Most of our early calvers are hitting their peak intakes now, and it is always something worth keeping an eye on to make sure cows have access to enough feed in March as a cow which is calved six weeks will eat a lot more feed than a freshly calved cow.
The herd is averaging 28L a day at the moment, which we are very happy with as that also includes stale cows. We are still grazing the herd once a day and they seem really content with being settled in that routine.
We managed to graze some of the lower paddocks during the recent settled spell of weather, it is amazing how quickly ground conditions improve in March and the weather also allowed for some slurry spreading by our contractors.
Seeing the herd milk so well coincides with a good milk price and it looks like the milk price will be stable for the foreseeable future.
European dairy markets aren’t moving up or down, which is similar to the global dairy market. As much as traders try to resist strong dairy commodity prices, they dip one week and rebound the following week. Butter increased by €220 last week and whole milk powder has remained unchanged in price now for two months on the European market.
Dairy markets are simply on a sideways movement, and demand globally for dairy is very stable, so we can easily see current base prices remain past peak milk in May and June.
His recent move against Canada isn’t proving too successful and soya prices in the US have already slumped as the Chinese react to his tariffs and have gone elsewhere in search of soya. China buys $15bn from the US and they will simply buy from South America or Russia instead.
Likewise, the US dairy industry is highly dependent on exports, with 20% of domestic production exported with a value $8bn and the industry accounts for 3.2 million jobs so the last thing Trump needs is a trade war on dairy.
Remember, it was the rural vote that helped him get into office, so decimating rural economies will not make him popular at home in the US. Dairy commodity prices have already slipped in the US as traders are reluctant to commit to deals in case tariffs come into play.
Rather than trying to talk down dairy markets, perhaps we can see that food finally has a value at farm level and farmers are allowed to make a living. The reality is input prices are high, so the base price for milk must remain where it is.
Consumers now appreciate healthy nutritious food, and the fads of plant-based this and dairy-free that are long since passed. Likewise, the price of beef has never been better at €7/kg, and it is great to see the beef farmers getting a fair price for their produce.
Demand for processing beef is booming and globally beef prices are strong and should remain so for the months ahead. Calf prices are strong this year and even what was previously considered the worthless bull calf now has a value to cover its costs.
Many calves were often classed as a byproduct of the dairy industry, and how wrong were the commentators who called it that. A calf is not a byproduct and up until now it had a low value simply because beef prices were too low, and many years beef farmers were struggling to make profits.
After all, at certain times of the year we work close to 100 hours a week, and if we were working that many hours in any other job we would most likely be on a far higher salary.
It is crucial that consumers understand that food at farm level now has a value. There was something very wrong with the price of food prior to this, when you could most likely buy a calf in the spring for the price of a packet of sweets.
Back at home, the show team are in full preparation now for the coming season and we are looking forward to seeing how they progress. I will be heading to Carlisle for UK Dairy Expo with Georgie this week where she will be showing Jerseys including our own heifer, Ravina, whom we are excited to see and is now served. UK Dairy Expo is a fantastic show and always has top-class judges and a great atmosphere.
Our Red and White Holstein cow named Magic is progressing really well at Firstlook genetics and we would have loved to send her up to show at Carlisle but felt it would be unfair to enter her as James is judging the Red and White classes at the show but hopefully, she will get an outing in the coming months ahead.
We also had a visit from IHFA classifier John Kirby this week. It is always a pleasure to get John’s views on animals as he casts his knowledgeable eye over them. He scored a few cows for us and Acclaim is now a VG89 second calver.
Jay Z classified VG86, which we were delighted with, as she is a first lactation and had a big health scare in October, but she has bounced back to her best and looked a picture walking up the yard to John. All going well, she should be a really exciting cow in her next lactation.
Kasey also scored VG88 as a second calver and her daughter Khaleesi is now back in on show preparation after a winter outdoors and she has matured into a really special heifer so fingers crossed she will have a good season ahead.
