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Looking back it’s been a good, yet quick, first year at Newcastle but I definitely made the right choice in going there. Freshers week was great fun and being a part of the Agricultural Society has too been a great laugh. Our Agric Summer BBQ was a tremendous day, despite the rain. An obstacle course, potato gun and a barrel full of Pimms all proved to be a great finish to what has been an excellent year.

Stock taking

Now Uni is over, though, it’s back to work. We blood tested cattle on Monday to check they are free from BVD, Johnes, Lepto and such like and yesterday I drew fat lambs from our first batch we lambed back in Febuary. Keeping plenty of grass in front of the remaining batch will hopefully mean we should be able to draw the remaining lambs in the next few weeks to send off for fat. A rise in the lamb price is good, following what was a lower price in the spring, and hopefully meaning returns will also be good, although I doubt they’ll be as high as we saw last year.

I’ve managed to find some land to rent in the short term so its just a matter of stocking it now. A trip ‘sheep shopping’ will hopefully take place next week so I can get started although I’m likely to buy some pigs too; a welcome sight for the cash flow. While pig meat is undoubtedly under-valued at the moment, and is cheap, it should allow me to buy some decent stock. Direct marketing will certainly be the way forward to maximise returns as long as consumers are willing to pay that little bit extra which, in this current economic situation, may or may not work out. So far, it’s going all right.

Making sure the sheep and pigs generate a return is of great importance so I’m still yet to decide what to buy or what to do. While finishing lambs doesn’t leave that great a margin, it is certainly a quicker return on investment than what finishing cattle or breeding sheep is, and requires less capital outlay. Finishing off grass is also quite important especially where feed prices are at the moment.

Long term, using a continental cross such as the Texel onto a hardy northern breed such as the Mule could prove to be what I want in my breeding ewes although using a downs breed, so I can finish quickly off grass, will hopefully reduce my need to spend money in feed and leave a good quality product which will grade out well. Some of these more traditional English breeds are making a comeback and while its important to focus on what the commercial market wants, having plenty of hybrid vigour using both continental and traditional breeds, could prove its worth.

Low input – low output versus high input – high output is a regular discussion had by many farmers. Both have their benefits and drawbacks but certainly from a young farmers point of view, keeping inputs as low as possible is of vital importance when getting started; mainly due to the high costs associated with our industry.

About Matty.

Matthew Sharp studies BSc Agriculture with Farm Business Management at Newcastle University. He is Ponteland YFC Club Chairman, Northern Area Secretary and sits on the NFYFC Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee. He won the Guild of Agricultural Journalists John Deere Award for Journalism this year.
Matthew is part of the Farming Online team responsible for Farming Online’s Twitter and Facebook social media networks

Read Matty's last blog here.

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