Help in time of trouble.

Treecreeper

Member
Livestock Farmer
I had an incident with a cow a week or two back and broke an arm. Cows have just started calving, my son who lives and works off farm has been great and have someone else to call on along with a neighbour at least im still mobile and can feed. I've long thought that there are many one man bands like myself who need help during tb tests and the like perhaps vets could hold a register of casual staff. There will be a reduction in numbers as soon as I can
 

farmer james

Member
Mixed Farmer
ill try only 2 weeks in im already frustrated . dont watch telly , about wore TFF out cant read as cant concentrate. staples out and first physio tommorow hope i come back in a better frame of mind.
I had a small knee op two years ago, used the time to get all my paperwork up to date, as it never normally makes it to the top of the ‘ to do’ list.
Good luck hope the physio goes well.
FJ
 

Cowgirl

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ayrshire
If you are Farm Assured you are supposed to have a business continuity plan. That includes a feed plan for various groups of animals so someone could step in at short notice
In practice neighbours would kick in. Lambing or calving a big problem but would just check daily as a minimum the aim being to save cows or ewes.
There are people who 'farm-sit' while you are on holiday through agencies and they would be available if only to keep an eye on things. But end of the day it is going to cost you as the alternative is a fire sale.
I have been looking at house sitting agencies for us - even put an advert in one. Got 3 replies- one was a vet so promising but a new grad with an office job (never worked with cows), one was someone abroad with family in the area looking for somewhere to stay (no animal experience at all) and third lived in the south of England with no car 🙁 - not very promising!
 

Cowgirl

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ayrshire
I had an incident with a cow a week or two back and broke an arm. Cows have just started calving, my son who lives and works off farm has been great and have someone else to call on along with a neighbour at least im still mobile and can feed. I've long thought that there are many one man bands like myself who need help during tb tests and the like perhaps vets could hold a register of casual staff. There will be a reduction in numbers as soon as I can
Oh dear that’s awful- sorry to hear that🙁
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
A friend who has quite a large herd of cattle and looks after them himself, with some help from his wife, and is calving at present, has just had a heart attack and now his wife has COVID. He has a daughter but she lives some distance away. Fortunately he has several good farming friends who are rallying round but it is a dreadful situation for anyone to be in and a nightmare for anyone with livestock, especially at calving. We were nearly in this situation last September ourselves. Accidents and injuries are also a real possibility. I don't know if anyone has brought this up before but has anyone thought of starting an agricultural "locum agency" to deal with this problem? I suspect there may be some sort of organisation for relief milkers but what about beef farmers? It's OK to ask friends and family for a little while but goodwill only lasts for a short time before it becomes onerous. If not, there is surely a gap in the market?
It's a tricky situation not helped by the fact that many farms have deliberately downsized or simplified their operation so they don't need staff. It works well until it doesn't.
When I still lived in England I was self employed for quite a while and over the years had quite a few customers. Some I did a lot of work for, some not so much. If they had a drama or a staff member left suddenly, they new they could ring and I'd do my best to help out. One dairy farmer would book me in for a week twice a year so they could go away on holiday etc.
It only worked because I could be flexible and have enough regular work booked in during times I wasn't needed for an emergency.
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
Another option would be, if you use an Ag contractor for tractor work (or even if you don't) talk to them about possibly subbing out a staff member if there's an emergency. A tractor driver doesn't have to know how to calve a cow, they just need to be there and be able to call the vet if there's a problem.
Its all about building contacts and relationships really.
You certainly need to have a plan B if you keep livestock though.
 

Cowgirl

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ayrshire
It's a tricky situation not helped by the fact that many farms have deliberately downsized or simplified their operation so they don't need staff. It works well until it doesn't.
When I still lived in England I was self employed for quite a while and over the years had quite a few customers. Some I did a lot of work for, some not so much. If they had a drama or a staff member left suddenly, they new they could ring and I'd do my best to help out. One dairy farmer would book me in for a week twice a year so they could go away on holiday etc.
It only worked because I could be flexible and have enough regular work booked in during times I wasn't needed for an emergency.
It’s really what’s needed but nobody seems to want to do it…
 

jg123

Member
Mixed Farmer
At the start of covid we casually said between a few of us if any 1 farm has covid really bad the rest will have to help, things wont be done right or as normal but silage can he thrown infront of animals for a week or 2 and stocked looked after. I ended up having covid but luckily was a quiet time in January so could just do the bare minimum feeding for a few days and then recovered quite quick. A possible bigger problem is paperwork, know of a farm and the elderly parents both died within a few months who were both partners and the bank froze all accounts even tho the son who was in his 50s had full access when they were alive. Since then we have altered a few things with the bank so that a death with not freeze money or alter any signatories. Hopefully will never need it but its one less potential problem.
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
It's a tricky situation not helped by the fact that many farms have deliberately downsized or simplified their operation so they don't need staff. It works well until it doesn't.
When I still lived in England I was self employed for quite a while and over the years had quite a few customers. Some I did a lot of work for, some not so much. If they had a drama or a staff member left suddenly, they new they could ring and I'd do my best to help out. One dairy farmer would book me in for a week twice a year so they could go away on holiday etc.
It only worked because I could be flexible and have enough regular work booked in during times I wasn't needed for an emergency.
This is the crux of the matter. Everything has been cut to the bone in the pursuit of processor and particularly retail profitability. There simply isn't enough money in it to do things properly unless you scale up to the size of farm that was on Panama the other night, with all its problems.

We run a few cattle and we make a margin, but it would soon become uneconomical if I paid someone to do it all for me.
 

Hfd Cattle

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hereford
A friend who has quite a large herd of cattle and looks after them himself, with some help from his wife, and is calving at present, has just had a heart attack and now his wife has COVID. He has a daughter but she lives some distance away. Fortunately he has several good farming friends who are rallying round but it is a dreadful situation for anyone to be in and a nightmare for anyone with livestock, especially at calving. We were nearly in this situation last September ourselves. Accidents and injuries are also a real possibility. I don't know if anyone has brought this up before but has anyone thought of starting an agricultural "locum agency" to deal with this problem? I suspect there may be some sort of organisation for relief milkers but what about beef farmers? It's OK to ask friends and family for a little while but goodwill only lasts for a short time before it becomes onerous. If not, there is surely a gap in the market?
When I injured my back quite a few yrs ago we ended up in a h'ell of a pickle but we contacted the 'Adrington Fund ' who put us in touch with farm crisis network. They sorted ...through someone else...a team to come and do the necessary work and assisted in paying for it until we could sort things out .
 

Cowgirl

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ayrshire
When I injured my back quite a few yrs ago we ended up in a h'ell of a pickle but we contacted the 'Adrington Fund ' who put us in touch with farm crisis network. They sorted ...through someone else...a team to come and do the necessary work and assisted in paying for it until we could sort things out .
Do you mean the “Addington Fund” - this is really valuable to know, but seems to be only in England and Wales. Anyone know if there is anything like this in Scotland?
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
This is something I have thought about a bit. Although I do get bits and pieces of help from my Dad, wife and kids, if I were to die suddenly or be permanently incapacitated the stock would have to go very soon afterwards. And if I were on the sidelines for a week or two at the wrong time of year, it would be very difficult. I badly injured an ankle at work two years ago but luckily 🤔 it was at a quiet time of year (early October).
I crushed my foot a month before drilling started a few years back. Nothing in it broke but is separated the bones from where they attack. Foot was an inch and a half longer that the other. Swelling split the skin open the got infected. Drilling that year was tough just wearing an old flip flop duct taped on and catching on what seemed like everything. big relief when I was done. If a service like suggested I think it would be well used.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 79 42.5%
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  • 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

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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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