I’m always amazed by how many people get wound up by the clocks changing. It’s never been an issue for me. Those dark evenings of November are an ideal opportunity to get the farm office back in shape.

Another thing I never do is New Year’s resolutions. On our farm here in Wicklow, if plans aren’t in place before New Year, then it isn’t changing!

Once January arrives the workload ramps up significantly and time is at a premium.

With all we keep hearing about CAP and climate change, there’s definitely a feeling we farmers are being singled out for blame for all the environmental issues, whereas in reality we’ve a lot to offer.

More on that on a different day, but for now I think it’s more important than ever, given the challenges and change that lies ahead, that we have a really good handle on what’s happening inside our own farm gate.

November gives us the time to do a deep inspection.

First on the list are the farm accounts and 2021 Profit Monitor. As with a lot of farmers, our financial year end is the calendar year end, and most of our sales have already taken place.

I have only to make a few estimates for year-end figures. It’s vital to be aware where we stand financially.

Prices for our beef, lamb and grain have been ahead of previous years, which is welcome, but we face mounting input costs in 2022.

This time last year I was able to buy CAN at 180, less than a third of what it is now.

So cashflow needs to be got right, because higher input prices through 2022 followed by an income tax and prelim bills based on 2021 could leave cashflow problems this time next year.

Any thoughts of changing machines will be looked at through a microscope.

Now is the time to analyse expenses. Its easy to point the finger at the factories and the co-ops but staying inside our gate, we’re constantly looking to cut our costs.

All the usual stuff gets the once-over. If you haven’t changed your electricity supplier, phone, insurance, health insurance etc, there’s probably significant money to be saved by doing so now, and it can be done in a few minutes.

The reality is that we’re not rewarded for staying with the same utility supplier.

On our farm, the cows are out full-time and there is potential for two more weeks, weather permitting.

Weanlings were weighed and housed last week to keep the bulls driving on. We’ve never had so much grass in the autumn, and clean-outs are excellent, with the ewes tidying up. Rams will be removed this week.

Soil tests taken last autumn and a targeted fertiliser plan worked well but my attention is now focused on 2022, with fertiliser prices weighing heavily on my mind.

Recently our discussion group took a field trip to Johnstown Castle — a trip well worth doing. With costs spiralling I’m definitely considering some multi-species swards, but the how, when and which fields to seed is yet to be decided.

I’ve been watching potential policy changes closely over the last few years as they will impact how business is done on our farm, but for November, our focus is inside our own gate so that we’re ready to adapt to whatever occurs in the future.

And times are changing quicker than ever before.

 

Angus Woods is a drystock farmer in Co Wicklow