Stocken Farm News
From Lacey Green History
Click Stocken Farm for more about the farm
Hallmark May 2025 Photos below on the right.
I hope this isn’t our last Hallmark article but its looking like it could well be as, as far as I know, no one is taking over from our editor Mike who has been doing an excellent job for at least 16 years.
Hallmark first came out in 1970. My mum, Joan West, started writing in the Hallmark in 1976. At that time it came out every other month. I took over from her and have been contributing an article about the farm for the last few years. One more year and we would have been contributing for 50 years - that is a lot of articles! The good news is, they can all be found on mum’s website: LaceyGreenHistory.com. Joan’s website is a huge resource of history of the people, places and events in and around Lacey Green. She is continuously researching and compiling it. If anyone has any information about local history she would love to receive it, you can contact her on: [[1]].
When Hallmark first came out my grandparents, Dick and Hilda West, were farming Stocken Farm in Partnership with my parents, John and Joan. Later myself and my wife, Maxine, joined the Partnership. Hopefully our children, Charlotte and Robert, will become Partners before long. They have both been working on the farm for a number of years now and it’s time their enthusiasm and new ideas are put to the test to drive the business forward.
Much has changed over the years. Many different enterprises have come and some have gone. Some of you will be surprised to learn we used to have a flock of sheep and a herd of Pigs. For many years we had about 1500 hens and raised replacement pullets, selling fresh eggs direct from the farm. We also used to do Christmas turkeys and cockerels, up to 1000 at one point. We have had milking cows since at least the 1950s and they have become the main part of the business, along with raising beef cattle and growing various arable crops. Over the years we have grown: oats, barley, oilseed rape, linseed, flax, triticale and turnips. We currently grow milling wheat to sell and grass, maize, lucerne and rye to feed the cows.
Similarly to 1976, the first year we wrote in Hallmark, we seem to be in a drought. Grass has been very slow to grow with cold nights as well, until the 30 mm of rain we had in about 2 hours on the 12th May. We were lucky to get this as it was very localised. A lot of crops are beginning to look desperate for rain and will consequently not deliver well at harvest.
The cows have been out grazing for a couple of months now. We have managed to keep enough grass growing and, with the dry spring, we have had excellent grazing conditions (see photo of Daisy the red cow leading the herd out to grass after milking).
We planted some maize after our first cut of grass using a strip till technique. This is where only a small strip of land is cultivated. This is plotted with GPS . Then a drill comes and plants the seed using GPS again to put it in the same strip (see photo). This method prevents water loss so the seed will germinate quicker and more evenly. Also less land is cultivated saving fuel and protecting carbon within the soil. We will be able to compare with the conventionally sown crop before long.
On the 11th of May we hosted the County Young Farmers pre Rally day (before the Country Show in Bledlow on the 31st May). This included fencing, clay shooting and stock judging competitions (see photos of young farmers from around the county scrutinising the beef cattle for the competition). All the competitions are awarded points for the overall Rally Trophy. Our local club, Princes Risborough Young Farmers, are organising and hosting the show at Bledlow this year. Everyone is welcome to come along, it’s a great day out, so get the date in your diary!
Hallmark February 2025. The days are getting longer; we have had snowdrops and the odd daffodil has made an appearance. Spring is around the corner, and we are heading out of winter. The grass is starting to grow again, we were able to roll two new grass leys in February that were planted last autumn. We have to do this before the grass gets too long. This is to push the flints in to the ground so we don’t hit them with our mower when we make silage.
The grass grew well into December, but the ground is very wet. Anyone walking the paths around and about may well have noticed that we have had sheep in, they are just visiting for a month or so. Thank you to everyone that has called or messaged when they have spotted issues with the visitors, there always seems to be something up! They are here to eat all the old grass ready for the new spring growth.
We recently won the Thame Farming Club’s grass silage competition, this is silage made last year. We went on to the next round against 5 other farming clubs and came second which was a shame as it would have been a result to have the best silage in Oxfordshire!
The Agricultural and Business Inheritance tax changes announced in the Autumn are still casting a dark shadow over the farming industry.
There will be farmers in a very dark place on what is currently being played out in Westminster. With the future of an inevitable tax bill hanging over a business, like an unexploded bomb in the front yard waiting to go off when the one that holds the deeds dies. Family farms are often multigenerational It would not be unusual for there to be 3 generations working together; an older generation with two younger generations doing the farming, making a living, growing food.
Farmers have been trying to make a presence felt with various rallies, several in London, the last one involved 1400 tractors in Whitehall. Charlotte represented the farm, she was amazed at the public support on the day . See the photo taken in Whitehall. You may not have seen this, especially if you get your news from the BBC, there was almost no coverage! So far, very dignified affairs, but emotions are running high. Farmers do not believe the government figures.
For example, I have a dairy farmer friend in Cornwall whose father still owns the farm which is not unusual, he is 95. He farms with his 60 year old sons and their sons. If he dies after April 2026, when the new rules kick in, the inheritance tax bill will be too much to pay from profits, even when split over 10 years. They will then have to sell business assets. You could sell the cows but then you have nothing to milk; you could sell the land but then you don’t have enough to run the business; either way the business will not survive in its current form. The older generation would have spent their whole life building the business. The farm is everything to them; their home, their business, their life. I sincerely hope his father resists the strong temptation to not still be here after next April; it is a very real and appalling situation to be in.
Who will buy the land? Most farmers cannot afford it. It will still appeal to wealthy non-farmers as they can avoid 20% inheritance tax. The likelihood is less land will be farmed by established businesses that are the main producers of food. This could certainly dramatically reduce our ability to produce the food we currently do at Stocken Farm. We will only know the true consequences as they unfold. Let’s hope other countries don’t all rewild their land and can keep producing enough food to sell to us in the UK, to feed our approaching 70 million population.
The NFU, together with other farmer organisations, recently had a meeting with Treasury ministers to discuss all the complications this policy will bring. They had suggestions on how the IHT proposals could be restructured to still raise the tax they required, and not seriously effect so many food producing businesses. They were basically told to go away. Disappointing.
On a brighter note we did an early spring bird survey in mid-February, 43 species were recorded. The stars of the survey were : a large flock of Chaffinch in our winter bird feed patch, some Brambling, a Stonechat and 2 Common Snipe.
Hallmark December 2024.December 2024
True to form the weather has been challenging us again. The extremely wet spell from mid-September to mid-October came right at maize harvest and planting of winter cereals. It looked like a re run of last year. However the anti-cyclone that we have had since then has allowed most field work to have been completed.
The wheat we harvested in the summer is now being sold. We have run into a problem because it contains Ergot and the mill will not buy wheat with Ergot. Ergot is a fungus and, this year, it is widespread in the area; I think weather conditions have favoured its life cycle. It is like a very large black grain. The good news is, it can be cleaned out by a machine called a colour sorter that takes the black ergot out of the beige wheat. The bad news is, itis slow and expensive but it will be what we have to do.
In mid-November we had to complete our TB test. I am pleased to say we had no issues so our herd remains officially TB free. This is good news, especially as quite a few farms locally have got TB issues; for now I believe there is none in the parish.
The big concern and talking point in the farming community is the Budget. There are serious consequences for agriculture (as there will be for any other small family run business). The biggest concern is the change to Agricultural Property Relief (APR). This was established to prevent farming families from having to sell their primary source of income to pay IHT, as it passes between generations. Without APR, smaller farms could become untenable and the family business come to an end. The allowances are not enough. The percentage of ‘real working farms’ at risk would be very high (the Treasury appear to have included smallholdings and country houses with pony paddocks in their calculations, not just actual working farms).
APR was protecting working farms producing food for the population. Most farms are made up of small family businesses with multiple generations working together producing food and caring for the countryside. The new IHT implications that are being introduced are disproportionate to farm incomes, a farm doesn’t generate enough income to pay the tax bill, even spread over ten years. This means land would have to be sold, probably to non-farmers, potentially reducing food production and making the businesses less viable going forward. Food security is a subject that few people in this country worry about, as a nation we are already far from self-sufficient, let’s hope in the future its something people still don't worry about, because its not guaranteed.
Of course you never know when the time will come, so all businesses will be vulnerable in the short term, with people’s homes and livelihoods at risk. Older generations are very upset, after years of work the rules are changed and there is little they can do in the short term. These rules are set to change in April 2026, for some the only answer will be to not be still here at that point, we have already heard of this happening. With mental health issues in the farming community already running high this is just going to make things a whole lot worse.
The National Farmers Union is organising a mass lobby of MPs which will involve farmers meeting MPs in Westminster on the 19th November, to make sure they are aware of the implications. There is also a Rally being planned on 19th where farmers are taking British food donations to a London food bank, to take their message to the Government.
On top of IHT there is employers N.I increases, a fertiliser tax, and double cab pick-up tax – a commonly used agricultural vehicle since the Landrover Defender went upmarket.
I listened to Keir Starmer make a speech at the NFU conference last February prior to the election. The talk was of new partnerships, opportunities, the importance of national food security and at one point he said “losing a farm is not like any other business, it can't come back. You deserve better than that”. We thought he meant he was going to support farming, I don’t think the delegates really understood what he meant and I now realise, neither did he!
We recently had the Chiltern Hills Agricultural Association dinner and annual Competition Awards. We had a good night and picked up the Best Run Small Farm Cup which we had last in 2019 and Best Dairy Youngstock which we last won in 2014. Back in September, Charlotte was asked to be on a panel at the ‘Women in Dairy Conference’, quite an accolade for her, especially as she was probably half the age of all the other panellists!
We recently inspected our winter bird food crops in awkward field corners (see below). They have done well and should provide abundant small seeds throughout winter. Also, walking our new herbal ley I spotted a four-leaf clover. Hopefully it brings some luck! I wish you all good luck and A Happy Christmas and New Year.
Hallmark June 2024. The extremely wet winter weather is still having its effect on farmers in the region. On average we have had an inch of rain per week since mid-October. With breaks in the weather allowing frantic periods of work to get overdue tasks done. Spring cereals were planted later than most would have liked for optimal yields, these crops replacing the planned autumn planted crops that never got planted or failed to get established. Our maize has been planted in mid-May when we are usually aiming for the last week of April, this will push the harvest date back a bit. But good planting conditions should allow the crop to get off to a good start.
The cows have been turned out a month later as we waited for the grazing fields to dry enough not to be instantly churned up by their feet. We operate a hybrid system where the cows have top up feed indoors and also graze so we are more flexible.
There are many farmers, more to the west of the U.K. that rely on grass only in the spring. With the cold wet weather in March and April these cows have not milked well, which has reduced the U.K.’s spring flush of milk. This is when the country peaks in milk production, and the milk price is often reduced. In the middle of May the U.K. were producing 44.13 million litres of milk per day which is 903,000 litres less per day than last year, 2.4% down on long term average.
Arla announced this spring it is planning a new cheese plant in Devon, making mozzarella. Cheese making helps with the spring flush. Milk supply is finely balanced. The USA is 1% down in milk production which will probably lead to milk prices rising later this year.
Winter crops of wheat do not look good here, but also across Northern Europe and Russia (a major exporter) which will result in a smaller 2024 harvest and putting pressure on wheat prices, something we will probably notice in food prices next year.
We did the first cut of grass for silage on 20th April, hopefully 2nd cut will be around a month later. If we can cut the grass before it goes to seed, the silage we make will be high in protein and highly digestible so the cows produce more milk from it, hopefully resulting in us needing to feed less of the expensive concentrates. See the photo above for a red kite’s view of silaging and the photo below of grass being picked up in a field called ‘Wathams’. (if you walk the footpath between Westlands and Church Lane you will recognise it).
The picture shows maize being planted in a field we call ‘Moseley’ in Naphill. Maize seed has got very expensive, now costing towards £100 acre, so you can’t afford to make mistakes, or plant it in the wrong conditions.
On a positive note our herd has now been declared free of Bovine Tuberculosis (TB). We have tested all the cows 5 times in the last year, some have been culled but we have now had 2 clear tests, so a big relief.
However, we are a closed herd, which means we do not buy cows in, so the initial TB infection probably came from infected wildlife in the area, making it highly likely to return. We try to mitigate against this but, with cattle now going out to graze, it becomes very difficult.
Construction has started of our new grain store. Hopefully this will be ready for this year’s harvest. Our old grain barn is over 40 years old, it has been a subject of conversation during our Red Tractor Audits and is no longer really fit for purpose. The walls, being made of metal, are becoming weak with fatigue and the roof is not high enough to tip modern trailers so its replacement should be a big improvement. It will also be easier to clean and so keep insect and rodent free.
We will soon be planting up some areas to be left for nature as part of our Mid-Tier Agreement. These are field corners and less productive areas of the farm. We are planting 3 plots of nectar flowers and several areas to provide bird food next winter, that should provide food in the hungry months for various farmland birds.
We have some hedge planting planned in for next near. We have done the first bird survey this spring, still with good numbers recorded despite not being the kindest of weather on the day. We will be doing another one shortly and a butterfly survey is being conducted throughout the summer so lots of things are happening!
Hallmark December 2024. True to form the weather has been challenging us again. The extremely wet spell from mid-September to mid-October came right at maize harvest and planting of winter cereals. It looked like a re run of last year. However the anti-cyclone that we have had since then has allowed most field work to have been completed.
The wheat we harvested in the summer is now being sold. We have run in to a problem because it contains Ergot and the mill will not buy wheat with Ergot. Ergot is
a fungus and, this year, it is widespread in the area; I think weather conditions have favoured its life cycle. It is like a very large black grain. The good news is, it can be cleaned out by a machine called a colour sorter that takes the black ergot out of the beige wheat. The bad news is, it is slow and expensive but it will be what we have to do.
In mid-November we had to complete our TB test. I am pleased to say we had no issues so our herd remains officially TB free. This is good news, especially as quite
a few farms locally have got TB issues, for now I believe there is none in the parish.
The big concern and talking point in the farming community is the Budget. There are serious consequences for agriculture (as there will be for any other small family run business). The biggest concern is the change to Agricultural Property Relief (APR). This was established to prevent farming families from having to sell their primary source of income to pay IHT, as it passes between generations. Without APR, smaller farms could become untenable and the family business come to an end, the allowances are not enough. The percentage of ‘real working farms’ at risk would be very high (the Treasury appear to have included smallholdings and country houses with pony paddocks in their calculations, not just actual working farms). APR was protecting working farms producing food for the population, and they do contribute greatly to food production. Most farms are made up of small family businesses with multiple generations working together producing food and caring for the countryside.
The new IHT implications that are being introduced are disproportionate to farm incomes, a farm doesn’t generate enough income to pay the tax bill, even spread
over ten years. This means land would have to be sold, probably to non-farmers, potentially reducing food production and making the businesses less viable going
forward. Food security is a subject that few people in this country worry about , as a nation we are already far from self-sufficient, let’s hope in the future it’s something people still don’t worry about, because its not guaranteed. Of course you never know when the time will come, so all businesses will be vulnerable in the short term. With people’s homes and livelihoods at risk.
Older generations are very upset after years of work the rules are changed and there is little they can do in the short term. These rules are set to change in April 2026, for some the only answer will be to not be still here at that point, we have already heard of this happening. With mental health issues in the farming community already running high this is just going to make things a whole lot worse.
Hallmark February 2024. Report by Richard West
Finally, as we got into the new year, we have had some drier weather. The autumn has been particularly difficult with such high rainfall. The wet weather has caused us several problems, we have been unable to plant all the Winter Wheat that we planned, and some that we have has yet to fully emerge and may need replanting. We planted 60 acres of grass seeds before it started raining. This seed has rotted in waterlogged soil and will need replanting. This was for grass we hoped to silage at the end of April so another plan will have to be made. We have also ended up with more water in our dirty water lagoon, so this has needed spreading, earlier than we would have liked. Being shut down with TB we have more stock on farm, meaning more cattle are being outwintered, so drier conditions would have been preferred. No doubt it will not rain again and by summer we will be crying out for rain, it’s the way the weather seems to go at present!
The TB rumbles on with one reactor in our November test. We are testing again at the end of January. We need to have 2 clear tests to be declared TB free. We are quite over stocked, every barn is full, so we will have to look at selling some cattle at an Orange TB market. This is a market where only DEFRA registered TB fattening units can buy the cattle. Probably not very local to here and at quite a discount.
With the challenges farmers face there has been more interest in the government's environmental schemes, with quite a bit of land coming out of production. With large scale solar projects and house building also taking out land, land for food production is getting squeezed. I hope food security is a priority for the Government, it feels that it should be with the uncertainties in the world.
We have had an 8% milk price rise since the New Year, this is very welcome as we have been running under the cost of production for a few months. The price had been dropping for us for the last 12 months. I notice when the slow down in inflation is talked about food prices are mentioned as though they are just coming down, for us they have been low for 9 months at least.
Princes Risborough Young Farmers, which most of our staff are members of, have been busy in recent weeks, with 2 charity events. They organised a tractor run back in mid-December. This involved a large convoy of tractors that went from Thame via Chinnor, Princes Risborough, Haddenham and back to Thame. 225 tractors took part. Then after Christmas they did a Christmas tree collection and disposal. This was done with all the takings going to charity any costs involved the Young Farmers donated. They supported two charities the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Society which received £4,625 and the Rennie Grove Hospice which received £10,125. So, if you were held up in traffic by 225 tractors or had your tree collected by them it was in a good cause.
In 2025 Princes Risborough are holding the YFC countryside rally again, so preparations for this have already started. This will be in early June and is being held in Bledlow. Young Farmers is open to anyone (you don't have to be a farmer) from early teens up to the age of 26. They always welcome new members so if you're young and at a loose end its worth looking them up.
Our improvement work on the cattle winter housing is slowly taking shape. Hopefully it will be complete soon as it feels like the weather is changing and soon the milking cows will be better housed. The younger beef stock will stay out longer, possibly all winter.
From a drilling point of view, we still have more wheat to plant. The window of opportunity seems to get smaller each year. You cannot plant too early as the weed blackgrass will grow very strongly and be uncontrollable, but leave it too late and the ground can get too wet to work. After October yield potential gradually drops off.
We have just applied for a mid-tier agreement with the help of the Cluster group. This is an agreement for management grants and capital items to protect and enhance the natural environment. This has to be accepted by the Rural Payments Agency (part of DEFRA). We should know early in the new year if it is accepted. It involves for example tree planting, hedge planting, wildflower strips and herbal leys. Fingers crossed again we will know after Christmas, speaking of which we wish you all a Happy Christmas aTrue to form the weather has been challenging us again. The extremely wet spell from mid-September to mid-October came right at maize harvest and planting of winter cereals. It looked like a re run of last year. However the anti-cyclone that we have had since then has allowed most field work to have been completed. We will hopefully be able to report the outcome in the February edition.
Hallmark November 2023. Report by Richard West
This summer Charlotte was encouraged to enter the Cream Awards. These are national awards run by the British Dairying Magazine. This starts with a written entry, which is judged to create a shortlist. Then three judges visit the farms to make their final decisions. This year the awards ceremony was in the Grosvenor Hotel Park Lane, in early September. With high hopes that she would do well (the judges visit seemed to go well) we scrubbed up and headed to London.
The trip was worthwhile, to her parents’ great pride she did well winning two categories. Firstly ‘Young Dairy Farmer of the Year’ and secondly ‘Youngstock Health and Welfare Award’. Well done, Charlotte, a good achievement, only achieved with good staff, a number of whom joined us at the Grosvenor. It is interesting how many people in the trade have seen this result and have passed on their congratulations. Charlotte is making a name for herself in the dairying world.
Back at home we have had a busy summer. With harvest weather being a bit temperamental it was a bit challenging at times and the grain quality was affected. So far, our wheat has been accepted by Heygates Flour Mill but with financial claims on most loads as it is not making full specification. The current price this year is about two thirds of what it was last year, as is our milk price, ‘both have been dropping all year. We have not noticed a significant drop in the price of milk in the shops.
We have had many cows calve this summer and autumn. We would normally sell the beef cross calves once they are about 4 weeks old, to other farmers to rear. However, since June we have been shut down with TB and unable to sell them locally.
TB looks like it must be spread by wildlife as we do not buy cattle in. The cattle that reacted to the test had been grazing in fields near Walters Ash. We must have two clear tests 60 days apart to be able to sell them without restriction. We did one in August, but it wasn't clear. We are testing at the end of October and then just after Christmas. Each test takes 4 days and many hours of Staff time preparing. Several other farms nearby (within 5 miles) that had been shut down are now Clear, so fingers crossed.
Hallmark August 2023. Report by Richard West.
On June 11th we opened our gate for Open Farm Sunday, along with 250 other farms around the U.K., five years after the last time. Open Farm Sunday is organised by Leaf (Linking Environment and Farming). It is thought 170,000 people visited a farm on June 11th this year. We think around 400 of them visited Stocken Farm; we hope they found their visit rewarding.
For the weeks running up to the big day we wondered why we had decided to do it, there is a lot of preparation .... tidying up, setting up, doing risk assessments, persuading all the helpers that this is how they want to spend their Sunday! This was a free event, and all the displays of machinery and other displays were done by farming friends and family, with the only reward being of feeling the farming industry and its consumers had become a little closer together. We had many interesting questions from you, about cows, crops, hedge row management etc. and a surprising number asking if we sell unpasteurised milk direct to the public (the answer is no). These are good questions for us as it makes us look at our industry from a different angle. Our staff enjoyed the opportunity to showcase the stock they tend day in, day out; also being able to explain why we may be combining near your house late on a Sunday night or on the road with our equipment holding the traffic up. It’s not just for fun but trying to do an operation which is all part of the ultimate aim of farming which is to produce good quality food, which is still very popular. Hopefully making a profit on the way.
Arla, our milk cooperative sent us out a pallet of Arla products for visitors to sample, which three members of their staff came down to hand out. They came from down Leeds and London, volunteering their own time. Phil Hunter, a keen metal detectorist for many decades, came to display his finds that he has found in the local area; fascinating history found in the fields around us. Fiona, another local farmer, brought her beehives (without bees) to demonstrate how apiculture works; her husband lan provided the tractor and trailer rides all day, which were constant) in demand. Princes Risborough Young Farmers also ran a barbeque, and helped run the day, a big workforce that also gave their day up in the interest of farming.
In June, lan our herdsman for over 25 years, decided to hang up the clusters for the last time. We thank him for his dedication to our cows and business, and wish him well in the future. Over his time the business has changed quite dramatically; cow numbers have risen and milk yields per cow have gone up by nearly 50%. Expectations in milk quality have risen and the pressures of farming have changed. Nowadays numerous people come to the farm with clipboards making sure we do everything to their standard. Availability of skilled farm staff is becoming an ever-increasing issue for our industry. Farmers are looking at all sorts of technical solutions like robotic milking, these will help but won't remove the need for skilled agricultural staff. It is often a career not promoted at school age, but it is worth considering. We are increasingly operating with part time employees.
In early August we expect to start our wheat harvest. So far, the crops look in good condition, so fingers crossed they deliver a good yield and are up to milling quality. Since we planted the wheat, the value per tonne has gone from around £200/ton to £350/ton, it has now dropped back £170/ton for harvest movement. It is so difficult to predict which direction the price will go from there. We have made our grass silage, and whole crop rye and barley.
The last main forage to come in will be the maize in September. It's been a difficult spring to establish maize, with constant wet in March and April and much of May, changing rapidly to baking dry in June. We have approximately 20 acres of maize planted at the end of May which only germinated in July as it went dry straight after planting, this will probably come to nothing much.
While the cows are out during summer, we have been improving our cow housing, which is proving to be very time consuming, but will be good by the time the cows are housed.
Hallmark May 2023. Report by Richard West
I hope by the time you read this you will have dug out your fans and sunglasses and be getting fed up with dry warm weather! The dry February allowed us to do a little field work, but it’s not until March we really have lots to do. Six weeks of damp wet weather has pretty much ground us to a halt. On Monday 27th March I think that every farmer in Bucks was out spraying or fertilising or rolling, the Monday after that was nice as well.
In March we usually are preparing to plant maize by spreading manure, and starting cultivating, aiming to plant from mid-April onwards once soil temperature has got to 10c.
Wheat will have its first fungicide to protect it from Yellow Rust and a growth regulator This stops the wheat growing too tall and strengthens it, this keeps it standing upright – as a crop that falls over is disastrous in terms of yield and grain quality. The wheat will also receive some nitrogen fertiliser with sulphur. There are many varieties of wheat that have been bred by plant breeders. They all have different characteristics like grain quality, disease resistance, lodging (falling over) resistance. We try to choose a variety that has good disease resistance, good yield has grain characteristics that our grain buyer wishes to buy. The wheat looks well at present. The feed wheat price has dropped from a peak last year of £350 per ton to under £200. We could currently sell wheat for £217 for delivery in March ‘24. On top of these prices is a milling premium for bread making wheat of between £20-50.
So, will the price of a loaf of bread drop significantly? Despite wheat flour being 75% of the ingredients it generally only contributes 11-15 % of the costs, so it will make little difference in a loaf. The value of the flour element in a loaf has dropped by about 4p. A kilogram of Milling wheat is currently worth 25p, an 880g loaf will use about 0.5kg. The other costs are milling costs, bakery costs, other ingredients, packaging, marketing, and transportation, and of course retailer costs and profits.
The milk price roller coaster ride is in full descent on the steepest slope, dairy farmers are holding on tight and shutting their eyes hoping the downhill doesn’t go on too long. Not surprisingly some want to get off (sell up)! In March our milk price went down 7%, followed by an 11% drop in April. Some of our costs are going down i.e. wheat is part of our cows ration, and fertiliser has come down, but most will have bought at much higher prices.
Charlotte has just been for a short course to the Global Training Center in Washington State studying Advanced Dairy Management. She has been to several countries recently; it is fascinating to see how they all have very different approaches to producing the same product... milk! We try to adapt the best practices from all to our situation here.
In February I went to the NFU conference in Birmingham. The I secretary of state Therese Coffey gave a speech and did a question-and-answer session.
When it came to questions, she was quite arrogant, she seemed almost bored and not interested in issues like why the UK has 1 million fewer laying hens than it did, or the costs of growing salad crops, both issues people may have noticed in empty shelves at times. (Interestingly farm shops and smaller shops seem to have supply, supermarkets have had the empty shelves, probably something about supplier relations I expect).
Later in the Commons she went on to suggest we should be eating seasonable veg like turnips rather than out of season salad, which does have some merit only for the previous largest producer of turnips to remark he had stopped growing turnips because of the costs involved and the inability to find the labour required now. Food security and policy doesn’t seem to be that important to our politicians, fingers crossed other countries keep growing and producing enough for us.
On June 11th we will be opening the farm again for ‘Open Farm Sunday’. (See pictures of our last OFS in 2018). This is an open day where we open to the public to show what we do. Hopefully there will be trailer rides to fields, machinery to learn about, calves to meet and cows to see being milked. So hopefully we will see you here, fingers crossed, hoping for that long awaited sunny weather will still be here on the day!
Hallmark February 1923. Report by Richard West.
The daylight is getting longer which always helps after a cold or wet winter. It certainly has been wet over the last few months really making up for the drought we experienced in the summer. We still have some cattle out, which generally are not damaging the soil structure or grass leys despite the rain, the soil is far from capacity after the drought. The cattle that are out are beef rather than dairy cattle, they are Angus x Holstein and British Blue x Holstein that are about a year old. These breeds can take adverse weather quite well and probably prefer to be outside.
The very cold weather we had in mid-December allowed us to clean the barns out, and to take the dung out to field heaps without damaging the fields as they were frozen solid. That is the best thing about the cold, the bad part is water pipes freeze and parts of the parlour freeze, so at 4 am when milking starts, any frozen parts must be identified and thawed out. The parlour holds 28 cows at a time, so the parlour does warm up quite quickly when the cows come in, exuding their heat.
The Christmas period can be quite tricky trying to allow staff have time off and keep the show on the road, we always hope for benign weather and not to have any breakdowns. Nearly everyone worked over Christmas, thanks to the team it went well without any major issues.
Before long the main herd will be out grazing, and our attention is turning to improving grass leys. They were damaged by the drought last summer, leaving gaps between the grass which the weed ‘chickweed’ has now occupied, and is now smothering more grass out. So we need to remove the chickweed and plant new grass seeds. Last summers drought is also showing in our silage clamps which are not nearly as full as this time last year, so we will be hoping for an early turnout, to take the pressure off the reserves.
The roller coaster of prices is still going flat out. The milk price has been going up for many months, but it definitely looks like it’s gone over the peak and if you listen to industry commentators we are in for a scary ride. It is said the cure for high milk prices is... high milk prices’, as production usually goes up, then consumer demand drops with high product prices, causing a surplus. Bulk cream has dropped at an alarming rate and values are now 50% what they were only two months ago.
Fuel costs have come back significantly, but feed costs are still very high and currently look high for some time to come, especially proteins. Wheat has been high, which has been good when selling but it has dropped 20% in the last 3 months. This I think is because the grain corridor from Russia and Ukraine has been successful in moving a lot of grain, but is of course precarious. This grain is being sold quite cheaply and so to be competitive our price has had to drop, as we still have a large surplus from last harvest to export.
In February we will be doing the farmland bird count. This is important to us as it will show whether our wild bird feeders and other measures we are taking to create habitats to improve biodiversity to flourish are being successful, so fingers crossed we count more than last year.
Hallmark November 2022. Report by Richard West
This autumn has been relatively dry, we had expected it to turn wet after the drought of the summer. We have had good recovery of grass, allowing a group of the milking cows to graze well into October and a good number of youngstock are still out.
The dry weather of the summer has certainly affected our silage stocks (the main feed for the cattle for the winter) and I think it will have to be carefully rationed over the winter to make it last.
Some of the other by products we use are also in tight supply. The supply of brewer’s grains which are the mashed residue of barley (a good form of protein) from the brewing process are in erratic supply. We use about 30 tonnes every fortnight but cannot always get them in time. The ones we use usually come from the Carlsberg Brewery in Northampton. Hopefully beer production will increase in the run up to Christmas. We are no longer able to get citrus pulp, which was the residue of fresh oranges squeezed for juice, as small part of a ration they provided sugar and fibre.
As predicted the harvest in the summer was very early (see photo of harvest behind Culverton farm). At times it was quite worrying; with tinder dry conditions, fire was a serious concern. On one day whilst harvesting, smoke could be seen from three fires, in the local area at the same time.
In the Chilterns we are at risk of fires being created when the combine skids hit flints on the ground causing sparks and starting fires. We did have a small fire behind the engine of the combine, this could have spread uncontrollably in seconds but with several fire extinguishers we were able to put it out quickly with only minor repairs to get it going again.
Compared to last year where we dried everything, this year we didn’t have to dry any grain, which saved a great deal of time and money. We did have to cool it as the grain comes in at a similar temperature to the day temperature, and it can heat up and sweat if it is not cooled.
Considering the dry year, we were very happy with the yield. The specific weight was exceptional and the Hagberg was good, however the protein was generally too low for milling wheat (I know, I did predict in the last article the protein would be high). As this is a nation-wide issue the mills have reduced the specification they require, to keep their supply. They will probably import more wheat from Canada as that usually has very high proteins.
For the last three months we have been very busy with many of the cows and heifers calving. We have been quite tight on staff over the last few months, and this creates a lot of work looking after the calves and starting to milk the heifers (new cows coming into the herd).
The new heifers are not always sure they want to be milked, they can lash out with their feet at the milker who must have their wits about them. Generally, they settle down within a few days and are fine. Thanks to all our team who have put in many hours looking after all the stock.
We have had several visitors to the farm over the last few months. Rob Butler our MP had a tour of the farm, wisely he turned up with wellies. We were able to discuss issues that are affecting farms producing food in a sustainable way.
We also had Princes Risborough Junior Young Farmers for a tour one evening. The club seems to be thriving, but new members are always welcome (you don’t have to be one (farmer) to be one). The juniors are for 10 to – 14 year-olds, the seniors are from 15 to 26 year-olds.
In June we had a fly tipping incident in a field in Smalldean Lane, this was dumped on the edge of one of our fields. This was made possible because somebody had stolen the gate from the field a few weeks beforehand.
Interestingly it was domestic rubbish and in it were several letters all from the same address, in Buckingham. The council official I was with when these were found was delighted and assured me that the resident of the address would be given a visit, hopefully they were.
I wonder if we will see more green fly tipping into fields due to the new council charges. This is always a concern as gardens often have plants that can seriously harm cattle.
The cluster group has been doing reptile surveys, thanks to Lavinia and friends who have been monitoring various sites around the farm throughout the summer. (The photo shows her checking under the mats for reptiles).
am not sure there has been much on our patch, but I do I know some farms have found grass snakes and slow worms, I expect the results will be published soon.
The cluster group is just starting some meetings discussing chalk stream catchments, specifically issues such as field run off and aquifer recharging.
Quite a few of the farms have chalk stream catchments so it should be interesting.
Hallmark August 1922. Report by Richard West
Once again, the weather is the thing most on our minds. It has been much drier than normal throughout the spring until early summer and as I write we are in the grip of a heatwave.
The extreme heat is finishing the arable crops off quickly now, our first crops of wheat will be ready to harvest in late July; on average we probably start harvesting them around the 2nd week of August, so it will be early. The sunshine as the crop matures should help boost the protein content of the wheat. Now we hope it stays dry to get the harvest in, without the massive cost of drying grain. Last year we had to dry all of it.
The rest of the farm is desperate for some rain. We have made some reasonable volumes of silage considering the rainfall in the first and second cuts, the 3rd cut looks next to non-existent. A grazing milking cow will eat over 40 kg of fresh grass a day. The grass has stopped growing so we are now feeding out our silage made for winter feed, to supplement the grass that the cows are grazing. The maize which is also a key part of our cows’ winter ration likes the sun and is looking good, but of course it does need rain as well.
It is good at catching the rain as its big leaves funnel any rainfall down its stem to where its roots are waiting to use it. After a shower of rain if you walk in a maize field you will see it looks like each plant has been watered individually.
The cow's themselves hate the heat, which gives us a great deal of concern, they are at their happiest between -2C and 18C. If mixed with high humidity they can get in real trouble especially if for some reason their health is comprised at the same time; they are not good at cooling down. They are often better in the shade of the barns by day and grazing by night.
In June we started a new milk contract called Arla Care, so we will be producing milk for Arla brands such as Cravendale and BoB. Our milk will be segregated with other farms on the same contract still being processed at the Arla Dairy at Aston Clinton. To qualify for this contract we have to have a higher level of farm standards, the cows have to go out to graze, we need to invest in renewable energy and our natural habitats.
The roller coaster of inflation is an uncomfortable ride. Our costs have rocketed, which is now being reflected in the shops; if they weren't, food supply would head to a cliff edge. It is very difficult at present to be confident that the margins are there, especially as food production is such a long-term process.
Recently we attended Charlotte's graduation at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, a leading agricultural education establishment, on completion of her degree in Agriculture (delayed by Covid), a proud day for us. This university has taught our family a great deal. I attended there over 30 years ago, and my father John attended 60 years ago.
We have been disappointed when our owl boxes were checked by 'Borg', we hadn't attracted any residents. Maybe next year. The front cover of this magazine is a photo of the chicks from another nearby farm's box, in the cluster group. Our spring bird survey had one new bird to us on the list, a peregrine falcon. The Chiltern Cluster has now recorded 106 species of bird since the surveys started several years ago..
Hallmark May 2022. Report by Richard West
In March we were able to turn out our in-calf heifers after a winter in the barns, which causes great excitement amongst them. They have had a few wintry days since but on average they prefer to be out. The grass must be growing a bit more consistently for the cows to go out and it needs to be a little bit warmer for last autumn’s calves.
We have got to do a six-month TB Test in mid-May, which involves presenting them to the TB technician or vet twice, 3 days apart. They must be in the yard at that point to handle them safely, so this doesn’t encourage taking them too far away at the end of April only to have to gather them in two weeks later.
The end of April is always a busy time as we are trying to spread manure and then create seed beds to plant maize. Maize requires the soil to be 10 degrees to germinate and doesn’t like frost once it has emerged. So, it’s usually best planted around the last week of April. We have fertilised and rolled our silage leys which will be ready for the first cut around the end of May.
Red Tractor audit
In the last week of April we have an annual Red Tractor Audit looking at our cereal production and beef cattle production. In mid-May we have our annual red tractor Dairy Audit. Without the red tractor Audit certification, we would be virtually unable to sell our produce, so it is important. A farm that recently featured on Panorama had its red tractor certificate removed. As far as I know the cows have been sold and the farm has ceased milk production.
Dairy farming is a routine business. If you are a person that likes routine and a physical outdoor life, dairy farming could be for you. There are many daily routines like feeding, cleaning, bedding, milking.
There are weekly routines like Vet fertility and cow health visits. At least once a month a professional cow chiropodist comes to trim cows’ feet (the aim is the cows have their feet trimmed twice a year), to prevent any lameness.
Every month we do milk recording which involves taking a sample of milk from every cow which is then sent away to be analysed for butterfat, protein levels and health quality.
Although the routine is similar every day, it gradually changes throughout the year as the seasons change. This spring and summer we have several work-experience students coming who are studying at Berkshire college of agriculture; and later in the year we have some vet students coming for a week of dairy experience. These guys are the future for our industry, so we try to give them the experience if possible.
Ukraine. We mentioned in the last article the cost of farming going up, which will inevitably cause production to be reduced, pushing consumer prices up. Since then, the awful situation in Ukraine has happened. This has made a tough situation worse, with production costs leaping again.
Ukraine accounts for about 10% of global trade in grains and oil seeds like sunflower and oil seed rape for vegetable oils. In 2021 11% of our vegetable oils were imported from Ukraine. Unlike the UK Ukraine didn’t ban the use of nicotinoid seed dressings, which reduced the UK’s output. Between 2011 and 2015 UK averaged 2.5 million tonnes production, this year the production is predicted to be 1 million tonnes, so we now rely on more imported oilseeds.
At this time of year Ukrainian farmers would normally be planting most of their crops, it’s difficult to imagine much being achieved in some areas. Recently the EU parliament agricultural commissioners have acknowledged there isn’t currently a food security threat however they are discussing ways for the EU to boost its food production. Which is good news as we import over 40% of the food we consume.
Meanwhile DEFRA doesn’t believe there will be any problems (until the shelves are empty) as we have a good domestic agricultural industry that is good at absorbing costs (apparently); also we are a wealthy nation that can afford to import food. However, there is so much pressure in fertiliser and feed prices and availability; and labour shortages within the industry, so we will see how it unfolds.
We had a bird survey done by a volunteer organised by the cluster group in February. Over the whole cluster area 77 species of bird were spotted and on our farm 55 species were recorded, which was pleasing. We also had a meeting with several other local cluster groups. This was very interesting, and we came away feeling our cluster was leading the way in many ways.
Hallmark February 1922. Report by Richard West
As we roll into a New Year it’s a time for reflection on last year and wonder what the next 12 months will bring.
The year past, It’s been a roller coaster of volatile weather, Covid, Brexit and high inflation. At Stocken Farm we have on balance had a good year. Harvest was about average in yield with good quality, the cows have milked very well and have improved in health and fertility. We had a dry autumn which allowed winter wheat to be planted and hedges to be trimmed, and the beef cattle to stay out beyond Christmas.
The year ahead? Inflation is out of our control and so difficult to predict. Energy prices are fuelling agricultural inflation and there has been a generally poor harvest in the Northern Hemisphere.
The cattle feed prices just keep on rising and it’s difficult to know when to go to the market when forward bought foods run out. Fertiliser prices have nearly tripled in 6 months and there will now be many acres not receiving the fertiliser that crops require to perform at their optimum, which will mean lower yields - this is not a UK-only phenomenon.
The result will push prices up for consumers buying food in the shops this summer and into next winter. The weather begins to look like the easiest part of farming to predict!
Hedge planting. Before Christmas we started work on planting some new hedges, we have about 2 km planned. (With the help of the Chiltern Conservation Board).. These should create wide hedges with occasional trees that will be a haven for wildlife. They are a mix of hawthorn, field maple, hornbeam, mountain ash, wayfaring tree, buckthorn, guelder rose, spindle, dog rose and wild cherry.
Hedges and trees are not only field boundaries but provide cover from windy weather, and shade to the cattle. Planting a mixture of trees is important as you never know if a species will come under pressure. An example of just that is Ash trees.
Ash die back is really kicking-in now, younger trees are dying, and a number of big mature trees seem to be rotting at the base. I think that over the next decade we will see many being felled for safety reasons.
Carbon capture. The Cluster Group members have been using the ‘Carbon Toolkit’ to calculate their farms’ carbon footprint. This will show the total carbon emissions and carbon offsets expressed as tonnes of carbon dioxide, a % of total emissions sequestration, and the carbon balance of our businesses.
Once we have the information, we can look at how we can operate our business in a way to reduce our carbon footprint. We did some soil sampling that was tested for the carbon content, if we can test again in the future we will see if we have sequestered carbon into the soil.
Carbon is the main component of soil organic matter, it helps to give soil its water retention capacity, its structure and its fertility. Our highest result was 12% soil organic matter which I think is higher than average. The cluster group averaged 143 tonnes/hectare of soil carbon in the survey. Soil is the most important asset to a farmer.
Bird life. We also did a quick bird survey of our feeding sites again and were really pleased to see two Jack Snipe had returned from their summer migration to maybe northern Europe or Russia. The next full survey will be in February.
Hallmark November 2021. Report by Richard West
It’s been a hectic few months at Stocken Farm. We started our wheat harvest slightly later than usual on the 11th of August. There wasn’t much rain during harvest, but there wasn’t much sun either. We were able to combine our crops, but frustratingly we had to dry most of it. Pleasingly all our wheat has reached milling quality standard, many farmers’ crops have not, so this has put the milling wheat premium up, adding about 15% to the value of the crop. Wheat crops in the northern hemisphere have generally been poor quality. The world wheat stock forecast for 21-22 is the lowest it has been since 2008 this will push prices up; they have gone up nearly 25% since a low point in June.
The maize silage was done just before the weather broke at the end of September which is a relief as the trailers don’t damage the soil structure or bring mud onto the roads when it is dry.
By the end of October next year’s wheat will be planted and the cycle starts again. The crop starts with full potential of a great yield. Gradually throughout the growing season factors affect the potential. It’s mostly influenced by the weather but also by the inputs that we apply to feed and protect the crops that make a huge difference to yield and quality potential.
Many products seem to be in short supply or unavailable. The big concern is fertiliser for next spring, due to the cost of natural gas. Prices had already gone up by 75% for ammonium nitrate when CF announced they were shutting their plants at Ince and Billingham (which as a by-product produce 60% of the UK's carbon dioxide) Important if you like bubbles in your lager or gin and tonic!
Since then, ammonium nitrate has gone up from £230t to nearly £700t. We also use Urea (a nitrogen fertiliser). At present you cannot buy any now or for spring delivery. When in the EU we imported from Algeria but with no trade agreement we will largely be reliant on Egypt for North African imports. It was already a concern to get delivery of fertiliser from a port with the HGV shortage, now we wonder if it will be in the port at all.
This autumn we have just grazed a herbal ley, for the first time that we have established this summer. Instead of just grass the field has been planted with a mixture of 17 species of grass, herbs, and legumes. The legumes will fix their own nitrogen which provides it for the other herbs and grasses reducing a need for artificial fertiliser. The herbal ley will be good for soil fertility, it will be drought resistant on our shallow soils, and the chicory and sainfoin should have anthelmintic properties. This ley is a learning challenge for our management, we will see how the ley and the animals that eat it perform.
We have an ambitious hedge planting plan this winter with over 1km of hedges planned, with the help of the Chiltern Cluster group. They have also done botanical surveys on some fields that we felt had potential for species of plants to be present that make them a priority habitat worth protecting with careful management. We have learnt about plants that we didn’t know existed. One field had over seventy species including wild marjoram, rough hawkbit, ox-eye daisy, wild basil, and pyramid orchids. So, we now must learn how to farm these fields to protect and improve the habitats we have inadvertently created.
When working on the farm you are often treated to natural sights that catch your eye. Nowadays usually we have a camera with us to catch these moments. The front cover of this Hallmark shows a foggy autumnal morning. The mist has been captured in the spiders’ webs on the grass, it reminds me of the sea. Makes you realise how busy the spiders have been.
Hallmark August 2021. Report by Richard West.
The calendar indicates that it’s mid-July and so it’s the calm before the storm. We have now done spring barley whole crop silage and 3 cuts of grass silage. Unusually the third cut is the heaviest of all of them, it’s as though the grass celebrated finally getting some warm weather in June following the cold April and wet May and put in a massive growth spurt. The maize has picked up and now looks back on track.
The storm that is coming is our harvest. Wheat and spring barley. All looks set for good yields, but nothing can be counted until safely gathered. Wheat will be our first crop which will be around the beginning of August. Before our harvest other farmers will combine winter barley, this will make available some straw which we are in desperate need of Last year’s straw was in short supply following the wet autumn of 2019 when few cereals were planted.
At the same time as our harvest, we have about half our cows and heifers due to calve. This sets them up for autumn and winter milk production. Most of our cows have been out grazing this spring as the grass grew strongly. As the weather gets warmer in the summer the grass growth slows, we will have to supplement their diet with the silage we have conserved.
Bees and pollinators are important to us all. Arla, our milk co-operative, has recently launched its ‘Bee Road Campaign’, supported by Morrisons, Homebase and the charity Buglife. They are encouraging farmers to get on to the ‘Bee Road’ by planting pollinator plots. Arla has given away 100,000 packs of seeds of pollinator-friendly plants to consumers to plant in their gardens. A photo shows one of our wildflower patches.
Recently most of the farmers in our Cluster Group met at FarmED in the Cotswolds. This is a new educational farming centre for farmers, growers, policy makers, students and researchers. The centre is passionate about regenerative agriculture, soil fertility and capturing carbon. The day certainly created debate amongst all that attended, as it was challenging our approach to farming techniques that have in many cases become monocultural and not necessarily with soil health at the top of the agenda. What did become clear during the day is that grazing livestock has an important part to play in soil health and regenerative farming. The Chiltern Cluster is based in a diverse landscape, so most of us have got livestock on the farm as well as crops.
Just a few miles from FarmEd is Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. The Amazon Prime series he has made about running his farm has been generally well received in the farming community. Often showing all the challenges that can happen in farming and his ways of overcoming them. Well worth watching if the opportunity arises, although it’s possibly not for the faint hearted at times.
B.O.R.G came to check their owl and kestrel boxes for chicks. The result was a little disappointing; a crafty squirrel had set up home in the kestrel box, a sneaky pigeon was nesting in the barn owl box and the tawny owl box was still vacant. We did pick up a very young tawny chick in the spring which was delivered into St. Tiggywinkles care.
We have often been asked if we sell milk from the farmgate, the answer is not yet. We have been looking into the idea of a milk vending machine. This would vend our pasteurised milk. They have been quite successful in some locations; we are currently investigating its viability so watch this space!
Anyway, back to harvest preparations and all the machinery needs checking and servicing. This morning the combine coughed and spluttered and refused to start. Our main tractor, after getting over adblu problems last week (adblu the bane of a lot of modern machinery), brake lights have come on... so disc brakes need changing which means back wheels and axle off. All these issues 4 weeks after the 3-year warranty ran out!
Hallmark May 2021. Report by Richard West.
We have been busy in March and April with field work. The dry spell has allowed us to get a lot of slurry out, spread field dung heaps and work the ground to make a seed bed for the maize crop. For maize to germinate the soil temperature must be 10°C. In mid-April on a daily basis it has gone over 10°C and back to zero at 10cm depth, averaging about 7°C at 30cm depth. So I think we will aim to plant in the last week of April. We have given the wheat its main nitrogen application. Grass should be growing very rapidly at this moment but with the cold easterly wind and no rainfall in the last month it has been a terribly slow grass growth spring. Once our maize is planted, we will be praying for some warm rain.
In mid-April we did our TB test. This has revealed 4 inconclusive cows. They will have to be tested again after 60 days, if they fail again, even if they are not a full reactor we will be “shut down” and have to keep testing the whole herd every 60 days until we have 2 clear tests in a row. Until this we would be unable to sell cattle to other farmers again, so fingers crossed they go clear. The testing is exhausting and not being able to sell causes problems, as well as being demoralising for everyone involved.
The beef, milk and wheat markets are strong at the moment, as are the feed and straw prices. This is a combination of shortage of wheat after last year’s poor crops and from a beef point of view the export and import trade is being affected by Brexit, and lockdown is changing buying habits. The price we could sell wheat for at harvest is strengthening, this is brought on by concerns that we could be in the start of a drought.
We have recently tested quite a few fields for their Ph levels. Most of the crops we grow like a Ph between 6.5 and 7. We were finding patches of fields down to 5.5, which would seriously affect the crop. To remedy this we apply chalk. People out and about may have seen heaps of chalk ready to be spread. This is chalk dug from a quarry near Ivanhoe that has been sieved, it is spread at 2-3 tonnes per acre.
If you walk the footpaths across our land, you may have noticed some new fences have been erected. One is a beside a footpath, where, when doing new fencing, we try to keep walkers and cattle separate. The other fences are dividing some of our bigger fields. This is to improve our grazing management. The principle being when grazing it is better to have smaller paddocks that Cows Can graze off all the grass quickly and then move to another field allowing the grass in the first paddock to regrow.
Over the early spring the Chiltern Farm Cluster Group has been running webinars about various countryside topics. These have been followed by many people, some from overseas, they have been interesting. Recordings of them can be found on the Chiltern Conservation Board Website under ‘farmers webinars’ They are also running a reptile survey looking for reptiles like slow worms, grass snakes and common lizards it will be interesting to see what is found on our farms in due course.
Hallmark February 2021. Report by Richard West
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Hallmark November 2020. Report by Richard West.
.. I always seem to write about the weather. So this article I decided not to write about the 15+ inches of rain since September and the effects of it. I am not going to write about the waterlogged fields, the fact we have planted about 3/4 of the area of wheat we intended to plant and half of that is waterlogged and has probably rotted rather than grown. I will not write about the extra amount of slurry and not being able to cart manure out to fields without dragging mud on to the road. I cannot remember it being quite so wet, hopefully a dry spell is just around the corner. The nights are drawing out and it feels like we’re on the right side of the shortest day.
On the positive side we did manage to establish over 100 acres of new grass leys before the rain started, these look well. These will be kept for two seasons to be cut regularly to make silage for the dairy cows over the winter. We have sold all the arable crops that we produced last year. It was mostly milling wheat that we sold to Heygates at Tring to make into flour. Every load passed for quality with particularly high protein levels, this is the effect of sunny weather last June and July when the grain was forming and ripening. The milk price paid by ARLA our milk buyer has remained remarkably stable considering the UK had one of its most productive years in 2019 for milk production.
People who walk the footpaths behind the farm may have seen our wild bird feeders that are about the farm. These are part of the farm cluster group’s activities. 17 farms in the local area have taken about 2 tonne of bird seed each to feed birds to help them through winter, and hope to increase the diversity of the bird population on the farm and in the area. The Bucks Owl and Raptor Group (BORG) are also going onto the farm putting up owl boxes, we are expecting them on farm before long. In 2019 75 species of birds have been recorded in the cluster group. The Hughenden ringing group have set up a long term ringing project on 3 of the farms, aiming to net and ring birds once a month between November and April across the 5 years of the project.
During the winter nearly all our cattle are housed. We have one group of beef cross yearlings out on stubble turnips (stubble turnips are established after a cereal crop and used before a spring crop, like maize, is planted) and a little grass, which is ok on free draining ground. We also have some sheep on the farm, this is helping someone out who has not managed to establish stubble turnips last summer as it was so dry and they are short of keep. These are pregnant ewes, they do a good job of reducing grass cover without treading up the ground. As we don’t usually have sheep, most of our fields do not have sheep proof fields, so temporary fencing has to be put up.
We are also doing some management on some of our hedges, where elder is taking over. We are taking it out and replacing it with hawthorn and holly which makes a better stockproof hedge in due course.
Farming is often affected by political decisions. The new agricultural bill is about to be reintroduced. This will be a significant piece of legislation that will have quite an effect on the direction of UK agriculture for the next few decades. Hot on its heels will be the new Environmental Bill which will no doubt also have implications for agriculture particularly in relation to soil, air and water quality. It feels like as we move into a new decade, we are moving into a new farming era, presumably we will leave Europe and go away from the Common Agricultural Policy. It is difficult to predict where we will be by the end of the decade. Hopefully still producing foods for people who like to consume them, but this may not the case, food maybe produced out of thin air and created in factories by then..
Hallmark August 2020. Report by Richard West.
Hallmark May 2020. Report by Richard West
Hallmark February 2020
Hallmark November 2019. Report by Richard West
Recently we have had a reminder that the weather drives all our decisions and activities on the farm. We had fairly good weather for harvest, with a week of wet weather in August clearing up before the wheat quality was ruined. We had quite low rainfall last winter and spring, and a dry summer, however the wheat has yielded really well with good bread making qualities, we think it put down deep roots in the spring allowing it to cope well in the dry conditions of May, June and July, the plentiful sunshine (energy) giving the quality.
The maize has yielded better than last year and importantly we managed to harvest it just before the wet spell in late September and October began. Since then we have had 8 inches of rain in 3 weeks. There are still many acres of maize to harvest around the UK, a crucial part of winter cow rations still to be harvested. This is a real concern if roadwork is involved, as it becomes very muddy. While it has been raining we should have been planting our winter wheat seed, hopefully the end of October will be kind and we will et it planted.
Our milking cows are now housed for winter. We have had many calves born in the last two months, which is keeping us busy, most of the Holstein calves have been born. The female calves will join the herd in two years time, the males being reared for beef. The calves born for the next six months have been sired by a beef bull. Some of these we will rear, others we will sell to other farmers to rear.
We usually use a British Blue bull but as an experiment we used a Wagyu bull a few times, we have just had the first two born which will be interesting to see how these fare as they grow. Wagyu beef is from one of four Japanese breeds, it can be some of the most expensive meats in the world. It has fine texture, the fat is distributed more evenly through the muscle so it looks pink and is really tender. Traditionally Wagyu beef cattle in Japan are fed beer and regularly massaged to reduce stress, so there could be new job opportunities for masseuses in the future!
Arla’s (our milk buying cooperative) milk price has been stable for the last six months at a sustainable level. Other companies have not been so reliable with some 20% less than ours. Tomlinsons, a dairy that processes milk for Sainsburys has just called the receivers in so its supplying farmers will most likely lose six weeks of milk revenue, a crippling blow for some.
This reminds us of when Dairy Farmers of Britain folded about 15 years ago. We were caught up with them, a supportive bank becomes very important then.
A hot topic in farming at the moment is climate change. According to the NFU, agriculture is responsible for 10% of green house emissions. Coming in well behind transport at 27% and energy supply at 24%. The NFU has a target for agriculture to be net zero by 2040. Arla which is a Northern European company has a target of 2050, with the aim of reducing gas emissions by 30% per kilo of milk in the next decade.
There are many figures being banded around about livestock farming’s carbon footprint, some of them do not seem to be creditable, certainly not in relation to British farming systems.
As an Arla supplier we have been calculating our carbon footprint for a number of years, not always convinced that the consumer has been that interested when making their purchases. Maybe this will change, or maybe just be confident in companies like Arla that are doing all they can to produce environmentally friendly products. The UK is ahead of the game, it is probably never a better time to encourage consumers to buy British reared and produced products.
With all the negative press farming receives we have been tagged in some positive tweets recently which really brightens your day up. Also last week whilst our Landrover was parked in Princes Risborough it had two notes attached to it, the first handwritten one read: THANK YOU FOR BEING A FARMER, the other note was of monetary value. This was obviously unusual but also fantastically appreciated by our family and staff, the donation is heading to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution for whom we try to raise money each year. So to whoever put it there a big thank you.
Hallmark August 2019. Report by Richard West.
The Chiltern Farm Cluster group has continued to develop. This spring we have had two more bird surveys done. They found a total of 46 species; the notable ones for us were Corn Bunting, Tree Creeper, Wheatear and White Throat. Attention has started to turn to Fauna. Some farms have had tremendous displays of wildflowers. This cluster group Is really opening the eyes of local farmers to what they have on their farms, often without realising.
Charlotte has completed her year with McDonald’s on the Progressive Young Farmer Programme and is now back on the farm until her next term at Harper Adams starts. This programme finished with all the participants giving a presentation about their year on the programme. It is clear that McDonald’s has really high standards and expectations from their farmer suppliers. It is a good company to work with as a farmer and a real supporter of British agriculture. A real eye opener and something many of their customers just wouldn’t realise.
While the cows are grazing during the summer we have been renovating their winter accommodation. This year we have improved several feed troughs, re-concreting them and coating them with resin floors which are easy to clean and smooth to lick by the cow. We have also replaced a number of water troughs with rapid emptying ones, so they are easy to keep clean and the water fresh. Cows are very aware when food and water are not as fresh as they could be and as a result their intakes drop. I am sure our intake would drop if we never washed up our plates and mugs! We have also been busy conserving forage to feed the cows this winter. So far we have done three cuts of grass silage, made wholecrop barley silage and are about to cut lucerne for the second time. The maize is looking good after a slow start with plenty of sunshine and another rainfall.
There are some people who ring and when you see the number on caller display your heart sinks, as straight away you think the cows are out as that is the only time they ring. They either quickly explain that they have another reason to call or confirm what you already believe is inevitable. This is the phone call that every livestock farmer dreads. It can come at anytime of day, sometimes when its easy to get some help, sometimes not, sometimes we are not even at the farm. The first thought is damage limitation. The quicker we can get to the scene the less damage is done, the cows will have gone less distance and they may not all be out. We have had several instances this year.
We have several cases of cows being spooked and breaking out of their fields, which we are putting down to being chased by dogs, but with no evidence of that. One lot in a block of land between Clappins Lane and Stocking Lane in Naphill burst through their fence and just kept running, unusually they split into three groups, one group stayed in the woods, another ran up North Dean near Speen, the last group went over to Naphill Common and on to Downley, a distance of over four miles. We are very grateful for the help of local farmers who helped us to return the cattle to their fields, once we located them.
Another call we received was slightly different. We had another case of photosensitivity in a cow, like we did last year, this time in a field in Naphill. A member of the public rang and said they thought we had a cow that had been attacked by a dog, but it was a Case of photosensitivity where the cow’s white patches of skin go very dry and crack open, she is now recovering indoors away from direct sunlight. But looking at her you could see why the person thought how they did, and we appreciate her concerned phone call.
On July 18th we had the biggest breakout of cows that we have probably ever had. That could have turned out so much worse. Our high yielders were coming back from the fields behind the farm for breakfast when they spotted a gate that had accidentally been left open after a delivery. This was just too interesting for a cow to resist.
The cows are a bit like a union. all in or all out... so in a matter of minutes over 100 had got out into Kiln Lane, up to the main road where they turned left down the main road. There were numerous parked cars as it was school sports day. At the bottom of the straight someone turned them into the sports ground, where, like the kids they had a quick race and did a100 metre sprint to the tennis court area. We were eventually able to get them back into a field which had the low yielders in, so later we had to sort them out. But the main thing was that they were back in a field. Apart from a few agricultural deposits being left, we are unaware of any serious damage being done to date… which is miraculous. Although in unusual circumstances it was nice to meet neighbours whom we hadn’t met before.
Many thanks to everyone who helped get them back in, even those of you who we do not know, and for the understanding of our neighbours and lastly a special thanks to the girl on the bus who took a video and sent it to the Bucks Free Press.
Hallmark May 2019. Report by Richard West
In February we finally had some good news, we have tested clear for TB. This brings to an end for now to seven months of cattle movement restrictions. Although we have never had any positive TB tests we had a few inconclusive results, which caused our shutdown. This means we will be able to sell our surplus beef calves to other farmers to rear, just in time as our cattle housing was at full capacity. We will have to test the herd again in six months time.
Also, in February as part of the ‘Central Chiltern Cluster Farmers Group’ (which is still in the process of being formed with the aim of bringing local farmers together into a conservation group) we did a bird survey. This involved two keen ornithologists, organised by the Chiltern Conservation Board, who looked around approximately half our farm one morning. On the morning they spotted 45 species of birds, which they were really pleased with. To put it into context, a similar visit to RSPB Otmoor would expect to see around 50 species. Some of the notable sightings were fieldfare, great spotted woodpecker, mistle and song thrush, jay, sparrow hawk, kestrel, buzzard, red kite, dunnock, coal / great / long-tailed and blue tits, greenfinch, wagtails, heron, jackdaw, chaffinch, wren, robin, meadow pipit.
We have a few pieces of diverse habitat that showed their value. We have a few wet areas, one of them produced 12 snipe; in the game covers they saw linnet, yellowhammer, reed bunting, we are also home to a number of skylarks.
The highlight of the morning was to see the short-eared owl which we had seen in January and hoped to get it counted officially to prove it was here. There has only been one other recorded sighting in Bucks this year on the BBOWT Reserve at Gallows Bridge Farm. This is a regular site for them, and that has only been seen once. We know our owl was around for at least a month which shows it was enjoying the habitat, finding food and generally not being disturbed.
To make it even better we have now seen two owls. The short-eared owl spends quite a lot of time on the ground. It hunts towards dusk by flying a few feet above the ground hunting for voles and other rodents. By now it will have probably headed north for the breeding season. Interestingly when it nests it does so on the ground. We hope to do another bird count in the spring when migratory birds will have returned.
We have had our low yielders out grazing since mid-March, which is quite early, this is taking some of the pressure off our silage stocks that we have been rationing out over winter, as our supplies were light after last years drought. The cows have milked well over winter, which is common throughout the UK as national production has been at an all-time high.
Over the winter we have refenced some grazing land at Walters Ash, on land where we have planted some new leys. These leys are the latest in grass varieties that the cattle should enjoy grazing for a number of years.
In one of these fields a few badger holes have appeared. These are really dangerous for the cattle as they can be several feet vertically straight down about a foot wide. There is a real risk of cows breaking legs down them if they put there feet down them without paying attention. It is quite a problem with no real answer. Badgers are associated with TB, it would seem likely that the badgers in this district are not infected, or we would be seeing confirmed cases of TB locally.
We have recently bought a weigh tray for weighing the cattle for various management reasons. It has had a use that hadn’t been foreseen. Princes Risborough Young Farmers has a Ladies Tug of War team which had to weigh under 550 kg collectively to qualify for competition. The weigh tray was perfect for all to get on at once they came in about 10 kg under the weight I believe. Princes Risborough is holding the county countryside rally again this year on June 1st, at Bledlow. As I said before this is a really good fun day out for anyone and I urge you to consider putting the date in your diary. It would be especially good to support half a tonne of Risborough ladies trying their best in the tug of war!
Hallmark February 2019. Report by Richard West