Phil_Chris
New Member
A farm open day in Shropshire next month will offer arable farmers a low cost entry to finishing beef cattle with free on-call advisory support and minimum guaranteed payment terms at the outset.
One of the organisers is Buitelaar Group, the “bed and breakfast” beef finishing operator, where CEO Adam Buitelaar sees regenerative farming as relevant to every farmer in the country without exception.
“Essentially, it’s all about the soil and certainly not a blueprint,” he says. “Regen enables farmers to create significant additional value from their current farming operations, without adding a whole lot of cost. One of its most compelling attractions is flexibility that allows farmers to choose what’s best suited to their specific farm context. Based on reputable sources, Buitelaar’s six-point summary of regenerative farming is:
• Do not disturb the soil unless you really must.
• Protect your soil surface with green cover for as much of the year as you can.
• Maintain living roots for as much of the year as possible to feed the soil microbes.
• Crop rotations.
• Employ grazing livestock to do as much hard graft as possible.
• Select and implement practices that are suitable for your farm context.
For many arable farmers, Adam reckons the toughest of these could be introducing livestock because of the question: “How do you get started without much recent livestock experience?
“Despite a degree of difficulty, this needn’t be an immovable obstacle,” he says. “One answer is our bed and breakfast beef scheme.”
Cattle arrive from a specialist rearing unit as four-month-old weaned calves, weighing 150kg minimum liveweight and matched for group consistency. They remain under Buitelaar ownership throughout.
On many arable farms, an existing shed can be DIY-adapted for winter housing, based on guidance from the company. The farm pays for feed and bedding, workforce and veterinary provision, and necessary other consumables such as essential trace element and mineral supplementation.
Where farms grow herbal leys for their soil regenerative powers and support payments, Adam Buitelaar says beef cattle are a good way of adding more value and turning the high quality forage they produce into additional farm income. On suitable soil types, out-wintering is also a good option.
Payments to farmers are based on the total liveweight gained at an agreed minimum rate set at the outset. If between arrival and departure market prices of finished beef have risen, the payment rate is topped up via an open book formula, but if they’ve dropped it is not discounted.
One recent recruit has said of the system: “At low risk, this has created a new source of farm income. The on-call advice and minimal entry costs are particularly helpful.”
The open day is 1030am to 230pm on Thursday 9 May near Church Stretton, Shropshire. Places can be booked and further details obtained at [email protected].
One of the organisers is Buitelaar Group, the “bed and breakfast” beef finishing operator, where CEO Adam Buitelaar sees regenerative farming as relevant to every farmer in the country without exception.
“Essentially, it’s all about the soil and certainly not a blueprint,” he says. “Regen enables farmers to create significant additional value from their current farming operations, without adding a whole lot of cost. One of its most compelling attractions is flexibility that allows farmers to choose what’s best suited to their specific farm context. Based on reputable sources, Buitelaar’s six-point summary of regenerative farming is:
• Do not disturb the soil unless you really must.
• Protect your soil surface with green cover for as much of the year as you can.
• Maintain living roots for as much of the year as possible to feed the soil microbes.
• Crop rotations.
• Employ grazing livestock to do as much hard graft as possible.
• Select and implement practices that are suitable for your farm context.
For many arable farmers, Adam reckons the toughest of these could be introducing livestock because of the question: “How do you get started without much recent livestock experience?
“Despite a degree of difficulty, this needn’t be an immovable obstacle,” he says. “One answer is our bed and breakfast beef scheme.”
Cattle arrive from a specialist rearing unit as four-month-old weaned calves, weighing 150kg minimum liveweight and matched for group consistency. They remain under Buitelaar ownership throughout.
On many arable farms, an existing shed can be DIY-adapted for winter housing, based on guidance from the company. The farm pays for feed and bedding, workforce and veterinary provision, and necessary other consumables such as essential trace element and mineral supplementation.
Where farms grow herbal leys for their soil regenerative powers and support payments, Adam Buitelaar says beef cattle are a good way of adding more value and turning the high quality forage they produce into additional farm income. On suitable soil types, out-wintering is also a good option.
Payments to farmers are based on the total liveweight gained at an agreed minimum rate set at the outset. If between arrival and departure market prices of finished beef have risen, the payment rate is topped up via an open book formula, but if they’ve dropped it is not discounted.
One recent recruit has said of the system: “At low risk, this has created a new source of farm income. The on-call advice and minimal entry costs are particularly helpful.”
The open day is 1030am to 230pm on Thursday 9 May near Church Stretton, Shropshire. Places can be booked and further details obtained at [email protected].