Can we all carry on farming?

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
£15/hr for the chap who holds the stop/go sign at the roadworks. Time and a half overtime. Double at weekends.

That's the reality.
Had a young guy kicking around the farm here since he was 13. He took a job with a local road repair business one spring and he said he was paid more that the main grunt workers holding the traffic stop go signs. Apparently it’s considered an unsafe job and requires so called danger money. Plain boring maybe.
 

Ivorbiggun

Member
Location
Norfolk
You do realise fertiliser has tripled in price in a year, diesel is up 50% in a year, agrochemical up similar… without getting into machinery repairs or replacements climbing? That’s before the effect of this week’s events.

Margins haven’t increased, only the level of risk taken.
Yes they have all gone up, but I don’t expect to see to many of you on bikes any time soon.
 
Realistically with fertiliser prices still rising and my fuel supplier is saying Red diesel will just hit parity with white diesel very shortly, can we actually carry on?
I think your fuel suppplier is talking crap, how does he come to that conclusion?
The difference in price between red and white is down to fuel duty, unless the government change that there will allways be a difference in price.

No doubt the rises in fuel prices and the implications are quite scary though
 
Not going to lie this exact thought has been running through my mind for afew days, labour costs inc time off , holidays , the work you want them to do, material costs , feed costs, fuel , insurance. Interest rates I’ve had a good year financially but I’m starting to feel like I’m just standing still again. I really have to think hard farming is viable in the uk.
Aye cos a lotnof farmers have had it easy ,big dole cheque been reduced ,and costs going up ,
now your going tonhave tomwork for a living , how many farmers have flash vehicles ,
as a mate who works in financial troble shooting ,was on a farm other day ,who had two range rovers , he said it was a one land rover and a car farm not 2 rr , as they got into trouble ,
time to wake up and start earning a living ,dont know what some farmers do all day , cos what some have had for bps they dont have to do too much to have made it pay ,
And mount farm ,your man , do you expect him to work for less just cause your margins are been sqweezed , would you work for you ,doing all the shitty jobs etc in grain store ,
 

Hfd Cattle

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hereford
OH and I were talking about rising costs last night after a friend / local farmer had called by . He was saying about planting ,growing ,harvesting and storing costs rising faster than the value of the produced crop and that he was struggling to see a way forward . I was saying to him how we might let our bit of arable ground out rather than put spring crops in ourselves .
......then all of a sudden he said " if your going to let your ground let me know I will take it ! "
......made us smile .....all of a sudden it wasn't quite so difficult to see a way forward !!
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
OH and I were talking about rising costs last night after a friend / local farmer had called by . He was saying about planting ,growing ,harvesting and storing costs rising faster than the value of the produced crop and that he was struggling to see a way forward . I was saying to him how we might let our bit of arable ground out rather than put spring crops in ourselves .
......then all of a sudden he said " if your going to let your ground let me know I will take it ! "
......made us smile .....all of a sudden it wasn't quite so difficult to see a way forward !!
Average UK farmer would rather have 1000 acres at a loss than 100 acres at a profit.
 
Average UK farmer would rather have 1000 acres at a loss than 100 acres at a profit.
Very different skills running a small farm to running a big one, I’m sure there are plenty of small farmers who would struggle to manage a much larger farm as well as vice versa.
I have said on here before, I would much rather buy another 10 acres than rent another 100
 

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
My trouble is, I give precisely zero sh1ts and I'd see some pansy in a BMW and just leave it on stop.
Tesla's seem to be the new car of choice for the ex Audi/BMW

I think we'll carry on as best we can here, it's only me, kit all up together, need to put some more sheds up to rent out. My main concern is fert for next year along with diesel/chems. I think the main issue is going to be availability of products especially for 23 harvest
 

jendan

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northumberland
I think your fuel suppplier is talking crap, how does he come to that conclusion?
The difference in price between red and white is down to fuel duty, unless the government change that there will allways be a difference in price.

No doubt the rises in fuel prices and the implications are quite scary though
Local Shell garage ran out of white diesel last night and that was 160p. No doubt the next load will be even more.
 

2wheels

Member
Location
aberdeenshire
Sorry I didn’t explain very well. So this was for a general worker, so things like corn cart, corn store cleaning, bowser and some none farming work on the diversifications such as groundscare. So he basically wanted £47,000/year. He’s 22 years old with minimal experience but clearly a bright chap and appears to be a ‘doer’.
if he is a doer you should have hired him.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
As long as I can have new tractors on finance so the neighbours can all see how ‘successful’ I am. 👍
I keep looking for all that gleaming new shiny metal as I run past Nielo Towers on my way for a ride in mid Wales. All I ever see is rather attractive parkland and pretty sheep.

Do I need to see your other holding...?
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
Isn't the price of fert leading to demand destruction? Cutting by 10 or 20% per year seems to be achievable. Does that not lead to less disease and the need for cans of fungicide costing god knows how much?

Diesel can be cut by reducing cultivations.

If the price doesn't justify the expenditure, you are working for less, which after a few years of lower margins is definitely a step in the wrong direction.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I keep looking for all that gleaming new shiny metal as I run past Nielo Towers on my way for a ride in mid Wales. All I ever see is rather attractive parkland and pretty sheep.

Do I need to see your other holding...?

I keep it in a shed, where I can keep it shiny and polished. It’s sometimes a bit of a rush to get it out in the field for viewing when I see a neighbour heading out. 😂
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

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

    Votes: 6 3.2%

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

  • 1,287
  • 1
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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