Stocken Farm News

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.