Thursday, May 28, 2009

After MPs... will farmers be in the frame?

The MPs have done wrong with their expenses and the Daily Telegraph has created a scenario which has caught everyone's imagination, and doubtless enjoyed healthy sales as well. So what happens when the dust settles? Will the nation's population just get on with their financial difficulties? Or will they, and the media look for another sector which benefits from the public purse?

If farmers and landowners were picked on in the same way, how robustly would their stand be? Have they the moral high ground, can they justify the payments they receive? Last week Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg mentioned the Common Agricultural Policy in the same breath as 'structural reform'. Will others take up the same theme? Farmers might well be advised to prepare for a siege - and then a rainy day.

Major cutbacks to present payments would hit the smaller working farmer badly, for many find the income from crops or livestock products such as milk barely cover their outlays. The large estates, which have useful economies of scale, might be better able to cope, but only by shedding labour and cutting costs further. All farmers find much value in their copies of Practical Farm Ideas.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Fertiliser wastage


Fertiliser wastage

Did you know that nine farmers out of ten waste fertiliser by failing to mount the spreader on the tractor accurately? That the waste of fertiliser can be between 5 and 10 per cent. A striped colour happens when some parts of the field get more than the planned amount, and other parts get less - BUT it's only visible when the difference is more than 15%. The farmer may well use the correct quantity, but the spread pattern is wrong... simply because the the machine has been put on inaccurately.

At today's fertiliser prices it racks up a loss few farmers can afford. Improve accuracy and there's an opportunity to reduce the amount applied. Improve accuracy and total yield improves as each plant receives the recommended calculated application.

There's a useful Practical Farm IDEAS on-line report on www.farmideas.co.uk/reports.php which has 15 useful tips to get the job done correctly, without spending money on a new fertiliser spreader.