Nothing showed up for ‘idiot’. For ‘fool’, there was ‘clown’ and ‘joker’, which didn’t appeal either. So, after all that, I had to come back to, ‘I feel a bit of a wally.’

One wet afternoon recently, I sat down in front of the computer to fill out my Suckler Carbon Efficiency Scheme (SCEP) application on Agfood.

The first thing that struck me is that it looked straightforward!

The premise of the scheme is that you get paid a subsidy per hectare. The maximum area on which you can be paid is your average annual reference number of animals divided by 1.5, a measure of the maximum stocking rate which can be paid on.

The reference number was arrived at by taking the average of the highest number of eligible animals — eligible suckler cows that produced an eligible calf — in three years between 2016 and 2021.

Having read down through the terms and conditions, I completed the application.

When I was calculating my 2023 reference number, I underestimated what that number should be.

I thought it meant the number of cows on the farm rearing calves at this point in time. But I was later told that some of the cows we had sold recently, having been weaned after rearing their calves, were also eligible, as their calves had been weighed on the same day as the cows, earlier in the year.

Alas, I didn’t realise that at the time. I pressed the ‘submit’ button, thinking it was a job well done.

A few days later, I was told that I had omitted cows that were eligible.

There was a lack a clarity about this. To make matters worse, it seems to be the one scheme where the application can’t be amended.

So I’m kicking myself. The reason I am writing this is to try to prevent anyone else making the same mistake.

Since a lot of applications were sent in early, maybe there are more people like me out there, so I appeal to the Department to allow amendments.

Wet as March was, we had to keep moving cattle out. We were going through the silage at an alarming rate, and were afraid of running out completely, so moving some cattle to the fields was the only option.

One of the downsides of this strategy is that, although the cows and calves were in small groups, they did quite a bit of poaching on the silage fields, especially after some of the particularly wet nights.

But I hope it looked worse than it actually was. Within a few days of moving on the stock to new paddocks, we were able to roll the fields with a Cambridge roller and it actually did a very good job on them.

I much prefer a Cambridge roller to a smooth one because, unless conditions are perfect, the smooth roller is inclined to ‘seal’ the ground, ie, create a crust. Also, if the weather stays wet, this could cause water to lodge on the surface.

A few days after completing the rolling, we were lucky enough to get our fertiliser spread for silage. So that ground is now closed up, since the end of March.

We have planned to spray the silage fields for docks, which are starting to get a little too plentiful for my liking.

Hopefully, we will get a window of kind weather, to complete the spraying. The spray is quite expensive and we won’t be using it unless the growing conditions are optimal for the spray to work.

The winter barley has come through the winter relatively unscathed. At this stage, 110 units of nitrogen per acre have been applied. We will probably bring it up to a maximum of 140-150 units.

The winter wheat has got the same level of fertiliser. We will probably bring that up to 160 units per acre.

The wheat is looking very poor. Two fields, in particular, have suffered from erosion. These fields are sloped, and the torrential rain immediately after sowing washed a lot of the soil and seed to the lower parts of the fields. It is a sorry sight.

But every time I drive by, I tell myself that a thin crop of wheat can still yield well.

One issue with all our cereals this year —which is not going to go away unless we do something about it — is that the stones are still in situ.

The tramlines are so wet that we have only been able to get on the land for the essential fertilisation. Of course, it comes very easy to me to make excuses not to pick them.
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Robin Talbot farms in Ballacolla, Co Laois, in partnership with his mother Pam and wife Ann

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