Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
Now that the malting barley contracts are reasonable im curious to see whether people will cut their cow numbers back and plough up grass if its on arable ground, what are the thoughts on here!
Suckler cows on Arable ground???
- Thread starter Bossfarmer
- Start date
Sussex Martin
Member
- Location
- Burham Kent
Good idea, we can all do that so the price can crash and we can sell at a loss 
. Supply and demand Boss, supply and demand.
. Supply and demand Boss, supply and demand.
In the OPs scenario,it's grass to provide a fertility building break on arable land.It could be done with out or decreased,for a while if considered financially advantageous.
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Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
Its arable ground only got it in grass for the sucklers
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
Ill increase mine and everyone else can keeps theirs the same if theyre worried about thatGood idea, we can all do that so the price can crash and we can sell at a loss
Sussex Martin
Member
- Location
- Burham Kent
Well you know as well as I do that if there is money in any form of agriculture it won't be long before it's overdone and losing money.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Yeah, let's all pile into malting barley.
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
Take advantage of the good times is surely they way to go? If you get a good malting contract tonnage at a good price would it be wise to turn it down for fear of a global overproduction? Dont he stupid someone else will fill it
Sussex Martin
Member
- Location
- Burham Kent
So what's a good malting contract then? Most of those I've heard of have been an amount above feed and that amount is normally not very big.
Plenty jumped from stock to grain on marginal arable land in the past and soon regretted it. That's without being in a high rainfall area. Promises of £150t wouldn't tempt me to make wholesale changes to current system.
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
£40/t over feed
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
Its not marginal land though it all grows barley/wheat and tatties in the rotation just down to grass for the sucklers
It wasn't long ago that you were all doom and gloom, and needing another 1000 acres to survive
septimus
Member
- Location
- Kingdom of Fife
Thought you were going to call me about seed for 70 or 80 ac of tatties? What happened to those plans.
The problem we have with ploughing up grass is you can't get a malting grade crop out of the field for a year or two until the residual nitrogen dies down. One year in three or four you can manage it but normally it is downgraded to feed as the grain nitrogen is too high,
The problem we have with ploughing up grass is you can't get a malting grade crop out of the field for a year or two until the residual nitrogen dies down. One year in three or four you can manage it but normally it is downgraded to feed as the grain nitrogen is too high,
M-J-G
Member
Those how jump in and out of enterprises because of annual price fluctuations will rarely get it right, particularly with livestock as it tends to be more of a long-term investment.
Cutting cow numbers may will probably involve selling cows at a reduced price due to others having the same idea, it may take the extra income from the barley to cover the reduced price of the cows, next year may be the opposite, what then, less barley more cows?
If the hopes of an extra few quid on barley for a year justifies a change in farming policy I would question how robust the policy was in the first place.
Cutting cow numbers may will probably involve selling cows at a reduced price due to others having the same idea, it may take the extra income from the barley to cover the reduced price of the cows, next year may be the opposite, what then, less barley more cows?
If the hopes of an extra few quid on barley for a year justifies a change in farming policy I would question how robust the policy was in the first place.
Pint
Member
- Location
- East Sussex
Don't be silly.
Come harvest with deductions etc you won't get that.
Scotland is a huge malting barley grower it'll be overdone seen it so many times before. Remember currency and what the rest of the world is gonna do will dictate price come harvest.
There have been multiple reasons why not to run suckler cows on arable ground over the years. Wouldn't think many people still carrying this out as their farming policy are going to change that just because barley price looks good for this year. There will be bigger reasons as to why they work that system.
There does seem to be a genuine demand for it up here this year @Pint. Last years area sown was only 70% of normal area and stores are as empty as they have been for 3-4 years. There are indeed contracts offering minimum £150t and others talking of £20t over wheat futures contracts not going to pay as well as harvest price.
We shall wait and see but either way agree with @martin gribbon that I wouldn't go changing the farming system over the head of such promises.
There does seem to be a genuine demand for it up here this year @Pint. Last years area sown was only 70% of normal area and stores are as empty as they have been for 3-4 years. There are indeed contracts offering minimum £150t and others talking of £20t over wheat futures contracts not going to pay as well as harvest price.
We shall wait and see but either way agree with @martin gribbon that I wouldn't go changing the farming system over the head of such promises.
Pint
Member
- Location
- East Sussex
Oh I know there could be demand this year up there. I used to work up there till not long ago. Just think everyone will pile in then you know what happens then