Here to help you ride out the storms

Ronan Keating topped the UK charts in July 2000 with ‘Life is a Rollercoaster’ and whilst he was referring to love at the time, the same could often be said of the UK agriculture industry.

We are constantly at the mercy of the weather, input price volatility (especially fuel and fertiliser at present), government policy and fluctuating prices.

When faced with a lower milk price, dairy farmers often look at where they can cut costs and, as we approach the silage season, Jonathan Hill of Promar shares his views on how better quality forage is the key to profitability.

Whatever the milk price, milk from forage and other home-grown feeds is the cheapest milk to produce so a short-term saving achieved by choosing an additive on price alone, or even not using one, or using poorer quality sheets will undoubtedly lead to higher costs or poorer performance next winter.

In the article ‘Wet threat to silage controlled by preservative’, we look at how Lancashire farmers, Fred, Mark and Jake Riding, turned to us last autumn and used the new preservative MultiMax, making great quality silage in wet conditions in September. We also feature another article by Dr Horst Auerbach where he further explains the mode of action of MultiMax, shares new trial results and demonstrates why a proven preservative is so important in challenging conditions.

We are increasingly working with more arable farmers who are trying to protect their businesses by either adding value to their current crops or adding other crops to their rotations. One such farmer is Mike Greenwood who, with the help of his agronomist, began growing grain maize for crimping two years ago. We follow the maize to Dumfriesshire dairy farmer, Angus Kerr, who has been buying it to feed alongside his crimped barley to one of his milking herds, with insight from his nutritionist as to why it feeds so well in the diet.

This story shows not only the benefits to the two farming businesses but the strength of cooperation between farmers and their advisors who can work together to shorten the supply chain, cut out the middleman and keep more profit on the farms.

As we are almost three years into the Nitrogen Climate Smart Project (NCS), we also hear from the team at the James Hutton institute about their work on bi-cropping with legumes and lifecycle analysis. We also return to Richard Barker’s North Lingy Moor Farm, previously featured in KnowHow (Autumn 2024), as he hosted one of the beef feeding trials.

Finally, we introduce Dr Donald Lawson of Premier Nutrition, with whom we have recently partnered to improve our mineral range. Most dairy farmers already use a quality bespoke mineral, balanced to their diet, but it is something often overlooked by beef producers. Donald looks at the differences between grass silage and wholecrop beans and highlights the benefit of diet-specific minerals. Advances in forage mineral analysis mean that testing is now relatively inexpensive and state-of-the-art production facilities mean that bespoke minerals can be made in small batches to match specific nutritional requirements.

We can’t change the external pressures on your business but we can help you with scientifically proven products and technical advice to ensure you stay on the right track when it comes to making the most of home-grown or locally sourced feeds as you ride the ups and downs of farming.