Outlook with Bill Webb Bill Webb Feed Solutions

The weather has been a mixed bag.

Last year in July we had 102mm, and this year only 89mm. We’re down 13mm, but it seemed like it was wetter, so we must have had more days with rain rather than quantity.

Rainfall to August 23 2020 was 80mm, this year only 22mm – another reason why grass growth is down this year on hill country farms. The low land farmers will be enjoying the dry spring.

Then of course we've had these couple of cold snaps in between. This has certainly put a halt on grass growth. Last week, the average soil temperature has been about eight degrees, down from about 12 to 13 at this time last year, another reason we’re seeing slow growth at present.

There's not a lot of surplus feed around the place. Some years you can grow more grass in August than you can in September but that doesn't appear to be the case this year.

But it's been a milder winter than average, so we've done all right up until now. It’s just started turning cold again recently – a late sting in the tail maybe.

We've still got plenty of good quality, high energy 12ME milking grass silage. We’ll have some bulk grass this month, but at the moment it’s in bales.

All of our dairy grazers have gone home apart from one mob, so farmers’ milking herds will all be on the platform.

They can’t get rid of mouths, so they have to import feed to make up for the shortfall.

Maize time (sidehead)

Everybody will be focused on getting their maze in. We'll be spraying out in about four weeks’ time, so it rolls around quickly.

The Covid fallout is really starting to hit us about now – I call it the “Covid cliff”. Being in Level 4 lockdown due to Covid Delta being in the community, is not making things any easier.

There has been big cost increases – and I mean big. At the time of writing this, the cost of fertiliser is up 30 per cent from last year, and glyphosate is up about 85 per cent. Post emergence sprays and fuel is up, too.

Farmers need to be aware that there will be some big increases in maize prices this year because of the amount it will cost to grow.

Unfortunately we have to pass those prices on – the margins are so tight, we can’t soak up the cost.

Even if farmers are growing their own maize, they’ll have to increase their crop establishment budgets and general cropping costs across the board, including fertiliser, chemicals and contracting services.

Anything we have to import is hitting the country hard with costs and delays.

About a year ago it cost $1400 to $2000 to get a container in, and now it costs $14,000.

If you need any sort of products for the next 12 months, order them now. Sit on them in the shed because you never know when you might need them.

Mental health (sidehead)

The other thing we need to consider is mental health. We recently heard about the death of Kiwi Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore at just age 24, which has started a conversation about the pressure of the games on athletes.

It applies to farmers, too. There are lot of uncertainties and incoming pressures on them, and when the weather is bad and the grass isn’t growing and costs are up and products aren’t unavailable, it all starts to snowball.

Not to mention the amount of regulations that are coming through.

The majority of farmers do plant their waterways and do the right thing, but a few let the team down – and those are the ones presented to the public by the media to try and make all us farmers look bad.

And of course, who owns a lot of farms with pumice-y, well-draining soil around the lakes? The government. So I hope they are reducing their stock numbers and aren’t throwing stones from glass houses. They are, of course, the biggest farmers there is.

There’s a lot coming our way, so look after yourselves and prioritise taking breaks, even in the busy times.