End of the Road for Small Livestock Farms?

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
Can remember doing budgets in Ag college in 1980.Friend was selling milling wheat for £130/Ton. Inflation tracker puts that at £570 today.
Recall the rest of the budget? Be interesting to know how the inflation adusted £/ha figure would compare once lower average yield but far lower input costs are factored in.
 

Hilly

Member
Hang on, am I missing something ? They both have good jobs off farm, own a chunk of ground worth mega bucks in Sussex........and I’m meant to feel sorry for them that they won’t get enough government hand outs to keep farming in the manner they’ve got accustomed to (unprofitably) because they like having a bunch of pet cows about the place ? Say what ?
I never understand why folk with good jobs farm on the side as well , must be very awkward , be better just helping another farmer to fore fill farming desire and ditch all hassle .
 
I never understand why folk with good jobs farm on the side as well , must be very awkward , be better just helping another farmer to fore fill farming desire and ditch all hassle .

At the end of the day if they love the stress and love multi tasking, that’s up to them. But I find it hard to feel sorry for someone who’s making good money in their day job, owns a small farm with loads with potential to make a good bit of additional money, and a large asset value, who is then moaning the government isn’t going to give them free money anyway to buy the hay for their cows they keep for the fun of it really.
 

Hilly

Member
At the end of the day if they love the stress and love multi tasking, that’s up to them. But I find it hard to feel sorry for someone who’s making good money in their day job, owns a small farm with loads with potential to make a good bit of additional money, and a large asset value, who is then moaning the government isn’t going to give them free money anyway to buy the hay for their cows they keep for the fun of it really.
Their is no argument their for sure.
 

BrianV

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Dartmoor
Not a bad idea, as long as when they come home they can earn a decent wage keep up with the rest of society.
How about headage payments etc with a cap on payments but to qualify for any subsidy at all 1% of your farm must be woodland that you would receive additional payments for?
 
How about headage payments etc with a cap on payments but to qualify for any subsidy at all 1% of your farm must be woodland that you would receive additional payments for?

How about only giving sub for things you do which actually benefit other people, or the environment etc. Rather than you own a farm, have free money, you own some stock, have free money. What’s that all about ? Farming is a job, you do it to make money, if it doesn’t make enough money, get a different job.
 

lloyd

Member
Location
Herefordshire
At the end of the day if they love the stress and love multi tasking, that’s up to them. But I find it hard to feel sorry for someone who’s making good money in their day job, owns a small farm with loads with potential to make a good bit of additional money, and a large asset value, who is then moaning the government isn’t going to give them free money anyway to buy the hay for their cows they keep for the fun of it really.

What's all the potential you talk about?
 

jendan

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northumberland
Recall the rest of the budget? Be interesting to know how the inflation adusted £/ha figure would compare once lower average yield but far lower input costs are factored in.
I cant remember the rest of it,but she was working on 3 ton/acre,based on her own farm. Sadly died 2 years ago,only 68 years old. A really nice lady.
 

BrianV

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Dartmoor
How about only giving sub for things you do which actually benefit other people, or the environment etc. Rather than you own a farm, have free money, you own some stock, have free money. What’s that all about ? Farming is a job, you do it to make money, if it doesn’t make enough money, get a different job.
We also have miles & miles of hedges that cost a fortune to trim & maintain that we are forced by law to keep & uphold simply because the general public like the look of them, who should carry the expense for this when our competitors are free to ranch farm! If you want a pretty country you have to be prepared to pay for it!
 
What's all the potential you talk about?

End of the day if you have off farm jobs that make you a good living, and you own 50 acres and a shed in Sussex.... you have an asset worth 750,000 minimum I would think. You could rent it out, rent out the shed, you could have some camping pitches or glamping pods, you could grow heritage salad crops in a poly tunnel, soft fruit, you could have chickens and sell eggs, do a few calves in the barn, fatten a few pigs for boxes, sell a few lambs in boxes, do some pasture reared chickens in a movable hutch at £25 a bird to folk. There’s options for a lucrative hobby. Why should I fund it ?
 

Hilly

Member
End of the day if you have off farm jobs that make you a good living, and you own 50 acres and a shed in Sussex.... you have an asset worth 750,000 minimum I would think. You could rent it out, rent out the shed, you could have some camping pitches or glamping pods, you could grow heritage salad crops in a poly tunnel, soft fruit, you could have chickens and sell eggs, do a few calves in the barn, fatten a few pigs for boxes, sell a few lambs in boxes, do some pasture reared chickens in a movable hutch at £25 a bird to folk. There’s options for a lucrative hobby. Why should I fund it ?
You shouldn’t end of , we need major change but it needs a transition period as well .
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
We also have miles & miles of hedges that cost a fortune to trim & maintain that we are forced by law to keep & uphold simply because the general public like the look of them, who should carry the expense for this when our competitors are free to ranch farm! If you want a pretty country you have to be prepared to pay for it!
If you can’t see the agricultural benefit of hedges and small field sizes as a livestock farmer, then sell your extremely valuable asset and go ranch farm.
 
We also have miles & miles of hedges that cost a fortune to trim & maintain that we are forced by law to keep & uphold simply because the general public like the look of them, who should carry the expense for this when our competitors are free to ranch farm! If you want a pretty country you have to be prepared to pay for it!

Do you own the ground and the hedges ?
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
End of the day if you have off farm jobs that make you a good living, and you own 50 acres and a shed in Sussex.... you have an asset worth 750,000 minimum I would think. You could rent it out, rent out the shed, you could have some camping pitches or glamping pods, you could grow heritage salad crops in a poly tunnel, soft fruit, you could have chickens and sell eggs, do a few calves in the barn, fatten a few pigs for boxes, sell a few lambs in boxes, do some pasture reared chickens in a movable hutch at £25 a bird to folk. There’s options for a lucrative hobby. Why should I fund it ?

you fücking heretic. They’ll tar and feather you for that. Don’t you know it’s a farmers prerogative and right to farm exactly how he likes, producing exactly what he wants, and the tax payer must fund his lifestyle.
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
End of the day if you have off farm jobs that make you a good living, and you own 50 acres and a shed in Sussex.... you have an asset worth 750,000 minimum I would think. You could rent it out, rent out the shed, you could have some camping pitches or glamping pods, you could grow heritage salad crops in a poly tunnel, soft fruit, you could have chickens and sell eggs, do a few calves in the barn, fatten a few pigs for boxes, sell a few lambs in boxes, do some pasture reared chickens in a movable hutch at £25 a bird to folk. There’s options for a lucrative hobby. Why should I fund it ?
that does sound like you are suggesting they should work a 48hours work in a 24 hour day :unsure: You already help fund plenty of folk with a lifestyle of a having a dozen kids and never worked a day.....
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.1%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 67 35.3%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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