Agriculture General Flashcards
What is the price of Milling Wheat?
£240 per tonne
What is the price of Feed Wheat?
£180 per tonne
What is the price of Feed Barley?
£180 per tonne
What is the price of Oil Seed Rape?
£380 per tonne
What is the price of Wheat Straw?
£50-70 per tonne
What is the price of Barley Straw?
£65-75 per tonne
What is the average deadweight price for steers?
510 p/kg/dw
What is the average deadweight price for heifers?
505 p/kg/dw
What does p/kg/dw mean?
Pence Per Kilogram Deadweight
What is the average deadweight price for Red Deer?
150 p/kg/dw
What is the average deadweight price for lambs?
640 p/kg/dw
What is the average deadweight price for pigs?
205 p/kg/dw
What is the current West Texas Oil Price?
$71.6 USD per barrel
How much oil is in a barrel?
42 gallons or 159 litres
Can you give me an example of a crop rotation?
In my area, the main crop is wheat. This will usually be planted in the spring and followed by a break crop, the most common being Oil Seed Rape but it could also be something leguminous such as a clover mix or beans, or a flowering crop such as sunflowers or phacelia. There might also be oats or barley in the rotation.
What are the benefits to using OSR as a break crop?
It is a broadleaved crop, so helps to combat grass weeds and pests that affect wheat and barley.
What is the main pest affecting OSR?
Flea Beatle, due to the ban of toxic seed dressings which were previously used to combat the pest.
What is a Gross Margin?
Total Outputs - Variable Inputs/Costs
Can you give me an example of a Gross Margin?
Gross Margin for Wheat at 8t per acre yield, say £190 per tonne:
Outputs = Cereal (£1,500 per acre) and Straw in Swath (£190 per acre) = £1,690 per acre
Inputs = Seed (£80 per acre), Fertiliser (£300 per acre), and Spray (£275 per acre) = £655 per acre
£1,690 - £655 = £1,035 per acre
What is a Net Margin?
Total Outputs - Total Inputs (i.e. variable costs and fixed costs)
What are some examples of fixed costs?
- Labour
- Plant and Machinery
- Vehicles
- Rent
Outline the farming system of the Pheasant Rearing enterprise.
- Chicks imported (c.5,000 per week)
- Chicks raised indoors for first 20 days with heat lamps, bedding, etc, with runs being made larger every 5 days
- Chicks acclimatised by opening outdoor side pen
- Chicks fitted with bits to stop fighting
- Chicks released into grazing pens for 20 days
- Poults sold-on to customers and sent away
Is Pheasant Rearing considered to be agriculture?
Grey area - yes, if it includes the breeding and keeping of the birds for the production of food. In this context, it could be considered not to qualify. The existence of a laying flock for the breeding of livestock likely supported the case that the holding is agricultural in planning terms.
What is the planning definition of agriculture?
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
“agriculture includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur,or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land), the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes”.
What planning policy was relevant in the case of the pheasant rearing farm?
Para 80 of NPPF: “essential need for a rural worker to live permanently at or near their place of work in the countryside”
HDC Local Plan Policy 20: “new housing for rural workers will be supported providing that there is a functional need and viability”
NPPG: “additional dwelling on site is essential for viability of farming business through the farm succession process”
What is meant by the term “functional need”?
Relates to the ability for the business to operate and function properly.
How did you justify a functional need at the pheasant rearing enterprise?
- Need for 24-hour presence of rural worker
- Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 as amended state it is difficult to comply with animal welfare without permanent presence at all times of an experience stockman to carry out all husbandry tasks.
- Animal Protection Act 1911
- Agriculture Act 1968
- DEFRA Rural Crime Statistical Digest (rise in rural crime after COVID19)
- NFU Rural Crime Report
What method did you use to determine the labour requirement at the pheasant rearing enterprise?
Calculations using ABC and DEFRA Farm Survey data by enterprise to calculate the labour required to undertake the enterprise, based on a Standard Man Year, which shows how many employees are required overall and by enterprise.
How many hours are in a Standard Man Year?
Traditionally = 2,200 hours per annum.
DEFRA = 1,900 hours per annum and includes overhead activities.
Can you give me a detailed run through of your calculation for the labour requirement?
ABC Figures
- Laying Flock
0.17 hours per head X 500 birds = 85 Hours divided by SMY = 0.039 persons - Rearing (Based on Broilers)
a. 5000 chicks per week X 14 weeks in season = 70,000 heads
b. 0.09 hours per head X 70,000 heads = 6,300 hours divided by SMY = 2.86 persons - 0.039 + 2.86 + 15% for maintenance etc = 3.338 Persons per annum