Monmouthshire farm faces slurry headache

Filed away in David Edward’s farm office is an official letter from the body monitoring watercourses in Wales that confirms that his slurry store has the necessary capacity to hold five months’ worth of slurry from his dairy herd.

Yet, as he contemplates a winter ban on spreading organic fertiliser under the new nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) regulations, David knows he will need to make further investment.

“On average we pump out every six to eight weeks even with what NRW tells us is five months’ of storage,’’ says the fourth generation dairy farmer.

He admits a great deal of “head scratching’’ is needed to work out how he can hold slurry from his 175-cow herd for five months and also meet the nutritional needs of his crops when per hectare he is restricted to applying 170kg of nitrogen in livestock manure a year.

From his fields at Whitehall Farm near the village of Rockfield in Monmouthshire, David can look across to farms in England who had sizeable grants to upgrade their slurry facilities when NVZ regulations were introduced.

“The Welsh Government has got to understand that they are making unrealistic financial demands on farmers and offering the industry grants that will barely scratch the surface because every farmer in Wales will want a share of it,’’ he suggests.

In his capacity as NFU Cymru county chairman for Monmouthshire, the repercussions from the rapid introduction of an all-Wales NVZ has been occupying a lot of David’s time.

“Farmers are really concerned, this situation is a huge worry for us as an industry,’’ he says.

He worries about the futures of young farmers like his 25-year-old son Dan, the fifth generation of the Edwards family to farm at Whitehall Farm.

“There has to be more support for new entrants, financial schemes to encourage them to farm, or we risk losing our next generation of farmers,’’ he reckons.

Like Dan, David knew he wanted to farm at a young age and, such was his competence, that he recalls being left in charge before he was even a teenager. “I was milking the cows by myself when I was 12,’’ he says.

Now 54, he is the eldest of five children and the only one to follow his parents, Brian and Ruth, into farming.

His wife, Helen, a community dental nurse, also provides valuable support on the farm together with two part-timers, Brianne and Will.

In 2022, it will be 100 years since the family started farming at Whitehall Farm.

The business revolves around milk production and rearing and finishing Aberdeen Angus beef cattle from the dairy herd.

The pedigree Rockmon herd produces an average annual milk yield per cow of 10,500 litres at 3.9 per cent butterfat and 3.25 per cent protein with milk sold to Cotteswold Dairy.

The housed herd is fed a total mixed ration (TMR) consisting of grass silage, maize silage, brewer’s grain and a blend.

Silage is harvested on a multi-cut system and this has had a positive influence on cow performance.

“We don’t get the blips in milk yield that we were getting with a two-cut system,’’ says David.

Beef cattle are finished on maize silage, grass silage and concentrates and slaughtered at 18-20 months to supply Tesco via Kepak in Merthyr. Steers achieve an average deadweight of 320kg and heifers 300kg.

“We aim to have an average of 10 cattle going every month,’’ says David. “The beef side of the business is a good balance for the dairy, the milk pays the bills and the beef provides that extra bit of income.’’

Having Dan join him on the farm has put a spring in his step. “Dan knew from the age of two that he wanted to farm. When father and son work together day-in day-out it can cook your head sometimes but usually it makes a good team and re-invigorates you at the same time!’’