Grass Addiction Fuels Cow Habit!

by blewog95 | Sep 13, 2020 | Agriculture, Cattle, Education, Farmers

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

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.

Community… how do you make yours better?

by blewog95 | Aug 3, 2020 | Agriculture, Community, Conversation, Education, Farmers

‘Your dreams will have greater meaning when they are tied to the betterment of your community’

Community… what does that mean to you? Are you part of a community? Do you live and work in one? What does YOUR community look like?

I look to the farming community, one I am proud to be part of. Growing up in rural Wales being part of the community is just how it was, it’s the way of life.

I mean you would fart, and people would know about it, which can be annoying but actually looking back, it shows that people have your back. Yes, there is the gossip and scandal but when the chips are down, they are there for you.

The farming community comes together for the good times and the bad. The local show, YFC events, fundraisers and concerts; making sure livestock gets to the market when someone is ill, and the snow is cleared ensuring the funeral of a loved and respected member of the community can take place.

These people are not living in streets but miles apart, with fields, rivers and hills separating them but they are united by the sense of community, a field in August the village hall, the vestry. United by friendship, working together and coming together to celebrate the highs and the lows. A wave as you drive past each other, stooping for a quick chat, maybe there is more time or maybe the need is greater in these rural areas to take the time for community, because they depend on it, without it, it can be a lonely place.

Community is being part of where you live, it can be found on-line with your tribe, it is found on the allotment, Am Dram the community centre.

How do you better your community? Is it through the work you do? Have you given back to your industry or the community you live in?

Humans need humans and we see this more than ever at the moment. We need that interaction, and when that interaction doesn’t happen, we lose ourselves, our sense of purpose our direction.

By reaching out, from our isolation, from you heads, we can make a huge difference to those around us, it might be 1 person, it might be a 100, but by making a difference to others you will make a difference to yourself.

How are you going to do this? How are you bettering YOUR community?

Farming dreams really do come true…

by blewog95 | Mar 21, 2020 | Cattle, Farmers, Livestock market, Opportunity

Farming… is one of those things…. You can’t explain it, it’s something you have always wanted to do and other jobs just never match up to it…. They’re good but they’re just not farming. My Rural Tribe met with Ben Jones, who’s whose dream of having his own farm has come true!

The farming ‘bug’ got Ben Jones as a small boy, when he would holiday with his grandparents, in North Wales on their small holding, chickens, pigs and sheep; the stuff of childhood dreams…?

Ben got on his farming path by being accepted for a place at Harper Adams, but lack farming experience led to a year’s work experience on a dairy farm in Cheshire, where he got paid, bought a car…. The lure of money overrode the desire for a degree and he went back to Cardiff. Time in other jobs were well spent but not farming, a move to Somerset with the police force and renting a cottage with land started his own small holding, keeping chickens for eggs and lambs & pigs for met boxes.

Meeting up with his old school friend, Julia, led to romance and a move back to the Vale of Glamorgan! Both with a love of animals and the countryside saw them starting to rent some land and get their own sheep. The rented land increased, but was all over the area, so a lot of driving to feed and check livestock who lambed outside. A desire to have cattle led to them buying a herd of 12 Dexters; not the first choice for everyone but this hardy small breed suited them perfectly, small, low soil impact, and most importantly they can be out-wintered as damage is minimal, plus in the 6 years they have only seen 1 calve. The Dexters are only grass fed, with about 50 bales of silage over the winter.

Hillside Boxed beef came as a natural progression to the lamb boxes they were already doing, as 5 of the herd were cull cows, Ben took 3 to Raglan market, it was British Blue day… as you can imagine the Dexters were lost and the price received was very low. Something else needed to happen for the remaining 2 cows, they realised they could make more through the meat boxes. Ben found a small family owned abattoir and butchery in Gloucestershire, who were and still are excellent, a calm environment for the cows to go through, hung for 21 days, butchered to traditional and specialist cuts, packed and labelled, means that a viable supply chain has been sourced and supported.

The Dexter herd, they calve really easily and quickly!

The boxed beef has gone from strength to strength with a loyal following and a waiting list, 2 cattle go every month, and people can buy a specialist box with cuts of their choice, or have a Lucky Dip, which means all the meat gets used, and everyone is happy.

Spring 2019 saw the start of Ben and Julia’s dream of having their own farm, a National Trust tenancy had come up for 134 acres near Abergavenny, and they had won the tenancy.

The National Trust have a vision for their farms, to create havens for wildlife, increase species diversity and farm in a low input way which is in tune with the environment. This suited Ben as he had been farming low-input and his livestock have been only been pasture fed.

The Trust have been very supportive to Ben, encouraging Performance Recording, investing in a new infrastructure and providing volunteers who have carried out wildlife and bird surveys on the farm.

The farm is 134 acres of permanent grazing, parkland, wetlands and arable rotations which will be fallow, rye grass, herbal ley and spring barley, the livestock grazing the rotation will improve the soil, reducing the need for chemical fertiliser and the Trust want to encourage arable weeds such as poppies back onto the farm, which will benefit insects and birds.

Farming… it just gets into you… and becomes your life.

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.

Please check out my Podcasts, asking the question ‘What makes a farmer’….

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

If you would like to be part of my blogs please do Get In Touch! I would love to hear from you, visit your farm and hear all about what you are doing. Or if you have some ideas of who I should visit, please do let me know!

Next Entries »