A failing slurry store could have meant the end of PJ & P Mason’s dairy business. A new relationship with Oxbury has them looking forward to the future.
With margins tight and cash flow a constant concern, an unexpected capital expenditure can place an unbearable burden on a dairy business.
“It’s safe to say my heart just sank,” explained Rob Mason of PJ & P Mason on Hoskinshire Farm in Lancashire, describing the emotions he felt when he found his 50-year-old slurry store open with raw slurry bursting out. “It was one of the lowest points in the time we've been running this dairy farm, because we just thought, what do we do now?”
This was way beyond a patch-up job. New regulations are set to come into force which will require farms like Rob’s to be able to store six months’ worth of slurry so that they are able to hold on to it during wet conditions when it is unsafe to spread on the ground. With his dilapidated store on the verge of collapse, Rob was down to five or six weeks. A bit of heavy rain could cut that by a further week.
It was make-or-break time.
With the farm – consisting of 220 Holstein Friesian cows and 550 acres of grassland and arable land – coming to the end of its tenancy, the options were to fall back on rearing young stock, which would mean getting another job to supplement their income, or – somehow – committing to the future and building a new slurry store.
“We’ve been here too long, I want to farm,” Rob remembers saying. “We’ll go for it.”
After digging some test holes and looking at different design options, Rob decided the best approach was a concrete tower around an earth bank lagoon. It was now just a case of financing it.
Things were looking up when Rob found that he was eligible for grant support which had been introduced to help farms like Rob’s meet the new slurry regulations.
But their application was declined.
“When we phoned up to ask why, it turned out that they had had so many enquiries, they couldn’t meet them all. So they concentrated on certain areas, sites of special scientific interest, areas of natural beauty, the Lake District, places like that.”
They were back to square one.
“I tried a couple of high street banks. One said they’d be happy to help but when I asked about relationship managers, their nearest was in the north of Scotland. But then I found Oxbury and when I spoke to Mark, he was here within a week.”
Oxbury Relationship Manager Mark Pearson added: “Robert showed me first-hand what was happening with the slurry storage and explained the real emergency of the situation and the need to act quickly.
“If they hadn't done anything, they could well have been closed down in a matter of months.”
Eighteen months later, the new slurry store was up and running, giving the farm the full six months’ worth of storage. It is also designed so that a roof can be added if required. Apart from meeting new regulations, the new store means they can keep the slurry until the conditions are right to use it on their own land – which they use to grow feed for the herd – reducing the need for expensive fertiliser.
But working with Oxbury has opened up a host of other opportunities as well. The removal of the old slurry store means that one of the cow sheds can be extended allowing more space for cubicles and giving cows more lying and feeding space.
“Mark just understood all of that,” said Rob.
A flexible finance system also allowed Rob to take advantage of grants to help with other projects on the farm.
“With grants, you have to do the work and pay for it before you get the money back from the grant,” explained Rob. “So Mark said we can help with short-term borrowing to cover it before the grant is paid.
“It’s meant we’ve been able to do all these other jobs we’ve been wanting to do, such as roofing the sileage clamp, some concrete work and planting 2,000 individual thorns to gap up hedges,” he added.
Mark says that Oxbury’s knowledge of the industry and close working relationship with their customers is what sets them apart.
“I think it's our understanding. We make sure we have the time, and we have the knowledge within the relationship management team.
“We get out on farm and see it first hand, so we know what's happening.”
“I’d 100% recommend Oxbury to other farmers,” said Rob. “It’s taken a weight off our shoulders and made farming more enjoyable. My cows are more comfortable and will hopefully be more productive.”