Organic Monitor Farm. Mains of Thornton, Bourtie, Inverurie

Transcription

1 Organic Monitor Farm Mains of Thornton, Bourtie, Inverurie Report on Meeting held 31 st January 2013 Useful Contacts Monitor Farmers Leslie Cooper Murray Cooper Facilitators Maggie Magee, SFQC Debs Roberts, SFQC Ian M MacDougall Technical Projects Manager, QMS, The Organic Monitor Farm Project receives funding from Quality Meat Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Organic Producers Association and is sponsored by Norvite. SFQC facilitate the three year project.

2 Contents Page 1. Welcome 3 2. Farm Update i. Sheep 3 ii. Cattle 4 iii. Crops 5 3. The Roundhouse uses and benefits 5 4. Organic Prospects Conference Red Meat, Debs Roberts, Caledonian Organics Cereals, Simon Tubbs, Saxon Agriculture CAP Reform, Doug Bell, SRUC Organic Food Market, Caroline Shahin, SRUC Top Tips Always keep marketing in mind when making decisions. It s always relevant. Lambing time Mains of Thornton start in February to produce finished lamb for the early market to gain the premium prices Taking good samples of grain for analysis ensure you have a realistic value of quality for marketing - and keep up good links with your buyers. And as the group learned at the August 2012 meeting at McIntosh Donald, finish stock to what the market is asking for. Acknowledgements Thanks to SRUC for organising the Organic Prospects 2013 afternoon session and providing lunch. 2

3 Meeting on 31 st January 2013 Attendees : 40 in total 1. Welcome The meeting opened at the Mains of Thornton steading with Maggie introducing Leslie and Murray Cooper to the group and welcoming all to the farm as the project entered its third and final year. The day s format was to include:- a farm update on livestock and plans for cropping 2013 and short farm walk. back to Whiterashes Hall for lunch followed by the annual Organic Prospects 2013 conference. 2. Farm Update Murray Cooper gave a general overview of the farm and its enterprises for the benefit of those new to Mains of Thornton and then provided an update on sheep, cattle and crops and what had taken place since the last meeting in November. (i) Sheep This year the lambing period is changing, so now running in batches of ewes from February through to May with no break in March as in previous years. February lambing ewes first lamb arrived today! Split into 2 groups with older ewes scanned at 156% and younger ewes 181%. Feed plan ad lib silage (CP 11.9, ME 11, DM 24%) then 6 weeks before lambing on 0.2kg oat/pea mix/head and 3 weeks before lambing 0.15kg added to the mix/head. Also given limited grazing on forage rape. Total Cost of this diet 53p/head (concentrate + silage 19p/head and 34p/head forage rape) Twin lambing ewes viewed by the group. Keel marked colours according to lambing due dates. First batch of these ewes put to Charolais and Texel cross tups to produce early finishing lambs and bigger premiums May into June. Second batch put to Logie hybrid tups - Lleyn tup to Durno hybrid ewe (CharolaisxTexel) for good maternal traits with aim of retaining ewe lambs from this batch into the flock. Management Near lambing date, ewes housed in polytunnel overnight, monitored till midnight, given feed in morning and out to grass by day with 2-3 hours on the forage rape. Gales the previous day had lifted the polytunnel frame down one side. The Coopers are debating whether to fix or replace the tunnel after lambing as housing needed for the early lambing. It can house about 100 ewes with lambs in individual pens. They keep the Charolais x lambs in for 2-3 days. Have used lamb jackets in bad weather in previous years on the February 3

4 born lambs and they were effective ( see 10 th March 2011 report). One group member raised issue of mismothering he had experienced using lamb jackets not been a problem at Mains of Thornton. Sales 162 lambs sold since November averaging 3.62/kg DW. 190 of 2012 lambs still on farm. (ii) Cattle Health Scanned 95 cows - 7 barren (including 2 heifers). Tests for TB, BVD, Leptospirosis and Johnes TB, BVD clear results, but 2 Johnes +ve and one suspicious. The barren and Johnes cows to be finished and sold. Pneumonia in calves been a problem, not in roundhouse but in stock housed in the cattle court. The plan was to wean calves November/December but will do so shortly. Action noted for discussion amongst community group on potential of vaccination programme for weaned calves. Management Cows will be brought into roundhouse in batches again this year for calving. Did this for first time in 2012 with great improvement in calving % of herd to 98%. It also showed in the returns from cattle enterprise last year of + 200/cow (see Beef Annual report 2012). The month old heifers went into roundhouse in January and put on dry cow rations of 2.5-3kg straw, organically approved minerals and 26kg Agbag silage. Cows doing well on this. 56 cows with calves at foot in bedded court. Calf creep area set up with caves getting silage, straw, minerals and offered oat/pea mix. Calves will be weighed at weaning and then once a month. Had planned to weigh fortnightly but monthly monitoring will save time and Murray hopes to see a weight gain each month. Ideal is 1kg/day over their lifetime but 0.7kg/day probably more likely. Will provide feedback on this at future meetings. Sales Since November have sold:- Number Average price/kg DW Cull cows Organic OTM Finishers(19-20months) average 1277 & 549kg lwt (iii) Crops The group had a look at the Agbag silage made for the first time in Barley/oat/Swift/Redstart (hybrid Brassicas) grown on 2 fields, 30ha total, with westerwalds grown at each end for a lie back for the sheep. The poor weather had set back the growth of the Brassicas. 4

5 General points made on use of Agbag silage Pros Is a quick and easy feed to use and faster to use than round bales Less use of plastic/tonne Could have fed it on its own Cows doing well on it Cons Cost and availability of contractor who came a distance (group members suggested trying Davie Nichol, a contractor nearer the farm) Weather dependant on heavier fields due to machinery used Plans for 2013 include:- Combinable oats, beans or barley/peas 26ha (65acres) Silage/wholecrop 60ha (150 acres). Forage brassicas 4ha (10acres). There is still 20t oats, 30t barley and 30t wheat and feeding straw in store, for sale. The Coopers are actively looking for organic grazing and silage ground to rent. 3. The Roundhouse Murray summarised the main features and experiences of using the roundhouse, built in 2010, while the group took advantage of having a look at the building and the stock under its cover. Built at a cost of 100K plus 30K ground works. 15 year guarantee on the roof. Has 7 full sized pens and a smaller handling pen at end of crush with handling system in the centre. A better layout may have been to have weigh platform in the race rather than in crush. Ventilation good. No issues over pneumonia. Feed troughs possibly not well designed for the high % of forage used in the organic diet. Muck out every 4-6 weeks and move stock into handling pen while doing that. Using 6 bales straw/day for bedding compared to 2/day previous years due to poorer quality straw this harvest, Hardcore floor in place but with hindsight the Coopers feel they should have concreted it to prevent stones getting picked up when mucking out. Cattle tend to scuff them up. Greater return from roundhouse than other sheds as used for stock year round young stock and replacements over winter followed by calving cows in spring and summer. 4. Organic Prospects Conference 2013 Richard Huxtable opened the afternoon session and conference with the positive news that SRDP applications for organic funding in the latest round were very successful and brings total success of applications to 70% since the start of the scheme. Four main speakers took the floor next. The main points covered are also available to read in the conference report which can be downloaded off the SRUC website. 5

6 Debs Roberts, Director, Caledonian Organics Red Meat Beef most of the organic spend is on beef, over 70% of sales, with mince selling the best of all cuts. The organic premium for beef has been increasing which is good news. Lamb through 2012 there had been periods with no organic premium for lamb. Sheep numbers have seen an increase since Stewing and diced cuts along with minced lamb have been the best sellers. Debs made a note for all that providing your livestock figures at your annual organic audit helps towards building an overall picture of livestock numbers in the country. Organic Prospects, 31st January

7 UK Retail Spend Share Organic Fresh Meat 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% Other Fresh Pork 50% 40% 30% 20% Fresh Lamb Fresh Beef 10% 0% Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Organic Prospects, 31st January 2013 Kantar Worldpanel UK Retail Volume Share Organic Fresh Meat 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% Other Fresh Pork Fresh Lamb 50% 40% Fresh Beef 30% 20% 10% 0% Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Organic Prospects, 31st January 2013 Kantar Worldpanel Simon Tubbs, Saxon Agriculture, Saxon Organics Cereals Poor weather resulted in poor crops in both quality and quantity in 2012 with a return to a reliance on EU and third country imports where the crops were of good quality last year. Wheat ( 305/t) and barley ( 295/t) is most sought after with oats readily available ( 255/t). Forward prices for 2013/14 predicting a premium of 75/t, about 30% above conventional. Yields next season will now depend on good spring drilling conditions otherwise possibility of another small UK crop. 7

8 Simon emphasised that good crop marketing is essential, taking good samples from your crop to get accurate value of quality, grow what the market is asking for and maintain good links with your buyer. Doug Bell, Senior Rural Policy Consultant, SRUC CAP Reform and the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) Basic Area Payments will replace the existing Single Farm Payment in There may be a transition period between historic payments and 2019 when the flat rate per area rate is in place. BPS entitlements will be issued based on the area farmed in 2015 (2014 start date for the scheme is unlikely). BPS entitlements will only be issued to those who activate at least one unit, most likely to be based on New entrants will be able to apply to a National Reserve. Greening payment requires additional environmental measures to be adopted on farm in addition to GAEC but as Organic Farming is already recognised as greening, these payments should be automatically received by organic farmers. Caroline Shahin, Marketing Consultant, SRUC The Organic Food Market EU and world sales of organic produce have risen but sales in the UK have fallen. The IGD identified 5 major trends for the consumer goods industry in 2013:- Living better for less Brands building a human face emotional connection with shoppers Digitising the store ie making use of new technologies for shoppers Backing winning formats eg tailoring products for the local people Flexible fulfilment ie have the means to bring shoppers what they expect. Businesses need to respond to changing demographics which includes more single person households, more people from Eastern Europe and higher numbers in the older age brackets. There are opportunities to build on customer loyalty, marketing to the sectors who are more likely to buy organic food, and develop a new market for Scottish milling wheat. The conference closed with thanks to all in attendance and to those who had given excellent presentations. The next meeting of the Organic Monitor Farm is Thursday 23 rd May 2013 at 11am at Mains of Thornton. 8