Winter forage

[DRC]

Phacelia has f*ck all nutritional value

Turnips - depending on the deal, either pay for seed etx or 25-45p a head / week

I wouldn’t plant a single turnip if that was all I’d get

 

[unlacedgecko]

Numbers game. 35,000 lambs at a couple quid profit isn’t bad. But numbers aren’t the whole story.

Why would you want only a couple of quid profit on a store lamb? Look at the ROI.

 

[CopperBeech]

Why would you want only a couple of quid profit on a store lamb? Look at the ROI.

I’m not saying I do. I’m merely stating that I imagine with paying those prices that is the logic the man is working to. I also wonder how many lambs are being bought on market credit rather than cash on day of purchase........

 

[CopperBeech]

I wouldn’t plant a single turnip if that was all I’d get

Jolly good for you.

This is one thing that stumps me a bit about some arable farmers. They want stock on, they see and want the benefits, but they also want it mostly their own way. A lot want max numbers on for the shortest time, after 15th jan and gone by middle / end of feb, the stock keeper to do all of the work abs take all of the risk.......

And I’m sure right now it does mostly work.

However things are changing, more and more folk are wanting stock put on, and lots of those are willing to work together to form a symbiotic partnership, recognising that both parties need to make a coin. Up till now the sheep lads haven’t had to worry, they get glastir, they get subs and there are a lot of sheep on the welsh hills that need to come down, and looking at where you are I would hazard a guess that it’s welsh ewes you have over winter.

That’s going to change, less sheep there, and less free money to pay daft keep rates. The lads with sheep will start to want to see a price which actually gives them something in their pocket. And there are going to be a lot more options for those lads looking for keep.

So I hope you keep on getting your £1 a head a week, but it won’t be from me or many other serious folk.

 

[DRC]

Jolly good for you.

This is one thing that stumps me a bit about some arable farmers. They want stock on, they see and want the benefits, but they also want it mostly their own way. A lot want max numbers on for the shortest time, after 15th jan and gone by middle / end of feb, the stock keeper to do all of the work abs take all of the risk.......

And I’m sure right now it does mostly work.

However things are changing, more and more folk are wanting stock put on, and lots of those are willing to work together to form a symbiotic partnership, recognising that both parties need to make a coin. Up till now the sheep lads haven’t had to worry, they get glastir, they get subs and there are a lot of sheep on the welsh hills that need to come down, and looking at where you are I would hazard a guess that it’s welsh ewes you have over winter.

That’s going to change, less sheep there, and less free money to pay daft keep rates. The lads with sheep will start to want to see a price which actually gives them something in their pocket. And there are going to be a lot more options for those lads looking for keep.

So I hope you keep on getting your £1 a head a week, but it won’t be from me or many other serious folk.

I don’t charge that much, but if you add up the costs of growing a decent crop it needs to be more than the figures you quoted. Seed, fertiliser , spray for volunteers and this year flea beetle. Not to mention establishment costs at a busy time of year. I charge 60p and let my chap, whose been coming here 35 yrs, stay until first week of April as maize follows. Also use my yards, race etc.
If they offered 25p I’d be insulted to be honest, oh and there’s plenty of lads looking for keep, as always being asked.

 

[CopperBeech]

I don’t charge that much, but if you add up the costs of growing a decent crop it needs to be more than the figures you quoted. Seed, fertiliser , spray for volunteers and this year flea beetle. Not to mention establishment costs at a busy time of year. I charge 60p and let my chap, whose been coming here 35 yrs, stay until first week of April as maize follows. Also use my yards, race etc.
If they offered 25p I’d be insulted to be honest, oh and there’s plenty of lads looking for keep, as always being asked.

There you go, he gets to use your yard, your race etc. He also I imagine stocks it with ewes? So a ewe at 60p / head / week, stocked at a ewe rate, with use of yards and race, isn’t a million miles away from 45p a head / week, with you doing nothing but providing a field of turnips, no fences, no yards, no race, no lookering at all, no messing with sheep, and stocked at a lamb rate (smaller animals 28-35 kilos at entry, so stocked higher).

And as you said, you are geographically located in a place which is a short run from lots of folk looking for keep so you get asked a lot. If you’re four / six hours from any major live stock areas and you want to put in 500-1000 acres of cover crops and want it stocked by someone who ain’t a muppet, then me paying you 25p a head for a few thousand lambs, and sorting your black grass, your fertility issues etc, doesn’t seem too bad ?

 

[CopperBeech]

I wouldn’t plant a single turnip if that was all I’d get

This also makes me think the only advantage to seeing covercrops on your farm abs having stock grazing them over winter, is the rent the stock keeper pays. I find this odd.

 

[DRC]

This also makes me think the only advantage to seeing covercrops on your farm abs having stock grazing them over winter, is the rent the stock keeper pays. I find this odd.

I suppose I have ample supply of muck, so I’ve never seen it as a be all and end all of a cover crop.
sometimes I think it’s a disadvantage when I could be mucking and ploughing land ready for spring crops.
I can see how arable farms without any muck would gain.
we have 800/1000 here. All Welsh , half ewes, half ewe lambs

 

[CopperBeech]

I suppose I have ample supply of muck, so I’ve never seen it as a be all and end all of a cover crop.
sometimes I think it’s a disadvantage when I could be mucking and ploughing land ready for spring crops.
I can see how arable farms without any muck would gain.
we have 800/1000 here. All Welsh , half ewes, half ewe lambs

That’s it mate, if you were all arable with bugger all top soil, suffering from a real lack of organic matter and fertility, compacted to hell etc and no local livestock keepers, you might well be happy to take a lower rate. Staying till
April is a big thing to, that would be worth quite a lot to me.

We offer both grazing / farming and also consultancy, designing and building integrated mixed farming models and different farms all have different needs and end goals.

 

[DRC]

That’s it mate, if you were all arable with bugger all top soil, suffering from a real lack of organic matter and fertility, compacted to hell etc and no local livestock keepers, you might well be happy to take a lower rate. Staying till
April is a big thing to, that would be worth quite a lot to me.

We offer both grazing / farming and also consultancy, designing and building integrated mixed farming models and different farms all have different needs and end goals.

Sounds like you have a good viable business which provides a service to arable farms without stock or muck of their own . I wish you well.