Wales Farmer June 2013 FEATURE


Muckinginto help cut costs


FEATHERED FRIENDS: Hywel Davies added apoultry enterprise to his farm business in 2008 to generate an additional source of income.


ASIMPLE soil test has helped one mid-Wales farming partnership save money on bought-in fer- tilisers and helped max- imise the nutrient poten- tial of home-produced


poultry manure. Hywel and Rachel Davies run


abeef and sheep farmnear Newtown and in 2008 they estab- lished afree-range poultry unit consisting of 16,000 laying hens to generateanadditional source of income. The poultry manureisavalu- able fertiliser fortheir land at


By Farmer Reporter


Genau Hafod, Dolfor,but to makethe best use of it they need- ed to be certain of the nutrient content of the soil. “Wethought we should find


out what wasinthe soil beforewe started using the poultry manure,”Hywel said. “It wasnogood going into it


blind because it could have locked up alot of things in the ground.” The Davieses were alreadyreg-


istered with Farming Connect and through its Farm Advisory Service they were able to secure


WHERE’S THERE’S MUCK, THERE’S GRASS: Using manure from his poultry business on farmland has helped Hywel Davies reduce his bought-in fertiliser costs.


80% funding towardsasoil assessment, working with Martin Rees,ofADAS. The assessment produced


some interesting results. “The potash and potassium


levels were alot better than we had expected, butthe pH levels were poorer,” said Hywel. “Weare nowworking our way


around the land thatneeds lim- ing.”


The biggest benefit has been


the savings made on fertiliser costs. “Weare buying morestraight


nitrogen and thatiscutting our costs,” said Hywel.


“Wherethe land is flat enough


forgrazing we arejust using poultry muck.” He plans to retest the soil after


five years to establish if any changes have occurred. The Davieses farm500 acres


and have aflock of 1,050 ewes and 40 suckler cows.The sheep flock consists of 800 mule ewes, 250 Welsh ewesand 200 ewe lambs.Lambing gets underway in mid-March forafour-week peri- od and lambs aresold to Waitrose. The spring calving herdof


sucklers includes Limousins and Belgian Blue-crosses and the


calves arereared forthe store market. The creation of the poultry enterprise has provided another welcome source of income. “Wethought it would suit the


system well and the poultry muck enhances the farm,”said Hywel. Another income source is a


50Kwwind turbine,erected last year to boost farmincome and to makesavings on energy costs. The farmisinits first year of a


Glastir agreement with points earned from arange of initia- tives, including rejuvenation of hedgerows, alow input grassland system and growing turnips as a


feed source forthe sheep. The Davieses hope thatthis


and the systems they have intro- duced in recent years will strengthen the enterprise should anyoftheir three children – Megan, Lowriand Lloyd– decide to farminthe future. Forfurther information and guidance on howyour farmbusi- ness could benefit from 80% sup- port, contact your regional farm- ing connect coordinator,visit the website www.menterabusnes.co. uk/farmingconnect or contact Elliw Evans on 07772694116 or email:


elliw.evans@mentera busnes.co.uk. 11


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For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk


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