As the team at Treveale Farm prepares for the NMR/RABDF Gold Cup Open Day, and despite battling through three seasons in one month, Paul Broad has a renewed sense of optimism for life, and, surprisingly, the World Cup.
I’d better start with the weather; we have had three seasons in the past month. It started with summer, and the spike in temperature was rapid. Our cow shed is usually well ventilated, but even in here, our cows were struggling to cope. We have temperature sensors installed as part of our Arla care contract; they touched 30°C one afternoon. The cows’ feed intakes dropped, and we lost 3kg/head of milk per day, which took four days to regain once it had cooled down.
Speaking to people with high-yielding herds like us who had fans in their sheds, they still lost milk. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I think our collecting yard is our pinch point. It’s something we need to look at if we are going to get these large temperature fluctuations more frequently; another thing to put on my wish list – when the milk price rises again!
Winter
Then we had winter. The Royal Cornwall Show is a big agricultural and social event in Cornwall over three days. The first morning was wet and windy, but it cleared out in the afternoon. I went early on this day as the bank hosted a breakfast for farmers and the wider industry.
The fried breakfast went down a treat, but then there is always a catch with a free meal – we listened to two speakers giving us their views on agriculture for the next 12 months; ‘gloomy and uncertain’ sums up what they said. That said, the show is a great place to socialise and meet all the people you trade with and catch up with old YFC friends who you see once a year at the show. Friday was glorious weather, but I stayed home and did some work, with the rest of the family going for a few beers.
I had planned to go again on Saturday, but that was when winter set in. Rain and 50 to 60mph winds made the showground unsafe, so they cancelled the show. What a shame for all the exhibitors and trade stands who put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to display their products – it’s bound to have caused financial consequences for many small businesses. Saturday is the day when the public attends in huge numbers, and the small local food producers sell all their fare and get rewarded for all their hard work.
Spring
Winter was followed by spring – cool, damp and windy days again. Temperatures have been half what they were at their highest. The maize has turned yellow, and we couldn’t get two dry days to do our third cut of silage. When we did cut it, we had two dry sunny days, but the grass had gone to head too much for our liking – at least we have put some fibre into our clamp. Rightly or wrongly, I have bought fertiliser for next year; the price was lower than a month ago, and with the Gulf war rumbling along, it’s anybody’s guess what will happen. It worked out 46% dearer than last year’s, and with the milk price 23% lower than last year, any idiot can work out that’s not great business, and we are dairy farming for the love of it.
Meanwhile, the so-called King of the North has won himself a seat in Westminster. The policies of the present Government have had terrible financial consequences and caused substantial worry to the farming industry, with the inheritance tax being introduced. But if Mr Burnham becomes PM, it could be far worse – sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.
On a different note, I have been to two funerals in the past four months. First was my aunty, who reached the age of 90 and was a loving, caring, do anything for anybody type of woman, who will be greatly missed. The second was the wife of our farming neighbour, where I grew up. She was also in her 90s, and she used to take us to school with her children. We used to work together, hay harvesting in the good old days when we made small bales.
Her daughter Liz said at the wake: “Life is not a trial run.” And sometimes events like these make you realise you only get one chance on this earth, and you must make the most of it. So, with that in mind, I have promised myself to keep calm and focused on getting ready for our open day, as it really is a once in a lifetime experience.
The 60-year wait
The steam cleaner, lawnmower, strimmer and even the odd broom are working flat out to get everything tidied up – it’s amazing what dirt and dust you find, but hopefully everything will be done by June 30. With the World Cup having started, I made sure we didn’t clash with any of England’s games.
I wasn’t here to see them win the World Cup before, but I’ve got a good dose of optimism that they will succeed this time. They have a good number of world-class players, and with Harry Kane in the goal-scoring form of his career, I’m hopeful our 60-year wait will be over!