Down and dirty in Essex

No disrespect to the inhabitants (some more permanent than others) but Basildon, well, the outskirts where I was, is a bit of a khazi. I apologise to anyone who holds the place dear, but at best it is an aesthetically challenged Essex town intersected by the A13 where every inch of the skyline is littered with pylons. That part of the horizon which isn’t marred by steel power-towers (which should really have solar panels on them by now - if they did, this place would be producing more electricity than anywhere else in the UK!) is occupied by an oil refinery bordering the Thames efflu/estuary, next to which is a stunning view of La Isla “not” bonita...Canvey Island. There is an inlet, or a tract of liquefied mud depending on how the sun hits it, which leads out across some flat land where you can just get a glimpse of the north shores of nearby Kent to the south of the river. Sadly, this part of Kent is not the chocolate-box part known for bursting with ripe fruit, hop gardens and Oast Houses. Its possibly even worse than Basildon and sufficiently ugly that Kent County Council don’t even have a name for it. 

Anyway, I went to this delightful part of the country for a “farm-talk” on Cattle Winter Rationing which was essentially about general nutrition, calf management and animal condition scoring run by a bunch called ADAS who get involved in such matters from an educational point of view.

Despite being rather unkind about Basildon, in between the A13 and the oil refinery is a large agricultural concern managed by a lovely bloke called Alex who runs a mixed farm of around 400 acres. Among his livestock is a 34 strong herd of pedigree South Devons like ours here at Scalands, and fine examples they are too. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to learn some important facts about animal health and dietary needs as well as weaning considerations and disease prevention. Remember, despite appearing like I know what I am doing, I have a massive amount to learn, so this was an excellent day although I could have done without the puncture going over the QE2 bridge on the way back and having to change the stubborn wheel on the narrowest hard shoulder in the country. Not fun.

I spread my seed all over the place last week...

As planned, we over-seeded our largest silage field last week. Having let 33 of our beasts chew the grass down, we ran over the ground with a chain-harrow. This is dragged behind the tractor and basically scuffs the ground and drags small tufts of grass up and essentially opens the earth a little, hopefully enabling enough clear surface between the tufts left behind to allow seeds to nestle and eventually germinate. We then went over the same area with a spreader filled with a seed mix designed for silage growth and later grazing. Importantly, within the mix are two types of perennial rye grass which will have the added benefit of increasing the overall protein level so important for the development of muscle. Finally, the whole lot was rolled to try and embed the seed into the earth. This method is very old fashioned and was how it was done before the development of modern machinery. Its also a bit hit and miss and a reasonable percentage of the seed doesn’t make it to where it should go but when grazing space and budget is tight its the only way to do it. Fortunately this week’s warmer weather should mean the seeds start to do their thing. I shall monitor how this field regenerates and report.

Daaan a market!

Fantastic news from Ashford Market last week. We got an excellent price for one of our young fattened bulls in the beef sale and a mention in the sale news. Despite the other we sent in not quite fetching what we wanted, overall we were very happy. In addition we sold three 17 month old pedigree heifers which fetched an ok price, and whichever way you look at it we have reduced our stock by 10 now (we also sold 5 female calves privately the other week) which means we are where we want to be in terms of space and feed for the winter and have some cash in the bank to help steer us a little closer towards the black. This is a business like any business and cash-flow is key especially with increased winter costs looming.