However, since supply is currently largely satisfying demand, extreme caution must be observed before completing any expansion plans – memories can be very short. It will be important to manage cost inflation to reduce or clear the debt to any outstanding creditors and to repair balance sheets after a challenging few years. Farmers are catching up with long overdue property and machinery repairs and renewals and careful consideration needs to be taken before committing to additional finance agreements. There are two clear priorities for many businesses: debt reduction and investment in business resilience. Although some are implementing long-term expansion plans and land purchases, I am not working with a single business expanding in direct response to higher milk prices. Since it is looking increasingly likely that interest rate rises of 0.5% will be seen over the next six months, it is a sensible time to test your own business contingency plans against a longer-term higher interest rate. It is always valuable to reflect and look at future decision- making, especially where cashflow and other management information is available. All businesses, through necessity and recent adversity, have discovered efficiencies and improvements they never thought possible. These efficiencies will benefit future prosperity and business resilience. The challenge will be retaining these through periods of higher prices. The more progressive farms are doing simple things very well, focusing on feed, fertility, forage and financial management, and are enjoying the benefits of hybrid vigour that come with cross-breeding. Most of my consulting time is spent working with dairy farmers around the country, which allows me the privilege of advising farmers operating across a wide range of environments and dairy systems. “The same clients make the best silage every year... so this is clearly due to better management rather than luck.” Farmers in the North have been drowned with rainy days, resulting in variable forage quality, and forage plans designed to ensure sufficient amounts of >11ME forage have been implemented. Moreover, this year’s grazing and forage-making conditions have been unforgiving, especially on heavier soils. It has certainly not been a year to miss those rare opportunities to take silage or get reseeds sown. Early cut silages have been good, seconds’ very poor, and third and fourth cuts average at best. Thankfully, most have sufficient stocks, although one or two have taken some late cuts in November. For consultancy advice for your farming enterprise call Tom on 01228 711888. Tom Benson Agricultural Consultant tom.benson@agribusiness-da.co.uk 6 david-allen.co.uk Round up of 2017 What a difference a year can make! Most agricultural sectors are now enjoying a recovery in sale prices. Some businesses, which for two years have endured unsustainable milk prices as low as 16 pence per litre, are seeing milk receipts double on the year, and we are almost certain to enjoy milk prices above the medium-term average for the year ahead. WINTER/SPRING 2018