Milk prices strengthen, and the great need for vets

With the weather settled in West Sussex over the last 10 days, it is now more like May, things are much improved and everyone can get on the land at last with little difficulty. This is just as well, but up and down the country opportunities have now been missed and with many fallow fields and poor crops, livestock farmers are being told to plan in order to prevent long term forage shortages.

With clamps empty at the end of this long wet winter, there is a need to ensure enough feed for next winter and restore the carry-over, essential when winter is long and wet as this one was.

Many farmers bought in silage in order to get through which is very expensive due to demand, and for those growing maize for silage, maybe an extra field should be grown in order to provide the cushion for future problems, especially any fallow fields where it was too wet to drill cereals.

There could be issues with first cut grass silage too, not enough fertilizer and wet weather could mean low sugars, with high fibre levels another issue.

Experts are suggesting cutting heights should be set higher for grass silage this year as many fields have not been rolled and there is a danger of soil contamination.

Silage additive will be essential they say in order to maximise quality and ensure a decent fermentation takes place. A good maize year may be essential in order to lift forage quality on many farms.

A case of BSE has been confirmed on a farm in Ayrshire, with the usual precautionary movement restrictions in place.

The case was identified as a result of routine surveillance and stringent control measures, the animal did not enter the food chain. Further investigations to identify the origin of the disease are ongoing, which is standard procedure for a confirmed case of classical BSE.

There is concern in the pig industry that as retailers commit to buying non-deforestation soya (in itself a good move of course), farmers must not be left with the bill.

Pledges are wonderful to make, but they need to be paid for, and the pig industry want reassurances that if they are to feed non-deforestation soya which is much more expensive, pig prices will increase to cover the extra cost.

Milk prices continue to strengthen as production runs well below last year’s levels as we approach peak production. We are down on milk due to late turnout to grass and farmers not pushing for yield over last winter as high cost of feed did not encourage them to do so.

Higher bulk cream and butter prices are now driving better farm-gate prices, but cheddar prices and milk powder are sluggish. Global prices are slightly lower which does not help, but commodity prices are stable and retail prices are up.

Having posed the question of how is it that farmers carry all the risk and yet get 25 pence a kilo for wheat, whilst a loaf of bread retails at £1.40p; a good question, Jeremy Clarkson’s new series on Netflix is a good demonstration of how difficult pig farming is.

Jeremy thought a few sows kept on some less productive land would be a real money-spinner as loads of piglets would be born and sold for profit.

In the new series, enthusiastic as ever, Jeremy is now launching into pigs as there is a fortune to be made, only to find that piglets die rather easily.

The shortage of vets is getting worse and has more than halved since Brexit. MP’S warn and access for them has become harder, whilst animal controls have increased and public pay has stalled.

The Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee, Sir Robert Goodwill, warns that a scarcity of vets poses a danger to protecting animal and human health as well as trade and food security.

Defra Secretary of State Steve Barclay has called for more funding for veterinary degrees, higher salaries for public health vet roles and a reduction in the minimum salary required to obtain a skilled visa for overseas vets.

Ironically there are more checks and therefore a need for more vets since Brexit, and there is apprehension amongst our veterinary experts about our ability to deal with on-going and significant disease outbreaks in animals.

They claim that responding to such an event would call upon public and private sector vets to suspend business as usual activities, due to the absence of domestic standby surge capacity.

Bird flu has been a major issue for poultry farmers for quite some time and now we have the real threat of the Bluetongue virus infecting our cattle and sheep this summer, with no vaccine for the sero type 3.

African Swine Fever is in Europe and is another disease posing a real threat to our pig industry.

Whilst we are losing vets to the profession due to stress, poor work-life balance and feeling undervalued, 45% of those who leave have only been working as vets for four years or less.

However, the most immediate concern is the new minimum salary threshold of £48,100 for overseas vets coming over on a skilled worker visa.

This will preclude all but the highly experienced professionals from coming to work in the

UK, whilst we depend on overseas vets, essential for food safety, animal welfare, disease outbreak prevention, export certification, research and teaching.

Our largest poultry producer has suffered a second year of losses, hit by high interest rates and inflation in its pension scheme.

2 Sisters Group supplies most of our supermarkets and large retailers in the Netherlands and Poland.

Founded in 1993, it employs 15,000 people at 23 manufacturing plants and suffered losses of 23.1 million last year. With a turnover of £3 billion, but margins of 1.3%, it’s a tough business.

To my astonishment the Germans have been told they must work harder!

Apparently, their work ethic is becoming a thing of the past and the US news agency has pointed out that they are at the bottom of the table in terms of hours worked.

Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner warning that the French, Italians and other countries work a lot more than they do. Ouch!

Whilst I quietly rage at the Bank of England for not starting the process of gradually lowering interest rates in order to boost business confidence, improve the economy and generally make life a little easier for everyone, I see a quote from JK Galbraith which fits the bill perfectly. ‘Economic forecasting was invented to make astrology look good’.

Despite 20 years of hanging baskets from the lampposts of Chatteris in Cambridgeshire, volunteers are now to be trained to do this at a cost of £200.

The Council considers that their past endeavours in hanging these baskets has been ‘reckless behaviour’ and must be corrected! Given that they are not paid, had no accidents in the past and have won gold medals for their displays, volunteers are shocked and do not have the time or money to do the course.

There was me thinking that we were going to take control of our lives with less red tape after Brexit!