SAC Agricultural Justification

Isle of Man

Stocking	Number	Hours/head/annum	Total
Breeding ewe	105	5.2	546
Rams	5	5.2	26
Other sheep	40	3.3	132
Sub-Total	572

Government

Reillys, Elgin, Illinois

Agricultural Services Division, Knockaloe Farm, Peel, Isle of Man, IM5 3AJ

Telephone: (01624) 842335 Fax: (01624) 844374 e-mail: [email protected]

Our ref: A. Macd/SAM 15 August 2006

Director of Agricultural Services: Richard Lole

To Whom It May Concern

Planning Application: 06/00450/B, Mr. J.W.A. Graham, Cammal Farm, Kirk Michael, Isle of Man.

Following the refusal of planning permission for the erection of an agricultural building at Cammal Farm, Mr. Graham asked SAC to comment on the agricultural justification for a building, and its proposed location. The first issue to consider is that of labour justification. Using standard labour requirement data, the current labour requirement for Cammal Farm can be calculated as shown below.

Cropping	Acres	Hours/acre/annum	Total
Grassland	55	1.6	88
Sub-Total	88 hours

Total hours justified on Cammal Farm based on current stocking = 660 hours = 0.35 full time equivalent, where 1 FTE = 1900 hours.

Labour requirement for proposed farming policy:

Cropping	Acres	Hours/acre/annum	Total
Grassland (owned)	55	1.6	88
Grassland (rented)	30	1.6	48
Sub-Total	136

*Assume 150% lambing, and weaned sheep on farm for 3 months per year.

Total hours justified on Cammal Farm based on proposed farming system = 2339 hours = 1.23 full time equivalents (FTE).

On this basis there would appear to be agricultural justification for a building based on Mr. Graham's proposed farming system. This is supported by Mr. Graham's June Return submissions to DAFF which show a gradual increase in breeding sheep numbers over the past 4 years. Furthermore, a suitable agricultural building would assist the running of such a sheep enterprise, in that it would allow winter housing of the ewe flock, thus reducing damage to grazing land during the winter months and increasing the effective stock carrying capacity of the farm.

If you have any further queries on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely,

Andrew Macdonald SAC Agricultural Adviser

Livestock	Number	Hours/head/annum	Total
Breeding ewe	330	5.2	1716
Rams	15	5.2	78
Other sheep	124*	3.3	409.20
Sub-Total	2203.20