Labour shortages are not just an issue for the dairying sector

WE hear about a labour shortage all the time in the dairy sector but it’s safe to say that it is across the board in farming.

It’s hard to divide yourself in two. I’m currently on the hunt for someone to come and work on the farm. For the last couple of years I’ve had a super chap working with me, but he has now got more commitments on his own farm and has moved on.

Over the last while I have had casual helpers, between students and people doing the odd day here and there. It’s not working.

I’ve just realised that since February I haven’t been away from the farm for more than a day or a few hours at a time.

I love farming, it’s a super job, probably the best job on the planet, but you need a break. You have to get away. You need to control your enthusiasm and achieve a work/life balance. I can’t possibly keep going the way I am going. If I don’t get somebody good, I will have to reduce numbers and farm more extensively.

So it would be down to picking between the cattle and the sheep.

Furthermore, our neighbours across the water, the British, have no idea the damage they have done to themselves on the whole labour front.

When Brexit arrives their economy will grind to a standstill as they won’t have access to the migrant labour force that they have become to depend on so much.

Oh well, as long as I can get someone to help me out and let me off for a break to read a book and practice some Spanish, at this stage I don’t really care about Brexit. Somebody should warn them though.

On the farm front the summer is motoring on and so far, weather wise, it has been fairly decent. Keeping on top of grass growth and maintaining grass quality has been the challenge for me this summer.

Just when you think that it’s time to put away the mower another paddock pops up that I just won’t get to in terms of grazing and its baled and wrapped.

Needless to say there won’t be a shortage of silage here next winter. You have to take the stemmy grass out of the system.

The feed value is minimal, so cutting and rejuvenating the sward is essential to maintain its quality. I top as a last resort, as I find mowing really cleans up the place and encourages quality aftergrass.

Lamb price

I weaned last week and I have the ewes on a tight paddock in order to dry them off. Once the lambs settled down I separated out the ram lambs from the ewe lambs. They’ll be dosed and graded according to weight and ram lambs over 40 kilos will get ad lib access to meal. It’s necessary to finish them off.

The ewe lambs I leave to their own devices and I’ll look at them in September, picking off whichever ones are suitable for breeding.

Lamb price is where it should be, the notion of mid season lamb averaging €100, as being the benchmark price for lamb is becoming less and less realistic. We have to bargain hard for this and be stubborn.

I’ve heard where farmers are reducing stock numbers and sub letting out farms for €250 an acre to dairy farmers. They’re right — unless the price of lamb is higher I can’t see why I wouldn’t recommend farmers to do the same.

We all have bills and mortgages to pay so it’s the bottom line that counts and mid season lamb price needs to rise in line with the rising costs of living. It’s not rocket science.

Grass growth has calmed down a bit so as soon as I have the second cut of silage in, I’ll blanket the whole farm with a bag and half of CAN (30-40 units). It will prolong the grazing for the cattle and sheep for the latter half of the year and should leave covers in good shape going into the closing off periods of the year in October.

I purchased some Belclare rams asI want to up the prolificacy of the flock. More lambs on the ground improves the bottom line. So the plan is to cross them with my Suffolk and Texel-cross ewe lambs. I really want to focus on the genetics of my flock over the next few years.

I’ve been a bit lazy about it and I want to breed for profitability and reduced labour. I want to keep less ewes but produce more lambs from them.

Now I’ve got to get my Knowledge Transfer documents in order. I’m kind of glad it was delayed until the July 31 but I’ve now left it to the last minute. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

John Fagan farms at Gartlandstown, Co Westmeath