Cheshire dairy farmer Andrew attended Harper Adams university and went on to manage pedigree and commercial herds. He secured a job with breeding company Genus, where he became sire analyst. He has now returned home to manage the 350-cow herd.
The dark arts of farming have been fully revealed to me over the past couple of months in the mysterious form of electricity and drains.
The first is a subject which has baffled me since school. It is something you can't see, it makes no sense and it is pretty lethal.
It's all about the flow of electrons, I was taught, which always made me imagine them all backing up at one end of the wire. Since I succeeded in fusing the entire science block in my GCSE year, I now give it a wide berth.
Decades of work on different buildings here means finding the source of the problem can be challenging, even to full-time electricians, as I recently overheard one chap stating ‘I don't even know how this power gets to here'.
As for drains, well they are another mystery, but the recent storms certainly resulted in my learning the tricks for keeping them running. One morning did not start well at 4am, when stepping into a foot of water in the parlour pit.
I won't repeat my first sentence as this is a family magazine.
We have a great chap currently working on some field drains and he dropped in to help out. He took a look at one of the reception pits which was full, and asked how deep it was.
I told him that if I were standing up in there, the water would be over my head. He looked me up and down and said ‘I'll think I'll try and get her going from the other end'.
The palpable relief as you see the water level drop as you are milking is right up there with an injury time winner.
We have a great chap currently working on some field drains and he dropped in to help out. He took a look at one of the reception pits which was full, and asked how deep it was.
I told him that if I were standing up in there, the water would be over my head. He looked me up and down and said ‘I'll think I'll try and get her going from the other end'.
The palpable relief as you see the water level drop as you are milking is right up there with an injury time winner.
Two storms in two weeks definitely pushed our resources to the extreme. The irony that the second storm to hit was named after our gaffer ‘Dennis' was not lost on us.
Our stalwart staff member Lance, who has worked here for more than 45 years, has added to our reliance on the excellent workings of the local hospital. He unfortunately broke his leg in a freak accident.
A 999 call resulted in a paramedic coming out and, while taking the pain away, advised us it would be an hour before the ambulance would arrive.
Dennis jumped to the rescue, deploying the Kawasaki Mule and taking Lance to hospital himself. Hopefully Lance will be back shortly as we miss his fantastic work ethic. Plus he is a genius with drains.
We passed our latest TB test thanks to great help by the staff and vet. It is a stressful time though, as cows seem to know something is up. I cannot believe how lucky we were with the testing and the reading.
I read with interest as the early adopters of the cull zones appear to be reaping the benefits of reduced reactors, and I also attended the recent British Cattle Breeders Club Conference, where we heard about a new test utilising MIR technology in milk.
A test to hopefully find positives earlier offers an opportunity to control spread faster, but we have a long way to go.
Our girls are coping well in what you would certainly call less than ideal circumstances.
Milk per cow per day is up on a year ago, and pleasingly cost per litre is down slightly over the same period.
As we walk round the farm though, we can see plenty of infrastructure which needs renovating or investing in shortly, so true profitability remains a ‘greasy pig' to get hold of.
Progress
I am pretty pleased with the genetic progress we are seeing in the herd.
A year ago, our youngstock sat in the top 65% nationally for profit traits, and as of December we saw them break into the top 15%.
My 20-year plan is already two years in, to get us into the top 2%, so I cannot afford to mess around much.
Why do I think this is important?
Well, every time we do a genetic audit and compare predicted production and health traits against actual performance here on-farm, we see genetics are actually underrated, meaning they outperform expectations, so we see real benefit in investing here. It feels like a slow process with a closed herd, but we should start to see a real drive up as sire stacks build.
Sometimes farming feels relentless. You manage one breakdown, then battle through staff shortages, then on to sorting out the next disaster, such as two freak breakdowns on consecutive Sundays in the parlour.
Luckily, in Phil Atkins, we have excellent service and advice from someone who always answers the phone regardless of day and time and that is priceless.
You have to remember there are ups as well as downs.
Last night I welcomed into the world Yoda Lobelia; she may not be a world beater, but she is a smashing little heifer. She is our 14th Yoda heifer in a row from sexed semen.
If only everything in life was as reliable as Yoda semen. I know our remaining pregnancies will more than likely be bulls now, but you have to celebrate the good times.
That does make me think a bit.
The combination of weather, prices, vocal backlashes, physical challenges and, in many cases, the isolation of our life can make depression a real issue.
I have read and followed some very brave individuals in our industry who have vocalised their feelings and what they have gone through. I think it's important to talk about it.
Farmers tend to come across as gruff and grumpy, but I would venture to say we always have time for someone wanting a chat or time to share a joke.
So don't ever bottle it up. Get it out there and talk to someone. The kettle is always on here.
Quotes
I have been reminded of two great quotes in recent weeks that made me smile, and thought they were worth sharing, especially when you feel down about people sniping at our great industry.
First the old Chinese proverb: "The man with the full stomach has many problems, but the man with an empty stomach has only one."
And then one from Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Farming looks mighty easy when your plough is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."
Farm facts
- Farm Size: 121 hectares (299 acres)
- Herd: 350 pedigree Holsteins
- Soil: Heavy clay
- Rainfall: 820mm
- Milk buyer: Muller non-aligned
