The soaring value of fodder and cereal crops this year was attributed to a dry spring and early summer meaning fodder stocks would be less than expected. A bale of hay is selling for an average of £60 each and barley averaging between £80 per ton for big bales and £90 per ton for conventional bales. Wheat cereal incomes could soar by 70%.
Not good news for livestock farmers who will be facing an expensive winter, especially those who rely on bought in food for their animals. Even those farmers who grow their own fodder will question whether it makes more sense to sell their wheat rather than feed it to their cattle, as a report in the Wells Journal comments, with the price of cattle some 3-4% down on last year and store costs stubbornly high, the margins are very tight for dairy farmers.
Fuel costs generally have steadily risen by around 25% over the course of this year. Meanwhile Oilseed Rape values have risen steadily to around £330 per ton, compared with £230 per ton this time last year, an increase of 50%. This is good news for arable farmers, whose profits and sale value will greatly exceed expectations.
However, the number of Somerset dairy farmers has fallen by half from 1125 to 612 dairy farms left in the whole of Somerset this year. A spokesman from the National Farmer’s Union said on a television news report, “they want to keep shareholders happy, they don’t care about suppliers.” Where dairy farms were once a common sight, cereal and rape crops have regularly replaced them, not only in Somerset, but all around the UK.
The filming for the Barn this month began with the new crop emerging, and farmers muck spreading their land. This was followed by an early cold spell with the first snow covering of the field at the end of the month. The remains of a burnt out car appeared at the side of the road. A metaphor, maybe, for our burnt out fuel strategy.
the barn, somerset 