Back to reality after a busy Cereals

Well, Cereals is over for another year.  It was an even bigger show, and I saw less this year than last as we were busy meeting you all on the stand.  It may have been wet, but the rain was welcome unless you had hay on the ground.  Whilst there I was filmed by both the Farmers Weekly, talking about the new-season fertiliser prices (click here to watch the video) and but also by Country Channel TV.  There will be a short piece on the TFA out later in the year.

Talking to Ian Bell from the ARC Addington Fund whilst at Cereals

It was back to reality on Friday, spraying ear wash.  The wheat on the heavy land looks poor so to avoid too much cost they have had Riza(tebuconazole) @ 0.6l/ha.  I can only hope they yield better than they look when the combine starts to roll.  Mustard is getting Riza too to keep it shorter/standing (I hope) and take it through to harvest.  In the spring beans bruchid eggs are on the first pods, the mildew is back, so octolan, phorce, and Hallmark Zeon will be used in 200l water and very early in the morning as we have a resident beekeeper with 5 hives on the beans and mustard.  The crop looks promising though.

In the two weeks before the last ever Royal Show and then the Great Yorkshire I am taking a break with 2 pals to do some more of the Normandy WW2 sites.  We did some at the 60th anniversary and still have more to do.  It is an experience that really puts it into perspective on how well off we are, and I would encourage you all to make the effort and take your children; it has proved very levelling for us.

I hope to have a draw of lambs for the 25 June, the same day as I will be interviewing for the new adviser at Theale so I will have to be organised.  Had the sheep all in today and jabbed the ewes for BTV8 and gave the lambs a dose of wormer as there is evidence of worm load in the dung.

Irrigation starts again on Tuesday if it doesn’t rain.  I will be in France, phew, if nothing else at least I am keeping as far away from the irritator as I can!

Busman’s holiday in Cornwall

The announcement of Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFB) going into receivership was hardly the best start to the Royal Cornwall Show.  We are meeting the Receivers on Monday along with the Chairman of the DFB Board so watch out for a briefing on Tuesday. 

Royal Cornwall is still a proper show and we saw many members on the first day.  Today we are expecting many more as the weather was forecast to break and many were busy with silage yesterday.  As usual there is a huge turnout of stock (even our vice chairman for the region, James Willcocks, is showing this year) and lots of machinery – very different from cereals next week or the arable east that I am used to.  Apart from the DFB issue we are taking about TB, succession and rents as usual with most people having reviews or notices served.

Chatting to Wessex TFA Chairman Jeremy Walker and his wife Helen on the stand at the Cornwall Show.

This is the county of Mason v Boscawen and I have now met two tenants from the estate where this materialised.  I have enjoyed meeting everyone at the Cornwall show and look forward to meeting many more at Cereals next week.

The show season has started

The show season is finally upon us.  So is summer, with a blisteringly hot bank holiday weekend, with some heavy rain.  15 mm has just disappeared, so applying liquid N was sticky to say the least, but as soon as the rain stopped so did I, and it dried up so soon you could hardly tell it had rained. 

It’s currently half term and Chris is away so I am back on the sprayer.  The wind only drops when I am off the farm or in bed!  There are two nice days forecast for Thursday and Friday, which could be busy as I am helping set up for Rosie’s parents golden wedding anniversary.  No chance of conflict there then, though they are having it on the farm so I should be able to slip away for the odd load!

We are pretty well up to date, just the balance of N for protein to go.  As it was so dry I managed to buy AN @ £185 which was half the price of the liquid in the tank!  It did make it rain though so it had the desired effect, nice to have the choice.  It does make you realise the difference to margins purchasing and selling can now make in these volatile times.

The potatoes are emerging well, recent rain has really helped, but more would be good.  Beet and mustard are well established and clean.  Spring beans look a picture despite early powdery mildew.  I sprayed this with Octolan (chlorothalonil and cyproconazole) and Phorce to avoid the high cost of Folio Gold (metalaxyl m and chlorothalonil).  Phorce is a phosphate nutrient with apparent benefits in controlling powdery mildew in beans.  I must say I am impressed as the new growth is spotless and they are flowering well. (Don’t you just love the smell?)

George Dunn and I catch up on paperwork at Beef Expo before the early birds visit the stand.

We had a good day at Beef Expo in Malvern last Thursday, and are off to the Royal Cornwall Show next week where you will find us on stand 412 near the Pavilion Centre.  I look forward to seeing you there.  It will coincide with the start of irrigation and all its grief, but I should be far enough away in Wadebridge!

Thank goodness it’s raining!

As I drafted this blog last night I started by saying we could do with some rain.  Happily as I typed it this morning we have had 3mm and it is still raining.  No need to organize a BBQ to get what we are having now!  Every thing on the farm is well established (including the weeds!) so this much needed drink should help underpin it.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in London.  Tuesday was spent at the CLA seminar ‘Private solutions to public problems.’  The idea here is to harvest the value of the landscape and biodiversity within an environmental market.  This may be a way off.  The market needs creating; this will involve legislation to create a cap on production of environmental harm.  It already exists as offsets within the planning law.  There are also models in Australia (Bushbroker) and America (Conservation banking).  If you are interested check out the CLA website: http://www.cla.org.uk/. (Not often I give them a plug!).  We at the TFA will be monitoring the situation to make sure the tenant as a land manager can benefit from this type of scheme.

The next day (Wednesday) was all TFA business, firstly Appointments and Governance followed by the Executive Committee.  The situation of cost and responsibility sharing has come to a head since the last exec, and on the basis that the TFA had still withdrawn from discussions your Chief Executive met with DEFRA representatives to tell them why.  They were shocked at the strength of feeling and offered to meet the Executive Committee.  They attended our meeting for a vigorous hour before lunch.  It would be true to say that we were soon in an animated discussion as to the detail.  What DEFRA don’t seem to understand, and it is difficult as people soon get down to the proposals themselves, is why we were not engaged in discussions in the first place.  DEFRA’s failure to police imported disease, the debacle of Pirbright, the bad handling of foot and mouth and treasury pressure to shift cost caused by them straight on to the industry.  We did say that Bluetongue had been handled much better.  The TFA will be submitting a written response, as we do worry the plan will be driven through regardless, and in the present situation, what a new administration would do by 2012 is anybody’s guess.

On a more positive note you will, I hope, have seen the advert for a new TFA Agricultural Policy Adviser (click here for the advert and job description).  Workload at Head Office has become such that this is imperative.  I look forward to the interview process and the installation of the new officer.  This will give us some significant advantages day to day.  It will universally remove some of the workload each and every one of the team at Head Office shoulder, particularly when someone is working out of the office.  It should provide everyone with more time for their specific discipline.  It is also great that we have been put in a position to justify a new post.  If we keep pushing membership up, then this new appointment is vital to our progress.  I thank members for their support, which allows us to make this improvement.

Also, I look forward to the show season, meeting you all and welcoming new members to the Association.  Please bring your friends and neighbours when you come to the stand, the more we are the bigger influence we can have for everyone’s benefit.  We start next week at Beef Expo.  Watch the website diary for other events.

April has been a busy month

April has marked a distinct lack of blog due to lots of work.   I have been stuck on a tractor or sprayer and plagued with IT problems.

On the farm, seed potatoes arrived and we are still planting.   We should finish planting them this week, weather permitting, but we really need some rain.  Top dressing, drilling beet (we are growing again this year), drilling mustard, which especially needs a drink.   The rape has all been sprayed and late wheat is due T1 this week.   

We've been hard at work getting the last of the potatoes in the ground.

The last of the piper will be out of store by the end of the month, and the last of the wheat will have left by year-end (April 5th) as planned.  Valuation was done today, and of course there is SPS to return.   I like to do that when all crops are established.

The TFA has seen me at the Smith Institute lecture on Feeding Britain (we move up the agenda).   Can Tesco do it without us?   Where is the ombudsman?   I think there is a chance some change is on the way. 

Mason v Boscawen has occupied a fair amount of time.  It culminated with a last minute dash to get it in the budget.  The TFA are not happy that the ruling is retrospective, but had to concede to get a resolution that we hope will be fair.  The result is that (if) and when the amendment is enacted VAT changes that have happened and may happen in the future will no longer be deemed to be a change in the rent.  An arbitrator may now be appointed, so where you have been negotiating where an arbitrator cannot be appointed because of Mason v Boscawen, one can now, so think ahead, make a settlement or have a good case to put before the arbitrator.

We had an office trip with partners to Highgrove, Duchy Home Farm and the house garden; this was a great day and blessed with good weather.   We had an informal chance to get to know one another outside work.   Your Chief Executive features on a security camera struggling with the minibus, never known you to cut corners George!

I have managed to sail once, attend Whittlesey NFU 100th anniversary dinner and take the family to see “Oliver” which excused me the melee that was the 17:00 hours deadline for the Mason v Boscawen amendment to the finance act.   When George rang me to check if I had kept up with the 50 emails, I had not so only had to read the resulting brief!   Often a good ploy with “reply to all emails”, just read the last one!

The other thing I should commend to you is OPTION B; there has been plenty in the press about set aside mitigation.   The NFU and CLA are on the high-level group, but we have done our bit.   Firstly, we need to convince DEFRA to take option B.   We definitely do not want option A that cannot and will not deliver what DEFRA want.   The double jeopardy is the only corrective measure is more of the same, increased area.   Option B also safeguards the opportunities and benefits that ELS and HLS have to offer.

Finally, don’t forget the SPS deadline on May 15th.

Second Forum for the Future of Agriculture

Last Wednesday I was in Brussels at the Second Forum for the Future of Agriculture (FFA) as a guest of Syngenta, who was one of the principle sponsors.  The theme was “Financing and governing food and environmental security - the new challenge.”

It was a long and interesting day, with many eminent speakers.  Experts included Paul Krugman (Professor of Economics & International affairs, Princeton University), Franz Fischler (former EU Agriculture Commissioner), Marianne Fischer-Boel (EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development) and John Atkin (COO Syngenta) were all part of an impressive lineup of leading speakers from EU institutions, European Governments, Industry, NGOs and organizations including the FAO and OECD who attended the event.

It was clear that everyone now sees the enormity of the task of feeding a population that will double by 2050 from a decreasing agricultural area, whilst safeguarding the environment.  The present credit crunch is taking everyone’s eye off the ball, and the experts are particularly worried about the lack of production due to increased cost and the subsequent cost of food itself.  Food and environment are firmly in the basket of public goods we as farmers deliver.  Mikhail Orlov from Black Earth Farming in the Russian Federation said they could increase the production of combinable crops by 16% if they were given the infrastructure to do it, but that needs finance, so will it happen?

Farming is needed more than ever; it is the glue that holds the EU together.  There is no environment without agriculture, and food security is racing up the agenda.

Mariann Fischer-Boel summed up with four ingredients in her cake (developed from the theme of the Marie Antoinette quote):
1.  To provide a safety net for farmers. (Not the old cap but perhaps a strategic reserve of food, how much of what was not mentioned)
2.  The right incentives to address environmental issues. (How about NVZ grants and set aside mitigation measures I hear you ask.)
3.  A need to deliver renewable energy. (The economics will be interesting)
4.  A science based approach to new technologies. (Drought and heat stress etc; best use of resources.  So hope for GM.)

Having got home, what is it about having lambs about that makes you just smile?  It must be one of the joys of farming and a sure sign that spring is on the way!

We left the snow behind for a much-needed holiday.

We left the snow for a much needed half term break in Egypt.  It was excellent, 27 degrees and many fish on the reefs in the Red Sea.  We all needed a break, and I cannot holiday at home because I cannot help working.

Back on the farm, we are just finishing the ploughing, and there are a few rather later than expected carrots still in the way.  There could well be an issue with schlerotinia in the following mustard.  A few lambs have arrived, and that is always a lift in the spring.  We are getting land ready for spring beans and all the rape has had 80kg N/ha as ammonium sulphate applied.  Crops are starting to move, and the second wheat is due some N as urea. 

I bought this recently to top up, as it was good value (relatively) at 60p/kgN as opposed to the £1 my liquid N has cost me.  It is odd that on Monday UK produced ammonium nitrate dropped to £260/t (76p/kgN).  One assumes that they are still making a margin, so how much margin was there towards the end of last year?  The advice was all “buy or you won’t get any”.  Had we held off we could have applied optimal N as the BER (break-even ratio) moves higher up the curve as N values drop.  This coupled with NVZ makes for a very complex and costly working environment.  I cannot help thinking some balance sheet recovery was taking place within the ammonium nitrate supply chain, but then I am a cynic.  There is obviously still stock or there would have been no price decrease.  Of course, I’m not bitter; I always have enjoyed paying over the odds!

We are growing sugar beet again – at least for this year, on a block of land that would have been another break had the rotation fitted and the markets been what they were.  The maths says at £26 beet is the most profitable crop.  So we had the opportunity and the equipment (used for mustard) and only a cell wheel change was required.

I attended the East Midlands members meeting near Melton Mowbray on 26 February, attendance was a bit thin, but those who did attend were well served by Lloyds TSB Agriculture and JHWalter.  There were many suggestions of what can be done in volatile times, but they all seemed to involve risk!  A decision only you yourself can take.  Just think of the Nitrogen price I mentioned earlier.

Prior to that, I was lucky enough to attend the LAA (Livestock Auctioneers Association) dinner.  I was a poor substitute for George who was on duty with member meetings.  Ironically, I had to forgo a room in the Farmers Club and not drink too much as I had lambs for Thrapston market in the morning.  It was a good evening and a chance to meet people who do much for the industry.  As well as livestock markets the firms involved do auction sales and are agents and advisors, many of whom are our Recommended Professionals.

Just to keep me fully occupied I am revising for my PPA exam the Monday before the AGM, so the rain that has kept us off the land is allowing me time in the office to prepare for both.

Not much work has been done since LAMMA

Not much work has been done since LAMMA.  We have ploughed some black land and removed 150 large bog oaks.  Most of our wheat has gone, the grain beetles are dead, but the sprouting is still a problem!  With all the snow the spuds are warm in the shed, and the council snow plough is on the tractor, but no contracts as yet.  There is no money so I think our roads will remain impassable till it thaws.  On the meeting with Sir Don Curry I’m pleased to say that the voluntary approach to set-aside mitigation is to be included in the DEFRA consultation.  I don’t think Natural England are very happy, but they are our delivery partners so they should work with us not against us to the benefit of flagship projects where they have complete control.  We can ask Helen Phillips at the AGM (March 10th) what she thinks.

I attended the City Food Lecture on January 28th.  Sir Terry Leahy spoke well on Tesco and the consumers (are king) behalf.  He will continue providing what the consumer wants at a cheap price whatever happens to the supply chain.  There will be no concession to pay a fair price, and an absolute no to an industry ombudsman (too much extra cost and time with paperwork etc).  Funnily enough, that cuts no ice from our side of the fence with Quality Assurance, Natures Choice and all the hoops we have to jump through for no monetary gain, just access to the market!  They will continue to source the cheapest and keep their margins up.  In the partnership in the supply chain the boot is still firmly on the foot of the supermarket.

The farmer was also at fault because we put so much production into non-food use.  Yet it has been shown that the effect of the non-food market has little bearing on price.  Speculators on the other hand do.  Why should the rape price track the oil price?  There are some that say speculation is a self-fulfilling prophecy, create a problem, take the right position, and make money.  We have to think hard and avoid this volatility especially as a tenant.  Consider some single farm payment protection with the Euro rate; it could be worth a look.

Back home, the sheep are jabbed.  We have a foot rot problem that came in with new stock, so as well as chlostridial; the ewes have had footvax, and so have I.  Very painful as it is mineral oil based.  I still have a stiff finger, luckily it was just a puncture, no injection.  I understand why they won’t stand still!  Lambs are due at the end of the month.  Only 200t of wheat, a little Holl rape and some spring beans for seed to go.  We have a little more light land to plough, but looking out the window, spring is a long way off.  The snow has at least given the rape some respite from the pigeons.

Keep warm!

The TFA and many members were at LAMMA

Chatting to Sally Elkington from Lincs FM at LAMMA

The TFA and many members were at LAMMA.  It was a brilliant show, despite the traffic problems.  We saw many current members and signed up more new members than expected, who I welcome warmly and remind them to make every use of what we have to offer. 

Wednesday had the better weather and the high numbers although Thursday was still very popular, but it was not so busy.  There were some attending for a second day, as there was so much to see. 

Most enquiries were about rents, pending arbitrations and landlord’s agent’s inactivity.  The ball is in their court; the world has changed since the heady days of last year!  If your landlord is acting against you and you’ve heard nothing, only the appointment of an arbitrator, then use the time to prepare your case.  It is then up to him to come to you with an offer.  If you have problems, speak to head office for advice and comparables.  Don’t forget the TFA’s RENT DATABANK, we need information in to make outgoing data as accurate as possible. 

If you have a current notice to review in this year (served last year before the December 1st VAT changes) take advice.  The Mason v Boscawen case has changed the landscape short term and may provide you with a useful lever, if your landlord is being unreasonable.  However, there is no reason why reasonable negotiations towards a settlement cannot carry on (see the TFA brief for more information).

Other things are much as usual, sad wet land, lots of pests, livestock inside and all drains running full bore.  Our sheep are in 2 weeks early, we are loading wheat – the photo of me in my “office” behind the popup at LAMMA is the result of 8 live foreign grain beetles in a load at Kings Lynn.  Normal procedure, back to the farm with haulage of £10.50 and the remaining 190t to treat.  Luckily we can do it ourselves, so as not to rack up more cost, and an indoor job for 2 days will suit Paul, our store operator.  It’s typical though that the problem was about as big as a bucket found in between 2 piles of grain that had been dried and conditioned.  It had also been regularly monitored, but was not visible on the surface.  Be vigilant – especially when loading.

In my temporary office at LAMMA dealing with live foreign grain beetles in a load of wheat.

Prospects for next harvest are interesting.  Prices at the moment are driven by currency and perhaps a hint of lower production.  November 09 price of £124 this week was enough to make me sell a proportion.  These are hard decisions to make in this volatile market.  My feeling is that there is more upside, but decisions should be made for reasons specific to your business.  Markets are not rational at the moment and the speculators are back in!  We still have to pay the rent.

It will be an interesting spring and crop prospects will be a driver.  Let’s hope both lamb and beef prices stay up and that milk improves.  When will the processors realize they are destroying their supply base?  Not when it’s too late I hope.  NVZ regulations are bad enough; the money has to come from somewhere to pay for this.  We are still pushing for grant aid, but there is no money unless you are a bank!

I am attending a meeting with Sir Don Curry on Tuesday 27 January with NFU and CLA about implementation of set-aside mitigation.  We shall be pushing for a voluntary scheme that isn’t to the detriment of ELS or HLS and compensated rather than cross compliance.   I will report on my thoughts after the event.

Keep dry – the wet weather is a good time to do that office work!

Happy New Year to you all

Back to work after the break (if you can call it that living over the shop), which was a morning with Chris and Paul on the farm, then off to the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) with fellow TFA member Jonathan Papworth.  This was my first OFC and I did struggle after lunch as the lights dimmed in the warmzzzzz… but George Dunn (the TFA’s Chief Executive) ably kept me focused and I skipped lunch on day 2 and had a walk!

There will be much in the press about the event so I’ll not go into too much detail, but Hilary Benn was the most decisive I have heard him.  Sticking up for us on pesticides at the EU, based on lack of evidence/risk assessment.  If the evidence doesn’t support a ban then there should not be one, he said.  So on that basis if the weight of evidence that a cull would control TB, then he would have to have a cull.  The TB eradication group will have to consider the case.

Renewables and food security were also high on the agenda.  I met Jane Kennedy MP and Lord Hunt on that subject with a select few on Tuesday night.  Lord Hunt was not aware of the pitfalls of change of use in the planning of wind turbines allowing the landlord all the benefit.  George is briefing him properly by letter as I write this.  I endeavored to get the minister to understand the present state of farming, and the risks of loss of production especially milk if something is not soon done.  There is an assumption among politicians all is well in agriculture.  If they want food security, they need to know the starting point, so hopefully they will act sooner than they would if everything were in good heart.

For me the case studies were fascinating, people proving just what is possible if you get it right, but also how you have to stay on top of your game to remain there.

The Frank Parkinson lecture was also fascinating.  Australia’s research and development puts us to shame.  More funding on new technologies and conventional, to beat drought, to use less nitrogen, to improve health and sell a positive story to consumers.  Much to be learned there.

Wednesday afternoon and the IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution) research findings might surprise you, particularly the interpretation.  We have a low opinion of ourselves but the public thinks we are hard working but not well paid.  We came third after nurses and doctors for hardest working, but the public don’t hear enough from us.  They want British food, but food is expensive.  They are also still concerned about animal welfare, though our standards are one of the best, we cannot let them slip.  We apparently have a public profile to die for!  We should capitalize on this and the last two speakers showed how they were doing it locally through the media and leaf (linking environment and farming), particularly farm open days, so we should get out there and turn the perceptions around.

A very enjoyable and stimulating two days. I made a lot of new contacts and it was most worthwhile, personally and for the TFA.

Sadly I missed the first chance for 10 years to skate outside on Whittlesey wash and now the frost is out it’s a bit sticky.

So what’s new you may say, Bliss on thin ice or in the s***.