CARA Wales

From May 2010, fruit and vegetable producers in Wales will be eligible to apply for Single Payment Scheme (SPS) entitlements for the first time. This will include potato farmers.

The direct payments to fruit and vegetable producers will be at the average level per hectare of the SPS in Wales and will be based on production hectarage in 2007. The projected entitlement value is €249 per hectare or approximately £80/acre but is subject to change in the light of further work.

Applications would need to be lodged in May 2010 with payments due from the following December.  The Welsh Assembly Government is now working on setting up the scheme and needs information on potential claimants – in order to prepare IT and to make the Single Payment on the SAF in May 2010 without delays.

If you think you may be eligible, please contact the office for guidelines on how to proceed.

Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones, launched a new grant scheme for disused historic buildings in rural areas at the Royal Welsh Show.
This new grant which is administered by Cadw, a part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s historic environment service. It offers grants for the repair and re-use of redundant listed buildings in rural areas which have been assessed as being ‘at risk’. There are over 2,000 listed buildings at risk in Wales.
The scheme aims to encourage projects which will propose a new or alternative use of listed buildings in keeping with their historic character. This will encourage regeneration of a rural area. For example, the scheme could:
• support the sympathetic conversion of barns or other redundant agricultural buildings
• redundant industrial or commercial buildings or redundant places of worship.
Grants, which are available to all owners, will be offered at 50% of eligible works costs. A sum of approximately £500,000 has been earmarked for the first year of the scheme.
It’s hoped that this new scheme will help to repair some of the most vulnerable listed buildings in Wales and improve and regenerate the appearance of run-down rural areas of Wales.

With more of your Single Farm Payment being swallowed up by increasing modulation rates, many farmers are now looking to recuperate some of this shortfall by joining an agri-environment scheme. Various schemes have been available over the last ten years including the ESA scheme (Environmentally Sensitive Areas), Habitat Scheme, Tir Cymen, and Tir Gofal. The latest scheme introduced was the Tir Cynnal scheme which has proved very popular with a range of farmers.

The Tir Cynnal scheme is open to all farmers as long as 5% of their farm can be classified as habitat i.e. broadleaved woodland, scrub, unimproved grassland etc. If the farm has less than 5% habitat, then farmers can choose to create habitats on their farm. One popular way of creating the habitat area required has been to grow a crop of unsprayed roots, such as swedes or stubble turnips.

Application for membership of the Tir Cynnal scheme is made annually on the Single Application Form, and payment is made on the anniversary of the agreement. Payment rates are as follows:-

0-20 ha   £45/ha                      £900

20-50 ha £30/ha                      £1800

50-100 ha £25/ha                    £3050

100-200 ha £5/ha                    £3550

Over 200 ha £2/ha

As part of the Tir Cynnal scheme you will be required to complete three management plans for your farm. These include a resource management plan, soil management plan and manure management plan. These will need to be completed before the first anniversary of your agreement and then updated annually to reflect any changes in farming system. These plans have proven to be very useful on a farm level by pointing out areas that could be problematic under cross-compliance, as well as highlighting over use of fertiliser on some fields.

The soil management plan states that testing soils on a regular basis would provide an environmental and business benefit to many farmers. At CARA, we now offer a soil testing service at £10 per sample. We have recently seen an upsurge in farmers undertaking soil samples to assess the fertility of their soils. The latest results received show that in general most P & K indexes are sufficient, however the majority of fields need significant levels of lime. Unless the pH of these soils is corrected, then the response to fertiliser applications will be limited. 

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.

From 11th January 2008, new legislation means that all lambs born after this date, that are intended for breeding will need double tagging. The two tags used must be identical – unless a tatoo is used. All lost tags must be replaced within 28 days, and entered into the holding register. All movements must be recorder within 36 hours of the event. The same rules will apply for goats.

A lot of dairy farmers are unsure as to whether they will actually be better off under the current pricing, allowing for the increases in costs. The main cost increases are seen in the “3 F’s” – Feed, Fertiliser and Fuel. Assuming that the milk price for most has increased by 7-8 pence per litre, returns have increased by an average of £560 per cow.

Costs have increased by £70 per tonne for feed, £150 per tonne for fertiliser and 40% for fuel. The combined effect of these cost increase is around £320 per cow or 4.3 pence per litre. For the average dairy farmer, there should therefore be an extra profit of £240 per cow, or 3.2 pence per litre.

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