2013-03-14 09.57.51

So, we did it, we took the plunge and let the cows out for the first time in early March. With all the staff and a few besides watching, enjoying the event almost as much as the frolicking cows themselves. It’s refreshing scenes like these, which we have the privilege of witnessing, that remind us that this farming business isn’t so bad after all. Creation is a pretty special backdrop to our working lives.

But of course as soon as we put the cows out the rain made a reappearance, and then the snow showed up too. Frolicking has become a little more subdued, and the cows’ daily outing has been somewhat shortened. Yet the lightening of the workload which comes with having the cows out, even for a limited period every day, is very welcome. Scraping now happens just once a day, and starts at a reasonable hour.
Of course if “reasonable hours” were a priority for us then we would definitely be in the wrong line of work. In early March wakeful nights abounded for all, as the feed auger in the parlour gave out. Many early hours were spent trying to fix the problem, and a few milkings were disrupted, with the cows complaining almost as loudly as the team. However, with so many of the staff readily putting in extra hours, and coming in on a Sunday, which they usually have off, we count our blessings.

Speaking of blessings, we are currently reaping the benefits from the free grass which we were bombarded with last year. John has a philosophy that the best time to take advantage of a deal is when you don’t need it. He does not like to turn down an offer. On this occasion, where the deal was in fact free, everyone seems to be in agreement.

Even the markets seem to be smiling on us at the moment, with the milk price holding, while our production continues steadily. The price for the bulk order of dairy supplies has also held, for the third year in a row, which won’t hurt.
Though we are thankful for all these blessings, we know that the success of our business can’t rely on favourable circumstances alone. The strength of our farm depends on consistent improvement of our performance, it rests on the everyday stuff that we can control. This is why we are currently concentrating on the area of fertility. We’ve decided to stick with the decision that we made last autumn not to use a stock bull on the cows. The advantage of knowing fixed service dates, using proven bulls and keeping on top of heat detection far outweigh the benefits of the “turn a bull in and forget about it” approach. The decision to go all AI means that we must focus on improving our conception rates, and we have invested in some AI gun warmers and will be having an AI refresher course before the next batch of serving. We’ve also decided to use all Aberdeen Angus where previously we used British Blue on the cows, this will sacrifice some potential calf value but we should have easier calvings and will hopefully get cows back in calf more quickly.

We are often reminded of the privilege of what we do, and we want to stay thankful for our many blessings, but we also appreciate the responsibility which comes with all this, and that’s what we must aim to live up to.