Beef and Sheep Producers Should Also Have a Handle on Their Costs Per Kilo Produced
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to MVFFREE Members January 2015 The Newsletter No. 608 molevalleyfarmers.com £1.75 4-5 11 17 22-23 35 planning forward fertility lambing - ewe focus new cereal varieties horse tales Transition cow Calf rearing Healthy, growing management calves 12 Advice from Dr Robin Hawkey 7 Loader and grab tines PAGE 27 From SPS to BPS What’s in a name? 21 Utilising slurry Get more from your manure Frenchstone Herefords Mole Valley Forage Services advice 20 Picture by Trudy Herniman Mole Valley Farmers - part of the countryside FARMING Contact us Head Offi ce MVF Branches Branch Farm Sales Open Mon-Sat 8.00am-5.30pm Mole Valley Farmers Mole Valley Farmers Ltd *Open Sunday 10am-4pm Exmoor House, South Molton Bridgwater (MVF) N. Devon EX36 3LH Bridgwater TA7 8PE Nick Reed 07805 816949 Telephone - 01769 573431 Bath Road, Bawdrip T 01278 424240 Cullompton (MVF) Fax - 01769 573821 Manager: Steve Noall F 01278 726119 Jeremy Kivell 07891 761771 Frome (MVF) www.molevalleyfarmers.com Cullompton EX15 1NU Lisa Seviour 01373 852352 email [email protected] Honiton Road, Stoneyford T 01884 34333 Holsworthy (MVF) Manager: Mark Brown F 01884 35209 Eric Boundy 01409 259502 Directors Frome BA11 2PN Liskeard (MVF) Standerwick, Frome T 01373 831114 Jem Marshall 07785 354243 Chairman - Graeme Cock Manager: Nick Powell F 01373 831016 Joy Allen 01579 340010 Stephen Bone, Peter Delbridge, MoleCare FarmVets T 01373 852360 Newton Abbot (MVF) Steve Edmunds, Brian Jennings, Tim Wall, Holsworthy EX22 6BL Greg Warren 07979 708310 Gaynor Wellwood, Peter Winstone Karen Ayliffe 01626 837813 Underlane, Holsworthy T 01409 253014 Chief Executive - Andrew Jackson Redruth (MVFarmSelect) Manager: David Nias F 01409 254510 Company Secretary - Andrew Chapple A.C.A David Worledge 07879 623534 PL14 4LN Liskeard St Columb (MVF) Customer Accounts Moorswater I/E, Liskeard T 01579 340034 Carolyn Hollow 07525 867236 Manager: James Stiles F 01579 348263 Charlie Reeves 07794 001485 Sales Ledger 01769 576204 Newton Abbot* TQ12 6RY Kimberley Burton 01637 881827 Credit Control 01769 576266 Battle Road, Newton Abbot T 01626 836555 South Molton (MVF) Brian Clements 01769 575603 [email protected] Manager: Jason McCoy F 01626 836444 Yeovil (MVF) St. Columb TR9 6SF Lesley Curle 01935 848201 Membership helplines St Columb I/E T 01637 881115 Mole Country Stores Applications and admin. 01769 576234 Manager: Paul Tippett F 01637 881148 Billingshurst General enquries 01769 576198 South Molton EX36 3LH Rebecca Moore 07917 097751 [email protected] Pathfields I/E T 01769 574477 Richard Lane 07581 003180 Manager: Shaun Carter F 01769 574787 Nicky Steer 01403 783730 Small ads MoleCare FarmVets T 01769 575618 Bridgend Yeovil* BA21 5BJ Stewart Edwards 07970 550436 Sherborne Road T 01935 420971 Rhian Ellis 01656 656637 Next deadline Manager: Bruce Williams F 01935 434901 Dorchester Please submit your small ad Yasmin Goring / Rose Hicks 01305 753914 Redruth farmselect TR16 4AX by Monday 12th January Salisbury (SCATS) Treleigh I/E, Redruth 01209 340044 Tracy Pomeroy 01722 336886 Charges: £3.50 per line + VAT MV Feed Solutions Adverts only accepted and printed at editor’s FeedLine 01278 444829 Mole Valley Plus discretion. Seeds and Additives 01769 576232 All enquiries 01769 576201 To submit your small ad, contact: Alternative Feeds 0845 602 7321 [email protected] Tel: 01769 576243 Minerals 01278 420481 Fax: 01769 576262 moleenergy [email protected] MV Forage Services Please remember to quote your membership All enquiries 01769 575674 Fertiliser sales desk 01769 576405 number when placing an advert. [email protected] MVF Engineering The Newsletter team Witheridge (EX16 8AP) T 01884 860478 Manager: Kim Turner F 01884 860769 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] VAT and pricing Unless stated, prices in this Newsletter DO NOT include VAT. Prices are correct at the time of going to press, but may subsequently be changed without notice. E&OE Please recycle this newsletter or give it to a friend Company Founder - John James MBE 2 MVF Newsletter 608 FARMING January 2015 Chairman’s letter We must start the year on a positive, as we is set to return next year. In my view (for what dubiously venture into 2015. As an industry, it’s worth) last time round this programme’s agriculture has so many positives to share with content, style and format represented others. agriculture in a realistic and positive light which is not always the case. At a time when a Forever the optimist and always a glass half full positive attitude needs to be emphasised, let’s rather than half empty I must confess; however hope we are not disappointed. it could be said that it’s here the positive start ends, and we can stop and grudgingly conclude Everyone will always have a view on what is that we are collectively not very good at acceptable and what’s not. There is an analogy effectively selling a positive message. on opinions but let’s not go there, suffi ce to say everybody has one. It is, however, exasperating Is this really the case? Are too many genuinely when views are expressed which are clearly Graeme Cock great success stories and examples of real incorrect and go largely unchallenged. Various Chairman excellence and opportunity curiously dispersed bodies and organisations, even some very into the mist and mêlée of negativity and large and well known organisations, I surmise 12,000 litres plus in fantastically managed hopelessness? It’s at times such as this, a are reluctant to voice alternative or genuine housed systems. The typical twice a day new year with new starts and new challenges views for fear of losing public support as they autumn calved system which was commonplace that much navel gazing and procrastination need this and funding to exist. This in turn 40 years ago will be producing 8, 9 or even takes place. The euphoria of New Year’s Eve compromises the true picture, and progress is 10,000 litres a cow average today. The is hopefully just a pleasant memory, or maybe slow or regressive. dominance of the Holstein breed which has a hangover cure or two away, as the stark driven production into many herds over the realisation that a new year has begun sinks in. Two words which are used again and again last 40 or 50 years, is now in some instances are ‘consolidation’ and ‘volatility’. Volatility A week in football (or is that politics?) is having the benefi t of partial or substantial cross is very much in vogue currently with dairy allegedly a long time, twelve months in breeding to manipulate milk constituents and incomes some 10ppl down on the same point agriculture seems like a lifetime. This time last help advance life traits in dairy herds without last year and expected to fall further, but year beef prices were at exceptional levels, milk compromising effi cient production. consolidation is in every walk of life - larger, prices were climbing and cereals looked sound merged educational facilities, buyout and take- These are just small examples of us having a enough. There isn’t much point in dwelling on overs in pharmaceutical businesses, fi nance very exciting, yet challenging, industry to work the current situation but, curiously, beef prices houses, insurance services, retailers, motor in and recognising the importance of identifying have bottomed and returned to a more realistic manufacturers and so on. and publicising, to those who matter, these level in a year. Let’s hope that the dairy industry excellent standards and successes. To those will be in a position to draw similar positive For the fi rst time, the number of dairy farms who chose to undermine, poo-poo and rubbish revelations this time next year. in England and Wales has fallen below 10,000. our industry, we can counteract this negativity This is not a surprise as such because the graph Back to recognising and celebrating success. by all sending out a positive message and which historically plotted the reduction from During the year, particularly through the therefore represent agriculture more fairly and some 120,000 producers fi fty years ago always autumn, there have been a number of award effectively. leads us to a point of sub 10,000. In truth, I evenings championing various successes think it should have reached something close One of the key reasons for setting a positive in agricultural businesses. These include to 5,000 producers by 2015 if the graph had stance is to help balance potentially the biggest managing and developing progressive stayed constant. Interestingly, looking at some challenge facing us which will be recruiting and businesses, innovation, master classes in old data from the early 1970’s showed a very retaining the calibre of individual we need to detailed production methods and so on. different production from recorded dairy herds fulfi l all the many different roles which exist in These winners are worthy recipients of their to what we see today. Only the very best milk the industry. Happy New Year!! respective trophies and individual businesses recorded herds topped in excess of 6,000 litre will be very proud of their achievements. All average at that time, when virtually every herd these celebrations are reported extensively was twice a day milked and probably autumn or but are we really communicating success and year round calving. Some top herds would have promoting excellence to the wider audience? Do produced somewhere in the region of 400kg/ we fail our own industry by not demonstrating solids per cow average. how an innovative and successful industry with a multitude of varying facets goes to make up These levels of production are now achieved the complete offering of agriculture? on some of the better managed grazing spring block calving systems while the housed units Do our customers and prospective employees, will be getting close to 900kgs/solids.