time.  These are to prevent diseases which can be disastrous if they get into a herd, such as Leptosporosis, IBR and BVD.  Unfortunately there is not yet a vaccination against TB and the first part of our annual test has been done.  Eight hours work for a vet and our staff to do that.   A few days later comes the second part, all that work again, to see if there any reactors.  We wait with fingers crossed!

SCHMALLENBERG

We have had two cases of schmallenberg.   Spread by midges it has come from Continental Europe.  It effects the developing foetus in pregnant cows and gives the cow flu-like symptoms for a few days.  Hopefully in due course a vaccine will be developed for this.

FREEZE BRANDING

The calves reared for the dairy herd have to be freeze branded for easy identification although they still have to have ear tags.  Freeze branding is done by holding a brand made very cold by liquid nitrogen and holding it on a dark patch of shaved skin.   They hardly seem to notice this being done.   When the hair grows back it will be white, the pigment in it removed.   In preparation for turning out all fencing has to be repaired or renewed and field water systems checked

LAND TESTED

We have tested all the land for PH where we are planting maize.   We are aiming for a PH level of 6.5, some is down to 5.3 which will really effect any crops we grow.  The result is that we are having to apply nearly 300 tonnes of chalk.   Many samples are taken in each field to plot a field map as there will be variation within each one.   Using this map the spreader will apply various amounts, up to 4 tonnes per acre using GPS.  This tracker knows where it is and what needs to be applied where.   Seems absurd on these chalk hills, but chalk it is not necessarily just where you imagine.

RED TRACTER LOGO

Just after Easter we will have a Farm Assurance inspection.   Being Farm Assured means our produce can be sold with the RED TRACTOR LOGO on it.  You can hardly sell your produce without it as most commodity buyers insist on it.   ARLA, our milk buyer runs its own scheme which is even more involved than the usual one.

RAPE FAILURE

Out of 80 acres of oil seed rape 25 acres has failed, mainly due to cabbage stem flea beetle.   We will replace it with maize.   Always planted late spring we are preparing all our maize fields now.  Replanting is a costly thing to do.  Oil seed rape in the south-east now carries a very high financial risk and it is difficult to see much being grown in the future.”

RATHER DRY

Now 13^th April we are beginning to think we need a little rain, although we are enjoying getting on with the field work in the dry conditions.   The winter rainfall was lower than average here in the south.   I know you have to be careful for what you wish, but a little would not go amiss.

TEST AGAIN

The results of the TB test are now in.  Two inconclusive, so we have to test them again in 60 days.   A long time to keep fingers crossed!

JULY 2017

RICHARD’S FARM REPORT

“It is mid July and naturally thoughts turn to the harvests ripening soon, but more of that later.   First equally important at this time of the year is the dairy herd which is the major enterprise here on Stocken Farm.

MILK PRICE DISASTROUS

We have had two disastrous years with our price down to 18p litre last summer, when our cost of production was around 28p litre.  There was a steady price rise this spring and we hope more in the autumn.

ON RADIO

Recently radio 5 interviewed the UK managing director of Arla, one of the UK main processing dairies.   He said he thought that butter and cream would be in very tight supply by Christmas and if that is so the price of these products will be rising.  Already the dairy commodities market has risen from this time last year.   Butter from £3050 tonne to £6000 tonne, cheese from ££2200 tonne to £3222 tonne and whole milk powder from £2118 tonne to £3022 tonne.  The supermarkets will currently all have contracts with the dairies but as these run out and need to be renegotiated there will be pressure for prices to rise.

WHY?

Why specifically butter and cheese?   Well, butterfat is in general short supply for several reasons.   Dairy farmers have had very bad years for some time, not just the last two.  Unable to increase the price return, the thing to do is to cut costs if you want to try to keep going.   Reducing the concentrates being fed (primarily grain) which usually has to be purchased, will reduce yields, this also probably reduces fertility which effects production the following year.   When cows eat lush grass it tends to reduce fat levels.   Diets with more fibre would push up the % but can at the same time reduce yields.  So the butterfat countrywide has reduced at the same time the cost of production will have dropped somewhat.

HOLSTEIN MILK = FAT FREE

Our cows’ breed is Friesian Holstein and gives an average of about 4% fat content.   Whole milk in the supermarkets is sold at 3.6% fat which is interesting because if you buy a product, say biscuits with less than 5% fat it would be promoted over the packaging as 95% fat free.   So whole milk is 96.4% free.   Sounds a pretty healthy drink to me, and there’s no added sugar or artificial sweetening.

SELECTING BULLS

When we select a bull for breeding with our herd one of the selection criteria is the % butterfat that will be produced by its offspring.   The genetics of each cow within the herd can affect her butterfat, some being higher than others.  We test the milk from all the cows once a month for this as well as protein and other health traits.  However, some breeds are dramatically different.  Jersey and Guernsey cows for example probably produce 30% higher butterfat than Friesian Holstein.

COMFY COWS

At this this time of the year the grass growth has slowed down and it can be a worry keeping enough grass in front of the grazing animals.  While the cows are out in the summer we have been renovating the winter housing to improve their comfort.   Trying to improve ventilation, repairing floors and replacing some of their mattresses.  Happy, comfortable cows are productive cows.

CROPS EARLY

Neighbours have harvested winter barley, 10 days earlier than usual with reasonable yields and quality reported.   Our wheat harvest is imminent.   Its price creeping up on reports of drought conditions in part of the USA.   We still buy in concentrated feeds and cereals and their prices are also on the move.  We have bought most of our requirements until April 2018.   The maize, grown for silage, has had good growing conditions so far.   We like to think knee high by 4^th July.  This year by 14^th July some of it is over head high.”

JOAN’S COMMENT

When I first wrote for Hallmark in 1976 there were many thousands of UK dairy farmers.   Annually they have given up.

Latest figures for England and Wales are:-

10 years ago 15,000

A year ago 9,538,

Today 9,390.

And that is definitely the one sure way to reduce your costs!

OCTOBER 2017

RICHARD’S FARM REPORT

WEATHER – NO HELP

I am bound to mention the weather so to get it out of the way here is a quick retrospect of this summer on the farm.   It was certainly a year for ‘making hay while the sun shines’.   Snatching days when we could.   July had been fairly dry for a long time so there was not a lot of grass to make hay anyway and most didn’t bother.   We had 2-3 weeks of damp, dull weather just as the wheat was ready to harvest.   The quality was downgraded from bread making to animal feed standard, for which we do not have a contract.   Unlike last year our grain drier had to dry nearly every ton.   Some people tried to make some hay at the end of September.   It probably still lies on the ground.

GRASS

Now on the flip side of all that, forage crops have had a great year.  Often the grass dries up in August so that we have to supplement the grazing cattle.  This year there was a constant supply of good grass.

MAIZE

The maize grown to feed as silage in the winter has had a fantastic year.  Some of the best we have ever grown.   Maybe you noticed ‘Soldier’s Field’, beside the Sport’s Field, named after the searchlight battery there WW2.   This had great cobs and was over nine feet tall.   It won the Chiltern Hills forage maize competition for us this year.   Maize silage will make up 50% of the cows winter diet.   No doubt it has dawned on anyone who tried to cook some of these cobs that they are not the same variety as the sweet corn grown in our gardens!

CALVES

We have had about 50 cows calving each month since the beginning of August.   The calves are all hand-reared for about a month, adding considerably to our workload, then we sell some to other farmers to rear on.   The heifer (female) calves that we keep for our herd replacements will all be born by the end of October.   They are on milk for eight weeks so will be weaned by the end of the year.”

MY FARM TRIP

At the end of September I went with a group of 30 farmers looking at farming in the Peak District.   It was an intensive few days.   Farming there is much tougher than the Chilterns!

EUROPEAN TRIP

Richard and Maxine went to Devon with the European Dairy Organisation, this year in England, looking at milk production.   One visit was to a farm making ‘Farmhouse Cheddar’.   It is sold to other outlets than the supermarkets.  Cheese making is very labour intensive.   Stood on stacks of shelving the cheeses have to be turned monthly for about a year.   The farm has developed their cows and their feed to produce the best milk for cheese production.   It has taken years to perfect.

WHITLEAF BOWMEN

Some years ago the Whiteleaf Bowman rented some land from us, having lost their site at Saunderton.   It is along the road to Walters Ash.   You may have met them when they visited our maize maze.   Catching up with them recently I thought I might pass on their progress.   In 2013 they replaced their small hut with a new clubhouse having received a grant from Sport England.   It looks like a small barn and blends into the countryside beautifully.   It was officially opened 5th June 2013 by Group Captain R F J Clifford, OBE, Station Commander, RAF High Wycombe with two club members, Jonathan Shales, 9 times World Field Archery Champion and Sam Fowler, who represented England Ladies.  It’s great to pass on good news!

GREAT FRUIT YEAR

The yield of fruit from hedgerow and trees has been exceptional, branches almost snapping from the weight of apples & plums. The hedges have been thick with blackberries, sloes and hips and it won’t be hard to find holly with berries at Christmas.  Is it a sign of a hard winter?  I believe it is the product of the favourable season we have had.

STARTING CHRISTMAS

Talking about Christmas I suppose I’d better start thinking about it, so I’ll start by wishing everyone a really great one. “Happy Christmas”

Stocken Farm Diary Part 4
Construction Era
Type of Property	House, Farm, Cottage, Land, Pond
Use of Property	Residential, Business, Charity, Shop
Locations	Lacey Green