My Farming Week: The stupidy of this regulation is bought home to us

I have to admit that, to date, my tillage enterprise is not computerised -- mainly because I tend to fight against working with the computer. But really, at this stage, I should know better -- particularly since we have such a positive experience of computerised dairy herd management and, indeed, the herd register on computer is a godsend.

Certainly, our recent cross-compliance inspection would have been a nightmare were it not for the fact that all records were easily accessible at the touch of a button.

Now, however, my new Teagasc advisor, Cyril, is suggesting that we computerise the tillage enterprise and, of course, this makes absolute sense.

The tillage enterprise is growing on the farm as a balance against a shrinking beef enterprise. Again, our recent cross-compliance inspection involved a detailed paper trail where crop management was concerned and we could have avoided much of the hassle if we had computerised records.

So, we are now taking the necessary steps to set up a tillage programme, which also involves getting our Area Aid data from the Department of Agriculture online. At this early stage I can see that fun and games lie ahead for a while, but hopefully it will all be worth it in the end.

And, of course, I must keep reminding myself that the most important part of any computer programme is input. Any analysis is only as good as the information supplied.

And now the time has come when we are allowed to spread slurry. At least, according to the law and the calendar we are allowed to but, once again, the stupidity of this regulation is forcefully brought home to us.

Farming by date and calendar does not work now and never will. By date, we can spread slurry but land is sodden and good farming practice dictates that we do not attempt to travel our fields with slurry or indeed any other substance.

But before Christmas, during the months of November and December when the weather was dry and land conditions very good, these same regulations prevented us from engaging in good farming practice. Common sense, it seems, simply does not apply to bureaucracy and the rest of us suffer the consequences.

At the moment, we are moving slurry around from one tank to another -- from the reception tanks to the main overground store. There is no sign of an improvement in weather conditions and, indeed, we would not expect it at this time of year, so there is no chance that we will be able to apply slurry to the land for some time, despite the regulated date.

Having said that, this part of the out-farm is quite dry and I was able to scrape the feeding passages into the muck spreader and apply directly to the land. Much to my surprise, there was evidence too of new spring growth to complement the half-hour stretch in the evenings.

On a different note, calf rearing on the home farm has been a very successful and rewarding venture to date. The new calf shed is a major factor, of course, but we also attribute success to some other changes to the system; one being the introduction of a different brand of milk replacer that is fed to calves.

This new milk replacer must be mixed correctly at a temperature of 42-450 and, in so doing, we have experienced no scour whatsoever in the calf unit.

The lads have also introduced a new specialised starter calf nut and, later, a complementary follow-on nut which has also been successful as far as health and nutrition in the calves are concerned.

Now I know it all amounts to progress in quality of product, but this new and different brand being being fed at the moment has given us healthy, lively and thriving calves.

Proof of the pudding lies in the fact that only one bottle of antibiotics has been used so far in the calf shed and this factor alone speaks volumes, as well as bringing about a very welcome reduction in the vet's bill.

Of course, we also practice a comprehensive vaccination programme among the calves and in calf rearing and this too plays it's role.

Other jobs on hand include the service of machinery, particularly the plough, which needs to be ready to go when ground conditions permit.

Hopefully, the weather will allow us to sow early spring crops this year.

The plough needed a few new discs and disc axels, as well as a new ram, so I suppose it needed a major overhaul really -- rather than just a service.

- Oliver McDonnell
Independent.ie, January 22, 2008
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