Fallowbrook Farm Control Tower

Monday cockpit for the clean-room farm

Single-screen weekly view across calves, lambs, cashflow, and stewardship for the shareable course workspace.

Snapshot
25 Mar
Focus
Cash reserve, not stock scale
What matters most

The farm is not short of activity. It is short of money already ring-fenced for the next big fixed commitment. The correct move is to protect reserve progress before chasing more throughput.

Best next move: Ring-fence the next realised margin into the August rent reserve rather than letting it disappear into general float.

60-day position
Cash now
£20,140
Weighted in
£26,830
Outflows
£17,800
Cover ratio
2.64x
Weighted inflows use full value for complete/high,
60% for medium and 30% for low.
KPI-01
green

Bank Cash

£20,140

£5,140 above the clean working floor of £15,000.

Rule: Green >= £19,000; amber >= £15,000.
KPI-02
green

60-Day Cash Cover

2.64x

£26,830 weighted inflows against £17,800 of committed outgoings.

Rule: Green >= 1.60x; amber >= 1.10x.
KPI-03
amber

Rent Reserve Progress

48%

£5,140 held above the minimum cash target against an August reserve goal of £10,800.

Rule: Green >= 65%; amber >= 45%.
KPI-04
amber

Calf Margin / Head

£73

Realised sold-calf margin after buy price, rearing days, and market charges.

Rule: Green >= £80; amber >= £60.
KPI-05
green

Calf Data Completeness

100%

Checks tag, DOB, arrival date, source, and purchase price across the demo dataset.

Rule: Green >= 95%; amber >= 90%.
KPI-06
green

Lamb Margin / Head

£30

Current season average after purchase and running costs.

Rule: Green >= £28; amber >= £20.
KPI-07
amber

Winter Pressure

92%

27.7 LU active in Mar against a working winter ceiling of 30 LU.

Rule: Green <= 80%; amber <= 95%.
KPI-08
red

Stewardship Critical Path

50%

1 late item currently dragging the plan.

Rule: Green >= 85%; amber >= 65%.

Alerts

Pressure test
amber
Rent reserve still trails the August target

Only £5,140 is currently sitting above the minimum cash floor. The next good calf or lamb draw should be earmarked rather than absorbed into general spend.

amber
Winter carrying pressure is close enough to matter

27.7 LU are active in the current month. That is workable, but there is not much room for drift if lambs stay longer or extra cattle hold over.

amber
One stewardship action is already late

The guard-cost recut is overdue, so the board still lacks a clean planting budget comparison.

amber
The big April calf settlement is only medium certainty

The 16 April inflow improves the cash window materially, but it is not safe enough to spend in advance.

Cash Window

Next 60 days
28 Mar
18 drafted lambs - handling yard
£2,820
in · high certainty
31 Mar
VAT payment
£2,400
out · complete
1 Apr
Off-farm income transfer
£2,600
in · high certainty
3 Apr
Quarter review - update docs and dashboards
Event
event · complete
10 Apr
Loan repayment and interest
£1,950
out · complete
16 Apr
Calf batch settlement - 14 head
£10,450
in · medium certainty
22 Apr
Fence materials and repairs
£1,450
out · high certainty
27 Apr
Holiday hut bank holiday bookings
£1,480
in · high certainty
2 May
Summer lamb buying window opens
Event
event · complete
8 May
Stewardship capital claim
£6,200
in · low certainty
12 May
Store lamb purchase float
£12,000
out · high certainty
21 May
Calf sales - early summer draw
£11,800
in · high certainty

Monday Rhythm

Checklist
  1. 1
    Open the cockpit first, then only drill into the calf, lamb, or cash app if a KPI is amber or red.
  2. 2
    Check drafted lambs, sale-ready calves, and any pending settlement that is being mentally treated as cash already in the bank.
  3. 3
    Protect the August rent reserve before approving non-essential spend or extra stock.
  4. 4
    Review the stewardship tasks only after the operating bottleneck is clear.
  5. 5
    Leave the meeting with one decision, one owner, and one date for each amber or red item.

Supplier League

Realised calf margin
SourceSoldActiveMortalityMargin
West Crag19155.6%£109
Riverside20180.0%£107
Moor End19180.0%£79
Holme Bank19182.6%£78
Beckside19172.7%-£11

Margin combines buy price, days-on-farm rearing cost, and market selling charges. The league is useful for direction, not for pretending every calf is identical.

Stewardship Critical Path

50% on time
Recut planting budget after guard quotes
Joe · due 21 Mar
late
Lock field-by-field tree layout for working fields
Alice · due 28 Mar
at-risk
Confirm phased planting position with adviser
Joe · due 2 Apr
on-track
Rewrite visitor block brief for the course pack
Alice · due 5 Apr
on-track

Calf Deal Gate

Quick economics check before buying another batch.

Pass
Expected sale
£780
Days on farm
66d
Risk buffer
£8
Risk-adjusted margin
£116

Gate Logic

The gate assumes a sale target at roughly twelve weeks old, charges a fixed overhead, then subtracts a source-specific risk buffer.

Green means the batch still clears £90 after the buffer. Amber means there is margin, but not enough spare room for mistakes.

Cost stack
Buy price£382
Rearing cost£221
Fixed overhead£18
Selling cost£35
Source risk buffer£8
Max buy for green gate£408