If you are going to choose a time to go to
Cornwall, it’s best not to choose to go in the middle
of the worst storm in 20 years but on the plus side there
aren’t many tourists driving around at that time! That’s
what happened to me in March when I set off from the South
West of Scotland to the South West of England, to speak to
pedigree and commercial breeders at a meeting near Bodmin
Moor and do a few farm visits in the area.
My firsts stop
and host for the trip was Penny Lally from the Chyanhal Simmental
Herd near Penzance. It was easy to see in my drive from the
airport that the methods of farming here were going to be
different to most of the other places I have visited so far.
The fields were small and diverse, many with flowers or vegetables
growing in the warm wet climate the area provides. There
were remnants of the mining age strewn all over the county
and beautiful beaches and little old buildings, which seemed
to have been there for ever. It was obvious that the people
of Cornwall were keen to preserve a way of life and heritage
which was so intertwined with tourism, that it continued
to make this remote part of the country economically viable
for those who stayed and supported it.
Many farmers here
farm on a part time basis, which allows them to retain their
heritage but also allows them to supplement their incomes
from the farm. No more so than here was it easy to see that
there was a real need for cattle, which were easy to work
with and could grow their calves on a very cheap system.
Penny maintained her passion for the breed
by running a first class bed and breakfast at Rose Farm alongside
a pet cemetery and human woodland cemetery business which
she and her late husband John had began over twenty years
ago. This beautiful farm allowed people to have
a quiet place to remember their loved ones and companions
in peaceful surroundings you would be hard pushed to find
anywhere else.
The Simmentals fitted in well as they stood
in their stalls in the yard which was overlooked by the converted
barn where I stayed. Like all of the residents of Rose Farm
including the resident artist who ran courses there, they
brought a feeling of contentedness to anyone who stayed there.
My next port of call was to Penny’s
right hand man Jim Buckland and his wife Jean who farmed
on a part time basis just up the road. Jim ran their small
herd of pure and crossbred Simmentals while Jean taught at
a local school. He had farmed full time as a dairy farmer
until 2000 when the pressure of work, a rented farm and the
price of milk forced him to make some serious life changes
and he left the dairy industry to convert to beef. He began
with Hereford X replacements from the dairy herd who joined
the retired “ladies” from Penny’s farm,
now 14 and 17 years old!
The farm has become self sufficient,
growing their own corn and straw and making silage to supplement
the winter feed. Jim’s ultimate target is to reach
around 50 sucklers, with equal numbers of pedigree simmentals
and commercial cattle for the 100 acre unit. The current
herd are mostly Simmental X and Angus cows, which are put
to the Limousin as heifers and then back to the Simmental.
The two bulls being used currently are Dinton
Nautical and Hockenhull Maverick. They are mostly wintered
outdoors, coming into a concrete yard and lean to shed to
feed on silage and a 33% protein blend pellet, sugar beat,
maize, oats and barley at a cost of 45p per head, per day.
Son Steven, a heating engineer locally, is keen to maintain
his contact with the farm and works there in his spare time
including most weekends and evenings.
The common theme from
everywhere I visited, was the interest from the younger generation
in maintaining their connections, not only with the area
but with the farming around which they grew up. Steven helps
with the calving which is half spring, half autumn calving
with the heifers calving down at around 21/2 years old. The
Spring born calves are weaned in December having spent the
summer on grass and been introduced to creep before weaning.
Jim’s main
aim is to improve his suckler herd through breeding his own
replacements, whilst being self sufficient and producing
quality animals.
 |
| John proudly introduces
us to this years calves |
Our next visit was to John Olds’s
70 acres unit at Bosahan Farm, Constantine, Falmouth which
has 50 acres grassland and 20 acres of woodland and redundant
granite quarry. On the way we purchased the world famous
Cornish Pasty which we ate sitting around John’s kitchen
table. They were outstanding! Filling though and I wouldn’t
advise trying one unless fasting for three days before and
after. While we ate lunch John explained the farm set up.
John’s wife Bridget works full time as a Senior Support
Worker for Cornwall’s ‘Children, Young People
and Family’ services. They have three children. Daniel
19, will shortly complete the Diploma in Agriculture at Duchy
College, Adam 18, works full time for a local cauliflower
grower and Ben 16, will be leaving school in June and is
planning to start a land based engineering course in September.
John described the boys’ willingness to help out at
home when they could and how he would continue to encourage
them to do so, on a part-time basis. Like Jim, John has been
a dairy farmer until three years ago when the stress of low
returns and increasing work load finally took its toll and
he was forced to rethink his entire future due to health
reasons. I asked when looking at today’s milk prices
did he have any regrets? “Economically the huge investment
needed in the infrastructure on this farm to support the
expansion of the dairy herd would still not be justified
as the improved prices have been swallowed up by increased
overheads. I do not regret my decision to down size by giving
up the additional units I rented and ensuring that the historical
element of the single farm payments were anchored to land
I owned. I have and will continue to explore diversification
opportunities that exist alongside the farming enterprise.
The plus side is the quality of life I now enjoy and I even
have time to prepare cattle for the local shows.” Jim
added that he too had no regrets, “Now I can go around
without a watch.” he says “I can go for a walk
with Jean and not have to be back for milking and I’m
not falling asleep by 8.30.p.m. every night!”
John
started the Bosahan British Simmental herd with seven foundation
cows and a stock bull ‘Winford Storm’ by ‘Blackford
Harvester’ who also runs with six commercial suckler
cows. There are four pedigree heifers due to calve shortly
to ‘Dirnanean Jacob’ and five 2006 heifers will
be covered by ‘Samark Superman’. John purchased
his bull and several females from the Society Sale in Bristol
and plans to eventually replace the crossbreds with pure
cattle aiming for a herd of 20 pedigree females. All three
had ordered the BTV vaccine.
While we sat round the table
discussing the current state of the industry, we agreed that
the effects of bluetongue on our industry was likely to be
the biggest influence on where and when stock was purchased
for the foreseeable future. The risk not only to our own
herd but to those of our neighbours was of paramount importance.
We also discussed the effect of the single farm payment and
the fact that fertiliser ordered in October was £164
ton and this week had risen to £318 ton. By this time
I was beginning to regret the pasty and despite being branded
a lightweight by the locals, I am disappointed to say it
beat me and I never did manage to finish it!
In the next
issue, find out about John’s diversification schemes,
meet Kevin a part time farmer and full time fire fighter
and discover how I spent a stormy night in Cornwall. |
