Movement, Rest, Root

Movement, Rest, Root

Blog by Sian Mercer – Photo also by Sian Mercer! x

In the world of holistic grazing the aim is to move livestock daily, rest the swards and allow the herbs and grasses to put down deep roots.  Movement by hooves help break up gapped soils, muck and seeds, movement is key to a healthy sward.  Rest is critical to allow the sward to recover, to allow it grow tall, to break the worm cycle, allow dung beetles, insects, birds and pollinators to come in a thrive in this diversity, and finally, rest will enable the roots to penetrate deeply into the soil, creating strength, water infiltration, nutrient uptake and mycorrhizal communities, a whole network is created.

Movement, rest and roots isn’t just for swards, it’s for humans to.

Daily movement is SO important to our body, mind and soul.  Keeping our bodies moving, keeps it strong and in good condition, it helps our mind, keeping depression and mental health issues and it helps regulate our gut, or first brain, helping us feel strong in body, mind and soul.

Rest. Not just getting 8 hours of sleep a night, but taking a rest day, or a nap for even ½ an hour can be life changing. I recently listened to a ‘We can do hard things’ podcast with Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry. She speaks of the importance of rest, how it heals us, lets us dream and become creative. Modern life has made us hustle and grind, to become just another number on a pay-roll, to forget our dreams and desires, to keep us in a place of exhaustion. If we do not take ourselves off the wheel of exhaustion and must do and must keep up and must do more…. We will never make the changes we so desperately wish for. Think of when you are on holiday, all the dreams you have, the ‘what ifs’, the desires to change your life, are because you have rested, you have given yourself the ‘gift’ of time, time to take it easy, to lounge, to rest your eyes, to stare and the sea, to just be. 

When did you last rest? Take a listen to the podcast and let me know what you think.

Roots, family, community are the core to what makes us human. Humans need humans, and yet, in this modern time of all the technology to link us together, we have never been lonelier. When did you last feel rooted to your land to your community? Deep roots allow us to feel strength, better health, diversity, greater communication, the sharing of ideas, understanding of how we are all different but yet work together for community good.

Modern society has pushed us down individualism, be independent, self-reliant, go go go! And yet, we have a mental health crisis, we have youngsters who don’t know how to talk to people, we have elderly people who can go weeks without seeing or speaking to another. We have fracture the very essence of what makes us human.

When did you last move your body?

When did you last take a rest?

When did you last create community of tribe?

Put some music on and move to the beat….

Turn off your phone, TV, radio, all the distractions, sit and close your eyes and rest….

Go outside, find some grass, take off your shoes and socks and walk slowly, barefoot, and be rooted to the ground beneath your feet…. Thank me later


Thoughts and words written by Sian Mercer – www.myruraltribe – Inspired by nature, books, podcasts and conversation.

Sian Mercer

Precision Grazing – Meet the Farmer – Philip Hughes -Keeping it simple for pasture and farm performance

Precision Grazing – Meet the Farmer – Philip Hughes -Keeping it simple for pasture and farm performance

Trying to make himself redundant from his own business is what Philip Hughes is trying his best to do with the help of a paddock grazing system and Precision Grazing consultants James Daniel and Rhys Williams.

Philip HUghes standing with angus cross dairy beef
Phillip Hughes with his Angus X cattle

Philip is running a diverse family business; sheep, beef, a thriving caravan park and his new ventures of anaerobic digester, data centre and soon to be growing pharmaceutical crops. To ensure all are successful, they need to be well run with a simple business plan that his (expanding) team can take the lead on whilst they perform financially, socially and environmentally. Aiming for redundancy will allow Philip to further grow and diversify the family farm.

Once a traditional welsh hill farm, with suckler cows, store cattle, a Welsh hill flock and lowland Texel flock, set stocking, feeding cake and creep feed saw them doing their best and just getting by. But then in 2019 two things happened, they learnt there would a new subsidy regime and tax went digital.

No more receipts being sent off to accountant in an old shoe box, the different livestock enterprises were inputted into Xero accounting software, figures analysed, costs seen and the figures were sobering, suddenly they could see what the subsidy was hiding, they were making a loss, they were spending £3 external investment to make £1 turnover which was financial madness.  Things needed to change, and quickly.

Sarah, Philip’s wife encouraged him to attend the Farming Connect Master Grass programme which was facilitated by James Daniel from Precision Grazing, this 2 day intensive course was the start of turning the farm business around, to a place where they could make a profit before subsidy. 

On his return home Philip bought some electric fence and trialled it out on a small part of the farm, and the changes were quick, the pasture recovered quickly but he knew if he wanted to get to the next level, he would need help to get there.

Moving to rotational grazing is a fundamental change to a farming system that has been generations in the making on our family farm;  it is a massive change, and I genuinely wouldn’t have made the changes without the external help of Precision Grazing.

Angus dairy beef enjoying paddock grazing.

Rhys Williams (Precision Grazing) helped design the paddock grazing system on the Ffridd and lowlands of the farm, working together with Philip to create a plan, which is reviewed each month on Zoom or in person, along with the grazing & pasture management and business performance budgets & plans. The result, more forage than they knew what to do with! For instance one block of land that once held 120 ewes now holds between 180-200. They are working towards doubling the farm’s output through extra pasture production whist eliminating the need for purchased inputs.

Furthermore the pasture is of much higher quality, lambs have increased daily liveweight gains and now B&B Aberdeen Angus X dairy calves have been introduced into the system to increase stocking rate and improve the soil biology even more.

Having water in the right places is key. Water and fences are an investment, there is no getting away from this, but it makes life easier and the job doable and the achievements greater.

Challenges were faced in the start of this journey, but good changes came from them. Under and over grazing, poor grass quality, too much grass and scald were frustrations, but with the help of Rhys they overcame them as they got in sync with the system, and now the rewards far outweigh these initial challenges. 

A simple system that everyone understands makes the system work.

Bringing the family and shepherds on board has helped create a simple system that they all understand and can buy into.  Communication has increased and improved the farm business, now a daily team talk in the morning and a 1hr once a week in the office conflab ensures everyone is heard and can feed into the business with their ideas and knowledge, this has been a game changer and has benefited the business more than that hour would have by carrying out physical farm work, so much so Philip will be increasing this to a 2hour office time.

It is key to have a detailed measuring plan – if this is neglected you get ½ of what it can present.

Precision Grazing provide the tools to help implement a simple system, Philip uses an excel sheet to input animal numbers and demands, plus grass metered data and information on each paddock. Grass metering the farm once a month is key, not only does it get you into your farm it confirms what you know but also shows the improvements which is a massive boost. Philip was very aware of rotational grazing systems that have been adopted into many dairy farms, but before meeting Precision Grazing he did not have the confidence or knowledge to introduce it in to a beef and sheep farm with multiple mobs on such varying land types. With the help and guidance of Precision Grazing he now has the knowledge and confidence to work this type of system.

Soil sampling and liming are key to good grassland.

Soil samples are carried out each year with lime spread in the September so it is ready for the crops uptake in the spring, seeing optimum investment in the pasture and swede crops. Before starting rotational grazing and inputting AD, the farm historically spread 20.10.10 as a standard fertiliser and soil PH was in the low 5’s, and Index 2-3 for Phosphate. Now soil PH is around 6.5 and phosphate index 1, and the grass keeps growing, showing that the soil biology has woken up, is alive and doing its job.

The farm has historically been low production, set stocked leys but with the guidance of Precision Grazing he is now implementing a 2 Track approach;

Track 1 – Improve the grazing management by using Precision Grazing. Apply digestate to improve the soil biology and nutrient content and leave a profitable and productive farm.

Track 2 – Rejuvenate pastures by seeding new grass leys in a 7 year rotation along with swedes and Redstart (hybrid fodder rape and kale which keeps growing) by direct drilling (to keep carbon in the soil). New grass leys are more cost effective than buying cake. Swedes are costing 3.5p per ewe per day, which is a massive saving on winter feed costs and will offer 80% DM with the remaining 20% DM received from silage. At the moment new grass leys are based on a Rye grass, timothy, red & white clover mix, but Philip is interested to try herbal leys and this is where the advice from Precision Grazing is key, they are learning and gaining knowledge and expertise which they pass on through their consulting work.

Fat lambs grazing Redstart – a hybrid rape and kale

What will be really interesting is can we get to the quality of grass and farm performance that we need with good management alone or do we need to rejuvenate with new seed mixes – time will tell.

Can you put a cost on changing and transforming a business? As consultants they keep expanding and changing the thought process to keep us moving forward and evolving our business, and you can’t put a number on that!

Among the “hard to quantify benefits to the business is the Prosper From Pasture discussion group which Precision Grazing facilitate on behalf of Farming Connect.   A network of people coming together to share their data, farm figures, the good, the bad and the ugly has shown Philip what can be achieved. When he joined, Hendwr was at the bottom of the league table, and now with the help and encouragement of others he is improving and in a better place. Learning from external speakers and having someone to pick up the phone to has opened many new doors as being the only one in the area paddock grazing can be lonely, but the discussion group has stopped that happening.

Having a Precision Grazing ‘pasture first approach’ means control has been taken back by the farm business. Suddenly the external pressures are not there; the high feed and fertilizer prices etc. which means that money can be spent where they want it to be.

I feel more in control and therefore more relaxed knowing what the plan is, and I can see a way through to the future.  I want to hand the farm over, to whoever that is, in really good shape; financially, productively with enhanced biodiversity and using this system will ensure that happens.

Key Tips

  • Get the infrastructure set up quickly – boundary fences, paddocks and water
  • Get to grips with measuring and planning as early as possible – use a simple excel sheet
  • Get to know your farm – walk it with you plate meter
  • Communicate with your team – get them on board and buying into the system
  • Keep it simple – farm for your farm.

Just do it! Try it on a small block of ground, grow your confidence and knowledge and once you have that you will keep on going.

The benefits of having extra team members through working withof Precision Grazing is so beneficial. Change is hard but you don’t need to struggle, help is there with expertise, knowledge and guidance plus a whole network of other farmers who have been there and are getting the T’Shirt.


Farm Facts

  • 4th Generation
  • 400ha (1000 Acres) – 60% Berwyn Mountain, 20% Improved Ffridd, 20% Improved lowland grassland
  • 500ft – 2800ft ASL
  • Soils – lowland loamy gravels up to mountain peatlands and all in between.
  • 65’’ (1650mm) average rainfall
  • 1000 Welsh ewes
  • 400 Texel ewes (to be dispersed)
  • 120 AA x dairy calves with aim to more than double

Business

  • Farm – Welsh Hill flock, B&B AA x Dairy calves
  • Caravan park – which was set up in the 1960’s
  • AD Plant fed on slurry and broiler litter
  • Data Centre
  • Moving into growing pharmaceutical crops

Words and Images by Sian Mercer, My Rural Tribe.

To listen to our full conversation follow the logo below

Are you born with it, or learned with it?

Are you born with it, or learned with it?

Are you born a high achiever or is it something you pick up from those that surround you?

So often the words ‘high achiever’ are said as a negative, but what if we turned that around, that to be a high achiever takes ambition, goal setting and hard work, then THIS would be the truer version of those words.

Mark is a high achiever he has monetary goal he wishes to achieve, because why else would you get up at 3.30am every day to milk cows, if you aren’t being rewarded for it? To strive to be the best farmer he can, producing high quality milk, high yields, healthy cows and being able to reward himself and his family with the best lifestyle he can.

All the family get involved in the day to day running of the farm, even Sadie!

Mark was born into the farming life, taking good grounding from his granny who rented 2 farms, and sold eggs into Chester whilst raising a family. The opportunity to buy her own farm, saw her diversify into selling chickens and to start the dairy enterprise. Savvy business decisions meant a 2nd farm was bought, allowing the 2 sons to farm in their own right, under the one business name, which has led to healthy competition between the two farms.

Lucy, Marks better half, is not from a farming background, has ‘married’ into the farming life and she loves it! Lucy main role is looking after the youngstock, milking and of course looking after Sadie, their daughter who is always with them and is involved in all the jobs – a true childhood of dreams!

You can really see that they both love what they do, and this is seen in the quality of the stock, machinery and the farm, which are all looked after to a high standard.

Lucy with her 2 favourite girls, Sadie and Donkey!

4 years ago they decided to start using Cross Bred cattle in their all year calving system. They have gone for a Montebeliard x Swedish Red and wish they had done this sooner. Sexed semen is used on the heifers and better cows, and they have seen increased fertility and milk solids and have seen improved health and feet.

Calves are born and then go into an individual pen, where the Stallion Individual Feeder is used with the pink teat. Using the individual milk feeder means that they can ensure the calf has drunk all the milk and is getting 1:2:1 attention and illness such as scours can be isolated and treated. Once they are feeding well, at about 7 days old, they join a group of 5 other calves, based on their size, and get fed milk in a trough with ad-lib course mix. Heifers stay housed until they calve.  This system works really well for them, as they can control the feed intake and it saves time and labour.

The @KiwiKit pink teat makes feeding easier!

The calves are tagged with Datamars Tags, and they can’t be more pleased with them, as they rarely ever come out, so much so they don’t freeze brand as they are so confident in the tags doing their job! Heifers are tagged with 1 yellow management tag and 1 coloured, each year has its own colour, for ease of management. Only once the heifer has calved, does her coloured tag get replaced with a yellow tag, and she officially becomes a cow!

The cows are producing milk with excellent fat and protein levels, this is attributed to the good quality grass and maize silage that is produced. They take at least 5 cuts over the growing season and use SafeSil by Kelvin Kave which is a preservative and keeps the silage fresher for longer once it has been fed out.  The grass leys are ‘renewed’ every 3-5 years, by direct drilling perennial grasses into the sward, and then ‘topped up’ every 2 years, this system pays for itself massively and is worth the investment.  The fields are rotated from Day and Night fields, with the cows getting disgruntled if they are in the wrong ‘time zone’!  By the time the parlour is turned on and a few jobs done the cows have bought themselves in.

3 years ago, all of the grazing fields were re-electric fenced around the field boundaries and a PEL system put in place, to run off the mains.  They are really pleased with this system and use the electric fence tester to ensure power if going through and any faults can be found. Before turn out Mark spent an hour checking all the fences and finding any fault, so quick and easy to use. When they need to reduce a paddock size they use the PEL Solar panel, which is reliable, and you know it’s not going to run flat! It just makes life easier.

PEL Solar panel

Lucy is a HUGE fan of the Kiawaka Ladies Storm Coat, as chief scrapper driver, she needs to ensure she is kept warm and dry, and along with her Bib & Brace, this is ensured! Rain runs straight off the coat and the rubber cuffs ensure not water is running down her arms! The length is great as it covered her bum and keeps everything toasty!

The Bib & Brace has been a game changer, it is such good quality and again does the job it is supposed to! Lucy just couldn’t be more pleased with her kit… much to Marks disdain as she raves about it ALL THE TIME!

Everything we have had from KiwiKit has been so good, we’ve never had any issues or needed to send anything back. The staff are all really helpful – which just makes it easy!

Trusting in your ability to achieve your goals, is more than mind-set, it is knowing you can trust in the decisions you make for your stock, trust in the machinery to keep the farm moving and trust in the kit that you use to manage the cattle and to trusting in what you wear to keep you warm and dry! All these decisions make for a well-run farm business.

The Kaiwaka Ladies Storm Coat keeps Lucy warm and dry, especially important when you don’t have a cab!

www.myruraltribe.com

https://www.datamars.co.uk/

@kiwikit @datamars @thefarmslife @kelvinkave

Grass Addiction Fuels Cow Habit!

Grass Addiction Fuels Cow Habit!

Grass Addiction Fuels Cow Habit!

It all starts innocently enough, you come home to the farm and you want to make some changes, make some money, make your mark and before you know it you are addicted to grass which is fuelling your, nearly out of control cow habit!

 10 years ago Ian came home to the farm full-time, and in order to do this changes needed to be made so money could be! Ian turned to pedigree Aberdeen Angus cows and to lessons he had learnt from the dairy farmers he had been building parlours for – strip grazing.

He could see the benefits of this system, though it wasn’t still 100% right – the cows were walking over the eaten grass to get to the water trough, it wasn’t getting the rest it needed.

The game changer…

A water bowl, no bigger than a large dog bowl changed the game and turned Ian into an grass growing addict! Whilst on a farm open day in Cornwall Ian saw the KiwkiTech water trough, enough for 50 cows, moveable around the paddocks and fed off the main trough. That £45 was a great investment and meant a back fence could be introduced and rotational grazing could commence.

 

A lot can happen 24 hours….

and grass can do a lot of growing… seeing that first paddock starting to green up after 24 hours was a magical moment, and one he is still in awe of today… THAT was a game changer! By overcoming his infrastructure issues and ensuring cows had access to water meant Ian was truly in the grass growing game!

The ultimate Swiss Army knife…

Electric fencing is like a Swiss army knife – there are so many ways to use it! Permanent around all the fields, feed off it with temporary, single strand, double strand, its quick to put up, it’s neat and tidy, keeps the stock in and the hedges in good condition. Having the PEL820 mains fed, permanent electric fence saves so much time when preparing the forward grazing cells and having the Speedrite remote means he can turn the fence on and off from anywhere on the farm.

Strategic decisions..

Ian says yes to a lot of opportunities to get the Mobberley Angus name out there, taking part in news, magazine articles and now working with AHBD and Datamars. Datamars are strategic partners and have loaned Ian their TruTest XR5000 Indicator for accurate weight capture, this links with the XRS2 stick reader. Within 24 hours of receiving these Ian had ordered readable EID tags which has made the job super easy and quick – game changer!

Calves are tagged at birth, with Caisley tags, BVD and DNA tested and EID tagged. Information is gathered on this first day, from weight, time of birth and tag number, all recorded on the stick reader and transferred to the FarmPlan software, which is added to through their lifetime, tracability at its finest!

 The XR5000 has been a game changer! It collects and delivers as much or as little information as you want, you set the data you want to see for the decisions you want to me.

 

Accurate data, accurate decisions…

MiHub has helped Ian make great decisions and save money. Ian aims to finish a 350kg cow , he can set his weight goal month to kill between 16-22 months, weighing cattle every 3 weeks, MiHub can tell him if he is on target and how much Daily Liveweight Gain he needs to achieve – which was 0.8kg per day, not the standard 1kg we read about, saving him money on feed costs whilst still hitting his targets! By having all the information right in front of you with proper facts and figures means that you know where your business is really at, where you can save money and where you can make money.

No more Top Gun moments.

Trying to read a tag number as the cow is moving its head around.. always made me feel like Goose in Top Gun trying to get my aim on a ‘boogey’! Add some muck and a hairy ear and mistakes are made, especially when there are sheets of paper, full of ear tag numbers on TB testing day.  The Stick Reader and EID tags have made life so easy and safe. As long as the stick bearer hears the ‘Beep’ as the tag is read, easy days… This is so important for Ian, who relies on outside help on TB testing day, when he feels he should be in the danger zone of pushing cattle into the race, it means father in law can help… as long as it beeps!

The same with the medicine book; no longer scraps of paper, lost in a draw trying to remember quantities and withdrawal dates, it is all there, ‘Beep’ then straight into the FarmPlan software.

Learn together, learn from each other and work together…

Ian wants to do the best job he can and the way to do this is to learn from others, from farm open days, AHDB days and discussion groups. Not afraid to travel the distance in order to learn from those that have done it, who have made mistakes and learnt from them! Ian joined the Precision Grazing discussion group, a group of like-minded people with a positive attitude who want to give things a try. But he wants to up his game and so investing into 1:2:1 time with Precision Grazing will be his next move to get the most of the land he has for optimum cattle growing conditions and maybe enough sneak a few more head of Angus in!

Start at the end…

And work backwards. Ian has set the income he wants to achieve and worked backwards from there. Breeding a smaller cow, 650kg, that can grow itself and raise a calf on grass, a smaller cow that does less damage to soil and grazing, a calf that can be finished off grass at 350kg, to suit the system, and consumer desire for smaller cuts of meat, to finding a local market for his beef, his brand with full traceability and setting the price, all leads to the end goal and a bigger slice of the wedge. Technology is helping Ian to be the best he can, make the best decisions for his stock and his business. By knowing facts not guesses means he is control.

Say yes to opportunities, learning and technology, say yes to your farm business!

Sian Mercer

Sian Mercer

Photography, Listener of thoughts, asker of questions, Writer of Blogs

I am Sian Mercer, the writer of these blogs, which are based on thoughts and ideas, quetions I have asked, feelings I have had and wonders which have been answered.

I am a photographer, please check out my website www.myruraltribe.com to see my work and book your own photoshoot, for your rural business or family. 

Grass Addiction sweeps the farming community…

Grass Addiction sweeps the farming community…

Grass Addiction sweeps the farming community…

Grass Addiction sweeps the farming community…

Say what…

I know growing up in rural Wales it was all about the magic mushrooms, but smoking weed and farmers… surely not?!

No.. not at all, BUT they are getting addicted to seeing their grass and bank accounts grow!

Pray Tell!

Rotational Grazing; the New Zealanders have been doing it for years, the dairy lot have caught on and well… its time the beef and sheep farmers got on it and take back control!

Meet the farmer

I met Aled Evans, beef and sheep farmer in West Carmarthenshire who came back from the corporate world to take over 400ha of family farmland. Aled wanted control over his profit, not to be at the mercy of the market or processor and the only way to do this is to Save Money, by cutting the Cost of Production.

 

Build up your confidence

Start small and build up, gain confidence and grow the addiction of seeing grass grow!

(I thought the addiction to Tractor Porn was bad (no not like that.. literally 16-year-old boys ogling the blue one, the green one, the red one…. No weird positions, unless you are a JCB)) but seeing grass grow… IS addictive! 

Aled started by splitting fields into 2 0r 4 paddocks, depending on their size, cattle grazed for 24 hours then moved onto the next fresh paddock….that’s when he saw it… new grass growing, green and lush, with no fertiliser added, and what else was growing well… the cattle and sheep… they were utilising this wonderful ‘free’ feed source… and looking great!!

Upping the game

2 years ago Aled met James Daniels of Precision Grazing at a Farming Connect ‘Prosper from Pasture’ and quite frankly has not looked back! He upped the game, GPS the whole farm to create 0.45ha Cells, that ensure consistency and ease of management. Gone is the manual plate meter and replaced with the bells and whistles of Bluetooth plate meter which sends the data to the mobile phone and then onto the computer where AgriNet works out how much grass you have on farm, days of grazing, growth, too much too little… suddenly there is a plan, a goal, Proactivity! 

Yawn…

This is flexible grazing system, grazing a cell from 24 – 72 hours, decisions are made on Supply & Demand, each season can be consistent with the aim of a nice straight line on the graph… no ups and downs here, just a nice straight line of beautiful consistent green grass!

Spend it to Make it….

Spend it or invest it? Investing in rotational grazing will work out about £300/ha, this includes the new water trough system… BUT done correctly, this system will return your investment within a year, with a potential 5 figure saving on winter feed and fertiliser going forward. Surely a no brainer… change the way you say it… Investing in the farm system… investing is powerful, investing is achieving a goal, spending Is wasteful… Invest! Invest! Invest!

We’ve always done it this way…

And it is now time to change. 30 years ago you got £60 a lamb, you still get £60 a lamb and costs have gone up.. so how much is that lamb or beef animal actually making you?

Each year farmers ‘invest’ in feed and fertiliser; you can see it, touch it, you know it does what it says on the bag.. it grows animals and grass…. but get your mind around the fact that an electric fence, efficient grazing, a re-growth period, rain and sun grow copious amounts of grass…. for ‘free!

A hungry cow is an efficient cow…

Pray Tell! Aled houses the cattle over winter, they were housed on the 23 November 2019 after 9 months grazing and are fed their winter ration of silage and rolled barley or bread. They are then drip fed out onto the grazing from early Spring, starting with 4 hours a day, until the grass growth 

starts to get ahead of the demand. The cattle then come back in and nibble at some silage. It takes 3 hours of efficient grazing to fill up the cattle, no loitering or walking about the field, full on Olympic style training in the art of grazing, then in to rest and chew the cud! A new Cell each day, winter growth removed and double the grass growth off these semi grazed cells! Winner Winner Grass Clover Ley Dinner! 

Working smarter, not harder

Coming back from corporate world to farming, Aled brought with him the corp mentality; management meetings involving all the team and an Agenda, Quarterly reviews, regular  Consultant meeting, personal and staff development and time off!

Time Off… yep and by working an 11 hour day, home for tea, every other weekend off, weekend on is only stock checking and time off off for holidays! I know! Cray Cray! But by working smarter and more efficiently a lot can be done in a day and Aled and Llifon are better for it. Work smarter Be smarter (or not so tired that accidents & near misses don’t happen)

What’s your Legacy?

 Aled is creating a business he is proud of, one that fulfils his and the team’s aspirations; a successful profitable business. Ego is left at the door, working the land efficiently means that grass, labour and stock are being utilised to their very best. How does he know this? Benchmarking! Benchmarking stocking & labour units, knowing Live Weight gain and % of grass utilisation and efficiency!

Take Control

Changes are happening to farming and the red meat industry. Climate change, subsidy reductions, can leave you feeling out of control. But here is a system that gives you back control.  Farming is a game of hope, hope of the weather, healthy stock, healthy price, healthy market. But hope does not give control.

What can you control? You control the Cost of Production. The end price you receive is determined by SO MANY factors…. Which you can’t control, only hope for. By reducing costs, growing a ‘free’ nutritious feed source that your animals love to eat, investing in YOURSELF, your SYSTEM, your EDUCATION will give you CONTROL.

YOU are your only obstacle

As with any system it needs YOU – 100%to make it work. It’s scary, there are systems and spreadsheets and technology and investment. There are areas of the farm to look at, (hard) conversations to be had BUT so much to learn, money to be made, free time to be had. Farming is a lifestyle but it is also a business. Don’t let the lifestyle just be about work, let it be about family, friends and enjoyment.

Rotational Grazing (in my mind) is a no brainer!

There are  great companies there to help you, Farming Connect for free education, Precision Grazing consultnats, Datamars for ALL the gear and AgriNet for your software. 

Thank you Aled Evans for his time, for showing what can be done, how to create a legacy, develop the ‘next generation’, sharing the gift of conversation, education and inspiration.

Thank you to Datamars for sending me ‘On Tour’ to Wales and providing all the gear and the ideas to all those amazing farmers who are getting involved in electric fences, solar powered electricity, water troughs and waterproofs all in the name of Rotational Grazing and a great farm business!

#NothingButSeriousPower #Speedrite @datamarslivestockuk

Sian Mercer

Sian Mercer

Photographer, Listener of thoughts, Asker of questions, Writer of Blogs

I am Sian Mercer, photographer, blog writer, which are based on thoughts and ideas, questions I have asked, feelings I have had and wonders which have been answered.

I am a photographer and gatherer of information for your business, please check out my website www.myruraltribe.com to see my work and book your own photoshoot.

Check out my Rural Photography , or follow me on Instagram @my_rural_tribe to keep up to date with my walks and thoughts!