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to MVFFREE Members September 2014 The Newsletter No. 604 molevalleyfarmers.com £1.75 silage analysis 4 forage for profit 11 red meat markets 13 shooting season 30-31 stabling 29 Moist feeds Soil testing product review 10 the importance of knowing your soil 16 Time to reseed organic farming 15 maintenance Autumn events scheduling at the mills equine events 29 news 5 heating days 32-33 SHEEP market news, performance, fl ock lameness p7, 18-19 Sheep near Fyldon, North Molton picture by Sally Clarke Mole Valley Farmers - part of the countryside FARMING Contact us Head Offi ce MVF Branches Forage Specialists Open Mon-Sat 8.00am-5.30pm Cornwall Mole Valley Farmers Ltd *Open Sunday 10am-4pm Ray Harvey 07860 245596 Exmoor House, South Molton N. Dan Loe 07816 324163 Devon EX36 3LH Bridgwater TA7 8PE Ed Costerton 07773 156147 Telephone - 01769 573431 Bath Road, Bawdrip T 01278 424240 Marcus Trivett 07812 733258 Fax - 01769 573821 Manager: Steve Noall F 01278 726119 Devon www.molevalleyfarmers.com Cullompton EX15 1NU Trevor Dunn 07527 396800 email [email protected] Honiton Road, Stoneyford T 01884 34333 Robert Matthews 07896 134824 Manager: Mark Brown F 01884 35209 Clive Edmunds 07772 637466 Sandy Campbell 07896 134948 Directors Frome BA11 2PN Somerset Standerwick, Frome T 01373 831114 Simon Clements 07896 134811 Chairman - Graeme Cock Manager: Nick Powell F 01373 831016 Clive Bethell 07896 134346 Stephen Bone, Peter Delbridge, MoleCare FarmVets T 01373 852360 Paul Bowditch 07896 135127 Steve Edmunds, Brian Jennings, Tim Wall, Mark Shaw 07966 561599 Holsworthy EX22 6BL Gaynor Wellwood, Peter Winstone Dorset Underlane, Holsworthy T 01409 253014 Chief Executive - Andrew Jackson John Rodwell 07891 425008 Manager: David Nias F 01409 254510 Chris Woodget 07794 093032 Company Secretary - Andrew Chapple A.C.A Liskeard PL14 4LN Glos Dan Finchett 07875 741710 Customer Accounts Moorswater I/E, Liskeard T 01579 340034 Manager: James Stiles F 01579 348263 Wales Keith Evans 07791 422384 Sales Ledger 01769 576204 Newton Abbot* TQ12 6RY Sam Havard 07816 943868 Credit Control 01769 576266 Battle Road, Newton Abbot T 01626 836555 Mike Evans 07875 680148 [email protected] Manager: Jason McCoy F 01626 836444 Lucy Williams 07794 154183 Kathryn Walker 07896 134763 St. Columb TR9 6SF Emma Sankey 07773 244964 Membership advice St Columb I/E T 01637 881115 Manager: Paul Tippett F 01637 881148 AdviceLine 01769 576198 South Molton EX36 3LH Alternative Feeds [email protected] Pathfields I/E T 01769 574477 Manager: Shaun Carter F 01769 574787 Lifton trading office 0845 602 7321 MoleCare FarmVets T 01769 575618 Carmarthen trading office 01267 223716 Small ads Hungerford trading office 01488 240010 BA21 5BJ Yeovil* [email protected] Sherborne Road T 01935 420971 [email protected] Next deadline Manager: Bruce Williams F 01935 434901 Please submit your small ad Redruth farmselect TR16 4AX by Tuesday 9th September Treleigh I/E, Redruth 01209 340044 Minerals / Blocks / Buckets Charges: £3.50 per line + VAT* John Lawrence 07887 596080 Shaun Hambley 07802 596989 Adverts only accepted and printed at editor’s MV Feed Solutions Mineral Line 01278 420481 FeedLine 01278 444829 discretion. [email protected] To submit your small ad, call Tracey Jury: Seeds and Additives 01769 576232 Tel: 01769 576243 Alternative Feeds 0845 602 7321 Fax: 01769 576262 Minerals 01278 420481 Crop packaging/fencing [email protected] Nigel Cockwill 07786 855223 Please remember to quote your membership MV Forage Services number when placing an advert. Fertiliser sales desk 01769 576405 Arable/seeds Graham Ragg 07798 583667 The Newsletter team MVF Engineering Rob Connell 01769 576232/07787 508681 Witheridge (EX16 8AP) T 01884 860478 Suzanne Smyth 01769 576297 [email protected] Manager: Kim Turner F 01884 860769 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Mole Valley Plus VAT and pricing All enquiries 01769 576201 [email protected] Unless stated, prices in this Newsletter DO NOT include VAT. Prices are correct at the moleenergy time of going to press, but may subsequently be changed without notice. E&OE All enquiries 01769 575674 [email protected] Please recycle this newsletter or give it to a friend Company2 MVFMVM F FounderNewsletterNeNewsws le-e Johntttterer James 59259292 MBE 2 MVF Newsletter 604 FARMING SEPTEMBER 2014 Chairman’s letter Different areas of the world are currently but it took several years to bring production in a state of fl ux with seemingly new or up markedly, by which time the war was over. escalating confl icts emerging on the newsreels It wasn’t until the Second World War that food with some regularity. Having said that, a lot production really ramped up again, following of news is never caught on camera, so it’s the depression of the early thirties. never deemed to be news or newsworthy. Despite the macabre nature of WW1 and the I digress. Many of these confl icts seem scale of human loss in the trenches and fi elds, incomprehensible, not only in the nature of amongst other things there still seems to be a the unrest, but the devastation of people fascination as to how the challenges were met and infrastructure which results. The rest of and overcome, including the sequestration Graeme Cock the world is unable or unwilling to intervene of assets such as horses, the emergence Chairman effectively, because of political, social or of the Land Army and signifi cant pressure economic restrictions, so the suffering and to increase food production with some grain in a clamp also opens up the harvesting loss of life continues unabated. urgency. At its worst point, when the U boat windows quite considerably where moisture campaign was at its most damaging, coupled Recently there has been a great deal of contents of 20% plus are commonplace. with successive poor harvests, food stocks coverage of the outbreak of World War One Additional products such as Maxammon also dwindled to a matter of days’ worth of supply. a hundred years ago in the summer of 1914. offer not only a huge harvest benefi t as crimp A timely reminder of how many things have The irony being that until recently, ninety plus grain does, but it can also bring nutritional changed in a hundred years, but equally how years later, food production has reverted to benefi ts, due to increased protein content, some things haven’t changed that much. being taken for granted, and even now there making the processed grain almost a complete Different areas of the country reacted and is as much importance placed on the amount feed in some instances. It also helps deter helped the War effort in different ways. of permanent pasture which exists rather the pesky vermin such as birds, mice and Certainly agriculture contributed considerably, than how effi cient and productive agriculture rats, making them seek alternative feeding but paid a heavy price for its efforts. has to be. Political infl uences and priorities grounds. Signifi cant numbers of men who worked on change over decades but essentially, when Another area which has enjoyed some the land would go to war, never to return. diffi cult situations arise, food production soon success in recent years, bringing further becomes important again. Just thinking, as Another key contributor to agriculture was the fl exibility to rotations, is the introduction of you do, if Tb was an issue in 1914 to the horse. Hundreds of thousands of horses went hybrid winter barley which can bring yields extent it is today and war imminent, do we to war too, of which very few returned. The comparable to that of winter wheat. Despite surmise that in order to protect the cattle challenges of growing and harvesting crops being excluded from the home saved seed industry, which is the lifeblood of many rural without suffi cient horse power and reduced scenario can have lower growing costs, with communities and the livelihood of many manpower must have presented many lower nitrogen requirement and smaller risks livestock based businesses, how much fuss problems. This is when tractors fi rst started of fusarium, whilst harvesting early, as does would have been made in dealing with the to play a meaningful part in agriculture. conventional winter barley varieties. With issue and the causes of it. If food was in Even prior to WW1, the Government took three crop requirements and businesses short supply, then it wouldn’t be an issue, food production for granted, but as the war looking to reduce capital spends, widen priorities change, common sense prevails and developed, food became very scarce and harvest windows, without compromising yields real solutions are put in place to remedy a extremely expensive. Surprisingly, at that signifi cantly, it might have greater appeal. If problem very quickly. time, we imported a huge proportion of what my information is correct, a good harvest was we consumed, so as the U boats patrolled This current harvest has proved to be as expected and taking place in 1914 too! the waters we were vulnerable. Before 1914 expected, a reasonable one being fairly early, we only produced about a quarter of our acceptable yields and not too disrupted by wheat needs and overall food production the weather, bringing a welcome reprieve allowed us to be around 60% self-suffi cient. from heavy drying costs, particularly when The combination of poor harvests and the cereal values are under pressure. The issues continuation of the war meant that the of drying grain, if grown to feed back to stock, new Government of the day enforced the are very much a reduced requirement these ploughing up of grassland to grow crops to days. There have always been alternatives help provide much needed food. The ‘Plough to storing grain dry, but now there are so Policy’ was enforced by local war committees, many options all of which can lead to massive to ensure production of cereals was increased.