Farming in the future

czechmate

Member
Mixed Farmer
Things will get worse. Why ? Because they always have. Ever since cheap meat and corn could be produced on the American/ Australian prairies, and imported to the UK cheaply things have got worse. Apart from a brief period post war when our own food was valued. Even during the supposed " glory " years under the EU, we lost 52% of our farms. Probably too late now to preserve our ancient farmsteads, all been converted to holiday cottages :bag: Or replaced with Juniper Green sheds...... Shame a percentage weren't preserved like the Acton Scott Estate.
Oh well, large scale wheat mining, and hobby farming, interspersed with a few diddly squat farm shops is the future I fear.


You’ll need a different patter if you want to sell😂
 

BrianV

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Dartmoor
I'd welcome greater public access on the condition that it was undertaken following a total review of the purpose of public access to the countryside and a thorough updating of UK countryside access law.

Our PRoW legislation and network is no longer fit for purpose imho.

All paths through working farmyards should be extinguished on H&S grounds alone. Where the use of paths causes damage or needs maintenance (clearing litter etc) it should come with a charge.

It's mad that people keep being killed by cattle in fields but the occupier cannot legally divert the path while the field is grazed.
Most of the problems caused by cattle harming walkers is caused by this ridiculous belief that walkers should have a right to take their dogs through fields containing cattle, the simple solution is to allow farmers to ban dogs when cattle are in a field with a footpath, not that complicated is it?
 

Guleesh

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Isle of Skye
Most of the problems caused by cattle harming walkers is caused by this ridiculous belief that walkers should have a right to take their dogs through fields containing cattle, the simple solution is to allow farmers to ban dogs when cattle are in a field with a footpath, not that complicated is it?
I think I could tolerate people being allowed to go where they please, it's the fact they're allowed to take their dog with them that is absurd.

We have to have every sheep double tagged, movement documents, no movement of stock within 2weeks of bringing stock on, etc. but folk can walk their dog on their neighbouring farms anywhere in the UK , then come here on holiday and take the same dog on a different walk everyday for a fortnight. What a Joke.
 

Cowcorn

Member
Mixed Farmer
Find a way to use less of them?

Costs can fall by using less inputs as well as by the cost of those inputs falling.

It may (or may not) even be possible to leave more annual profit by producing less milk (or any other product) if you can find a way to cut the costs more than the income in the process.
The time is fast approaching when farmers will have to seriously consider getting of the scale/high output threadmill .
No matter what price grain and milk are if it requires large inputs of fert and chemicals for grain or large bought in feed bills for milk what good is it ?
Your turnover may rise but what sticks in the pocket may actually fall .
Nobody owes us a living and conversely we owe nobody a living either so maybe its time we all throttled back and just like a certain easy going farmer pull the stopper and have a snooze ..... Less is always more !!!
 

toquark

Member
The time is fast approaching when farmers will have to seriously consider getting of the scale/high output threadmill .
No matter what price grain and milk are if it requires large inputs of fert and chemicals for grain or large bought in feed bills for milk what good is it ?
Your turnover may rise but what sticks in the pocket may actually fall .
Nobody owes us a living and conversely we owe nobody a living either so maybe its time we all throttled back and just like a certain easy going farmer pull the stopper and have a snooze ..... Less is always more !!!
Correct. I also think many will (and should) adopt lower input systems and find off farm work as a form of self subsidy.
 

Cowcorn

Member
Mixed Farmer
Correct. I also think many will (and should) adopt lower input systems and find off farm work as a form of self subsidy.
Yep while current grain prices are good the way the price of fertiliser and fuel are heading next years crops will use up all the extra cash . Of course us farmers never really expect to hang on to it do we.....:):) I got 27% N on friday 310euro a ton the merchant said new stock could be costing 350 !!! Bought it last Feb at 235 and i thought that was dear . 10 10 20 could be in excess of 500 euro a ton by next spring at that rate .
The milk price while good is been nibbled away at by slow but constant increases for electricity as well as parlour sundrys like teat dip and detergent .
Everybody wants a share of the action but when the commidity surge goes
South will input prices follow ??
Maybe if we all conspired to produce less we could short circuit the whole food chain , i mean it has to be better to get 300 quid a ton for 1 and a half ton acre produced with little inputs than get 150 for 3 ton at normal input levels
Never be allowed happen of course the populations divine right to cheap food would be under threat and that would never be allowed .
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
The time is fast approaching when farmers will have to seriously consider getting of the scale/high output threadmill .
No matter what price grain and milk are if it requires large inputs of fert and chemicals for grain or large bought in feed bills for milk what good is it ?
Your turnover may rise but what sticks in the pocket may actually fall .
Nobody owes us a living and conversely we owe nobody a living either so maybe its time we all throttled back and just like a certain easy going farmer pull the stopper and have a snooze ..... Less is always more !!!
It's hard to make that call just looking at the ledgerbooks though..... sometimes it actually needs 'a real reason' to change tactics
 

toquark

Member
Rather inconvenient for a key message from Henry Dimbleby's National Food Strategy recommending focusing on increasing yield using technology.....

I bet that technology raises supplier profit more than farmer profit.
Yeah probably, it always does. The big guys will use the tech to increase yield and the small guys will use it to reduce their time commitment.
 

pgk

Member
Thing is, it’s not just about the environment and social justice though is it? If it was common ground would be easily found. It’s about hard socialism and control of the populace, and I don’t want my kids to grow up with it.

That has nothing to do with farming tbh, just a personal musing.
Never thought of the conservatives as hard socialists but they are doing an excellent job of increasing their control over the populace🤔
 

pgk

Member
Yes, not all people in these groups are extremists but they are all led by extremists and it’s the chiefs who set the agenda and get the air time, not the Indians.

XR, the Green Party, green peace, stonewall, antifa, BLM. They are all singing off the same hymn sheet and they are all in equal measure bonkers and dangerous.
You missed off the ERG and Conservative party🙄
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
We have a few here, being Libtard Central for the region, who organise a local ‘Energy group’. I regularly engage with several of their members, explaining what we do and why we do it.

Without exception they have been passive aggressive types, who think they know everything as they’ve read some tosh on the internet, read it in the Guardian, or heard it at one of the Group meetings where they have speakers from AR, amongst others. :facepalm:

I struggle to see how common ground can be found with these people tbh.
I think you are describing, what I could call "worthy" types.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Most of the problems caused by cattle harming walkers is caused by this ridiculous belief that walkers should have a right to take their dogs through fields containing cattle, the simple solution is to allow farmers to ban dogs when cattle are in a field with a footpath, not that complicated is it?

Does seem a little mad that dogs are allowed on the footpath by law in any event given the law is very old and pets are a relatively recent thing.
 

Vader

Member
Mixed Farmer
I agree to the extent that the overtly extreme organisations are small, noisy but not at all representative. The RSPB and the NT are good examples of massively influential organisations with huge memberships who have largely come under the spell of the more insidious elements of the environmental and social justice movements.
Add the bbc to those 2...
 

Jackov Altraids

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Rather inconvenient for a key message from Henry Dimbleby's National Food Strategy recommending focusing on increasing yield using technology.....

I bet that technology raises supplier profit more than farmer profit.

That would be optimistic.

I can't think of any example of how any 'advances' have ever given farmers more profit in the longer term. No matter how much the 'advance' costs, it is charged at 90% of the added value moving to pretty much 100% once universally adopted.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
That would be optimistic.

I can't think of any example of how any 'advances' have ever given farmers more profit in the longer term. No matter how much the 'advance' costs, it is charged at 90% of the added value moving to pretty much 100% once universally adopted.
Our first and most insistent question of anyone pushing all these new "innovations" should be "show me your evidence it will increase my profitability on my farm".
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 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

  • 1,291
  • 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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