Livelihoods at risk through not getting proper return

Glorious weather, ideal for the barbecue and good for the maize fields, with the maize plants a dark green and looking a great deal healthier than they did a week ago.

We have good grass growth, but with no rain to speak of for two months now, it is getting a little dry.

However, it is bank holiday next weekend, and that gives us a sporting chance of some rain!

The nightingales are in full song day and night, and the dawn chorus is at its best, as each little bird defends its territory for the day.

The bluebells are about to finish, but the may is out in full blossom, putting an end to the magnificent spring display this year; quite the best I have seen.

My potatoes in the garden are recovering from the frost, with new shoots and leaves rising from the black foliage killed off a week or so ago.

I've bought some runner bean plants, but will I tempt fate if I plant them out now?

On the farm, things are going well with the dairy herd.

Milk production is steady and becoming cheaper to produce as we turn out more cows on to grass.

We can see that the next three weeks of grazing is secure, but after that it could diminish if we have no rain. We are pumping dirty water every day on to the silage fields, concentrating the water on those which are likely to give us the best return in grass yield.

It is far better to water a smaller acreage generously, rather than spread it too thinly, especially when the weather is as warm as it has been this weekend.

The bio-digester has been a total nightmare this last week, with text messages from the engine arriving day and night.

We seem to have a problem that cannot be fixed remotely by computer, and having lost patience with the lack of support from Germany, we are now talking to a British company.

Working long hours, day in day out, is fine, but when sleep patterns are interrupted, then very quickly one becomes jaded and very bad-tempered.

On Friday night we had reached crunch point, not only was the engine stopping several times a day, and the expected engineer had failed to turn up, but the computer crashed as well.

We were contemplating switching the engine off for the weekend and running the flare to burn off the gas, when our local expert fixed the computer, and we tried one last time.

We programmed the engine to run at half power, and using the flare periodically during the day to burn off excess gas, I have managed to keep things running over the weekend.

This proves that the gas fan will operate at this level, but cuts out if we turn up the engine, which in turn demands more gas.

At full power the engine burns 500 cubic meters of gas every hour or 12000 cubic meters a day, which is quite a lot.

The new Ministerial team at Defra has been welcomed with enthusiasm across the farming industry.

This optimism is due to appointed Ministers having experience and knowledge of the industry, redressing the total bias towards environment and lack of interest in farming of the past Labour government.

Farmers are also keen to see delivery of promises made in the run up to the election, the promise of an Ombudsman, far less red tape and regulation, a savage cut in the number of government '˜quangos', better food labelling, and finally the promise to start the eradication of bovine TB.

Nick Herbert's promise of putting the '˜F' back into Defra (farming) was a very popular message with farmers and we will now see if it can all be delivered.

Cutting costs will be the initial pressure, and farmers hope that this will lead to less duplication and over-regulation and complication that stifles the industry; the agricultural industry is not alone in that respect.

We need to see government back off, and interfere far less in everyone's lives, putting an end to policing what we eat and drink, and maybe start policing those who break the law day in day out; concentrating on criminals and not motorists and other easy pickings.

Given that Defra and all other government departments for that matter, are facing the biggest cuts in living memory, it is an advantage when Ministers understand the sector they are dealing with, leading to greater understanding over what needs to be protected, what needs to be cut immediately as wasted resource, and which areas are going to be very difficult and therefore need industry understanding and agreement.

If they play their cards right, keep their promises, farmers will understand; providing the case is made.

n Although I am no longer NFU Dairy Board Chairman, as a dairy farmer I am again appalled to see processors making record profits whilst undercutting each other in the market, refusing to give farmers increases in milk price when commodity markets across the world are rising fast.

It is always the same old story, and when commodity prices start to fall, we will have missed the peak once again.

I cannot understand why we fail to get across the message to farmers that they need a proper contract.

I see farmer representatives, attempting to get more money back to their members, but without a tool to negotiate with, all they can do is ask; it is pathetic.

I can see a major row breaking out in June unless there is real movement, because the European Commission is likely to start releasing butter and milk powder in intervention stores on to the market, which could put an end to the rise in prices.

If this is done carefully and correctly, it will make a fair profit for the tax payer (which is good), and it will slowly empty the stores which overhang the market.

Processors in this country will of course use this as a further excuse not to increase prices to dairy farmers.

With a long expensive winter behind us, and poor silage cuts this spring, costs are high and not getting a proper return from the market is putting many livelihoods at risk.

I hope that commonsense prevails.

Farm

Diary

by Gwyn Jones