CARA Wales

Many farmer’s have yet to order fertiliser, and this now seems like a good decision. The price is forecast to reduce, notably for nitrogen based products. There is currently, and locally some exceptionally good deals available on urea fertiliser, which should be considered.

When comparing fertiliser, it is best to use the price per unit or kilo of nutrient. For example 1 tonne of urea contains 460 kilos of nitrogen, at a cost of £275 per tonne this is 60 pence per kilo of nutrient. For ammonia nitrate to compete (345 kilos of nitrogen per tonne) it should be no more than £207 per tonne - certainly food for thought!

The best advice would be to order at least early spring requirements soon to guarantee product on farm for spreading in February / March.

Elin Jones has announced that there will be a further £6.8m of support given to the organic sector in Wales. The result of this is that all the applications made this year to enter the scheme will be accepted. It will also allow for more applications to be accepted to the 2009 scheme.

 There will be a total of £7.5m available in 2009-2010 and £5.5m in 2010-11. This means that payments have started with most farms receiving 70% of their total now.

If you are considering converting to organic farming then the advice would be to think about it as soon as possible to make sure you are in the first come first served bracket for the forthcoming year.

However in the same breath it’s advised that all farmers wishing to convert should apply for Assembly Government support before starting the conversion process.  This will enable farmers thinking about converting to be given a commitment of support or clear advice that they will not be supported and thus allow them to make informed business decisions. 

This good news won’t be such good news for others as the money has been taken away from other schemes to fund the organic applications. The result of this is that there will be a change in three other areas, these being

1)      All applications made for the Tir Cynnal Scheme on the SAF in 2008 will be put on hold for now until an Axis 2 review has been made.

2)      Tir Gofal applications that don’t reach the 100 points required for the scheme will be discarded without a visit and only those farms offering the best environmental result will be further pursued

3)      The Catchment Sensitive Farming Scheme will be delayed until April 2010 instead of late 2009. The number of catchment areas will however remain the same.

So often the case when cows are not milking well or milk butterfats and protein are poor the nutritionist gets the phone call to resolve the problem. The breeding advisor/technician is called when cows are not cycling, holding to services and the vet with issues such as ketosis, displaced abomasums, milk fevers’s, metritis etc etc.

Many of the issues raised can in fact be linked and one issue leads to another, yet on most dairy units the nutritionist, breeding advisor and vet never meet or know what issues they are having with mutual farms. Occasional but regular joint meetings can have significant impact on technical performance of a dairy unit.

An example might be significant incidence of displaced abomasums which is likely to be linked to dry cow management and nutrition. Low milk proteins, falling condition score and poor conception rates may be linked to energy levels of the milking cow diet. Working as a team on dairy units can result in problems being diagnosed quicker and therefore being resolved sooner. This has significant impact on dairy cow performance and therefore farm returns. Team approach avoids the SOS approach to managing a dairy unit and can lead to less vet visits to treat sick cows and by the breeding technician for repeat services.

The national minimum wage will increase from 1st October 2008. From this date, you will need to ensure that all staff are getting at least the new minimum wage per hour; appropriate to their age.  Below are last years rates and the new rates for this year:

National Minimum Wage rates from 1 October 2007

• Workers aged 22 and over - £5.52 per hour
• Workers aged 18-21 -         £4.60 per hour
• Workers aged 16-17 -         £3.40 per hour
• Accommodation offset -      £4.30 per day (£30.10 per week)

New National Minimum Wage rates from 1 October 2008

• Workers aged 22 and over - £5.73 per hour
• Workers aged 18-21 -         £4.77 per hour
• Workers aged 16-17 -         £3.53 per hour
• Accommodation offset -      £4.46 per day (£31.22 per week)

If you have any queries regarding payroll, please contact us and we will be happy to help.

The credit crunch seems to be the only news meriting any attention at present, but is this really having an impact on the agricultural sector? The major impact will be seen by new borrowers or those restructuring debt. In these circumstances, the cost of raising funds at bank level is increased, and therefore this will be passed onto the borrower.

In basic terms, although most owner occupier farmers have reasonable levels of security, new debt may not be at such good rates as previously seen. In order to prise as good a deal as possible out of the bank there are several things you can do to help:

1.       Ensure you ask for the correct amount of capital – asking for more at a later date is a sign of poor planning

2.       Structure the debt over the correct period – too quick a repayment period will see overdraft pressure

3.       Make sure you have an up to date balance sheet and farm valuation – security is still vital

4.       Always allow for some sensitivity and over spend in plans and budgets

5.       FINALLY … Show the bank a professionally produced business plan. (CARA does these regularly) 

Having all five factors above covered will gain respect and understanding from the bank manager and help in negotiating a competitive rate of borrowing.

With electricity charges increasing at alarming rates it has never been more important to keep a close eye on your contracts. There are still a significant number of businesses that do not know when their electricity contracts terminate. Many now demand a three month notice period to terminate a contract at the end of its period. Failure to hand in your notice in time results in being locked in with your current supplier for another period at possibly significantly higher charges. Early termination fees will be charged if you leave your provider within a contract. These fees can out way any benefit in cheaper charges offered by another company. The reverse can also be true where another electricity provider can offer deals so much lower that it can mean paying a termination fee available option.

It is recommended that you always shop around for the best deals before your existing contract ends. This invariably means terminating your existing contract. Looking at different electricity contracts and identifying the best deal can be a daunting task. There are many professionals within the market place who will carry out this task for you. This is a burden that we at CARA are more than happy to take off your shoulders.

Many businesses have set up a fixed monthly direct debit. Whilst this makes budgeting easier,  as time goes on the level paid does need to be reviewed. A significant increase in dairy cow numbers for example will result in more units being used and your payments will soon fall into arrears. If you have recently installed/upgraded your milking plant and improved efficiency the reverse is likely to be true and the number of units used reduced.

It is vital that meters are read by your provider or yourselves on a regular basis and the reading passed back to your electricity provider. It is recommended that this is done on a quarterly basis.

                CHECK LISTS

·         When does your contract terminate

·         What are the early termination fees

·         What notice period does your electricity provider require

·         Is your monthly direct debit amount at a sufficient level to cover electricity units used

·         Ensure meters are read at regular intervals

Check your electricity contract today. If you have any queries regarding your electricity contract then contact us at CARA to discuss matters further.

Grass quality and weather conditions are not aiding milk production at present. Many producers are seeing fairly mature swards, with cows struggling to get intake due to wet weather. It is vital to provided a buffer to cows to enable milk production to be maintained. It is also likely to be of benefit to increase concentrate protein levels also to aid fibre digestion. Maize Gluten or a distillers product fed on top of silage will be of real benefit in maximsing milk production.

The current prices of fertiliser and feed mean that there has never been a better time to take full advantage of grazed grass. Using a rising plate grass meter to assess grass covers gives some science to knowing whether cows appetites are met or not, how much to give the cows, and whether they have grazed the paddock tightly enough.

Rules of thumb are as follows:

Turn cows into a grass cover of around 2,800 - 3,400 kilos of grass dry matter per hectare

Pull cows out of pasture when cover down to 1,500 kilos of grass dry matter per hectare

Aim for a 21 day grazing rotation

With the current daily grass growth rates - upto 100 kilos dry matter per hectare per day - many pastures are getting too strong for grazing. In these circumstances it is worth skipping paddocks, cutting some paddocks for silage or even mowing and grazing some swaths behind an electric fence.

Measuring the grass covers, and recording on a weekly basis can mean an extra 2-3 litres from grass per cow per day. This is equivalent to saving £860 per month on feed costs for a 100 cow herd.

With interest expressed from customers, we are looking at running a grazing and plate meter course for any interested farmers. If you would like more details please contact the office.

A very good article in Farmer’s Guardian regarding the WiRE conference at Harper Adams, reminded me of a few salient points that we should all bare in mind!

• For business analysis a pen, paper and calculator are all that are required
• Understanding profit is essential
• The results of your annual accounts should never be a surprise - you should have an idea what the answer will be
• Spending more than you take in is not sustainable
• Improving profit doesn’t mean necessarily working harder - it may mean selling for a better price, or spending less
• Don’t be afraid of money, or your bank statement