Management changes bring a happier life

Farmers Guardian Livestock feature | 26 September, 2007

A SWITCH in cattle type is not the only management change on a West Wales farm. BARRY ALSTON investigates.

Roger Mathias

Production, production and yet more production is no longer the name of the game as far as Roger Mathias is concerned.

Instead, he has opted out of the ‘expand, and expand again' mentality, cutting back stock numbers on the 230-acres he farms in Pembrokeshire and enjoying a much better life for it.

The family has farmed Furzey Mount, at Camrose, near Haverfordwest, since the early 1900s and until a few years ago it was primarily a beef cattle and arable holding.

But depressed for too long by the low prices he was getting for his finished cattle, Mr Mathias has switched to rearing dairy heifers and is getting far more satisfaction from looking after the surrounding environment than pushing output to its limits.

"These days I regard the countryside as part of my business because not only does it bring in some money but it provides me with a great deal of pleasure," says Mr Mathias, whose various research projects are partly funded voluntarily.

"Obviously that is a view many people will not share - being shy of allowing management of the countryside to be a part of how they farm," he adds.

"But let us be totally honest. It is putting money into my bank account in a regular way and I am doing something I am very happy with."

"I am not into high yielding dairy cows or big shiny powerful tractors. I farm to make a living and get as much of a buzz out of seeing a thriving environment around me as getting the market prices really needed to make finished beef cattle anywhere near profitable," says Mr Mathias.

He does not find the constraints associated with agri-environmental management restrictive either, believing that instead it is all about ‘mindset adjustment'.

 

"Maybe conservation is the wrong word. The whole of the British countryside is conservation at its best. That is what farmers do without always realising it.

"For certain, if farmers did not do what they do then pretty soon everywhere would be covered in brambles and scrub. So I see nothing wrong at all in accepting environmental payments.

"It has become politically correct, too, to be seen to be producing food in an environmentally responsible way."

Until two years ago he was buying-in stores and pushing through as many finished cattle a year as he could - but making very little out of it.

"I was far from happy at what I was being paid deadweight compared with the price of the stores coming in. There was little else to do but cut back on stock numbers," he says.

This reduction also coincided with an expansion move by his nephews - Mark and Matthew Mathias - featured in Farmers Guardian earlier in the year, who were looking for someone to rear all their dairy herd replacement heifers.

"I had the land and the buildings, so it seemed the ideal way of bringing in a regular source of income," says Mr Mathias.

All their female calves arrive at the farm at 12 weeks old and go back just before they are due to calve at around 24 to 28 months.

"They are totally my responsibility during the time they are here working on a fixed rate per animal per day basis and monthly invoicing, which is paid promptly," he says.

Should one of the animals die during their time with Mr Mathias, he pays half the value of the animal along with veterinary bills. His nephews are responsible for vaccinations.

"Although we have never milked here it is rather like having a monthly milk cheque coming in," says Mr Mathias.

"Some people might frown on being tied to other branches of the family but in this case we get on well."

The beef unit is running at around the 100-head mark right across the age range, predominantly pure Herefords destined for Waitrose.

However, with his regular supply of Herefords coming to an end, rearing more dairy heifers is something Mr Mathias is considering - either buying-in and selling his own or taking them on a contract basis for one or more dairy farmers.

"A lot will depend on the way deadweight prices for beef cattle shape up," he says. "When I took the decision to start rearing heifers they had been down at 175p per kg for three years and that is no good at all.''

Between 40 and 50 acres of cereals are still being grown for home feeding.

Mr Mathias says he has an interest in looking after the natural surroundings and signed up to a 10-year Tir Gofal agri-environmental scheme two years ago, which coincided with the cutback in stock numbers.

"I see it as being absolutely wonderful to be given the incentive to do the things I have wanted to do for some time - and get financial help to do them.

"It did, however, take me three years to get into the scheme and the latest signing-up window for new applicants is also massively oversubscribed - something which is a great pity.''

Under his agreement he has overwintering stubble and undersown spring cereals. Hedgerows will be renovated and some 2,000 broadleaf trees have already gone in comprising of mainly ash and oak, interspersed with holly, guelder rose and alder.

A two-acre barn owl corridor has also been fenced off and while there is already one pond on the farm others are being planned.

He has also been deeply involved with FWAG ever since Pembrokeshire became one of the first county branches to be established in Wales back in the early 1980s - when in those days it was a case of flat out production right across the industry.

"At that time, it was a struggle to get enough people involved to sustain the group but these days with things having turned a full circle, membership is thriving and not only in this area but throughout Wales," he says.

Interest, in fact, has grown to such an extent that there are now three regional groups - in North, Mid and South Wales.

"I have certainly found FWAG to be extremely useful, offering independent advice with no strings attached and the farmer always being the primary consideration.''

Membership is not the only area that is thriving as Mr Mathias has been dedicating some time to pursuing his fascination for birds.

"For several years the entire farm has been monitored for key bird species and this year we have put down four acres of special wild bird cover," he says.
This includes specific plant species to try and extend food availability as far into the winter as possible instead of being exhausted by November.

"To that end winter and spring triticale has been sown, along with dwarf sunflowers, quinoa and phacelia, which as well as proving a good source of oily seeds for birds are also beneficial for boosting insect populations."

The decision now sees the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds visiting the farm weekly to carry out regular bird counts.

Another project underway is an entomological biodiversity survey being carried out by Oxford graduate Sarah Beynon. The past few years has seen her travelling the world researching insect life, particularly beetles.

"What happens on the ground and below it plays a vital part in keeping the environment sweet, so over a three-year period she is surveying what is already here and what changes are taking place," says Mr Mathias.

"Incredibly, her first report has identified over 1,000 individual insects in the 10 targeted trial sites - among them what could be the first ever find in Wales of the yellow ophion, a species generally found in North Africa but presumably having been storm-blown as far as the UK.

"It looks like a wasp but is only a pretend version in order to warn off would-be predators.

"That apart, there were also 12 different species of ground beetles - showing that the soil must be in good heart, which in turn provides a sound basis for the environment generally."

Away from farming he is also actively involved in promoting the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society, with the responsibility for sponsorship, marketing and hospitality at what is the biggest three-day show in Wales.

A switch in cattle and his decision to seize, and capitalise, upon his immediate surroundings is now helping to produce a new found mentality for Mr Mathias.

As a result, the holding is rapidly becoming a flora and fauna ‘gem' as current research projects are starting to yield positive results.

Amendment: The Yellow Ophion, Ophion luteus is not a new species to Wales. The finding of this Hymenopteran was misinterpreted when the article was put together.