Aviaries Farm
Aviaries Farm is a dairy and arable enterprise run by Oliver Dowding. Conversion to organic
status began in 1989 and was completed in 1993. The farm covers 585 hectares, of which
266 hectares are owned and 319 hectares are rented from one of Oliver's brothers and other
private landlords. The farmhouse is at Hill Farm in the nearby village of Shepton Montague.
[Location] [History] [Physical features] [Land use] [Livestock] [Labour]
[Machinery] [Buildings] [Inputs] [Outputs][Quota] [Subsidies] [The Farming Year]
[Diversification] [Wildlife] [Access] [Recent developments] [Current Concerns]
Location
Aviaries Farm, Shepton Montague, Wincanton, Somerset
plus rented land at Lower Church Farm, Charlton Musgrove; Brook Farm, Montacute; and
Grove Farm, Castle Cary
South West Region of the NFU
O.S. Map ref: 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 183 - ST688321
History
The farm is a recent arrival in historical terms. The 1st Earl of Ilchester was Chancellor of the
Exchequer to King George III. He was granted or bought various lands, but his seat was at
Redlynch House (ST698331). He built The Towers (2 km south-east of Redlynch) when he
invited the King to stay. The house, The Aviaries (see map), was put up to give a respite for
shooting parties as they walked round the estate - no Landrovers in those days! The Aviaries
and three acres of woodland were enclosed within a brick wall. Within the wall, pheasants and
partridge were raised for shooting.
The farm came later, and Oliver's father became tenant in 1954. He bought it in 1968,
together with The Towers and The Aviaries, when the estate was sold. The Towers are listed
and need about £100,000 to restore them and protect their future for the next fifty years.
Grant aid for such restoration work is meagre. Most must be funded through farming
profitably.
Physical features
Relief: the farm is set in a rolling landscape with very little flat land.
Altitude: between 60 and 120 metres
Soil types: limestone brash, medium loams and some clay. All soils are quite thin. Topsoil
rarely exceeds 15cm, except on 88 hectares of recently rented Grade 2 and 1 land.
Average annual rainfall: 863 mm
Land Use
Type
Crop
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
hectares
Arable
Winter wheat
71.5
67.6
84
100
Spring wheat
51.0
10.5
9.2
16.6
Spring oats
0
28.5
0
0
Triticale
83.0
85
16.4
8.9
Potatoes
0
31.1
13.3
17
Swedes (for human consumption)
0
6.8
9
10.9
Sweetcorn
0
2
1.1
0.9
Arable total
205.5
231.5
133
154.3
111.5
Fodder crops
Turnips
0
0
4.5
3
Kale
0
0
0
12.1
Fodder beet
12.1
18.2
21
12.1
Grass ley
315
310.6
310.6
206.2
Fodder crop total
327.1
328.8
336.1
233.4
223
Grass keep
28
43.5
Woodland, tracks etc
21.5
21.5
21.5
21
21
Set-aside
Grass ley
12.5
24.7
8
8.6
Woodland
2.1
0
0
2.1
Other
16.2
0
0
0.4
Set-aside total
30.8
24.7
8
11.1
15
Farm total
584.9
692.1
566.6
510.1
414.0
Download land use table as Excel (.xls) file or Comma Separated Value (.csv) file
2 blocks of land, totalling 28.5 hectares, were taken on in 1997. They were rented for 5 years
(from 25th March 1997) under Farm Business Tenancies. They entered conversion status
immediately, to become fully organic by March 1999.
69.3 hectares was taken on in March 1998 for 5 years. Due to organically acceptable
previous management, it will be deemed fully organic by April 1999.
A further block of 90.2 hectares was taken on for 5 years from October 1998. This will be
organic by October 2000.
Livestock
The farm has run the following livestock over the last 4 years::
Livestock at Aviaries Farm 1996-1999
Type
Breed
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
Dairy cows
Holstein Friesian
320
320
295
285
265
Heifers (18-24 months)
Holstein Friesian
60
60
45
105
84
In-calf heifers (24-36 months)
Holstein Friesian
70
70
75
30
32
Replacements (under 18 months)
Holstein Friesian
120
120
132
155
128
Bull
Simmental
2
2
2
1
1
Total numbers
572
572
549
576
510
Download livestock table as Excel (.xls) file or Comma Separated Value (.csv) file
Each year about 50 dairy cows are culled and about 150 male calves are sold when between
7 and 21 days old.
Labour
The farm employs 2 family members - one full-time and one part-time.
There are 6 full-time employees - a farm manager, 4 herdsmen for all the livestock, and an
arable foreman. .
There is a part-time farm secretary.
Many seasonal workers are employed to weed annual crops.
Contractors are employed for the following tasks: ploughing; rotary cultivation; hauling silage;
baling straw; spreading farm manure; hedge trimming; digger jobs such as ditching; painting
and other farm property maintenance.
Machinery
Main items of machinery used on the farm are:
Milking parlour
7 tractors
Plough
Rotary cultivator
Drill
Mower
Rake for grass
Forage harvester
Combine harvester
Straw chopper
Mixer-feeder wagon
Materials handler (4 wheel drive, rough terrain)
Dirty water irrigator
Multi-tined crop weeder
Straw shredder for bedding up the covered cow yard
Zero grazing grass mower/feeder machine
The following major items were purchased within the last two years:
Item
Purchase cost
Year purchased
Replacement year
Dairymaster milking parlour
£100,000
1995
2050
Case Maxxum 5150 tractor (second-hand
£25,000
1998
2005
Combine harvester (10 years old)
£21,000
1998
2008
Buildings
The main buildings consist of a 65m x 14m shed housing the 30/60 Dairymaster milking
parlour, its associated yards, milk tanks etc.; 2 covered yards (75m x 30m and 22m x 22m);
cubicle housing and calf hutches; and 36m x 60m of silage pits. There is also a 35m x 35m
cattle shed and a general purpose building measuring 37m x 28m. These were mostly
erected in 1994-96 as part of a major redevelopment and merger of two herds. The previous
buildings were old with poor facilities that were inefficient for modern dairy farming. A total of
£650,000 was invested in buildings, tracks and waste storage (for slurry, effluent and dung).
Until 1994, when the Dairymaster was installed, there was a second dairy unit with the
farmhouse at Hill Farm. That site has been converted to housing. Six new dwellings have
been created. The last two were occupied in July 1998.
Inputs
Fertiliser: because of the farm's organic status, the only fertiliser used is a small amount of
slag. This is a long-term and slowly soluble fertiliser approved by organic sector authorities. It
is spread on a few fields identified by soil analysis as being excessively short of phosphate or
potash. Grassland has farmyard manure or slurry spread on it after a silage cut or before a
reseed, at a rate of 25 tonnes per hectare. Dirty yard water is spread on the fields via the
irrigator.
Pesticides: Supermarkets will reject any deliveries on which aphids are found.Main strategies
for control of pests and weeds include encouraging natural insect predators, crop rotation,
careful choice of planting dates and cultivation of the growing crops (mechanical and hand
weeding etc.).
Stock feed: in the last year 215 tonnes of concentrate feed has been fed to the dairy cows
and 24 tonnes to the dairy youngstock. This is all made to an organically approved
specification. In addition, 120 tonnes of home-grown feed was used and 12 tonnes of hay.
This is supplemented by some purchased "straights", including prairie meal (a high quality
version of maize), molasses, and some minerals. The mineral blend is designed to correct
imbalances determined by veterinary analysis of cows' blood samples. It has to be approved
in advance by the Soil Association. The cows ate 4,000 tonnes of home-grown silage and 650
tonnes of home-grown fodder beet. The youngstock ate 300 tonnes of silage and 160 tonnes
of straw. Some 900 tonnes of home-grown silage will be kept in reserve.
Fuel: in the last year the farm has used 36,400 litres of diesel fuel.
Outputs
The farm's main outputs are milk and wheat.
Annual yield
1999/00
1998/9
1997/8
1996/7
1995/6
Sold to...
Milk (litres)
2,000,000
1,850,000
1,770,000
1,600,000
1,201,432
Organic milk suppliers, Co-operative
Wheat (tonnes)
460
460
620
620
450
Grain merchant, miller
The demand for organic milk is much greater than the farm can produce. The cost of
acquiring further milk quota (a licence to produce) prevents the farm from producing what the
market wants!
The farm grows fodder beet for the cows.
Quota
Currently, the farm owns approximately 20% (429,000 litres) of the quota it needs for the milk
it produces. 80% of the quota is leased.
Subsidies and grants
Subsidies and grants contribute between 5% and 7% of the farm's total income.
The main subsidy is Arable Area Aid. This is paid for cereal crops grown, at a rate per hectare
decided each year by the European Union. Its aim is to compensate farmers for loss of
income suffered through the compulsory requirement to 'set-aside' some of the land from
production.
Various grants are available for conservation work, such as tree and hedge planting or dry
stone wall maintenance. The farm takes advantage of some of these, but does much work
beyond the limit for claiming grants.
The Farming Year
Seasonal tasks
April
Cows, and some youngstock, go out to grass
Maiden heifers served, for calving next February
Continue some zero grazing
Last year's wheat fields sown with new grass ley and cover crop of peas (if not sown in
March)
Fodder beet sown
Fences checked and repaired
Prepare silage pits and machinery
May
Artificial insemination (AI) of heifers to calve next February/March
Remaining livestock turned outside, except calves under 180kg
Silage making - 1st cut of red and white clover and ryegrass leys
Mechanically weed fodder beet and spring wheat
Clean out all winter livestock housing
June
New batch of heifers and cows begin calving
Spread farmyard manure on all fields just cut for silage
Mechanically weed fodder beet
Some hand weeding
Fencing
July
Weekly pregnancy diagnosis of heifers served in April/May
Heifers served in April/May moved to grass keep
2nd silage cut (approximately 8 weeks after the first)
Spread farmyard manure on cut fields
On April-sown clover/ryegrass leys, cut cover crop of peas for silage
Clear docks by hand from fields of cereals, potatoes, swedes and fodder beet
Hand-strimming hedges, verges and slurry lagoon banks to stop spread of dock seeds
Mechanical weeding of fodder beet
Prepare harvest machinery
August
Fly spray all non-lactating cattle to repel flies and reduce mastitis
Combine harvest wheat and triticale. Bale straw
Begin cultivating cleared fields
Sow mustard and turnip catch crops after wheat
Hand and mechanical weeding
Top all pastures to prevent docks seeding and ultimately to control/kill thistles
September
Serve heifers that will calve next June or July
Send batch of heifers to keep
Fetch back from keep the heifers that will calve in October/November
3rd cut of silage late in month
Slurry and farmyard manure spread on fields - last application of the year
Pasture topping and strimming
Some hedges trimmed
Cut leys established on set-aside fields (not allowed before 1st September)
Sow mustard/turnips not sown in August, and some rye or ryegrass for 'zero grazing' next
spring
By 25th September, start ploughing fields to be sown with wheat in October. Ring roll them to
preserve moisture and assist in making good seed bed.
October
Calve a batch of heifers
Bring in cows at night, and possibly by day when pasture too wet; to avoid poaching damage
Sow all wheat
Late silage cut sometimes possible
Harvest fodder beet late in the month
November
Weekly pregnancy diagnosis of heifers beginning 56 days after service in September
All stock return from grass keep
Sow any late wheat
Clean all fodder beet and store under cover of straw to protect from frost
Fencing and ditch clearing
Cutting dead trees, clearing fallen branches etc
Tree planting
General maintenance
December/January
As for November, but no fieldwork except:
Plough potato fields by early January to let frosts break down soil into a deep and quality tilth
February
Spread some farmyard manure, especially on fields to be ploughed
Begin spreading some dirty water collected in lagoon from drainage etc
Plough fields for spring crops, unless not yet cleared of turnips, rye etc
Harrow some fields of grass
March
Harrow and roll remaining grassland
Spread farmyard manure
Sow spring wheat
Seed new leys - peas undersown with grass
Sow area of turnips for cows to graze in June
Sow fodder beet if soil temperature greater than 6°C
Mechanically weed all winter wheat, once or twice
Year-round livestock tasks
Milking, twice daily
Monitor milk production
Monitor cows condition - too fat, too thin
Adjust feed ration accordingly
Dry cows off 8 weeks before calving - their annual holiday!
Calve cows and heifers
Rear calves - feeding, bedding, de-horning, removing spare teats (4 needed, some have 5 or
6), vaccination, monitoring weight gain and adjusting rations accordingly
Veterinary investigations into non-cycling (lack of observed oestrus), pregnancy diagnosis,
foot problems etc
Trim feet
Copper sulphate footbath weekly to control digital dermatitis, a "new" foot disease of the last 8
years
Manage pasture to ensure correct supply of grass
In winter
Feed all livestock every day
Bed up cow yards with straw, twice every day
Muck out yards every 6 weeks
Roll grain for feeding
Diversification enterprises
None
Wildlife
Conversion to organic farming has been very successful and has had a very good effect on
the wildlife found on the farm. Predator numbers have grown and are very helpful. But, there
can be excessive numbers of some wild animals. Particular problems are:
too many rabbits, grazing valuable grass.
2 rabbits = 1 hare. 8 hares = 1 sheep. 10 sheep need 0.5 hectares.
Therefore, 160 rabbits use 0.5 hectares. We have, perhaps, 1000 rabbits.
too many badgers. They eat slugs (good!) and worms (bad!), amongst other things. They also
dung in crops, scrape a lot of soil and make holes in dangerous places. Their numbers have
grown excessively. We have several hundred on our farm.
birds of prey - buzzards, hawks etc. Since gamekeepers stopped controlling their numbers,
they have multiplied and take many more song birds and pheasant chicks (all wild - none are
reared here).
Public Access
Footpaths on the farm have been opened up but not all of the historically-based routes are in
sensible places. As a second phase of development, discussions are being held about rerouting some of the paths to make them more user-friendly both to walkers and to the farm.
This is a time-consuming process which involves obtaining complete and unanimous local
agreement. It began in 1993 and is still not complete.
Recent Developments
Vegetable growing has ceased as it is not a major enough enterprise for the farm. Dairy and
cereals are our speciality and core breadwinners. The vegetables were simply taking too
much management time away from these core activities, which in turn were suffering. Overall
we were losing much too much money as a result.
Furthermore, battling against the supermarkets and their rapidly tightening organic
specifications, made worse by increasing imports form the continent etc, plus trying to grow,
grade and package vegetables on a farm not geared up for it, together with a climate that is
not ideal and you can see why the decision was reached.
With the end of the enterprise, we re-assessed the labour on farm and concluded that we
needed to make three redundancies. All three were tractor drivers, two having been here over
twenty years. We will now be relying on forging a good relationship with two local contractors
for most of our mechanised tasks, and hoping that the quality is as good as we need.
We took on an extra stockman after the redundancies. None of those made redundant were
interested in taking on this job.
Current concerns
The current farming crisis has had limited impact on organic farms. Our crop and milk prices
have remained steady and not plummeted as have those of conventional farms.
The price we receive for calves has fallen for some breeds and particularly for females. These
take longer to grow and normally have a lower market value than bull calves. Prices are now
pitifully low, often just £5. At this level the cost of transport makes it uneconomic to sell.
Instead, the calves are often shot on the farm and taken away. Organic farms are not immune
from this factor.
The value of cows whose productive life has ended has also crashed.
We see three main reasons for collapsing prices:
The high value of UK currency relative to others in Europe and the world with whom we trade.
Political (UK and European policies) particularly in relation to other global trading nations, and
specifically the United States.
The impact of the retail sector upon agriculture
There are lots of knock-on effects of the disastrous returns for farm produce, including the
following:
Farmers stop spending money. This means that businesses dependent on farmers lose trade
and may be forced to close. Examples are machinery dealers and veterinary practices. Many
highly skilled people lose their jobs, in areas such as manufacturing, machinery repair and
livestock haulage.
Farmers will make some staff redundant. These people are also highly skilled and motivated.
They are dedicated to a job that few people are prepared to consider doing, partly because of
the anti-social hours, and partly because it involves working in wet as well as sunny weather.
When incomes rise again the need for such labour will increase. Unfortunately those people
will have found other jobs and their skills will have been lost.
Farmers will become hard-nosed and only able to spend money on essential items directly
related to crop production or keeping animals. They will curtail most expenditure on non-
productive (in the short term) projects such as environmental work that produces little that is
saleable, even though it is pleasing to the eye and heart.
The infrastructure - the web of activity that has us all dependent on each other for our
community and survival - will be severely damaged. Key links will break. Facilities, such as
shops and associated traders, will be lost. Morale will be low. People will despair, becoming
disbelieving that anyone cares about the problems.
Farmers could even become as bad as some other industries and start operating as a purely
short-term business. This would mean exploiting every opportunity with little consideration for
the impact it will have on others or for the longer term security of the business. Naturally,
within farming, the business means the land, and the land is often perceived as part of the
nation's heritage. Yet the nation is not doing very much to alleviate the problems that will lead
to a downgrading and desecration of a significant area of that heritage.