IN YOUR FIELD

William and Andrew Cowx: Weather’s inevitable hold over destiny

18 August 2010

As the weather’s inevitable hold over our destinies remains, as ever, in full focus. WILLIAM and ANDREW COWX tell us what’s happening in Cumbria this week.

THE weather plays a big part in our job as farmers and is always one of the first topics of conversation, particularly this year.

Not long ago we were desperate for rain, now we have had enough and a nice spell of sunny dry weather would be most welcome for people to get crops in.

We cut a field of grass intended for hay but it ended up in big wrapped bales. And a field of hay we made into big bales early on in summer, which we thought were dry, have heated up and sweated out – they should have been left out in the field a little longer. We can manage through winter without hay but a little can be useful early on in winter if we get snow.

The weather again is resulting in a rise of world grain prices which will make feed expensive this winter and affect cattle prices this autumn, the old saying ‘up corn, down horn’ will probably apply this winter as far as cattle are concerned.

Shropshire judging

We have just returned from a visit to Shropshire, where Judith and I spent a very pleasant two nights away judging Limousins at Burwarton Show.

I am now off to Southern Ireland for a week to judge their herd competition. But at home the work goes on as normal.

All the lambs have been weaned and put on silage aftermath after being dosed for worms and receiving a multi-vitamin dose.

Normally they would have been dipped at this stage but this has not been the case as the withdrawal period of the dip has been extended to 70 days, by which time we hope to have most of the lambs sold. The ewes have all had their mouths and udders checked and any that are incorrect or looking rather long-in-the-tooth, have been sold – so far, they have averaged £83.

With cull ewes being such a good price, you would think that this is a good sign for the autumn gimmer lamb sales – depending on whether you are selling or buying.

On the cattle front, with the imminent rise in the price of cereals and room for improvement in the price of finished cattle, the remaining 14 autumn-calving cross cows have had their calves weaned and sold immediately off their mothers, before we incur feeding costs.

With the good grass growing weather in recent weeks, the second cut silage has bulked out and should be ready to cut within a week. This could make up for the shortfall in the first cut.

All we need now is some fine weather and the forecasters to get it right.

CUMBRIA

Father and son, William and Andrew Cowx, farm at Hudscales, Hesket Newmarket near Wigton in Cumbria. The hill farm, at the north of the Lake District National Park, runs to 140ha (350 acres) with extensive fell rights. The family runs 100 sucklers, including 70 pedigree Limousins, and a flock of ewes.