EDITOR: Eilidh MacPherson Marbrack Farm, Carsphairn, Castle Douglas, DG7 3TE
Tel: 016444 60644 Mobile: 07977897867 editor@farmingscotland.com www.farmingscotland.com
PUBLISHER - farmingscotland.com
ADVERTISING –Eilidh MacPherson – 016444 60644
Cover
The weather has turned almost spring like – hard frosts in the mornings and bright sunny days. I cannot wait to get out into the sunshine the minute this magazine is e-mailed to the printers – about an hour to go!
Horse has been the main topic of conversation in farming circles and on the news since the last magazine hit the shop shelves last month.
Horsemeat has been eaten by many cultures for centuries and was often eaten in Australia, particularly during hard times – the only complaint being that it is usually tough. The Japanese eat raw horsemeat sashimi, but we are finding the fact that they may have eaten horsemeat unawares a little hard to 'digest'.
Hopefully it has a knock on effect and proper food labeling will now take place. Butchers are cashing in, which is good for UK farmers as consumers are becoming more aware of where their food comes from and local produce is very much to the fore.
Personally I used to buy my mince from the supermarket and any other cuts from the butcher. But now I’m not so sure!
We scanned two hefts yesterday, with the early Blackfaces and the crosses scanned about 3 weeks ago. We have had our first Blackie, with triplets lamb on the 20th February – a whole month early. She is making a fine job of them, but we have kept her inside for the time being.
I have produced a tractor guide this issue and have as many list prices as I could muster. The remainder will be included in the April issue.
There is an interesting article with pioneering deer farmers in Fife, on pages 16 & 17. Hugh Stingleman covers wool and lamb markets and we catch up with the sheep shearing scene in New Zealand – new records and two Scots in the PGG Wrightson top 12, contested at the Golden Shears this weekend.
John Fyall covers the trials and tribulations of farming – the highs and lows.
We had a bumper entry for the dog photography competition - almost 200 photographs were received. Well done to the winners for their eye catching entries.
If you have any trouble finding Farming Country in your local shop please just ask them to stock it.
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Two big but popular upsets have dominated the Otago shearing and wool handling championships in Balclutha with its major shearing title won by a South Islander for only the third time in 31 years and a clean sweep of the two Open wool handling titles by a competitor who overcame tragedy to score her first victory in over six years.
The triumphant shearer at what is one of New Zealand's major annual shearing sports events, was Invercargill gun and New Zealand representative Nathan Stratford, who became only the second South Island shearer to win the Open final in Balclutha in the era of Te Kuiti shearing legend David Fagan, who first won the event in his first season of Open-class shearing in 1983.
Edsel Forde, now long-retired from competition shearing, won the event in 1989 and 1994, but multiple winner Fagan kicked on, qualified for the five-man, 20-sheep final again in 2013 and finished fourth in quest of a 618th Open competition victory.
The lady of the moment in the woolhandling was Pagan Rimene, from Alexandra and Masterton, who won both the New Zealand Woolhandler of the Year and South Island Open Circuit finals. These were her first wins since her first Open final in November 2006, when she beat mother and former World Teams and Golden Shears champion Tina Rimene at the New Zealand Corriedale Championships in Christchurch.
Stratford’s win also ended a succession of wins in the Open Final by Hawke’s Bay shearers since Fagan last won in 2004, while Rimene’s Woolhandler of the Year triumph brought to an end the winning sequence of Gisborne’s Joel Henare, who last year, at the age of 20, won for the fifth time in a row, three weeks before winning the World Championship in Masterton.
With best Otago placings of third in 2004 and 2007 but missing from the final in 2011 and 2012, it was a determined Stratford who tried to make the pace through the early stages.
But it was Waipawa shearer Cam Ferguson, whose 2010 win was followed by his Golden Shears and World Championship triumphs later that year, who took charge. His 17min 16.06sec for 20 sheep left him watching the rest for 31 seconds before Stratford was next to hit the button, four seconds ahead of multiple winner John Kirkpatrick, of Napier.
It was quality-over-speed, which decided the issue, as Stratford claimed the win by more than two points from Ferguson, who held on by less than four-hundredths of a point to take second place ahead of Kirkpatrick. With Fagan next, Southland shearer Darin Forde, who has had to live in the shadow of the first four, who have now each won the event at least once, had to settle for fifth, in his first time in the final since 2008.
Shortly before Saturday’s final, Stratford and Kirkpatrick took a 2-0 lead in the three-test Elders Primary
Wool Shearing Series by beating Welshmen Richard Jones and Gareth Lloyd Evans by almost 16pts. The contest was shorn over three second-shear and three full-wool sheep each, with Kirkpatrick first off the board in 6min 55.41sec.
With just one other final placing behind her this season, Rimene’s NZWHY win came after three consecutive final placings in the event and emulated her mother’s victory in 2004 and followed her win in the Senior final at Balclutha in 2006, when she also won the Golden Shears Senior final. She had, however, reached just one other final this season.
The new champion also finished third in the weekend’s Junior shearing final, won by Kahn Culshaw, of Ashburton and was in an all-star Team Morrell combo which won the teams event. The others in the team were senior woolhandling double winner Anne-Maree Kahukura, of Omakau, and shearers Kirkpatrick, from Napier and Mataura’s Brett Roberts, who won the Senior final for a second time.
In her ninth season of competition wool handling, Rimene’s genes have always had her destined for the top. She has regained her confidence since a road tragedy tragedy in 2008, in which two passengers in the work van she was driving were killed and in which she and sister and fellow successful wool handler Larnie Morrell were seriously injured.
Her mother has been competing in Open competitions for more than 20 years, winning two World teams titles and three Golden Shears Open finals, father Dion Morrell is a contractor and former World record breaking shearer, who won New Zealand’s major all-wools title, the McSkimming Memorial Triple Crown (now the PGG Wrightson National), in 1997. Her sister won the Golden Shears Junior and Senior wool handling titles.
Masterton teenager David Gordon scored his 11th win in his last 12 finals by claiming the Intermediate shearing title, a win by more than six-and-a-half points over runner-up and 2012 Golden Shears Junior champion Andrew Leith, of Dipton. The two Junior wool handling titles were shared, with Emma Kate Rabbidge, of Wyndham, winning the NZWHY final and Daine Rehe, of Te Teko, the South Island Circuit final.
Open Final (20 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 17min 47.69s, 61.835pts, 1; Cam Ferguson Waipawa 17min 16.06sec, 63.903pts, 2; John Kirkpatrick (Napier) 17min 51.78sec, 63.939pts, 3; David Fagan (Te Kuiti) 18min 10..5sec, 65.875pts, 4; Darin Forde (Lornville) 18min 2.75sec, 66.738pts, 5.
Senior Final (12 sheep): Brett Roberts (Mataura) 14min 2.56s, 55.128pts, 1; Cory Palmer (Dipton) 16min 30.11s, 58.34pts, 2; Brooke Todd (Dipton) 13min 32.95sec, 58.565pts, 3; Rob Mainland (Invercargill) 13min 27.89s, 58.978pts, 4; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 14min 13.89sec, 59.278pts, 5. Intermediate Final (6 sheep): David Gordon (Masterton) 8min 29.98s, 33.099pts,1; Andrew Leith (Dipton) 7min 9.89s, 39.695pts, 2; Alex Smith (Gisborne) 8min 55.5s, 41.375pts, 3; Ethan Pankhurst (Masterton) 8min 42.83s, 42.742pts, 4; David Jackson (Rolleston) 7m 35.91s, 49.596pts, 5. Junior Final (4 sheep): Kahn Culshaw (Ashburton) 7m 35.66s, 39.033pts, 1; Corey Smith (Rakaia) 8m 19.41s, 41.971pts, 2; Pagan Rimene (Alexandra) 8m 19.7s, 42.485pts, 3; Jan Hartman (Germany) 9m 13.25s, 43.163pts, 4; Dylan Jones (Wales) 8m 37.98s, 45.649pts, 5.
Woolhandling: NZ Woolhandler of the Year: Open Final: Pagan Rimene Masterton 131.874pts, 1; Joel Henare, Gisborne 138.5pts, 2; Tia Potae, Milton 140.894pts, 3; Taiwha Nelson, Alex. 273.85pts, 4.
Senior Final: Anne-Maree Kahukura (Omakau) 176.244pts, 1; Stevie Mason-Smallman, Taihape 177.22pts, 2; Ataneta Puna, Napier 222.618pts, 3; Juliette Lyon, Alex. 234.72pts, 4
Junior Final: Emma Kate Rabbidge, Wyndham 117.75pts, 1; Daine Rehe, Te Teko 131.626pts, 2; Rhiann Jones, Wales 135.1pts, 3; Waimarama Manukau (Gore) 204.876pts, 4.
South Island Woolhandling Circuit: Open Final: Pagan Rimene, 163.27pts, 1; Joel Henare, 165.938pts, 2; Keryn Herbert, 173.09pts, 3; Tina Rimene, 193.2pts, 4; Amy Ruki (Invercargill) 235pts, 5; Taiwha Nelson (Alexandra) 253.47pts, 6.
Senior Final: Anne-Maree Kahukura, Omakau 112.44pts, 1; Cherie Peterson, Milton 127.89pts, 2; Stevie
Mason-Smallman,Taihape 129.99pts, 3; Juliette Lyon,Alex. 175.74pts, 4.
Junior final: Daine Rehe (Te Teko) 98.74pts, 1; Sarah Higginson (Marlborough) 130.87pts, 2; Val Weatherburn (Gore) 150.99pts, 3.
Wool pressing: Final: Gordon family 67.011pts, 1; Ken Payne (Balclutha) and Bruce Walker (Owaka) 92.131pts, 2.
Golden Shears president Mavis Mullins has become just the second person to win the national Maori Sports Administrator of the Year award twice.
The only woman and only non-Wairarapa person to become president of the Golden Shears Society in Masterton (she lives in Dannevirke), her award, presented at a televised ceremony attended by more than 1000 people in Manukau recognised her role in organising the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in 2012.
A former Golden Shears woolhandling champion and a principal in family shearing contracting partnership Paewai Mullins Shearing, Mavis had previously won the administrator
award in 2003, when she was manager of the New Zealand team at that year's world championships in Queensland.
The latest accolade was presented at the 22nd national Maori Sports Awards, at which world champion woolhandling team Joel Henare, of Gisborne, and Australia-based Joanne Kumeroa, of Whanganui, were named Team of the Year.
Hawke's Bay shearers John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, and Cam Ferguson, of Waipawa, already Hawke's Bay and Ngati Kahungunu Team of the Year award winners, were also finalists but were shaded by the woolhandlers, who had also finished first and second in their individual event at the world championships in Masterton.
Kate Macdonald
Age: 20
Status: Single
Farm: Whitedyke
Location: Kirkcowan
Type: Beef & Sheep farm
Work: Self employed & relief milker
Education Barony College ND & HND
Aims: To take over family farm
As the saying goes – ‘Horses sweat, men perspire and women glow’ – there will be a fair amount of ‘glowing’ going on in the Newton Stewart auction market on the 31st May, as ten young ladies from the deep South West take to the shearing boards.
Their aim is to shear 500 + sheep in an eight hour day for charity. “We would love to raise £5000 for each of our selected charities – RHET – the
Age: 24
Status: Single (very!)
Farm: Oldland
Location: KIrkcowan
Type: Beef & Sheep farm
Work: Self employed
Education: BSc Ag, SAC Edinburgh
Aims: To take over family farm, brothers not interested
Travel: Austraila & New Zealand, YFC exchange. Machars YFC
Royal Highland Education Trust and the Newton Stewart Hospital,” stated Carol McKenna, who had the initial brainwave, when shearing her own hoggs last summer.
The idea became a reality over a few drinks at the calf sales in the backend. Since then plans have mushroomed and the ten lassies above (including Shannon Nicholson) are sharing five stands, shearing half an hour at a time, with half an hour rest
Age: 30
Status: Single
Farm: Irelandton
Location: Twynholm
Type: Beef & Sheep farm
Work: General Farm Worker
Other: Arty - would like to spend more time drawing
throughout the day. “We’ve gone for a Friday so all the local primary school children can come along and have a look,” added Carol.
The shearers have been amazed at the positive reaction from the local community and businesses further a field. Sponsorship is coming in thick and fast, from operating costs, shearing gear and raffle prizes to items for the charity auction and cheques, online and cash donations.
Age: 37
Status: Married
Farm: Knockskeocg
Location: Cumbria
Lives: Blair Cottage, Kirkcowan
Works: Natural England
Education: ND Newton Rigg
Business: Chilli Farmer
Aims: Aims to expand – currently looking for plot for more polytunnels
With the lady-shear cut-out at 5pm, Chris Reid takes over to is run a Pro-Speed Shear for full time shearers.
In the evening a dance and charity auction are on the agenda. Tickets for the dance will be on sale as from April.
None of the ladies claim to be gun shearers, most have only shorn their own sheep and some have only bellied and crutched lambs.
Local contractor and sheep scanner
Farming Country – Issue ninety-two
S S o o u u tt h h W W e e sstt S S h h e e ee p p S S h h e e iillaass
Carol McKenna, Hilary Howatson, Lynn Wilson, Helen Ryman & Kirsty Wilson
Carol McKenna
Age: 36
Status: Single
Farm: Gass
Location: Kirkcowan
Type: Beef & Sheep
Works: Self employed. At home and for silage contractor used to work for Tarff Valley
Education: Barony College
Travel: Worked in NZ for silage contractor
Aims: Take on family farm
Jim Hyslop will be on hand to help with gear and will be setting up the stands in the main ring in the market.
Professional female sheep shearer
Una Cameron will be meeting up with the girls before the event and pairing them up to share a stand with a partner of a similar ability.
Una made a career of sheep shearing, travelling round the world. She no longer shears in New Zealand, but still takes a stand in Norway and
Hilary Howatson
Age: 28
Status: Single
Farm: Risk Farm
Location: Newton Stewart
Type: Beef & Sheep
Works: Partner in family farm
Education: Greenmount NDA
Travel: 3yrs Ireland, then NZ & OZ
Aims: Carry on family business
Scotland. Una will be on hand during the day for advice and pointers.
Local Blackface sheep farmer David Fergusson, Drannandow, will be giving a blade shearing demonstration during the day. David has previously made the World Shearing Final at hand shearing. Weaving and spinning demos will also be on-going.
Donations for this worthy cause can be made www.justgiving.com/teams/ladyshear.
Lynn Wilson
Age: 24
Status: Single
Farm: High Barness
Location: Kirkcowan
Type: Beef, Sheep, Dairy & Poultry
Works: Self employed milker
Education: NC Ag & HNC Poultry, SAC Auchincruive
Travel: Milked cows in NZ & OZ
Aims: Manage a dairy unit
Age: 21
Status: Single
Farm: High Barness
Location: Kirkcowan
Type: Beef, Sheep, Dairy & Poultry
Helen Ryman
Age: 34
Status: Has a partner
Farm: North Kildarroch
Location: Whauphill
Type: Sheep – pedigree Texel & commercial
Works: Farms with partner, milks Shepherdess, & an artist
Education: Degree in Physcology & Sociology
Travel: Ranch in Montana
Other: In Spring Fling this year
Works: General Farm Worker
Education: Barony NDA& HNC Ag
Travel: America with semen company ALTA
Aim: Take on farm some day
7
Horner Shearing, have introduced the latest in their Battery powered shearing machines.
The Rambo QuickDraw is:-
• fully portable
• slim and easy to hold
• hands-free when not shearing – the handpiece drops securely into a leather holster fixed to the belt
• powered by a battery, which sits comfortably on a belt around the waist
• safe in damp conditions...
• good for up to 2 hours shearing off one battery before recharging
• powerful for shearing, dagging or tailing sheep
• exceptionally good for clipping dirty cattle, before slaughter
• tried and tested, already in use with many of Horner Shearing's customers
• fully guaranteed by Horner Shearing.
• easily adapted to run off 240 volt, mains, electricity, with the optional transformer Check out the website: http://www.hornershearing.com/acatalog/rambo-battery.html
Horner Shearing are the leading manufacturers of Battery sheep shearing machines. The Rambo QuickDraw is the latest in over 20 years of Battery machine manufacture by the family firm based in Lancashire. They won the Royal Highland Show's Innovation Award in 1992 with their Longhorn 12 volt battery powered sheep shearing machine. Two years later they introduced the faster Longhorn 3.2, which shears just like a mains machine. The Longhorn 3.2 has been bought by over 7,000 farmers and shearers in the UK. It has built up a reputation for exceptional reliability. The Longhorn 3.2 has been joined by the Longhorn 3.5 (3,500 rpm), with both flexible and solid drive shafts. The QuickDraw looks certain to fulfil a need on many livestock farms in the UK.
Four shearers have posted a new lambshearing record with more than 2500 lambs in eight hours in the midst of a southern chill recently..
The official tally of 2556 was shorn by Hawke’s Bay shearers John Kirkpatrick and James Mack and Southlanders Leon Samuels and Eru Weeds in the Heiniger Four-stand Eight-hour Lamb Shearing World Record Challenge at Centre Hill, Northwest of Mossburn.
Starting at 7am on a part-damp flock and with snow on nearby Mt Hamilton, they shore four two-hour runs and finished at 5pm, before a packed and cheering crowd and a haka to herald their place in the register of the World Sheep Shearing Records Society.
While the conditions had meant personal targets of around 700 and an overall tally over 2700 were never
likely, it was a personal triumph for Kirkpatrick, who topped the count with 650.
Contractor and regular employer Brendon Mahony said in Napier he believed Napier-based Kirkpatrick had never before shorn more than 600 in an eight-hour day.
Samuels, from Invercargill, finished with 648, Mack, from Weber in Southern Hawke’s Bay, posted 643 and Weeds, from Ohai, in Southland, ended with 615.
Judges during the day rejected seven lambs, all four shearers losing at least one before the official tally was posted.
Better known as a competition shearer, with more than 200 wins including four Golden Shears Open wins in almost 20 years of top-class competition, Kirkpatrick was not expected to top the tallies.
The Carsphairn Show Committee has increased prize money dramatically for the 2013 Show to be staged in early June.
The Interbreed Sheep Champion winner will receive a £250 cash prize, making a day out to this rural sheep show a must on the agricultural calendar of events. Winners of each section – Open Blackface, Confined Blackface, Any Other Breed etc will receive an envelope containing £50. Judges for the show include; Stuart Paterson, Netherwood placing the Confined Blackface section, Scott
Rorison will be judging the Scotch Mules and any other breeds. The dog trials are being run under the keen eye of D Armstrong. The Open Blackface judge has yet to reply.
Another highlight at the Show, still to be confirmed, is the filming of the dog trials and show for BBC Alba’s Co-fharphais Coin Caoradh series of programmes. My hopes have been dashed for entering the Industrial and Baking section as my mother-in-law, Mrs Sheala Nixon has been invited to judge!
by Dr JohnVipond
With more extreme weather events, breeding traits affecting lamb survival, such as the ability to withstand hypothermia, become more important. If a typical upland lambing outdoors has 85% lambs surviving, but a severe storm reduces this to 60% survival in one year this should give a good indication of those sires with good progeny survival. However, where survival is over 93% such as in a housed lambing only 7 out of 100 lambs are lost so very few lambs are contributing useful information.
∑ Expect no progress to be made in resistance to hypothermia where sheep are lambing indoors. Ask the question of whether there has been selection for lamb survival in the history of sires you are using, particularly if your lamb losses due to severe weather events are higher than you expect. Similarly if your lambs fail to finish off grass in a wet year and need concentrate feeding question the level of concentrates fed in the flocks you are buying replacements from. Crossbred replacements bred from genuine draft hill ewes should have lambs with better survival than from ones bred
from special types bred inside. Saving Lambs
Colostrum production and supplementation is the key to saving lambs. To protect a newborn lamb against infection about 60 ml per kg birth weight is required provided it is taken soon after birth and followed by a further 60 ml within 6 hours.
But to prevent hypothermia twin lambs born outside need a total of about 210ml /kg in the first 18 hours, those inside needing about 180ml/kg. That adds up to about 850 ml for a 4.0kg housed twin and 1100 ml outside (one and a half pints and two pints in 18 hours in old money respectively). That’s a lot of colostrum!
When using a stomach tube to supply additional colostrum usually only 50-100 ml is given per feed to avoid over distension of the stomach. A well-fed 60kg hill ewe will easily produce one litre of colostrum in the first 18hrs but if underfed only about 600ml. First parity sheep are often a bit short of colostrum for twins. Good quality colostrum production is creamy and can be harvested from single bearing ewes to provide supplementary feeds for triplets.
Ewes are best milked standing up with their lamb in front of them. Giving the ewe an intramuscular injection of 10-15i.u oxytocin (available from your vet) just prior to milking makes collection much easier.
Colostrum antibody production is dependant on the ewe being adequately fed, in particular high quality protein as digestible undegraded protein (DUP) given in the last three weeks of pregnancy. This can be supplied to the ewe as 100g/day of soya per lamb carried or in proprietary supplements such as blocks and buckets. Mannan olligosacharides (MOS) are now being added to sheep feeds to enhance colostrum production and absorption by the lamb and appear to be effective.
In SAC trials a 10% increase in immunoglobulin (IgG) concentration of colostrum in ewes supplemented with better DUP sources present in late pregnancy concentrates was recorded and 25% more with Lifeline blocks.
Better colostrum quality means triplet rearing ewes are more likely to meet their lambs’ requirements, however supplementation of some
lambs is always a necessity and the farmer has a range of options. These can be listed in order of value:
1. Colostrum from another ewe in the flock
2. Colostrum from a ewe from a different flock
3. Cow colostrum (Gives only general disease protection as cows are not vaccinated against sheep diseases and rarely can cause haemolytic anaemia)
4. Colostrum substitutes
5. Milk replacer
With colostrum alternatives you get what you pay for and if you have scanned with lots of triplets then buying some can be a sound investment. Most well fed ewes will have enough colostrum for two lambs but not enough for three so it can save lives. But the effect is mainly to prevent hypothermia, giving lambs that vital energy boost needed in the first few hours of life. These products complement maternal colostrum. Although manufacturers cannot claim their products reduce disease, as they are not licensed medicines some will contain dried colostrum (usually cows) and the higher the IgG content the better.
Seven livestock industry bodies have joined forces to gauge the effects of last year’s poor weather and prevalence of disease among this year’s lamb crop.
The online survey, which went live recently, is aimed at producers in England, Scotland and Wales as they finish lambing and can record certain key performance figures. It will be followed by a calf crop survey in the coming weeks
It is designed to take less than 10 minutes to complete and the organisations hope it will provide an ongoing weekly snapshot of how lambing is progressing and if any health trends are emerging.
The project is a joint venture between EBLEX, Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales, NBA, NFU, NSA and QMS, with the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) providing scientific veterinary advice.
All are encouraging farmers to answer the questions to the best of their knowledge, whether they experience any problems or not, in order that specific projects can be tailored to help if problems do emerge.
“Obviously Schmallenberg is something that everyone is worried about but it is currently difficult to get a true picture of how many flocks are affected and the prevalence in any
particular flock,” said a joint statement from the group.
“However, there are plenty of other factors which could affect the lamb crop, such as the poor weather conditions and liver fluke. Without hard data, we cannot co-ordinate a response that helps farmers.
“This is not an in-depth scientific survey so will take less than 10 minutes to complete. However, the collective picture built from individuals’ responses will significantly help our understanding of the grassroots situation.
“We would urge all sheep farmers in the UK – and beef cattle farmers for the calf crop survey that is to follow – to do their bit for the industry and fill in their results.”
The responses are anonymous, although if individuals do want analysis feedback as the season progresses, they can leave an email address for this. The data will be interrogated regularly to build a picture of the season’s lambing and the survey will stay open until late May. Producers should enter their details once they have finished lambing on their farm – after each batch if they lamb in batches.
You can access the lamb crop s urvey here or visit any of the organisations involved in the project who will have it signposted from their own websites.
Bryan Kelly, Saughland Farm, Pathhead, Midlothian, lambs 1000 ewes in March and April, with nearly all lambs from the flock finished and sold by the end of November.
Richard Callendar owns the 850-acre farm, which is all LFA status and rises to 800ft above sea level. Bryan has worked for the Callendar family for nearly 50 years, managing Saughland since 1971.
The flock is predominately made up of Scotch Mules, bought privately from a nearby farmer, who purchases them as ewe lambs from the Wights of Midlock. Bryan is a fan of the breed’s prolificacy and fantastic mothering ability. All the gimmers are crossed with a Texel tup and about 100 of these are retained as Texel Mules and put to the Texel
by Fiona Turnbull
again. The remainder of the flock is put to the Suffolk; all of the tups are purchased at Kelso.
Eighteen hundred lambs were sold last year from the 995 ewes tupped. Bryan said, “I have developed a system that is high input and high output. This allows us to optimise the farm resources and in 2012 only 35 ewes were turned out with singles.”
Proving the feasibility of building a lambing shed is always challenging. Deciding not to invest significant capital in a building that is only used for a short period of time was something that Bryan overcame with his own innovation.
He commented; “Lambing outside became very challenging as numbers increased and we were finding it took almost as long to prepare the fields as it did to get the lambing done, we
suffered losses in wet nights when lambs were born in the rain and quickly succumbed to hypothermia, so I came up with a solution.”
The answer uses an existing cattle shed on the farm that is clear of cattle by the end of February and another open machinery shed close to it. An open yard is created, which is approximately 100ft- square, sheltered on three sides with straw bales and therefore close to the buildings. The yard is bedded up with straw and is open to the elements and despite being told by numerous neighbours – ‘it would never work’– it’s now been in action every year since 1994.
Holding up to 400 ewes at the peak of lambing it’s so spacious that it can be bedded with the Taarup straw chopper, has good access for ad lib
and the
There is enough room for the gimmers in the confinement of the cattle shed and the remaining indoor space is filled up with lambing pens. Stacked neatly during the rest of the year, mountains of 4ft 6” wooden hurdles create over 170 individual pens. This job is made easier with another of Bryan’s bright ideas; he commissioned a local blacksmithing company to create a metal framework with corner sockets for a fencing stob. Each year the framework is laid on the floor, stobs fitted in and the hurdles are cable tied together to create the pens, it’s a quick and easy system to set up and dismantle.
Instrumental in making the system a success is the Saughland team. The two full time employees are kept busy
looking after the 75 suckler cows and followers and carrying out the ongoing land work in the arable and grass fields at this time of year so two day shift and one night lamber are employed for 3 weeks from 20th March.
“We are fortunate that the lambing team return year on year to work here. Individually they each possess many years of experience and as a team they take full accountability for the ewes. They get on with the job and find solutions for the inevitable problems that crop up. I’ve not always been as fortunate with lambing help so now seek out experience and attitude when I look for staff – it means they are worth every penny of their lambing salary,” informed Bryan. It seems this approach creates harmony and Bryan says that the lambing shed has a really great atmosphere (most days).
The team has a number of systems in place that promote communication and limit misunderstandings. Bryan expects the area to be tidy at all times and the key tools for a new birth are always at hand. Iodine, ropes and markers are kept in a tub close to the lambing area and always returned to the same place.
Each pen is cleaned out between ewes and everyone is expected to muck in with this mammoth task to maintain the good hygiene that is required.
Each shift will not go home until every lamb has sucked, thus allowing the next person to take over a clean slate.
Visual aids are also important as when tiredness sets in they make it easier to retain a high level of stockmanship. Good old baler twine is used, green is tied on the gate if the lamb has a problem and if the ewe is ill then orange string is used. If an adoption has taken place then blue string is on the gate and if successful that ewe will also get a letter of the alphabet sprayed on. All of the visual prompts say ‘keep an extra eye on me’ and Bryan finds they really limit losses. With such a prolific flock there are
For any details including membership – please contact the Secretary George W Allan, Bogside Cottage, Ochilltree, Cumnock, KA18 2QF Tel: 01292 591821 / 07840 537811 Email: scotchmule.association@yahoo.co.uk www.scotchmule.co.uk
a number of extra lambs and last year 74 were raised on the automatic milker. A further number were adopted and when this happens it’s a handy bit of equipment nicknamed the ‘soup bowl’ that everyone shouts for. Shaped like its name it’s positioned to catch the single lamb and all the fluids that can help make a twin-on successful.
Acknowledging it’s often the small things that keep the team motivated, there is a sheltered lambing hut with an urn that provides constant hot water for making up milk and cleaning utensils. And Bryan’s wife Val cooks breakfast and lunch for the dayshift, which they really appreciate.
As the ewes and lambs move on from the shed it’s Bryan who takes over the responsibility. This part is equally well managed with a nearby paddock divided up into four small nursery pens each holding 20 ewes with twins. They stay here for a day so that the ewe gets used to her newborns and counting to two before moving on to bigger fields!
Their good start in life is important if they are to grow fast. Bryan added, “Grass is the most efficient feed
available and we sell all but a few off the grass. The three quarter Texels and majority of the Suffolks are sold through St Boswells and with many E and U grades they go for the top jobs, a smaller number are sold deadweight.”
But it’s the ewe lambs that are in great demand with Saughland selling 200 Suffolk x ewe lambs annually and all of the three quarter Texel females.
Bryan sells them privately and the same farmers return each year for their replacements.
Having developed such an efficient system, Bryan is proud of the results but will continue to tweak and make modifications to improve. He believes their area has had 25% more rain in 2012 than normal and adjustments will be required if the rainfall continues to exceed average.
It was a memorable sale debut for Wigton breeder SJ Nixon of the Huntershall Herd, Southerfield, Cumbria when his bull Huntershall Gladiator won the show and then topped the sale at 32,000gns at the British Limousin Cattle Society’s Spring Show & Sale of Limousin Bulls held at Borderway Mart, Carlisle. The May 2011-born Gladiator is a son of the noted bull Rossignol and is out of the homebred Sympa-sired Huntershall Dancer.
Purchasing the top price in a three-way split were NW Hardisty, How Hall, Ennerdale, Cleator, Cumbria together with J Knight, Low Meadows, Low Broadleys Farm, Calderbridge, Seascale, Cumbria and Norbreck Genetics Ltd, Cockerham, Lancaster, Lancs.
Mr Hardistry runs a small pedigree herd of 10 breeding females under the Howhall prefix alongside around 70 commercial cows. The Knights run a 120-head commercial enterprise.
• 130 bulls sold to ave. £5,332
• 11 bulls made 10,000gns +
• 76% clearance rate
• Sale grosses £693,180
Currently the herd numbers 20 pedigree females with the farm also having 60 commercial cows. It is very much a family affair with daughter Alice (16) and son Thomas (12) very keen on the breeding and showing side – not forgetting Mum Leona, daughter Hayley (20) & Andrew (9).
Huntershall Gladiator has enjoyed a good deal of show success in the past year at Stokesley, Cumberland and at Hesket Newmarket Shows. A clearly delighted Stephen Nixon said he might have looked cool in the ring but actually had his hands in his pockets to stop them shaking! “This is the first animal I’ve ever sold at a British Limousin Cattle Society sale and I’m over the moon to have achieved top price.”
The second top price bull at 23,000gns was Rahoney Geoffrey from Messrs H&D McFarland, Rahoney, 200 Tonnagh Road, Trillick, Co Tyrone. This June 2011-born bull had earlier been placed as
Intermediate Champion and Overall Reserve Supreme in the pre-sale show judged by Andrew Burnett of the noted Spittalton Herd, Stirling. Combining both pedigree and performance figures, Geoffrey is by the 50,000gns Wilodge Cerberus and is out of the homebred Rahoney Abigail, a Tanat Mostyn-sired daughter. Another bull to go to joint purchasers – Rahoney Geoffrey –heads north to the Elrick Herd of Michael Massie, Mains of Elrick, Auchnagatt, Aberdeenshire and the Clury Herd of Walter Cruikshank, Clury Farm, Grantown-on-Spey, Morayshire. For the McFarlands, this was also their top price at sale eclipsing their previous best of 14,000gns for Rahoney Uz at the 2004 ILC Sale also held in Carlisle. Black Limousin bulls made their mark at the sale and none more so than the 18,000gns Knock Black Glencoe from Mr AG Howie, West Knock, Stuartfield, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. A red ticket winner in the first class of Intermediate bulls, the polled Knock Black Glencoe is May 2011-born. Sired by Greenhaugh Europa he is out of the Newhouse Billy dam Knock Dolly. Again with a strong Beef Value of LM+42, this bull was snapped up by 32,000gns
Esmor Evans, Monfa, Clwyd. Well into the junior section of bulls, Glenrock Garibaldi from Mr & Mrs SD Illingworth, Howgillside, Eaglesfield, Lockerbie, made 13,000gns when selling to GH & J Wallis & Son, Gingle Pot, Richmond, N Yorkshire. Another embryo calf, this September 2011-born bull featured a depth in breeding. By the 42,000gns Wilodge Vantastic, Glenrock Garibaldi is out of Glenrock Saspirilla who had previously bred the 24,000gns Glenrock Ventura. The Reserve Junior Championship went to Haltcliffe Gallardo from the prolific herd of Messrs Ridley, Haltcliffe, Wigton. July 2011-born,
Haltcliffe Gallardo is by the 34,000gns Objat son, Cloughhead Ernie and is out of the homebred Haltciffe Breeze. Haltcliffe Breeze has previously produced calves up to 7,500gns and her mother, Haltcliffe Virginia, is a full sister to the 100,000gns Haltcliffe Vermount. Making 12,000gns in the ring, Haltcliffe Gallardo was knocked down to an undisclosed buyer.
Four bulls made 11,000gns. The first of these was Norman Griffin from Mr & Mrs E Norman, Little Orton Farm, Little Orton, Carlisle. A first prize winner in the senior section, Norman Griffin is by the Bailea Ulsterman son Coachhouse Duke and is out of Norman Duchess - a daughter of the herd’s noted stock bull Heathmount Trojan. Purchasing this April 2011-born bull were Messrs J Logan for their pedigree Homebyres herd, Kelso. Also at 11,000gns was Maraiscote Geronimo from Mr J Nimmo, Bogside Farm, Newmains,
Wishaw. Geronimo is by the herd’s 23,000gns stock bull Goldies Comet, who has previously sold progeny up to 30,000gns. Out of the Tyddyn Mei daughter Maraiscote Renata, the June 2011-born Maraiscote Geronimo went to SE England.
Calves from the 35,000gns Plumtree Deus featured in the catalogue for the first time from the fifteen-cow herd of Mr P Cairns, Hall Farm, Tollerton, Nottinghamshire. and Plumtree Graidan weighed in at 885kgs and was knocked down at 11 000gns.
The final bull to make 11,000gns was the Junior Champion Roxburgh Gurkha from John Elliot, Roxburgh Mains, Kelso. Goldies Daffodil was purchased in-calf, to Hartlaw Excaliber, for 5000gns at a sale from Bruce Goldies’ herd held at Carlisle, with Roxburgh Gurkha being the resulting calf. The 22,000gns Hartlaw Excaliber, a Wilodge Tonka son, was the Male Champion for the Goldies Herd at the BLCS 40th
Anniversary National Show held in 2011. Purchasing the Junior Champion was well-known show calf producer Hugh Dunlop who also has the pedigree Doonvalley Herd at Holehouse Farm, Ochiltree, Ayrshire.
The Supreme Champion, Millbrow George, made 10,000gns selling to R Thornton & Son, Cornhills, Newcastle for their 100-head commercial herd. The bull was sold by George & Pat Long, Mill Brow Farm, Ambleside. Clearly delighted, Pat Long joked that this bull was “so good that I named him after my husband!” February 2011-born, he is an embryo calf by Ardnacrasha Uthman – a bull that the Longs own jointly with Norman Cruickshank, Lanark – and is out of Millbrow Opal.
Pedigree breeders JW & DN Eve, Stubbsgill Farm, Yearngill, Aspatria, Wigton, Cumbria purchased the first prize-winning junior bull Ampertaine Garcia for 9,500gns for their Eves Herd. Having stood first in one of
the youngest Junior classes, Garcia (LM+17) was brought forward by WJ & J McKay, Maghera, Co Down, NI. Another AI son of the noted sire Plumtree Deus, this September 2011 born bull is out of Ampertaine Vera, a Procters Rocco daughter.
Two other red rosette-winners made 9,000gns apiece. The first of these was another from the team of Mr & Mrs E Norman in the shape of Norman Gameboy, who sold to HG Blaxell & Sons, Eastfield Farm, Norwich. Sired by the homebred Norman Ebeneezer, a grandson of Haltcliffe Ullswater, and out of another Heathmount Trojan-sired dam, Norman Cola, this May 2011born bull sold with a Beef Value of LM+20.
The second bull at 9,000gns was Goldies Gemini from BT Goldie, Townfoot, Mouswald, Dumfries, which was knocked down to M & W Richardson, Gatesgarth Farm, Buttermere, Cockermouth, Cumbria.
Farmer: John Fletcher & his wife Nichola
Farming: Reediehill
Location: Auchtermuchty, Fife
Area: 38 acres owned
Red Deer: Had up to 500 in heyday
Retail: Were one of the first to retail meat online
Other:
“Scottish farmers with land and good animal husbandry skills are well placed to help Scotland meet the growing demand for Red Deer venison,” stated John Fletcher of Reediehill Deer Farm in Fife.
According to the Venison Advisory Service, which was co-founded by John, the UK venison market is growing significantly and more than 400 new deer producers are required in the next 10 years to help meet demand.
John who farms red deer with his wife Nichola set up their own deer farm, near Auchtermuchty, exactly 40
years ago when they were new entrants to Agriculture.
Acknowledged by the industry as the leading expert in Scottish Venison production, John studied Veterinary Medicine at Glasgow before carrying out a PhD with Cambridge University, which saw him examine the effects of capturing wild red deer on the Island of Rhum and studying the impact of farming them.
It turned out he said, “To be an exciting piece of scientific research that incidentally showed that these animals could be tamed and farmed successfully.”
So once the PhD was completed the family bought 8 acres at Reediehill near Auchtermuchty and commenced a breeding programme, that at it’s peak exported over 500 breeding hinds per annum to Europe and the rest of the world.
John commented; “During the
eighties deer farming was taking off and many new farms were being established all over Europe. I developed links with farmers in France and Germany, Spain, Latvia and Lithuania and sold a nucleus herd (15-20 hinds and 1 stag) to every country in Europe. Venison production is also popular in Japan and Reediehill deer were exported there too. The business was proud to be awarded the Queens Award for Export in 1990.
When John was busy developing the market for the hind’s it was his wife Nichola, who organised the sale of the venison from the young stags. Nichola became an enthusiastic venison and game ambassador and has produced seven bestselling cookbooks filled with exciting and versatile recipes.
For red meat lovers, Venison is a
tasty alternative to beef with many consumers enjoying its tenderness and unique flavour. As it tends to be naturally low in fat, especially saturated fat, it is a popular choice for anyone who is keen to retain red meat in his or her low fat diet.
Selling their venison locally and at Farmers Markets John and Nichola were one of the first in Scotland to retail meat online. Processing upwards of 500 stags per year the retail part of the business could sell the entire production from the
Reediehill herd. It employed four, including a dedicated butcher.
In 2009 the couple sold the retailing business to a member of their staff, Vikki Banks. Vikki renamed this part “Seriously Good Venison” and is actively trying to source farmed deer to keep her business supplied.
The rising demand for Venison is a trend that is forecasted to continue. Supermarkets are reporting strong consumer interest in the meat and are keen to see good quality Scottish Venison on the shelves.
John and his colleagues set up the Venison Advisory Service Ltd (VAS) in 2012 to support potential new entrants to red deer farming. Their website www.venisonadvisory.co.uk is packed full of interesting facts and market information and VAS offer a free initial visit to explain more about what’s involved. It’s then possible to commission a full viability study to be carried out on red deer production on your unit.
Farmers considering a change in policy or a young person with enthusiasm looking to get started in Agriculture will be looking for a summary of the pros and cons and John shared his views on these.
Being extensive and free range it is important to give the deer the best chance of biological success and let them calve in May and June when the grass will be good enough to ensure a good lactation.
Red deer are in calf for 234 days (7 months) and will rear one calf each. You can expect over 90% calving from a productive herd and each hind will be able to produce about 12 calves in her lifetime. John commented, “ It’s so rare for them to require assistance that I would reckon that I assist about one in every thousand to calve.” Deer lend themselves well to
stratification, so a hill farmer could produce store animals and a lowland farmer with steading space could provide the finishing space and ration. John added; “They thrive well in an adapted cattle shed with access to a complete diet such as that delivered by a mixer wagon.”
On the animal husbandry front the animals are still very extensively produced so are not threatened by the multitude of diseases that affect traditional farm animals. No vaccination against Clostridial diseases is required – John has only seen one victim of Tetanus in his 40-year career.
They don’t face challenges from fluke and lameness is rare. They do, however require a routine pour on protection from lungworm.
A young stag will be ready for slaughter from about 15 months of age so can be finished easily off grass or supplemented with silage and cereals. With a killing out ratio of about 53%, a typical carcass will be 45 kilos and in todays market you could expect to be paid between £4.75 and £5 per kilo.
At first glance it appears to be a life cycle that requires little human intervention, but of course deer are naturally energetic animals that can jump quite high. Anyone considering keeping them will need to possess good stock skills and be able to to invest in adequate fencing. John advises high tensile 6 ft high fences, with similarly tall wooden or metal gates. The cost of this will depend on the contractor, but should be about £8 – 9 per metre.
Purpose built handling systems are vital and should be designed with the deer in mind, similar to cows and sheep they prefer to be moving through a series of twists and turns. Post and rail systems are popular and affordable to install.
By Fiona Turnbull
It’s advisable to remove the antlers from stags annually during August. At this time they are dead and the procedure is painless but prevents the stags injuring themselves if they fight or becoming tangled in fences.
Commenting on the farming of velvet, which is a popular practice in some countries, John said, “Velvet is used in Chinese medicine as a natural remedy and it can attract a high price. This practice, which involves removing the soft outer layer of the antler earlier in the year is painful for the deer and is strictly illegal in Europe, although it is carried out in New Zealand under anaesthetic, so would not be popular with consumers in the UK it’s therefore an ill-advised income stream.”
Currently deer production attracts no form of agricultural support. Deer do require to be tagged, when moved, and have movements recorded but they do not have a passport like a beef animal or EiD tag such as the sheep flock. A quality assurance scheme exists but no levy is payable.
John concluded, “ For those keen to produce a popular product that is in demand, deer production is a worthy option. A number of traditional estates across the country have recently added this as a new income stream. In some cases they chose land that had become too wet to crop. We are also working with a number of entrepreneurial farmers who have spotted the gap in the market and are working to meet this need”
There’s an abundance of tools available to the dairy farmer with which he can benchmark his herd, improve his management, and generally turn his farm into a more profitable business. And most will come as part of a costings or management package – and have a price tag to match.
But every once in a while, something arrives on the scene that’s completely free of charge, gives a crystal-clear picture of progress over the years, and can easily form the basis of a herd improvement programme.
One such tool is the DairyCo Breeding+ ‘Herd Genetic Report,’ which every UK milk recorded producer is entitled to acquire for his herd. Completely free at the point of delivery and funded by the levy, milk producers are urged to take up their entitlement and map their herds’ genetic progress.
“It provides a single snapshot of the genetics in a herd,” explained geneticist, Marco Winters from DairyCo Breeding+. “But within that snapshot, it reveals the breeding progress that’s been made over a time-frame of around 10 years.”
By quantifying average genetic indexes for all cows grouped by lactation, the farmer can gain an instant picture of the progress his herd is making.
“This isn’t just progress for the basics like milk, fat and protein,” he continued. “But we’ve recently introduced the health and fitness traits into the report too.”
This means that cows grouped by lactation can be compared in terms of their genetic merit for traits like fertility, somatic cell count or lifespan, as well as levels of inbreeding and the over-arching Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI).
“This is so important in this day and age, when we are trying to improve the fertility, health and welfare of the national dairy herd,” he said. “And I’d suggest that if your younger animals do not have better indexes than the older cows in your herd for these all-important traits, you should ask yourself some serious questions about where your breeding policy is taking you.”
Furthermore he says, all cows are also listed individually, allowing the breeder to see which cows are the genetic stars in his herd – or which are letting it down.
“Of course, the figures are genetic
indexes rather than a measure of the actual performance of a herd, but this tells us a great deal about a herd’s potential,” he added.
The key point he makes is that if milk producers are not breeding to improve their herd’s genetic potential, they are making the job of managing their cows more and more difficult. “It’s about stacking the odds in your favour,” he continues, “which you can do by choosing the right bloodlines.”
Using the example of fertility he says, “If you breed your herd to a bull with a very poor Fertility Index, you are making the job of managing his daughters’ fertility incredibly difficult.”
This is borne out by a high Fertility Index bull (+14) whose daughters can be expected to have an average calving interval some seven days shorter than those by a bull whose Fertility Index is zero.
“This may not sound much in isolation,” continues Mr Winters. “But improvements are cumulative and build up over the generations and can soon make an impact over the years and across a whole herd.”
Remarking that the genetic information DairyCo supplies comes off the back of millions of milk records and breed society classifications, he says: “These indexes are calculated from data you have already paid for through your participation in milk recording and type classification. DairyCo pulls it all together in the calculation of bull proofs and cow genetic indexes and this ‘Herd Genetic Report’ is simply a by-product of that process.
“So, I’d urge every dairy farmer to make the best use they can of data whose collection they have paid for already, by signing up, free of charge, for the ‘Herd Genetic Report’.”
The ‘Herd Genetic Report’ is available from the DairyCo Breeding website; www.dairycobreeding.org.uk and click on ‘Herd Genetic Report’.
Making breeding decisions easier – Holstein UK launches its all-new WebMate program
Holstein UK has launched a brand new version of its independent interactive web-based mating tool for Holstein and British Friesian cattle. Members using the Society’s classification scheme can log on at any time of day or night and use the free new program to make breeding decisions easy.
A host of new farmer-inspired features have been added to WebMate. These include an easy navigation system, allowing users to save their choices automatically at every stage and a semen straw limiter that allows users to set the exact number of straws they already have in the tank to ensure their most effective use. Also included are the updated Bull Selector tool and the ability to calculate inbreeding levels for every mating.
WebMate allows users to set their own breeding aim and the relative emphasis they wish to place on production and conformation, ensuring that the suggested matings will result in the correct sort of
animal whatever the management system. The animals don’t even have to be classified as the program can be run for non-classified animals and youngstock.
WebMate has been trialled by a number of farmers, with Tim Gue of the Huddlestone herd in West Sussex commenting: “The new WebMate is easy to use and ensures the best matings with the semen already in stock. You choose the type of cow you want to breed and let WebMate do the rest. Farmers know what sort of cows suit their farm, WebMate is totally independent and will choose the best matings to achieve those cows from current semen stock or allows you to see which of a group of bulls are best suited to your cows. The inbreeding indicator is going to be even more important in the future.”
The program is easy to use, as Andrew Williams from Rhadyr Farms Ltd in Monmouthshire found: “I found the new WebMate programme very functional and easy-to-use with straight forward and easy to understand instructions. I will definitely be using it as an essential tool in future breeding decisions and mating of our herd.”
Anyone driving through South West Scotland in the 1970’s would have noticed that field after field was filled by brown and white cattle of the Ayrshire breed. Until the export of Holstein calves to the continent became very lucrative at the end of that decade, Ayrshires were the breed of choice for the majority of Scottish dairy farmers.
By the1990’s the same drive would have found field after field of black and white Holsteins grazing there instead, their popularity enhanced even more by Ayrshire breeders crossing the bottom end of their herds to a Black and white bull, thereby increasing the value of the bull calf, while their surplus heifers, full of hybrid vigour, found a ready market with the large scale dairy farmers of the English Midlands.
We tend to forget that at that time, over three hundred in calf and in milk heifers were sold every week in the three main dairy markets of southern Scotland, the majority Ayrshire crosses, while the three main pedigree sales had over thirteen hundred head.
Today the number of heifers of all breeds at the market each week would be nearer twenty five, which speaks volumes about the lack of longevity in today’s dairy cows.
Numbers of Ayrshire breeders in Scotland went into free fall and in an effort to stabilise things, the Breed Society opened the herd book to outside blood, with many choosing the Red Holstein as their sire of choice. Again the big influence of hybrid vigour coupled with the fact that the Ayrshires traditional
strengths complemented perfectly the weaknesses of the Holstein, meant in fact some very ordinary Red sires in their own population, became world beaters when crossed with our native breed. Thankfully the same scenario did not affect the rest of Britain as the breeders there had always had the competition of the Holstein Friesian on their doorstep and were well aware that when it came to profitability, the Ayrshire could still compete especially with it’s strong constitution and her ability to graze in any weather proving a big attraction in the wet West of Wales and South West England and in the high hills of central England
Gradually the Scottish breeders, who had gone down the Holstein route, discovered that crossbreds were great in the first cross, but were very mixed in the second, unless they used a mainly “pure” bull as many of their Friesian friends had already found out. Some opted to continue down the Holstein path as is their right, but thankfully the majority have come back to using sires with a high percent of Ayrshire blood and excelling in the Ayrshire traits, causing registrations to show a steady increase year on year.
Accepting that for many commercial dairymen, an outcross now and then is beneficial to their herd, the Ayrshire Cattle Society introduced a Red and White Register to enable breeders to have ‘a record of ancestry’ and production figures at their finger tips while still enabling them to grade up to pure Ayrshire if they so desire at a later date.
This Register has it’s own breed
by John Cochrane
code of 14 thereby enabling not only cross breeding breeders to compare like with like but also allowing Ayrshire breeders to get accurate information on the genetic merit of
their cows on a level playing field without hybrid vigour clouding the figures.
On a positive note, in spite of many advisers trying to influence them to the contrary, dairy farmers are realising that the inherent attributes of the Ayrshire cow of high health coupled with her longevity and an ability to fend for herself, are the kind of traits that are proving attractive to today’s milk buyers and consumers, not to mention the high component milk they produce.
Already I am beginning to see some Ayrshires grazing among the big Holstein herds, especially in their native county and I am sure that their influence will spread as animal welfare and cow condition and mobility become key words in the dairy industry.
Adding the poll gene is imperative too, as it will not be long before dehorning will be the next practice to be banned. We are already seeing a move to the above trends in our sales of bull semen from our Society’s breeding company, Cattle Services Ayr. Maybe, just maybe in time, the fields of Britain will take on a different hue of a Brown/Red colour once more. Stranger things have happened!
The Jersey breed obviously originates from the Island of that name. Equally, it comes as no surprise that thirty per cent of the Jerseys in the UK reside in South West England. For all that, there are notable enclaves of the breed across the country, invariably based around a milk processor of speciality products, or cheese-makers who benefit from both improved cheese quality and yield from including a proportion of Jersey milk in their manufacturing mix.
Distinctive characteristics
The Jersey is a pure dairy breed, renowned for the high compositional quality milk it produces. Smaller in size, mature cows weigh around 450kg liveweight, meaning they can be stocked tighter; this results in higher output per hectare and is a key reason for Jersey popularity among spring-grazing based herds.
Jerseys have black feet, which are harder and give fewer foot problems than most breeds. Extensive research in Denmark, where hoof trimming records from over 500,000 cows have been analysed, find that Jerseys have approximately one-quarter of the foot problems of Holsteins.
Their inquisitive nature makes Jerseys a distinctly different beast to manage compared with other breeds –they need to be encouraged from ahead rather than driven from behind, the latter resulting in cows and stockman milling around in circles!
The pedigree Jersey herd status, established on a dam from Her Majesty The Queen’s Windsor herd, underpins the marketing panache of Graham’s Gold speciality Jersey dairy products.
Feed conversion, fertility, calving ease and milk quality are all areas of undisputed Jersey advantage.
Jerseys perform better on a slightly higher digestible fibre diet, along with a lower total protein content.
For small cows, Jerseys calve remarkably easily. It is a function of their rump area relative to total body size. It is also significant in the popularity of Jerseys in cross-breeding herds, especially where Jersey semen is used to serve maiden heifers; the result is an easily calved heifer with a daughter, which will, in turn, be easy calving. Sexed semen is frequently used too with 35 per cent of Jersey semen sales being sexed compared with approximately ten per cent in the Holstein market.
The place of Jerseys in cross-breeding herds never ceases to surprise as BCMS statistics for 2012 record more Jersey-cross females born in the year than the total of all the Scandinavian Red breeds. The increase in Jersey-crosses over the past three years has been faster than among the Reds too, despite all the promotional hype surrounding the Reds.
The largest population of Jerseys is found in the USA, followed by New Zealand; Denmark has 65,000 cows and is numerically strongest in Europe; the Canadian population is similar to the UK at approximately 35,000 pure-bred cows while some semen is also imported here from Australia; Jersey and crosses in South Africa account for over half of its
dairy population; while the Island still has some 3,000 milking cows.
Danish genetics have made huge advances on the back of clearly defined breeding goals, which have been achieved through the dominance of the Viking Genetics farmer-owned cooperative. High levels of farmer commitment to young bull proving; the use of computerised mating programs for herd improvement and avoidance of in-breeding; plus large scale data collection and analysis are all key ingredients in the success.
Danish genetics now account for over 30 per cent of total usage. Alternating between US sires for yield and Danish for components, and now mammary type as well, has been the most popular breeding choice among commercial UK breeders for several years. New Zealand obviously dominates the grazing scene where small cow size is important in increasing stocking densities and output of butterfat plus protein per hectare.
Wheelbirks Jerseys of the Richardson family in Northumberland. The Wheelbirks prefix registered the first ever Jersey in the UK Herdbook. Now the herd’s production is used in the farm’s highly popular ice-cream parlour as well as being one of the 21 northern herds supplying Longley Farm.
All of this has provided the UK with the most homogenous Jersey cow in the world. Productivity continues to improve with the national milk records average (source: CDI) of 5862 kg milk yielding 539kg Fat + Protein. Of all the breeds Holstein produces most milk and F+P; from its 30 per cent bigger bodyweight Holsteins yield 55 per cent more milk but only 19 per cent more F+P. Across three lactations Jerseys will give the farmer 66 days more peak-yield to boot.
And so it is not surprising that the confidence of Jersey breeders is rising in the UK. In conjunction with Cogent Breeding the breed society has entered a marketing agreement to develop home-bred young sires in the Jersey Visions programme –mainstream export next stop.
With over 300 entries for the 2nd Borderway UK Dairy Expo already received, the show is set to build on the success of last year. The first event saw over 6000 visitors at Carlisle to see some of the finest genetics the UK dairy industry has to offer.
Taking place on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th March at Carlisle’s Borderway Exhibition Centre, farmers, breeders and judges will be coming from around to world to view the cattle entries, the International Dairy Youth Championships, the Classic Global Sale and 150 trade stands and exhibits.
Launched after identifying the need for a dairy cattle Spring showcase for breeders and farmers, the Borderway UK Dairy Expo is an opportunity to compete and catch up on industry news and technological developments.
The classes and exhibits run over two days and begin on Friday 8th March with the International Dairy Youth Championships and the Global Classic Sale followed by the Cattle Classes and Presentations on Saturday 9th March.
Livestock Seven breeds of cattle Holstein, Jersey, Ayrshire, Red & White, Brown Swiss, Dairy Shorthorn and British Friesian will take to the show ring to compete for their share of the £15,000 prize money.
The 305 Livestock entries comprise 155 Holstein, 30 Ayrshire,
40 Jersey, 29 Dairy Shorthorn, 7
British Friesian, 21 Red & White and 23 Brown Swiss cattle.
International Dairy Youth Championships
The European Showmanship Competition provides a tremendous opportunity for young dairy farmers and breeders to demonstrate their cattle handling and showing skills.
The competition starts off the weekend and last year it certainly separated the girls from the boys with Hannah Slack taking the reserve champion spot and Lancashire-based Helen Eastham, taking the Championship with her own heifer Tristar Knowledge. In addition, the Clipping Competition, allows contestants to show how well they can clip and fit an animal under strictly timed conditions. In 2012, 20 year old herdsmen James Doherty, from Styche Holsteins in Cheshire was awarded Champion Clipper at his very first major competition. Competitors will no doubt be eager to meet again this year to try to up their scores.
Introduced by Harrison and Hetherington for the first time in 2012, “The Global Classic” aims to provide a platform for British agriculture to show its best livestock genetics to international and domestic audiences.
Senior Dairy Auctioneer, Glyn Lucas says’ the quality of the animals
offered at the inaugural sale was exceptional in terms of type and genetics with many consignments featuring in the Expo show ring over the weekend. Sale averaged £4,357 with a top price of 10,000gns achieved for Sterndale Sterling Josie Red ET. The powerful September 2010 heifer sired by Ardross Sterling, consigned by Bill and Yasmin Nadin from Buxton in Derbyshire found a new home with the Newabbey Holsteins in Dumfries after being purchased by Andrew Bunting.”
Top Judges
The judging panel this year underlines the growing prestige of the show with top international judges from Canada and Switzerland coming especially for the event. Canadian breeders, Barclay Phoenix judging the Holstein classes and Bruce Mode overseeing the Coloured Breeds will be joined by Monique Rey from Switzerland, who will award the International Youth Dairy Championships. All are experienced cattle breeders, between them have judged many shows throughout Europe, Australia and North America. Along with his partners Barclay Phoenix, who manages the Phoenix Holsteins in Ontario has owned several champions including the Junior Champion at the 2008 World Dairy Expo and Reserve Intermediate Champion at the 2012 Royal Winter Fair Red and White Show. He bred his first All Canadian Nomination
Phoenix GoGo Sanchez in 2012. Fellow Canadian and also from Ontario Bruce Mode owns and operates Bonnie Brae Holstein herd. He has exhibited 13 Grand Champion Ayrshire females at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair including six time Royal Grand Champion Des Prairies Toutou, the first Coloured Breed cow to ever be named Supreme Champion at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Monique Rey was raised on the Rey-Holsteins Farm in Les Verrières, one of Switzerland’s most famous breeders and now farms 180 cattle near Geneva including Black & White, Red & White and Jerseys. She has judged several National Showmanship competitions including the Young Breeders School in Batice, Belgium and the European Young Breeders Showmanship & Clipping competition in Cremona, Italy.
This year’s event will see the introduction of The John Dennison Achievement Award for the dairy cattle breeder and exhibitor judged to be a high achiever and exemplarily role model for the industry. Entrants will be judged by a panel of leading figures in the dairy industry on their ability to breed, manage, develop, promote and exhibit dairy cattle and their sportsmanship, integrity and character.
• OPA is a lung disease of sheep. The initials stand for Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma and the condition is also known as Jaagsiekte.
• OPA is an infectious disease caused by a virus. Some sheep can carry the virus for years without becoming ill but in others it causes the development of lung tumours.
• The incubation can be long – up to several years in some cases.
• Affected sheep lose condition and may hang back and/or breathe heavily when gathered. Others may be found dead while still in good condition as the lung tumour increases the risk of pasteurella pneumonia. Sheep may have been treated with antibiotics for suspected pneumonia but fail to respond.
• In many cases excess fluid is present in the lungs. The sheep may have a nasal discharge or, if the head is lowered, fluid may flow from the nose.
• Sheep become infected by breathing in the virus. Lambs born to infected ewes are particularly at risk. Any management that increases stocking density or close contact will encourage virus spread e.g. housing, trough feeding.
• Buying in stock or nose to nose contact at boundaries could introduce the virus to a flock.
• No blood test is available and there is no cure. A postmortem is required to confirm the diagnosis.
• Possible measure to reduce losses include isolation/ investigation/culling of thin sheep, not retaining replacements born to infected ewes, not mixing tups of different ages, minimising close contact between sheep, maintaining a closed flock where possible and quarantine of added animals.
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According to property experts Smiths Gore, farmland in Scotland performed well overall last year and values will continue to rise in 2013.
Smiths Gore, one of the UK's leading land, farm and estates agencies, compiled its research from all sales of publicly marketed farmland over 50 acres throughout the UK, and reports that in Scotland almost 35,000 acres were offered for sale in 2012, which is 19% more than the previous year and represents the most for sale in the last 5 years. Bare arable land values rose by 17% to £5,850 per acre and bare pasture land rose by 1% to £3,450 per acre, while the average price of equipped land remained unchanged at an average of £6,250 per acre.
John Coleman, Smiths Gore's head of Farm Agency in Scotland, says that the trend is likely to continue as land in Scotland is becoming increasingly attractive to buyers and investors from the rest of UK and Europe. He says: "Factors which will affect prices include uncertainty about the Common Agriculture Policy reform as many farmers are waiting to see the detail before selling; tighter lending
into agriculture; and bad harvests. But I predict that institutional investors, who have been active in England last year, will be looking more and more to Scotland, as opportunities in England are in short supply and the Scottish farm prices, which are up to 15% lower than England, are seen as good value. Demand for all types of farms in Scotland, especially for high quality larger arable farms (500+ acres) continues to outstrip supply, and this will slowly but surely push prices up."
Coleman says that the south of Scotland was the most active region last year, both in terms of numbers of sales and area for sale, but that other areas have been achieving record prices. He says: "We have seen some exceptional prices being paid for farmland in East Lothian, Fife and Angus, of up to £10,000 per acre, which is very encouraging. But at the other end of the scale, unproductive land, falling residential values and the reduced development potential of farm buildings have affected many farms adversely."
Smiths Gore's published Scottish farmland market review will be available soon from Smiths Gore.
Widely respected Sheep Specialist Dr John Vipond recently celebrated 40 years with the one organisation. His service to NoSCA, SAC and now SRUC was recognised at a recent ceremony at Elmwood.
Having gained a BSc Hons degree in Agriculture at Newcastle University and a PhD in Animal Nutrition at Aberdeen John Vipond joined the North of Scotland College of Agriculture in 1972 and began a lifetime of work, which has made a significant contribution to the sheep industry and his name synonymous with driving change. In particular his self confessed mission to promote easier care sheep systems in the UK, encouraging farmers to become less reliant on bought-in inputs with significantly reduced labour.
"For sheep farming to be profitable without subsidies there has to be less reliance on labour, particularly at lambing," explains Dr Vipond.
However he is equally at home helping clients make the most of
In order to reduce greenhouse gases and to sustain the environment Swedish agricultural authorities are suggesting a tax to tame the appetite for meat. The more meat is consumed the more feed is needed to meet this demand, and with the extensive drought the occured in the US and feed shortages elsewhere in the world. Could this be a viable solution?
Last year the average Swede consumed 87 kilos of meat with beef and veal being the most consumed.
Marit Paulsen a Swedish MeP who is vice president of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee said she would prefer the Swedish meat consumption to shrink to 45-50 kilos per person per year, which was the level 20 years ago.
Nutrient run-off and pesticide use in agriculture is influenced by the amount of meat we consume, from
which animals the meat comes and what feed they eat. Reduced nutrient run-off and reduced pesticide use can also be achieved by improving production methods at the farm level.
Consumers can contribute to sustainable food production by avoiding the meat that is worst from a sustainability perspective. Labelling is one way to make it easier for consumers to choose meat that is more sustainable.
There are also positive environmental impacts from meat production. Grazing animals are required in order to preserve Swedish semi-natural pastures. These pastures are important for biodiversity and rural landscapes. However, particularly for beef there is a conflict of interest between preserving pastures and jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
more intensive sheep enterprises.
"What I aim to ensure is that the system operated is the most appropriate one for the farm."
John’s early work on developing protocols for synchronisation of breeding in sheep led to the Veramix advisory booklet for farmers, setting a pattern of industry cooperation. He spread word on the feeding of lambs, pioneered at the Rowett by Dr John Robinson and helped develop both the Highland Mule Breeders Association and the Highland and Islands Sheep Health Scheme (HISHA).
His research has included the development of clover–based sheep production systems and the introduction of forage brassica-based wintering systems and the use of chicory in stomach parasite control.
Latterly John has produced farmer guidelines for both ewes and rams, all done in association with the feed industry Currently he is working to exploit climate change by developing grass based wintering.
The inaugural Border Blackface Lamb show was held at Dunbia in Llanybydder recently.
This is the fifth year that Border Blackface Lamb is to be found on Sainsbury’s shelves in their ‘Taste the Difference’ range.
The competition was only open to members of the Blackface Sheep Breeders’ Association, who supply the scheme. There were 80 lambs forward from 14 consignors and the Champion Lamb came from Malcolm Coubrough, Whelphill, Crawford.
The winning lamb weighed in at 19kgs and graded a U3L, won a very strong heavyweight class of 47 lambs. Mrs C M Reid, Portmore, Peebles took reserve with a 17kg, U3L lamb from the lightweight class.
Haig Murray said; “The consistency and quality of the Blackface lambs forward at the show has been the same as a normal week and a credit to our producers.”
Judge – Wyn Williams, Group procurement for Dunbia – said “The Standard of the competition was exceptional; the entries showed that the Border Blackface group of farmers are producing a high quality product, consistent with customer demands and requirements.”
Unfortunately the bad weather deterred farmers from visiting Dunbia, but Aileen McFadzean, Hugh and Madge Rorison from Clonrae and Paul McMeeken, braved the elements. They enjoyed a very interesting and informative visit round the new boning facility at Llanybydder and were treated to an excellent lunch of Border Blackface Lamb.
The Agricultural Buildings Show takes place this year at the Royal Highland Showground, Ingliston, Edinburgh on Wednesday 20th March 2013. This unique event provides the farmer with a practical insight into the planning, design and construction of all kinds of installations from the simplest barn through to a complete new grain store or milking parlour.
Investing in buildings is one of the most significant and long lasting decisions a farmer will make, with the results being a vital factor in the success or otherwise of the business in the years to come. The Agricultural Building Show has been set up to act as reference point covering all faces of farm buildings. Its aim is to bring together farmers and the trade under one roof to discuss the best possible solutions for the farm business.
“A new farm building – for housing stock, grain storage or a milking parlour – is probably the largest investment a farm is likely to make in a generation,” says Andy Newbold of show organiser, FarmSmart Events.
“As severe weather in past winters has shown, it is vital to ensure the structure is designed and built to the correct standards using qualified and reputable contactors. These are the companies that exhibit at the event.”
The show is organised in association with Rural & Industrial Design and Building Association (RIDBA), which has detailed knowledge of the function and environmental requirements of modern agriculture and industrial buildings. Its members, many of which will be at the event,
cotland's Chief Statistician recently published the latest estimates for farm incomes in Scotland
This publication contains near-final estimates of Total Income From Farming (TIFF) for 2011, an initial estimate of 2012 TIFF, and average Farm Business Income (FBI) estimates for 2011-12, along with revisions for previous years.
Main findings :
∑ Total Income From Farming (TIFF) increased by £58 million to £746 million between 2010 and 2011. This represents a rise of eight per cent before inflation is accounted for or three per cent in real terms.
∑ Initial estimates suggest TIFF fell £111 million or 15 per cent (19 per cent in real terms) in 2012.
∑ The value of Outputs in 2011 increased by £310 million or twelve per cent (mainly barley and finished cattle).
∑ Within these figures the estimated value of Outputs in 2012 fell by £20 million or one per cent, mainly due to poor yields affecting the harvest.
∑ In 2011, input costs rose by £219 million or 13 per cent. The estimated value of Input costs in 2012 has risen by £44 million or two per cent.
∑ Changes in the exchange rates resulted in a £45 million fall in farm subsidy payments in 2012.
∑ Average Farm Business Income (FBI) in 2011-12 was £45,000, a decrease of £1,000 (3 per cent) from 2010-11.
∑ There were decreases in FBI between 2010-11 and 2011-12 for the following farm types;
- Cereals (down £2,000 to £50,000)
- General Cropping (down £20,000 to £50,000)
- Lowland Cattle and Sheep (down £7,000 to £24,000)
FBI remained virtually unchanged for:
- Specialist Sheep LFA at around £29,000
FBI for all other farm types increased in 2011-12;
- Specialist Beef LFA (up £4,000 to £37,000)
- Cattle & Sheep LFA (up £1,000 to £43,000),
- Dairy (up £6,000 to £79,000)
- Mixed farms (up £1,000 to £48,000)
offer a breadth of expertise about the siting, planning, design and construction of farm buildings. This expertise also extends to conversion for diversification and other rural building design issues.
Alongside the exhibition, is a seminar programme where visitors can also learn about the latest building and planning issues, as well as hear about the practical aspects of managing a project from start to finish.
£4 800.00
One of the last Blackface social outings before lambing saw a capacity crowd of spectators attend the annual Blackface Sheep Breeders Association Female Show.
Auldhouseburn, Muirkirk took centre stage, selling a one crop, twin bearing, ewe for 6500gns. She was placed third in her class by judge Robert Kay, Gass, Straiton in the presale show and is now destined for Norway courtesy of Hilmar Eide.
Hilmar presently runs 35 Blackie ewes and is looking to expand his flock. His purchase, carrying twins to the Bolt is by £14K Elmscleugh and out of a £13K Midlock dam. The Blackwoods then received 3800gns from R&P Coulson, High Staward, Hexham for their fourth placed gimmer. She was sired by £26,000 Crossflat and out of a McTavish dam and carrying a single to Bolt.
The Harkin brothers John (cover) and Charlie from Loughash, Northern Ireland had a hugely successful inaugural outing to the in-lamb sale. Their £6500 Midlock sired gimmer, out of a McRea dam, carrying twins to £60,000 Dalchirla was knocked down to a buyer from County Galway. She had been placed second in a strong class of gimmers.
The Irish duo’s next consignment –a one crop ewe, which made 4000gns – once again headed back over the water, to County Cork. She was also carrying twins to £60,000 Dalchirla, and was by £6500 Midlock sire and out of a £4500 Auchloy ewe.
Ewen McMillan from Lurg, Fintry who still holds the record price, sold to a top of 2800gns for a two crop ewe. This daughter of £9000 Lurg out of a Dalchirla bred ewe, was in lamb to £60,000 Dalchirla and went to CC MacArthur & Co, Nunnerie, Elvanfoot. Lurg’s next top price was 2200gns for the Reserve Champion of the show, another two crop ewe, this time by The Apprentice out of a £2000 Midlock ewe. She is also carrying twins to £60,000 Dalchirla
and sold to John Harkin. John McIrvine, Balblythe, Banchory paid 1700gns for the third lot from Lurg –a one crop ewe by £22K Connachan in lamb with twins to £15,000 Connachan Hot Shot.
Billy Renwick and sons,Blackhouse, Yarow received their best price –2500gns – for bell browed gimmer (above) – a daughter of £65K Auldhouseburn, out of a £30K Glenrath mother and carrying twins to a Home Bred son of £55,000 Connachan. She sold to W & M Currie, Upper Craggabus Farm, Islay.
The Woodburns of Netherwood, Muirkirk sold their first female forward for 2200gns. This threecrop, show winning ewe, named Beyonce, was second in her class. She was sired by Cazaghe, out of a £17K Netherwood mother and in lamb with twins, to £4800 Dalchirla was sold to Glenree Farmers, Isle of Arran. The other consignment forward from Netherwood was a £27,000 Auldhouseburn sired gimmer, who was placed third in the show and made 1600gns to John Guild, Ashmark, Cumnock.
The preshow Champion, a gimmer from Mary McCallSmith, Connachan, Crieff was sold to the judge, Robert Kay for 2000gns. This 200% scanned gimmer, by a Grandson of £18,000 Midlock was sired by Jings out of a McCallan dam.
Other Leading prices:1700gns – Lot 37 J Wight & Sons, Midlock to J Campbell & Sons, Succoth 1500gns – Lot 36 J Wight & Sons, Midlock to O’Mullan, Co Antrim 1500gns – Lot 44 R Cockburn, Connachan Cott. to Heads & McInnes, Aitkenhead 1400gns – Lot 25 D & D Aitken, Upper Cleugh Farm to M Simpson, Drumdewan, 1400gns – Lot 38 J Wight & Sons, Midlock to J & J MacPherson, Balliemeanoch, 1300gns – Lot 6 JP Campbell & Sons, Glenrath to J & F Burns, Craignell 1300gns – Lot 31 M McCall Smith, Connachan to T Blacklock, Hawkwood 1300gns – Lot 34 Mary McCall Smith, Connachan to S MacGregor, Oban 1300gns – Lot 35 J Wight & Sons, Midlock to RJ Coulson High Staward, Hexham 1200gns – Lot 29 Mary McCall Smith, Connachan to Glen Services, Fairlie 1200gns – Lot 33 Mary McCall Smith, Connachan to C Philips, Draperstowm, NI
1200gns – Lot 45 R Cockburn, Connachan Cottage to LG Luescher, The Kerr
1200gns – Lot 46 R Cockburn to W & M Currie, Upper Craggabus Farm, Islay
1000gns – Lot 1 A Kennedy, Mitchehill to Ashcraig Farming Company, Selkirk: 1000gns – Lot 11 DC & JJ Marshall, Gosland to A Plant, Newhouse Farm, Leek
1000gns – Lot 41 J Wight & Sons, Midlock to JA Robertson, Mid Linthills Loc
950gns – Lot 24 D & D Aitken, Upper Cleugh Farm to Brain Cocker, Auldallan
900gns – Lot 21 J Wight & Sons, Crimp Cramp to G Watson, Straiton
750gns – Lot 2 A Kennedy, Mitchelhill to G & L Todd, Balgowan, Isle of Arran
700gns – Lot 7 JP Campbell & Sons, Glenrath to G & L Todd, Balgowan, Arran
700gns – Lot 39 J Wight & Sons, Midlock to J Blaney, Cushendall, NI
550gns – Lot 5 R&E Nixon, Marbrack to E MacMillan, Lurg, Fintry
550gns – Lot 40 J Wight & Sons, Midlock to E Curran
The Agricultural Buildings Show takes place this year at the Royal Highland Showground, Ingliston, Edinburgh on Wednesday 20th March 2013. This unique event provides the farmer with a practical insight into the planning, design and construction of all kinds of installations from the simplest barn through to a complete new grain store or milking parlour.
Investing in buildings is one of the most significant and long lasting decisions a farmer will make, with the results being a vital factor in the success or otherwise of the business in the years to come. The Agricultural Building Show has been set up to act as reference point covering all faces of farm buildings. Its aim is to bring together farmers and the trade under one roof to discuss the best possible solutions for the farm business.
“A new farm building – for housing stock, grain storage or a milking parlour – is probably the largest investment a farm is likely to make in a generation,” says Andy Newbold of show organiser, FarmSmart Events.
“As severe weather in past winters has shown, it is vital to ensure the structure is designed and built to the correct standards using qualified and reputable contactors. These are the companies that exhibit at the event.”
The show is organised in association with Rural & Industrial Design and Building Association (RIDBA), which has detailed knowledge of the function and environmental requirements of modern agriculture and industrial buildings. Its members, many of which will be at the event, offer a breadth of expertise about the siting, planning, design and construction of
farm buildings. This expertise also extends to conversion for diversification and other rural building design issues.
Alongside the exhibition, is a seminar programme where visitors can also learn about the latest building and planning issues, as well as hear about the practical aspects of managing a project from start to finish. This year’s planned presentations will include RIDBA’s short listed contenders for the FAB awards, and why these buildings fulfilled the judge’s criteria of aesthetics, functionality and sustainability. Also Graeme Lochhead from Lochhead Planning & Design will talk through specific issues around designing and building housing for cattle.
f cows could vote they would be giving a ‘thumbs up’ to a new dairy unit built on a green field site in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
The farm has a 200 head Brown Swiss herd, a breed recognised as the oldest pure bred breed in the world, being able to trace its roots back to the Bronze and Iron Ages.
‘Beyond the Burn’ farm in Mouswald is a 380 acre, organic farm run by Gavin Lochhead and his son.
Brother Graeme, a farm and rural building designer, who designed the new building said, “Planning permission was granted for the shed on a green field site in the middle of the farm on the basis that for roughly 6 to 7 months of the year the cows are grazing, so we have an organic grazing system onto three robots.”
There is also a young stock shed with calves in igloos on a central milk machine. DeLaval supplied the robots and Graeme said the selection was based on the efficient, after service support provided by the company.
The farm uses a minimum amount of mechanical equipment with the muscle provided by Gavin and his son but they are taking on Graeme’s nephew Jonathan as head herdsman. Jonathan is also a renowned Brown Swiss herdsman who buys and sells pedigree cows around the world.
The building was smack on budget, and built using local labour, an important element for Gavin who acted as project manager, undertaking a lot of work himself and sourcing supplies from local traders. The scrapers are by Pollock of Ayrshire, the timber was sourced from JS Fencing from Kirkcudbright and the main building was constructed by Anthony Lowther & Sons.
The original buildings were created in the 1970’s, concrete framed with silage clamps converted into cubicles. They had gone through a hotchpotch of transformation over the years but the drivers for change were the need to improve and invest as the original buildings were getting past their useable life.
The main building is 90 by 27 metres and there is also a facility for 10 high health pedigree cows on straw, 220 cubicle places, a handling facility with 4 cubicles so the cows can be separated from the robots and a records room and plant room. A second building has one bay for saw dust and general storage and there is a
bay for two pedigree bulls and a bedded yard for young stock which is 11 by 54 metres.
The building had to be designed for both winter and summer use but the most important element was to make it inviting for the cows to come back into during the summer. The biggest design headache was making sure the cows wanted to come back from grazing to the robot. The building incorporates a north facing roof to make it cool in the summer, even though Dumfriesshire isn’t exactly the tropics. A gull wing roof is perhaps rather a unique feature to farm buildings in Scotland but the steeper pitch on the south side has allowed Graeme to erect a series of solar panels. It also aids the light and ventilation of the building and makes it pleasing from an environmentally aesthetic point of view.
Also unusual to this part of Dumfries is the cows are fed on the outside of the building with wind breaks used to prevent the worst of the weather. The reason for this is that cows do not need to be kept warm they just need an area free of severe weather.
“Another unique element my brother let me try is putting a row of slats in the centre of the passages. The passages are not completely
slatted and we are using ‘V’ shaped Delta scrapers to limit the wave in front of the scraper and so far this is proving to be a success. In addition the scrapers fold back on return so the cows don’t need to step over the scraper on their return. The scrapers run every 4 hours during the day and night keeping the passages as clean as possible. But there is a central flatbed channel designed to limit the wave and aid hoof health, “added Graeme.
Another interesting element is that the area in front of the robots is rubberised to try and encourage the cows into the zone to attend the robot. “What was really interesting was we milked the cows in the old parlour for three weeks while they got used to the new building with the robots, but within three days of being in the new area they did not want to go back into the old parlour,” said Graeme.
Lighting is also an important aspect and the Lochhead’s have gone for minimum roof lights on the building and artificial 250 watt low base lights. This is not forced lighting for milk production but to create a pleasant working environment. Graeme believes it has an influence on the herd and if the cow is comfortable and relaxed, milk
production and longevity will improve.
The farm achieves its organic status by proving the requirement for the building to retain its organic ethos and grazing pattern with the robots and the fact that the facility has been moved away from the village. The farm itself is adjacent to the village of Mouswald but modern farms nowadays do not fit comfortably next to habitation.
Graeme, who grew up on the farm said, “It is a very exciting time for the family business, the next phase of the farm will be to create a cheese production unit. We are converting one of the old buildings into a cheese plant with plans for a larger production facility that will employ 5 people in 5 years time. “Gavin’s five year plan hopefully will result in 250,000 litres of milk being turned into cheese every year, which means a quarter of the milk produced being sold as cheese. And, the reasoning behind designing a robotic system is because depending on the qualities of each cow you can select a specific cow for a specific cheese.”
Gavin Lochead believes cheese-making will make good business sense and add value to his milk production enabling him to sell his product to farmers’ markets and local suppliers.
To help farmers cope with the cold and wet weather and prepare for the upcoming lambing season, Suzuki has re-launched their 0% finance campaign.
From 1st January to 31st March 2013, business customers are able to receive 0% or low rate finance options when purchasing a brand new Suzuki ATV from a participating dealer.
This promotion is available on the Suzuki KingQuad range, which are perfect ATVs for the difficult conditions this time of year brings. The KingQuads feature fuel injection for consistent starting in all conditions, selectable 2 or 4 wheel drive for challenging terrain and load-lightening power steering on selected models.
Gareth Lumsdaine, ATV Sales and Marketing Manager, Suzuki GB, stated, “Suzuki are pleased to be able to help customers financially in such an important, and often challenging,
In
AGROTRON
AGROTRON
JOHN DEERE 6R
JOHN DEERE 7R
JOHN DEERE 8R
JOHN DEERE 9R
JOHN DEERE 8RT
JOHN DEERE 9RT
KUBOTA M60 SERIES
KUBOTA M SERIES
KUBOTA M-GX SERIES
LANDINI ALPINE
LANDINI 5-D SERIES
LANDINI 5-H SERIES
5-115H
7-220
Tractor drivers get a better deal in terms of comfort, improved all-round visibility and better controls when they get aboard the new Master Class cab fitted to latest-spec versions of the Landini Landpower.
The six-cylinder machine, which has particular appeal among operators who prefer a limited amount of electronics rather than the hi-tech systems increasingly installed on other tractors, is being supplied by Landini dealers in Scotland, JT Cormack, John O'Groats; Walter G Grant Agri Machinery Sales, Elgin and Marrs of Methlik, Ellon, Aberdeenshire; Argyll Tractors, Oban; Laird Agri Sales & Service, Justinhaugh, Forfar; George Colliar, Balado, Kinross; Robert Dyke & Son, Thornhill by Stirling; DHW Tractors, Carnwath, Lanarks and Borders; and Southern Tractors, Dumfries.
“The four-post structure of the Master Class cab replaces a more compact design with six pillars,”
points out Paul Wade of Landini distributor AgriArgo UK. “The lack of ‘B’ posts makes a big difference to visibility both left and right and is especially useful when operating a hedge cutter or when working in and around buildings.”
Both scenarios are typical for the Landpower, which is unique to the Landini range and one of only a few six-cylinder tractors with power outputs starting at less than 140hp. It also retains the attractiveness to many operators of an engine with mechanical fuel injection, a simple transmission with synchro shuttle, and mechanical operation of the spool valves and three-point linkage.
“The Landpower Techno is a great value package for operators who want plenty of power and the torque characteristics of a six-cylinder engine with controls that are as simple as possible,” says Paul Wade. “That’s an especially attractive combination on farms using seasonal labour or perhaps on a mixed farm with livestock staff
who get to drive tractors only occasionally.”
Four power outputs are available from the 6.7-litre engine built to Landini specification by FPT Industrial – 117hp, 133hp, 141hp and 158hp.
Power and torque are channelled through an ARGO Tractors Speed Six transmission with six gears and three ranges. A creep gear fitted as standard doubles the number of ratios to 36x36 and provides the very slow speeds needed for specialist planting and drainage tasks.
In the new cab, the range lever has been made a little longer to make it easier to reach as part of a revamp of the control layout.
Rocker switches for work lights and windscreen wipers are now grouped together on the right-hand console, in line with the joystick and levers used to operate up to five spool valves, including three double-acting units. With the optional diverters also installed, the valves can operate
up to seven loader and/or implement functions.
A push-back hydraulic pick-up hitch is standard to make coupling to a trailer, spreader or tanker easier and with the new cab, the operator also has the added convenience of a new pto control.
“The power take-off drive has been upgraded with a hydraulic clutch replacing the manually-operated dry plate unit for smooth uptake of drive and greater durability,” notes Paul Wade.
The Master Class cab has more room for stowage of tools and equipment around the driver’s seat, plus a storage bin on the left-hand fender and a compartment on the right-hand side for documents and small tools and other items. The cab is wider overall but especially at the front where there is now room for a passenger seat – and enough floor space for the driver’s dog to ride in comfort!
With the range of modern swede varieties now available, growers can get an extra 18% more dry matter (DM) yield. In Limagrain UK’s trials, based at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, modern swede varieties Gowrie and Lomond’s dry matters outyielded older variety Ruta Otofte by 1.7t/ha and 1.1t/ha, respectively. This demonstrates how growers can get at least an extra tonne more DM simply by switching to newer swede varieties, says Limagrain’s Martin Titley.
Many newer varieties have also been bred with resistance to diseases such as club root and powdery mildew. In the same trials, Gowrie and Lomond, which both have resistance to powdery mildew, scored the maximum of 9, whereas Ruta Otofte scored 4 (see table 1).
Martin explains: “Modern swede varieties offer newer genetics, increased yields and better resistance to diseases. This can allow fields to support more livestock and help reduce feed costs. Lomond was bred in Scotland by The James Hutton Institute which makes it ideally suited to the British weather, as opposed to some varieties which are bred in other parts of the world.”
Swede is an excellent high energy
winter feed, with a metabolisable energy content of 12.8–13.1 MJ/kg DM and crude protein of 10–11%.
With low growing costs, DM yields range from 9.8 – 11.5t/ha. A finished crop of swedes is typically valued at £200/t or £2000/ha.
Brothers George and Bruce Walker farm at Auchentarph, Inverurie on the east coast of Scotland finishing 2500 store lambs each year. Growing 10 hectares (25a) of swede, in the last few years they have changed to modern varieties – Gowrie and Lomond – as recommended by their seed merchant, Murray Duguid Ltd. George explains: “We buy the lambs in October and put them out on the swedes just before Christmas, where they strip graze through until the end of March. I’ve noticed Gowrie and Lomond yield about 10% more than the older varieties I previously grew, hence I’ve been able to put more lambs out on them.”
Lomond also has good clubroot resistance. A long crop rotation at Auchentarph has meant that in the past clubroot has not been a concern for the Walkers. However, they now grow more oilseed rape which can suffer from clubroot, so Lomond’s disease resistance may be beneficial in the future.
ARABLE FORAGE
18% More Dry Matter Yield with Modern Swede Varieties
Two of the Cereals Event’s key partners have renewed their agreements with organiser Haymarket Exhibitions, firmly cementing Cereal’s future as the UK’s leading technical event for the arable sector.
HSBC Bank will continue as principal sponsor of Cereals for the next three years. Head of Agriculture Allan Wilkinson said he was proud to continue the close association with the event, which had played a vital role in disseminating the best technical and business information in the nine years since HSBC became principal sponsor.
“Cereals has grown in stature over the past decade to become the UK’s pre-eminent agricultural show,” he said. “Our continuing sponsorship reflects our commitment to the sector and our determination to help farmers take advantage of the long-term opportunities we know exist.”
He believed Cereals would become an even more important diary date for farmers over the next three years. Some big challenges lay ahead, including driving business efficiencies, adopting new technologies, meeting customer demands and adapting to
CAP reform.
“More immediately, we want to help farmers mitigate the effects of the past few months’ awful weather,” said Mr Wilkinson. “Coming to Cereals is a great opportunity to pick up a wealth of opinion and new ideas.”
Ten years after Sprays and Sprayers’ incorporation into the Cereals event Syngenta has agreed a further five-year term. Syngenta’s campaign manager Mark Britton said the move would build on Sprays and Sprayers’ long-term success.
“The Sprays and Sprayers Arena has been an integral part of Cereals since 2003 and provides Syngenta with an ideal showcase for all of our innovative products, enabling visitors to keep abreast of the latest crop protection technology to maximise yields and profits."
Event director Jon Day said: "We are delighted that both HSBC and Syngenta are continuing their long-term association with the Cereals Event. It offers farmers a unique opportunity to gather the latest technical and business advice through live demonstrations such as the Syngenta Sprays and Sprayers Arena and a wide range of individual plots."
Exhibitors were already drawing up plans for what promised to be another hugely successful show, to be held at Boothby Graffoe, Lincs on the 12th and 13th June 2013, he said. “We currently have 417 exhibitors booked for Cereals 2013, 84% of 2012’s total, which is slightly ahead of this time last year.”
Machinery manufacturers will be there in force. “Case IH has long been an enthusiastic supporter of Cereals, and is delighted to be involved again in 2013,” said Charles Blessley, Case IH’s marketing manager, UK and ROI.
“Cereals attracts progressive large-scale farmers and operators, so it provides the ideal venue to showcase our range of technically advanced machinery. Since last year’s event we have introduced a number of exciting new products which will be on display at Cereals 2013.”
Richard Spencer, marketing manager at New Holland, said: "Cereals provides the ideal platform for discussions with existing and prospective customers.
“The event attracts the key decision makers in the arable sector, many of whom will be looking to re-invest in their machinery portfolio.
Cereals offers a great opportunity for visitors to talk through the options and our technical staff look forward to showing what we can offer."
John Deere's marketing manager Gordon Day added: “Cereals has always been a good event for us. It’s a key opportunity to meet arable customers and to showcase a full range of machinery for this market.”
Bill Clark, commercial director at NIAB TAG said Cereals was a major event on the calendar. “We consider it a superb opportunity to meet people from across the UK as well as overseas. Cereals 2012 was one of our best events ever.
“We believe it works because our stand is NIAB TAG in a snapshot; the latest independent advice and research covering everything a visitor to Cereals is looking for. This year we’ve added an ‘Achieving yield potential’ exhibit for discussion with growers; eight winter wheat plots that showcase the components and restrictions to yield, quality and agronomy.”
About 26,000 visitors and 490 exhibitors are expected to attend Cereals 2013. For further information go to www.cerealsevent.co.uk
T6.150
New Zealand sheep farmers are pessimistic about their lamb and wool market prospects for 2013 and are wondering why their very buoyant prices of 2011 and 2012 disappeared, along with sheep farm profitability.
The first answer lies in the strength of the New Zealand dollar against the three main lamb and wool trading currencies – the US dollar, the Euro and the British pound. That in turn is because of New Zealand’s relative economic health, good credit rating and moderately high interest rates compared with countries like Japan, the US and Britain, where the central banks have held the official cash rates down around zero to try and buy some economic growth.
NZ farmers are nostalgic for the old days when one Euro and one GBP bought three NZ dollars and one USD bought two NZDs, but that hasn’t been the case for several years. The old low exchange rates used to provide a multiplier effect on overseas market earnings when they were converted back to dollars at the farm gate. Now farmers see much more of the true value of their commodities, and the true supply and demand positions.
From the beginning of 2011, when the rest of the developed world was still struggling with recession following the global financial crisis, a genuine shortage of lamb and crossbred wool met strong export market demand, resulting in some very attractive prices. However the shortages were not new, and have persisted into this period of falling prices.
New Zealand presently has a
breeding ewe flock of 20 million, from which it achieves about 123% lambing, generating around 20-21 million lambs annually for slaughter, processing and exporting, plus ewe lambs for the flock replacements.
Back in the 1980s the NZ sheep flock reached a peak of 70 million head (all counted), lamb exports were 400,000 tonnes annually and wool 350,000 tonnes clean.
By contrast sheep numbers have now fallen to 30 million wintered (without lambs), sheepmeats exports have fallen to 300,000t (including mutton) and wool production is down to an extraordinary 160,000 tonnes –less than half of its peak volume.
Major land use changes have resulted in the dairy cow herd more than doubling from 2 million to 4.6 million over the past 30 years and milk production trebling from 6 billion litres to 19 billion, including a 10% rise in just the most recent season.
Dairy farming, where it is possible, is now seen as a much more productive use of land and the export marketing of its commodities is better organised, with the payouts to farmers more reliable.
New Zealand is not alone in reducing sheep numbers – Europe has come down from 130 million to about 80 million and Australia has reduced numbers from 160 million to 76 million over the past two decades.
Wool provides most of the reason for the flock shrinkages in Australia and NZ, as lamb markets have been good, sometimes spectacular, until now.
Fine wool of Merino origin has held up better than strong or crossbred wools such as produced in NZ and Europe, but clearly a halving
of the Australian flock numbers has helped keep fine wool trimmed to reduced fashion demand and a revolution in processing, away from the UK, France, Germany and Italy and towards China.
The demand for strong wool is much less elastic, as synthetic fibres and solid floor coverings have replaced wool-rich carpets. Beyond carpets, there are not too many other big volume users of strong wools. But there was a surge in strong wool prices one to two years ago on the back of new housing starts in Australia and commercial building fit-outs in Asia when the “wool pipeline” was empty and all of the retailers, makers and processors had to stock up.
The Prince Charles Campaign for Wool also helped to raise the profile of wool around the world.
NZ farmers rejoiced when their returns went up from NZ$2.50/kg greasy (£1.33) to $6/kg (£3.20) but unfortunately that was short-lived and wool prices have fallen again.
While higher wool prices were on offer lamb prices also went rocketing up to NZ $8/kg CW (£4.30) because of very strong in-market prices for racks and legs in Europe. Racks or loins reached 20/kg at wholesale in Europe and US $12/pound in the US, but have since fallen back by 30-40%.
NZ meat exporters warned that their peak procurement prices of $150/lamb couldn’t last, and that NZ lamb was pricing itself off the UK and US restaurant menus.
However because of a magnificent growing season in 2012 (when the 10% increase in milk production happened), farmers kept hold of their lambs and packed on more weight.
Trying to fill their excess of slaughtering capacity, meat companies competed vigorously for supplies to meet their supermarket and high street butchers contracts, paying well over market levels for too long. The mainly co-operative companies thus incurred annual trading losses up to $50 million each.
The sovereign debt crisis began to bite into consumers’ incomes and taxes and lamb market prices fell, the NZ dollar continued to rise (for reasons unrelated to farming) and the meat companies tried to recoup some of their losses out of this summer’s farm gate prices.
Instead of $7 to $8/kg at this time last year, Farmers are now getting $4.50/kg. For a farm producing 3000 export lambs, the impact on farm revenue from both lamb and wool price collapses can add up to $100,000 or more.
Federated Farmers of New Zealand president Bruce Wills said it was time this “nonsense” had to stop.
“The confidence of sheep and cattle farmers has taken a real kicking from the rapid decline in lamb and wool prices.
“They are very frustrated by this nonsensical boom and bust stuff –when high prices paid last year mean that meat company debt is transferred to low schedule prices this year.”
Meat and wool companies are again being urged to work together in the way that Fonterra controls 90% of NZ’s dairy exports (now worth $12.5 billion (£6.675bn) annually).
Wool once earned half of all New Zealand’s export income – now it is down to 5%.
by Hugh Stringleman
World Champion Taranaki based Scottish shearer Gavin Mutch has leapt into PGG Wrightson National Cicuit contention with an 11th hour qualifying performance at the weekend.
Mutch scored the maximum possible 12 points in the final qualifying round at Pahiatua on Sunday, leaping from a lowly 22nd place to 11th on the list of 12 qualifiers. He joins a fellow Scottish World Champion – South Island based Tom Wilson in pursuit of New Zealand’s second-most important title at the Golden Shears, which start in Masterton on Thursday and end with the big finals on Saturday night.
They will shear a semi-final on Saturday morning, seeking a place in the evening’s six-man final over 15 sheep, with three fine-wooled Merinos, three strong-wooled full fleece ewes, three coarse-wooled Corriedales, three lambs and three second-shear ewes.
Mutch, who won his World title during last year’s Golden Shears, is also a strongcontender for the Golden Shears Open. The heats will be held on Friday, with about 60 shearers looking for places in the six-man Golden Shears Open final, regarded as the Wimbledon of Shearing, over 20 second-shear sheep, also on Saturday night.
A win by Mutch in either might pose a dilemma for officials, with the winners of each of the two big events claiming places in the New Zealand team for two tests against Australia next summer.
The TAB is, however, keeping the affable Scotsman at arm’s lengh, preferring other options for the 40th anniversary PGG Wrightson National, having Mutch on the 6th line at $15 to win. The favourite is three-times National Circuit winner Tony Coster, of Rakaia, paying $2.75, followed next by Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford.
More experienced with the Merino and Corriedales, seven other South Island shearers have made the cut, including second Southland shearer Darin Forde, who won in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004, and defending champion Angus Moore, from Marlborough,now based in South Otago. Golden Shears Open Champion John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, is the most-favoured of three other North Island shearers in the Top 12, the others being Axle Reid of Taihape and Dannevirke shearer Paerata Abraham, who also qualified only at the last chance.
Incorporating the McSkimming Memorial Triple Crown, first presented in 1973, the series started at the New Zealand Merino
Championships in Alexandra and the long strongwool sheep of the Spring Shears in Waimate in October. Then followed the National Corriedale Championships at the Canterbury Show in November, the National Lamb Shearing Championships in Raglan last month and Sunday’s event in Northern Wairarapa.
Qualifying points were based on placings in the heats of each event, but points in the final stages will be based on the shearing and quality points system common to shearing competitions throughout the country.
Qualifiers in order are: Tony Coster (Rakaia) 37pts, 1; John Kirkpatrick (Napier) 35pts, 2; Grant Smith (Rakaia) 26pts, 3; Axle Reid (Taihape) 26pts, 4; Gavin Rowland (Dunsandel) 25pts, 5; Angus Moore (Ward/Kaitangata) 24pts, 6; Tom Wilson (Darfield/ Scotland) 22pts, 7; Tony Nott (Blenheim) 21pts, 8; Darin Forde (Lornville, Invercargill) and Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 20pts, 9eq; Gavin Mutch (Whangamomona/ Scotland) 16pts, 11, Paerata Abraham (Dannevirke) 15pts, 12.
TAB odds to win: $2.75 Tony Coster; $4 Nathan Stratford; $6 Darin Forde, Angus Moore; $8 John Kirkpatrick; $15 Gavin Mutch; $20 Grant Smith; $30 Gavin Rowland, Paerata Abraham; Tony Nott, Tom Wilson, Axle Reid.
Wales has been left still to claim a shearing test win over New Zealand after losing the final test of the teams’ Elders Primary Shearing Series.
Kiwi shearers John Kirkpatrick of Napier and Nathan Stratford, of Invercargill, beat Welsh shearers Richard Jones of Corwen and Gareth Lloyd Evans of Bylchau, in the test at the Pahitua Shears on by about 18pts.
The commanding victory gave New Zealand a 3-0 series win, to go with the earlier wins at the Rotorua A and P Show last month and the Otago Championships a fortnight ago.
Kirkpatrick and Stratford had drawn a test series against Wales during a UK tour last July and August.
A New Zealand team is expected to tour the UK again this year.
First to finish the test, shearing 10 sheep in 9min 45.61sec, more than 20 seconds before Evans, the second to finish, Kirkpatrick now heads to Masterton to defend his Golden Shears Open title, recognised by shearers as the biggest goal in World shearing, possibly bigger than the World Championship.
As the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs Celebrate 75 Years this year – we have looked into the history of Young Farmers in the UK.
The National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs (NFYFC) is the largest rural youth organisation of its kind, in the United Kingdom. The Federation covers various Young Farmers' Clubs (YFCs) throughout England and Wales, helping support young people in agriculture and the countryside. It does not include YFCs from Scotland or Ireland.
The first Young Farmers' Club opened in 1921 in Hemyock, Devon, where the United Dairies milk factory set children of the area's milk producers the task of calf rearing, with competitions and prizes for those achieving the highest standards.
Over the next decade more clubs opened to provide agricultural education, with the focus on the keeping of growing and living things including calves, pigs, poultry, bees and gardens.
After the death of one of YFC's original founders and greatest inspirations, Lord Northcliffe, in 1922 the Ministry of Agriculture took on development of the organisation. But within six years it was proving difficult for it to offer the type of help needed by the members to organise the 50 clubs or offer guidance on the rural social role Young Farmers' Clubs were assuming.
In 1929 the National Council for Social Services (NCSS) stepped in with the goal of developing YFC as a voluntary, self-governing and self-generating organisation.
1930s
The National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs was formed in March 1932, with its head office in London. New clubs sprang up in Scotland, Northern Ireland and as far afield as Australia and New Zealand and by the outbreak of the Second World War, the federation included 412 clubs and 22 county federations with a membership of 15,000 people.
1940s and 1950s
The war years marked a turning point for YFC with the development of agricultural classes and proficiency tests, but were also nearly disastrous as many YFC supporters and staff were drawn into the armed forces or war work. Some clubs announced they were closing until after the war and by
the end of 1940 few people held much hope of reviving YFC. But the picture changed dramatically when the Board of Education (BoE) was empowered to give financial help to youth organisations including YFC.
A joint advisory committee was formed between the BoE, Ministry of Agriculture and NFYFC. Though membership had dropped to just 7,000, YFC now had government help and had undergone a wide change, educationally and socially.
It had become obvious that YFC could provide a countryside youth service and also clear it couldn’t do so with its existing staff, so the advisory committee made possible the appointment of an organiser for each county as part of the NFYFC staff. Then, just as the organisers had been appointed in 1943, the Treasury decided grant aid from national government could not be used to appoint staff working at county level and YFC members were committed to shouldering the financial responsibility.
A resolution was passed at the national AGM in 1947 to devise a national scheme to encourage crafts and recognise and reward skill. It aimed to encourage YFCs to organise instruction on a wide range of subjects. This was developed throughout the 1950s and formally recognised as the National Proficiency Test Scheme. By the end of the decade 10,000 tests a year were being taken and many thousands more Young Famers were taking classes. When the tests became a formal part of nationally recognised assessment schemes, uniform national standards became necessary and as NFYFC did not have the necessary resources it gave up control of the scheme.
1960s and 1970s
Society's swiftly changing attitudes in the 1960s helped to produce YFC members who felt that as they were contributing to the cost of their organisation they had the right to make the decisions, and who realised the positive role YFC could play.
The national office moved from London to Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, in 1968. YFC influence spread and its standing as a national youth organisation became
better understood. New avenues opened and the horizons of members broadened as they looked at things that would give YFC a wider involvement. YFC worked hard in developing its international links and exchange programme and members were able to join the Council of European Young Agriculturalists (CEJA).
1980s and 1990s
As the federation celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1982, membership was at record level. The HQ at Stoneleigh Park was enlarged to include space for a training centre and improved motorway connections with the Midlands allowed members and county staff to take advantage of the courses offered. The result was a large group of senior members eager to serve as officers and leaders and use their skills to widen the organisation's thinking.
With great traditions and a successful past, YFC looked ahead to the next 50 years aiming to retain those traditions yet be flexible enough to attract young people who were becoming more sophisticated with each generation.
It had to find a way of neither becoming a narrow single purpose organisation, nor a general youth organisation, of retaining its countryside and farming traditions and yet being sophisticated enough to appeal to a wide spectrum of young people.
Throughout the golden years morale in clubs was good, members were keen to participate. They raised large amounts of money for local and national charities and provided labour and leadership for community projects.
The Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee became a very effective force. Conservation, land use and agribusiness programmes were devised and the establishment of farm business tenancies was much influenced by this group.
YFC was encouraged by government, financial institutions, business and academia to continue its pioneering role and sponsorship and grants were made available to augment YFC's subscription income to finance developments.
Many members have gone on to represent their communities and agriculture at the highest levels on district and county councils, as MPs, MEPs and within the realms of
agri-politics both nationally and in Brussels.
The Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001 affected the way the YFCs were able to function. Many members were affected and most clubs took the decision to close yet remained in contact by to ensure peer support was there at this crucial time.
Membership is steadily increasing and there is a significant increase in the number of junior members joining the organisation.
NFYFC has been reviewing and evaluating its role within the rural youth and agricultural sectors ensuring it is able to continue to meet the needs of today's members.
Their memberships comprise over 23,000 young people aged between 10 and 26 years. YFCs are run by members for members, unlike most other youth organisations.
The YFCs are grouped into 51 federations based mainly on county boundaries. These are grouped further into six regional areas in England and Wales and together form the NFYFC.
The Young Farmers' Clubs organisation involves people who live, work, or have an interest in the countryside who join together to form an "open" Young Farmers' Club, where they can pursue their interests through a self-directed programme of activities encompassing agriculture, sport, community volunteering, the environment and a full social programme.
England and Wales are also home to a limited number of school-based farm units, which often operate "School" Young Farmers' Clubs.
Each club is affiliated to its County Federation; responsible for organising the County events and activities and administration of national activities.
National
All Clubs and Counties are affiliated to the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs whose role is to help ensure that programmes of personal social education through activities, which challenge the abilities, and capabilities of its members.
The National Office is based at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. Please visit The National website.
by John Fyall
Well, after what seems like 3 years of rain we are enjoying a dry spell. We have managed to catch up with a bit more of the great Sittyton Water supply, finished fencing the farm at last, mucked out a shed for lambing pens, and started calving to the Shorthorn bull. And these dry frosty nights as I write are a dream for our gritting contracts with low temperature call outs and minimum salt use!
But whenever you get too ahead in farming you must be wary of the setbacks and as we have come to learn, they were not far away. On several occasions, for no explainable reason, I have woken bolt upright in the night and always I have been justified in doing so. This time, a few nights ago, I looked at the alarm and it was 2am. I had had a busy day on a valuation, then had been out gritting and on returning home had put a calved cow in a clean pen. I awoke after only an hours sleep and just after I awoke, so did the collie with a loud bark in the yard. And as the sensorlight went off, I saw a heavy in calf cow waddle past the corner of the steading.
Wellie boots and leggings over pyjamas, we set out to gather what I counted to be 18 in calf escapees. They had been pushing the calving pen to see the new calf, burst the wires and brought a gate down. As the weather was still, I had left the sheeted shed gate open and they had a free run out of the pen.
Some were in the wood, some in the feed shed and some just fecklessly pulling plastic out of the silage wrap container. And one lovely Shorthorn heifer was in a deep feed bunker, which feeds a sunken court and to which there is no way out for a cow!
It is a testament to fellow contributor John Scott that he did a good job handling and training this heifer before I bought her as the only
the feeling there is no-one to speak to or no point in seeking a way through.
way to get her out was build a ‘ladder’ of wooden gates and take her up with the halter. A very sheepish Shorthorn, her big lugs were well down as I led her in the dark through the steading and back to the pen.
I had a look in the feedshed, and saw that the bull’s barley mix had been munched and so had the propcorned oats, I reckoned not too much but was up early to check the cows. One heifer was a bit dull but all other cows were fine. I left with the instruction given to keep her on her feet and near the water trough, and at tea time she looked fine.
However, after gritting that night my worst fears hit when I went in to calve another cow and had to dodge a projectile brown water shooting from the dull heifer and then I noticed the sweat, and the dodgy back legs. I have seen this on many occasions when farmers overfeed weaned calves and cursed that I had not acted sooner. The vet was called and a rapid antacid was force fed, with almost immediate results, but the temperature of the heifer was dangerous for the growing calf within.
The next morning, the same condition was seen in the cow I had calved; her calving had masked the bloating but she was wobbly and milk let down was poor, and a favourite tame Angus cow as well. She too got antacid but with the rumen lining and friendly bacteria badly damaged recovery is not guaranteed.
Panic past, the next day of jagging Heptovac to ewes went seamlessly, and only 3 sheep in 200 needed foot attention, then time to watch rugby and a Scotland ‘rope a dope’ victory against the Irish!
Farming is full of such highs and lows, some seasonal and some daily, but whilst you are busy they come in your stride. I have often joked that all farmers are Bi-Polar, and their mood changes with the weather and
fortune. Everyone who has worked with farmers knows to plan sales meetings in fine weather and avoid answering the phone on rainy days! But when the daily battles are combined with other pressures and given the increasingly solitary nature of farming, individuals can start to feel like they are losing a war.
Whether it be the continued uphill battle to survive for new entrants, or the burden of trying to preserve a farm which has been in a family for generations, a rigid bank and a poor harvest with higher costs, a personal tragedy or trauma, or an accumulation of many minor things, which you can’t really put your finger on, there can be no doubt that depression is becoming a more recognised problem in our industry.
When younger I dismissed depression as something that could be cured by hard work, but often this is what masks it. Whilst working on Foot and Mouth for 6 months solid I will admit I was on a bit of a high, as the work was so intense and the teams so close that the work although morbid flew by. It was only in the October when I stopped working in Dumfries that the berevity and emotion of my tasks caught up, and for the first time a fog descended that caught me unawares and was alien to my character.
I know many people like this, once the high of a show season or harvest is passed they hit a dull spot. A friend had a father who was actually scared of the highs before the work started, and would retreat to his bed before lambing season with serious illness. He was diagnosed with Brucellosis, which many especially older farmers have been exposed to, and this can seriously affect moods, as can exposure to many of the chemicals we have used over the years.
Sometimes circumstances combine to leave people without options and
Last year 2 farmers in my home county of East Lothian took their own lives, both driven men and one a family friend. This happened at the same time as the Scottish Government launched the See Me campaign, and the RSABI and their Gatepost dedicated rural line are seeing a large increase in use of their services.
So where is the article going? Well, I have a friend who works for Action on Depression and she wants to raise money and awareness for her charity by jumping off a bridge! She asked me to volunteer; anyone that knows me knows my knuckles go white on the steering wheel when crossing the Friarton or Kessock Bridge and I had to be carried out of both the Scott monument and Bourges Cathedral when I froze on the stairs. So the idea of Abseiling off the Forth Rail Bridge is one of the biggest challenges I could think of. And this is why I have agreed, I am doing something really out of my comfort zone and hope that it will generate support, and it also gives me the chance to do something completely different to farming and with a new group of people. For details and support please see the advert in this issue.
To return to the farm, and in case you were worried, I have just done my night time check and the heifer, cow and calf seem to be on the mend and it seems I will contemplate my mistakes longer than they will. The words of Burns, on ploughing through a mouse’s winter nest, come to mind..
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane, In proving foresight may be vain; The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!
Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me The present only toucheth thee: But, Och! I backward cast my e'e. On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see, I guess an' fear!
My drop off the Railbridge is on 19th May, I am guessing and fearing already what will be a 10 second high to low!!!
High attendance, despite the bad weather lead to some close competition at the 30th anniversary of the annual Yara Farmers Curling Championship, held at the end of January at the Dewars centre in Perth.
Championship winners James Stark, Alastair Hodge, Andy Reed and John Cannon from Duns (pictured above) fought their way through some very close contests to reach the final coming out on top to claim the well-deserved championship title, trophy and £600 cheque.
The championship has 20 sections, with 4 teams in each section. The winners of each section go into the “high road” play- offs, with the runners up going into the “low- road” play offs, ensuring the excitement of the competition is kept alive.
In addition to the presentations made to the winners and runners up in both the high road and low road competition, a special presentation was made to three dedicated players, who have competed every year since the tournament was introduced; Alan Clarke from Kirkcaldy, George Christie of Claverhouse and Robert Wallace from Strathmartine.
Yara’s Rosie Carne commented, “It was great to have new championship winners again in 2013, congratulations to all the winning teams and a big thank you to all those who have supported the championship over the last 30 years. We look forward to welcoming them back along with some new faces for the 31st year of competition in 2014.”
For further information about Yara please log on to www.yara.com or for full breakdown of the results please visit http://www.dewarscentre.co.uk
Yara's Rosie Carne is pictured with the Runners-up from Auchterarder (top right) Peter McLaren, skip Roy McGregor, Adam Haggart and Roy McGregor
Low Road winners from Burrelton (centre) Gordon Stark, Graham Prentice, Graham Reid and Ewan Stark.
Bottom right are the Low Road Runners-up from Perth (left) Jim McFadzean, Nigel Forrest, James Hay and Sandy Hay.
The Hays – Three generations in 30 years, long-time supporters of the curling championships are pictured below – Gavin (12) and James Hay (16) with grandfather Chuck, uncle David and dad Sandy.
Motor vehicles are something which most businesses will purchase fairly regularly. However, the tax implications of the purchase vary greatly, depending upon the type of vehicle.
Input VAT on cars is blocked, meaning it cannot be reclaimed. The only exception to this is where a qualifying car is purchased and used for a relevant purpose. For farmers, this means that VAT can be reclaimed on a car if it is used exclusively for business purposes and is not made available for private use. This is unlikely to be the case for most farmers, and so generally VAT cannot be reclaimed.
However, input VAT on motor vehicles other than cars can be recovered. For example, a vehicle which is designed to carry passengers, but has a payload of more than one tonne, is not a car. Therefore, most twin cab pick-ups are not cars for VAT purposes, and input VAT can be recovered. Commercial conversions
i.e. where there are no back seats and no side windows, are also not classed as cars and likewise VAT can be recovered.
Reclaiming input VAT on fuel is allowed for both cars and vans, but if there is any private use, a fuel scale charge adjustment based on the CO2 emissions of the vehicle must be made and the private element of the fuel cost disallowed in the tax computation for partnership/sole trader businesses (see below for limited companies). It is worth remembering that travel between home and the farm (where the individual does not live on the premises) is classed by HMRC as private travel.
For capital allowance purposes, vehicles which are primarily designed to carry goods, are not classed as cars. Again, double cab pick-ups with a payload of more than one tonne and other commercial vehicles such as vans are not deemed to be cars.
The distinction is important as cars do not qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), and therefore capital allowances are only
available at 8% or 18% per annum.
The rate depends on the CO2 emissions of the vehicle. Cars with emissions <160g/km (<130g/km from April 2013) receive the higher rate, and those with emissions over that attract the lower rate of 8%.
Very low emission cars, i.e. those with emissions <110g/km (95g/km from April 2013) attract 100% tax relief in the year of purchase.
Where a vehicle is not classed as a car, it will qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, if it is available to your business. From 1st January this year, the AIA has been increased to £250,000 per annum (previously £25,000 per annum), meaning that tax relief is available at 100% for expenditure on qualifying plant and equipment up to this limit. This will mean that for qualifying businesses, tax relief will be available at 100% for expenditure on vehicles not classed as cars, unless there is other significant expenditure on plant and machinery in the year.
However, care needs to be taken where the year end of the business spans the new tax year, as special rules apply which restrict the AIA claim. This is not always a straightforward calculation, and the timing of the expenditure can have a significant impact on the tax relief available.
If the AIA has been fully utilised or is not available to your business, normal writing down allowances can be claimed at 18% per annum. It is also worth noting that any capital allowances claim on vehicles is reduced where there is any private use of the vehicle.
From the above it can be seen that whilst tax relief is available in full for all motor vehicles, the rate at which you receive this relief can vary from 8% – 100%, and therefore I would recommend that anyone thinking of buying a vehicle should consult with their accountant before taking any action, in order to maximise the tax relief available.
Silvera Campbell Dallas Perth vicki.silvera@campbelldallas.co.uk
Benefit in Kind
Where the business trades as a limited company, vehicles provided to employees/directors will be taxed as a benefit in kind. The level of benefit depends upon whether the vehicle is classed as a car or a van.
Vans have a flat rate benefit of £3,000. Fuel provided for private use in vans is also calculated at a flat rate of £550 per annum. Thus the maximum tax payable by a basic rate employee is £3,550 x 20% = £710.
Car benefits are based on the list price of the car and its CO2 emissions. The list price of the vehicle is used, no matter the age of the car. The benefit is calculated by multiplying the list price by a percentage based on the emissions. This percentage is currently 5% for CO2 emissions up to 75g/km, and then varies from 10% for CO2 emissions up to 99g/km, to 35% for emissions of 220g/km and over.
Where fuel is also provided by the employer for private use, the fuel
benefit is calculated using the same percentage as above, and multiplied by a flat rate of £20,200. This is the same whether the employee drives one or several thousand private miles.
Class 1A NIC is also payable by the employer at 13.8% on van, car and fuel benefits.
It is not difficult to see from the above that owning cars through a limited company can be very costly for both employee and employer. The rates for the next few years have also been announced and these will make company car taxation even more expensive. Therefore, most farmers trading through a limited company own their cars privately and charge the company for business use.
The distinction between a car and van for benefit purposes follows the rules for VAT. Therefore, vehicles with a payload of more than one tonne (i.e. most double cab pick-ups) are treated as vans for benefit purposes, which is very useful given the CO2 emission levels of such vehicles.
1st
2nd
1st prize winner Issue 92
Alex Fyxr, New Farm House
ADrawing of Animal,choosen by winner drawn by Claire Wilson
2nd prize winner
Kate Maxwell, Holm Farm, Balmaclellan
Castle Douglas wins a years subscription to Farming Country
3rd prize winner
Rachel Scrimgeour, Lonscale Farm, Keswick Cumbria wins a gift from Colliewobles
4th prize winner
Alice Little (11) Upper Chatto, Hownam, Kelso wins a gift from Colliewobles
