Wales Farmer 16 FEATURE JANUARY 2014


Beefingupherd health and costcontrolhas paidoff for top farmer


By Debbie James


IT IS often said that akey to success is to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing and for Philip Jones that means sticking to organic beef produc- tion when many farmers are switching to conven-


tional systems. Philip questions if those who


areabandoning organic farming have done their sums. “If they can justify fertiliser at


£300 atonne then Imust be doing something wrong,”said Philip,ofLan Farm,Cynwyl Elfed. But it is evident thatheis


doing something very right as he has been named 2013 Beef Farmer of the Year in the Farmers WeeklyAwards. “Asanorganic producer Ihave


twosets of potential buyers when Itakemycattle to the market. I would liketoknowwhy farmers aregoing out of organic, is it because of profit or is it due to paperwork?” he asked. “If it is down to paperwork


then they need to think again as paperworkgoes hand in hand with allsystems. “If asystem isn’t profitablethe


problem lies with the farmer.If they arenot making aprofitthey have to think about changing their ways.” Philip farms a172ha upland


farmnear Cynwyl Elfed, running a110-head block-calving suckler herdofWelsh Black cross Limousin cows put to high-index Charolais bulls. “In terms of numbers we are


small, butasmall familyfarm can still be profitable,”hesaid. He keeps akeen eyeoncost


control, butthe one area he won’t compromise is herdhealth and performance. Herdfertility has been


improved massively by utilising technology and pioneering auto- mated heatdetection. In the last


HIGH STANDARDS: Philip Jones does not compromise on herd health and performance. The herdispart of the SAC


four years,the herd’scalving indexhas been reduced from 409 to 377 days. “The days of guessing areover.


Iquestion everything, question whereImight be going wrong and Ilook forsolutions,” said Philip. He places greatemphasis on


herdhealth and has adopted a comprehensive health plan that he puts into practice at every pos- sible level.


“Wehaveachievedthis not


Premium Cattle health scheme and is vaccinated forBVD and pneumonia. The tag-and-test sys- tem is used in newborn calves to identify animals persistently infected with BVD. Philip has made greatstrides


to streamline input costs and fine-tune performance from the beef business and as aconse- quence his gross margins have improved by £22,000.


through output, butbyfocusing on our input,”hesaid. “I keep aclose eyeoncost.


Thereare other people whoare tighter than me and get better deals,but this doesn’t mean they arebetter at running their busi- nesses.” Good grassland management


is at the heart of the system at Lan Farm.Thereisaconcerted effort within the constraints of


PICTURE: Debbie James.


organic production to promote forage quality. Philip has reseeded leys with


newvarieties and also introduced redcloverinto asimple crop rota- tion to feed youngstock. Pand K levels have been optimised, alongside the strategic use of lime and manuretoboost soil fertility and support high-yield- ing crops. “Weare moreorless self suffi-


cient in protein,”said Philip. At the beginning of every win-


ter anutritionist visits the farmto takesilage samples and to look at the stock. “I need to knowthatweare


feeding the animals the right nutrients.Itsounds sillyfor an organic beef farmer whodoesn’t feed concentrates to have anutri- tionist in, butIamafirmbeliev- er in getting independent advice. Sometimes they will tell you things youdon’t likeordon’t want to hear,but Ialwayslisten to their advice and I’m not afraid of experimenting.”


HEALTHY PRIORITY: Philip Jones’ herd is part of the SAC Premium Cattle health scheme and is vaccinated for BVD and pneumonia.


“ PICTURE: Debbie James. For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk Philip runs the farmbyhimself


and contracts out work including silage harvesting and slurry spreading. Aturning point forhis busi-


ness wasthe ending of headage payments. “It wasone of the best things


thatcould have happened as I wasstructuring the business around livestock numbers,basi- callyIwas farming the wrong wayaround by putting headage beforecow quality,” he recalled. Philip admitted he still makes


mistakes,but regards them as part of alearning process.Hehas gained avast amount of knowl- edge since becoming aHCC and Farming Connect demonstration farm.


“My philosophyistoleave the


things thatare going right alone and to concentrateonthe things thatare going wrong. In my case it washerdhealth thatneeded improving so Iconcentrated on thatand things have improved immensely.”


My philosophy is to leave the things that are going right alone and to concentrate on the things that are going wrong.


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