Farmers Guardian 6th December 2024

CROPTHETCS

Championing agriculture for 180 years

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December 6, 2024

Arla defends Bovaer trial Dairies being ‘inundated’ by customer concerns over methane inhibitors £4.10

Resilience, weather & water take centre stage

BULL PROOFS

LATEST SIRE RANKINGS FROM AHDB

ASK THE EXPERT

YOUR SUCCESSI ON QUESTION S ANSWERE D

‘Farming is the best thing in the world’

TOP TIPS

REDUCING WORKSHOP SAFETY RISKS

Kaleb Cooper on his Christmas plans, his passion for agriculture and the importance of showcasing the industry to the public

E IN L M O T T O B R U O Y BOOST es in focus Upcoming funding schem

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Farmers Guardian, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Caxton Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ Editor Olivia Midgley, 07787 240 750 olivia.midgley@agriconnect.com Head of News and Business Alex Black, 07880 490 486 alex.black@agriconnect.com Chief Reporter Rachael Brown, 07974 039 778 rachael.brown@agriconnect.com

Business Reporter Cedric Porter cedric.porter@agriconnect.com Arable Specialist Alice Dyer, 07966 445 458 alice.dyer@agriconnect.com Head of Machinery and Farm Technology Toby Whatley, 07583 054 831 toby.whatley@agriconnect.com Machinery Reporter James Huyton, 07787 242 185 james.huyton@agriconnect.com Head of Livestock Katie Jones, 07786 856 439 katie.jones@agriconnect.com Features Editor and Head of Livestock Sales Angela Calvert, 07768 796 492 angela.calvert@agriconnect.com Senior Livestock Specialist Hannah Morgan, 07824 498 702 hannah.morgan@agriconnect.com Livestock Specialists Ellie Layton, 07814 997 407 ellie.layton@agriconnect.com Katie Fallon, 07815 003 227 katie.fallon@agriconnect.com Online Editor Emily Ashworth, 07977 706 711 emily.ashworth@agriconnect.com Creative Services Mike Begley mike.begley@agriconnect.com Katie Haydock katie.haydock@agriconnect.com Picture Editor Marcello Garbagnoli, 07815 003 236 marcello.garbagnoli@agriconnect.com Sales 01772 799 500 gemma.thorpe@agriconnect.com Circulation Subscription hotline 0330 333 0056 help@subscribe.farmers-guardian.com Newstrade enquiries 01772 799 434 UK print subscriptions £189; Europe: £226.80; RoW: £283.50.

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Champion lambs set new Skipton record. See p29.

Welcome note Alex Black, Head of News and Business – alex.black@agriconnect.com

Online furore highlights delicate balance of the public’s support THE delicate balance of public support for farming has been brought into focus this week with the row over methane inhibitor Bovaer, as dairies fielded floods of questions.

While initially it may have been easy to dismiss the concerns as purely ‘conspiracy theories’, it was soon clear the controversy had permeated much deeper into the public consciousness.

Speaking to various dairies, their phones had barely stopped pinging with emails, social media posts and calls asking for reassurance.

Some of those dairies distancing themselves will no doubt have benefited from picking up new customers, but the wider impact on the public perception of the dairy industry is important to consider. As Robert Graham at Graham’s the Family Dairy said to me, consumers are back to seeing dairy for what it is, a fantastic, nutritious and natural food. That is something the industry does not want to put into question.

The Food Standards Agency has confirmed milk from cows given Bovaer as a feed additive to reduce methane emissions is safe to drink.

But the whole incident shows we need to make sure we are taking the public with us in everything we do, as their support at the supermarket tills or the farm gate is critical to the industry. And there was another great show of public and industry support last week outside the Scottish Parliament at an NFU Scotland organised rally. From where I was stood directly outside Holyrood, I saw a fan-

tastic turnout, larger than hoped for, with support from across the whole supply chain.

Martin Kennedy’s call to action for the associated industries to make their voices heard clearly paid off, and it really illustrates just how crucial agriculture is, not just to individual farm businesses but the entire rural economy and beyond.

In Scotland, in particular, farming is so closely tied to culture, tradition and identity, as well as underpinning a world-leading food industry and the UK’s most valuable food and drink export, Scotch whisky.

There were people there of all ages, myself included, but the real focus was on the next generation.

From SAYFC calling on the Scottish Government to ‘match’ their ambitions, to little farmers riding on toy machinery and holding up placards, farmers who are protesting, whether at Holyrood or Westminster, Belfast or Cardiff, are fighting for those they want to see follow in their footsteps.

And with more protests now planned in London and elsewhere, it is crucial they stay at the front and centre of the campaign to Save Britain’s Family Farms.

MORE DETAILS Visit farmersguardian.com/ familyfarms for in-depth Budget analysis and for the latest campaign news.

Speaking up for farming since 1844 On this week’s cover: Kaleb Cooper at Christmas, p88; CropTec highlights, p15 & p22; Bull Proofs, p80; Succession questions answered, p16; Workshop safety, p72; Funding focus, p32.

COVER PICTURE: KALEB COOPER

News and Business Reporters Chris Brayford, 07773 110 733 chris.brayford@agriconnect.com Jane Thynne jane.thynne@agriconnect.com

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 3

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What’s inside?

December 6, 2024 4

NEWS

12

LETTERS

13

COMMENT

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Industry urged to act on trailer dangers

BUSINESS

Dairy market holds steady, plus highlights from CropTec

GLOBAL AG VIEW

News

Arla defends use of Bovaer feed additive l Dairies ‘inundated’ with concerns

Trump pick wants to ‘make agriculture great again’ in US

By Rachael Brown

FARM PROFILE

ARLA has defended its project to ‘trial’ the use of Bovaer, a methane-reducing feed additive on 30 of its farms, after the announcement sparked deep division, with members of the public raising concerns around safety, resulting in some dairies and farmers in the dairy sector distancing themselves from the product.

Cork dairy farmer Peter Hynes, who runs a pedigree Holstein herd and is not an Arla farmer, has been feeding Bovaer to his cows as part of a total mixed ration diet since the end of 2022.

Developing a milk sheep enterprise in Derbyshire

22 ARABLE

Highlights from the 2025 AHDB Recommended Lists

27 SALES

Dark Diamond Suffolks to 14,000gns

32 GRANTS

A special 10-page funding focus

72 MACHINERY

EIMA 2024 show report, plus workshop safety tips

78 LIVESTOCK

Use of surrogate sires could be an option in the future

87 WORKING DOGS 88 FARMING: THE BACKBONE OF BRITAIN

The latest instalment of our ‘In the Countryside’ feature

92 MARKET PRICES 100 IN YOUR FIELD

With Dan Jones, North Wales, and James and Isobel Wright, Devon

100 WEATHER 101 CROSSWORD 102 FARMING MATTERS With Tim Scott, Countryside Regeneration Trust farmer and trustee

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Attack He described some reaction to the project as a ‘direct attack on food safety standards’.

He said: “Bovaer is the most researched methane-reducing feed additive in the world. If we allow the food safety standards that we adhere to and that we believe in, to be attacked so vigorously on social media, it will have long-lasting implications for the entire agricultural industry.”

He said it was disappointing that farmers and dairy processors ‘did not fact check the misinformation that was being spread’, adding he was shocked that the industry had ‘left Arla out to dry’.

Mr Hynes said it was crucial for farmers to show consumers that they embrace science and research and

were willing and able to reduce emissions without compromising food safety.

An Arla spokesperson said Bovaer had already been extensively and safely used across Europe and at no point during the trial would there be any impact on the milk it produced as it does not pass from the cow into the milk.

Approved “Regulatory bodies such as the European Food Safety Authority [EFSA] and UK Food Standards Agency [FSA] have approved its use based on evidence that it does not harm the animals or negatively impact their health, productivity, or the quality of milk,” the spokesperson said.

The FSA confirmed milk from cows given Bovaer as a feed additive to reduce methane emissions was

It does not harm the animals or negatively impact their health, productivity, or the quality of milk ARLA SPOKESPERSON

safe to drink and had undergone rigorous testing.

Dairy UK chief executive Judith Bryans said there were many different strategies that could be adopted to reduce methane emissions and that adding methane inhibitors to feed was just one potential way.

She said while it was ‘understandable’ people may question new innovations in feed, she cited the EFSA and FSA, which have all approved the use of Bovaer and found it to be safe for cows and humans.

A spokesperson from DSMFirmenich, the Dutch owner of Bovaer, said: “The current misinformation around Bovaer is just another example of how scare stories can proliferate online. “‘Fake news’ is now incredibly common, but we should stick to the facts: this is an important scientific innovation in the fight against climate change and it has been confirmed as totally safe, both for the cow and for consumers of milk and dairy products.”

Robert Graham, managing director of Graham’s The Family Dairy, which supplies products to major retailers nationwide, said he had received a large number of customer enquiries about Bovaer and had posted on social media to state that their farms were not using it.

He said this was not about opinion, it was about fact.

“Our job was to give customers the facts – we do not add it,” he said.

Eddie Andrew from Our Cow Molly, who processes and sells his own milk from his farm in Sheffield, had

Farmer protests to head back to London FARMERS and business owners are being urged to take part in a West End meet-up event organised by the farmers behind last month’s 40,000-strong Westminster protest.

Merseyside farmer Olly Harrison has announced the next phase of the ‘We Just Want to Feed You’ campaign, which will take place at a so-far unnamed West End venue on December 16.

Speaking to Farmers Guardian, Mr Harrison said it was important to ‘build on the momentum’ following the Westminster protest, which saw thousands of farmers take to

the streets of London to protest the ‘family farm tax’.

He said: “We want to open this up to more businesses because the cut in Business Property Relief, which was also in the Budget, affects all kinds of businesses – bakers, brewers and so on. It goes well beyond farming.”

The news comes as further protests are to be held simultaneously in London, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh on Wednesday, December 11.

The events are being co-ordinated by founder of Save British Farming, Liz Webster.

Ms Webster, who led a tractor pro-

test through Dover last week, said: “We were promised a new deal by Keir Starmer to improve food security with a new EU Veterinary agreement to ensure protection from lower standard imports.

“But Rachel Reeves instead betrayed farmers with a disastrous Budget which delivered a poisonous cocktail and a hammer blow.”

Protests have also been held at Holyhead port, Wales’ biggest port, with organisers warning further protests should be expected.

Forty tractors were parked in front of the port, causing delays to services. farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 15:21

PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

WELSH FAMILY FARM SUPPLIES DOWNING STREET CHRISTMAS TREE

also been ‘inundated’ with questions.

He said he believed the industry had always done an ‘awful job’ of explaining the methane cycle and felt like it was just another stick to beat farmers with.

He added the public did not really understand the additive and what it meant for their milk, so they were naturally concerned by what they had read.

NFU dairy board chair and Vale of York dairy farmer Paul Tompkins said questions remained around long-term efficacy, practicality across different farm systems, cost and consumer buy-in.

He said: “The level of attention methane inhibitors have received over the past week has been a valuable reminder that we must tread the path towards sustainability with care and wider engagement.”

BRITISH growers have been celebrated in a Christmas tree lights switch-on at Downing Street. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was joined by public sector workers outside Number 10 on Monday (December 2) to reveal the winning tree and wreath which will be seen by dignitaries from across the world in an appreciation of British growers. Welsh family-run business Evergreen Christmas Trees, based in Powys, supplied the Nordmann Fir tree after being named champion Christmas tree grower in a competition by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association earlier this year.

Tories demand vote on Budget THE Conservative Party has appealed to rural Labour MPs to join them in a vote to overthrow the ‘family farm taxes’ introduced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget.

Using ‘Opposition Day’ to hold a debate on the recently announced measures, Shadow Defra Secretary Victoria Atkins begged Parliament to stand by Britain’s farmers in the face of this ‘tragedy’.

“They are the best in the world.

They feed us and now they need us,” she said.

Ms Atkins opened the debate by saying farmers had been ‘driven to despair’ by Labour’s actions. She listed a raft of charges which she said, ‘are all conspiring against our rural economy

and the survival of British farming’.

Ms Atkins queried the Government’s figures and cited industry analysis which has found five times as many farming businesses would be affected than Defra claimed.

“Awkwardly, the figures quoted by the Chancellor contradict those used by Defra,” she said. “It would appear the left hand does not know what the far-left hand is doing.”

Back constituents The former Health Minister appealed to rural Labour MPs to back their constituents and not to just ‘tow the party line’.

“It is clear our city-dwelling Chancellor, Secretary of State and Farm-

ing Minister do not understand the countryside,” she added.

In response, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Conservatives utterly failed the farming industry during their 14 years in Government, forcing more than 12,000 farmers and agricultural businesses out of business.

“They sold out British farmers in trade deals, left farms facing rocketing energy bills and allowed £300 million earmarked for farmers to sit idly in the Treasury’s coffers instead of in their pockets.

“This Labour Government’s commitment to farmers remains steadfast because food security is national security.”

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Scottish farmers were out in force in front of the Scottish Parliament last week.

News l SNP says it has heard ‘loud and clear’ SCOTTISH farmers turned out in force in front of the Scottish Parliament last week to make their voices heard, calling on the Scottish Government to ‘match’ the industry’s ambitions in this week’s Budget.

Unveiling the plans on December 4, Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “Our rural communities are important and more than £660 million will support the crucial contribution of Scotland’s farmers, crofters and the wider rural economy.

“Mairi Gougeon has told me about the discussions she has had with the farming community and their concerns about recent decisions by the UK Government. As asked for by farmers, we are returning in full the savings which were used in previous Scottish Budgets through a new capital transformation scheme with £20m in 2025/2026 and the remainder in 2026/2027.”

Ahead of the Budget, about 1,000 people were in attendance in Edinburgh on November 28, after NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy appealed to the whole of the food industry to turn out.

Politicians from the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats spoke alongside industry representatives, but Scottish Labour and the Greens failed to put anyone up to speak.

Ring-fenced fund Mr Kennedy highlighted the discontinuation of the ring-fenced fund for agriculture.

He said: “It is now solely within the Scottish Government’s remit what they do and how much they give to agriculture.”

He highlighted the increase in

PICTURE: ROB HAINING

By Alex Black

Farmers make views heard ahead of Budget the block grant, which the NFU wanted to see reflected in funding for agriculture.

“Let us not forget this is not just about farmers and crofters, this is the whole supply chain,” he said, adding that unless the industry was able to continue growing food at an affordable price, the infrastructure around that will collapse.

“Long-term, the implications will be much harder on those who are really struggling, because the food price will inevitably then go up.”

Holyrood rally: Scottish farmers make their feelings known

This is not just about farmers and crofters, this is the whole supply chain MARTIN KENNEDY

NFU CYMRU PUTS FORWARD KEY PRIORITIES FOR WELSH BUDGET MAINTAINING the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) budget for 2025 must be the key priority for Welsh Government when it publishes its draft budget for 2025-2026 next week, said NFU Cymru.

The union’s president Aled Jones said the ‘certainty and stability’ of an ‘adequately funded BPS’ was key, as well as restoring the rural affairs budget to the level it was in 2022 ‘as a minimum’.

Rural affairs Mr Jones said the rural affairs budget, which represents ‘2.1% of total Welsh Government budget’, was subjected to the ‘most significant cuts’ in the last 6 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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budget at the end of 2023, and does not reflect the importance of the domestic Welsh food and drinks sector and the value of its export markets.

NFU Cymru is also concerned about the way in which future agricultural support funding will come from UK Treasury to Welsh Government.

Mr Jones said he was ‘deeply concerned’ any future adjustments to agricultural funding into the Welsh block grant would be ‘subject to the Barnett formula’.

NFU Cymru’s own calculations suggest for any potential future funding uplift from UK Treasury, under this arrangement ‘Wales will only

receive 42% of the funding uplift it might otherwise have expected if the current formula based on agricultural production levels across the UK was maintained’.

The union ‘rejects’ the idea that adjustments to agricultural support funding can be done by simple population-based Barnettisation and instead must ‘reflect the scale and weight of the agricultural sector in Wales’.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has announced he is standing down, despite narrowly winning a vote of confidence, stating he believed his position had become ‘untenable’.

n “We are concerned about our future. We want to make sure Scottish Government is going to allocate enough funds to keep us afloat. Farming is not making a huge profit at the moment, so we do need that support to keep us going.”

ALISON WATT, MIXED FARMER IN KEITH n “My son is here, I have a daughter here as well. Hopefully they will be the fifth generation on the farm.

We just need a good Budget being delivered to the industry so we can secure food production for the future. The industry is pretty much on its knees at the moment, so I want assurance that the kids can farm at home as well.”

SCOTT CAMPBELL, ARABLE FARMER IN ABERDEENSHIRE n “We are trying to save our farm really, we feel like it is under threat.

I have two young kids, a son and a daughter, both working on the farm.

I want them to continue working on the farm.”

LYNN NELSON, DAIRY FARMER IN FIFE farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 16:17

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News Taskforce launched to boost UK tree-planting A GOVERNMENT taskforce has been launched in order to boost tree planting across the UK. The taskforce, chaired by the forestry Ministers from the four nations, has been brought together to drive forward the UK’s tree planting in order to meet collective net zero targets.

The move is part of what the Government calls its ‘critical mission to make the UK a clean and green energy superpower’.

The announcement comes after a commitment in the Budget to provide up to £400 million in England across the next two years (2024/25 and 2025/26) for tree planting and peatland restoration.

Forestry Minister Mary Creagh said: “This Government was elected on a mandate to protect and restore nature. That is why today I am proud to fulfil our promise to set up a Tree Planting Taskforce that will oversee the planting of millions of trees across our four nations.

“Trees deliver huge social, environmental and economic benefits – from absorbing carbon dioxide, cooling our cities, improving well-being and helping reduce NHS costs, while a thriving forestry sector supports green jobs and drives economic growth.”

Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “We all have a collective interest in increasing woodland cover and obtaining the multiple benefits this will bring, especially for climate change and addressing biodiversity loss.

“Currently Scotland has delivered around 75% of all new woodlands in the UK. In 2023/24 we created 15,000 hectares of new woodland and this accounted for over 50% of the UK target.”

‘Farmers’ challenging behaviour’ stifles Dartmoor recovery ● Blaming farmers ‘not the answer’

Natural England says that Dartmoor’s SSSIs are still in a poor state.

By Chris Brayford NATURAL England has claimed nature recovery on Dartmoor has been stifled by challenging behaviour from farmers and overgrazing.

On Monday (December 2), environmental campaigning group Dartmoor Nature Alliance (DNA) published evidence that was submitted by Natural England to the David Fursdon independent review of protected site management on Dartmoor last year.

Since the report, Defra said it would create an independently chaired Dartmoor land-use management group, with National Sheep Association chief executive Phil Stocker at the helm.

The Government also said it wanted to rebuild trust and confidence.

Natural England claimed despite ‘significant’ public investment, Dartmoor’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) were still in a ‘poor state’ due to land management practices such as overgrazing, draining and burning.

It highlighted sheep numbers which had been maintained at the ‘high end of allowable ranges’.

Land management agreements on Dartmoor had also failed due to a ‘history of noncompliance’ with difficulty establishing consensus among farmers, it said. The documents also dis-

closed ‘challenging and confrontational behaviour’ from farmers had stifled ‘innovation and progress’ in agri-environmental agreements.

Nature campaigner and DNA member Tony Whitehead said the Government must stop using taxpayers’ cash for failure on Dartmoor.

NFU Uplands Forum representative and Exmoor farmer, Robin Milton, said blaming farmers was not the answer.

He said: “You cannot argue that there is a problem with biodiversity, pollution and climate. But if you blame people managing the land in response to the policies put on them for years, you will not gain their trust.”

He added farmers were looking at

setting up an environmental farmers’ group in the area to protect cultural security, adding the younger generation would walk away if they could not see a viable future.

A Dartmoor Commoners’ Council member, who wished to remain anonymous, said farmers had been complying with regulation, and Natural England had a responsibility to back commoners with funding which could make a real difference in restoration while supporting producers.

A spokesperson for Natural England said it was working hard to rebuild trust and understanding and that it was important parties came together to co-design a vision for sustainable management.

RSPCA Assured announces new welfare standards for pigs in 2025 RSPCA Assured has announced new welfare standards for pigs which come into effect in 2025.

These will include the introduction of split-sexing of male and female pigs once they have reached a liveweight of 50kg, the transportation of cull sows and boars and how surplus piglets are managed and with what equipment.

The announcement comes as an undercover investigation by Animal Justice Project exposed evidence of animal cruelty at a boar stud farm in Norfolk linked to supplying pork and ham to UK supermarkets.

Most of the new RSPCA Assured 8 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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standards must be met by March 3, 2025. However, it said a ‘few changes’ may require some farms to make adjustments, and will therefore not come into effect until March 3, 2026.

A spokesperson for the National Pig Association said ongoing discussion between the assurance body and members was needed and that new requirements should not only be evidence based, ‘but also financially assessed and feasible’.

“For example, the new requirement for split sexing will add cost and complication for many units,” the spokesperson added. farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 15:16

News

By Rachael Brown DELAYED payments, the delisting of products without reasonable notice and forecasting are the main complaints levelled at retailers by suppliers, Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) Mark White has revealed.

Addressing delegates at this year’s CLA conference, Mr White said he preferred to take a ‘collaborative approach’ to regulating the 14 retailers within his remit, adding that although he had the power to ‘investigate and impose fines’, he ‘usually’ found this was not needed.

He added: “Intervening as soon as I become aware of an issue, and ideally before a supplier has acted to

Delays and delisting are GCA’s priorities its detriment. I found this is the most effective way of quickly resolving supplier issues.”

Mr White said he raised issues directly with retailers using the code compliance officer in a way which ‘protects suppliers’ confidentiality’.

“Depending on the issue, I may also raise the concern with the buying or commercial director of the retailer, or even the retailer’s chief executive, and ask them to resolve it,” he said.

He added the risk of investigation

Daera accused of failing farmers on bTB DAERA’s latest review of Northern Ireland’s approach to tackling bovine TB is an ‘insult’ to farmers who have suffered ‘huge financial losses’ and are struggling with the ‘mental strain’ of coping with the disease, the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) has said.

According to the union, the review contained ‘no meaningful action’ to address the crisis which was ‘rapidly escalating’, putting all farm families across NI ‘at risk’.

UFU president William Irvine said Daera’s bTB strategy failed to address all sources of infection and the situation in NI was ‘worsening by the day’.

“Annual herd incidence has risen from 10.15% to 10.41% in just two months, and bTB reactor rates in NI have hit a new record high,” he said.

He accused Daera of ‘kicking the can down the road’.

A spokesperson for Daera said the Chief Veterinary Officer’s review of bTB in NI offered a ‘comprehensive analysis’.

“It consists of almost 40 proposals across three key pillars: the importance of people to ensure that we work in partnership to reduce disease levels; measures to limit and prevent the spread of bTB from cattle to cattle; and proposals to address the transmission of bTB from wildlife to cattle,” it said.

Daera confirmed a new bTB partnership steering group will be established by January, which will carefully consider the CVO’s proposals to develop a delivery plan by March 2025.

was, of course, an ‘important motivator’ for retailers to comply.

“I consider investigating when I have reasonable grounds to believe the retailer has breached the code,” he said, adding the scope of the GCA’s work was set by the code’s parameters.

Retail price Mr White emphasised his role did not allow him to intervene on retail price or how retailers managed consumer relationships.

But he was committed to supporting ‘effective’ communication between retailers and suppliers and ‘preventing retailers imposing undue requirements onto their suppliers’.

PICTURE: GETTY

● ‘Collaborative approach’ to regulation

Down on the Farm

Results from the GCA’s 2024 annual survey showed an ‘improvement in treatment of suppliers’.

“Suppliers experienced a 3% fall in code issues,” he said, adding there was also a reduction in complaints across all issues.

He said ‘too often’ farmers were unclear whether the code applied to them.

“If a producer supplies directly to a retailer they are covered by the code, but given some arrangements are very complex and changing, I am happy to hear from all producers facing issues relating to the 14 retailers,” he added.

The 2025 GCA survey opens from the middle of January for six weeks.

The Groceries Code Adjudicator Mark White said he had the power to ‘investigate’ retailers but he ‘usually’ found this was not needed.

with Philip Cosgrave Agronomist, Yara UK Ltd.

Have you sorted your jobs for the winter?

Two jobs that that will deliver in spades for next year’s growing season are servicing your fertiliser spreader and drawing up a farm nutrient management plan, updating, refining and drawing on previous year’s experiences.

servicing a machine may come to the value of a tonne or two of fertiliser, but the cost can be easily recouped over the course of a season if a faulty ma-chine has been rectified, and regular servicing extends the working life of a machine.

If it’s your first time drawing up a plan, fields with similar management and soil fertility can be grouped together to cut out duplication. There is a regulatory requirement for farmers to prepare a nutrient management plan.

If you’re paying someone to prepare a nutrient management plan for you, make sure they’re FACTS qualified.

We would encourage all operators of fertiliser spreaders to check that settings are compatible with the fertiliser products being used. The icing on the cake would be to carry out a tray test before you begin spreading fertiliser to ensure that the machine is spreading the product accurately over the chosen spread width.

Now is good time to service your fertiliser spreader for next season.

Considering the value of fertiliser and the importance of spreading it accurately, we can’t stress enough how important this job is. The cost of

The last variable in accurate spreading is the quality of the fertiliser.

Remember Yara’s product quality guarantee when buying your fertiliser for the spring ahead!

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For more information please visit www.yara.co.uk/agronomy-advice DECEMBER 6 2024 | 9

04/12/2024 16:30

Industry leaders and Dorset Council farm tenants have called for greater scrutiny.

News ● Tenants await findings of strategic review

By Chris Brayford DORSET Council has made over £6 million from sales within its councilowned farm estate portfolio during the past 10 years.

Through a freedom of information (FOI) request submitted by Farmers Guardian, the local authority confirmed last month it had made 12 ‘transactions’ within its County Farms Estate which included the sale of whole farms, parcels of land and residential properties between 2014 and 2024.

The total generated from the sales was £6,678,700, the FOI revealed.

Dorset Council said it had either reinvested funds back into the farm estate or the money was ‘amalgamated’ within the council’s overall capital budget.

The local authority said it did not hold information on the number of farms sold in the estate which have remained as farm businesses.

‘Greater scrutiny’ It comes after industry leaders and Dorset Council farm tenants have raised concerns about the future of the estate after councillors had called for ‘greater scrutiny’ of its current asset portfolio during a full council meeting in October.

Michael Harris, a Dorset Council tenant since 2017 and owner of Hilfield Herefords in Dorchester with 30 breeding cows, claimed there were farms within the estate which had been ‘left to rot’ for years without investment.

Council generates more than £6m from farm portfolio sales He said he had also failed to get answers on the future of his tenancy which is due to expire in 2027.

“Tenants are stuck in perpetual limbo,” he said.

“We need answers about the future of farming on the estate now.”

Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn has called

INVESTMENT NEEDED TO ‘SAFEGUARD’ COUNCIL FARMS LOCAL authorities must invest in their council farms and ‘safeguard’ them for future farming generations. This was the key message given to Mid & South Pembrokeshire Labour MP Henry Tufnell at a recent farm visit in Pembrokeshire with members of Farmers’ Union of Wales.

As part of the visit, the ‘importance of tenant farms to rural communities’, and the ‘many challenges’ tenants faced were highlighted to Mr Tufnell, as well as the changes to both Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPS) from April 2026 and the impact it will have on the agricultural sector.

The visit took place on Gerwyn Williams’ farm, near Letterston.

The majority of Mr Williams’ farm is under a Pembrokeshire County Council tenancy, and he has been farming the land for over 40 years, with his father the previous tenant on the farm.

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Mr Williams spoke about the work he had undertaken over recent years through Welsh Government hedgerow improvement schemes, as well as maintaining a suckler cow herd on the 36.5-hectare farm.

Discussing the challenges facing Pembrokeshire tenant farmers, Mr Williams highlighted the impact that compliance with the Water Resources Regulations Act - introduced earlier this year – has had on the farm, and the continued impact and ‘uncertainty’ stemming from bovine TB policy.

Mr Williams, who is also Farmers’ Union of Wales Pembrokeshire chair, said: “For young farmers in particular, tenant farms can provide a golden opportunity to nurture the next generation of farmers.”

Mr Tufnell said tenant farms were ‘vital to the agricultural sector’ and it was ‘imperative that local authorities continued to invest in and safeguard these farms’.

on Dorset Council leaders to release the findings of a yet undisclosed strategic review into the management of its County Farms Estate carried out earlier this year.

The council said it was ‘misleading’ to suggest there were plans to sell off farm assets on the estate and that it was still finalising its Farm

and Rural Estate Strategy which was due to be released in the near future.

A Dorset Council spokesperson also said it remained ‘steadfast’ in its support for British farmers, and it was currently working to review priorities for the estate in its Strategic Asset Management Plan once ‘decisions have been made by the council’.

New NSA survey on sheep worrying THE National Sheep Association (NSA) has called for farmers to complete its latest sheep worrying survey to help it gain an up-to-date insight into the issue’s ‘continued severity and impact’ on the UK sheep industry.

For more than 10 years, the NSA has gathered farm data to help raise awareness of the problem and to improve education, guidance and co-operation with the wider public.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: “NSA urges anyone previously affected by this issue to complete this year’s survey.

“Your contribution helps to create a more accurate representation of the intensity of the matter, which is critical for NSA when working towards an increased understanding of the problem, whether that be among the dog owning population or those responsible for legislating on this devastating issue.”

Farmers are encouraged to com-

plete the survey, which can be found on the NSA website www.sheepworrying.org.uk. The deadline for the survey is February 21, 2025.

Take the Lead signs FREE signs warning dog owners to keep their dogs on a lead near livestock are available through Farmers Guardian’s Take the Lead campaign, in association with the National Sheep Association.

To request yours, send a stamped, self-addressed A4 envelope to: FG Take the Lead, Farmers Guardian, Unit 4 Fulwood Business Park, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ.

farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 10:14

News ● It follows inquest into trailer decoupling death

By Gareth Hughes A CORONER has highlighted the dangers of trailer couplings not being checked regularly and urged various bodies to address the issue.

It follows an inquest into the death of 47-year-old Jon-Paul Prigent in Old Whittington, near Chesterfield, in July, 2020.

Mr Prigent was giving his daughter a driving lesson when a trailer carrying a load of soil became detached from the tractor towing it, rolled down a hill and overturned onto his car, crushing him.

The inquest was deferred until after a trial at Derby Crown Court when John Banks, from Chesterfield, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. He was given a 16-week jail sentence suspended for 18 months.

Inquest findings Following an inquest, Peter Nieto, senior coroner for Derby and Derbyshire, has issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report raising concerns arising from evidence he heard.

The recipients of the report include the Secretary of State for Transport, Driving Standards Agency, NFU, Agricultural Engineers Association, British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association and Health and Safety Executive.

Industry urged to act on trailer dangers The inquest heard the tractor and trailer were owned by a skip hire company and the trailer decoupled when the tractor went over a speed bump.

The decoupling occurred due to a combination of factors, including that the components had worn down, the trailer was carrying 13.8 tonnes when it was manufactured to carry only 10t, the load was unevenly distributed and if the coupling had been checked the weakness would probably have been spotted.

“Independent professional vehicle testing is not legally required for tractors and trailers used for agricultural purposes,” said Mr Nieto, adding this placed the responsibility on the user.

He has also expressed concern tractors and trailers driven on roads below 25mph are not required to be fitted with safety features to prevent decoupling, and that basic hitch hooks and ring coupling systems are a risk on public roads.

The organisations have until January 21 to respond, either explaining what steps are being taken to address his concerns or detailing why it is felt that no action is necessary.

Disparity between deaths on rural and urban roads ROAD safety campaigners have launched a Code for Countryside Roads after latest analysis revealed 70% more deaths occur on rural roads than on urban highways.

According to NFU Mutual’s study of recent Department for Transport (DfT) figures, 969 people died on rural roads in 2023 in comparison with 571 urban road fatalities.

New code As a response, NFU Mutual has partnered with the four UK farming unions along with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Farm Safety Foundation, British Horse Society and Older Drivers Forum to create a Code for Countryside Roads to promote the safe, considerate use of countryside highways.

Publishing its findings in the 2024 Rural Road Safety Report, NFU Mufarmersguardian.com

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tual found that collisions on rural roads are around four times more likely to result in a fatality. In 2023, an average of one in every 32 collisions (969 of 31,183) on rural highways resulted in a death, compared to one in every 122 (571 of 69,706) on urban roads.

The insurer said the figures reflected a persistent trend of disproportionate danger on rural roads and the tragic and avoidable loss of hundreds of lives each year in the UK’s countryside.

The Code for Countryside Roads has been developed in consultation with its campaign partners and based on feedback from over 700 members of the public.

The Code explains what drivers can expect while driving on a rural road and also urges them to plan ahead and think carefully about the journey.

The report has called for professional testing of agricultural vehicles.

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04/12/2024 16:01

Letters Miscalculated THERE can be little doubt Labour has miscalculated both the numbers affected by its Inheritance Tax (IHT) reforms and the emotional strength of farmers’ resistance.

Many in the farming community are desperately worried, but if Labour’s mind is to be changed we need credible, reasoned arguments with reliable statistics that will allow Labour a way out and ensure public sympathy stays with us.

Two themes are emerging where I believe our arguments are weak and easy to discredit: the numbers debacle and the blame game. These arguments are becoming more polarised because legitimate fears are being stoked for political purposes, not least by the far right.

Write Letters to the Editor, Farmers Guardian, Unit 4, Caxton Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ Facebook facebook.com/FarmersGuardian Twitter @farmersguardian Email fgeditorial@agriconnect.com

Social media reactions READERS had their say after Farmers Guardian announced it was partnering with sheep farmer and former teacher Olivia Shave in her petition to showcase the need for a fresh outlook on learning: ■ “I wish more schools could have

gardening clubs and grow produce.

Children get such satisfaction from them.”

CHRIS WILLIAMSON ■ “When we were young we knew where our food came from because we used to work the land to get it. Kids today have been raised on technology

gadgets rather than being outside in nature. It’s not just the schools’ responsibility to teach kids.”

TEREASA CULLIGAN ■ “Everyone should work on a farm at some point in their lives.”

JONNY SCURFIELD

This will do nothing to break the log jam of entrenched positions, but they will make it harder for Tom Bradshaw and colleagues to win the arguments.

In all my seven decades I can never remember two sides in an industrial or political dispute presenting supposed evidence that is so incredulously far apart.

The NFU and CLA are right to say, based on Defra’s own assessment of farm acreages, that around 70,000 farms could

be affected, but on its own that is a meaningless statement because the payment only becomes due when the named owner dies.

HMRC’s actual evidence of how many eligible farms make Agricultural Property Relief claims each year has been much manipulated to produce the Government’s 500 figure, but even the most pessimistic reading of their stats suggests a maximum of 1,000 affected per year.

At that rate it would take 70 years to affect all those who currently fear being drawn into the equation.

That should be enough time for even the most recalcitrant to get some succession plans in place.

The NFU and CLA must acknowledge that we are not about to see two-thirds of our farms suddenly pushed into bankruptcy.

Almost everyone I heard interviewed said IHT was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’.

They cite the end of the Basic Payment Scheme, ludicrous international trade deals, failure to deliver a Brexit that actually helps farms, constant change of farming ministers and non-farmers inflating land prices to take advantage of IHT laws.

One person interviewed by Farmers Guardian last week said she had asked her local Conservative MP ‘to speak up for us’.

Who was in power when all of the above calamities occurred?

How can all these issues be laid at Labour’s door? Play this game and Labour will just keep telling us about the £22 billion black hole they inherited.

Labour may have taken soundings from the Islington Farmers Collective, but they need to smell the real coffee.

It is time to ditch their blinkered approach and engage with people who really know and understand the industry. However, we need

FG

CLASSIC

★★★

Contact us

1976

Patrick Deeley, current owner and farmer of Flower Farm, Godstone, and his younger brother Robert in about 1976, beginning their life on a 61-hectare farm. Sent in by Hannah Boonham.

If you have a classic picture you would like to share, please email it to marcello.garbagnoli@agriconnect.com

■ IF you would like to send us a letter for consideration, email fgeditorial@agriconnect.com

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How we collect your information: We collect the personal data you have provided to us by filling in the form on our website www.fginsight.com OR printed form when entering the Competitions. If you have entered the Competitions via our site we may also collect some technical information about how you use our site, for example, the type of device you are using, your operating system, IP address, uniform resource locator (URL), clickstream and length of visit. How we use the information you provide: We will use your personal information: • to administer the Competitions, on the basis that the use of your personal data for this purpose will be necessary to enter you into the competitions and, if you are successful, contact you to notify you of your prize; and, • if you are new to Farmers Guardian and where you have agreed to this, to provide you with news and updates from time to time about our services; and, if at any point in the future you do not wish to receive any news and updates from us or from, you can unsubscribe from our marketing list at any time by following the steps below. To unsubscribe from any communications using the link on the email we send you or by emailing us at dataprotection@farmersguardian.com. We will not use your information for any purposes except those listed in this policy without letting you know and getting your permission, if necessary, first. Who do we share your information with?

We will not disclose your information to any third parties without your consent, except where: • it is necessary to enable any of our staff, employees, agents, contractors, suppliers or commercial partners to provide a service to us or to perform a function on our behalf; • we have a legal obligation to disclose your information (for example, if a court orders us to); or • there is a sale or purchase of any business assets, or where Farmers Guardian or any of its group companies are being acquired by a third party. Where we use third parties as described above to process your personal information, we will ensure that they have adequate security measures in place to safeguard your personal information. For how long do we keep your personal information? We keep your personal information for 36 months for the purposes for which it was collected or for any period for which we are required to keep personal information to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements, or until you ask us to delete your personal information. Your rights: You have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. These include the right to: • find out how we process your personal information; • request that your personal information is corrected if you believe it is incorrect or inaccurate; • obtain restriction on our, or object to, processing of your personal information; • ask us not to process your personal information for our own marketing purposes; and • obtain a copy of your personal information which we hold about you. We will take steps to verify your identity before responding to your request and will respond as soon as possible and in any event within a month. If you would like to exercise any of your rights or find out more, please email us at dataprotection@farmersguardian. com. Complaints: If you have any complaints about the way we use your personal information please contact us at dataprotection@farmersguardian.com and we will try to resolve the issue. If we cannot resolve any issue, you have the right to complain to the data protection authority in your country (the Information Commissioner in the UK). If you need more information about how to contact your local data protection authority please let us know. Contact us: Please read this policy carefully and if you have any questions, concerns or comments about this policy or, specifically, how we might use your personal information, please contact us by email at dataprotection@farmersguardian.com.

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farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 15:14

Leader both sides to shed the dogma and prejudices.

The proposal to allow older farmers more time to organise succession plans is a good starting point. In return, the Government needs to define exactly who they are trying to target. They may even find there is widespread public support for closing tax loopholes and taxing those most able to pay – that would be a win-win.

Sam Sykes, Barnsley.

Autumn leaves WE have a Prime Minister called Sir Keir Starmer, Unfortunately he is not a friend of the British farmer, He protects himself in a suit of armour, And probably buys his ham from a place called Parma.

We have a Chancellor called Rachel Reeves, Who has stolen more from the people than all the thieves.

In the Labour Party no-one any longer believes, In the next election they will fall with the autumn leaves.

Mike Durston, via email.

Jane Thynne News & Business Reporter – jane.thynne@agriconnect.com

Fighting for the future IF one positive can be pulled from the wreckage of the Chancellor’s recent Budget, it has to be the industry’s desire to unite in the fight for its future.

While hopes were raised that NFU president Tom Bradshaw’s tete-a-tete with PM Sir Keir Starmer would signal a sea change, the silence from Defra policymakers has remained deafening – piping up only to deliver another blow with the ‘pause’ in critical Capital Grant funding.

Yet farmers fight on. More protests are planned in the coming weeks, with reports of co-ordinated tractor demonstrations descending on the four UK capitals; the farmers behind last month’s Westminster rally have further events forthcoming; and the NFU continues to keep the farming story in the minds of the general public with pieces popping up across mainstream media.

Farmers’ voices are being amplified in Parliament too, and even environmental groups are piling on the pressure regarding funding cuts and missed climate and nature targets.

It is also worth remembering there are practical steps that can be taken to maximise support and access to information. This week sees the launch

of Farmers Guardian’s monthly Ask the Expert column, which is focusing, unsurprisingly, on the coming tax changes. Lisa Millington, a partner in HCR Law’s private client team, answers questions relating to elderly parents and the avoidance of succession planning.

There are also some grants left to grab as our funding special points out, and alongside this, Farmers Guardian is hosting a free webinar on December 10 to discuss the opportunities available for 2025.

Defra may not be listening, but farmers should be assured that the rest of us are.

Young Farmer Focus ‘We are keen to keep hill traditions alive’ History: My family has a rich history of sheep farming and we are keen to keep hill traditions alive at our farm.

Danygraig Farm, our family business, was purchased by my grandfather, Dilwyn John, more than 50 years ago.

When he arrived at Danygraig, he carried out a lot of work.

He developed the land to make it more fertile and he modernised buildings, but stock was his passion.

His great ambition was to be at the top of his breed, the South Wales Mountain, which he admired and appreciated a great deal.

Studying: After returning home two years ago after studying agriculture at Pencoed College, I started to become more involved in the running of our business with the help of my parents.

We run about 700 Glamorgan type South Wales Mountain ewes, alongside a flock of Badger Face farmersguardian.com

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Texels and Black Welsh Mountain sheep.

In total, we manage 101 hectares of land, which includes grazing rights on Vaynor and Cilsanws common.

Ewes: Our ewes with single lambs run the hill for most of the year, and are brought down for seasonal jobs such as ear marking, shearing and weaning.

They are brought down to tup and are usually down from around October until the beginning of December.

The ewes are then wintered on the hill and fed blocks until they come down for lambing.

Before we start lambing in April, the ewes are scanned to an average of 140% and the twins are brought down to be lambed inside while the singles stay on the hill.

We are fortunate that the hill is quite dry, so we feed blocks outside and supplement with a small amount of concentrate.

Elin Meredith Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan Elin Meredith, 22, is a third-generation sheep farmer. She and her family run more than 700 Glamorgan type South Wales Mountain ewes across 101 hectares.

Elin Meredith I think our Glamorgan breed is a neat and compact sheep.

Passion: I inherited a passion for nurturing the Welsh hills and the sheep that graze them thanks to my grandfather who sadly passed away last year.

The busiest and my favourite time of year is ram sale season.

This is something my grandfather took great pride in and something

which has been passed down to me.

Ambition: It is our ambition to breed high-quality stock and we have a very proud reputation in Penderyn.

I hope to have a long and successful future in farming.

But I think there will be a lot of change and there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the future of agriculture in Wales.

However, I believe young farmers are more important than ever.

It is vital that young people remain in the industry because if not, hill farming traditions could be lost forever.

MORE INFORMATION If you would like to be featured, email chris.brayford@agriconnect.com DECEMBER 6 2024 | 13

04/12/2024 16:35

Business Edited by Alex Black – 07880 490 486 – alex.black@agriconnect.com For more business content, go to farmersguardian.com/farm-business-news-hub

Dairy market holds steady ● Most buyers hold prices for January

By Alex Black ARLA has raised its December milk price with other dairies holding steady for January.

The co-operative’s on-account price for conventional milk will increase by 0.89ppl to 48.54ppl from December 1, with the organic price also up 0.89ppl at 58.52ppl.

The dairy said global milk supplies were stable and retail sales were growing, however this growth is softening compared with previous months and the commodity and retail markets were stabilising. Overall, it said, the outlook was stable.

First Milk has announced that from January 1, 2025, it will hold its member milk price at 45.35ppl for its manufacturing standard litre, including the member premium.

Mike Smith, vice chairman and farmer director, said: “With stable markets and our business performing in line with our expectations we will hold our milk price for January. We continue to work hard to maximise returns for our members.”

Muller will also hold its price at 42.25ppl for January, including its 1ppl Muller Advantage Premium which is paid quarterly in arrears.

Saputo said its headline milk price remains for January at 43ppl.

After eleven monthly milk price increases during 2024, Barber’s Cheesemakers will hold its price in January at 44.85ppl for the Barber’s assured standard litre.

Barber’s Cheesemakers said dairy markets were facing ‘symptoms of adverse turbulence against recent record-breaking UK daily milk volumes’.

“AHDB reports that in recent years there has been a significant shift to autumn calving. This combined with the improved ratio of ‘milk price to feed’ appears to be stimulating significant additional milk volumes impacting market returns.”

It said this had impacted wholesale cheese markets.

“Hopefully the poor weather experienced in the past week will add calm to both the surge in milk supply, and the market sentiment,” it said.

Increase in births Births to dairy dams in the third quarter of the year have totalled 458,473 head, according to BCMS data.

AHDB livestock analyst Annabel Twinberrow said: “This marks the highest recorded figure for Q3, and an increase of 3% compared to the same period in 2023.”

However, year to date registrations were only up 0.8%.

“This would indicate a change in the months of calving but also a slight increase in calvings overall could indicate a degree of herd expansion and less culling as a result of better prices.”

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MMG DAIRY FARMERS GAINS DPO RECOGNITION MMG Dairy Farmers has confirmed it has been granted recognition as a Dairy Producer Organisation (DPO).

Benefits include being recognised

by Defra as the de facto negotiating body for a group of producers, the ability for MMG to act fully on behalf of producers when dealing with proposed milk supply contract changes, looking out for the producers’ best interests and ensuring Muller has a requirement to consult with a representative body before making changes.

It said it would also ensure milk price discussions were transparent and justifiable going forward.

Grant Hartman, chair of MMG Dairy Farmers said: “Becoming a DPO reinforces our working relationship with Muller, and ensures we are being governed in a professional manner.”

“As a board, we are excited by this step and look forward to representing our members as the UK’s largest Dairy Producer Organisation.”

MMG Dairy Farmers is the representative body that represents

approximately 1,200 dairy farmers which supply Muller Milk & Ingredients. The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024 provided for the creation of DPOs to act as official representative bodies negotiating on behalf of a group of dairy producers.

Paul Tompkins, NFU dairy board chair welcomed the news.

“We know that by working together and ensuring producers have stronger representation, we can improve fairness and transparency across the supply chain, drive better relationships with our customers, share risk and work together to achieve thriving, sustainable supply chains.”

He added that he hoped MMG would act as a catalyst for more to consider this approach.

There are currently four registered DPOs in the UK including Dairy Crest Direct, Milk Suppliers Association, MMG Dairy Farmers and Selkley Vale. Defra confirmed there were no pending applications for DPOs.

Bletsoes withdraws from mart

See it at

Lamma

Stable global milk supplies have allowed prices to hold for January, with Arla raising its December price.

BLETSOES has announced it will hold its final sale at Stratford-upon-Avon Livestock Market on December 17, highlighting the ‘significant challenges currently facing the livestock sector’.

It said it was withdrawing fulltime auction services from the mart after 15 years.

However, it hoped to continue annually with outdoor breeding sales in late summer and early autumn.

It thanked buyers and vendors for their ‘loyalty and dedication’ and its staff, as well as thanking the owners of the market, the Cook family.

“The withdrawal of our full-time auction services at Stratford reflects the reality of reducing stock numbers nationally and the increasing financial pressures on the agricultural industry, including the recent announcement by the Government to increase National Insurance contributions by employers.

“These factors have made the continuation of this market unsustainable.”

However, it added its dedication to auctions remained ‘unwavering’ highlighting its recent investment at the Thrapston Auction Centre. farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 14:25

CropTec Business

MORE FROM CROPTEC For more highlights from the event, see pages 22-23.

With global trade in focus after the US election, visitors to CropTec heard about the challenges facing world markets. Jane Thynne reports. ● Domestic stocks could be reduced in UK CHALLENGES across wheat and cereal commodity markets and the threat of a global trade war were the key messages which emerged from this year’s CropTec Market Outlook seminar.

AHDB cereals and oilseeds senior analyst Helen Plant said prices on the whole ‘were softening’ and ‘not behaving as expected’ in the face of tight supply.

The wheat market for 2024 so far had been challenging, she said, driven primarily by conditions in Ukraine and Russia, which suffered an early drought, as well as across central Europe, especially in the dominant grain territories of France and Germany, where heavy rainfall hampered the growing season.

Ms Plant said while there had been a ‘noticeable contraction’ in supply, demand for varieties containing the highest proteins was one positive which could be taken from the season.

Early concerns for yields in the US and Canada had also not been realised, boosting supply as US production rose in October, alongside exports which benefited from lower availability from competitors such as Russia.

For 2025, Ms Plant said a slightly reduced UK planting area, coupled with another wet harvest and autumn drilling, meant domestic stocks could be reduced.

However, she added ‘low stocks would only become a problem if there was a threat to global supply’ but, despite growing concerns regarding a more protectionist US under President-elect Donald Trump, she said analysts did not foresee any significant shortages.

Helen Plant said prices on the whole ‘were softening’ and ‘not behaving as expected’ in the face of tight supply.

Global markets eye US ahead of Trump return The imminent arrival of Mr Trump was the subject addressed by chief analyst at Agri-Analytics Rupert Somerscales.

He said: “Whatever else we can say, at least the next few months will be exciting.”

Concerns Although Ms Plant had alluded to concerns over raised tariffs under the coming US regime, Mr Somerscales said many of Mr Trump’s targets, including Canada, China and Mexico, were also key US export markets, so he expected some negotiations to take place ahead of any imposition of trade barriers.

However, the change in the political order would make the situation in Ukraine more serious.

He said: “The port of Odessa rem-

ains the most important aspect.

Ukraine must try and hold that port.

“If Russia is given land as part of

a deal or takes the port, then it will be nearly impossible for Ukraine production and exports to continue.”

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Farmers rethink fertiliser plans SUSTAINABILITY is the watch word of current and future fertiliser markets, according to Finley Hawkins, senior fertiliser business development manager at Frontier Agriculture.

Speaking as part of the Market Outlook seminar, Mr Hawkins said recent geopolitical, climate and the changing retail supply chain had all affected fertiliser use and demand.

Decrease In 2022, the UK fertiliser market stood at 3.5 million to 4m tonnes, but over the past two years that figure has fallen to between 1.9-2.2mt.

Mr Hawkins attributed this to high costs sparked by the war in Ukraine,

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which had led to farmers using more considered applications, as well as greener alternatives.

In terms of forward-planning, Mr Hawkins said there were three areas farmers should focus on.

He said: “At this time, I would advise growers to reassess the optimum nitrogen rate looking ahead to what might be a fall in the wheat prices.

“Secondly, it is important to keep an eye on imports – what is there in terms of choice and availability? And finally, I would think about bringing any purchase decisions forward a little bit, owing to availability and especially as we are only a couple of months away from application.”

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04/12/2024 12:41

FG Ask the Expert ?

With the Autumn Budget putting succession in the spotlight, Farmers Guardian has launched Ask the Expert to put readers’ questions directly to industry specialists.

Q A

Is spreading an Inheritance Tax (IHT) payment over 10 years interest-free?

Where an IHT liability has arisen and is paid over 10 annual instalments, interest usually applies to the unpaid balance.

However, the Government has said the payment of IHT attributable to farmland can be made over 10 annual instalments interest-free.

It is expected that this will only apply to the IHT payable on the agricultural value of the land, but the industry awaits the draft legislation.

Q

What can you do when your 93-year-old dad still owns a huge chunk of the farm and is still a part of running it?

This is one of the trickiest situations now facing farming families, as historically the advice has always been to hold on to the land.

Lifetime gifting should not be ruled out, but it is a fine balancing act. If the land is given away now and he fails to survive seven years

A

but dies before April 2026, there will be no IHT if 100% Agricultural Property Relief (APR) can successfully be claimed, but the benefit of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) uplift will be lost because holdover relief will have to be claimed.

If the land is given away now and he fails to survive seven years but dies after April 2026, there is a potential IHT charge and the benefit of the CGT uplift will be lost because holdover relief will have to be claimed.

However, taper relief will start to apply to reduce the IHT liability arising if your father survives more than three years from making the gift.

In either case, your father will no longer be able to derive a benefit from whatever is given away.

A good starting point would be to calculate the potential IHT liability based on how the ownership sits now, and then work out how much he can afford to give away.

It is then a question of assessing

LISA MILLINGTON

Partner in HCR Law’s private client team and tax and succession planning expert

the IHT benefit of trying to make a gift versus the loss of the CGT-free uplift which would apply on death.

Q

I want to prepare for IHT changes and look at passing on the farm, but we live in the farmhouse. Can we pass on the business and remain living where we are?

There is no reason from a legal perspective why not, but it might mean the complete loss of APR on the farmhouse.

However, if this can be passed on tax-free or with minimal tax using the available Nil Rate Bands and Residence Nil Rate Bands, it might be worth considering.

A

Q

My parents have always put off succession planning. It is a conversation we have never been able to have, but the Budget has pressed home the need.

Where do we start?

There are plenty of professional advisers ready and willing to

A

help, and while the cost can be offputting, it is an investment in the future of your farm.

Conversations to have in advance include how long your parents envisage wanting, or needing, to work on the farm; who would take over the running of the farm if something happened to your parents tomorrow; who is envisaged to be running the farm in five, 10 or 15 years’ time; and whether the farm is intended to be preserved for future generations.

Professional advisers can then help implement plans, or if conversations are too difficult, there are professionals who can facilitate discussions.

?

NEXT MONTH’S FG ASK THE EXPERT

NEXT month, the topic will be grants. If you have a question, email fgeditorial@farmersguardian.com ■ Visit farmersguardian.com/ asktheexpert for more information

PICTURE: GETTY

Succession questions answered

There are professional advisers who can help facilitate discussions about succession, says Lisa Millington.

16 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 15:10

Business ● Planning policy shift opens opportunities

By Alex Black CHANGES announced in the Autumn Budget have made major adjustments in the context of selling land.

The changes to Inheritance Tax have caused concern among agricultural landowners, with the consensus it will lead to more land coming to the market.

Ian Barnett, national land director at Leaders Romans Group, said: “However, the ‘silver lining’ for those contemplating developing and selling their land is emerging planning policy.

“Following the Government’s revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework, which published for consultation in July and is due to be confirmed before Christmas, there will be a greater window of opportunity to achieve planning permission on greenfield land, including in some circumstances within the green belt.”

He said structuring a deal with a promoter or housebuilder in a way that minimises tax exposure while maximising the value of the land should be a priority for landowners seeking to develop their land.

He added partnerships could offer

Budget alters 2025 land market context much more than a straightforward sale.

Good planning could maximise land usage or tap into additional funding streams such as biodiversity net gain credits or by making land available as suitable alternative natural greenspace.

For those considering a sale, entering an agreement where sale is sold subject to planning consent, with planning consent, or involving options and promotions agreements, can significantly increase the value of the land.

The Government has remained vocal in its commitment to housebuilding.

Considered approach Mr Barnett added: “Value can be increased further with a considered approach to the various tenures that make up a profitable site – from Build to Rent and the private rented sector through to the best mix of residential and commercial units is the type of planning advice which can considerably increase profitability ahead of a land sale.”

While it seemed the Government was adopting a pro-development plan-

ning agenda, Mr Barnett warned the planning process remained slow.

However, not all Labour planning policies would benefit land sales, with landowners concerned by a potential increase of compulsory purchases which Mr Barnett warned could have ‘unintended consequences’.

However, he added while there

would be administrative and political obstacles facing the decisions the Government has taken, it remained vocal in its commitment to housebuilding.

“The planning system is at the very start of that process and so positive change is needed, and quickly, to free up land to deliver on the Government’s bold ambition,” he said.

Feather Down Farms has proved one of the most profitable avenues for farm diversification for almost 20 years. With our experience as a market leader in farm stays, we help agricultural entrepreneurs diversify with an attractive revenue model and generate a generous second income.

There’s limited investment required by farmers and low risks. You do not need to have any experience in hospitality, just a willingness to share your farm and knowledge with our guests. Complete our quiz to see if your farm is the right fit!

01420 80804 | joinus@featherdown.co.uk www.featherdown.co.uk farmersguardian.com

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DECEMBER 6 2024 | 17

04/12/2024 10:30

Global Ag View With Donald Trump having selected his Agriculture Secretary, Emily Ashworth spoke to US farmer Sarah Delbecq on what the sector needs to see from the new Government.

Trump pick wants to ‘make agriculture great again’ in US ● No replacement for expired Farm Bill in place DONALD Trump’s victory is heralding a new era for the US food industry, thanks to key appointments in the health and agriculture sectors.

Robert F Kennedy, who was named by the president-elect as Health and Human Services Secretary, has vowed to wage war on processed food, touting a ban on food dyes, certain chemicals and seed oils, while also increasing access to raw milk.

This week saw Mr Trump announce the appointment of Brooke Rollins who will head up the Department of Agriculture.

In her statement on X, she thanked Mr Trump for the opportunity.

“It will be the honour of my life to fight for America’s farmers and our nation’s agricultural communities.

This is big stuff for a small-town ag girl from Glen Rose, Texas – truly the American Dream at its greatest,” she said, adding: “Who is ready to make agriculture great again?”

Agricultural issues Sarah Delbecq, an arable farmer in Indiana, said agricultural areas in the US tended to vote Republican, and given the population of farmers makes up a small percentage of the country’s entirety, agriculture’s issues had not been at the forefront of the campaign.

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“At best, we might get a shallow shout out when they make a stop somewhere rural, but there will not be discussion or debate for the issues that directly impact agriculture,” she said.

She added most may have been voting for reasons ‘not connected to agriculture’.

Global market Ms Delbecq grows corn, soyabeans and wheat, all of which are commodity products with a large global market.

She said she hoped prices would remain strong, but acknowledged emerging markets and other countries were ‘only getting better’ and were developing the infrastructure to participate in the global marketplace.

It is also important, she said, to keep a strong relationship with existing global trading partners.

“It is unclear whether an ‘America First’ strategy will accomplish this,” she added.

While domestic demand may be limited, she said the US should concentrate on the renewable sector and exports.

The corn industry, for example, wants grain exported in ‘all forms’

from bushels of corn, to meat and corn-based ethanol, as well as animal feed.

She hoped agriculture would not become a bargaining tool, with the industry needing stability.

Tariffs were something Mr Trump continued to focus on, and China, Mexico and Canada have recently hit back saying this could hit the US economy hard.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer this week has said the Government would most likely shun a trade deal with the US. Ms Delbecq said part of a successful future was not having retaliatory tariffs placed on US agricultural commodities.

Renewable energy was a concern too, and Ms Delbecq hoped the US Government would see agriculture as a key player in facilitating this.

She added most of the sector was attempting to learn more about the new Agriculture Secretary.

There was also the issue of getting Congress to make progress, highlighting the 2018 Farm Bill had now expired and there ‘does not seem to be any intention to get something in place anytime soon’.

US president-elect Donald Trump has appointed Brooke Rollins to head up the US Department of Agriculture.

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04/12/2024 10:16

Farm Profile Edited by Angela Calvert – 07768 796 492 – angela.calvert@agriconnect.com For more features, go to farmersguardian.com/farm-life

When John Bailey and Heather Benbow sold their vet practice, they embarked on a lifestyle change which saw them become farmers for the first time. Tom Hunt reports.

Developing a milk sheep enterprise in Derbyshire

A

fter buying not one, but two farms, John Bailey and Heather Benbow started milking sheep to make cheese in the Derbyshire Dales.

John says: “I never thought I would be able to retire and just read a book, so after the sale of the vet practice we discussed our options and, with a fondness for sheep and a passion for cheese, we bought two former dairy farms and applied for planning permission.”

The planning permission was not just for a sheep shed, but for an on-site creamery, hotel, farm shop, charcuterie, bar, restaurant and visitor experience with a children’s petting farm.

Wakebridge Farm, in the village of Wakebridge, which is close to Crich, home of Crich Tramway Village, has a fascinating history, which John saw as another reason to bring it back from the brink.

He says: “The dilapidated buildings date back to the 18th century, but the history of the farm goes back to the Doomsday Book.

“Former owners of the land include Anthony Babbington, who lost the estate and his head when he plotted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. “The estate was also owned by Sir Walter Raleigh and Peter Nightingale, an uncle of Florence Nightingale.”

Allowing for some wastage we have a maximum output of about 40 tonnes of cheese per annum JOHN BAILEY

Upset plans To kick-off the farming enterprise, John and his family bought 160 East Friesian milking sheep from Germany. The aim was to start milking in 2019, but sadly the Covid-19 pandemic upset their plans.

John says: “DeLaval delivered the parlour and our automated feeding Optimat system, but they were subsequently unable to allow their technicians to travel from Sweden to fit the machinery because of travel restrictions.

“We had 160 sheep which we could not milk and our plans were put back at least three years as a result of a variety of problems caused by farmersguardian.com

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John Bailey farms at Wakebridge Farm, close to Crich, Derbyshire.

Covid-19 and delays with getting planning consent.”

The farm started milking in July 2023 through the 36/36 rapid exit parlour and, since then, the flock has grown to 800 ewes. Lambing is three times a year, with 85% of the ewes lambing three times every two years.

John says: “We sell the lambs at six months old and will soon start to adapt our breeding to increase lamb size by bringing in Charolais and Texels.”

In April 2024, the farm lambed 400 ewes and, as part of the three lambings in two years system, a further 60 were

lambed in July, with 300 more due to lamb in November, which will see the flock ready to milk the 650 target by spring 2025.

John farms in partnership with Heather and their children David, Victoria and Hannah.

“My son David and son-in-law Dan DECEMBER 6 2024 | 19

03/12/2024 09:15

Farm Profile Derbyshire are our cheesemakers, and Hannah works with her husband Jason to tend and milk the flock.

“We are all invested in the business and have made it a family ambition to see the farm and all its buildings reimagined for the future.”

He says that the initial flock of 160 was a real handful because the sheep were housed in old dairy buildings.

John says: “We had a new building erected to house the sheep because managing feeding was too labour intensive and there was not enough space.

“As part of the planning for the new building we looked at an automated feeding system to save time and improve nutrition.”

This system is designed to feed forage and supplements to cows, but was adapted to feed the sheep flock.

John says: “It has taken the pressure off us and works remarkably well, plus the sheep like it and get excited when it powers up. We load it with silage, hay and concentrate, along with mineral supplements, and it handles the feeding out and pushing up.”

An OptiWagon robot is fed from the mixing and cutting distributor using a conveyor. It then travels around the shed to feed out and push up the forage.

Cost-effective John says: “It is a cost-effective solution for us because we need to keep our labour costs down and we have an ever increasing flock to feed.”

The parlour is equally important to his time and labour-saving efforts.

He says: “Hannah and Jason had never milked an animal prior to us

Farm facts It takes 6,000 litres of sheep milk to make one tonne of cheese.

moving here and starting the farm with us. However, the parlour is ever so easy to use, and they can milk up to 300 sheep an hour.”

There are cluster removers, and sheep are fed in two drops during milking to encourage them to stay in the parlour until milking has been completed. Ewes have eartags which provide milk yield data and there is an auto-shedding function at the exit to separate problem ewes into a pen.

John says mastitis cases are rare and that they have decided on a cull rather than treat strategy to keep cell counts low. The flock is milked once

a day, but he is considering moving to twice a day soon.

He says: “We milk at 6am and could incorporate a second milking at around 4pm. However, we are uncertain of what yield we will get from a second milking and whether this will be worthwhile when compared to the labour cost.”

Milking The flock is milked for eight months and grazed following drying off.

The lactation period yields about 250 litres per ewe milking once a day.

With a flock of 650 in-milk all year

■ 800 East Friesian milking sheep ■ 85% of ewes lamb three times in two years ■ Ewes produce 250 litres/day on once-a-day milking ■ A variety of cheeses are produced including Wakefield White, a clothbound cheese which won gold at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards ■ Future plans include a farm shop, accommodation, bar and restaurant and visitor attraction

round, this amounts to 243,750 litres for the whole flock.

John says: “We need 6,000 litres to make one tonne of cheese. Allowing for some wastage we have a maximum output of about 40t of cheese per annum.

The farm started milking in July 2023 through the 36/36 rapid exit parlour.

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farmersguardian.com

03/12/2024 09:15

Xxxxx Farm Profile

Ewes produce 250 litres/ day on once-a-day milking.

“This is the goal, and we are almost there. I am currently forecasting this yield for 2025.”

To keep up this yield, the farm has opted for a Mediterranean-style system using teasers to synchronise lambing and breed from the flock three times a year.

John says: “All the ewes are lambed indoors, and all lambs are given 50ml/kg of colostrum within two

hours of birth by bottle or tube. We do not ring at all.

“We breed 20% as replacements and the rest will be crossed with Texel or Charolais to produce bigger lambs for market.”

He adds that longer term, the farm will introduce a genomic testing programme to improve yield and also help manage any potential disease problems.

Wakebridge Farm, near Crich, Derbyshire.

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To further automate the farm, John is looking into a more efficient lamb feeding system.

John says: “At the moment we use individual feeders, but these have to be individually cleaned. We are looking at a double pipe feeder that is easier to clean.

“Milk is piped automatically and there is an inbuilt temperature sensor.

“Crucially, it also tells us how much milk each lamb is taking, which will enable us to identify sick lambs faster.”

Away from the day-to-day of milking the flock, the family is tasked with making cheese and developing the rest of the site into the visitor attraction John has applied to build.

He says: “David and Dan, having never made cheese before, have reinvented themselves as magnificent cheesemakers and filled our creamery with superb maturing cheeses which we sell locally and will soon sell online, through other mainstream retailers and from our own shop.”

The farm makes a variety of sheep milk cheeses. Wakebridge White is a clothbound pressed sheep cheese with a rich, mellow and rounded flavour.

John says: “It won gold at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards and the judges commented that it was ‘a beautifully presented clothbound cheese, with a wonderful deep cream nutty nose’.

“They said that ‘in the mouth this cheese produces waves of delight; it just keeps giving’.”

Other varieties include: Hey Ewe, a younger, sweeter version; and Blue Baa-bara 9, a mild creamy sheep’s

cheese which is sweet with a distinctive blue taste.

There is also a blue-veined cheese called Wakebridge Blue, which has a rich, strong flavour.

John says: “We also buy-in cows’ milk to make our Derwent White, an old-style Derby cheese, and Derwent blue, a creamy blue-veined cheese.”

Located a few hundred metres from the popular Crich Tramway Village, John hopes that by adding accommodation, a bar and a restaurant, that the farm can attract tourists to spend some time and money as part of their visit to the Derbyshire Dales.

Investment He says: “Our choice to farm and invest in this site is one we want to share.

Visitors will be able to stand on a viewing platform to see the sheep being milked and can enjoy our cheese in our on-site bar and restaurant.

“We will also be selling the cheese and local produce in our farm shop.”

While the full extent of the farm’s portfolio of businesses is still to be realised, there is also room for growth for the flock.

John says: “We could extend the shed; we have left space to do so and grow to milk 850. For now though, it would be good to consolidate what we have, finish developing the site and start marketing ourselves as a visitor experience.

“The cheese is already selling well through local delis and shops, but it will be great to sell it here from our own shop in the near future.”

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 21

04/12/2024 11:07

Arable Edited by Alice Dyer – 07966 445 458 – alice.dyer@agriconnect.com For more arable content, go to farmersguardian.com/arable-news-hub

Keeping ahead of future challenges was a key theme at this year’s CropTec. Alice Dyer, Ash Ellwood and Olivia Midgely report.

T

he recent announcements on Agricultural and Business Property Relief dominated many of the events and conversations among farmers at this year’s CropTec show, which took place at Stoneleigh last week.

Opening proceedings, NFU deputy president David Exwood said farmers had been left to deal with a ‘callous and chaotic Government policy’ that had been ‘dropped like a bomb’. But he said following talks between union president Tom Bradshaw and the Prime Minister, there was a glimmer of hope that the policies may be reversed.

“We have found ourselves in the worst position we have been in for some time with a callous and chaotic Government policy, dropped like a bomb, which has undermined the industry and targeted the wrong people. The targets are not misaligned, they are bent.

“Behind every farming business is a family. Family businesses get the job done. That is why they deserve to be protected.”

Mr Exwood praised the industry’s show of unity in Westminster on November 19 and said it was

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Resilience, weather and water take centre stage at CropTec show now down to the Government to respond.

While he was hopeful of some change in direction, he urged farmers to ‘take control of what they can’, now.

“Work closely with the supply chain and find a contract that gives you a more certain income – budget certainty that you cannot find from Government,” said Mr Exwood.

“The Sustainable Farming Incentive is slow and it is not perfect, but it is open and if you can apply, you should. It will give you guaranteed income for three years.

“Keep investing. If we sit back,

freeze as a business and shut the chequebook, we shut suppliers’ businesses too.”

He highlighted the need to look after the workforce and encourage them ‘to stick with us through difficult times’.

He also called on businesses to integrate new technology, collaborate more, ‘get off the farm, learn and listen’, in order to help businesses increase efficiency and grow.

MORE INFORMATION Listen to the podcast featuring David Exwood by visiting farmersguardian.com/podcasts

David Exwood farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 12:04

CropTec Arable

MORE FROM CROPTEC For more highlights from the event, see page 15.

Min-till failures Andrew Ward speaking at CropTec about his experiences with growing beans for baked beans.

AFTER dropping the use of a conventional plough on his farm in 2003 and attempting to incorporate a shallow cultivation system, Mr Ward now believes that too much emphasis has been placed on the environment and climate change.

He said that lighter cultivation methods have negatively impacted both the yield and income on his farm and has since decided to revert to full inversion tillage.

Analysis of an eight-year cultivation trial found that a direct drilled field outperformed its cultivated competitor in only one year out of eight.

Worst BAKED BEANS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD THE UK population consumes more than 300 tonnes of canned baked beans per day, however, currently each can is imported from countries such as the US, Canada, Ethiopia and China.

In a bid to gain UK access to the crop, Andrew Ward, of Roy Ward Farms based in Lincolnshire, is in his second ‘baked bean’ growing season and aims to increase seed stocks and provide the crop for UK-based trials.

Addressing the CropTec audience within the Innovation Theatre, Mr Ward said: “Last year we drilled nine acres and all the

crop that was harvested – apart from one tonne – went into successful canning trials with Warwick University.”

Mr Ward has since drilled 60 hectares of the beans. Of the total 60ha area, 20ha were planted with a sugar beet drill with a companion crop of black oats broadcast to aid harvesting.

Companion “The reason we drill with a companion crop is because the beans grow very low, so you need a specialist type of machine to harvest them. When they are

drilled with black oats, [the black oats] pull the beans up [taller] to help harvest.”

However, a heavy downpour equating to 27mm meant that the 20ha drilled with the sugar beet drill was immediately lost and the remaining 40ha drilled with a Simba Free Flow seed drill only achieved 50% germination, he said.

“People might say that it is not a viable crop because if it was wheat, you would pull it up and re-drill it, but we had no more seed to drill so we had to make sure we got it to harvest so we can grow some more the following year.”

“Our standard cultivation system is a Simba solo [cultivator] with a freeflow drill, and every other year [except one year that made a profit], we lost money on the direct drilled-only field and the worst yield was in 2022 when we lost £520/ha,” he said.

This year he has changed his methods by swapping back to using a Simba Solo cultivator before drilling.

“We have gone back to doing things properly and have mole drained a lot of the fields.

“We have 500 acres without a crop to harvest simply because we have been scratching the surface [with cultivations] trying to cut costs and all that has done has cut our yields and cut our margins.”

ACCESS TO WATER IS ‘BEST IT WILL EVER BE’ BY 2050, the Midlands can expect summers that are 2.6% warmer with 16% less rainfall, and warmer winters that are approximately 13% wetter, according to Severn Trent Water.

Not only does this pose challenges to crop production, but it also means water companies will struggle too.

Have your say on water BASIS technical manager Harry Henderson highlighted the importance of farmers having their say in Defra’s latest consultation: ‘Drought: how it is managed in England’, which closes on January 10.

■ Visit gov.uk/government/ consultations

Availability Speaking at CropTec, Richard Reynolds, senior agronomy adviser at Anglian Water, said by 2050, the water company was predicting 38% less water availability as a result of a drier climate, tightening of abstraction licences coupled with a forecast 18% increase in population in his region, which is the driest and lowest lying in the UK. “We could see a 503 megalitre a day deficit,” Mr Reynolds said.

“We are currently using 12,000-

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Richard Reynolds, of Anglian Water.

13,000 megalitres a day, so by 2050 we expect a lot of deficiency compared to where we are now.”

He said that based on these predictions, farmers needed to

recognise ‘this is probably as good as it is going to be’ for water abstraction, so measures should be taken on-farm to mitigate such challenges.

This includes the use of datadriven decision support tools including soil moisture sensors, drip irrigation and better weather data to prevent overwatering.

He added: “Invest in on-farm reservoirs or rainwater harvesting systems to secure supply during dry periods. Maintaining soil health with the use of cover crops, reducing compaction, and increasing organic matter will also improve water retention.”

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 23

04/12/2024 13:49

Arable Recommended List Report

Group 1 variety KWS Vibe has shown good grain and baking quality.

Soft Group 4 variety RGT Hexton offers a strong disease package.

A ‘barn-filling’ Group 4 feed wheat and a new Group 1 milling variety were highlights of the 2025 AHDB Recommended List for cereals. Alice Dyer reports.

‘Barn-filling’ feed wheat to have widespread appeal ● Winter wheat RL has 10 new varieties in total WITH a very high treated yield of 105%, rising to 111% in the North region (based on limited trials) and a strong disease package, soft Group 4 variety RGT Hexton is expected to have widespread appeal.

It has a Hagberg of 236, specific weight of 77 and is rated medium for distilling.

AHDB Recommended List (RL) manager Dr Paul Gosling says: “Disease-wise it is a bit below comparator varieties on rust ratings, at 7 for yellow rust and 5 for brown rust, but it has the highest septoria rating of the soft Group 4s at 6.8.”

Andrew Creasy, arable technical manager at RAGT, says it is a consistent performer across a variety of situations.

“It produces the goods as a first or second wheat on light or heavy land and can be sown from the last week of September onwards.

“Growers do not have to worry about pushing harvest back too much, as it is a medium-maturing type with short, stiff straw and a decent specific weight, providing useful insurance if harvest is delayed.”

It is also resistant to orange wheat blossom midge.

“We think RGT Hexton will have widespread appeal across the UK,” adds Mr Creasy.

“The variety has no Achilles heel,

and the combination of yield and suitability for distilling make it even more attractive for growers in the North.”

Hard Group 4 Added to the hard Group 4s, is another high yielder, KWS Scope at 108%, rising to 111% in the West. It is rated medium for distilling and has good resistance to septoria at 6.5, although its untreated yield is lower at 85%.

With a spec weight on the higher end at 78.9, it also has good lodging scores of 8 and is very stiff strawed, says Dr Gosling.

“However, with an eyespot rating of 4 it might not be a variety for a second wheat situation.”

The winter wheat RL has 10 new varieties in total, which cover key

milling sectors and provide strong steps forward.

After waiting several years for a new Group 1 variety, KWS Vibe is the second to arrive in not so many years.

Listed provisionally, its status will be confirmed in spring by UK Flour Millers. In testing it has shown good grain and baking quality, with good protein levels of 13.2, a Hagberg of 283 and a treated yield of 98%. Dr Gosling says its good disease resistance package and high untreated yield of 89% will make it attractive to Group 1 growers.

Dr Gosling adds: “Disease resistance is where KWS Vibe really scores, with 8 for yellow rust, 6 for brown rust, 6.6 for septoria – the highest on the Group 1 list – and an untreated yield which is way ahead of competitors.”

BYDV TRAITS OFFER ALTERNATIVE MARKETS THE influx of six new wheat and barley varieties added to the cereal Recommended Lists with a specific recommendation for resistance or tolerance to barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) mark a step change in the way varieties are being chosen.

Dr Gosling says: “The lists now feature varieties that deliver more diverse and stronger genetics. It is no longer about dirty, barn-filling varieties dominating the lists – it is about providing choice that meets the needs of the RL’s diverse users.”

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One Group 2 wheat addition is RGT Goldfinch, the latest wheat to emerge from RAGT’s Genserus breeding programme, which provides protection against BYDV.

Robust Although it recorded relatively low yields at 89%, it offers a very robust disease resistance package with a 7 for mildew and septoria, and 9 for rusts, and combines orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) with BYDV resistance. It also shows good baking quality with a

high protein of 13.1. It is likely to appeal to many growers, especially those interested in lower-input systems, says Dr Gosling.

The additional resistance to OWBM means RGT Goldfinch growers can make use of the £45/hectare payment under the Sustainable Farming Incentive for growing an arable crop without insecticide.

“It came close to becoming a Group 1, but slight inconsistency in baking quality was found. It has later ripening at +3 but probably will not be grown in

the North anyway. Where it scores very strongly is resistance. It offers a niche for people looking to cut out insecticide or end users looking to marry high quality with no insecticide.”

MORE INFORMATION Five new barley varieties also offer specific recommendations for tolerance or resistance to BYDV, a novel trait added to the RL in the last few years. Read more at farmersguardian.com/arable

farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 09:52

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Arable Recommended List Report Despite the challenges growers faced in 2024 also being seen in AHDB variety trials, the 2025 Oilseeds Recommended List showcases large yield increases in several categories. Alice Dyer reports.

OSR shows yield leap across regions ● Two newcomers added for the North WITH high treated yields of 108% across all regions, LG Adapt sits as UK highest yielding on the new oilseed rape list. It has a strong disease resistance package with a 7 for light leaf spot and 6 for stem canker, which is similar to its comparator varieties, plus a breeder’s claim for podshatter resistance, says Recommended Lists (RL) manager Dr Paul Gosling.

All other varieties added to the list are region-specific. However, Dr Gosling adds: “The regions are fixed but that does not mean you cannot grow them out of this area.

Look at the characteristics and see if it matches what you want.”

For the North, which includes the whole of Scotland and northern

England, there are two new recommendations – LG Avenger, and conventional variety, Powerhouse.

LG Avenger has a very high yield of 106% in the North and good light leaf spot resistance at 7.

Dr Gosling says: “With a stem canker rating of 5 and a 7 for light leaf spot this is similar to its comparators. However, it is susceptible to verticillium, but this is less of an issue in the North.”

Conventional Powerhouse from Elsoms is the only conventional to be added to the list, offering a step up in yield at 102%, making it the highest yielding conventional variety for the North.

Its disease package compares well with other conventionals, with a 7 for light leaf spot and 5 for stem canker, says Dr Gosling.

CLUBROOT ON THE RISE WITH milder and wetter autumns, several Recommended List trials have been lost due to clubroot in recent years. The disease appears to be getting more prevalent, so two additions with clubroot resistance are likely to interest growers, says Dr Gosling.

Crusoe from NPZU and Cromputer from DSV offer significant advances in pest and disease resistance over the current varieties, with Crusoe also offering higher yield in all regions.

Clubroot variety yields have traditionally slipped behind more conventional varieties, but

Crusoe offers a big step in yield at 103%.

Stem canker Dr Gosling adds: “Its stem canker of 7 is also well ahead of its comparators. It has moderate resistance to verticillium, so better than comparators, and turnip yellows virus [TuYV] which comparators do not have.”

Cromputer also offers a step up in yield for clubroot varieties, with a gross output of 98%. It scores well on disease, with a 5 for stem canker, 6 for light leaf spot, plus moderate resistance to verticillium and TuYV, he says.

DR PAUL GOSLING

the seed. Conventional varieties seem to perform better in the North compared to hybrids, but we are not sure why that is the case.”

For the East/West region, newcomer Maverick from NPZU has the highest yield with a gross output of 109%. It also has good disease resistance, including a rating of 9 for stem canker, but it lacks pod shatter resistance.

Hinsta from KWS and Magelan from Limagrain are slightly lower yielding, both at 106%. Apart from a lower stem canker resistance of 5, these two varieties have good pest and disease resistance, says Dr Gosling. Magelan is also one of the few varieties that offers moderate resistance to verticillium.

He adds: “Conventional varieties tend to lack traits in hybrids such as turnip yellows virus and pod shatter. But many growers favour them because they can homesave

MORE INFORMATION The online RL 2025/26 tables can be accessed via: ahdb.org.uk/rl.

The booklet edition will be available in January.

Conventional varieties seem to perform better in the North compared to hybrids, but we are not sure why that is the case

LG Adapt has high treated yields of 108% across all regions, with region-specific Magelan yielding 106%.

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farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 09:51

Sales Edited by Angela Calvert – 07768 796 492 – angela.calvert@agriconnect.com For more sales content, go to farmersguardian.com/shows-sales

Dark Diamond Suffolks to 14,000gns

LEADING the trade at the Dark Diamonds show and sale of pedigree Suffolk females at Carlisle at 14,000gns was a ewe lamb from Melvin Stuart’s Birness flock, Ellon. By Crewlands Megastar out of a home-bred Limestone Legacy-sired daughter, it sold to Stephen Cobbald, Acton, Suffolk.

Next, at 7,000gns, was a ewe lamb by Castleisle Blackadder from Graeme Christie’s Balquhain flock, which was knocked down to Messrs Boden, Stockport.

L. and M. Liggett, Co Tyrone, sold a ewe lamb by Sportsmans Scholesy from their Carony flock for 6,000gns to Cannon Hall Farm, Barnsley, and then paid 5,000gns for a shearling gimmer by Salopian Scideria carrying twins to Kings Cross from Stewart Craft Farming’s Lakeview flock, Glenrothes.

PICTURE: WAYNE HUTCHINSON

l Balquhain flock realises 7,000gns

Sale leader, from Melvin Stuart, Ellon, which sold for 14,000gns to Stephen Cobbald, Acton, Suffolk.

Also making 5,000gns was a ewe lamb by Frongoy Cannon from T.A. Irwin and Sons, Kings flock, which sold in a two-way split to Messrs Millar and Ferguson, Duns, and Messrs Arnot, Kelso.

AVERAGES Balquhain – 5 gimmers, £2,121; 3 ewe lambs, £4,375; Cairness – 4 gimmers, £2,021.25; Birness – 10 gimmers,

£1,753.50; 2 ewe lambs, £9,187.50; Carnorskie – 6 gimmers, £1,655; Lakeview – 12 gimmers, £1,496.25; Redbrae – 5 gimmers, £1,344; Maidenstone – 2 gimmers, £1,260; Benrafton – 3 gimmers, £1,120; Cairnton – 4 gimmers, £1,023.75; 1 ewe lamb, £2,625; Roundacres – 1 ewe lamb, £1,680; Kings – 3 ewe lambs, £2,835; Carony – 7 ewe lambs, £3,195; Ballynacannon – 3 ewe lambs, £2,380.

Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.

Flying trade for cull ewes at Bentham TRADE for cull ewes reached unprecedented levels at Bentham, with several pens £300/head plus and topping at £400 plus twice.

Firstly, for Beltex from Ben Thompson, Sedbergh, and then for Texels from J. Garth and Son, Clapham, with a pen of five from E. Astley, Morpeth, at £395/head.

The pre-sale show champions, a pen of five Texels from Lucas and Nairey, Blackburn, made £380/head.

Heavy ewes saw a sharp increase generally selling around £200.

Suffolks topped at £238 for I.D. Rawlinson, Ulverston.

Strongest pens The strongest pens of Mule ewes were £140-£170. Best of the horned ewes also reached heights not seen for a while, with the best £100 plus topping at £130 for Dalesbreds from G.C. and P.M. Haygarth, Wigglesworth.

Auctioneers: Richard Turner and Son.

Store cattle Gisburn Christmas primestock tops at 840p/kg in demand at Leyburn sale A 542kg British Blue cross heifer kg (£3,261), and a 628kg Limousin Preston, tapped out a British Blue from R.T. and J. Critchley and Sons, Preston, won the championship in Gisburn’s Christmas primestock show before topping the sale at 840p/kg (£4,552.80) when selling to retail butchers S.R. Hallworth, Whalley, Clitheroe.

For the reserve champion, judge Jimmy Wood, Bowland Foods,

cross heifer from D.M. and R.E. Capstick, Swinden Moor. The 636kg heifer also won the best exhibitor-bred class and made 500p/ kg (£3,180) to on-site butchers Countrystyle Meats, Lancaster.

The Critchley family also sold a 526kg Blue cross heifer to Chorley butchers K. and J. Green, at 620p/

From left: Judge Jimmy Wood, Alex Dew, of sponsor NFU Mutual, and vendors Charlotte, Tom and Emily Critchley, with their champion British Blue cross heifer, which sold for £4,552.80. farmersguardian.com

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cross which made 490p/kg (£3,077). They also took first and second in the Young Farmer class when Emily Critchley’s winning 488kg Blue cross heifer made 450p/ kg and Thomas Critchley’s blue rosette heifer sold at 496p/kg (£2,529).

Steer class The steer class winner, a 726g Limousin cross from E.J. Ward and Sons, Nether Kellet, made the section’s top price per head of £2,686, while the Capsticks’ 640kg Limousin cross achieved the highest price per kg at 375p, selling to Countrystyle Meats.

Bulls peaked at £2,742 for a 788kg Blue cross for J. and G. Huck, Skipton.

D.A. Wilcock, Ashton-in-Makerfield, won the trophy for the highest annual prime ring throughput, and on the day, sold six steers and heifers to average 402p/kg.

AVERAGES 65 heifers, 346.77p/kg; 37 steers, 324.91p/kg; 32 young bulls, 331.73p/kg.

Auctioneers: Gisburn Auction Marts.

BRIAN Phillips, Northallerton, judged the show and sale of store cattle at Leyburn where, for the second year running, the championship went to Guy and Oliver Hird, Whashton, with a home-bred Limousin heifer which sold to the judge for £1,940.

Reserve champion went to the Bainbridge Brothers, Marrick, with a British Blue heifer which sold for the joint top price of £2,250 along with the first prize bull, a pedigree registered Limousin, from David Amsden, Hawes.

Brian and Robert Fawcett, Bishopdale, sold a Limousin heifer at £2,000, with their 16 heifers averaging £1,871 and their 16 steers averaging £1,844.

Phil Simpson, Richmond, sold 17 steers to average £1,758 and 12 heifers to average £1,592.

Limousins The first and second prize Limousin steers made £2,000 and £1,960 for Luke and Beth Wilkinson, Leyburn, and Georgina Laws, Hauxwell, sold her third prize Limousin steer for £2,050.

Auctioneers: Leyburn Auction Mart.

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 27

03/12/2024 13:12

Sales

UK’S LARGEST AUCTION DIRECTORY Visit the UK’s most comprehensive auction listings at auctionfinder.co.uk

Hexham sees strong Prime lambs store cattle trade

to 636p/kg at Wharfedale ● Pair of Beltex lambs win championship

AT Wharfedale’s Christmas show and sale, the champion lambs were a pair of Beltex from Andrew Barrett, Stainburn, which went on to sell for £280/head (636p/kg) to J.B. Wilkinson and Sons, Rawdon, for their chain of Yorkshirebased shops.

Reserve

Auctioneers: Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart.

Will Davy, Warton, averaged £2,037 for seven Charolais and Aberdeen-Angus cross steers, topping at £2,140 for a 31-month-old steer.

Charolais cross The 11- to 17-month-old class topped at £1,920 for a Charolais cross steer from Steven Crozier, Ecclefechan.

Beef Shorthorns sold to £1,780 for a steer from Walker Bros, Satley, with Messrs Walton, Greyside, topping at £1,750 for steers and £1,760 for heifers.

Auctioneers: Hexham and Northern Marts.

Dairies sell to £3,450 at Market Drayton THE Western Holstein Clubsupported Christmas dairy show and sale at Market Drayton topped at £3,450 for the reserve champion, the pedigree heifer, Astonpool Have A Halo, from M. Weaver, Stone.

The champion was the pedigree cow, Armsdale Sound System Sunkist, from D. and J. Armstrong, Bunbury, which sold for £3,100.

Pedigree heifers from Lachstone Farms, Northwich, sold to £3,300, while R.J. Rees, Brecon, sold to £2,950 and R. and J. Merrett, Gloucester, sold to £2,900.

Pedigree second calvers sold to £3,200 for D. and A.C. Shakeshaft, Ellesmere, to £2,800 twice

for L.F. Horton and Son, Northwich, and to £2,800 for Messrs Armstrong and K.J. Morris, Redditch.

Commercial heifers topped at £3,150 for Messrs Weaver, £3,000 for R.W. and E.E. Edwards and Sons, Whitchurch, and £2,850 for Messrs Morris.

In-calf heifers sold to £1,750 and yearling heifers to £900.

A 35-month-old Limousin breeding bull sold for £3,800.

AVERAGES 70 fresh heifers (all in), £2,251; 17 fresh cows, £2,451.

Auctioneers: Gwilym Richards with Market Drayton Market.

PICTURE: CHARLOTTE RIDLEY

Reserve champion went to Jordan Swires, Beckwithshaw, with the winning over 42kg continental lambs, which sold for £218/ head (501p/kg), going to the same buyer.

In the cattle section, the champion was a home-bred 685kg

steer shown by Richard Stevenson, Farnley, which sold for 500p/kg (£3,425/head) to Messrs Wilkinson.

In reserve was a 640kg heifer from David Groves, Arthington, which sold for 430p/kg (£2,752/ head), again to Messrs Wilkinson.

Cull cows topped at 185.50p/kg (£1,484) for a black and white shown by Dave Ryder and family, Lindley, which went to Harry Thompson, Gargrave.

A lamb was also sold for charity, donated by John and Mary Carr, Askwith, for Leeds Hospital Charity, which raised £1,520.

Robert Weatherhead donated two lambs for Crohn’s and Colitis UK, which raised £1,540.

THE sale of 368 store cattle at Hexham averaged £1,620 throughout, with steers levelling at £1,688 and heifers £1,466.

The sale peaked at £2,180 for a Limousin bullock from Ian Hamilton, Claywalls, with a Charolais cross from the same home making £2,160 and the run of 16 averaging £1,968/head.

The female trade topped at £2,100, paid by Messrs Lee, Agars Hill, for a British Blue cross heifer from John and Daniel Whiteford, Berwick-upon-Tweed, whose 15 heifers averaged £1,751.

A British Blue heifer, from Liam Rodney (pictured middle with baby Ralph) and Katie-Anne Challis (right), Masham, which sold for £3,390 (600p/kg).

Pictured with judge Charles Ashbridge (left).

Left to right: Amy, James, John and Russell Peel, Glasshouses, with judge James Blenkhorn, with their champion lambs, which sold for £300 (576p/kg).

Pateley Bridge champion tops 600p/kg AT Pateley Bridge’s Christmas show and sale, the prime cattle were judged

by Charles Ashbridge, of Taste Tradition, Ripon. He awarded the championship to a British Blue heifer from 28 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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Liam Rodney and Katie-Anne Challis, Masham, which weighed 565kg and was bought for 600p/kg (£3,390) by Nick Dalby on behalf of Kendall’s Butchers, Pateley Bridge.

The prime lambs were judged by James Blenkhorn, on behalf of Yorkshire Halal Meat Suppliers, with the championship going to a pen of three 52kg Texels from Russell and Amy

Peel, Glasshouses, which went on to sell for £300/head (576p/kg) to the judge.

Auctioneers: Barnard Castle and Teesdale Farmers Auction Mart Co. farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 10:04

Mart’s the Heart Sales

● 188 butchers lambs averaged £173.65/head NOT only did the Leach family, Hebden Bridge, successfully retain the supreme prime lamb championship for the third year running at Skipton’s Farmers Guardian-supported Christmas showcase, but they also sold their 44kg Beltex cross trio for a record £800/head to James Robertshaw, of Robertshaw’s Farm Shop, Thornton.

Reserve lowland and reserve overall champions were 39kg three-quarter Beltex lambs from Anthony and Emma Thompson, Foulridge. They sold for £210/head to Claire Mellin on behalf of Cropper Family Butchers and Deli, Accrington, which also paid £240/ head for the young handlers champion, a 49kg black Beltex lamb from 11-yearold Isobel Thompson, who also received the Hannah Brown Memorial Trophy.

The untrimmed championship went to James Towler and Sammy Fawcett, Grindleton, with a 50kg Beltex cross Texel trio which made £210/ head to Hamlets Butchers, Garstang.

Clinching the hill lambs championship for the fourth year running were the Hutchinson family, Faceby, with a trio of 50kg Scottish Blackface wethers, which sold for £230/head to the judge, Ross Greenwood, of Craven Farm Butchers, Gargrave.

The 188 butchers lambs averaged £173.65/head or 391.1p/kg (SQQ 431.5p/kg).

Prime cattle A Limousin cross British Blue heifer from father and son, Francis and Andrew Smith, Masongill, took supreme honours in the prime cattle show and sale, while also realising the day’s top price of £4,565 (799.5p/kg) to co-judge Mr Robertshaw.

The 19-month-old 571kg heifer bred

by K. and A. Brown and by Limousin sire, Cloughhead Napoleon, earned them their first ever Christmas haltered fatstock crown followed by the champion female rosette and then overall victory.

Reserve champion went to John Stephenson, Bordley, with a 544kg Limousin cross heifer which sold for £2,499 (459.5p/kg) to Ross Greenwood, Craven Farm Butchers. farmersguardian.com

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PICTURES: ADRIAN LEGGE

Champion lambs set new Skipton record Members of the Leach family, Hebden Bridge, with their prime lamb champions which sold for £800/head, joined by judge Peter Briggs (second from the right), of Bowland Foods, Preston.

To find out where we will be next, go to farmersguardian.com/mth-roadshow

The Stephensons took the unhaltered championship with a 14-monthold 586kg British Blue heifer which sold for £2,399 (409.5p/kg) to Kitson and Sons Butchers for its north-east shops. Kitsons also paid £2,310 (384.5p/kg) for the unhaltered reserve champion, a 601kg heifer from the Baines family, Gisburn.

The champion steer, weighing 563kg, was from Jim and Christine Scriven, Elslack, and sold for £2,385 (424.5p/kg) to Craven Farm Butchers.

Reserve steer from June Dowie and Jennifer Hyslop, Settle, weighed in at 650kg and was knocked down for £2,414 (371.5p/kg) to Hartshead Meats, Mossley.

Cattle champion, a Limousin cross British Blue, from Francis and Andrew Smith, Masongill, which sold for £4,565 to James Robertshaw, Thornton.

Pigs Daniel Thackray, Fewston, retained the supreme pig title he won in 2023 and 2021 with three 90kg purebred Pietrain cutters which sold for the top price of 325p/kg (£292.50/head) to Mr Robertshaw.

The reserve champion rosette went to D. and A. Livestock, Harrogate, with their 116kg Large White trio shown by David Walmsley. They sold to Stephen Taylor, of W. Taylor and Son, Bamber Bridge, for 232p/kg (£269/head).

A total of 24 prime pigs with an average weight of 106.37kg levelled at £224.91/head (211.4p/kg).

Martin and Val Brown, Leyburn, clinched a supreme and reserve championship double in the lamb carcase competition with a brace of continental class-winning Beltex cross carcases.

The victor had a liveweight (LW) of 45kg, deadweight (DW) of 26.4kg, killing out (KO) percentage of 58.7% and AHDB grading of E3-, the reserve LW 36kg, DW 22.3kg, KO 61.9% and E2. The title winner topped the section at £620 (£23.48/kg) and the reserve made £500 (£22.42/kg), both to Cropper Family Butchers and Deli.

A total of 29 carcases, the majority Beltex, sold to an overall average of £208.98/head or £9.34/kg.

Pig champions, pure-bred Pietrain cutters, from Daniel Thackray, Fewston, which sold for 325p/kg to James Robertshaw, Thornton.

Martin and Val Brown (right) with their lamb carcase champion and reserve, joined by judge Gerald Medcalf and his grandson Henry Hitchen.

Auctioneers: CCM. DECEMBER 6 2024 | 29

04/12/2024 10:49

Sales

TOP STOCK Browse, sell, buy at FGBuyandSell.com

● Family’s supreme sells for £5,600

Brother, James, took the reserve ticket with the winning halter-led 640kg heifer, which made £4,100 to Hayden Lloyd, Wales.

AT the 154th Winslow Christmas primestock show and sale held in the town square, champion and reserve in the cattle section came from the Ludgate family, Leighton Buzzard.

Claiming the supreme title was the Young Farmers class winner, shown by Will Ludgate, a 704kg Limousin heifer which went on to sell for £5,600 (795p/kg) to the Bell Hotel, Winslow.

Steer Champion steer and best opposite sex to the champion went to Tarry and Todd, Lincolnshire, with a 698kg British Blue steer which sold for 360p/kg to the judge, Richard Taylor, Derbyshire.

The second prize winning 668kg heifer from J. Claridge, Middle Claydon, made 440p/kg, a 788kg steer

PICTURE: GREG KNIGHT

Ludgates win champion and reserve Supreme champion and Young Farmers class winner, a Limousin heifer, from the Ludgate family, Leighton Buzzard, which sold for £5,600.

from Frank Page, Northamptonshire, sold for 365p/kg, and a 678kg Aberdeen-Angus heifer, from Will Ketley, Colchester, made 400p/kg.

The champion lambs were a pen of four from W. Bartlett, Winslow, which sold for £290/head to Pak Mecca Meats, Birmingham, which also paid £220 for the reserve champions, four Beltex crosses from D.W. Gurney and Son, Milton Keynes.

The Young Farmers champion

THE prime cattle championship at York’s Christmas show and sale went to J.R. Johnson and Son, Terrington, with a 560kg home-bred Limousin heifer which went on to sell for £6/kg (£3,357.20) to the judge, Harry Bromwich, Haxby.

The reserve champion was a 620kg Limousin steer from Wagstaff Bros, Sutton-on-the-Forest, which made £4.10/kg (£2,538.90) to A. Laverack and Son, Holme-on-Spalding-Moor.

For the second year running the champion bull was from T.H. Kilby and Son, Thorp Arch, this time with a 620kg home-bred Limousin which sold for £4/kg (£2,476.90) to the Swales family, Knavesmire Butchers, York.

Reserve champion was a 746kg British Blue bull from S. Beachell and Son, Beswick. It made £3.80/kg (£2,831.07) to Ralph Pearson, Oakenshaw.

The winning black and white bull from Alan Sykes, Whixley, weighed 592kg and sold for £3.08p/kg (£1,820.40) to Bowland Foods, Preston.

A 678kg Aberdeen-Angus bull from

PICTURE: WAYNE HUTCHINSON

Limousin heifer claims York supreme

Supreme champion, a Limousin heifer, from J.R. Johnson and Son, Terrington, which sold for £6/kg (£3,357.20) to judge, Harry Bromwich, Haxby.

the Bailey family, Hemingfield, won the native class before selling for £3.01p/kg (£2,037.39) to J.A. Jewitt, Spennymoor.

Prime lambs topped at £210/head (404p/kg) for the winners of the heavyweight class, a pen of three Rouge cross Beltex from K. and A. and

lambs from A. Amor, Gloucester, were 47kg Texels which made £220/ head to the Bell Hotel.

AVERAGES 20 cattle, 410p/kg (£2,696.44); 360 lambs, SQQ 348p/kg (£160.70).

Auctioneers: Melton Mowbray Market.

Record show entry at Carlisle THERE was a record show entry of 121 prime cattle at Carlisle’s Christmas show and sale, where the championship went to a 602kg Limousin heifer from L. Hopwood, Cheshire.

It went on to sell for £3,130.40 (£5.20p/kg) to the judge, James Nisbet, Nisbet Family Butchers, Ayr. In reserve was the Young Farmers class winner, a 604kg Limousin cross heifer for Rachael Graham, Brampton, which sold for £5/kg (£3,020).

A 683kg Limousin heifer from Messrs Dent, Appleby, made £2,728.59, selling to R. and J.P. Mulholland Butchers, Great Orton.

Steers sold to £2,778.53 for a 795kg Aberdeen-Angus cross from Messrs Crichton, Egremont.

Winning native

E.E. Avis, Hensall, which sold to Knavesmire Butchers.

The second prize winners and reserve champions were a pen of three Beltex from Andrew Dobson, Holtby, which made £175/head to Harry Bromwich Family Butchers.

The winning native was a 592kg Galloway steer from Kilnstown Farm, Bewcastle, which sold for 333.5p/kg (£1,974.32) to Jewitt Meats, Spennymoor.

Top steer price per kilo was 365.5p for the winning British Blue cross from Messrs Park, Dalpeddar.

Auctioneers: York Auction Centre.

Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.

Working sheepdogs realise £14,800 high online for Kevin Evans’ Tilly KEVIN Evans, Brecon, topped Skipton’s online sale of working sheepdogs at £14,800 and also headed the unbroken prices at £2,300.

Sale topper was Tilly, a fully-trained 17-month-old white and tan bitch by the Swedish-bred dog, Middery Frank, which sold to Kenny Donald, Dalrymple.

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Carol Mellin, Oakworth, sold her February 2021-born black and white bitch, Pentre Bet, a daughter of Tanhill Glen, for £8,500 to Jock Sutherland, Durness.

Mr Evans also sold the 2022-born tri-coloured fully broken dog, Storybrooke Guy, for £7,000 to Lara Sander, Germany. His unbroken section leader

was Talley Roxy, a six-month-old red and white bitch by Thornbury Max, which made £2,300 to Meryl Evans, Corwen.

Topping the part-broken prices at £4,100 was David Wood, Derwent, with his May 2023-born black and white dog, Mirk, by Kevin Evans’ Kemi Bert, which went to Malcolm Wright, Buxton.

AVERAGES: Registered broken dogs, £3,822; registered broken bitches, £5,315; part-broken registered dogs, £2,200; part-broken registered bitches, £1,438; unbroken and pups, £1,650; 80% clearance.

Auctioneers: CCM. farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 14:31

Mart’s the Heart Sales

PICTURES: JOHN EVESON

Selling of the champion pen of sheep underway at Bakewell.

Judge Mathew Prince and Jane Bonsall, Ashbourne, with her medium weight class champions, which sold for 540p/kg to Rob Foster, Retford.

● 250 prime lambs entered into the show AT Bakewell’s Farmers Guardiansupported Christmas show and sale the show of livestock is held on Sunday afternoon alongside other festivities and a carol service, with the sale taking place on Monday.

Claiming the prime cattle championship and selling for the top price of 900p/kg (£5,814) was a home-bred black 646kg Limousin heifer from Tom and Jack Gratton, Riber, who were presented with the Devonshire Cup by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

The buyer of the champion was Ben Savage for his butcher’s shop in Sheffield.

The reserve champion was a 694kg black British Blue heifer from the Dickinson and Powdrill team, Mackworth, which went on to sell for 500p/kg to the co-judge, Laurie Ibbottson, Dovecote Park.

Best opposite sex to the champion was a 628kg British Blue-sired bullock from Michael Wynne, Mat-

To find out where we will be next, go to farmersguardian.com/mth-roadshow

Bakewell champion sells to 900p/kg high lock, which made 430p/kg (£2,700) to Woolley Bros, Sheffield.

The High Peak Livestock Society Cup was won by local store cattle exhibitor Jonathon Hall, Longnor, with a 534kg red Limousin heifer which sold for the day’s second top price of 550p/ kg (£2,937) to Ian Meakin, Leek.

The winner of the young handlers class was 17-year-old Ruby Astley.

Prime lambs There were 250 prime lambs in front of the judge, Matthew Prince, Stonedge, who awarded the championship to Jane Bonsall, Ashbourne, whose medium weight class winners, 46kg lambs, sold for 540p/kg (£248.40/ head) to Rob Foster, Retford.

The winning lightweight lambs weighing 41kg from M.F. Wayne and S. Allen, Thorpe, made 360p/kg to A.J. Green and Sons, Stokeon-Trent.

D. Fotherby and Sons, Wormhill,

From left: Jack and Tom Gratton, Riber, with their champion prime beef animal, a Limousin cross heifer, which sold for 900p/kg, with buyers Harry Singleton and Ben Savage, of Savage Butchers, Sheffield.

sold the winning heavyweights, 49.2kg lambs for 368p/kg to Mr Meakin.

M. Najib and Sons, Foston, paid 294p/ kg for the winning 39.4kg native lambs

from G. Ford, Whaley Bridge, and 298p/kg for the winning 55.4p/kg Mule lambs from R. and L. White, Ashbourne.

Auctioneers: Bagshaws.

Buyers gathered in the ring as the cattle champion went under the hammer.

Auctioneer Oliver Hiles farmersguardian.com

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DECEMBER 6 2024 | 31

04/12/2024 15:43

FGBuyandSell.com

Grants Special

Edited by Rachael Brown rachael.brown@agriconnect.com 07974 039 778

This special takes a look at delays to Defra’s Capital Grants, blending public and private finance, and upcoming funding options for farmers in Wales and Scotland in 2025.

34 CAPITAL

35 SCOTLAND

Funding advice for farmers and crofters

36 FINANCE

Opportunities of blending public and private finance

PICTURE: GETTY

Impact of the Capital Grant scheme being put on hold

37 WALES

Government funding for Welsh farmers in 2025

Defra has been urged to adopt a ‘transparent, consistent approach to agricultural support’ which genuinely reflects the needs of rural Britain.

Farmers ready to deliver, but need ‘tools and trust’ to do so

T

he farming industry has called for ‘immediate clarity’ from Defra on future funding plans, adding it is vital that Defra adopts a ‘transparent, consistent approach to agricultural support’ which genuinely reflects the needs of rural Britain.

National Sheep Association policy manager Emma Owen said if the Government was serious about its environmental and food security ambitions, it ‘must invest in the people at the heart of these goals’.

“Farmers are ready to deliver, but they need the tools and trust to do so,” Ms Owen said.

Agricultural adviser and owner of SRH Agribusiness Simon Haley said the recent Budget announcement seemed to be ‘taking a direct aim at farmers across the scale’.

“From Inheritance Tax to Basic

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Payment Scheme delinking payment reductions, the fact that Capital Grant scheme offers are now on hold is the cherry on the top of an otherwise unwanted cake for the industry.

“It leaves the industry now seriously wondering how stories coming out of Defra swing from a £358 million underspend of the agriculture budget for the past three years in one vein, to there potentially not being enough in the pot to fund Capital Grants that ‘achieve specific environmental benefits’.

“All while the Sustainable Farming Incentive [SFI] is lauded as a way to take up practices that ‘protect and benefit the environment, and support food production’,” he said, adding it was ‘just another day in Whitehall’.

The advice from the agri-consultancy team at Knight Frank was to ‘be ready’. Farmers should do what they can now to prepare and set out

objectives for the year ahead. Whether they need to apply for planning permission for a diversification or infrastructure project, or plan detailed hedgerow or tree planting schedules for the SFI.

Act now Simon Britton, head of agri-consultancy at Knight Frank, said: “It can often take months to put local authority consents in place, and the same for banks to approve funding for these projects.

Although we do not yet know when all the grant funding schemes will reopen or quite what they will look like, my advice would be to start acting now to make the grant application process smoother when it is available.”

North of England rural property agency H&H Land and Estates said it had raised ‘serious concerns following the Labour Government’s recent sus-

pension of all Capital Grants’, a decision which has left farmers across the country facing ‘increased uncertainty’.

The Rural Payments Agency has halted grant offers, indicating budget pressures due to a surge in applications, but has provided ‘no communication or guidance to advisers, applicants or farmers’.

H&H Land and Estates said the suspension affected a ‘wide range of onfarm investments that grants have previously supported’, including silage clamps, slurry stores, dry stone walls, fencing and new hedges, adding these grants have been ‘integral to helping farmers meet environmental standards and daily working practices’.

It said the delay was ‘compounding the uncertainty in the agricultural sector, preventing essential investments in environmental stewardship and farm infrastructure’.

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Grants

Pause on Capital Grant items sends out ‘mixed messages’

F

armers must be told of Labour’s complete plans for the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes if they are to be allowed to plan effectively, the NFU has urged.

According to the union’s senior countryside adviser, Claire Robinson, the promises of a simple and smooth transition from legacy schemes felt like something that was yet to materialise for farmers awaiting news on what comes next from Government.

The call comes after Defra announced 76 Capital Grant items for farmers would be ‘temporarily closed’ to new applications due to ‘unprecedented demand’ and a need for funding to be ‘prioritised to where it is most needed’.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) confirmed it would continue to accept new applications for woodland tree health grants; Capital Grant plans and management plans to support the development of a new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement; as well as protection and infrastructure grants and higher tier grants to help support the delivery of ‘high-value environmental benefits – such as rewetting peat’.

Ms Robinson said farmers had engaged with stewardship Capital Grants which support environmental delivery, ‘to only find the application window is suddenly closed for a review’.

“Many are waiting for decisions on applications submitted several months ago. This has created uncertainty and gives mixed messages to those embracing ELMs.” Dorset organic dairy and beef farmer Sam Vincent applied for the hedgelaying and planting agroforestry tree funding options, only to realise he had made a mistake.

He said: “I rang the RPA on the Monday to ask them to reject that application so I could then redo and add the tree guarding option on. Of course by then it all had been put on pause, which is typical. I cannot do much about it now.”

Mr Vincent said he may need to look at funding tree planting and tree guarding himself or explore private options.

“Capital Grants should have continued to have payments capped in order to remain available to a wider group of applicants.

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Funding for tree planting and hedgelaying will be affected by the hold on Capital Grant applications.

“It is disappointing that those of us who support the Government’s new Sustainable Farming Incentive actions, such as agroforestry, now face no funding to carry out the planting and guarding of the trees.

Hedge planting and hedgelaying season is getting underway [but] unfortunately it looks like there is no funding and [it is] likely to be halted for 12 months – more delays.”

Sudden blow NFU deputy president David Exwood said the ‘sudden closure’ of many of the Capital Grant applications came as a ‘real blow’ to its farming members, many of whom rely on these grants to ‘achieve their environmental ambitions’.

He said: “The messaging of this is confusing – farmers and growers are being asked to adopt measures to improve the environment, but have been left in the lurch without access to the key grant schemes which will enable them to do this.

“With applications timed specifi-

cally to fit in with the farming year and enterprise activities, and no confirmation that all applications already in the system will progress, it is incredibly frustrating and unhelpful that members will receive no further information until next year.

“The whole agricultural transition has lurched from one crisis to another. This is only the latest scenario where Defra has failed to provide clarity and certainty.”

The National Sheep Association (NSA) described Defra’s announcement as ‘deeply concerning’, especially at such a critical time when sustainable farming and nature recovery ‘demand urgent and sustained investment’.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: “The abrupt suspension of the Capital Grants is a further betrayal of commitments to support rural livelihoods and environmental stewardship.

“Farmers are the custodians of our landscapes and biodiversity.

This withdrawal jeopardises their

ability to deliver vital environmental benefits while maintaining food production. It undermines confidence in Government support and sends the wrong message to those striving to achieve net zero and sustainable farming goals.”

Details Ms Robinson added there was also ‘a lot of fog’ around the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (and the outstanding 14 SFI endorsed actions) offer, which she hoped would start to ‘lift’ with more details expected to be published by Defra later this month.

“Whatever the actual timeline for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier applications, it is certain no-one will be applying in January.

Higher Tier actions require input from Natural England or Forestry Commission advisers to develop bespoke management requirements. That will take a month or two. The publication of the Higher Tier offer will at least allow that activity to start.”

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03/12/2024 10:14

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Grants

S

cotland’s Farm Advisory Service has outlined funding advice available for Scottish farmers and crofters to help ‘enhance their farming businesses, improve profitability, output and sustainability’.

FARM ADVISORY SERVICE (FAS) IF you have specific areas of interest or concern, FAS offers farmers and crofters Government-funded specialist advice which could support farmers and crofters in building a sustainable and profitable business.

Farmers can choose from 13 topics, including woodland management and creation, soil and nutrient management, animal welfare and holistic plans for crofters.

FAS said almost ‘1,500 farming and crofting businesses’ took advantage of this support in the last year.

The benefits shared by users included better planning and decisionmaking, financial improvements and livestock and crop enhancements.

Daye Tucker, of Carbeth Home Farm, who received specialist advice from

Funding for Scotland WHOLE FARM PLAN IF you are a farmer or crofter in Scotland and looking to receive Basic Payment Scheme payments, FAS said you must ‘demonstrate preparations for the Whole Farm Plan by May 15, 2025’.

It said you will need to start carrying out ‘at least two plans or audits for your business, which are intended to review and baseline your current land

FAS, said: “It helped me to focus at a time when farming is going through enormous challenges.”

FAS said the Scottish Government funds two specialist advice options per business, ‘with up to £3,200 available to help you address weaknesses and improve profitability, output, or sustainability’.

CARBON AUDITS

and livestock management practices’.

Options include a carbon audit, biodiversity audit, soil analysis, animal health and welfare plan or an integrated pest management plan.

In addition, farmers and crofters in Scotland will need to demonstrate that they are ‘considering appropriate actions and/or management changes specific to their business that can be implemented’ to ensure their ‘future agricultural activities are sustainable and deliver Scotland’s visions for agriculture’.

FURTHER SUPPORT FOR additional information on the requirements of the Whole Farm Plan, FAS encourages businesses to refer to the following resources: ■ How to Get Started with

FAS said the announcement of the Whole Farm Plan requirements had caused a ‘surge in demand for carbon audits’, which can be implemented to meet agricultural businesses’ 2025 baseline.

Due to the volume of demand in the last five months, the FAS carbon audit scheme has been paused to allow for the delivery of audits. However, it said funding was still available for businesses to conduct a carbon audit through Preparing for Sustainable Farming.

Carbon Audits – Information helping farmers in Scotland: fas.scot ■ Preparing for Sustainable Farming: ruralpayments.org ■ Preparing for the Future – Helping farmers in Scotland: fas.scot

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Grants

Blending of public and private finance ‘feels slow’

T

he ‘blending of public and private finance’ for agriculture is a popular Government phrase, but progress towards achieving that blend feels ‘slow’.

That was the message from policy analyst at Savills Rural Research, Jennifer Hawkes, who said with a tax-payer-backed agricultural budget of just £2.4 billion, private funding opportunities were ‘undoubtedly a developing area’.

However, as Ms Hawkes cautioned, those opportunities may not yet have reached a ‘suitable level of maturity to provide a meaningful source of funding to the industry’.

Ms Hawkes said there was ‘real scope’ for the private sector to make a ‘meaningful contribution’ to the agriculture sector as it transitions away from the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), but it was ‘not obvious where the opportunities lie for farming businesses’.

She said: “In the next few years, mobilisation of private funding will be key. As supply chains become legally bound to improve their sustainability, they will need to do more to support and incentivise changes in farming practices.

“But perhaps more direction is required from the Government to kickstart a broader range of activity.”

The changes to agricultural and business property relief announced in the Chancellor’s Budget, Ms Hawkes said, ‘overshadowed’ a more immediate threat to farms’ balance sheets: ‘a sharp and sudden reduction in BPS de-linked payments in 2025’.

Jennifer Hawkes 36

| December 6, 2024

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The private sector may offer an opportunity for funding to some farmers.

She said, in the new year, reference amounts (average of BPS claim in 2020, 2021 and 2022) over £30,000 will be reduced by 100%.

Below this point, they will be reduced by 76%, capping the maximum de-linked payment at £7,200.

In response, Ms Hawkes believes farming businesses may seek to ‘bridge the gap with alternative Government grants’ such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship (CS), but also explore what opportunities are available via private funding.

Incentives She highlighted incentives offered by water companies to improve water quality in catchment areas, including Severn Trent’s environmental protection scheme, STEPS. “The scheme offers various options to encourage environmentally beneficial management and improve water quality,” she said.

“Examples include fully funded stock fencing near watercourses in areas with cryptosporidium risk (50% funding elsewhere), £30,000 grants for creating pesticide washdown areas and various payments for cover crops and grassland.”

She also highlighted an innovation grant of up to £7,500 offered by Anglian Water, which is aimed at reducing

the financial burden of implementing on-farm measures to reduce pesticide and nutrient runoff and soil erosion.

Ms Hawkes said: “Some are designed to prevent double payment for the same actions, meaning they cannot be combined with payments from the SFI or other Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes for identical work.

“Instead, they serve as an alternative rather than a supplementary topup. However, certain actions within these schemes are unique and fall outside the scope of ELM, thereby presenting additional funding opportunities.”

Ms Hawkes also highlighted initiatives which exist within the supply chain in the form of training rather than financial incentives, ‘supporting farmers in the transition to sustainable practices, ultimately to benefit the optics of supply chain sustainability’.

She said these schemes offered a chance for farmers to ‘upskill for free’, fostering an understanding of sustainable practices, which would ‘enable them to achieve the most value from future ELM offerings’.

“What is increasingly clear is that it pays to be sustainable in the post-Common Agricultural Policy world. A premium is available for regeneratively farmed wheat, banks offer preferential rates to those who are farming sustain-

ably, and Government schemes reward environmental practices.”

Ms Hawkes said as the decrease in de-linked payments hits, it was evident ‘there would be no cut-and-paste replacement for the schemes of the past’.

“While a change to sustainable practices can be supported by the schemes and initiatives mentioned above, it remains a large, and rather expensive gear change for many; often requiring new equipment, training and an initial hit to yields in transitional years,” she said.

Roadmap Defra Secretary Steve Reed announced a 25-year farming roadmap when he addressed delegates at the CLA conference last month, and Ms Hawkes said she expects the sustainability theme to continue.

She said: “It is clear the future of farming hinges on adaptability and innovation, and while the path forward may be challenging, the opportunities for those who embrace sustainable practices are vast.

“The key to thriving in this new landscape will be leveraging every available resource, from Government grants to private funding, to ensure farming businesses not only survive, but flourish in a rapidly evolving agricultural environment.”

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03/12/2024 16:44

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Grants

Final call for Welsh funds

F

armers in Wales are being urged to move quickly if they intend to apply for any remaining grant schemes.

That was the message from senior policy adviser at the Farmers’ Union of Wales Rebecca Voyle, who said while Welsh Government funding schemes in 2025 would focus on preparing for the launch of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) in 2026, some schemes such as Growing for the Environment remained open for applications, but farmers had only until December 13 to apply.

She said the scheme provided support for the ‘establishment of a range of crops to be planted in the spring and summer of 2025, including mixed leys, protein crops and unsprayed cereals’.

Alongside this is the Small Grants Horticulture Start Up scheme which

closes on January 10, 2025 . It provides ‘funding to support entry into the horticulture sector’ either as a ‘diversification within an existing agricultural business or as a standalone new enterprise’.

The Agricultural Diversification and Horticulture Scheme is also open for applications until January 17, 2025, and is ‘available to farmers and existing horticultural producers to support the development and establishment of agricultural diversification and commercial horticultural enterprises’.

In 2025, farmers with habitat on their land will be able to apply for the Habitat Wales Scheme. Ms Voyle said the application process would be via the 2025 Single Application Form, but those intending to apply would ‘need to comply with the scheme rules from January 1, 2025’. She said existing Habitat Wales Scheme Commons

Various schemes to support farming businesses are open for applications in Wales.

agreement holders would have the opportunity to extend their agreement until December 31, 2025.

For the organic sector, she said the Organic Support Payment would be maintained for 2025, with claims being made via the 2025 Single Application Form.

In terms of small grants, the Small Grants – Environment scheme will open between January 13 and February 21, 2025, and ‘provide funding for actions such as hedgerow restoration and creation’.

Ms Voyle added the Small Grants – Efficiency scheme would once again be open for applications between March 3 and April 11, 2025, offering

funding ‘to help farm businesses improve their technical, financial and environmental performance’.

In addition, funding is available through the Woodland Creation Planning Scheme, which remains open for applications for ‘large woodland planting areas or for those areas which are not suitable for the Small Grants – Woodland Creation scheme’.

As part of the SFS preparatory phase in 2025, £14 million has recently been committed to a number of these schemes, but Ms Voyle said the industry awaited confirmation of funding for the Basic Payments, Organic Support and Habitat Wales schemes, and the associated SFS budget and payments.

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Published March 21, 2025 Call 01772 7995

Advertising opportunities now available in our

GRANTS SPECIAL

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Edited by Alex Black alex.black@agricon nect.com 01772 799 409

In this special, we take farmers and the frus a look at the grants available to trations over uncerta inty and delays.

The extended timelines by the Rural Payments issued Agency and Defra to the Sustainable Farming Incentive have deepened farmers’ distrust.

Farmers’ distrust deepens over SFIin RPA delays

By Rachael Brown

K

Get your brand seen by decision makers, influencers, farm owners and managers!

opportunities within the scheme which could appeal The start of the ‘controlled eeping up to speed to some farmers in roll-out’ and landowners. for SFI was promised its computer systems. shifting landscapethis for the end In SFI22 it of Mr Mullins said: “We of August, but that appeared that this future farming payments has since been had prepare for one thing and then postponed to Septembe but now the RPA has been resolved, is a challenge for reverted to paper many r 18. does not happen. it is delayed or applications. This means farmers and landowners If .

Sudden change The extended timelines the RPA cancelled you missed it, associations will not that common s all previous SFI issued by the Rural Payments agreements with no Mr Mullins said: for SFI until later be able to apply warning to enable Agency (RPA) “These sudden in the and Defra to the Sustainable it to provide its new changes in dates October, if not November-year, at least 2023 and schemes do Farming Incentive (SFI) have “This has certainly offer. not help give us The RPA hoped to December.” confidence in the not been the have an online ers’ distrust – the deepened farmsmooth RPA system transition – the exact thing available in very thing both of the these Government for, but the 2023 RPA had hoped to restore. It makes they are trying but Mr Mullins said spring 2024, bodies are desperoffer does seem it ately trying to restore. good, with more provide assurance very difficult to wait and see’, adding‘we will have to actions available to clients that this that he would This was the message for applicants to will not happen again.” continue to help prepare choose, although from H&H applications Land and Estates why it has scrapped Despite this, he said and ‘put pressure’ chartered survthe on the eyor and environme ards’ remains a mystery.”name ‘standpositive to take away, there was one All these issues aside,RPA. nt adviser, Nick Mr Mullins Mullins, who criticised Deadlines and dates the application processsuggesting that believed SFI could appeared to be have also ing of the ‘standards the scrappshifted last minute ‘less onerous’ compared option’ for some prove a ‘better too. farmers than to previous within SFI and the ’ terminology deadline was extended The Mid-Tier grant application Countryside Stewardsh s. But this was with by four weeks, of further delays. announcement a day before the application the exception of common agreements only being ip (CS), with for three years, s had to land.

But despite the ongoing be submitted, after making it more appealing what were said problems for tenant Struggle with SFI, he insisted to have been technical farmers in particular. there were still the RPA online system. issues with “It has long been known “The restrictions and the RPA has requirements struggled to map for each option are common land on less prescriptive, enabling farmers to deliver the action

Advertising Deadline: March 18 Speak to Katie O’Hagan today and start converting our readers to your customers.

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Farmers Guardian

CHRISTMAS DEADLINES Issue: Friday 20 December Copy deadline: Wednesday 18th Dec 11am th

Issue: Friday 27th December Copy deadline: Thursday 19th Dec 11am

Leek Smithfield • Barnfields • Leek • Staffordshire • ST13 5PY • www.leekmarket.co.uk

Market Results Dairies to £2940, Clean 620p/kg - £3937, Pigs 530p/kg - £495.55, Calves BB Bull to £430, Barrens 224p/kg - £1545.60, Lambs 1300p/kg - £617.50, Ewes £300

Store Cattle Sales 400 STORE CATTLE THIS SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER 2024 Store Sheep Sales

01278SHEEP 410250 | livestock SALE OF STORE LAMBS & BREEDING Issue: Friday 3rd January 2025 - SEDGEMOOR AUCTION CENTRE PETHERTON, SOMER SATURDAY 14TH DECEMBER NORTH 2024 – Entries Invited Copy deadline: Monday 30th Dec 11am

PLEASE NOTE The Farmers Guardian office will be closed from Friday 20th December, will re-open for one day on Monday 30th December and will remain closed until Thursday 2nd January 2025

Penrith Auction Mart 01768 864700 Wednesday 11th December 8am – Sale of Cast Ewes and Rams followed at 10.30am with Prime Lambs (Prime Lamb ballot 10.30am) Monday 16th December Sale of Feeding Bulls and Store Cattle of all classes Entries close noon Monday 9th December Monday 16th December

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SEDGEMOOR AUCTION CENTRE

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Sale of Store Lambs of all classes Entries close Monday 9th December

42

Fat/Barrens: Graham Watkins 07976 370894 Dairies: Meg Elliott 07967 007049 Stores: Mark Elliott 07973 673092 Sheep: Robert Watkins 07929 946652 Visit us at www.leekauctions.co.uk

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Regulated by RICS

160 DAIRY CATTLE

★ Holstein Friesians, Montbeliarde X, Brown Swiss X, Scandinavian Red X, Jersey X ★ ★ 140 Milking Cows and Heifers ★ 16 In-calf Heifer ★ ★ Cubicles ★ Herringbone Parlour ★ MARKET DRAYTON MARKET LTD GWILYM RICHARDS & CO LTD 01630 652 926 | ★ marketdraytonmarket.co.uk grichards.co.uk Young Herd – 107 Lacts 1 to 3 ★| 01600 860 300 Jonty Cliffe 07595 453 306 Gwilym Richards 07768 020 393 ★ 8,000L 4.30F 3.50P cc120 ★ 07774 816 384 dairy@barbers-auctions.co.uk Jason Brown Catalogues by post on application only For F G Smith & Son info@grichards.co.uk

MONDAY 16th DECEMBER (10.30am) AT MARKET DRAYTON MARKET, TF9 3SW (moved from Ash Parva, Whitchurch for sale convenience DISPERSAL SALE OF THE ASHWOOD FARM HERD

280 DAIRY CATTLE

★ 150 Holstein Friesian Milking Cows and Heifers ★ ★ 130 Holstein Friesian & Montbeliarde X Followers ★ ★ Cubicles ★ Herringbone Parlour ★ ★ 6,500L 4.40F 3.25P cc180 ★ For C & P Allen MARKET DRAYTON MARKET LTD 01630 652 926 | marketdraytonmarket.co.uk Jonty Cliffe 07595 453 306 dairy@barbers-auctions.co.uk Catalogues by post on application only

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FRIDAY 13th DECEMBER (11am) AT MARKET DRAYTON MARKET, TF9 3SW (moved from Norton, Gloucester for sale convenience) DISPERSAL SALE OF THE NORTON COURT FARM HERD

015 015

GWILYM RICHARDS & CO LTD grichards.co.uk | 01600 860 300 Gwilym Richards 07768 020 393 Jason Brown 07774 816 384 info@grichards.co.uk

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015 015

December 6, 2024 |

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FGBuyandSell.com Auctions

Mark Lee: 07980924179 Simon Lamb: 07815 188125 Ryan Spackman: 07725 653542 Mark@nortonandbrooksbank.com THURSDAY 12TH DECEMBER (10:00AM) PARK HILL DAIRY DISPERSAL PARK HILL FARM, HALFORD, SHIPSTON-ON-STOUR, WARWICK, CV36 5DQ Complete dispersal sale on behalf of Long Partners following the recent sale of the farm. Sale consists of almost 280 cows in milk together with youngstock and machinery. Herd is all year calving but note that over 80 sell fresh in the last few weeks! Holstein herd but with many of the younger cows being first cross Monty or Viking Red. Super robust cattle capable of fitting all systems. Currently 9500kg on simple grass/ maize TMR with modest concentrates. Access to Summer grazing. Note the constituents of 4.7% fat & 3.7% protein SCC110!!

Over 130 of the milkers sell in their 1st lactation! All cows cubicle housed and milked 2x daily. Very good health status with recent full herd clear TB test. Catalogues available by request and via our website. Sale pictures & info on our Facebook page. INCLUDED - ‘20 KEENAN 400 MECH-FIBRE DIET FEEDER, ‘19 REDROCK 4000G SLURRY TANKER C/W7.5M FOLDING TRAILED SHOE, FARMHAND 4M GRASS DRILL, KUHN TRIPLE MOWERS, CALF TEL HUTCHES, SHEAR GRAB, LIVESTOCK EQUIPMENT. LIVE ON MARTEYE.

TUESDAY 17TH DECEMBER (11:00AM) THE WILTOR “WINTER MILK EXTRAVAGANZA” CHURCH FARM, WILCRICK, MAGOR, MONMOUTHSHIRE, NP26 3DA Featuring the entire July – December calving portion of the renowned WILTOR herd, the property of D W & C E Jones. Probably the most exciting sale of ‘24 and contains 100 head of which 60 top class milkers sell in full production together with select youngstock from the very best of Wiltor. Many milkers sell giving 40 – 60kg! Whether looking for top class, young tank fillers or the next show winner or a world renowned pedigree to add to your herd, this sale contains a multitude of all of them! Very rare opportunity to purchase cattle of this calibre.

Make plans to join us for this special sale and open house – promises to be a great day out! Live on Marteye! Transport available to all parts of the UK! Catalogue and sale pictures on Facebook. Further details next week.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR SALE INFO & PICTURES!

Brockholes Arms

...Yorkshire’s Friendly Mart

Auction Mart

Claughton On Brock, Preston PR3 0PH

01995 640280 www.garstangmart.co.uk Auctioneer: Tom Greenow 07572 249983

BARNARD CASTLE AUCTION MART

Tuesday 10th December, 2024

TUESDAY 10TH DECEMBER

Christmas Show & Sale of Store Cattle & Calves

Sale of 35 OTM Cattle, 8 Breeding Cattle

9.00 a.m 1000 Prime Lambs & Cast Sheep

25 Feeding Bulls & 260 Store cattle

WEDNESDAY 11TH DECEMBER

Show Cattle to be penned by 9.30 a.m.

Sale at 10am

Dedicated Slaughter Market

10.30 a.m. Sale of 100 Store Cattle

PATELEY BRIDGE AUCTION MART

CHRISTMAS SHOW OF PRIME PIGS & SHEEP

Show Calves to be penned by 10.30a.m.

TOMORROW SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER

11.30 a.m. 60/80 Rearing Calves, Weanlings & Stirks

CHRISTMAS PRIZE SHOW & SALE OF

Last store sale before Christmas SALE OF STORE CATTLE, SHEEP & PIGS Pigs 9am Sheep 9.45am Cattle 10.45am

350 Prime Cattle 300 Prime Sheep 185 Prime Pigs Pigs 9am Sheep 9.45am Cattle 10.30am *ALL SALES SUBJECT TO CURRENT BLUE

Wednesday 11th December, 2024

50 OTM Cattle 20 Feeding Bulls & 140 Store Cattle

10.30 a.m. Sale of Cast Cows & OTM Cattle

Sale at 11am

TONGUE RESTRICTIONS* Contact Office for Details

Followed by TB Exempt Cattle Wednesday 18th December, 2024 Christmas Show & Sale of Dairy Cattle Entries for Catalogue close 10.00 a.m. 12th December Thursday 19th December, 2024 6.00 p.m. Dressed Poultry Sale See Website For Full Show Schedule www.garstangmart.co.uk

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SATURDAY 14TH DECEMBER Sale of OTM Cattle, Feeding Bulls & Store Cattle Sale at 11am For catalogues for all the above sales visit our website www.barnardcastleauctionmart.co.uk Tel Libby Bell Auctioneer on 07818435728

MART OFFICE: 703347 FRIDAY 20TH01757 DECEMBER RICHARD HAIGH: 07768 594535 DRESSED POULTRY SALE 5PM www.selbymart.co.uk Turkeys, Chickens, Geese and Ducks ********************************* Contact Office for Details MART OFFICE: 01757 703347 RICHARD HAIGH 07768 594535 www.selbymart.co.uk

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04/12/2024 15:51:17

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today Auctions

SKIPTON AUCTION MART for details of all our properties visit

www.jonespeckover.co.uk Chartered Surveyors • Auctioneers • Land & Estate Agents

FOR SALE BY INFORMAL TENDER CAE HOEDEN, CEUNANT, CAERNARFON, GWYNEDD, LL55 4HX

The sale of Cae Hoeden offers potential purchasers an exciting opportunity. Lot 1 comprises of 119.79 acres or thereabouts of land including a substantial character farmhouse in need of renovation and modernisation plus a range of farm buildings (mainly traditional). Lot 2, on the other hand, extends to 19.95 acres or thereabouts of land including a traditional farm building with Lot 3 extending to 4.69 acres or thereabouts of land only.

Lot 1: £1,000,000 to £1,300,000 Lot 2: £170,000 to £240,000 Lot 3: £30,000 to £60,000 Informal Tenders to hand by no later than 13th January 2025 (12 noon) Please contact our Menai Bridge office on 01248 362524 or visit our website, Rightmove or OnTheMarket A list of partners is available at any of our offices / Mae rhestr gyflawn o’r partneriaid ar gael yn ein swyddfeydd: Offices at: Wrexham • Denbigh • Abergele • Menai Bridge • St.Asaph Livestock Market

www.jonespeckover.co.uk

CLITHEROE AUCTION MART www.auctionmart.co.uk • T:01200 423325 Jeremy: 07815 727993 • George: 07412 165873

WEEKLY Tuesday 10th December PRIMESTOCK 12.30pm - Prime Lambs & SALE+HILL XMAS Cull Ewes, Hill Xmas Lamb SHOW & Ewe Show- Pens of 4 Judging 11.30am ONLINE Thurs 12th – Sat 14th MACHINERY SALE December Viewing of items Thurs 12th, Fri 13th 9am-4pm and Sat 14th 9am-12noon FORTNIGHTLY STORE CATTLE SALE + CALVES/ STIRKS Thursday 12th December 12.30pm Sale of Young Bulls, Store Heifers & Steers.

Rearing calves 12 noon To include Christmas Store Cattle show Classes for Bulls, Heifers, & Steers Under/ Over 12months + Calf Show DRESSED Friday 20th December POULTRY SALE 4pm- Sale of Turkeys, Geese & Capons

FGbuyandsell.com

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HAWES, NORTH YORKSHIRE, DL8 3NP 01969 667207 www.hawesmart.co.uk Friday 6th December 10:30am Catalogued Sale of 1011 Store Lambs Tuesday 10th December Christmas Show & Sale of Prime Lambs Classes for pairs Bel & Tex, other breeds pens of 5 Judging 8:30am Sale 10am Sponsored by Hammonds Butchers, Ms Tophams, & Northern Fallen Stock Ltd 400 Cast Ewes & Rams Christmas Show & Sale of Calves.

Judging 10am Sale 10:30am Sponsored by Genus Breeding & Wensleydale Creamery.

(Shows for regular vendors only) Friday 20th December 10:30am Catalogued Sale of 1000 Store Lambs Entries close Thursday 12th December 10am Saturday 18th January 2025 Show & Sale of Individual Registered Ewes & Gimmer Lambs on behalf of the Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Assoc and on behalf of the Swaledale Sheep Breeders Assoc, also Sale of other Individual Pedigree Females Entries close 30th December.

Tuesday 18th February Show & Sale of Prime Lambs for Young Farmers for the JW Cockett & Son Shield.

Sponsored by Lane End Farm Shop

NORTH WEST AUCTIONS LIVESTOCK AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS www.nwauctions.co.uk

info@nwauctions.co.uk

LANCASTER AUCTION MART Tel: 01524 63308

Every Monday: 10am PRIME LAMBS & CAST SHEEP ------------------------------

Every Friday: 10:15am 150 CAST / OTM CATTLE 10:15am 100 REARING CALVES & WEANLINGS 11:15am 300 STORE CATTLE

—————————————————————————————–————

Friday 13th December Christmas Show of Rearing Calves & Pairs of Store Cattle

J36 RURAL AUCTION CENTRE

Tel: 015395 66200 Every Tuesday: 1pm PRIME LAMBS & CAST SHEEP —————————————————————————————–————

Thursday 12th December Christmas Show of Calves 10am 150 REARING CALVES & WEANLINGS 10:30am 100 CAST/OTM CATTLE 11:15am STIRKS & STORE CATTLE -----------------------------

Tuesday 17th December ALL CLASSES OF PIGS -----------------------------

Thursday 19th December 10am Special Additional Sale of REARING CALVES 10:30am 5000 STORE LAMBS Catalogue Entries by Wednesday 11th December ------------------------------

Saturday 21st December 10:30am DRESSED POULTRY -----------------------------

Friday 27th December PRIME LAMBS & CAST SHEEP -----------------------------

Saturday 4th January PEDIGREE SHEEP DAY Society Sale for Beltex, Badger Face Texel & Dutch Spotted In Lamb Ewes & Empty Gimmer Hoggs.

Catalogue Entries by Friday 6th December

Telephone: 01756 792375 www.ccmauctions.com

Auctioneers: Jeremy Eaton - 07747 780481 Ted Ogden - 07855 958211 Kyle Hawksworth - 07538 539077 Matthew Middleton – 07860 659803 Monday 9th December Sale of CALVES Sale 10.30am Entries & Enquiries to Kyle PRIME, CAST & FEEDING CATTLE Sale 11.30am (TB exempt section available) SALE OF PRIME LAMBS - Sale 12.30pm followed by CAST EWES, RAMS & GOATS DAIRY CATTLE Final Dairy Sale of 2024 Circa 20-25 fresh cows and heifers inc. 12 fresh heifers from Messrs Baines Carriver herd at East Rounton following private herd dispersal Entries & Enquiries to Sarah 07710795585 Wednesday 11th December 3,456 STORE LAMBS & FEEDING EWES Inc Addingham Sheep Breeders Annual Charity Show & Sale of Mule Wether Lambs Sale 10.00am Main Ring Saturday 14th December STIRKS, WEANED/SUCKLED CALVES, BREEDING & CULL GOATS, STORE & BREEDING SHEEP Inc XMAS SHOW FOR BEST BULL, BEST STEER, BEST HEIFER (Entries close Monday 2nd December) Agricultural Themed 293 BORDER FINE ARTS & BESWICK PIECES & New Sale of AGRICULTURAL THEMED VINTAGE TOYS & COLLECTABLES Viewing from 9.00am Sale 10.00am PEDIGREE SHEEP Annual Winter Show & Sale of 23 PEDIGREE TEXEL FEMALES Sale 10.30am followed by 13 PEDIGREE BELTEX FEMALES 18 PEDIGREE BLUE TEXEL FEMALES & 150 WINTER SHOW STARS Sale approx. 11.30am Annual Winter Collective Sale of 150 Beltex/Texel Females (Enquiries to Ted Ogden 07855 958211) CRAVEN FEATHER AUCTIONS Christmas Show & Sale of POULTRY, WATERFOWL, HATCHING EGGS & EQUIPMENT Judging 10.30am Sale 11.00am Wednesday 18th December Sale of FEEDING BULLS, PRIME CATTLE, BEEF FEEDING COWS, STORE & BREEDING CATTLE (Entries close Wednesday 11th December) Monday 23rd December Annual Sale of OVEN READY POULTRY Pre-Entered Birds Only

December 6, 2024 |

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04/12/2024 13:44:34

FGBuyandSell.com Annual Christmas sale of

FARMSTOCK AUCTIONEERS, BROKERS & VALUERS BORDERWAY INLAMB FAIR

BORDERWAY MART, CARLISLE

Friday 13th December – approx. 1.30pm

Tel: 01228 406200

Including from the TERCROSSET flock

BORDERWAY BLACK & WHITE

20 Texel & Texel x Beltex gimmers and

THE UK’S PREMIER ELITE DAIRY SALE 95 WORLD CLASS LOTS SELL

also 10 Blue Du Maine, 8 Jacob

The Black & White Sale Preview Friday 6th December – 7.00pm

“Red Ladies” show and sale of

2 black Texel x Beltex gimmers;

44 PEDIGREE LIMOUSIN FEMALES

THE BLACK & WHITE SALE on SATURDAY 7th DECEMBER 10.30am View the online catalogue www.harrisonandhetherington.co.uk

Friday 13th December

ROUGH PLUCKED and DRESSED POULTRY Monday 23rd December Please advise entries

BLUEFACED LEICESTER INLAMB FEMALES “BLUE BELLES” TRADITIONAL TYPE & “CLASSY LASSIES” CROSSING TYPE Saturday 4th January Entries close Wednesday 18th December

“BORDER BEAUTIES” BORDER LEICESTER INLAMB FEMALES Saturday 4th January Entries close Wednesday 18th December

Show 9.00am Sale 12 noon Followed by (approx. 1.30pm) 58 PEDIGREE LIMOUSIN BULL & HEIFER CALVES

CHRISTMAS PRIMESTOCK SHOWS AND SALES Kindly sponsored by Grange Quarries, Eric Hall Livestock Agent, Lancashire Meats, Yorkshire Halal & GT Tyres, Carlisle ---

Show and sale of

PEDIGREE LIMOUSIN CATTLE

Show Thursday 12th December 6pm

Friday 14th & Saturday 15th February Entries close Thursday 19th December

TEXEL & SUFFOLK INLAMB SHEEP

ON LINE SALE

Friday 13th December - 3.00pm

GENETIC SELECTION SALE OF CATTLE & SHEEP SEMEN & EMBRYOS

96 TEXEL entire crop of 2023 gimmers from

PRIME SHEEP

the ROXBURGH & GREENARCH flocks also

Monday 9th December Judging 9.30am 7 classes & Championships 9.30am CAST SHEEP 11.30am PRIME LAMBS (ballot drawn 11.00am) Schedule available on our website

20 SUFFOLK ewes & gimmers from the

PRIME CATTLE

Friday 13th December – 5.00pm

Tel: 01768 371385

Monday 9th December 11.00am with Prime Bulls, Prime Cattle, Cast Cows 10.00am – Crop

58 gimmers and 18 ewe lambs

Christmas prize show and sale of

HARESTONE FLOCK

Annual CARLISLE CRACKER sale of TEXEL FEMALES

The Christmas Cracker sale of

CHRISTMAS STARS sale of 80 INLAMB TEXEL SHEARLING GIMMERS

PEDIGREE KERRY HILL FEMALES

Monday 16th December – 6.00pm

Friday 13th December Show 9.30am Sale 10.30am 8 ewes & 34 shearling gimmers 41 ewe lambs

Sheep - 156 lots semen - 1 implanted pregnancy, 8 lots embryos Cattle – 135 lots semen -23 embryos Sale bidding starts 7.00pm 11th Dec, finishing from 7.00pm Thursday 12th December

KIRKBY STEPHEN MART

PRIME & LIGHTWEIGHT LAMBS and CAST SHEEP Tuesday 10th December Show 2.30pm Sale 4.30pm Sponsored by Eden Farm Supplies, Bridgedales Nutrition, CL&C Steadmans (Butchers) & H&H Insurance

CHRISTMAS PRIMESTOCK SALES Monday 23rd December

158 PEDIGREE INLAMB BELTEX SHEEP

& Monday 30th December

Friday 13th December Show 8.30am Sale 10.30am 2 ewes, 132 gimmers, 24 ewe lambs

NO SALE of Prime/Cast Cattle on these days

Sale of PRIME & CAST SHEEP ONLY

PLEASE SCAN TO VIEW OUR ONLINE CATALOGUES

Visit www.harrisonandhetherington.co.uk or follow us on Facebook & Instragram

Farmers Monday 9th December Bakewell Market Results - Monday 2nd December 689 Cattle & 1,309 Sheep - Full report available on our website Store Cattle Entries for Monday 9th December, Please call the Bakewell Office before 12 Noon on Friday 6th December Already Entered: 8 Pedigree Belted Galloway Cows & Calves 1 Pedigree Belted Galloway Stock Bull ********************** THURSDAY LUNCHTIME WEEKLY SHEEP SALE Entries/Enquiries, contact Ivor Lowe: on 07977 449126 or Peter Oven on 07973 982443 Tel: 01629 812777

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| December 6, 2024

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www.bagshaws.com

Guardian

Usual Sale of Fatstock Inc X-mas Show of Prime Pigs

the No.1

Monday 23rd December

place for

Usual Sale of Fatstock Inc Young Handlers Show of Lambs For the Linda Croft Memorial Trophy Dressed Christmas Poultry at 5pm Ian Smith - Mart Manager 07738043771 Office 01943 462172 wfam @auctionmarts.com

all auction sales FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com

04/12/2024 13:45:58

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today Auctions

Shropshire & Borders Texel Club

Christmas Sale

65 In Lamb Ewes 11 Empty Ewe Lambs At Welshpool Livestock Market On Thursday 12th December Show at 5pm Sale at 6pm

We take a farmer-centric approach to media.

WEEKLY SALES

Our job is to

PRIME SHEEP Every Thursday at Thrapston

help farmers

STORE & BREEDING SHEEP & CATTLE, CALVES, PIGS & GOATS Every Saturday at Thrapston

run their farms more efficiently and make better

Thrapston Livestock Market

For Catalogues please call:

purchasing

01938 553438

decisions

Saturday 7th December Smallholders Sale To include: Poultry, Goats, Pigs & Sundries

BENTHAM AUCTION MART

015242 61444 - Sale Days 61246 Stephen 07713 075 661 Greg 07713 075 664 Will 07590 876 849 www.benthamauction.co.uk Tuesday 10th December at 10.30am 6000 STORE LAMBS

Wednesday 11th December 11am Christmas Show & Sale of REARING CALVES & WEANLINGS 2.30pm 2500 Cast Ewes & 3000-4000 Prime Lambs Inc. Christmas Show & Sale of PRIME LAMBS (Lowland Breeds) Lambs for judging to be penned by 2.15pm CHRISTMAS IN THE MART Friday 13th / Saturday 14th December Inc. Friday Evening Farmers Carol Concert & Charity Tractor Run. Friday & Saturday Christmas Fair with superb selection of tradestands etc.

Tuesday 17th December 10.30am Feeding & Cast Cows & OTM Cattle Christmas Show & Sale of 500 FARMERS STIRKS, YOUNG STORES & FEEDING BULLS Wednesday 18th December Fortnightly Sale of Dairy Cattle Two Auction Mart Shares (Top Ring at 7.30pm)

GISBURN AUCTION MARTS Auctioneers, Valuers, Agents Rachel Capstick 07713075659 Jack Pickup 07710708326 Eleanor O’Neill 07706347505 Eli Tattersall 07955288800 Saturday 7th December 9:30am Weekly CAST SHEEP & PRIME LAMBS CHRISTMAS PRIME LAMB SHOW to be penned by 8.45am

Pen3: 1)Cont u.40kg 2)Cont41kg+ 3)Native 4)Hrnd/Hill 5)Mule/Mash

10:45am 4 SHEEPDOG PUPS, 20 GOATS, 12 BREEDING EWES, HEAD 11am 2097 STORE LAMBS, XMAS SHOW Wednesday 11th December 7.30pm ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE

2130+

with Clitheroe Brass Band, Clapham Bethel Choir and charity raffle for RABI & Field Nurse, raffle tickets on sale at the office now, all very welcome - FREE ENTRY

Thursday 12th December 10:30am REARING CALVES 10:30am PRIME CATTLE followed by CULL CATTLE 11:00am WEEKLY DAIRY- Entries to Eleanor by Mon 12pm 12:30pm STIRKS inc CHRISTMAS SHOW classes for best:

(1) Male (u.12mo) (2)Female (u.12mo) - Entries to the office by Tue 10th

Saturday 14th December 9:30am WEEKLY CAST SHEEP inc CHRISTMAS SHOW,

Show 9am Classes: (1) Cont (2) Horned/Hill Going (3) Mule/Masham CHARITY PRIME LAMB SALE show 10:30am. Donate a lamb to be sold through the prime ring for Charity. Our continued charities of choice are RABI, Northwest Air Ambulance & Yellow Wellies, all entrants receive a complimentary dinner.

YOUNG FARMERS SINGLE PRIME LAMB SHOW

Judging 10.30am -18 & under - Best: (1) Continental (2) Native

11.00am WEEKLY PRIME LAMB SALE 10am BREEDING & STORE CATTLE entries by Tues ADDITONAL FESTIVE SHOW DATES Thurs 19th Dec SEMEX & JAMESON DAIRY entries by Friday 13th Sat 21st Dec FESTIVE DREESED & LL POULTRY SALE

CHRISTMAS SHOW SCHEDULES ONLINE NOW! www.gisburnauctions.com | 01200 445376

Saturday 21st December at 10.30am DRESSED POULTRY Saturday 28th December at 9.30am CAST SHEEP & PRIME LAMBS ONLY YFC Singles Competition Prizes for Best Single Prime Lamb (Lowland & Hill Breeds) & Best Presented Prime Lambs & Vendor shown by a Young Farmer (Under 27yo). Judging at 10.30am

RTS Richard Turner & Son AUCTIONEERS VALUERS & ESTATE AGENTS

FGbuyandsell.com

p047.indd 47

ALL CLASSES OF SHEEP & PRODUCE, POULTRY, PLANTS & SUNDRIES Every Tuesday at Stratford

Est 1803

TUESDAY 10TH DECEMBER AT 11AM SALE OF IN LAMB EWES & ANNUAL SHOW OF BREEDING CATTLE Comprising 78 Texel X & Dorset In Lamb Ewes due January followed by 12 Cows & Calves, 1 Heifer & Calf, 68 In Calf Heifers including 2 second calvers and 9 Pure Simmental Heifers We are a Bluetongue Approved Dedicated Breeding Market Tel: 01845 523165 Fax: 01845 526604 Auctioneers: Tony Thompson: 07860 766571 Emma Coupland 07808 271218 Ben Wilson 07960 893733

All Poultry must be pre-booked prior to the Sale. No late entries will be accepted.

Saturday 14th December A Sale of 500 Lots of Pet Food & Sundries – 12 Noon Saturday 21st December Christmas Dressed Poultry Sale – 12 Noon

Stratford Livestock Market Tuesday 10th December Dispersal Sale of 20 Horse Drawn Carriages Harness & Sundries – 10am Online bidding will be available for the Carriages from 12 Noon A Sale of 500 Lots of Pet Food & Sundries – 10am Tuesday 17th December Christmas Dressed Poultry Sale – 12 Noon For further information contact: Alastair Brown: 07885 804450 Jake Wagstaff: 07487 526803 01832 732241 or visit the website for weekly listings of sale entries THRAPSTON

www.bletsoes.co.uk

STRATFORD

ASHLEY WALLER AUCTIONEERS Next Tuesday 10th December at 9am, Monthly Machinery Sale

Over 1000 lots, to include: Quads, Vehicles, Trailers, Various Machinery, HDX 1000 Hi-Tip Dumper, Sheep Scales Race etc, Excavator Buckets, Kontinents Gang Mower, Mortimer Pedestrian Roller, Sisi Grass Slitter, Twose Grass Harrows, HD Log Spitter, AG 125 Dispenser, NC Yard Brush, IAE Cattle Crush, 15 step Chequer Plate Stairs, Twose Buck Rake, Hardi Crop Sprayer, Grass Harrows etc, Lawnmowers Photographs online info@ashleywaller.co.uk www.ashleywaller.co.uk www.easyliveauction.com December 6, 2024 |

47

04/12/2024 14:20:56

FGBuyandSell.com

Stockjudging Competition To be in with your chance of winning up to £200, test out your judging skills by entering our annual beef stockjudging competition.

Test your stockjudging skills and win up to £200

T

his year’s beef stockjudging competition is now open for entries. Our annual competition is once again sponsored by Show Time, supplier of specialist livestock products for cattle, sheep, horses and other animals, covering the UK and Europe.

How to take part Take part by pitting your judging skills against those of our professional judge to be in with the chance of winning one of three cash prizes.

The first correct entry to be drawn at random will receive our top prize

of £200, while two runners-up will each win £50. To be in with a chance of winning, you need to rank the four animals pictured (one being the animal you rate most highly), in the same order as our judge.

Complete the entry form opposite and return it to: Showtime Stockjudging Competition, Farmers Guardian, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Caxton Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ, by January 31, 2025.

ENTER ONLINE Alternatively, you can enter the competition online at farmersguardian.com/showtimestockjudging

Could your stockjudging skills win you one of three cash prizes?

ANIMAL

A

48

| December 6, 2024

Class Showtime Stockjudging Nov22 NG AC GT AB (Signed off).indd 2

SPONSORED BY

showtime-supplies.co.uk

Return the form opposite, scan this QR code or enter online at farmersguardian.com/ showtimestockjudging

ANIMAL

B

FGbuyandsell.com

04/12/2024 11:37

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today HOW TO ENTER Return the form below or enter online at farmersguardian.com/showtimestockjudging

ANIMAL

ANIMAL

X

Y

Stockjudging competition entry form

Fill in and return this form before January 31, 2025, or go to farmersguardian.com/showtimestockjudging

Completing Section A of the form enables you to be entered into our free prize draw. However, we’d like to know a little more about you to help us provide information about relevant products. Fill in Section B if you would like to provide this additional information.

Section A Title:

First name:

I think the judge will select:

Surname:

Address:

First

Postcode:

Second

Year of birth:

g

Third

Mobile/telephone number: To keep up-to-date with the latest news, enter your email address to receive our electronic newsletters:

Fourth

Email address:

Section B Are you the main decision maker on farm?

Primary occupation (tick one box only): Farm Owner Contractor

Yes

No

N/A

Farm Manager Agronomist/Adviser

Farm Worker Student

Tenant Farmer Other

Farm Manager Agronomist/Adviser

Farm Worker Student

Tenant Farmer Other

Secondary occupation: (tick one box only): Farm Owner Contractor 0

1-19

20-49

50-99

100-199

200-299

300-399

400-499

500-999

1,000+

Total farm size in hectares: Dairy (livestock numbers):

g

Beef (livestock numbers): Sheep (livestock numbers): Privacy Statement: Data protection – your personal data will be collected and processed in accordance with our Privacy Statement which can be viewed on p12 or at agriconnect.com/policies. From time to time, Agriconnect would like to use the personal data you have provided in this form to contact you via email, post, phone and text about Agriconnect goods and services that we think will be of interest to you. If you would like to receive this communication, please confirm this by ticking this box. Your personal data will not be shared with third parties. If you have any queries or concerns about how we hold your data, please write to the Data Protection Co-ordinator, Agriconnect, Unit 4, Caxton Road, Preston, PR2 9NZ, or email dataprotection@farmersguardian.com.

Please return by January 31, 2025, to: Showtime Stockjudging Competition, Farmers Guardian, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Caxton Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ. Terms and Conditions: 1. The competition (prize draw) is open to UK residents (aged 18 years or over), with the exception of ‘employees’ or ‘relatives of employees’ of Agriconnect. 2. Inclusion in the prize draw is subject to entry to the competition. 3. Entry to the draw will close January 31, 2025. 4. Only one entry per person is permitted. 5. Winners will be selected at random from all valid and correctly answered entries. 6. The judge’s decision is final. No correspondence or discussion shall be entered into. 7. Prize is non-refundable and no prize alternative is available. 8. Completion of the entry form implies acceptance of these terms and conditions.

FGbuyandsell.com

Class Showtime Stockjudging Nov22 NG AC GT AB (Signed off).indd 3

December 6, 2024 |

49

04/12/2024 11:37

BELTEX BELTEX 202 BELTEX

FGBuyandSell.com Scottish Auctions

IN-LAMB SALE 202 DATES 2024/2025 202

Live & Online Sale

Saturday Saa turdaay a y 14th 1 4 th December Decee m ber 2024 BELTEX BELTERS

Sale of 3 Aged Ewes, 47 Gimmers & 7 Ewe Lambs

“Breed Belters with Beltex” Welshpool: Thursday 12th Dec Carlisle: Friday 13th Dec Lanark: Saturday 14th Dec Skipton: Saturday 14th Dec Dungannon: Friday 20th Dec Kendal: Saturday 4th Jan

SELECT SEVEN

Sale of 74 Texel In-Lamb Gimmers & 6 Ewe Lambs Including

Including BEACHY, BRICKROW, CALLAGRAG, FAUGHHILL, FEOCH, KINGLEDORES, MID SHAWTONHILL, SHAWTONHILL & TODHALL

ALLANFAULD, AULDHOUSEBURN, BOGHOUSE, CAMBWELL,

www.beltex.co.uk

CLARKS, CRAIGHEAD, ETTRICK, GARNGOUR, HARESTONE,

BLUE TEXEL SHEEP www.beltex.co.uk BLUESOCIETY TEXEL CARLISLE PREMIER SALE SHEEP 566 HEAD (306 Rams & SOCIETY 260 Females)

HARTSIDE, HEXEL, HOPE VALLEY, STRAWFRANK & TEIGLUM

SHOW: 9:30AM

SALE: 10:30AM

SALE: 12:00PM

Lanark Agricultural Centre Muirglen, Hyndford Road, Lanark, ML11 9AX

Breed Societies

Winter Wi in in ntte ter ter er Sales Sal Sa ale al les les le es

Society In-Lamb Sales continue with:

Carlisle Friday 6 December Welshpool Thursday 12 December Swatragh Friday 20 December J36 Kendal Saturday 4 January

01555 662281

www.lawrieandsymington.com

DATES 2024

Inspection: 12 noon til 3pm

Arrival: by 12 social noon tilevening) 2pm (followed Inspection: 12 noon til 3pm

We take

Welshpool –

Show: 5pm

Thursday 12th December

Dungannon Mon 28th Aug

Skipton – Kendal - Sat 16 Sept

.....................................

centric

Our job is to help farmers run their

th

Saturday 14th December

approach to media.

Friday 25 th August Sale: 9.30am

(followed by social evening)

a farmer-

Welshpool -Wed 30th Aug Dungannon Mon 28 Aug Worcester -thFri 1 st Sept

Stirling - Sat 16th Sept

.....................................

Dungannon – .....................................

Friday 20th December

Welshpool -Wed 30th Aug Melton Mowbray Sat 2nd Sept Worcester - Fri 1 st Sept St Asaph - Sat 2 nd Sept Melton Mowbray Sat 2nd Sept Skipton Sat 9th Sept

th Kendal Sat 16 Sept NSA Builth Wells Mon 1 B1h Sept Stirling - Sat 16th Sept Carlisle 2 nd Sale NSA Builth Wells Sat 23rd Sept Mon 1 B1h Sept Frome Carlisle 2thnd Sale Wed 27 Sept Sat 23rd Sept

.....................................

Catalogues Available Online St Asaph - Sat 2 nd Sept

www.blue-texel-sheep.com/sales/

Skipton - Sat 9th Sept

Frome Wed 27th Sept

www.blue-texel-sheep.com

Finduson

II Ci

E: office@bluetexelsheep.co.uk T: 01768 870523 BADGER FACE TEXEL

www.blue-texel-sheep.com S H E E P S O C I E T Y Finduson II Ci E: office@bluetexelsheep.co.uk T: 01768 870523 BADGER FACE TEXEL

IN-LAMBS SALE H E E P DATES S O C I E T2024/2025 Y IN-LAMB SALE DATES 2024/2025

farms more

BADGER FACE TEXEL

For General Enquiries, contact Becky Dykes, Breed Secretary 07818 131 242

efficiently

BADGER FACETEXEL TEXEL BADGER FACE

and make better purchasing decisions

| December 6, 2024

p050.indd 50

th Thursday August Show:245pm

www.dutchspottedsheep.co.uk

As we approach the end of 2024, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas

50

www.beltex.co.uk

th CARLISLE PREMIER SALE August Thursday 24th August Friday 25

Arrival: 12 IN-LAMB noon(306 til 2pm Rams SALE 566 HEAD &Sale: 260 9.30am Females)

SHEEP SOCIETY

IN-LAMB SSHHEESALE E OCCI EI E T EP P SSDATES O T2024/2025 YY

IN-LAMBSALE SALE DATES IN-LAMB DATES2024/2025 2024/2025 WELSHPOOL Thur 12 December Thur 12 December WELSHPOOL WLS SALE – 01938 553438

SALE

WLS – 01938 553438

Sat KENDAL Sat44January January KENDAL NWA –12 566200 SALE NWA –01539 01539 566200 SALE Thur December WELSHPOOL

SALE WLS – 01938 553438 secretary@badgerfacetexelsociety.co.uk secretary@badgerfacetexelsociety.co.uk BB Thur 12 01768870523 870523 lDecember f TT01768 l f WELSHPOOL Sat 4 January KENDAL SALE WLS – 01938 553438 Thur– 12 December WELSHPOOL NWA 01539 566200 SALE FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com SALEB secretary@badgerfacetexelsociety.co.uk WLS – 01938 553438 Sat 4 January KENDAL

SALE

KENDAL

T 01768 870523 f 566200 NWA –l 01539 04/12/2024 13:50:45 Sat 4 January

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today

JobsinAgriculture Jobs Agriculture

TM

smaXtec Ltd

Job Title: Area Sales Manager | Location: National Closing date: 27 Dec 2024 The University of Edinburgh is an exciting, vibrant, research led academic community offering opportunities to work with leading international academics whose visions are shaping tomorrow’s world.

Research & Farm Animal Technician

The Opportunity: The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies is looking for an experienced farm animal technician based at the University of Edinburgh dairy herd at Langhill Farm. You will organise and assist student teaching classes at RDSVS farms, including Langhill Dairy Unit and Easter Bush sheep flock, as well as facilitate research work on RDSVS farms.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week).

Your skills and attributes for success: • You will have extensive knowledge and experience of practical dairy farming and animal husbandry.

• You should have good IT skills, including the use of farm software.

• You will have good understanding and experience of large animal research and the Home Office Legislation under the Animal Scientific Procedures Act 1986.

• You should have experience of teaching veterinary or agricultural students.

• You must possess excellent communication skills as you will be expected to coordinate with researchers, veterinary teaching staff and students.

Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens new browser tab) As a valued member of our team you can expect: • A competitive salary of £33,882 to £39,105 (UE06) • See staff benefits page for full Comprehensive Staff Benefits details (opens in a new tab) The closing date for applications is 18th December 2024 This is an inspiring, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.

We will support and nurture your talent, reward success and integrate academic, professional and personal career goals, as well as give your career the benefit of a great and distinguished reputation. You will benefit from a reward package that includes a competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts and much more.

Committed to Equality and Diversity.

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

www.ed.ac.uk/jobs

FGbuyandsell.com

p051.indd 51

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES Proactively covering and growing your territory Identifying and acquiring new customers with your strong hunter mentality and closing skills Providing expert advice and support potential customers to understand their individual needs & challenges and offer suitable solutions Effectively using our CRM system to manage customer contacts, sales activities and market information Representing smaXtec at trade shows and customer events Working closely with other teams to ensure a seamless customer experience REQUIREMENTS • Proactively covering and growing your territory Identifying and acquiring new customers with your strong hunter mentality and closing skills Providing expert advice and support potential customers to understand their individual needs & challenges and offer suitable solutions Effectively using our CRM system to manage customer contacts, sales activities and market information Representing smaXtec at trade shows and customer events Working closely with other teams to ensure a seamless customer experience • Proven track record in sales within the dairy sector or related industries as well as in-depth knowledge of the dairy farming sector & associated technologies Excellent interpersonal and consultative skills complement your ability to analyse customer needs and offer tailored solutions Strong organizational skills and the ability to effectively prioritize and manage time High self-motivation, energy, and perseverance to achieve or exceed your sales targets Your broad network in the dairy industry sees you as trusted and competent partner driving licence and motivation for sales in the field.

OUR OFFER This role offers the opportunity to be part of a dedicated team committed to providing our customers with excellent service and innovative solutions.

We offer a competitive and attractive salary and commission package, modern equipment (laptop, iPhone, branded clothing,…) As a team, we work together sustainably and with full commitment to improve herd health on dairy farms worldwide, while at the same time reducing labour and costs.

You will receive a comprehensive Onboarding, the trainings you need to be successful and excel in your role. Check out what our convinced customers say about the smaXtec system: https://smaxtec.com/en/our-testimonials/

For more information or to apply, head to JobsInAgriculture.com December 6, 2024 |

51

04/12/2024 14:45:53

FGBuyandSell.com CULTIVATE

Are you passionate about shaping a sustainable future for wool?

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Or for information view www.friends1st.co.uk/ christian-farmers-dating.

We invite you to join us as a Regional Farmer Producer Member on the British Wool board….

At British Wool, we’re all about maximising returns for our farmer members. We’re entering an exciting phase, raising awareness about the sustainability and value of British wool, whilst remaining focused on cutting operational costs and boosting returns to provide a more secure future for every British Wool member.

We are looking for farmer representatives who can guide us in seizing these opportunities, ensuring long-term value for all our members.

Find out more by scanning the below QR code.

For any general enquiries relating to these elections please contact Kam Dlay-Lewis on 01274 688666 or Gareth Jones KamDlay-Lewis@britishwool.org.uk or garethjones@britishwool.org.uk

Contractors J.P WHITTER (WATER WELL ENGINEERS) LTD

QR code takes to the full notice on the website: www.britishwool.org.uk

• BOREHOLE DRILLING FOR DOMESTIC AND COMMERCIAL PURPOSES • WORK CARRIED OUT TO A VERY HIGH STANDARD • WATER SYSTEMS INSTALLED • BOREHOLE PUMPING INSTALLATIONS • 24HR BREAKDOWN SERVICE • FREE QUOTATIONS AND SITE VISITS THE POTTERIES GARAGE SMALLBROOK LANE, LEIGH, WIGAN, LANCS, WN7 5PZ. TEL: 01942 871900.

FAX: 01942 896843.

Out of office: 01942 893660 Visit our Website www.waterwellengineers.co.uk Email: sally@waterwellengineers.co.uk

Public Notices We take a farmer-centric approach to media.

Our job is to help farmers

WATER WELL DRILLING

• Borehole Drilling

run their

• Treatment &

farms more

Filtration

efficiently and

• Water testing

make better purchasing

01625 878411

decisions

www.blairdrilling.co.uk

Horticulture

Goods Vehicle Operator’s Licence Stephen Lee Riley trading as Riley Mixed Concrete Ltd of Dunnockshaw Farm, Burnley Rd, Dunnockshaw, Burnley, BB11 5PP is applying for a licence to use Dunnockshaw Farm, Burnley Rd, Dunnockshaw, Burnley, BB11 5PP as an operating centre for 5 goods vehicles and 2 trailers.

TOP QUALITY TREES & HEDGING PLANTS Cold stored for freshness Also rabbit guards, canes, stakes and ties.

N R O Call

now for TH professional

CK

Representors must at the same time send a copy of their representations to the applicant at the address given at the top of this notice. A Guide to Making Representations is available from the Traffic Commissioner’s office.

COMPLETE MILK PROCESSING PLANT 2,500 LITRES /HR WITH PACKING INTO GLASS AND PLASTIC BOTTLES

mail@woodgrow.com

Charles Wait 07788 233608

Growing Since 1973

Tel: (01332) 517600

p052.indd 52

Quickthorn (hawthorn)

20/40cm 0.39 40/60cm 0.51 40/60cm bushy 0.80 60/90cm 0.68 90/120cm 3ft /4ft bushy 1.20 Blackthorn 40/60cm 0.42 60/90cm 0.51 Beech 40/60cm 0.83 60/90cm 1.00 90/120cm 1.68 Privet 40/60cm 0.63 60/90cm 0.83 Hornbeam 40/60cm 0.49 60/90cm 0.66 Box 20/30cm 1.20 30/40cm 1.50 Cherry Laurel 40/60cm 1.70 60/90cm 2.16 Rabbit Guards 0.28p Canes 0.12p Trees, Hedging, Various Sizes Available.

A standard delivery charge may be added.

Quotes given for Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

BN11 or BN7 Mix Native Packs from £2.91 or £5.31 per metre Including rabbit guards/canes All Prices Exclude VAT. Prices are subject to change.

269 Southport Road, Ulnes Walton Leyland Lancs PR26 8LQ

www.evergladesnurseries.com sales@evergladesnurseries.co.uk Tel: 01257 450533

FGBuyandSell

A New Route to Market

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Milking Equipment

BURTON ROAD, FINDERN DERBY DE65 6BE

advice

QWoodgrow Horticulture Ltd | December 6, 2024

THE QUICKTHORN NURSERY

Owners or occupiers of land (including buildings) near the operating centre(s) who believe that their use or enjoyment of that land would be affected, should make written representations to the Traffic Commissioner at Hillcrest House, 386 Harehills Lane, Leeds, LS9 6NF, stating their reasons, within 21 days of this notice.

Vending Milk Pasteurisers fully automatic 500 litre and 200 litre Package chilled water units Seital SE05X Cream Separator Glass and Poly bottle fillers with automatic cappers Butter makers, Cream/ yogurt fillers, Cheese Making equipment

UI

Everglades Nurseries Ltd

Milking Equipment

Nursery Fresh For Planting Success

52

Trees & Shrubs

Public Notices

Personals

New & Used Bulk Milk Tanks Second hand tanks currently available: Mueller 8000ltr & 9000 ltr Fabdec 4000ltr & 6000ltr Packo RMIB 3800ltr & RMIB 6000 ltr New Heat Recovery units in stock

01772 780806 www.ddcooling.co.uk

FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com

04/12/2024 14:47:07

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today Milking Equipment

Animal Health

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Tel. +44 (0)1387 750459 E: info@britmilk.co.uk | W: www.britmilk.co.uk Livestock Equipment

V-Mac Silos

The only UK company that solely specialises in On Farm Cooling Equipment & Heat Recovery Systems Nationwide.

For further details please call S. W Refrigeration

01392 210344 or Paul on 07974 140949 DELAVAL BLUE Diamond 32/32 fast exit, 2010 MM25s transponders etc 01260 226261 (T)

HEAVY DUTY replacement troughs, for any parlour. 01260 226261

(T)

FG Buy and Sell 01772 799500

Livestock Services

A Winder & Son Cumbria

MARTLANDS

07779 185 562

COLLECTORS OF DEAD ANIMALS THROUGHOUT LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE Competitive prices PLEASE CALL: 01704 893161 or 07768 051800 (24 hrs) Martland’s the name, knackering’s the game Established over 100 years

WYNNSTAY RETAIL

IAN SMITH

Livestock Scanning Services.

Across the North -Tel: 01200 445750 or 07976 539197 (T)

SHEEP

SCANNING

Rowan Pickles, Tel: 07901 907487 Northern England

FGbuyandsell.com

p053.indd 53

ALWYN

MANZINI

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Tel: 07813 693316 (T)

CONCRETE GROOVING Neil O’Donnell -Tel: 01900 817009 or 07759 194600 Nationwide (T)

Guardian the best environment for your brand message

www.vmacsilos.co.uk

The Captive Bolt Stunner that’s also humane on your pocket!

ORDER YOURS NOW!

For further enquiries and for telephone orders please contact Calton Moor Farm 01538 308697 Used for the humane You can pay by Cheque made destruction of animals, no payable to M Dickinson, Bank firearms permit is required card over the telephone, or BACS, to use one and at only please ring for bank details. £320.00 (inc VAT & p&p) BRNO Guns UK this has to be the best value Calton Moor Farm, Captive Bolt Stunner on the Swinscoe, Ashbourne, Derbyshire Market!

DE6 2BU. The Bolt gun come with a box of 50 blanks a carry TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME E&OE www.brnoguns.co.uk case and postage

Browse. Sell. Buy at FGBuyandSell.com

BAMBER BRIDGE Lancs, Cumbria, Cheshire. Yorkshire.

TEXT OR TELEPHONE STEPHEN: 07860 636 605 OFFICE: 01772 626 951

Farmers

Wales

01691 662 690

A New Route to Market

Plain, Cows & Bulls Wanted.

Also casualty collection service with veterinary certificates direct to our own abattoir.

24 hours a day 7 days a week collection for emergencies

Somerset

01963 370 044

FGBuyandSell

WILLIAM TAYLOR & SON (PS) LTD

ND Jeans

December 6, 2024 |

53

04/12/2024 15:33:42

FGBuyandSell.com Livestock Equipment

TRIED ♦ TESTED ♦ TRUSTED

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Email: sales@showtime-supplies.co.uk

www.showtime-supplies.co.uk AND FOR CLIPPER PARTS & ACCESSORIES www.peasridge.co.uk VIEW OUR CATALOGUE ONLINE

Dairy Cattle

Poultry

fg clipper advert Dec 2024.indd 1

29/11/2024 12:58:23

NOVA RED White Star www.bigdutchman.com

CompoLiner

& Purebreds now available. -Tel: 07768 790962

W.Yorks (P)

www.newquip.co.uk | www.bigdutchman.com

54

| December 6, 2024

p054.indd 54

Browse. Sell. Buy at FGBuyandSell.com

Newquip Limited NQ House | Conygarth Way | Leeming Bar Business Park Leeming Bar | Northallerton | North Yorkshire DL7 9EE Tel. 01677 428600 | enquiries@newquip.co.uk

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BIDLEA HERD

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Tel: Ray Brown 01477 532220 or 07885 652718 Cheshire (T) FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com

04/12/2024 14:47:36

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today Beef Cattle

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Incalf & Fresh Calved Heifers & cows Visit us at ter l Uls y Ro a r Fair t Win e L86 D STAN

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airedaleangus@outlook.com

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SUNSHINE

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Quality Pays Everytime

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Call: 00353 87 257 6434, 00353 44 935 6200 0044 7762 007371 or Email: info@cows.ie

F E E D S to encourage forage intake. Molasses and molasses blends plus additional minerals if required. J E Morten: 01663 734621 High

HAY/STRAW for sale

big square bales.

Also hay and straw wanted in big bales.

Tel: 07850 214667 (p)

If it’s not our name on the bag, It’s NOT our salt!

Ready to work, delivered direct to your farm, very quiet, easy calving.

Semen available.

Health monitored, closed herd, full pedigree with each animal.

Red tractor. Females Available.

Seafield Pedigrees Telephone: 077157 64351

ABERDEEN ANGUS BULLS

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Telephone: 01978 780368 or 07986 113221 Wrexham (P)

FGbuyandsell.com

p055.indd 55

Telephone: 01981 250301 www.ballofmadley-hereford.co.uk

COSISAN

Ultimate Bedding Conditioner Containing a DEFRA APPROVED Disinfectant Drier Beds • Sanitised Beds 01387 750459 www.britmilk.co.uk

R.F FIELDING Hay & Straw for Sale in all types of Bales.

Good quality.

Reasonable prices.

TEL: (01625) 531629 OR (01625) 522249

CLEANED / WASHED

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Lancs (T)

Peak, Derbyshire (T)

Also Available Baled Shavings

Feedstuffs & Bedding

Beef Cattle

We do same day delivery We will respond to your enquiries the same day!

We deliver to every area twice a week.

CLEAN FODDER BEET Available delivery Midlands and Welsh Borders.

Tel: A Whitfield 07885 261391

ABBOTT & CO (WESSEX) LTD HAY, STRAW & SHAVINGS BOUGHT AND SOLD trading for 130 years 01285 653738 abbottwessex@btinternet.com QUALITY FODDER

AK SHARPE & SONS

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01829 782378 or 07710 933681

LANCS (T)

Tel 07730 897138 / 01484 603130 December 6, 2024 |

55

04/12/2024 15:33:30

FGBuyandSell.com Feedstuffs & Bedding

Elevage 50

Biscon Meal (Approx. 12% Protein /14 ME) £180 ex store Cereal Mixture (Approx. 14% Protein /13 ME) £205 ex store Cereal Blend (Approx. 16% Protein /13 ME) £225 ex store Mixed Pellets (Approx. 18% Protein /13 ME) £245 ex store

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Skim Milk Replacer Elevage 50

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Whey Milk Replacer Hiprolat 26

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CALF DEFENDER (TRANSITION MILK) “HEALTHY CALVES”

Whey Milk Powder

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Crude proteins: 26% Crude fat: 16% Crude fiber: 0.05%

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CALF DEFENDER is an energised Calf Milk with an extensive package of health promoting ingredients to stimulate the immune system and promote a healthy gut.

For further information contact:

More information: Ashley J Latham • Livestock Supplies Ltd Office: 01829 260 328 • Ashley Ashley:J07831 887Livestock 07769 974 More information: Latham Ltd476 • 531 • Will:Supplies • Email: ashley@livestocksupplies.co.uk Ashley: 07831 BEESTON, 887 531 • Will: 974 476 • Email: ashley@livestocksupplies.co.uk Office: 01829 260 328 •GATE BEESTON FARM, NR.07769 TARPORLEY, CHESHIRE CW6 9NN

www.livestocksupplies.co.uk

BEESTON GATE FARM, BEESTON, NR. TARPORLEY, CHESHIRE CW6 9NN

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01387 750459

info@britmilk.co.uk www.britmilk.co.uk

Building Materials

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IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Although every advertisement is carefully checked, occasionally mistakes do occur.We therefore ask advertisers to assist by checking their advertisements carefully and advise us immediately should an error occur.

We regret that we cannot accept responsibility for more than ONE INCORRECT insertion and that no re-publication will be granted in the case of typographical or minor changes which do not affect the value of the advertisement.

While every endeavour will be made to meet the wishes of the advertisers, the publisher does not guarantee insertion of any particular advert.

J SHARPLES Most types of new and reusable steel girders, pipe, angle and box section. Box profile, roofing sheets, bricks, stone, flags, cobbles, lintels. Motorway crash barriers and lampoles.

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Equestrian buildings

Industrial buildings 26/01/2021 18:39

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Scan the QR code or listen on farmersguardian.com/podcasts

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CAUTION

We are currently aware of a number of fraudulent advertisers attempting to sell items within the classified section. Whilst we endeavour to protect our readers and pull these adverts before going to press, sometimes they may unfortunately appear in print.

Please be mindful before entering into any deals you PROCEED WITH CAUTION with the seller and do not part with money until goods are received.

Farmers Guardian are NOT responsible for any part of the transaction that takes place with the seller and the buyer.

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04/12/2024 14:48:45

FGBuyandSell.com Buildings

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Planning.

Design.

Call 01772 799500 and place yourProperty. ad today www.acorus.co.uk

Property Landscape

Challenges, trends and what comes next Annabel Fearnall on changing land values

I

Levelled This increase levelled off throughout the year due to the pressures of higher interest rates, decreasing commodity prices and narrowing of farm profit margins.

The range of buyers has remained similar to previous years, with farmers, investors and those wishing to purchase for environmental reasons (carbon offsetting and biodiversity net gain) all in the marketplace to purchase land.

In recent months the uncertainty following the General Election, and the subsequent Budget, may have initially tempered some peoples’ enthusiasm to purchase land.

Implications The potential tax implications of the Budget (subject to being approved or amended in the Finance Bill) will surely be a consideration for anyone looking to purchase land in the future.

While, historically, tax has never been a principal driver for land values, the old adage of ‘they are not making any more land’ will certainly ring true and those

FGbuyandsell.com

p061.indd 61

Annabel Fearnall

farmers who are looking to expand a farming enterprise will undoubtedly still seek to secure land when the opportunity arises, despite potential changes to any kind of Inheritance Tax relief.

The amount of agricultural land being available for farming purposes is likely to continue to decrease, particularly with the current Government’s policy on housing development.

A reduction in supply may well keep prices similar to the current level.

Realignment It is too early to predict exactly what will happen in 2025 and beyond, but it is my feeling that land will continue to be sought after, although there may be some realignment as to the level at which farmers or investors are willing to part with their hardearned money.

The demand for the lower grade land from those with environmental considerations may lessen the gap in values for the better quality land.

Anyone looking to buy or sell should plan carefully and take the relevant advice to ensure asset values are maximised.

Annabel Fearnall is a partner at Barbers Rural. Call 01630 692 500, or email a.fearnall@ barbers-rural.co.uk

Architectural Services.

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Agricultural Occupancy Highfields is a large 5 bedroom detached house in aConditions. quiet rural location and grounds of approximately 1 acre. The garden is a particular feature with large Architectural Services. lawned ornamental P R Oarea, P Enumerous RTIES F O R shrubs S A Land E plants, pergola and pond.

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SUBJECT TO AN AGRICULTURAL OCCUPANCY CONDITION GUIDE PRICE: £335,000 (Ref: C388) ESSEX, Little Totham The Laurels is a 4 bed bungalow built approximately 25 years ago of traditional brick and tile roof. It sits in a plot of roughly 0.2 hectares that also contains a single room annex, garaging and former kennels (morerecently used as pony stabling).

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SUBJECT TO AN AGRICULTURAL OCCUPANCY CONDITION & Planning Specialists GUIDE PRICE: £1,150,000 0345 340 WEST5215 SUSSEX, Cowfold A well-presented three bedroom detached bungalow with large garden, garage, land, outbuildings and parking located in a sought-after countryside location.

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Webinar Grant funding: What farmers and rural businesses should look out for in 2025 December 10, 7pm Chair: Rachael Brown

Chief reporter, Farmers Guardian

farmersguardian.com

n recent weeks I have been asked numerous times about what is going to happen to land values next year and whether the Budget will impact on prices.

Before we look forward to 2025, let us take stock of what has gone before.

The land sales market throughout 2024 has shown strength, despite an ever-changing political and economic backdrop.

Early spring saw a steady rise in average prices for all types of land, generally between 5% and 10%, with regional variations being much more apparent than in previous years.

There was also a large disparity in the price between the best quality arable land and the slightly poorer grassland.

FarmsPlanning & Property Consultancy. Property Sales.

Join this Farmers Guardian webinar which will provide analysis of future grant funding heading into 2025, following recent announcements from Defra that some capital grant items have been put on hold. Speakers will discuss the funding and grants available through Defra going forward, alongside alternative non-governmental opportunities. The session will provide the latest updates on Environmental Land Management schemes, including progress on the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship. Practical advice on grant applications will be a focal point of the discussion, with tips on crafting strong proposals to help you secure grant support.

Scan the QR code to register for the webinar

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FGBuyandSell.com Stables Arenas & Fencing

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Sites of 1- 1000 acres required for residential development.

If you think that your land has potential for development, or you have been approached by a developer, then you will need expert advice that is not available at traditional sources.

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Browse. Sell. Buy at FGBuyandSell.com FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com

04/12/2024 12:50:38

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today Business Opportunities

Farmers Guardian

TM

Finance: Terms & Conditions

Farmers Guardian, Fginsight.com and fgbuyandsell.com (hereinafter referred to as ‘Farmers Guardian) may contain advertisements, links to other Internet websites or online and mobile services provided by independent third parties, including websites and telephone contacts of our advertisers and sponsors (what we call “Third Party Sites”), either directly or indirectly.

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advertisers and sponsors that may appear in Farmers Guardian. By Third Party Products we mean products or services provided by third parties.

Farmers Guardian contains advertising and sponsorship. Advertisers and sponsors are

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Fully integrated beef scheme Pricing Pricin ng reviews bbased ased on cost of production Business Busin ness stabilit stability ty from long-term customer contracts Payment Paym ment premiu premiums ums based on weight gain and meat qualit quality ty Hardyy breed with witth great temperament

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Any agreements, transactions or other arrangements made between you and any third party named in, on (or linked to from) in Farmers Guardian and its websites are at your own responsibility and entered into at your own risk.

Farmers Guardian promises to develop and operate with reasonable skill and care and will use reasonable efforts to promptly remedy any faults of which it is aware.

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Farmers Guardian does not provide any other promises or warranties about its products and services. Farmers Guardian is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. This means

For more m infor information rmation and an informal chat, pleasee contact us on 01759 0 1759 361254 254 or livestock@warrendale-wagyu.co.uk livestock@warrendale waagyu livestock@warrendale-wa agyu.co.uk co uk

rd he Hererd the Joioinin th

that Farmers Guardian does not make any promises in respect of Farmers Guardian or the services and functions available on or through Farmers Guardian, Fginsight.com and fgbuyandsell.com or of the quality, completeness or accuracy of the information published on or linked to from Farmers Guardian, Fginsight.com and fgbuyandsell.com other than as

@warrendalewagyufarmers @warrendalewagyufarmers

Warrendale Wagyu Farmers Warrendale

expressly stated above.

The above disclaimers apply equally to your use of Farmers Guardian, Fginsight.com and fgbuyandsell.com without limiting the above; Farmers Guardian and its websites are not liable

BPS Entitlements, BNG, NN, Carbon & Water

4 x 4s

for matters beyond its reasonable control. Farmers Guardian does not control third party

MIDDLE FARM 4X4S TRUCK OF THE WEEK

communications networks (including your internet service provider), the internet, acts of god or the acts of third parties.

Farmers Guardian liability will not be limited in the case of death or personal injury directly caused by Farmers Guardian negligence in those countries where it is unlawful for Farmers Guardian to seek to exclude such liability.

Any individual, who is in doubt about entering into a loan agreement, should seek professional advice or consult an authorised person who can assist in relation to entering into a credit agreement. Before acting on any information you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to these matters, any relevant offer document and in particular, you

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Recent MOT and Main dealer serviced with a Toyota Warranty until November 2025. Very good all terrain tyres and in very good order outside inside and underneath.

More details pictures and other pickups on our website

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Tel Brian Robinson on 07740 683113 Cheltenham

should seek independent financial advice.

All loans, loan participations and financial products or instrument transactions involve risks, which include (among others) the risk of adverse or unanticipated market, financial or political developments and, in international transactions, currency risk. Lending against non-traditional physical collateral exposes investors to specific risks such as the potential for fraud, theft, damage and illiquidity.

ATVs

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Nationwide delivery available

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SHEEP SNACKERS

Ground drive sheep feeders, all types of atv trailers single and tandem axle, Delivery anywhere Rob Astley trailers ltd Tel 01938 810393

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04/12/2024 14:49:12

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Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today Generators, Pressure Washers & Pumps

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SPECIALISTS IN AGRICULTURAL PUMPING SINCE 1994

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GENERATORS PTO & DIESEL P COWELL & SONS 01772 653569 PTO

Tel: 01756 794291 Skipton. N.Yorkshire 60KVA

WEICHAI 20 KVA single phase £4,750 +VAT WEICHAI 125 KVA £11,250 +VAT WEICHAI 150 KVA £12,250 +VAT WEICHAI 175 KVA £13,250 +VAT AG50E - 50 KVA £4,750 +VAT AG100 - 100 KVA £7,995 +VAT AG60E - 60 KVA £5,250 +VAT AG150 - 150 KVA £10,995 +VAT AG70E - 70 KVA £5,495 +VAT AG175 - 175 KVA £12,995 +VAT AG80E - 80 KVA £5,995 +VAT AG275 - 275 KVA £16,795 +VAT

FGbuyandsell.com

Speak to Eva Bailey today and start converting our readers to your customers.

01772 799500 | fgdisplay@farmersguardian.com

www.LandyPressureWashers.com

& Diesel Generator Specialist. Quality new & used. Est 25 yrs.

JSPUK LTD. Tel: 01432 353050 (T)

Parts & Servicing

AGRISPARES

Agricultural Replacement Parts & Accessories

TELEPHONE: 01380 850001 EMAIL: sales@agrispares.co.uk www.agrispares.co.uk MASSEY FERGUSON

Replacement tractor parts Direct to your door Phone for best quotes Mobile: 07971 243668 or 01545 570 810

F.G. ROWLAND LTD Clitheroe Lancashire Tractor Hire & Sales New Tractor & Handler Spares for all Makes New Michelin & Kleber Tyres most sizes in stock

Tel 01254 826295

CLAAS John Deere, and

other makes, combine harvester 2nd hand and new spares. www.jmtcombinehire.co.uk. Tel: JMT Engineering 01926 614345 (T)

www.rowlandtractors.co.uk

FG Buy and Sell 01772 799500 December 6, 2024 |

65

04/12/2024 14:49:34

FGBuyandSell.com Tractors & Equipment

Kuhn Profile 16.2 CS • Unused • Twin auger, 8 knifes per auger • Front conveyor, feeds left or right • Rear door • Wide angle PTO shaft • Weighing system • 2 speed gearbox , low HP requirement

£34 ,5 +VA 00 T

Tel: 00353872577947 Free Delivery throughout UK & Ireland.

M.J. M.J. WILKINSON WILKINSON

M.J. WILKINSON Plant Hire & Sales Plant Hire & Sales Plant Hire & SalesSales Specialists in Plant Hire & Machinery A business built Hire on recommendation Specialists in Plant & Machinery Sales Specialists in Plant Hire & Machinery Sales Selection Tractors A business of builtCrawler on recommendation A business built on recommendation Yanmar CT651

Yanmar CT80 Yanmar CT95 Yanmar CT750 Yanmar CT650 Mitsubishi MKM-550HX Mitsubishi MKM-1150 Mitsubishi MKM-120 All P.O.A.

01253 701688 / 07711 701688 Info@mjwilkinsonplanthire.co.uk 01253 701688/07711701688

Ghants Farm, Sower Carr Lane, Hambleton, Nr. Blackpool FY6 9DJ

Info@mjwilkinsonplanthire.co.uk Ghants Farm, Ghants Farm, Sower Sower Carr Carr Lane, Lane, Hambleton, Hambleton, Drointon Staffs Nr. Nr. Blackpool Blackpool FY6 FY6 9DJ 9DJ

GREGSONS 01253 701688/07711701688 Large range of other machinery in stock PX & delivery taken 01253 701688/07711701688 • Tel 01889 500 572 - 07860715642 www.gregsons.biz Info@mjwilkinsonplanthire.co.uk Info@mjwilkinsonplanthire.co.uk 2019 West 1600 dual spreader, very good order, ........................................... £15750 GhantsNew Farm, Sower Carr Lane, Hambleton, West 2020 Kidd 450 trailed straw chopper, full spec, excellent order, ........................ £9750

Ghants10Farm, Sower Carr Lane, 2018 Abbey 2000 gal. slurry tanker, 28.1 xHambleton, 26 tyres, very tidy,.......................... £9950 ton rear Nr. Blackpool FY6 9DJ 2009 Claas 355 round baler, wide pick up, net/wrap, excellent, ........................ £8995 Nr. Blackpool FY6 9DJ 2017 Bailey 22` bale trailer, 435 tyres, very good order, .................................. £7750 discharge

2022 McConnel Rhino 9` heavy duty topper, as new, ....................................... £4995 West 2000 gal. dual spreader, wide tyres, good working order, ........................ £2950 Marshall & Abbey 1500 gal. slurry tankers, tidy, ............................... From £1995 full spec, Quicke 8` bucket/grab, c/w Euro brackets, as new,........................................... £1895 ..........£23,950. Welgar AP530 conventional baler, good order, ................................................ £2750 2010 Teagle 808 mounted straw chopper, due in, ..............................................£POA 2014 Hi Spec Kuhn Primer mounted straw chopper, c/w side shoot, tidy. ............................... £1950 Horn Twin axle 17` bale trailer, c/w cattle container, good order, ...................... £4450 2500 gal.

McHale mounted bale slicers, choice of 2, ....................................... From £850 2023 Quicke 150 shear grab, c/w Euro brackets, as new, ................................ £1850 Auto arm & Ken Wooten 25’ bale trailer, 340 (mini super single wheels), tidy, ..................... £3995 McConnel & Slewtic 9 foot toppers, 2 rotor/4 blade, good condition, From £895 rear linkage, Nutritech 10 cube tub mixer, front conveyor, good auger and blades, ............... £1795 very tidy, 2014 John Deere 331 mounted 3m mower conditioner, good order, ................. £4250 2022 Bunning 90 rear discharge spreader, full spec, very tidy, ....................... £20950 ......... £13,950. 2017 Bunning 75 rear discharge spreader, full spec, due in,........................... £18950 2017 Bunning 2010 AJP 5.5 rotor spreader, wide tyres, as new, ............................................. £4500 2007 Class & JF Stoll mounted 9’ disc mowers, tidy, ....................... From £1995 75 rear 2012 Claas Liner 470 single rotor rake, very tidy, ............................................. £3950 2014 Hi Spec 2500 gal vac tanker, c/w auto arm & brackets, ......................... £13950 discharge 2015 Claas Volto 800 tedder, good working order, ............................................ £5750 spreader, 2015/16 AG 175 dispenser, good order, ...................................................... £995 Browns pto saw bench, choice of two .............................................. From £1000 high bodied, New Beaco 14` & 16` mounted grass harrows, .................................................£POA very good order, New Beaco 10 ton hydraulic log splitters, ........................................................... £720 ......... £18,950. New West Maelstrom 10 rear discharge spreader, slurry door, w/w pto .......... £23950 New West dual spreaders, very keen deals, (2000 dual in stock) ......................£POA spreader,

SELF-DRIVE

SELF-DRIVE SELF-DRIVE 66

| December 6, 2024

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QUICKFENCER Manual

and hydraulic clamping available. Hydraulic, nothing to lift off www. quickfencer.com Tel 07966 285240 Lancs

FG Buy and Sell 01772 799500

Caution.

Be careful anytime you are asked for personal information.

If someone asks, don’t provide the information requested without confirming that they are legitimate.

Farmers Guardian only ever ask for your banking information if you are purchasing a product from us and will always call from 01772 799 500 or 01772 799 400.

FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com

04/12/2024 13:27:46

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today Tractors & Equipment

CASE PUMA 175 CVX

MCHALE FUSION 3 BALER

- OUR DEMO UNIT - 126 HOURS - 650 X 75 X R38 WHEELS - FRONT LINKAGE & PTO - ACCUGUIDE READY - CAB COMFORT PACK - 3000 HOUR WARRANTY - 4 YEAR FINANCE PACKAGE AVAILABLE* PHONE FOR PRICE

- NEW UNUSED BALER - SUBSIDISED FINANCE AVAILIABLE* - LAST ONE AVAILABLE WITH 2023 PRICE PHONE FOR PRICE

SLURRYKAT 3500 GALLON TANKER - NEW 3500 GALLON TANKER - LAST ONE WITH 2024 PRICE C/W STEERING AXLE - 580/65R22.5 RADIALS - DRIBBLE BAR READY - COMPETITIVE FINANCE AVAILABLE* PHONE FOR PRICE

*Finance available subject to T&C’S GET IN TOUCH ABOUT OUR 0% FINANCE OFFER

A NEW YEAR, A NEW MACHINE – FOR AN EXCLUSIVE PRICE LAST FEW STOCK ITEMS REMAIN

AND WE ARE OFFERING THEM AT 2023 PRICES UNTIL 31ST DECEMBER 2024.

DON’T MISS OUT AND UPGRADE YOUR MACHINERY TODAY

SUBSIDISED FINANCE DEALS AVAILABLE* *SUBJECT TO T&C’S

Prices subject to VAT

John Cornthwaite (Farm Machinery) Limited Elm Farm Station Lane, Nateby, Preston, PR3 0LT www.cornthwaites.co.uk

CASE DEALERSHIP

TRUSTING THE BRAND TRUST THE RED

For all enquiries contact Victoria: 01995 606969 / enquiries@cornthwaites.co.uk

Unit 4 | Brook Mill | Wrea Green | Preston | PR4 2PH

01772 396447 | 07506 191880 | 07432 030594 Contact: Harry Boardman | www.hbmachinery.co.uk | sales@hbmachinery.co.uk www.hb-parts.co.uk for ONLINE parts Follow and like us on Facebook

Case CVX175 Year 2023 300hrs Front Linkage PTO�������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������� £95,000

Case CVX175 Year 2023 275hrs Front Linkage Full Guidance����������������� ��������������������������������������������������������POA

John Deere 6130R Year 2019 3223hrs AQ40kph TLS Cab Sus�������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������

Takeuchi TB325R Hours 554 c/w 3 buckets����������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������£23750

John Deere 6175R Year 2018 Hours 7400 AQ50kph linkage PTO���������������� ������������������������������������������������£58,750

Green Mec Wood chipper, Year 2007, 9” feed ������������������������ ������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������£6,850

JCB 526.56 Year 2018 Hours 3700 NEW tyres fitted����������������������������� ��������������������������������������� £42,750.00

2017 Major 2600g Tanker PTO Drive 800Wheels, Syclone,8000ltr pump �������������������������������������������������£12,750

NC 2.5m Galvanised brush c/w fork lift sections��������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������POA

Used Ritchie yard Scraper c/w Weidman brackets�������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������£750

Weidmann 1380 Year 2020 3200 hrs and Pallet tines ������������������������������������������ ����������������������������������������������� £24,750

Thwaites 1ton Hi Tip Year 2020 Hurs 1139��������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������ £9,850.00

Case Puma 150 Year 2023 Hours 264 Front linkage Front PTO����� ���������������������������������������£78,500

John Deere 6120M TLS Cab Sus only 750hrs,…!!!����� ��������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������� POA

Bailey 15T Root trailer Year 2019 Roll over sheet Air brakes 560/60R22�5 wheels�������������������������������� POA

BAILEY TAG11 Silage trailer Year 2009 Sprung draw bar��������������������� ������������������������������������������£6,250

Bailey 12T STONE and RUBBLE trailer Air/hyd,Grain Chute�������������� ����������������������������������������������� POA

John Deere 6130M TLS Cab Sus Creeper UNDER 800hrs������������������������ ���������������������������������������£69,250

FGbuyandsell.com

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December 6, 2024 |

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FGBuyandSell.com Tractors & Equipment

For more info call Colin Blood on 07800 885075 or head office on 01623 847171

2021 MF 8S.265

1700 Hrs, Exclusive Spec, Trimble GPS System, Front Linkage, 50KPH, E-Power Transmission, Wheel Weights, Balance of Warranty.

40027184

£108,000

D

2020 Valtra T255V

Ex Demo, 57kph, Powershift, Front & Cab Suspension, 4 Valve & Power Beyond, Trimble Submeter, Warranty Available.

10027354

£130,000

F

2022 MF 6S.145

590 Hrs, FL.4220 Loader, Twin Beacon, 4 Rear Spools, Air Conditioning, 540/65R28 Fronts @ 80%, 650/65R38 Rears @ 80%.

10028458

£86,000

W

2024 Valtra Q305

Ex-Demo, CVT Gearbox, Valtra Guide Trimble Submetre, Front Links, Premium Work Lights, 200l/m Pump.

10026745

£POA

W

2021 MF 5S.125

704 Hrs, Essential Spec, 3x Spools, Cab Suspension, Air Conditioning, Air Seat, 520/70 R83 Rears, 420/70 R28 Fronts.

30028473

£63,000

F

2023 Valtra T175

467 Hrs, Active, Remainder of 3 year/1500 Hour Warrenty, 57kph, 4 Manual Spools, Front Linkage, Air Conditioning, Twin Beacon.

30026193

£94,750

W

2018 Fendt MT 943

3865 Hours, Warranty Until, 31/8/24 or 3200 Hours, 32” Extreme Ag Tracks, Trimble RTK Guidance, 6 Rear Spools.

10028862

£165,000

W

Manitou MLT 961-145 2021, 771 Hrs, V+, Demo condition, Boom lights, Extra LED work lights, Machine Stability Ram, Air conditioning, Air seat.

30028517

£83,500

2020 Fendt 828

5333 Hrs, Profi Plus, 60KPH, Comfort Front Linkage, Hydraulic Top Link, RTK Trimble, Section Control, LED Lights.

10026038

£99,750

W

Manitou MLT 741-140

F

2021, 2410 Hrs, V+ Elite, 7m Reach, 4.1 Tonne Capacity, Hydraulic Locking, Pick up Hitch, Boom Suspension, 7” Screen.

30029686

£59,500

F

FINANCE IS AVAILABLE ON MOST STOCK! CALL HANNAH ON 07500 786743 FOR MORE INFO Townson Tractors Ltd, West End, Hellifield, North Yorkshire, BD23 4HE

New & Used Tractors, Telescopic Handlers, Machinery & Equipment RICHARD ECCLES. 07977 932948 ED TINKER. 07977 932950 STEVE BENNETT. 07770 890760 JOHN CRAIG 07971 599185

NEW NEW HOLLAND 135HP+ 2016 NH T7.210PC T6.160EC 6 Cylinder Electro- 2565Hrs 156-210 HP Command Front & Rear 18x16PC F/Links GPS Ready Suspension 600 Tyres.. POA CNH Retail Finance @ 0% On 50% 4 Valves Side-Winder ..........

3+33 Months Avail Subject to T&C’s ....................................POA

CNH Retail Finance @ 0% On 50% 3+33 Months Avail Subject to T&C’s

NEW JCB 403 AGRI-Plus 50HP 2 Speed Full Heated Cab Euro Hitch Counter Weight BKT Wide Tyres............... POA

NEW JCB 19C-1 Mini Excavator FPRO Spec Deluxe Cab Radio LED Lights Beacon Expanding Carriage Rubber Tracks Bushed King Post POA

2023 JCB 538-60 AGRI-Xtra 980Hrs 150HP 6 Speed 40K P/Shift Air Con & Seat LSD SRS PUH 140LPM Mich Bib-Loads Q Fit ................ POA

NEW SCHUITEMAKER FEEDO 60-10 Feeder Wagon Front Conveyor Simple Reliable Feeding ........... POA

NEW SWALEDALE ROTASNACK 300 Feeder Fully Galvanised Mudguards Hopper Cover 5 Stud Axle 10/75x15.3 Wheels & Tyres...................POA

NEW RITCHIE H/Duty Rubber Yard Scrapers Fully Galvanised Adjustable Width ..........................................POA

NEW JCB 403 AGRI-Plus 50HP 2 Speed Full Heated Cab Euro Hitch Counter Weight BKT Wide Tyres. POA

Please see website www.townsontractors.co.uk for full details Telephone: 01729 850374 Email: sales@townsontractors.co.uk

68

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kptractors1@outlook.com

www.kptractors.co.uk

• 20 Reg MF 7720s 4 x 4 2530 Hrs FS CS 50K Air Brakes Warranty to 3000Hrs • 19 Reg MF 7718s 4 x 4 2300 Hrs FS CS Air Brakes • 62 Reg MF 7624 4 x 4 Dyna 6 50K FL 5407 Hrs • 20 Reg MF 7718s 4 x 4 Dyna 6 50K 2500 Hrs Air brakes warranty Until July 2025 • 13 Reg MF 7618 4 x 4 Dyna 6 7500 Hrs 50K Air Brakes • 08 Reg MF 6499 4 x 4 Dyna 6 8000 Hrs 50K Air Brakes FL PTO • 06 Reg MF 6480 4 x 4 CS 6009 Hrs • S Reg MF 6190 4 x 4 FL 8000 Hrs Dynashift • 18 Reg JCB 531/70 Agri Super Teleporter 7200 Hrs • 11 Reg JCB 535/95 Agri Super Teleporter • 67 reg JCB 536/60 Agri super Teleporter 3400 Hrs • 19 Reg JCB 532/70 agri super 4600 Hrs 125 HP New tyres • 06 Reg JCB 526s 4 x 4 5000 Hrs • 53 Reg Manitou 731/120 4 x 4 5500 Hrs • L Reg Manitou 2600 4 x 4 Teleporter • 19 Reg Bobcat E45 Midi Excavator 2050 Hrs • J Reg Ford 5610 AP Cab • J Reg MF 135 • Terrex 6 Tonne Dumper • 12 tonne Dump Trailer

Fountain House, 111 Scawby Road, Scawby Brook, Brigg, North Lincolnshire, DN20 9JX Telephone: (01652) 655777 Fax: (01652) 651476 Kevin Mob: 07796 957735

Michael Mob: 07850 828639

FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com

04/12/2024 13:29:30

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today nTractors & Equipment

NEW JPM 22ft 19 Ton NEW McKee 8 ton Dump Tandem Axle Plant Trailer .. Trailers .......................... £10,000.00 ................................£6500.00 Axle Plant Trailer ................. Mobile Sheep Dipper ........

NEW JPM 24ft 19 Ton ............................................

Tandem Axle Plant Trailer .. on wide wheels .............................. £8000.00 .........................£15,500.00 .......................... £22,000.00 TRAILER .................£14,000 .......................... £10,500.00 ................................£7000.00 NEW JPM Midi Tandem

New Portequip S204

NEW Portequip Road legal NEW 22ft JPM LIVESTOCK Sheep Dipper

New Portaquip Twin Axle Bale Trailers c.w Galv GMH Slurry Reeler Angled Hay Racks, Chequer Plate Floor, LED Lights, Beacon & Tool Box. 23ft on 435/50R19.5 ...................................... £10,000.00 c.w Pipes, on 3 point ...........

27ft on Super Singles ........................................ £9500.00 32ft on 435/50R19.5 ...................................... £12,500.00 ...................................£3,000

NEW Hustler Shear Plus New Ktwo Rear End LX160, 3 in 1 Shear Grabs c.w Hardox Tines, Feed Bucket, Big Discharge Spreader. Ring Bale Cutter which holds Net & Wrap. 1.6 Meter ...... £5500.00 for details & Prices

Kvierland SiloKingPremi

New JPM 18 Ton Heavy New Alpler Lime Spreaders Duty Dump Trailer Internal (Transpread) ......................... dimensions 14’ x 7’10’’ 3 Ton .................. £12,000.00 Transport Up TO 8 ton Digger.

Conveyor and L/H Elivator c.w Magic Back Door £12,500.00 4 Ton .................. £13,000.00 very Tidy.................£8750.00 Alloy Ramps ...............£1000.00 5 Ton .................. £14,000.00

12 cyd Tub Mixer c.w Cross

NEW Lagan Livestock Trailers

• With sheep decks • Demountable body • Division Gates

• Hydraulic deck system • Slurry Tank • Choice of wheels and axles £POA

NEW Graham Edwards LucasG Castor + 60R 20ft Twin Axle Livestock Trailer With Cattle parition.. £12,000.00 Trailed Silage + Straw With wind away sheep Decks Chopper c.w Swivel and Partition ............. £14,000.00 Shoot, Elect Control Good With Power Deck and Partition ................................... £16,000.00 Condition ............ £7750.00

Please call our used sales team on 01704 468009

John Deere 6250R 2021, 1605hrs, AutoPowr, 50k, F/Links PTO, Hyd Stabilisers, Electric Mirrors, LED’s, £166,000 + VAT

John Deere 6130R 623R Loader, 2020, 1250hrs, Autoquad, 50k, £84,500 + VAT

FGbuyandsell.com

p069.indd 69

John Deere 6215R 2020, 2339hrs, Loader Ready, AutoPowr 50k, F/Links PTO, 650/540, Air Brakes, £117,500 + VAT

John Deere 6155R 2021, 3600hrs, AQ 50k, Air, F/Links PTO, 710/600 Tyres, £91,000 + VAT

John Deere 6145R 2022, 1906hrs, AutoPowr, 50k, AutoTrac Ready, F/Links PTO, £114,000 + VAT

John Deere 6145R 2021, 5689hrs, AutoPowr, 50k, F/Links PTO, Autotrac Ready, Bar Axle, LED’s, £90,000 + VAT

John Deere 6130R 2019, 2696hrs, Autoquad, TLS, 3 Spools, 520 Tyres, £69,500 + VAT

Kramer KT276 2020, 1450hrs, Air Con, PUH, Reverse Fan, Kramer Head, £53,500 + VAT

Kramer KT356

Kramer KT457 2022, 3386hrs, 40k, Kramer Headstock, 5000hrs Warranty, Reverse Fan, £68,500 + VAT

John Deere 6120M

Kramer KL30.8T

2020, 1666hrs,

2021, 4495hrs, 40k,

Powerquad, 40k,

Hydrostatic,

3SCV,

Telescopic Shovel,

£69,950 + VAT

£58,500 + VAT

2018, 2805hrs, Kramer Headstock, Bibload Tyres, £49,500 + VAT

December 6, 2024 |

69

04/12/2024 13:34:18

FGBuyandSell.com

JCB 550-80 AGRI PLUS, 2012, 6100 hours, JCB Q-Fit carriage, rear hitch.

MCCONNEL PA7070T linkage mounted Verge / hedge cutter, 1.2m head, 2022

NEW CASEIH FARMALL 100C 40kph. 12x12 PowerShuttle, loader ready, rear wheel weights, air conditioned cab. CaseIH Warranty.

NEW CASEIH FARMALL 90A 40kph. 12x12 PowerShuttle, air conditioned cab, trailer hitch, hydraulic valves.

NE Pow spe

CASEIH FARMALL 95A PowerShuttle 4wd. Front linkage, 2021, 800 hours, air conditioned cab.

CASEIH FARMALL ROPS 90C 4wd. 2022, 4060 hours,mechanical hydraulics, trailer brakes & drawbar.

CAS Fron scre brak

NEW HOLLAND T5.115 c/w CaseIH loader, 24x24 PowerShuttle 40kph. 3500 hours.

DEUTZ AGROKID 45 on turf tyres, full cab, front linkage & pto. 2005, 2371 hours.

JOHN DEERE 6320 PowerQuad 4 wheel drive, front weights

JOHN DEERE 6195R with Starfire, front linkage, 50kph. 2016, 5800 hours, just back from work.

PRE 130 Full Pro

JCB 8.5 TON 86-C1 ECO EXCAVATOR c/w quick hitch & buckets, 2016, 4540 hours.

JCB JS130 EXCAVATOR c/w quick hitch & 2 buckets, 2018, nice machine, tried & tested on our own building works.

JCB TEL 201 3rd

NEW UX5201 Trailed sprayer, 36 metre, Amaselect, curve control, Extreme clean, swingstop.

UF1602 mounted 24 metre sprayer c/w 1502 front tank.

UF2002 mounted 24 metre sprayer, isobus, comfort pack.

Cayros 5 furrow XMS 5-950 Vari width plough.

KE3001 Super Power Harrow c/w 500mm Packer roller.

ZAM Eco 10 - 16 metre fertiliser spreader.

ZAV Eco Superior 2600 fertiliser spreader with V2, RH Limiter & roll over sheet.

ZAV 2600 fertiliser spreader with easy set rate control, V3 discs.

ZAV 2600 fertiliser spreader with easy set terminal, V3 disc, RH limiter, roll over sheet.

ZAV 3200 fertiliser spreader, Easy set terminal, V3 disc, RH limiter, roll over sheet.

ZAV 3200 Profis fertiliser spreader, Profis Tonic, isobus, roll oversheet.

ZATS 4200 Profis Hydro c/w flow control, Argus twin, isobus TS3.

Roll sheet.

CA CV 228

USED Pantera 4502 24 / 36m Contractor boom, lots of spec. Call for details & price, 2015, 6200 hours.

ZA-TS 3200 fertiliser spreader, 2018, roll over sheet.

ZA-TS 3200 Super Hydro Profis, hydraulic cover, low level sensors, TS Border spreading, TS2 vanes, hopper steps, isobus. Parking wheels, 2019.

Z-AM 4200 Ultra Profis hydro, Amaron Plus, GPS Switch. Hydraulic hopper cover, road lights.

ZA-TS 4200 Profis Tronic Hydro, isobus. Hydraulic hopper cover, Argus Twin, 2019.

STARTIN TRACTORS LTD

TWYCROSS CV9 3PW

70

| December 6, 2024

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Tel: 01827 880088 Email: sales@startintractors.co.uk

*Finance offered subject to Terms and Conditions.

FGbuyandsell.com FGinsight.com

04/12/2024 13:35:09

Call 01772 799500 and place your ad today

NEW CASEIH FARMALL 55C PowerShuttle 2wd. Choice of specification.

CaseIH Warranty.

CASEIH JX60 4wd c/w MX55 Loader & 3rd Service, 40kph 12x12 Shuttle, 2005, 1402 hours.

NEW ISUZU DMAX UTILITY 4x4 Single cab with diff lock. £28,495 +VAT.

NEW ISUZU DMAX UTILITY Double cab with Diff lock. £30,095 +VAT.

CASEIH PUMA 160 CVX 50kph.

Front linkage & pto. Pro 700 screen, trailer air brakes, exhaust brake, 2015, 5400 hours.

CASEIH PUMA 175 CVX 50kph. Front Linkage & pto.

Trailer air brakes, Accuguide ready, very low hours.

NEW ISUZU DMAX DL20 Extended cab Auto.

NEW ISUZU DMAX DL40 Automatic in blue.

CASEIH MAXXUM 145 CVX 50kph. Front linkage, 2020, 2280 hours, 600/65 x 38 tyres.

NEW CASEIH MAXXUM 125, Autoshift 50kph. 4 x hydraulic valves, CaseIH Warranty, CaseCredit Finance *

NEW ISUZU ARCTIC AT35 Valencia orange, other colours in stock. £55,595 +VAT.

NEW ISUZU DMAX V-CROSS Automatic in grey.

PRE REG CASEIH VESTRUM 130 Active Drive 8 40kph.

Full suspension, Front linkage, Pro700 screen.

NEW CASEIH FARMALL 120C MultiController 40kph c/w MX loader, rear wheel weights etc.

CaseIH Warranty.

LAND ROVER 110 DEFENDER 3.0 Commercial Auto. 2021, approx 33000 miles.

Call for full spec & price.

ISUZU DMAX FURY Double cab Auto & canopy, 2019, 49401 miles, looks good in red. £16,495 +VAT.

JCB 520-40 COMPACT TELESCOPIC FORKLIFT, 2017, 5375 hours, pallet forks, 3rd service.

WEIDEMANN T4512 compact telescopic forklift, 2021, 2140 hours, pallet forks, 3rd service.

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p071.indd 71

December 6, 2024 |

71

04/12/2024 13:35:46

Machinery Edited by Toby Whatley – 07583 054 831 – toby.whatley@agriconnect.com For more machinery content, go to farmersguardian.com/machinery-news-hub

With farmers and agricultural workers planning to spend time in the workshop over the coming weeks, Jane Carley spoke to experts about reducing risk.

A handle on workshop safety

I

t is that time of year when workshop tasks beckon, but as machines continue to get larger it is important to consider health and safety when working around them and handling components and service items.

David Knowles of Safestate Consulting explains: “You should avoid manual handling where possible – some jobs are best left to a dealer service engineer with a fully equipped workshop. But if it cannot be avoided, assess the risks associated with the task first to minimise the risk of injury.”

Following the health and safety risk principles of ‘avoid – assess – reduce’, Dr Knowles advises that the approach should be to consider: ■ The task itself.

■ The load being handled.

■ The individual carrying out the task.

■ The environment in which it is taking place.

■ Task: Changing wheels from

row crops to flotations.

Q Can we avoid it?

A Generally not, but it is worth researching the latest tyre designs to see if one tyre can be used for more of the year, or considering if one tractor can be dedicated to row crop work.

Q What are the risks?

A Jacking the tractor safely, and moving heavy and unwieldy objects.

Q What are the preparations that should be made and procedure to be followed?

A Ensure that you have suitable axle stands in place and use appropriate lifting gear, which is covered

by LOLER regulations. Ensure that the wheels are stable and secure when being moved.

Q Is there any equipment that will make it safer/easier?

A Hydraulic trolleys or rollers can be useful to safely move the wheel to and from storage.

■ Task: Replacing a worn or

TU

m v 1 ad -7 RE 3 HE p6 RN

f y s o er ge hin s Pa a c e r t

9

damaged tyre.

Q Can we avoid it?

A Weigh up cost versus convenience and greater safety of using a tyre specialist.

p72 73 Dec6 TW LP KJ.indd 2

Workshop tasks on the to-do list? Include manual handling in your risk assessment.

Q What are the risks?

A Jacking the tractor safely, the weight of the tyre, risk of explosion.

What are the preparations that should be made and what is the correct procedure?

A A cage must be used for inflating the new tyre.

■ Task: Replacing mower blades

or flails, or power harrow blades.

Q Can we avoid it?

A Preventative maintenance or choosing more appropriate blades for the conditions could reduce the frequency of this task.

Q What are the risks?

A Safe lifting of the implement to access the blades; handling sharp objects.

Q What are the preparations that should be made and what is the correct procedure?

A The implement should be safely lifted on the tractor hydraulics, but consider using a trestle or axle jack as a failsafe.

Protect hands and feet from sharp blades with suitable gloves and safety footwear.

■ Task: Repairs to implement guards and structure.

Q Can we avoid it?

A Regular checks and preventative maintenance.

QWhat are the risks?

A Safe lifting of the implement, sharp objects.

Q What are the preparations

that should be made and what is the correct procedure?

A The implement should be safely lifted on the tractor hydraulics, but consider using a trestle or axle jack as a failsafe.

Remove the component from the machine for safe repair.

Protect hands and feet from sharp blades with suitable gloves and safety footwear.

■ Task: Handling sheet metal or large parts/containers of spares.

Q What are the risks?

A Weight, balance, sharp objects.

Q What are the preparations that should be made and what is the correct procedure?

A Wrap the edges of sheet metal farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 11:39

Workshop Tips Machinery

Appropriate gloves to protect hands are part of essential PPE for many tasks.

Consider safe ways of accessing jobs high up on large machinery, and how to lift equipment or parts.

for safe handling. Split components into smaller containers.

While there is no legal maximum weight, 25kg is the recommended maximum load for manual handling.

that should be made and what is the correct procedure?

A Visual inspection of the hose to ensure it is depressurised. Use of correct PPE – leather gauntlets rather than latex gloves.

A As with components, products should be decanted into smaller containers to give a maximum weight of 25kg. Lighter loads also minimise the risk of glugging/splashing.

n Task: Handling hydraulic cylin-

n Task: Moving lubricant con-

pairs of larger machinery.

Q What are the risks?

A Working at height, which has its own regulations. Lifting and handling objects at height.

Q What are the preparations that should be made and what is the correct procedure?

A Consider installing a gantry to safely reach areas of machines which are located above shoulder height.

Consider the safe lifting of tools, equipment or components to carry out this type repair or maintenance.

ders or hoses.

Q What are the risks?

A Injection of hydraulic fluid which can lead to serious injury or even amputation. Handling unwieldy objects.

Q What are the preparations

tainers or other bulk liquids.

Q What are the risks?

A Handling of heavy objects, risk of spills of harmful substances.

Q What are the preparations that should be made and what is the correct procedure?

Bulk containers can present manual handling challenges – consider decanting liquids into smaller volumes. farmersguardian.com

p72 73 Dec6 TW LP KJ.indd 3

n Task: Pressure washing or re-

More details n For more detail on manual handling, the Health and Safety Executive’s Farmwise publication has useful information in chapter 21.

You can also download a manual handling assessment tool from hse.gov.uk/msd/mac n Safestate Consulting helps clients comply with the vast range of safety and environment safety legislation requirements, adopting a personal approach producing cost-effective and proportionate responses to real risks.

Safestate offers a wide range of in-house safety management courses

Using equipment such as a wheel trolley can improve safety when swapping wheels or changing tyres.

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 73

03/12/2024 15:58

Machinery EIMA 2024 presented new machinery and technology for large-scale growers and high-value crops. Toby Whatley reports.

EIMA 2024 show report

H

eld biennially in the historic Italian city of Bologna, the EIMA International event provides a variety of machinery like no other, reflecting the diversity of crops and produce grown and marketed in Italy.

The European-wide challenges and downturn in the agricultural sector were reflected in the event, with the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, the FederUnacoma, reporting that

‘the national production of technologies of agriculture is set to close the year with a 19.5% decrease compared to the same period in 2023’.

Despite the economic challenges, multiple manufacturers used the event to present new products and technologies, with a continued focus on improvements in productivity and automation. Several new concepts were shown for the viticulture sector which, within the Italian market, has been supported by sustained grants.

DIECI FAST ATTACH PICKING up an innovation award at the event, Dieci’s Fast Attach quick hitch carriage for its telehandler range was shown for the first time.

Created to provide mechanical, hydraulic and electrical connections without a manual input, the system uses a series of flat-faced hydraulic connectors

LANDINI REX4 ELECTRA HYBRID TRACTOR ALTHOUGH no longer a major brand in the UK, the sister brand to McCormick, Landini, remains a significant market player in Italy and southern Europe, with a strong following for its fruit and vineyard tractors.

Operating with a hybrid diesel/ electric drive, Landini’s Rex4 uses a generator and battery to power twin motors in the front axle, with a conventional mechanical drive to the rear, with overall power provided by a 110hp engine.

Landini claims this layout provides several advantages, including a 10% reduction in fuel consumption, increased steering angle though the removal of the front prop-shafts and an improved traction and climbing performance, as the ratio between the front and rear is infinitely variable.

The battery power is also used in operating the cab suspension system, which uses active dampers which is claimed to react against vehicle movement and reduce vibration by 15%.

KUHN TF2300C FRONT TANK and electrical terminals integrated within the locking pin system.

When a suitable attachment is fitted to the carriage and fully secured, the hydraulic and power services are joined, allowing attachments such as shear grabs and bucket brushes to be attached or removed without the operator leaving the cab.

JOINING a now extensive list of manufacturers supplying split hopper front tanks, Kuhn used the event to preview its TF2300C. Using a pressurised design, the 2,360-litre tank with 60/40 spilt operates with the manufacturer’s Optiseed metering system which allows claimed application rates of up to a max-

imum of 500kg/hectare at 15km/h.

Units can be supplied with a support frame or the displayed front packer with four 822mm diameter tyres.

Control of the system is IsoBus integrated and includes automatic GPS switching and variable rate applications. Prices for the unit start at £24,625.00.

MASCHIO GASPARDO JUMBO X 10M POWER HARROW CLAIMED to be the world’s largest power harrow, the 10m-wide Jumbo X was presented as a pre-production design by Maschio.

Operated as a semi-mounted implement with internal road transport wheels, the 7.5-tonne unit uses a centre three-metre section and two 3.5m outer decks to cover the working width.

Using a telescopic folding chassis to 74 | DECEMBER 6 2024

p74 75 Dec 6 KJ LP TW.indd 2

lift and lower the wings, the overall machine is claimed to fold within three metres for road transport.

Maschio says the 10m version has been developed in response to user demands for wider machines to maximise the field productivity of high-horsepower tractors, with a claimed input requirement of 450hp.

Prices and market availability have not been announced.

farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 11:06

Machinery MERLO FULL-ELECTRIC 30.9 PROTOTYPE PRESENTED as a concept prototype, Merlo added to its future TurboFarmer electric offering with a 30.9 model, which sits below the larger 43.7 which was originally shown at Agritechnica in 2023.

Overall, the machine capacities of a three-tonne lift and seven-metre reach are proposed.

Specific technical details are limited, but the design will use a lithium-ion battery pack and should provide sufficient performance for eight hours of work.

Charging will be offered in either

230v single-phase or 380v threephase variants. Similar to the current E-worker compact electric machine, separate motors will be used to provide power for the transmission and hydraulic circuit.

The development of the powerpack forms part of a wider development process to create an electrified design which could be introduced into other currently diesel-powered machines to provide faster development of all-electric versions as market demand increases.

FALC BIO FAST FLAIL HEADER OPERATING as a hybrid wholecrop header and flail mower, Falc’s 4.8-metre-wide Bio Fast has been developed to provide Biomass collection of crop residues from crops including grain maize, sunflowers and oilseed rape.

The 3.5-tonne header is operated with a self-propelled forager and uses either hammer or Y flails to cut and lift material into the centering auger and chop cylinder.

Input power is split from a single input shaft to either side of the header, with each 2,400mm-wide

rotor and auger powered separately.

Brackets to mount to Claas, New Holland and John Deere foragers are offered.

The increased interest in the collection of crop residue for biogas generation and animal bedding is a reflection of the increased costs of straw and the sustained higher gas prices in Italy and southern Europe, which has pushed the demand of further green energy systems to maximise the value of cropping.

Published January 10, 2025 Advertising opportunities now available in our

MACHINERY AND TRACTOR MAGAZINE

Machinery & Trac tor

Supplement

Edited by Toby Whatley toby.whatley@agr iconnect.com 07583 054 831

This special focuses on machinery from contrac tors and farmers throughout the UK and looks forward to LAMMA 2025 with a preview of some of the new kit set to launch.

3 14

DEERE T SERIES

6

First drive of John Deere’s new walker combine range

LAMMA 2025

First look at some of the new product launches planned

18

TRAILING SHOE

Accurate slurry application from Vogelsang’s Blackbird

ARABLE LAUNCHES

Arable kit updates from Pottinger

8

DIRECT DRILL

Moore Unidrill boosts work for Somerset contractor

22 FINANCE-FRE E Cost-conscious chopping in Scotland

12

WEAVING SABRE

Weather flexibility for a Lincolnshire user

24 AVADEX SERVICE Kuhn Aero provides accurate applications

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26/11/2024 10:01

DEUTZ FAHR SMART VINEYARD TRACTOR (SVT) DESCRIBED by the manufacturer as ‘a tractor as a sensor’, the SVT concept was presented at the event to give an insight into the development direction Deutz Fahr is progressing, with its narrow tractors for fruit and vineyard applications.

Based around the Series 5 DF/ DS/DV TTV range, the system

farmersguardian.com

p74 75 Dec 6 KJ LP TW.indd 3

allows the tractor to be operated fully autonomously or with an operator depending on the task.

Using a range of sensors, the tractor will collect crop and field data for agronomic and growth monitoring, which is claimed can be used to make real-time decisions and changes for tasks such as spraying or fertiliser application.

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01772 799500 | fgdisplay@farmersguardian.com DECEMBER 6 2024 | 75

03/12/2024 09:09

Machinery James Huyton takes a look at how one start-up contracting business has made its first step onto the machinery ladder with an iconic John Deere 7530.

Contracting with cost-effective kit

T

he capital costs of new machinery can be a real stumbling block for a start-up contracting business, making it difficult to get on the ladder.

This was the challenge faced by Lancashire-based Mark and Sara Calderbank when they set up Calderbank Agri, just over 18 months ago.

They considered a number of tractors for the start-up business, but ultimately wanted a machine that would cover a wide range of farm duties to maximise their work opportunities.

“We looked at a number of tractors

on the market, but we did not want to tie ourselves down with a hefty finance package in an already competitive contracting market,” says Mr Calderbank.

He said it was important that the tractor was familiar and easy to use and fix, especially when running an older machine.

“I always knew I was looking for a John Deere; cut me in half and I am green and yellow inside,” jokes Mr Calderbank.

“My first tractor when working at D&C Wrennall Engineering and Contracting was a 7530. Their reliability and size have made them a sought-after tractor recently.

Sellers

Mark Calderbank 76 | DECEMBER 6 2024

p76 77 Dec 6 KJ LP TW.indd 2

“So with a 7530 in mind, we posted a wanted advertisement online and sellers came to us. We looked at half a dozen machines at the time, but a Warwickshire-based contractor’s machine caught my eye.

“The 7530 had 11,500 hours on the clock when we bought it, with a possible head gasket fault. Although we took a chance on the tractor, at just over £30,000, it was some cheap high horsepower to start out.”

Mr Calderbank says once he had got the tractor home, his first job was to strip the cylinder head and send it off to be re-skimmed.

Then, after running the machine for a few months, they had issues with the transmission overheating.

Mr Calderbank says: “D&C Wren-

nall Engineering stripped the transmission for us. It turned out to be a worn cam gear driving the air pump that was not pushing the oil out of the casing, causing it to overheat.”

Buying a high-hour, older tractor has certainly not been repair-free for Mr Calderbank.

“We have done the brakes, a new hollow shaft for the pto, a new turbo and manifold and we had some issues on the lift that local dealer, Cornthwaite Group, sorted out,” he says.

“When you listen to the list of jobs the tractor has had done now, it sounds like a bottomless pit, but I think we are on the better side with them.

After buying the John Deere 7530, Calderbank Agri chose to hire a Massey Ferguson 2170 baler to keep capital costs low in its first season.

“Especially with an older machine, good backup is essential. I can fix most things in the field with our mid-mounted toolbox, but sometimes you just need an engineer and parts in the field.

“Cornthwaite Group has given us great service and backup in a challenging season.”

Mr Calderbank has also recently replaced the tyres on the 7530.

After pricing up a few brands they decided to go with British rubber and some Tianli tyres.

“The price and, with a ten-year warranty on delaminating and cracking, meant that I could not justify the cost of other brands. Even BKT fell short,” he explains.

Mr Calderbank mounted a camera system with night vision to the back of the baler to help with visibility. farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 11:09

Machinery After buying the 7530 with 11,500 hours on the clock, a number of jobs were carried out to bring it up to scratch.

New head gasket and cylinder head re-skimmed.

Transmission stripped to solve overheating issue.

Starting out, they hired a Massey Ferguson 2170 baler from Robert Lonsdale Agricultural Services.

Mr Calderbank says: “I still think the Massey makes one of the best straw bales. Most of our bailing work is in straw and I knew the 7530 could handle it.”

Putting out 220hp and 1,800N/m at the shaft, Mr Calderbank’s 7530 certainly is not short of power when considering its 180hp rating new.

“We have worked some long hours this season and the catchy weather has made it difficult keeping up with baling,” he says.

“So we fitted a camera on the baler with night vision. It is just handy if I am backing up or watching for that first

New manifold and turbocharger.

bale to drop so we can check the length. With all the screens, I was running short of three-pin plug sockets.”

Toolbox The mid-mounted toolbox has proved invaluable this baling season, holding a host of tools, spare parts and the air line for cleaning down at the end of the day.

“We cover a range of contracting jobs from ploughing to baling, mowing, muck spreading, carting and hedge cutting,” he adds.

Fitted with a front pto and fivetonne front linkage, the 7530 handles a set of Krone triple mowers well, says Mr Calderbank.

“One of the biggest problems with

Mr Calderbank pulled an extra spool to the rear of the tractor from the mid-mount to operate the top link. farmersguardian.com

p76 77 Dec 6 KJ LP TW.indd 3

the 7530 is the halogen lights; they are only like candles when you are mowing,” says Mr Calderbank.

After already upgrading the headlight bulbs to LED’s, the first chance he gets, Mr Calderbank next plans to put a full Kramp LED light pack on the tractor.

One of the main reasons Mr Calderbank opted for the high-houred 7530, was its spec.

He says: “It pretty much had everything on it apart from electric mirrors and hydraulic stabilisers. One thing I miss is automatic differential lock, but it is not the end of the world.

“We have covered some acres ploughing this season, so I piped a fourth spool through to the back of

the tractor from the mid-mount to operate the hydraulic top link.

“I can just tweak the top link through the rocker switch on the back of the joystick.”

Mr Calderbank said that while he likes a good amount of tech on tractors, the 7530 does the job.

He adds: “We managed to pick up a GreenStar receiver and screen through social media, we mainly use it for mapping fields. If we wanted to make the step up, we could always retrofit the latest G5 screen and receiver.

“New tractors have some nice luxuries and, do not get me wrong, I would like to make the step up to a 6215R at some point, but at the moment the 7530 is everything we need.”

The rocker switch on the armrest-mounted joystick now operates the hydraulic top link.

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 77

03/12/2024 09:11

Livestock Edited by Katie Jones – 07786 856 439 – katie.jones@agriconnect.com For more livestock content, go to farmersguardian.com/livestock-news-hub

Advances in the use of reproductive technology within the UK sheep sector was one of the topics up for discussion at the Sheep Breeders Round Table held at Castle Donington. Angela Calvert finds out more.

The use of surrogate sires may enhance the efficiency of sheep production in future.

Use of surrogate sires could be an option in the future

S

urrogate sires which essentially act as mobile artificial insemination (AI) units, disseminating high value genetics by natural mating, could become reality in the coming years, Emily Clark, research group leader at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, told delegates at the Sheep Breed-

ers Roundtable event at Castle Donington.

While the work was only at the ‘proof of concept’ stage and would require further regulation before it became a commercial option, Dr Clark said the technology could significantly enhance the efficiency and sustainability of sheep production in the UK.

The surrogate sires are rams which cannot produce their own semen as a result of editing the gene NAN0S2, but are otherwise physiologically normal and should have all the characteristics of a good ram, such as good libido and mobility.

They can be of different types, for example, hill or lowland, depending on the environment they will be used

Embryo transfer vs in-vitro fertilisation IAN McDougall, of Farmgene, explained the difference between traditional embryo transfer (ET) and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) .

For ET the donor ewe is superovulated to produce multiple ova which are then fertilised, usually by artificial insemination (AI).

The fertilised ova (embyros) are collected several days later via laparotomy while the ewe is under 78 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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general anaesthetic. The embryos are transferred to recipient ewes using a laparoscopic technique or frozen.

Laboratory Whereas in IVF oocyte maturation, fertilisation and embryo development occurs in the laboratory.

Oocytes are collected from un-ovulated follicles using laparoscopy.

They are then transferred to the

laboratory, matured, then fertilised to become embryos.

Embryos are grown to six-day-old blastocysts in specialised media in an incubator.

Success rate is usually about 40% with four to six blastocyst embryos per IVF collection, which are either frozen or transferred to recipient ewes.

This procedure is not widely available commercially in sheep.

in. Donor rams would be those with desirable genetics, for example, higher feed efficiency rates or be lower methane-emitting animals.

They would donate testicular tissue and then, using spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) transfer, the genetics of the donor would be transplanted into the surrogate rams.

This process would enable the surrogate rams to propagate semen with the genetics of the donor ram by the natural mating process, rather than by the use of AI. The offspring of surrogate sires are not genetically edited or modified in any way, which should eliminate concerns about genome edited products in the food chain.

Dr Clark said: “We would initially create a nucleus flock to produce a small number of surrogate sires for proof of concept which could take three to four years, but would then be more quickly able to develop farmersguardian.com

03/12/2024 14:05

Livestock

Robots measure nature-friendly practices on-farm A CORNISH farmer is trialling different approaches to improve soil health while reducing erosion and flooding – and using robotics technology to help him measure his success.

Working in a group of farmers across Cornwall, with Innovative Farmers and Farm Net Zero, Malcolm Barrett, who farms at St Tudy, trialled methods of sowing maize that minimise ploughing. This including using ‘strip-till’ machinery which disturbed the soil in strips, rather than ploughing the whole field.

Since reducing the use of the plough on his farm via a variety of min-till methods, it has helped Mr Barrett see dramatic improvements in his soil with less flooding and more worms.

Now the University of Plymouth has partnered with the trial as part of its ongoing research into the potential for agri-tech innovations to support land and water management.

The university is pioneering the development of sensors that estimate soil organic matter and moisture levels, using natural radio-

activity signals that come from all soil minerals.

This can provide data to help farmers see how effective their practices have been across a field and help them to plan how to better manage soils and water and improve productivity.

The research aims to show how the sensors can give the farmer a full picture of a field instantly on-site using hundreds of datapoints, rather than sending away a few soil samples to a lab, waiting for results and then hoping those samples are representative of the whole field.

Platform Sensors can be carried around the field to collect data, but this has now developed into cutting edge technology where the sensors operate on a robotic platform.

The robots can be programmed to travel more slowly and accurately than walking, creating more consistent data and reducing work for the farmer or adviser.

Mr Barrett says: “We are learning

Malcolm and Catherine Barrett are trialling robotic technology on their Cornish farm.

more about what the soil can do for us and what we can do for the soil. It is helping everyone by helping the environment and we are getting huge benefits on our farm too.

“If we can understand our soil and our crops more, we can farm smarter by targeting our approach. Having thousands of data points from the robotic sensors helps to build a whole picture – then we can see if there is certain areas that need attention and single out management practices that work.”

Prof Will Blake, director of the Sustainable Earth Institute at the University of Plymouth, says: “This trial has meant we can get our science out of the lab and test it in a real-world setting, feeding back into other research programmes we are working on.

“In this field lab, we are using robotics to deploy soil assessment solutions that the world could take on. It is great to be working with real farms – codesigning research questions with farmers is really important as it makes the technology we develop genuinely useful.”

Mr Barrett has also just signed up as a demo farm for a separate project called Agroecology at Scale where his farm will be used to demonstrate nature-friendly practices and inspire other farmers, so this sort of evidence and technology is extremely helpful.

The university hopes that this project will allow researchers to further develop the tech using other robotic platforms to explore biodiversity and crop factors as well as soil health.

WHAT NEXT FOR EMBRYO TRANSFER?

This means that instead of having one ram disseminating high value genetics, we could have thousands EMILY CLARK multiplier units to supply larger quantities of surrogate rams, which would then be able to carry the genetics from a donor ram of choice.

“This means that instead of having one ram disseminating high value genetics, we could have thousands which would greatly accelerate the speed at which we can achieve breeding goals offering an alternative to AI for genetic improvement,” she added. farmersguardian.com

p78 79 Dec 6 KH AC KJ.indd 3

THE future use of embryo transfer (ET), could be changing, according to Farmgene’s Ian McDougall.

He explained that currently, ET was mainly used for the production of pedigree sheep and was reliant on high prices being paid for some of these animals.

There was also the export of embryos to New Zealand, Australia, the EU and central and South America, but again this was dependant on demand from these countries for British sheep genetics.

Mr McDougall said: “The rise in popularity of Texels post foot-anmouth in 2001 led to a dramatic increase in the use of ET. “The introduction of new breeds, such as Valais Blacknose, Blue Texels and Dutch Spotted, also fuelled an increase in the use of ET which peaked in 2021.

“Not much changed in traditional ET methods from 1994 to 2024 apart from the use of a different superovulation hormone, the use of CIDRs and different anaesthetic protocols.

“However, times are changing.

Animal welfare concerns about the invasive nature of ET could lead to a ban on the surgical collection of embryos and regulation of recipient selection.

“There is also potentially a ban on the use of PMSG based on animal welfare issues relating to its production – it is already banned in Switzerland.

“We can work without PMSG, but it will be tricky and we would need to move ET further into the ewe’s natural breeding season and make more use of teaser rams to synchronise ewes.

“There is reduced domestic demand for ET due to less available cash in the sector combined with the rising cost of ET, mainly due to increased vet costs, largely as a result of the cost of superovulation hormones doubling in four years.

Completed “Some breed societies are changing rules to discourage ET and some breeds have completed the ‘ET cycle’, that is their numbers are where they need to be.”

As to the short-term future, Mr McDougall said animal welfare outcomes would need to be considered and an

alternative to PMGS found, but ET could be combined with other advanced technologies such as IVF and gene editing and the use of sexed semen.

However, this would be expensive and the structure of the sheep industry would need to change to accommodate this.

On a positive note, future demand for ET could be driven by dam line sires, with desirable traits such as high tolerance to roundworms, low methane emissions, terminal sire lines with favourable genes for meat eating quality, or easy lambing and high lamb survival.

Looking further ahead, Mr McDougall said if the UK sheep industry became more like that in New Zealand, pedigree breeding would shrink significantly resulting in very little ET in pedigree sheep.

But export may increase if UK sheep have genes desired by other countries. Surgical embryo collection may be replaced by laproscopic collection, IVF may become more successful and affordable and sexed semen must be available.

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 79

03/12/2024 14:05

Livestock Bull Proofs

Sons of Leeds dominate AHDB genomic rankings l Denovo 20893 Harmony in top spot

The top of this £PLI ranking is where breeders can go to find the Holstein breed’s most outstanding production, health and efficiency

FORMER top 10 sire, Denovo 20893 Harmony, has edged its way into the number one position in the new young Holstein sire ranking for Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI), published this week by AHDB. This bull is one of five sons of Denovo 2776 Leeds in the top 10, reflecting the heavy use of this high production and health bull as a sire of sons, and generally building on his sire’s milk quality and environmental credentials.

Excels With a genomic PLI of £928, Harmony excels in production, with a Predicted Transmitting Ability (PTA) of 1,109kg milk, 57kg (0.13%) fat and 41.8kg (0.05%) protein, and has an outstanding FeedAdvantage (FAdv) of 300.

This means its daughters are efficient converters of feed into milk and are expected to consume, on average, 300kg less dry matter in one lactation than daughters of a bull with a FeedAdvantage of zero.

Calculated in part from the bull’s

MARCO WINTERS AOT Jared Haskel, third dam of 29HO21534 Harmony.

DNA and in part from his daughters’ expected smaller size than average (Maintenance Index is -29), this all contributes to their lower carbon footprint, expressed through the bull’s EnviroCow of 5.2 – the best of the Holstein breed.

The new entrant in second place is T-Spruce Denovo Zest, a paternal half-brother to the number one sire.

Zest transmits good udder health

(-14 SCC, -1 Mastitis), a high Lameness Advantage (LA) of 2.8 and a PLI of £920. He also has the equal highest Type Merit of the top 20 bulls at 1.24.

Outstanding Two further Leeds sons fill third and fourth position, the first being the outstanding protein transmitter, Denovo 20723 Columbia,

which has been edged down from its former number one position, now with a PLI of £902.

Completing the quartet is fourth-ranking Denovo 20771 Segment, another strong production sire, whose PLI is £901.

New, in fifth position, is Badger Siemers Day Trip (PLI £895) which transmits an exceptional daughter lifespan (+180 days), great udder

FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR KETTLE IN DAUGHTER-PROVEN HOLSTEIN RANKINGS MILK solids improver, Bomaz Kettle, has climbed to the top of the daughter-proven Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) rankings.

This son of De-Su 14222 Kenobi stands out for its combined fat and protein of 93.6kg, which is backed by +0.29% fat and +0.21% protein.

Now with 208 UK milking daughters and many more internationally, this bull’s PLI has risen to £847.

Top 10 available Holstein bulls with a daughter proof n 1: Bomaz Kettle - £847 n 2: Genosource Captain - £799 n 3: Westcoast River - £782 n 4: Bomaz Platt - £779 n 5: Hul-Stein Cowboy - £778 n 6: Winstar Graziano - £762 n 7: FB Kenobi Targaryen - £750 n 8: Progenesis Wimbledon - £741 n 9: Denovo 14744 Ginetta £723 n 10: Denovo 16219 Aladdin £722

Second This move edges long-time leader, Genosource Captain, into second position, now with a PLI of £799.

Captain’s 1,274 UK daughters help earn it the accolade as the highest milk transmitter in the top 20, now with a Predicted Transmitting Ability (PTA) of 1235kg. Westcoast River, an 80 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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Bomaz Kenobi 8823, paternal sister to Bomaz Kettle. established bull at the top of the £PLI rankings, now ranks third (PLI £782) and remains one of the

best health transmitters of the breed.

Bomaz Platt is a new entry in

fourth position, having graduated from the genomic young sire list with a PLI of £779.

Just one point behind, HulStein Cowboy climbs into fifth place (PLI £778) with strong udder health features (-28 SCC, -3 Mastitis).

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Bull Proofs Livestock Top 10 Holstein genomic young sires n 1: Denovo 20893 Harmony £928 n 2: T-Spruce Denovo Zest – £920 n 3: Denovo 20723 Columbia £902 n 4: Denovo 20771 Segment £901 n 5: Badger Siemers Day Trip £895 n 6: Cogent B Advantage - £890 n 7: Denovo 20668 Hierarchy £879 n 8: Badger SSI Elvin Penarol £873 n 9: Winstar Reggie - £864 n 10: Bomaz Lambert P - £862

health (-2 Mastitis) and shorter than average gestation length (-3).

Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB, says: “The top of this £PLI ranking is where breeders can go to find the Holstein breed’s most outstanding production, health and efficiency bulls for use in their herds, but they can also find many more exceptional bulls further down the list.

“Those who have already used Leeds may have to dig deeper, but as always, they can re-rank bulls on the AHDB website for traits they particularly wish to improve, whether that be fertility, cell count, feed efficiency or any other parameter for which a genetic index is calculated.”

Top Holsteins hard to beat compared across breeds WITH breeding choices complete in most autumn-calving herds, attention is turning to herds calving next spring, which can look to the new Spring Calving Index (£SCI) ranking to make their breeding choices.

Black and whites feature heavily in this across-breed ranking, as despite the penalty they may incur for size and any inferiority in their milk quality compared with some other breeds, their high kg milk solids potential, alongside the improvements they have made in udder health and fertility, can be difficult for others to match in an overall selection index when compared in a ranking across the breeds.

Superb As such, we see a leading Holstein sire, Bomaz Platt, taking first place, thanks to outstanding milk solids production, superb improvements to daughter cell counts, and good daughter fertility.

These combine to earn the bull an SCI of £653.

Similar features see the dominance of the second and third

Bomaz Bob 6207, third dam of Bomaz Platt.

placed bulls – notably including superb daughter fertility and mastitis resistance in second-placed Progenesis Wimbledon (SCI £644) and substantial reductions in cell counts from third placed Winstar Graziano (SCI £630).

Those who prefer to emphasise the Jersey breed in their tight block calving, grazing-based, spring-calving herds, will find the high-flying VJ NR Haugaard Nibali Nibiru also features in the top 10, with an SCI of £556.

Stability with other breed rankings THE new Jersey Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) ranking represents something of a reshuffle, with all former top 10 bulls remaining in the top 12, making way for just two newcomers high on the AHDB-published list.

Moving up to take control is VJ Kibsgaard Jocko Jojo, with a PLI of £477, reflecting good production figures (418kg milk and 38.5kg fat plus protein) alongside a favourable Mastitis Index of -2.

Excellent This bull is followed by last time’s front-runner, VJ NR Hauggaard Nibali Nibiru, with a PLI of £439.

Nibiru is a high milk quality bull (+0.22% fat, +0.18% protein) with excellent health traits, which earn him a HealthyCow of £186.

Similar stability in the Ayrshire ranking sees all five of the top bulls retaining exactly their previous positions. Holding on at numfarmersguardian.com

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ber one is Tontine Astorwell, a UK-bred bull with extreme production figures (809kg milk) and good udder health (-15 SCC).

His PLI is £532.

VR Hakvin retains second place, now with a PLI of £502 and with a good Lifespan (+97 days) and daughter Fertility Index (11.9), ahead of VR Venom (£466), VR Vilano (£449) and Whinnow Origin (£426).

A similar stability exists within the Friesian £PLI ranking, with Bloemplaat Hoeve Ewoud retaining its lead (PLI £300) and continuing to stand out for high protein (11.7kg) and good SCC (-10).

Inch Hearty (PLI £249) remains in second and transmits exceptional lifespan (+107 days), and keeping third position is Catlane Cromwell, which transmits improvements to mastitis (-3) and high overall health (HealthyCow £168; PLI £247).

Climbing up to fourth place is Dalino (£222) and edging into the top five is Langley Berkley (£217).

Friesian The Friesian £PLI ranking for young genomic sires shows a similar stability, with just a minor re-ranking among the top five bulls.

The former number four, Wyev-

alley Veritas, rises to take the lead, continuing to show excellent health traits (HealthyCow £163) and earning a PLI of £323.

It is followed by high daughter fertility transmitter, Goonhilly Coverack (PLI £321; FI 4.1), and high protein sire (13.2kg, 0.05%), Goonhilly Cornelly, with a PLI of £303.

Top five bulls for non-Holstein breeds

Jersey n 1: VJ Kibsgaard Jocko Jojo £477 n 2: VJ NR Haugaard Nibali Nibiru - £43 n 3: VJ Outrup Luxi Luxplus - £429 n 4: VJ NR Haugaard Hays Hauga - £401 n 5: VJ Hoeholt Jern James - £371

Ayrshire n 1: Tontine Astorwell - £532

n 2: VR Hakvin - £502 n 3: VR Venom - £466 n 4: VR Vilano - £449 n 5: Whinnow Origin - £426

Friesian n 1: Bloemplaat Hoeve Ewoud £300 n 2: Inch Hearty - £249 n 3: Catlane Cromwell - £247 n 4: Dalino - £222 n 5: Langley Berkley - £217 DECEMBER 6 2024 | 81

04/12/2024 11:30

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Peter Howard (below), veterinary adviser at Boehringer Ingelheim, explains the major parasite threats facing cattle at housing time, and offers practical strategies to manage them.

with a review 1 Start of the grazing season PETER says: “Before deciding on housing treatments, review the past grazing season. Consider weather conditions, grazing management, animal movements, known parasite threats on your farm and any wormers given over summer.”

Taking stock of these factors will help identify which animals are at risk of carrying parasites into housing, and can inform both immediate treatment needs and next year’s parasite control strategy.

Main parasites

The four main parasites which pose the greatest risks during the housing period are: liver fluke, lungworm and the gutworms Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia spp.

Addressing these parasites now can prevent significant health and productivity setbacks in winter.

Lungworm: Still a risk in late autumn

PETER says: “Lungworm was once thought of as a summer disease affecting mainly youngstock. But with warmer, wetter autumns, lungworm risk can extend well into the season, and longer grazing seasons have left many cattle exposed to late infections.”

This shifting lungworm risk can impact adults as well as youngstock, especially if they have not received low-level exposure to build immunity or if they have come from a lungworm-free farm to one with a lungworm presence.

Without prompt intervention,

Assess 3 Gutworms: risk by age group

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However, a high worm burden can still suppress milk yield in dairy

lungworm infections may worsen respiratory health issues over winter.

Practical advice

● Monitor regularly: Watch for signs of lungworm infection, such as coughing shortly after housing, especially in calves, first-season grazers and any adult cattle which could be naive to lungworm. ● Treat quickly: If you notice signs of infection, consult your vet as soon as possible. Many housing wormers, such as IVOMEC® Classic, IVOMEC® Super, and EPRINEX®, target lungworm along with gutworms, but double-check to ensure that all at-risk cattle are covered.

cows and impact fertility, ultimately affecting herd profitability. ● DAIRY HERDS: Bulk milk tests taken during the grazing season can reveal antibody levels to Ostertagia ostertagi.

High antibody levels often indicate the need for treatment, so discuss any concerning results with your vet. ● YOUNGER CATTLE: For calves and first-season grazers, gutworms can be particularly harmful. Untreated infections reduce growth rates, leading to delays in reaching bulling or finishing

For more information, visit view.farmersguardian.com/boehringer-ingelheim-beat-the-parasites 82 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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04/12/2024 13:46

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LIVER fluke is prevalent throughout the UK and Ireland, especially on mixed farms with both cattle and sheep. This parasite does not provoke an immune response, so cattle remain vulnerable throughout their lifetime and are likely to be infected over the grazing season.

Peter says: “Unlike lungworm or gutworm infections, cattle do not develop protective immunity to liver fluke. As a result, most cattle on affected farms will have picked up some level of infection over summer.” ● PRODUCTION IMPACTS: Liver

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disease in sheep, is especially concerning on mixed beef and sheep farms. Peter suggests reserving triclabendazole for sheep, and using alternative treatments for cattle.

IVOMEC® Super, which contains clorsulon, effectively targets mature liver fluke in cattle.

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DECEMBER 6 2024 | 83

04/12/2024 13:47

Livestock Diverse herbal leys could provide an answer to improved livestock growth rates, resilience during extreme weather and reduced reliance on anthelmintics for worm control. Jane Brown reports.

Trial looks at value of grazing sheep on herbal leys

A

fter years of experimenting with multispecies leys, Chris Berry jumped at the chance to hold a farm trial examining their role in worm burdens. Keeping 960 Highlander, Romney and EasyCare ewes alongside 60 Angus suckler cows, he was interested in maximising growth rates while minimising anthelmintic use.

Farming 182 hectares (450 acres) at the part-owned, part-tenanted Higher Thornton Farm in Kenn, Devon, he joined forces with the Farm Carbon Toolkit and Innovative Farmers, a project run by the Soil Association.

Alongside Matt Smith, of Trenfanck Farm near Launceston, Cornwall, and Mark Hayman, at Higher Coombe Farm, Bradninch, Devon, he sowed a variety of herbal mixtures to compare lamb worm burdens and growth rates.

Speaking at a recent farm walk, Rob Purdew, of the Farm Carbon Toolkit, said weaning causes ‘physiological stress for lambs’.

He said: “That can cause a sudden increase in the worm burden, knocking growth rates and affecting lamb health. However, there is some evidence it can be offset by secondary metabolites and higher protein contents in forage, so the trial looked to find an appropriate herbal ley mixture to deliver this.”

The trial compared four different forages: Mainstar forage rape; the farmer’s standard grass mix with perennial ryegrass (PRG), white clover and a festulolium; a one-year plantain, chicory and

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crimson clover mix; and a more complex herbal ley.

Sponsored by DLF, the complex mixture was designed for maximum growth rates, with high protein and metabolisable energy. It comprised 45% grasses including PRG and Timothy, 35% legumes, 10% plantain and 8% chicory.

Monty White, agricultural project manager at DLF, said: “It had a lot of dicotyledonous herbs, which pass rapidly through the rumen.”

He added that grasses take six hours to be processed by a sheep, while herbs take two to two-and-ahalf hours – this quicker process and utilisation means they can spend more time eating, thus increasing dry matter intakes.

Chicory, sainfoin and plantain have an anthelmintic effect in their own right, but their deep roots also bring up minerals from the soil, improving animal health. In addition, plantain

Five weeks after establishment there were more roots, more worms and a better structure ROB PURDEW

Matt Smith sowed a variety of herbal mixtures to compare lamb worm burdens and growth rates.

and chicory are structurally beneficial against nematodes, as the larvae cannot climb them, reducing intakes by grazing stock, said Monty.

“Herbs are also very nitrogen hungry, so it is good to pair them with nitrogen-fixing legumes.”

Results The leys were strip grazed for about a month in summer, with the lambs weighed on and off to measure daily liveweight gain, with faecal egg counts and soil health measurements taken, too. When averaged across the three farms, the results showed no difference in daily weight gains between the leys. However, within farms there was significant variation between the forage crops.

At Higher Thornton, the lambs averaged 185.6kg/ha (75kg/acre) growth – which was just more than 0.2kg/head per day – on the forage rape, 222kg/ha (89.8kg/acre) on plantain and chicory, 61.6kg (24.9kg/acre) on the herbal mix and 54kg (21.8kg/acre) on the grass mix.

This had a direct impact on finishing times; on the chicory and plantain mix, lambs took 56.5 days to finish at 40kg, compared to 144 days on the grass mix.

The carbon footprint was therefore 61% lower, at 1.61 tonnes per 100 lambs on the chicory and plantain mix, against 4.13t on the grass.

“That is a part of the story we cannot ignore,” said Mr Purdew.

There was little difference in faecal egg counts across the farms, although there were variations within farms, he added.

“We have had more questions coming from the trials than we have had answers.”

One definite result was a bigger uplift in soil health from the chicory/plantain and herbal ley than there was from the forage rape and grass control.

“Five weeks after establishment, there were more roots, more worms and a better structure,” said Mr Purdew.

At Trefanck Farm, one field was direct drilled, and showed a tighter soil structure with worse establishment than those fields which were cultivated with a subsoiler and harrow.

“It is definitely better value to get a good establishment,” added Mr Purdew.

So while the results were somewhat inconclusive, and more trials are required, there were some clear lessons learned – one of which is to use funding from the Sustainable Farming Incentive to trial different herbal leys on your own farm, said Mr Berry. He has learned a lot from his own trials, and now has a system that works extremely well.

The ewes lamb in March, mostly outdoors, and are initially set stocked, before being broken into four groups of about 250 head and rotationally grazed.

Mr Berry said: “We move them every two or three days and follow them with the cows, who do a great job of resetting the pastures without nibbling out the bottom of the sward.”

The leys have a rest period of 35farmersguardian.com

03/12/2024 09:13

Livestock

Chris Berry

Matt Smith

Monty White

Rob Purdew

40 days before being grazed again, allowing them to recover on what is quite a dry farm.

The cows play an important role in the rotation, hoovering up worms and extending the grazing interval. Weaned in November, Mr Berry out-winters youngstock, aiming for 0.5kg/day growth rates before they speed up in spring to finish at 17-22 months.

Mr Berry weighs his lambs regu-

larly and only drenches if they are not performing.

He said: “You need to look at the whole farm and consider the weather and trace elements – there is so much that we blame parasites for.”

Anthelmintic resistance is a huge issue and farmers must use every tool in the box to tackle it, including breeding sheep that are more resilient to worms, said Mr Smith.

That means sheep which can

continue to thrive despite a high worm burden – something that is a very heritable trait.

perts offer as a result of the trial?

Mr Purdew said he would add white clover to the one-year chicory/plantain ley to make it last two years – and potentially add Mainstar to the mix for even higher yields.

He added: “It is a £2/kg difference between an off-the-shelf herbal mix and a gold standard one – that is £30/acre but you will get that back in performance.”

Positives Mr Smith said: “We are getting a lot of positives which we never set out to achieve by breeding for resilience – like more dung beetles, which break down dung more quickly and get it into the soil.”

So what advice would the ex-

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04/12/2024 11:18

Livestock Pneumonia, or bovine respiratory disease, remains a major challenge, however early detection will maximise a successful outcome. Farmers Guardian reports.

Importance of early detection and treatment of pneumonia

● Use of NSAIDs brings several benefits

THE long-term economic consequences of pneumonia, or bovine respiratory disease (BRD), are well documented. In dairy herds, damage to the lungs in the first eight weeks of life of a heifer calf has been shown to result in a 509-litre decrease in milk production in the first lactation.

And in beef systems, the presence of lung damage in finished animals has been linked to up to a 202g reduction in daily liveweight gain from birth to slaughter.

Tim Potter, veterinary surgeon and senior clinical director at Westpoint Farm Vets, says pneumonia can be caused by a variety of different bacteria and viruses, and this is important to remember when considering treatment protocols and how disease prevention is approached.

He says successful management of pneumonia begins with a commitment to rapid and accurate identification and then the administration of the correct treatment.

Dr Potter says: “Technology is now offering solutions for better disease detection, with systems available that will detect disease based on temperature, alterations in activity and feeding behaviours. However, it remains essential that all members of the team can accurately identify pneumonia as early as possible so that the correct treatment can be given.”

He says to remember that animals will not always show all the symptoms of pneumonia, and what they do show can vary in severity.

Respiratory scoring He adds that the development of respiratory scoring systems, such as those from the universities of California or Wisconsin, can guide users through the symptoms of pneumonia and help in the diagnosis of the disease.

He says: “Rapid treatment begins with the health planning process.

Agreeing treatment protocols with your vet will enable you to ensure that there are no delays in animals getting the correct treatment.

“Your vet will advise on the most appropriate antibiotic to treat the bacteria that cause BRD. There are 86 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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Management and treatment of BRD in beef systems is best approached holistically, says Tim Potter.

It is essential that all members of the team can identify pneumonia as early possible so that the correct treatment can be given TIM POTTER no specific treatments for the viral causes of pneumonia, so the other key part of any treatment protocol will be a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug [NSAID].”

He says the use of NSAIDs in the treatment of pneumonia is now commonplace and brings several benefits.

Studies have shown that there is a consistently faster reduction in rectal temperature when NSAIDs are used alongside antimicrobials in the

treatment of pneumonia and that animals return quicker to normal feed intakes.

There is also evidence that use of an NSAID in the treatment of pneumonia can help decrease the incidence of lung lesions at slaughter, which are linked to poorer growth rates. Products are available that combine an antibiotic with a NSAID and many producers find these a convenient way of treating animals, as they ensure the animal receives both the antibiotic and NSAID without needing two injections.

Immune status Dr Potter says “Pneumonia is a multifactorial disease, and prevention must be approached in a holistic manner for it to be effective. Improving an animal’s immune status will ensure it is best prepared to fight off disease.

“Good immunity starts with excellent colostrum management and can then be boosted by a vaccination programme which is targeted at the specific viruses and bacteria causing a problem on your farm. Ensuring the environment is correct and buildings are well ventilated will also help prevent disease by reducing stress and minimising exposure.

“Ideally, we would prevent pneu-

monia, but given this disease’s multifactorial nature there is always going to be a risk of it occurring, so it pays to be prepared. By rapidly identifying and treating cases you will improve the response to treatment and see a quicker resolution of clinical signs and you are also less likely to have to re-treat cases.

“Treating cases earlier will help reduce the spread of the disease through the group and so you are less likely to see new cases. Ensuring pneumonia is treated as soon as possible will also reduce the amount of permanent damage to the lungs and will reduce the negative impact of this disease on future growth and productivity,” he adds.

Symptoms of pneumonia ■ Raised temperature (above 39.4degC) ■ Increased breathing rate (above 30 breaths per minute) and effort ■ Head down and looking depressed ■ Coughing ■ Nasal discharge (initially clear and watery, but will change to yellow and thick as the disease progresses) farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 11:42

Working Dogs

Working with

Trials diary ENGLAND

VIKKI AND SUGARHILL MOSS WIN AT YORKSHIRE VIKKI Ibbotson and Sugarhill Moss claimed first place at the Yorkshire trial, which was held at Peter Simpson’s Woodmanwray Farm, Dacre. Becky Galloway judged the 24 dogs entered.

For winning results

English results NORTHUMBERLAND, Whitfield (Judge, M, Elliott) (17 ran) 1, D. Henderson, Burndale Jet, 84; 2, P. Telfer, Telf Can, 73; 3, B. Jordan, Dove, 72 OLF; 4, C. Balmbro, Jim, 72; 5, M. Davidson, Clover, 70; 6, M. Davidson, Jill, 67. Novice, 1, W. Smith, Storm, 57.

WESTCOUNTRY, Great Champson Farm (D. Kennard) Maltese cross, 1, D. Cole, Sam, 63; 2, D. Cole, Mac, 54; 3, S. Short, Kerry, 52 OLF; 4, T. Nicholas, Ruby, 52; 5, J. Tucker, Wyverne Chip 48; 6, F. Davis-Russell, Todd, 46. Driving (C. Worgan) 1, D. Cole, Juno, 73 OLF; 2, R. Edwards, Uskvale Wilson, 73; 3, D. Kennard, Bet, 72 timed; 4, A. Hendy, Spike, 71 OLF timed; 5, P. Davis-Russell, Joss, 71; 6, R. Greep, Doug, 68.

SURREY, South Chailey (J. Bastable) Nursery (24

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ran) 1, M. Banham, Beacons Ben, 93 of 100; 2, J. Watson, Mick, 92; 3, P. Griffiths, Duchy, 87; 4, J. Watson, Jake, 84; 5, A. Nikalls, Sky, 58. Novice, 1, J. Watson, Matt, 88 of 100 OLF; 2, W. Cole, Moss, 88; 3, J. Watson, Max, 86; 4, E. Anstey, Castlewood Ben, 77; 5, L. Taylor, Wish, 76; 6, G. Gower, Ayesha, 71.

RYEDALE, Carlton (A. Wilkinson) Nursery (26 ran) 1, S. Walton, Brackenholme Dolly, 81; 2, D. Bristow, Greenhow Tess, 72; 3, J. Howard, Misbourne Rosie, 71; 4, B. Galloway, Shadwell Shep, 70; 5, S. Walton, Bran, 62; 6, G. Blyth, Cloddiau Bet, 61. Novice, 1, J. Atkinson, Sandy, 60; 2, K. Acres, Malta Bess. New handler, 1, L. Bray, Scalpsie Maid, 62; 2, J. Porteus, Graylees Tig; 3, S. Beaton, Jim. YORKSHIRE, Dacre (B. Galloway) (24 ran) 1, V. Ibbotson, Sugarhill Moss, 76 of 90; 2, R. Fielden, Sam, 70 OLF; 3, A. Grant, Pip, 70; 4, R. Atkins, Jos, 69; 5, S. Duckworth, Tom, 68; 6, S. Duckworth, Baw Sweep, 66.

FLYDE, Quernmore (D. Jenkins) Nursery (38 ran) 1, T. Huddleston, Intac Betty, 82; 2, C. Kempson, Glen, 81; 3, T. Birkett, Jim, 77; 4, C. Kepson, Tweed, 76; 5, M. Hutchinson, Tenley, 72; 6, J. Ashworth, Zac, 71 OLF. NORTHERN, Bowes, Co Durham (L. Morland)

Nursery (37 ran) 1, Robert Hutchinson (Bowes), Maggie, 84 of 90; 2, Robert Hutchinson, Rob, 81; 3, Robert Hutchinson, Jet, 80; 4, A. Temple (Holmrook), Jet, 75; 5, K. Cropper (Shap), Blade, 72; 6, R. Dupy (Bowes), Ginny, 66. Novice, 1, A. Temple, Hilltop Rita, 72 of 90; 2, E. Hill (Holmrook), Pentre Roxy, 65; 3, E. Hill, Jess, 60. New handler, 1, C. Longstaff, 60.

NORTH WESTMORLAND, Hutton in the Forest, Penrith (L. Threlkeld) Nursery (48 ran) 1, M. Elliott, Drift, 74 of 90; 2, O. Dean, Skye, 70; 3, Thomas Longton, Gyp, 69; 4, D. Scrimgeour, Winter Crag Nyx, 66; 5, G. Fearon, Greg, 65; 6, T. Birkett, Spot, 62. Novice, 1, E. Wills, Gail, 72 of 90; 2, M. Fearon, Jock, 70; 3, A. Temple, Hilltop Rita, 64; 4, E. Hill, Pentre Roxy, 63. New handler, 1, M. Barker, Lucy; 2, Z. Edwards, Queen.

NORTHERN, Hamsteel Hall, Quebec, Co Durham (A. Ridley) Nursery (36 ran) 1, F. Crowe, Reggie, 82 of 90; 2, A. Hunter, Tilly, 81 OLF; 3, R. Hutchinson, Rob, 81; 4, A. Dick, Spot, 76; 5, A. Temple, Jet, 75; 6, A. Grant, Pip, 73. Novice, 1, P. Ellis, Tip, 90 of 100; 2, R. Crowe, Joe, 86; 3, L. Morland, Dusk, 70. New handler, 1, K. Wilkinson, Ned, 64.

December 7. NORTHUMBERLAND, Cowden Burn, Birtley near Bellingham. RYEDALE, Manor Farm, Boynton, Nr Bridlington, East Yorkshire, YO16 4XJ, Beginners nursery novice, start 10am, field entry, £2 per entry, contact: Trevor Fields, tel: 07980 010 757. FLYDE, Fylde Nursery, Hall Trees Farm, Chipping, PR3 2NF, 9.30am start, usual Pennine interclub rules apply, contact: Mr Longton, tel: 07736 278 398. SHETLAND, Everor Nursery Trial, Tangwick, Eshaness, Shetland, ZE2 9RS, the Everor Nursery Trial will commence after the conclusion of the Northmavine Nursery Trial, 12pm, £10 per entry, pre-entry, contact: Daniel Mainland, tel: 07748 582 031, or email: dmainl16@hotmail.co. uk. TRAWDEN, E. Thornally and E. Street, Hull House, Hellifield, BD23 4JP. RYEDALE, Trevor Fields, Manor Farm, Boynton, YO16 4XJ, contact: T. Fields, tel: 07980 010 757.

December 8. NSDA, Kirkby Fleetham DL7 0RS, c/o Dick family, contact: Andy Grant, tel: 07710 825 836, Northern Sheepdog Association rules apply, 9:30am start, last booking in 1pm, only one dog after 12pm. MID SHIRES, field postcode to be confirmed, Barston, Solihull, Warwick, B92 (TBC), 8.30am start, Nursery/Novice/Beginner trials, contact: Gill, tel: 07950 738 732, or email: gillburbidge2014@gmail.com. ROMNEY MARSH, Whitehall, Ludgate Lane, Lynsted, Kent, ME9 0RF, Nursery, Novice, other, 10am, field entry, cost per entry £3 per dog, contact: Liz Lauder, email: romneymarsh123@gmail.com.

NORTHUMBERLAND, Cavil Head, Acklington.

December 14. RYEDALE, Raylia Dugmore and Will Young, Crosscliff, Langdale End, YO13 0LN, What3Words: ///afterglow.nights.vegans, contact: R. Dugmore, tel: 01723 882 434.

NORTHUMBERLAND, Dykehead Farm, Rochester.

December 15. MID SHIRES, Framland Farm, Scalford Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 1LB, 8.30am start, Nursery/Novice/Beginner trials, contact: Gill, tel: 07950 738 732, or email: gillburbidge2014@gmail.com. WESSEX, Great Homewood Farm, Honeypot Lane, South Chailey, Lewes, BN8 4QL, Nursery and Novice trial, contact: Elaine Anstey, tel: 07778 677 955, or email: vernonanstey@btinternet.com.

December 21. TYNWERN, Llanrhystud, SY23 5BD, 9am start, contact: Emyr Lloyd, tel: 01974 272 282.

December 22. STUART WALTON, Sandhoe Farm, Carlton Goole, DN14 9RS, What3Words: /// started.wildfires.outsize, contact: S. Walton, tel: 07789 740 122.

WALES December 7. SOUTH WALES NURSERY FINAL, Carmarthen, contact: Anna Prothero, tel: 07795 178 451, or email: anna_prothero@hotmail.com.

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 87

04/12/2024 11:11

Farming: The Backbone of B rit Kaleb Cooper has loved agriculture since being little, and regardless of the fame he has earned as Jeremy Clarkson’s farming confidant, he is still passionate about the industry and keen to promote it. Emily Ashworth finds out more.

Christmas in the Countryside

A Kaleb Cooper Christmas

H

e might be one of the nation’s most wellknown farmers after shooting to TV stardom on Clarkson’s Farm, but there is no doubt that Kaleb Cooper’s feet – or wellies – are firmly on the ground.

His passion for farming has continued to grow, and showcasing the industry to the public has become another job on its own for the 26-year-old.

Now a best-selling author with a sell-out farm-themed tour, Kaleb has released his third book, It’s a Farming Thing, which is a memoir-style insight into his love for agriculture.

He says: “Farming gets a lot of negativity, and I wanted to show the youngsters how I started out in farming.

“I have got a young following and feel drawn to help them and highlight why farming is so good for me and how it could be for other people too.

“It is a way of life; farmers would not be doing what they are doing if they did not love their job.

88 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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I have got a young following and feel drawn to help them and highlight why farming is so good for me and how it could be for other people too KALEB COOPER “Farmers will relate [to the book] but I wanted to get to the general public and show them what we love doing the most and show them the traditions – our history goes way back.”

Kaleb’s other labour of love is The Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary. Keen to encourage people

to think of farming for a career, he launched the bursary with The Royal Agricultural University in 2023.

Having come from a non-farming background himself, giving young people the support they need to develop their careers is a cause close to his heart.

And, he says, there is no point talking about it – you need get people on-farm and show them what life in agriculture is truly all about.

“People say farming is incredibly hard and you do not make any money. There is a lot of negativity, but I am a very positive person and think farming is the best thing in the world,” he says.

“It keeps my family afloat, it pays my bills – I have got my own business, and I employ seven other people.

“There is a career – you just have to know whether you can do it or not. Now, how do we [find that out]?

“You have got to get students on-farm for a day – you will lose half of them because it smells, but then half of them will have a good

time and connect that they are eating the honey that has come from those bees or drinking the milk from the cows.

“Then you will lose another 20% because maybe it is too cold in the winter, and you are left with 30% who could be hooked.

“Farming takes a certain breed – I like to compare people to cows.”

Journey His own journey is a testament to how young people can make it in the industry. He says that farming saved him, in a way, after he ‘lost himself’ slightly as a child when his parents split up.

From the age of 13, he has been working endlessly to build his own empire and his book documents all of this, complete with pictures of his childhood. It has been, he says, quite emotional reflecting on it all.

Alongside his contracting business, he is currently rearing a couple of Oxford Sandy Black pigs as well as about 188 cattle, which go to the local butchers or into Jeremy Clarkson’s new pub (The Farmer’s farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 11:21

f B ritain

Edited by Emily Ashworth 07977 706 711 emily.ashworth@agriconnect.com

PICTURE: KALEB COOPER

Kaleb Cooper’sKaleb passion for Cooper farming has continued to grow.

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DECEMBER 6 2024 | 89

04/12/2024 11:51

Farming: The Backbone of B rit

Valuing food Another section in the book focuses on food, urging people to value what they eat more.

He says that Christmas is the only time of year that the country seems to get excited over food, but there needs to be a bigger focus on the welfare standards British agriculture has.

“Look at America and Thanksgiving – that holiday is to be thankful for food and farmers. Why are we not celebrating what we are growing in this country?

“People have got it in their heads

well go and buy it from a farm shop or a butcher. Your butcher or local farmer will become your best friend, and they will be so grateful,” says Kaleb.

Bringing his family up on a farm is also a dream come true. It is scary in terms of farm safety, he says, but watching them learn the ways of life in the countryside is special – with a dose of realism.

He says: “My little boy loves tractors and cows. I have a cockerel that fights him, and he just says: ‘Shall we eat it?’”

I have worked so hard [...] I do get people coming up to me thinking I am just on TV, but I am still working; I am still a farmer

Christmas traditions

KALEB COOPER

So, what does Christmas look like in the Cooper household? With two young children, the excitement must be palpable.

Kaleb’s family have their own little traditions, but there is ‘a different feel in the air’ and everyone gets stuck in to help with the animals.

As for the food, well, it is Christmas after all, he says.

that food is too expensive, but food keeps us alive – not your Xbox, or your lovely jeans.

“We should be spending more on food. People buy these things in fancy packaging, but they are paying for that packaging. You may as

Book giveaway

Winter watch

KELVIN and Liz Fletcher are back with their brand-new series of Fletchers on the Farm, documenting farming life with their four young children. And in this series, there are some new additions to the farm. Watch on Sundays on ITV. 90 | DECEMBER 6 2024

p88 89 90 91 Dec6 KJ LP EA.indd 4

MORE INFORMATION Visit farmersguardian.com/farm-life

The World According to Kaleb: On Tour is available to watch on Prime Video .

PICTURE: EXPECTATION

FARMERS Guardian has three copies of Kaleb Cooper’s latest book, It’s a Farming Thing, to give away. If you want to be in with a chance of winning a signed copy, visit farmersguardian.com/kaleb to enter.

“Throughout the day, I will just pick – I love the turkey wings, so I will eat those and get told off.

“Then I will probably dip my finger in something left over on the side and get told off again,” he says.

“We will then sit down for a roast dinner, but by that time I am probably not hungry because I have just eaten all day.”

Kaleb’s life has certainly changed, but shooting into the spotlight has not changed his approach to work.

In fact, it has simply given him the platform and the means to shout about the industry he loves.

He says: “It is challenging, enjoyable and rewarding. I have worked so hard – I do not think people realise how many hours I work, and I do get people coming up to me thinking I am just on TV, but I am still working; I am still a farmer.”

Perfect present

LOOKING for the perfect gift this year? With winter in full swing, keep someone cosy this Christmas with this matching hat and scarf set.

Bakewell Hat And Scarf Set, various colours, £69.95, Schoffel Country

farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 11:22

PICTURE: GETTY

Dog) and a few Wagyu cows, which are being bred for his wedding next year.

“There are also 21 dairy cows, and a local young farmer milks them and rents them off me,” he says.

“He wanted to up his milk in the tank, but he could not afford more cows, so I bought some and helped him put robots in.”

f B ritain

Butcher’s corner Butcher Jonny Farrell urges people to keep it simple this year and shares his recipe for the perfect Christmas ham – you can even cook it before the big day.

JONNY Farrell has worked all over the world, but after founding Butcher Farrell’s Meat Emporium in Ormskirk, Lancashire, he is dedicated to showcasing the farm-to-fork process and bringing customers a little closer to the industry.

He says: “I absolutely love Christmas: the cheery people, the beers after a shift, the crazy long days and then relaxing with food and family.

“In my house, we love a feast with multiple meats. My stance is it has to be a free-range bronze turkey and a roasted gammon to accompany.

“Customers seem to become stressed about cooking more than one meat, but the gammon can be cooked the day before, sliced and reheated easily enough. And do not forget to use your leftovers to build the ultimate Boxing Day sandwich.”

Butcher Farrell’s

Ultimate roast ham

Ingredients ■ Buy a good UK gammon from your local butcher, around 2.5kg ■ 1 sliced carrot ■ 1 sliced celery ■ 2 garlic cloves ■ 2 bay leaves ■ 2 tbsp marmalade ■ 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard ■ Orange juice ■ Dark rum ■ Hot honey (honey with chilli) Method

■ Preheat the oven to 185degC. ■ Pop the joint of gammon into a pan

PICTURE: GETTY

of cold water with the sliced carrot, celery, garlic and two bay leaves.

■ Bring to the boil, then simmer for

two hours. Carefully skim off any scum that rises to the surface.

■ Take out and leave to dry on a roasting tin while you combine two tablespoons of marmalade, a splash of orange juice, a squirt of hot honey, one tablespoon of wholegrain mustard and a decent splash of dark rum in a pan.

■ Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the mixture is sticky. Be careful not to let it burn.

■ Use a sharp knife to remove the skin.

Then, using the tip, trace a diamond design across the fat.

■ Stud with cloves at the points where the diamonds meet and carefully apply the first glaze to your gammon joint.

■ Place into the oven and roast for 45 minutes, glazing every 15 minutes.

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Market Prices Primestock ENGLAND All prices quoted in p/kg.

STEERS Market day(s) week ending December 3

Acklington Th Ashford Tu Bakewell Mo Barnard Castle Bentham Tu Bishops Castle Bridgnorth Tu Brockholes We Carlisle Mo Cirencester Th Clitheroe Cockermouth Colchester Tu Cutcombe Darlington Th\Mo Exeter Mo Frome We Gisburn Th Hailsham We Hallworthy Th Hawes Hereford Hexham Tu Holsworthy We Hull/Dunswell Mo Kendal Th Kington Kirkby Stephen Lancaster Fr Leek Tu Leyburn We Longtown Th Louth Mo Ludlow Malton Tu Market Drayton We\Mo Market Harborough Melton Mowbray We\Mo Newton Abbot (Rendells) Northallerton We\Tu Norwich Oswestry We Otley Mo Penrith Mo Ross on Wye Mo Rugby Mo Ruswarp Mo Salisbury Tu Scots Gap Sedgemoor We Selby We Shrewsbury Skipton Mo South Molton Stratford Thame Thirsk Th Thrapston Sa Truro We Ulverston Tu Wigton Th\Su Wooler Worcester York Mo

HEIFERS

YOUNG BULLS

Total cattle number

Light average

Medium average

Heavy average

Light average

Medium average

Heavy average

Light average

Medium average

20 57 1 91 3 216 17 66 191 32 85 140 12 52 6 10 23 21 3 1 10 81 262 132 260 4 10 58 108 1 23 154 336 26 181 18 50 124 147 174

292.2 285.2 201.2 355.7 348.0 268.5 290.6 299.6 269.5 298.7 249.5 294.5 303.0 292.5 295.0 291.8 237.0 302.5 258.5 278.4 326.3 391.2 257.7 345.7 203.5 324.0 348.5 321.8

286.0 294.0 302.4 296.9 240.6 317.7 355.6 270.1 306.4 322.1 271.3 344.5 318.0 267.0 286.5 342.0 220.7 307.0 327.4 291.4 291.3 307.8 355.0 323.3 286.9 261.9 274.0 324.9 375.6 327.7 344.3 279.4 332.9 343.5 340.6

265.6 336.5 300.4 309.9 263.5 342.2 327.0 248.5 309.3 328.4 267.5 329.9 264.5 314.7 315.9 306.3 292.4 295.9 500.0 289.5 303.1 292.7 232.3 275.8 315.5 353.8 336.8 360.0 272.2 321.8 337.8 345.8

278.1 241.7 286.5 226.0 326.1 342.9 244.5 217.0 303.5 385.2 328.0 158.5 270.0 316.8 215.5 266.8 315.9 225.8 270.0 115.0 116.0 280.0 335.5 349.5 327.7 299.0 294.3 285.2

274.7 311.1 308.6 210.0 337.7 234.0 348.4 354.3 248.9 283.3 355.4 270.0 350.4 342.0 212.0 260.8 322.7 326.5 317.4 290.1 293.5 348.9 309.5 299.4 287.5 258.1 279.7 353.6 446.8 341.0 385.8 302.8 318.7 360.8 344.6

282.0 376.8 900.0 300.2 337.4 269.5 332.2 345.7 267.2 304.5 340.9 272.3 350.7 330.0 174.5 241.2 411.3 309.8 336.8 285.7 320.1 333.8 410.0 321.3 294.0 253.0 275.6 345.8 374.3 345.3 369.6 281.8 316.4 368.2 335.6

330.0 233.2 283.0 254.8 287.5 275.6 242.5 212.0 275.1 263.5 285.2 169.5 226.5 244.1 231.4 284.7 251.6

236.10 323.00 345.00 303.33 320.00 271.50

367.84 335.38 348.80 344.00 299.83 319.80 298.00 275.00

356.75 335.33 328.00 330.00 305.25 323.87 299.43 244.05

215.23 182.00 318.00 163.75 287.60 260.25

358.76 354.22 389.00 294.72 326.46 327.80 265.33

368.51 336.50 174.00 335.44 391.67 307.25 331.35 310.00 293.10

260.00 -

CULL COWS

Heavy average

Total cow number

Grade 1 average

Grade 3 average

Dairy sired average

Beef sired average

Total N lambs

283.1 180.0 283.3 289.1 309.8 297.5 304.6 281.7 287.5 270.0 270.0 300.3 283.8 286.5 288.4

163.5 271.2 297.6 314.9 321.7 262.0 312.2 307.5 261.8 307.4 301.8 294.2 318.3 266.5 308.4

2 15 86 29 412 25 8 128 13 55 98 8 1 92 7 62 125 28 16 17 2 13 138 43 52 2 3 62 16 14 37 17 11 13 27 24 39 6 14

161.3 211.8 213.5 166.9 -

173.2 181.2 167.0 -

164.0 149.4 146.0 163.4 155.5 160.2 160.5 139.9 144.3 162.8 166.3 113.5 156.3 169.5 144.6 178.8 170.9 189.0 111.4 153.7 138.4 145.1 182.7 139.5 135.5

170.0 185.8 148.0 216.5 167.2 200.1 192.2 150.8 159.9 165.1 152.0 215.4 166.0 179.2 191.2 172.6 198.9 183.8 169.0 202.4 203.1 174.9 201.2 153.5 196.4 216.7 181.5 207.8 184.3 173.0 176.2 231.6 161.2 173.4

764 925 382 248 3254 635 944 3099 569 550 660 1729 1225 229 1511 791 730 1837 1753 2065 684 76 1651 757 751 749 763 4778 151 167 1474 1714 1263 2644 643 2933 1175 1256 146 370 165 150 529 3084 1106 135 533 1205 504 184 631 1688 698 1702 81

-

248.00 256.00 299.25

168 41 15 8 100 63 289 245

-

-

139.20 141.00 87.40 167.20 206.80

180.60 175.30 198.50 205.10 211.30 178.50 200.70 209.60

2247 1340 1902 544 1142 665 4234 1015 2059 841 5949 2130

SCOTLAND Ayr Mo\Tu Caithness Tu Castle Douglas Mo\Tu Dingwall Tu Dumfries We Huntly Th Kirkwall Fr\Mo Lanark Mo Lockerbie Newton Stewart We Newtown St Boswells Mo Stirling (caledonian) Th\Tu Stirling (ua) We\Th Thainstone Th

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58 13 7 26 17 54 90 34 48

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04/12/2024 16:48

0

8

0 5

1

2 8

9

0

4 0

2

6 9 8 0

4 1

9

2

5

4 7

8

3

0

2 6

4

60

30

50 10

0 50 70 60

Data across the Market Prices pages provided by

Source: LAA/MartEye

WALES

SHEEP Total N/S lambs

N/S lambs light average

N/S lambs standard average

N/S lambs medium average

N/S lambs heavy average

N/S SQQ average

Total Ewes

Ewes average

764 925 382 248 3254 635 944 3099 569 550 660 1729 1225 229 1511 791 730 1837 1753 2065 684 76 1651 757 751 749 763 4778 151 167 1474 1714 1263 2644 643 2933 1175 1256 146 370 165 150 529 3084 1106 135 533 1205 504 184 631 1688 698 1702 81

284.2 298.0 231.9 298.0 294.2 306.5 223.8 241.9 241.4 319.0 271.9 296.4 285.1 275.1 283.9 301.6 296.5 312.9 282.8 377.4 376.3 272.4 318.0 263.2 296.2 296.7 226.8 328.1 328.1 330.9 -

308.6 285.4 316.7 304.6 308.5 303.5 294.9 297.1 306.5 307.5 313.0 329.7 312.5 299.3 319.2 294.9 318.8 285.6 313.9 302.3 312.3 304.5 289.0 307.4 280.3 305.7 305.5 321.7 326.2 297.8 314.1 313.6 333.2 304.9 316.9 300.2 322.1 334.6 276.2 311.0 284.2 306.0 301.4 331.6 320.0 285.1 365.9 331.2 317.0 322.6 305.1 339.4 309.1 314.3 337.8

306.5 300.7 315.8 310.1 313.3 298.6 300.1 323.9 303.1 302.8 328.2 323.1 308.6 315.2 306.1 295.6 321.2 293.6 311.9 316.0 315.8 298.5 301.0 310.7 290.1 313.8 304.0 322.1 310.9 309.4 322.9 305.1 326.7 302.4 322.1 325.8 310.5 321.4 269.5 291.3 326.7 252.7 301.5 319.8 311.5 281.1 324.6 334.4 308.0 306.9 303.8 343.5 321.9 312.1 308.9

306.9 307.9 317.3 299.3 306.4 299.6 308.5 309.2 305.7 294.1 334.7 311.6 302.2 311.2 294.6 288.6 310.2 292.6 303.4 303.6 308.8 334.6 299.2 302.2 299.6 318.0 304.3 312.3 282.1 299.3 327.9 295.6 316.6 301.1 307.1 304.4 304.3 309.2 282.3 289.2 297.3 302.2 297.6 304.0 307.6 315.3 300.7 323.3 304.4 315.1 297.6 319.2 306.8 301.3 297.8

306.6 296.6 315.7 309.1 311.6 298.7 297.9 320.9 304.0 303.2 322.8 323.3 309.5 312.6 309.8 295.5 321.1 291.3 312.3 314.0 315.2 300.9 294.7 308.0 289.4 312.8 304.2 320.6 315.2 306.9 318.1 307.3 327.5 300.9 322.6 321.7 313.8 323.6 270.8 291.6 325.0 256.7 301.2 321.5 312.0 282.6 329.0 334.2 308.6 310.3 303.8 342.8 320.2 312.9 312.9

167 314 145 105 1410 21 544 1210 392 121 84 317 756 91 533 388 237 1584 1897 150 23 397 149 84 319 212 2912 141 97 252 2042 404 552 81 2523 279 595 106 145 49 370 619 295 54 184 187 65 24 61 173 328 3

117.1 103.2 111.3 98.1 127.8 107.1 91.0 134.0 92.8 115.7 113.2 145.6 116.7 86.8 104.2 112.8 92.9 116.8 126.2 113.7 123.0 91.3 101.3 100.9 117.0 93.6 141.4 120.4 111.6 123.8 122.7 123.7 93.1 86.7 143.4 140.2 132.8 45.7 94.5 89.1 87.7 128.6 118.0 115.7 122.7 129.0 120.1 124.3 117.3 148.7 134.2 120.0

2247 1340 1902 544 1142 665 4234 1015 2059 841 5949 2130

270.61 350.00 307.94 261.50 184.95 -

302.55 295.65 300.05 328.53 290.54 309.02 304.61 296.79 299.27 312.95 318.64

299.19 307.04 298.49 305.01 303.23 291.99 311.08 308.28 319.98 309.14 307.35 308.18

298.38 295.48 297.52 295.50 307.65 294.39 302.57 304.78 309.37 305.13 299.42 292.08

300.03 306.70 298.54 305.01 311.18 291.90 310.32 307.72 316.60 307.49 306.93 309.26

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Source: IAAS/ScotEID 439 126.51 112 76.71 121 123.75 68 109.34 1764 111.54 198 118.22 389 111.63 192 99.35 2213 105.11 -

Market day(s) week ending December 3 Bala Brecon Bryncir Builth Wells Carmarthen Crymmych Dolgellau Gaerwen Knighton Llandeilo Llanrwst Machynlleth Mold Monmouthshire Newcastle Emlyn Rhayader Ruthin St Asaph Talgarth Talybont on Usk Welshpool Whitland

We Fr

Tu

Mo We\Mo Th\Tu Tu Th

Mo

All prices quoted in p/kg.

Source: LAA/MartEye Total cattle number 3 118 7 27 161 11 -

STEERS Light average 256.5 379.0 362.7 -

YOUNG BULLS Bala Brecon Bryncir Builth Wells Carmarthen Crymmych Dolgellau Gaerwen Knighton Llandeilo Llanrwst Machynlleth Mold Monmouthshire Newcastle Emlyn Rhayader Ruthin St Asaph Talgarth Talybont on Usk Welshpool Whitland

HEIFERS

Medium average 279.3 312.7 374.3 346.7 340.0 -

Heavy average 292.5 345.0 341.2 -

Total cow number 27 96 1 56 15 16 2 6 42 -

Grade 1 average -

Light average 271.5 377.5 224.5 -

CULL COWS

Medium average 227.0 293.6 375.0 393.0 350.3 292.0 -

Heavy average 239.9 280.8 515.7 383.6 343.6 232.8 -

Dairy sired average 144.8 143.4 137.3 161.1 -

Beef sired average 181.8 187.3 220.0 204.2 180.1 213.0 217.5 241.0 199.0 -

Light average 140.0 333.7 -

Medium average 290.0 332.3 -

Heavy average 208.2 275.0 334.1 285.0 -

Total N/S lambs

N/S lambs light average

N/S lambs standard average

N/S lambs medium average

N/S lambs heavy average

N/S SQQ average

Total Ewes

Ewes average

440 1385 1033 3372 199 804 1226 1048 222 986 581 262 2562 474 1224 4252 2722 1468 838 5836 549

284.9 291.0 278.1 291.5 274.7 279.3 280.9 266.4 277.9 287.5 304.7 287.3 296.7 278.7 278.5 291.7 292.1 291.1 273.6

297.0 298.8 300.2 306.3 288.5 292.1 289.1 299.6 285.2 291.7 301.7 303.7 311.3 284.3 301.0 297.4 307.5 303.7 295.2 314.0 295.3

295.6 298.9 301.2 289.2 287.8 300.5 305.4 286.8 299.3 297.8 301.2 311.0 297.7 307.7 312.4 310.8 309.2 294.8 313.5 294.2

297.2 282.8 299.4 290.7 284.7 293.1 300.1 288.0 293.2 285.8 305.3 307.4 295.3 295.5 308.3 304.3 298.3 298.1 308.2 291.9

289.7 296.2 292.9 302.1 289.0 282.2 292.4 304.9 285.1 281.7 292.8 298.9 310.1 289.1 305.1 302.0 307.3 306.9 294.7 309.1 293.0

253 199 868 268 8 173 180 62 39 93 24 1085 103 36 908 314 300 101 2351 252

103.1 87.2 83.5 98.1 40.0 88.4 97.1 92.1 54.7 80.0 105.9 113.9 105.4 63.8 85.7 122.7 126.8 93.4 118.5 100.0

Grade 3 average -

SHEEP

Bala Brecon Bryncir Builth Wells Carmarthen Crymmych Dolgellau Gaerwen Knighton Llandeilo Llanrwst Machynlleth Mold Monmouthshire Newcastle Emlyn Rhayader Ruthin St Asaph Talgarth Talybont on Usk Welshpool Whitland

Browse. Sell. Buy at FGBuyandSell.com DECEMBER 6 2024 | 93

04/12/2024 16:48

Market Prices Store Cattle ENGLAND STORES (CONTINENTAL-SIRED) Market day(s) w/e December 3

Ashford Tu Bakewell Barnard Castle Bentham We\Tu Bishops Castle Bridgnorth Fr Brockholes Carlisle We Cirencester Tu Clitheroe Th Cockermouth Colchester Cutcombe Darlington Mo Exeter Fr Frome We\Fr Gisburn Th\Sa Hailsham We Hallworthy Th Hawes Hereford Th\Tu Hexham Fr Holsworthy We Hull/Dunswell Mo Kendal Th Kington Kirkby Stephen Lancaster Fr Leek Tu Leyburn Fr Longtown Louth Mo Ludlow Market Drayton We\Mo Melton Mowbray We Middleton in Teesdale Newton Abbot (Rendells) Northallerton We Norwich Oswestry We Otley Penrith Mo Ross on Wye Th Rugby Ruswarp We Salisbury Mo\Tu Sedgemoor We\Sa Selby Shrewsbury Th\Tu Stratford Skipton Mo Tavistock Tu Thame Fr Thirsk Tu Thrapston Sa Truro We Ulverston Wigton Th Worcester Sa York Th

6-12 month steers

12-18 month steers

18+ month steers

6-12 month heifers

12-18 month heifers

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

-/-/-/-/-/1/700.0 -/24/929.6 22/851.4 3/686.7 -/-/-/40/1306.3 25/692.4 8/1065.0 14/1037.5 -/39/847.7 -/58/1212.5 21/1465.2 19/842.9 5/1116.0 10/927.0 -/-/3/920.0 -/7/1458.6 -/13/952.3 -/16/623.8 33/856.5 -/-/4/1105.0 -/-/-/2/1500.0 3/1100.0 -/-/7/1092.3 83/855.4 -/44/1028.4 -/-/25/840.0 3/1026.7 -/3/866.7 4/785.0 -/-/3/1026.7 4/952.5

-/-/-/13/1430.0 -/5/958.0 -/67/1198.5 8/1009.4 1/1180.0 -/-/-/18/1522.8 19/1085.8 14/716.4 28/1283.2 -/3/1086.7 -/9/1293.3 40/1586.8 20/1080.5 2/1460.0 25/1283.2 -/-/8/1428.8 -/27/1624.8 -/4/1275.0 -/3/703.3 12/912.3 -/-/10/1344.0 -/-/-/18/1559.4 5/1295.0 -/-/7/1287.3 42/1130.4 -/28/1012.7 -/-/4/1080.0 18/1094.2 -/2/900.0 2/1540.0 -/-/8/1343.8 5/1204.0

-/-/-/25/1562.0 -/4/877.5 -/79/1607.3 18/1481.4 6/1356.7 -/-/-/15/1449.3 99/1617.8 7/999.3 20/1375.0 -/20/1370.0 -/-/89/1778.0 14/1166.1 -/10/1524.0 -/-/36/1809.7 -/63/1744.0 -/3/1260.0 -/-/36/1208.6 -/-/23/1661.7 -/-/-/27/1691.3 -/-/-/24/1420.6 118/1465.3 -/22/1396.6 -/-/1/1310.0 22/1247.2 4/1830.0 3/1501.1 1/1540.0 -/-/11/1278.2 2/1512.5

-/-/-/-/-/2/1060.0 -/32/832.2 16/729.7 1/700.0 -/-/-/37/1296.2 35/675.3 11/889.4 35/890.4 -/32/763.6 -/88/1059.4 13/1273.9 11/717.0 5/894.0 4/920.0 -/-/15/703.7 -/5/1328.0 -/1/860.0 -/21/466.2 33/714.4 -/-/-/-/-/-/10/946.0 4/955.0 -/1/220.0 2/590.0 85/733.7 -/45/732.2 -/-/30/733.8 -/7/1144.3 1/500.0 11/626.8 -/5/888.0 7/800.0 7/782.9

-/-/5/1488.00 -/-/8/1323.75 -/-/-/-/-/-/99/1516.57 75/1540.01

-/-/9/1426.67 -/-/18/1519.17 1/3400.00 -/-/-/-/-/77/1624.22 77/1966.51

-/-/-/-/-/4/945.00 -/-/-/-/-/1/340.00 27/900.74 32/1175.47

STORES

STORES (NATIVE-SIRED) 18+ month heifers

6-12 mon steers

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

1/500.0 -/-/3/1010.0 -/5/726.0 -/27/1065.0 10/999.0 -/-/-/-/12/1324.2 62/799.1 8/886.9 12/780.8 -/14/826.1 -/17/891.2 2/1140.0 11/932.3 -/3/1040.0 -/-/12/839.2 -/3/1253.3 -/-/-/5/479.0 12/794.6 -/-/2/695.0 -/-/-/2/1230.0 1/860.0 -/-/6/742.5 62/852.8 -/25/874.0 -/-/2/840.0 6/784.2 6/1150.0 -/15/791.3 -/-/13/1066.2 2/915.0

-/-/-/16/1187.5 -/1/1010.0 -/58/1225.9 16/1441.2 8/1373.8 -/-/-/27/1247.0 26/985.8 58/1071.9 15/1296.0 -/20/1074.3 -/6/776.7 19/1666.3 27/1188.2 -/2/1165.0 -/-/46/1425.9 -/4/1450.0 -/16/1066.3 -/-/39/1070.9 -/-/21/1307.4 -/-/-/16/1274.4 9/1395.6 -/-/46/1129.6 150/1166.5 -/24/1189.4 -/-/7/711.4 17/1197.1 13/1604.6 1/1190.0 17/1235.0 -/-/14/1036.4 6/1323.3

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/4/450.0 7/220.0 1/650.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/4/715.0 -/2/580.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/8/430.0 -/-/-/2/950.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/3/388.3 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/-/3/700.00 -/-/5/1089.00 -/-/-/-/-/-/25/1240.40 48/1124.17

1/1050.00 -/6/1380.00 -/-/27/1228.33 -/-/-/-/-/-/99/1287.93 23/1640.74

4/420.00 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/3/676.67 9/492.22

18+ month heifers

6-12 month steers

12-18 month steers

18+ month steers

6-12 month heifers

12-18 month heifers

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

-/-/-/-/-/4/915.0 -/88/1116.8 13/1002.2 5/868.0 -/-/-/36/1412.2 25/868.0 6/876.7 27/1017.0 -/10/996.5 -/38/907.6 34/1270.3 15/867.0 7/1155.7 24/1179.2 -/-/9/1394.4 -/36/1371.4 -/2/915.0 -/9/562.8 22/862.1 -/-/24/1109.6 -/-/-/21/1453.6 9/1133.3 -/-/15/851.3 52/868.8 -/21/1022.9 -/-/3/875.0 15/1018.7 -/-/3/1211.7 -/-/2/1215.0 5/739.0

-/-/-/27/1136.7 -/11/979.1 -/95/1504.3 5/1394.0 7/1554.3 -/-/-/54/1488.9 43/1386.5 21/1059.1 14/1558.6 -/33/1163.5 -/4/1022.5 48/1591.0 15/1081.7 1/1290.0 10/1314.0 -/-/51/1585.5 -/92/1552.8 -/5/1260.0 -/1/965.0 40/1118.3 -/-/33/1375.6 -/-/-/42/1634.4 1/845.0 -/-/26/1369.8 92/1355.6 -/18/1249.7 -/-/1/1090.0 46/1133.2 15/1583.3 3/1273.3 6/1094.2 -/-/7/1279.3 5/1293.0

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/6/1240.0 8/625.6 1/660.0 -/-/-/15/699.3 34/682.4 11/830.0 19/751.1 -/14/627.1 -/11/697.7 -/11/733.6 -/15/910.0 -/-/2/775.0 -/2/865.0 -/-/-/24/634.6 34/659.3 -/-/1/1100.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/11/566.4 92/715.5 -/19/952.1 -/-/16/773.1 51/1036.5 1/610.0 -/3/776.7 -/-/1/910.0 2/1015.0

-/-/-/1/1280.0 -/13/978.9 -/31/1278.1 6/1086.7 -/-/-/-/6/1370.0 30/1107.3 20/1137.5 5/1008.0 -/22/782.7 -/9/1025.6 7/1551.4 16/1041.6 -/10/1459.0 -/-/1/780.0 -/4/1347.5 -/1/1090.0 -/2/377.5 19/876.3 -/-/4/1117.5 -/-/-/5/1427.0 5/860.0 -/-/36/854.8 57/974.6 -/5/1516.0 -/-/4/917.5 10/1119.0 1/920.0 -/31/1083.1 -/-/8/1200.0 3/1268.3

-/-/-/27/1331.1 -/11/780.5 -/59/1450.2 50/1453.1 -/-/-/-/14/1540.0 44/1254.4 87/1312.4 10/1314.0 -/21/1102.6 -/1/1400.0 53/1716.0 19/1324.0 -/20/1664.0 -/-/56/1669.6 -/3/1563.3 -/6/1075.0 -/-/38/1185.0 -/-/13/1465.8 -/-/-/25/1469.8 7/1524.3 -/-/50/1227.8 171/1416.3 -/27/1149.8 -/-/7/1291.4 51/1353.0 1/1840.0 3/1313.3 13/1603.9 -/-/5/1341.0 -/-

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/4/476.3 13/700.8 4/565.0 -/-/-/26/624.8 35/606.6 8/608.8 12/630.0 -/15/594.3 -/17/771.8 -/3/533.3 -/9/613.3 -/-/10/497.0 -/-/-/-/-/28/448.9 15/518.4 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/8/455.0 64/518.4 -/9/585.6 -/-/13/701.5 13/890.4 5/818.0 5/500.0 2/590.0 -/3/753.3 1/440.0 8/725.6

5/938.00 -/1/1200.00 -/-/6/1148.33 -/-/-/-/-/-/50/1399.80 85/1322.35

6/983.33 -/17/1311.76 -/-/16/1390.94 1/2900.00 -/-/-/-/-/98/1495.66 140/1864.45

18/816.11 -/-/-/-/5/1002.00 -/-/-/-/-/-/78/1058.65 10/935.50

1/380.00 -/4/1345.00 -/-/2/880.00 -/-/-/-/-/-/56/1379.55 43/1256.05

2/1105.00 -/5/1132.00 -/-/9/1538.89 -/-/-/-/-/-/79/1472.53 41/1634.39

4/647.50 -/-/-/-/5/836.00 -/-/-/-/-/1/260.00 49/767.55 12/765.00

SCOTLAND Ayr Caithness Castle Douglas Dingwall Dumfries Huntly Kirkwall Lanark Lockerbie Newton Stewart Newtown St Boswells Stirling (caledonian) Stirling (ua) Thainstone

Tu Mo

Th Fr

Th We Tu\Fr

94 | DECEMBER 6 2024

p92 99 Dec6 KH KJ AB.indd 86

6/783.33 -/-/-/-/5/1088.00 -/-/-/-/-/-/48/1066.67 45/1295.22

farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 16:48

Figures show livestock numbers first, then average price per head.

Source: LAA/MartEye STORES (HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN)

+ month fers

6-12 month 12-18 month 18+ month steers steers steers

o. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/4/450.0 7/220.0 1/650.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/4/715.0 -/2/580.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/8/430.0 -/-/-/2/950.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/3/388.3 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/-/-/2/1360.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/6/723.3 1/540.0 -/-/-/-/-/21/992.4 -/1/780.0 -/-/2/1165.0 -/-/-/-/-/1/500.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/13/767.7 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

1187.5

010.0

/1225.9 /1441.2 373.8

/1247.0 /985.8 /1071.9 1296.0

/1074.3

776.7 1666.3 /1188.2

165.0

/1425.9

1450.0 1066.3

/1070.9

1307.4

/1274.4 395.6

/1129.6 0/1166.5

/1189.4

11.4 1197.1 /1604.6 190.0 1235.0

/1036.4 1323.3

050.00

380.00

1228.33

/1287.93 /1640.74

WALES

Source: LAA/MartEye STORES (CONTINENTAL-SIRED)

CALVES (7-42 DAYS) Black and Continental Continental Native white bulls bulls heifers bulls

Native heifers

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/9/1127.8 -/-/-/-/-/-/3/820.0 8/587.5 -/-/4/1057.5 -/-/-/15/990.3 -/-/-/-/13/1480.8 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/9/1265.6 -/-/-/4/1385.0 -/-/-/2/1030.0 15/921.7 -/1/1100.0 -/-/-/3/840.0 -/1/850.0 3/1275.0 -/-/-/-/-

5/35.0 -/-/5/30.4 -/-/-/13/54.2 -/-/-/-/-/4/153.8 1/79.0 1/140.0 14/74.8 2/25.5 -/-/-/-/16/85.9 -/4/17.5 -/-/2/155.0 4/50.5 -/-/-/-/50/85.4 4/111.3 -/-/-/-/2/127.5 -/-/-/-/2/180.0 -/18/75.6 -/11/58.4 -/-/-/-/-/11/18.2 1/62.0 -/-/-/-/-

6/189.0 -/-/1/295.0 -/-/-/23/255.4 4/241.3 2/372.5 -/-/-/5/339.0 24/302.0 42/232.7 29/310.5 7/215.0 -/-/-/-/144/231.4 -/11/365.5 -/-/-/46/258.7 -/-/-/-/214/276.5 39/235.3 -/-/-/-/18/251.7 -/-/-/-/7/350.7 6/200.8 83/228.2 -/39/346.1 -/4/321.3 -/-/-/11/329.6 14/237.1 -/2/270.0 -/1/285.0

4/183.8 -/-/7/177.9 -/-/-/24/261.5 8/150.9 -/-/-/-/4/327.5 16/214.4 28/155.5 23/275.5 4/166.3 -/-/12/294.4 -/116/172.0 -/11/316.8 -/-/-/43/221.3 -/-/-/-/167/226.5 30/148.2 -/-/-/-/12/208.8 -/-/-/-/-/4/122.0 83/176.8 -/44/247.6 -/6/202.5 -/-/-/9/242.2 14/130.9 -/3/346.7 -/-/-

15/158.4 -/-/4/230.0 -/-/-/10/144.5 5/143.6 -/-/-/-/3/286.7 14/175.7 27/128.7 28/290.2 1/180.0 -/-/-/-/73/126.0 -/6/223.3 -/-/3/393.3 24/179.2 -/-/-/-/151/175.2 7/167.9 -/-/-/-/2/110.0 -/-/-/-/-/9/129.0 101/144.5 -/6/190.5 -/1/200.0 -/-/-/6/101.7 5/207.0 -/-/-/1/230.0

13/125.9 -/-/3/173.3 -/-/-/11/114.6 9/108.0 -/-/-/-/3/236.7 17/119.0 27/89.7 12/224.7 -/-/-/-/-/81/89.5 -/3/165.0 -/-/1/210.0 27/76.7 1/380.0 -/-/-/131/97.8 6/144.2 -/-/-/-/4/128.8 -/-/-/-/-/13/67.8 94/92.9 -/6/174.2 -/-/-/-/-/1/150.0 3/110.0 -/-/-/1/75.0

Market day(s) w/e December 3

Brecon Bryncir Carmarthen Dolgellau Gaerwen Knighton Llanybydder Mold Monmouthshire Newcastle Emlyn Rhayader Ruthin St Asaph Talgarth Welshpool Whitland

6-12 month steers

12-18 month steers

18+ month steers

6-12 month heifers

12-18 month heifers

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

Fr 15/1618.3 Mo -/We\Fr\Mo 57/938.9 -/Tu 2/900.0 -/Mo -/Fr 1/570.0 We 11/966.4 Th\Tu -/-/-/-/-/-/Tu -/-

42/1691.7 -/20/1104.5 -/19/1237.4 -/-/24/1286.5 17/1102.4 1/555.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

37/1901.9 -/9/1388.9 -/69/1580.2 -/-/28/1426.8 43/1391.7 7/1081.4 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

6/1576.7 -/63/792.1 -/1/960.0 -/-/2/695.0 10/627.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/1/420.0

62/1548.5 -/20/1044.5 -/7/884.3 -/-/14/958.6 15/947.3 2/1032.5 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

41/1759.8 -/45/1289.8 -/22/1055.5 -/-/48/1309.7 53/1397.7 11/958.2 -/-/-/-/-/-/18+ month heifers

STORES (NATIVE-SIRED) 6-12 month steers

Brecon Bryncir Carmarthen Dolgellau Gaerwen Knighton Llanybydder Mold Monmouthshire Newcastle Emlyn Rhayader Ruthin St Asaph Talgarth Welshpool Whitland

12-18 month steers

18+ month steers

6-12 month heifers

12-18 month heifers

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

-/-/13/602.3 -/-/-/-/-/17/895.0 5/720.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

1/1210.0 -/29/921.7 -/9/994.4 -/-/17/946.5 8/1010.0 2/1140.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

13/1519.6 -/32/1377.5 -/4/1680.0 -/-/29/1231.2 25/1265.0 3/1076.7 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/-/5/392.0 -/4/695.0 -/-/-/10/733.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

2/1350.0 -/7/1030.7 -/12/784.2 -/-/6/765.8 8/848.1 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

11/1198.2 -/21/1310.0 -/12/1060.0 -/-/8/1220.0 26/1121.0 2/1090.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

STORES (HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN)

Brecon Bryncir Carmarthen Dolgellau Gaerwen Knighton Llanybydder Mold Monmouthshire Newcastle Emlyn Rhayader Ruthin St Asaph Talgarth Welshpool Whitland

Black and Continental Continental Native white bulls bulls heifers bulls

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av. No. / Av.

-/-/1/540.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/1/770.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/-/-/-/4/1065.0 -/-/2/1025.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/1/85.0 46/56.7 -/-/-/2/10.0 17/92.9 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/9/205.0 77/196.2 -/-/-/13/315.8 21/159.1 11/282.9 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/4/168.8 56/148.4 -/-/-/8/287.5 12/132.8 8/300.0 -/-/-/-/-/-/65/214.7

-/4/166.3 75/86.6 -/-/-/6/129.7 48/140.5 1/70.0 6/216.7 -/-/-/-/-/-/-

MARKET COMMENT LIVESTOCK prices increased at auction markets in England and Wales this week, with sheep bucking the trend.

In the cattle rings, steers went up by 5.7p/kg to 306.4p/kg, while heifers Young bulls rose by 2.1p/kg to

4/420.00 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/3/676.67 9/492.22

7/605.71 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/19/1052.11 -/-

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/8/1253.75 -/-

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

295.4p/kg, but dairy-sired cull cows were down by 2p/kg to 155p/kg.

For sheep, prices decreased 6.8p/kg to 307.9p/kg.

p92 99 Dec6 KH KJ AB.indd 87

Native heifers

-/14/71.4 77/62.5 -/-/-/2/120.0 37/68.9 2/80.0 6/56.2 -/-/-/-/-/84/112.9

LIVESTOCK AVERAGES Primestock throughput, price and price change (p/kg).

Week ending December 3, 2024.

ENGLAND AND WALES Category

Throughput

Price

Change

Young Bulls Steers Heifers All Prime Total NS/OS Lambs (SQQ) Porker (60 - 87kg) Cutter (88 - 97kg) Baconer (98 - 115kg) Other (over 115kg) Cull Cows Dairy Sired Cull Cows Beef Sired

897 1000 1667 3564 65076 144 172 298 119 971 1050

295.4 306.4 323.1 311.4 307.9 169.6 195.1 175.6 150.9 155.0 195.4

2.1 5.7 4.0 5.2 -6.8 0.1 3.6 -7.8 7.8 -2.0 5.9 Source: LAA/MartEye

Pig prices also increased for porkers and cutters, despite baconers dropping in value by 7.8p/kg to 175.6p/kg.

As Farmers Guardian went to press on Wednesday (December 4), UK LIFFE wheat prices for May 25 were trading at £185.5/tonne, a reduction of £5/t on the week.

farmersguardian.com

CALVES (7-42 DAYS)

6-12 month 12-18 month 18+ month steers steers steers

grew in value by 4p/kg to 323.1p/kg.

Source: IAAS/ScotEID 2/242.50 -/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

18+ month heifers

A New Route to Market Browse. Sell. Buy at FGBuyandSell.com DECEMBER 6 2024 | 95

04/12/2024 16:48

Market Prices DEADWEIGHT CATTLE STEERS Region

Throughput

Southern 2673 Central 3891 Northern 3610 Scotland 3148 HEIFERS Southern 2103 Central 3374 Northern 2640 Scotland 2315 YOUNG BULLS Southern 144 Central 599 Northern 229 Scotland 251 COWS Southern 2462 Central 3976 Northern 2170 Scotland 1039

Deadweight prices for the week ending November 30, 2024.

Average

-U3

-U4L

-U4H

R2

R3

R4L

R4H

O+2

O+3

O+4L

O+4H

-O2

-O3

-O4L

-O4H

531.2 530.0 541.4 550.8

548.5 547.9 548.5 556.3

538.3 542.5 551.9 556.5

565.0 552.0 557.6 552.4

-

542.5 542.9 546.5 553.6

542.9 540.4 551.4 553.3

541.2 538.1 557.0 552.9

-

530.2 531.2 536.8 543.4

530.2 527.9 539.1 538.8

521.9 510.7 530.8 538.1

-

508.7 503.6 514.3 519.3

512.0 489.0 519.9 517.0

506.7 492.2 530.0 -

521.0 523.8 534.9 548.4

550.6 551.5 548.1 559.8

551.6 546.5 546.9 557.6

546.4 546.8 533.1 551.6

-

541.2 541.1 543.2 550.6

542.8 539.7 546.5 551.2

541.8 535.8 551.0 553.0

-

528.9 524.9 531.8 536.8

529.8 526.4 533.9 536.6

531.2 520.8 538.3 530.1

-

502.2 485.4 495.9 496.8

503.8 487.6 505.8 498.4

497.6 481.7 480.9 517.0

518.6 518.7 517.5 531.2

542.3 547.9 526.6 541.4

527.0 530.0 544.2

546.3 -

545.5 532.1 531.2 525.3

542.3 532.0 525.7 540.8

541.0 534.7 537.4 537.2

-

524.5 513.9 513.6 529.6

525.1 517.3 496.1 527.0

533.8 507.0 497.5 525.3

499.0 -

457.0 485.9 460.6 503.6

532.3 497.8 445.0 504.4

525.0 -

-

352.6 353.9 368.7 397.6

-

-

-

-

414.4 411.7 416.9 420.5

412.8 411.3 418.6 421.0

405.9 408.8 407.2 417.2

-

392.9 398.8 405.3 409.6

398.2 396.7 406.2 407.6

403.0 393.5 402.0 409.3

-

388.1 387.3 389.4 392.4

390.9 388.3 390.1 392.0

380.0 386.9 378.7 389.0

STORE SHEEP ENGLAND STORE LAMBS

DEADWEIGHT SHEEP

Source: LAA/MartEye

w/e December 3

Day

No.

Ave.

Ashford Bakewell Barnard Castle Blackmoor Gate Bentham Bishops Castle Bridgnorth Brockholes Carlisle Cirencester Clitheroe Cockermouth Colchester Cutcombe Darlington Exeter Frome Gisburn Hailsham Hallworthy Hawes Hereford Hexham Holsworthy Hull/Dunswell Kendal Kington Kirkby Stephen Lancaster Leek Leyburn Longtown

Tu

59 1775 378 783 429 7 1004 2720 138 750 464 8505 4430 100 11 1 4309 -

88.3 113.0 104.1 104.2 99.2 59.7 112.9 107.4 87.6 94.4 112.0 110.4 110.4 120.1 71.6 117.0 101.4 -

Mo

Fr Mo Th

Tu Mo Fr We We Th Tu Fr We Mo Th

Sa

Source: LAA/MartEye

Day

Brecon Tu Bryncir Carmarthen Fr Dolgellau Fr Gaerwen Mo Knighton Fr Llanybydder Mo Mold Monmouthshire We\Mo Newcastle Emlyn Th Rhayader Ruthin St Asaph Th\Sa Talgarth Welshpool Mo Whitland Tu

96 | DECEMBER 6 2024

p92 99 Dec6 KH KJ AB.indd 88

Day

No.

Ave.

Mo

64 1704

118.0 102.2

Louth Ludlow Market Drayton Melton Mowbray Middleton in Teesdale Newton Abbot (Rendells) Northallerton Norwich Oswestry Otley Penrith Ross on Wye Rugby Ruswarp Salisbury Sedgemoor Selby Shrewsbury Stratford Skipton Tavistock Thame Thirsk Thrapston Truro Ulverston Wigton Worcester York

Tu

We We Mo Mo We Sa Tu Tu We Tu We Tu Sa We Tu Th We\Sa

-

-

491 113 567 6 374 3830 121 288 3062 306 169 378 277 143 38 1441 1492 -

115.1 76.0 99.8 77.2 99.9 105.6 102.4 93.4 113.5 87.2 87.3 111.2 101.7 108.0 63.1 128.5 111.4 -

No.

Ave.

14 1309 1126 171 757 649 905 49 736 2097 241

117.9 89.8 65.5 75.4 107.9 93.7 90.5 87.3 79.6 97.0 89.9

STORE LAMBS

Source: IAAS/ScotEID

Day

Ayr Caithness Castle Douglas Mo Dingwall Tu Dumfries We Huntly Th Kirkwall Mo Lanark Fr\Mo Lockerbie Newton Stewart We Newtown St Boswells Stirling (caledonian) Mo Stirling (ua) Thainstone Th

N/S deadweight prices for the week ending November 30, 2024.

SQQ 2 3L 3H E 694.9 (174) 697.5 (364) 687.3 (83) U 696.2 (620) 695.2 (2711) 693.4 (834) R 689.8 (4113) 688.2 (13946) 690.1 (5600) O 682.4 (3795) 680.1 (5041) 675.9 (1551) P 661.9 (255) 626.7 (30) 580.0 (1)

No.

Ave.

629 11 111 340 240 2352 12

98.1 51.8 78.8 92.2 96.0 94.5 119.9

4552 30

112.1 94.7

4L 668.0 664.9 664.2 655.4

Source: AHDB 4H (7) (86) (734) (167)

619.2 625.0 600.0

(6) (33) (4)

Average: 685.9 (40,728) Medium E U R O P

2 695.0 696.4 691.2 681.3 555.7

3L (166) 697.4 (588) 695.4 (3486) 688.9 (1657) 681.6 (7) 570.0

3H (360) 687.3 (2664) 693.5 (12939) 690.7 (3368) 676.1 (1) 580.0

4L (83) 668.0 (827) 664.9 (5350) 664.3 (1280) 654.7 (1)

4H (7) (86) (714) (147)

619.2 625.8 600.0

(6) (32) (4)

Average: 687.6 (33,968) Deadweight sheep prices are collected from a sample of GB abattoirs.

DEADWEIGHT PIGS

Latest prices for Great Britain.

STANDARD PIG PRICE (SPP) Week ending November 23, 2024

ALL PIG PRICE (APP) Week ending November 16, 2024.

Weight Number p/kg Change Up to 59.9kg na na na 60 - 69.9kg 908 193.86 -0.40 70 - 79.9kg 6,170 208.13 -0.14 80 - 89.9kg 20,845 209.36 0.10 90 - 99.9kg 24,639 207.75 -0.11 100 - 104.9kg 6,119 205.15 -0.39 105.0kg and over na na na All clean pigs 62,467 206.51 0.28 70 - 104.9kg 57,773 208.10 -0.01 EU spec average 206.51 0.28 UK spec average 203.01 0.26

Weight Number p/kg Change Up to 59.9kg na na na 60 - 69.9kg 1,651 206.33 0.46 70 - 79.9kg 7,165 210.85 -1.00 80 - 89.9kg 19,856 210.22 -0.68 90 - 99.9kg 23,300 208.75 -0.41 100 - 104.9kg 5,905 206.47 -0.74 105.0kg and over na na na All clean pigs 61,857 208.08 -0.58 70 - 104.9kg 56,226 209.30 -0.64 EU spec average 208.08 -0.58 UK spec average 204.54 -0.57

PIGS Prices in p/kg.

SCOTLAND

WALES STORE LAMBS

Source: AHDB

Hull/Dunswell Leek Thirsk York

Source: AHDB

Source: LAA/MartEye Market day w/e: Dec 3 Mo Tu Th Mo

Pigs total 19 193 45 67

Porkers average 172.3 148.1 -

WEANER PRICES Please note: AHDB weaner data has been suspended until further notice.

Cutters average 170.0 231.4 150.4 203.2

Baconers average 202.8 181.1 161.4 203.0

Cull sows Total Average 88 18 47 -

72.1 102.2 68.9 -

SLAUGHTERINGS

Estimates for GB (per head), W/e December 3, 2024 2024 %change (2023) Pigs* 168,193 -2.09 Sheep 213,192 -16.16 Steers 17,235 +1.77 Heifers 13,774 -5.05 Young bulls 2,066 -12.21 * Pig prices are w/e Nov 26, 2024. Source: AHDB

HAY AND STRAW PRICES

December 4, 2024

GOOSTREY: Mon, hay, round bale to £24/tonne, square bale to £110-£120/t, small bale to £140; haylage, square bale to £68-£69/t, round bale to £48-£105/t; grass silage, round bale to £50/t; wheat straw, square bale to £100-£118/t, round bale to £100/t; barley straw, square bale to £106 to £112/t; oat straw, square bale to £104/t. farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 16:48

Livestock Averages LIVEWEIGHT STEERS (ENGLAND/WALES)

DEADWEIGHT STEERS (GREAT BRITAIN)

SOURCE: LAA/MartEye

310

SOURCE: AHDB

305

540

300 295

520

290 p/kg deadweight

275 270 265

500 480 460

260 255

440

LIVEWEIGHT HEIFERS (ENGLAND/WALES)

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

2023 Apr

Jan

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Mar

2024

420

2023

Feb

Jan

2024

Apr

245

Mar

250

Feb

p/kg liveweight

285 280

DEADWEIGHT HEIFERS (GREAT BRITAIN)

SOURCE: LAA/MartEye

330

2024

SOURCE: AHDB

540

2023

320

520 p/kg deadweight

p/kg liveweight

310 300 290 280

500 480 460

270

440

260

2024

2023

LIVEWEIGHT SQQ LAMBS (ENGLAND/WALES)

DEADWEIGHT SQQ LAMBS (GREAT BRITAIN)

SOURCE: LAA/MartEye

SOURCE: AHDB

425

900

2024 2023

400

860 820 p/kg deadweight

325 300 275

780 740 700 660 620 580 540

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

Feb

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

2023

May

2024

460

225

Apr

500

Mar

250

Jan

p/kg liveweight

375 350

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

420

NOTE: OLD SEASON LAMBS ARE SHOWN FROM JANUARY 1 TO THE THIRD MONDAY IN MAY AND NEW SEASON LAMBS THEREAFTER

CULL COWS (ENGLAND/WALES)

DEADWEIGHT PIGS (GREAT BRITAIN) SOURCE: LAA/MartEye

SOURCE: AHDB

230

120

200

p92 99 Dec6 KH KJ AB.indd 89

Jul

Jun

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

farmersguardian.com

SPP (2023) APP (2023)

SPP (2024) APP (2024)

190

Dec

Dairy-sired (2023) Beef-sired (2023)

Nov

Dairy-sired (2024) Beef-sired (2024)

Oct

140

210

Sep

160

220

Jan

p/kg

180

Aug

p/kg deadweight (EU spec)

200

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 97

04/12/2024 16:48

Market Prices UK DELIVERED PRICES – SUMMARY Thursday, November 28, 2024 (£ per tonne).

Source: AHDB

Delivery

East Anglia / London (BW)

Northamptonshire

North-West grains/ Liverpool OSR

Avonmouth feed /South bread

Yorkshire

Fife/Edinburgh

Bread Wheat Price Change Dec-2024 Jan-2025 Feb-2025 May-2025 Dec-2024 222.50 n/c Jan-2025 224.50 n/c Feb-2025 226.50 -6.50 May-2025 232.50 -6.50 Dec-2024 231.50 n/c Jan-2025 233.50 n/c Feb-2025 235.50 -6.50 May-2025 241.50 -7.00 Dec-2024 Jan-2025 Feb-2025 May-2025 Dec-2024 226.50 n/c Jan-2025 228.50 n/c Feb-2025 230.50 n/c May-2025 236.50 n/c Dec-2024 -

Feed Wheat Price Change 182.50 -7.00 184.50 n/c 186.50 -7.00 192.50 -7.00 195.50 n/c 197.50 n/c 199.50 -6.00 205.50 n/c -

Feed Barley Price Change -

Oilseed Rape Price Change 423.50 -8.50 425.50 n/c 427.50 -8.00 429.00 -7.00 425.00 -8.00 427.00 n/c 429.00 -7.50 430.50 -6.50 -

Source: AHDB Jan-2025 425.50 425.50 427.00 -

Feb-2025 427.50 427.50 429.00 -

May-2025 429.00 429.00 430.50 -

Hvst-2025 391.50 391.50 393.00 -

FUTURES MARKETS (WHEAT) Wednesday, December 4, 2024 (£ per tonne).

Price LIFFE £/tonne Jan-25 Mar-25 May-25 Jul-25 Nov-25 Jan-26 Mar-26 May-26 Jul-26 Nov-26

177.00 182.45 185.05 189.95 187.95 190.70 193.45 196.20 198.90 194.90

MATIF

Price €/tonne

Dec-24 Mar-25 May-25 Sep-25 Dec-25 Mar-26 May-26 Sep-26

213.75 225.00 229.25 220.00 225.75 229.75 232.00 229.25

Average prices (2023)

Non-SDA SDA Moorland

£80.59 £99.41 £24

-

BPS ENTS Welsh Deadline – Closed Price at deadlines £75

Average prices (2023) £65

BPS ENTS Scottish Regions 1, 2 and 3 Deadline – Closed Price at deadlines

Average prices (2023)

Region 1 Region 2 Region 3

£149.47 £40.34 £15.44

£145 £38 £10.75

x 1.0

Friday, November 29, 2024 (£ per tonne).

Dec-2024 423.50 423.50 425.00 -

December 3, 2024.

BPS ENTS English Deadline – Closed* Price at deadlines

BPS ENTS Northern Irish Deadline – Closed Price at Average deadlines prices (2023)

UK DELIVERED OILSEED RAPE PRICES Oilseed Rape East Anglia / London Erith Liverpool Hull / Selby

BPS ENTITLEMENTS, BNG, CARBON AND WATER

CME

Price US cents/bushel

Dec-24 Mar-25 May-25 Jul-25 Sep-25 Dec-25

535.75 545.00 553.75 560.00 572.50 589.50

x 1.0

*For trading Delinkage ref amounts; 19p per £1 of Delinkage reference amount. ** Estimates.

ENGLISH DELINKAGE REF DATA: average of 2020/21/22 claims. Seller’s 2023 claim not needed.

Estimated return £1.20/£1 ref amount with buyer’s delink payment less than £30,000 post-transfer.

Subject to Delinkage values 2025-27.

BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN: English: Defra estimates £20,000-£200,000/unit excluding VAT and associated fees, subject to lot size. Last tender December 2, 2024, next January 27, 2025.

NUTRIENT NEUTRALITY: Long-term sales all types agric man excluding specialist habitat creation. Nitrates £3,000-£4,000/unit (£18,000£206,000/ha); phosphates £50,000-£65,000/ unit (£2,000-£169,000/ha). CARBON: Woodland Carbon >£35/WCU >£25/PIU. May 2023 WCG reverse auction average £19.76. WATER: English abstraction licences less than £3-£15/cu.m.

Source: Townsend Chartered Surveyors

SUPERMARKET RED MEAT PRICES Week ending December 3, 2024 (prices in p/kg).

CORN RETURNS EX-FARM PRICES Thursday, November 28, 2024 (£ per tonne).

WHEAT Milling Bread

South East South West Midlands Eastern North East North West England & Wales South Scotland Central Scotland North Scotland Scotland Great Britain Northern Ireland United Kingdom Change on last week (£/t)

-

Other

Feed & Other

BARLEY Malting Premium

Other

Feed & Other

-

182.60 184.60 192.80 189.70 189.90 189.80 189.80 +5.80

-

-

159.20 150.10 150.30 150.30 -0.20

OATS Milling

Feed

-

-

FIELD PEAS/BEANS

Browse. Sell. Buy at FGBuyandSell.com 98 | DECEMBER 6 2024

p92 99 Dec6 KH KJ AB.indd 90

This week Last week

Late Note: Current month prices; Source: AHDB

Dec Jan Feb

Micronising peas

December 4, 2024 All prices £/tonne ex-farm Feed Feed peas beans

£339.08 £347.08 £349.08

£236.25 £239.25 £241.25

£216.08 £219.08 £221.08

BEEF Roasting Joint Sirloin Steak Rump Steak Fillet Steak Diced Braising Steak Lean Mince Standard Mince

1121 2081 1551 3519 1089 0 724 514

1218 2082 1549 3488 1088 0 721 507

LAMB Whole Leg Shoulder (Bone-in) Shanks Steaks Chops Diced Standard Mince

1392 1216 1280 1855 1737 2170 1269

1483 1216 1280 1855 1737 2170 1269

PORK Leg (Boneless) Shoulder (Boneless) Fillet (Tenderloin) Loin Steaks Chops Diced Belly Slices Ribs Lean Mince

569 450 768 893 784 845 827 791 525

557 450 768 893 784 845 827 791 525 Source: AHDB

farmersguardian.com

04/12/2024 16:48

CURRENCY WATCH

Last updated December 4, 2024

€1=£0.8286

£1=€1.2069

$1=£0.7879

£1=$1.2692

UK DELIVERED WHEAT PRICES

NATIONAL STRAIGHTS PRICES

Thursday, November 28, 2024.

1. FEED WHEAT Avonrange Central Scotland East Anglia East Devon Lancashire London North Humberside Northamptonshire Oxfordshire South Humberside Southampton Tyne & Wear West Midlands East Midlands

DEC 182.50 195.50 -

JAN 184.50 197.50 -

FEB 186.50 199.50 -

MAY 192.50 196.00 205.50 -

NOV 190.50 193.50 200.00 -

2. FULL SPEC. BREAD WHEAT North-West Northamptonshire South London / Essex Yorkshire

DEC 231.50 222.50 226.50

JAN 233.50 224.50 228.50

FEB 235.50 226.50 230.50

MAY 241.50 232.50 236.50

NOV -

3. FULL SPEC. BISCUIT WHEAT North-West Northamptonshire South London / Essex Yorkshire Scotland

DEC -

JAN -

FEB -

MAY -

NOV -

DAIRY CATTLE PRICES

Last updated December 3, 2024 Source: LAA/IAAS

Cows (under

Cows (over 36

Cows (under

Cows (over 36

36 months)

months)

36 months)

months)

GREAT BRITAIN

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

No. / Av.

Bentham Carlisle Carmarthen Exeter Frome Gisburn Holsworthy Lancaster Leek Leyburn Market Drayton Norton and Brooksbank Otley Sedgemoor Shrewsbury Skipton Wigton Mold Whitland Ayr Lanark Stirling (ua)

-/-/36/2080.3 13/1143.8 5/1754.0 21/2091.4 28/1335.1 -/10/1722.0 -/109/1972.8 -/-/35/1834.0 10/2232.0 -/-/8/1953.8 -/13/1275.40 -/-/-

-/-/78/1612.7 29/1150.5 4/847.5 11/2170.9 80/1607.3 -/12/1480.8 -/191/1582.3 -/-/16/1478.4 10/2236.0 -/-/1/1750.0 -/5/1840.00 -/-/-

-/-/2/1310.0 12/994.2 -/2/1415.0 -/-/1/1480.0 -/1/2650.0 -/-/3/1380.0 2/1350.0 -/-/3/1913.3 -/-/-/-/-

-/-/16/1032.5 31/855.8 1/570.0 2/1725.0 8/1427.2 -/4/1815.0 -/3/1160.0 -/-/6/1140.8 3/1416.7 -/-/-/-/1/1700.00 -/-/-

We\Fr\Mo

Sa Th\Tu

Mo Tu

HAY AND STRAW: REGIONS Week ending December 8, 2024.

Big bale hay Quality SE Scotland North East East Yorks N Midlands E Midlands C Midlands E Counties South Wales South East South West South

Good 80 75 70 70 65 70 70 80 80 70 75

Pickup baled hay and straw Seed Meadow Barley hay hay straw

Wheat straw

Good

Good

Good

Good

120 120

110 120

100 85

80

100 125 110 150

100

100

100 100 120

90 75

80 70

Big sq. baled straw Barley Wheat straw straw Good 85 80 72 75 70 75 65 85 70 80 76

January-April 364.00 365.00 187.00 236.00 206.00

N/A 183.00 ● 266.00 265.00 248.00

N/A 191.00 273.00 272.00 248.00

Source: Straights Direct May-October 370.00 POA 187.00 245.00 218.00 191.00 284.00 283.00 254.00

Key: All prices in pounds sterling. Currency, £/$1.340; £/€1.197 Guide prices indicated include delivery charge of £6/tonne. ✸ = After safe arrival; F = First half; S = Second half; ● = December; ✥ = April; ✦ = February/April; ◗ = June/July; ▲ = March/June; ✧ = May/June; ✪ = August/October; ❊ = January. *These prices reflect the milk supplied to the retailer

October 2024

OTHER

Tu

November-December 359.00 361.00 ✸ 188.00 238.00 202.00

MILK PRICE LEAGUE TABLE

HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN

We Fr We Th We

Last updated December 4, 2024 Commodity Hi Pro Soyameal – North Hi Pro Soyameal – South Soya hulls Maize distillers Maize gluten Non-GM HP sugar beet pellets (delivered) Whole maize PCR Negative Palm kernel expellers Rapeseed meal basis Erith Kent Rapeseed meal basis Humber Distillers dark grains

Good 80 70 62 70 60 65 60 80 60 70 69

Source: AHDB

Aligned liquid milk* Müller Milk & Ingredients M&S Müller Milk & Ingredients TSDG (Tesco) Müller Milk & Ingredients Co-op Dairy Group Müller Milk & Ingredients Sainsbury’s4

Monthly price 43.24 41.39 40.73 40.69

Annual average 43.14 41.34 40.63 40.59

Standard Manufacturing UK Arla Farmers Manufacturing1 Barber’s Cheesemakers Wyke Farms Lactalis - Caledonian Cheese Leprino Foods First Milk Manufacture2 South Caernarfon Creameries5 Belton Farm

Monthly price 44.26 42.82 42.71 42.42 42.22 41.82 42.04 40.91

Annual average 43.61 42.82 42.60 42.42 42.04 41.88 41.55 40.91

A&B

Monthly price

Annual average

40.72

40.49

Freshways

1. This contract will receive a 1.33ppl guaranteed minimum payment. 2. This contract will receive a 0.50ppl member premium payment. 2. This contract will receive a 1.82ppl Tesco cheese group payment. 3. This contract will receive a 1.00ppl direct premium payment. 4. This contract will receive a 0.54ppl ave sustainability payment. 5. This contract will receive a 0.25ppl actual 13th payment. Retailer price supplements are included where applicable.

Supplements listed are in addition to listed milk prices. Milk prices shown are the monthly and annual average price that would be paid on a contract for 12 months going forward if the present price schedule remained the same. Prices listed above exclude capital retentions, administration charges, group subs and VAT but include levy and seasonality adjustments. Milk contracts are provided to AHDB on a voluntary basis. All prices shown are calculated using the AHDB Standard Litre. This reflects the average GB farm and from April 2024 is based on 1.5m litres/year, 4.20% butterfat, 3.38% protein, 160k somatic cell count and 27k bactoscan. There has also been a slight adjustment to the AHDB levy, which came into force in April 2024. To calculate prices specific to your own milk visit the AHDB Milk Price Calculator. Please note that for Barbers there is a guarantee that should the Actual Milk Price Equivalent (AMPE) -2ppl move ahead of the Barbers’ price Jul to Dec 2024, Barbers will pay this on the extra litres above the base volume.

UK MONTHLY MILK PRODUCTION

Source: AHDB

UK milk deliveries in September 2024 were 1.3% up on the year at 1,153 million litres.

Cumulatively, this was 0.1% down on the year to date. September 2024 GB milk deliveries were up 0.7% for the same period at 969m litres. GB milk deliveries for the year to date were 0.6% down.

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Source: British Hay and Straw Merchants’ Association

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 99

farmersguardian.com FG0009 - FG Packages 9x2.indd 1

p92 99 Dec6 KH KJ AB.indd 91

13/06/2024 13:37

04/12/2024 16:48

In Your Field Every week we follow the ups and downs of farmers around the UK DAN JONES

North Wales Dan Jones farms 650 ewes at the National Trust-owned Parc Farm, which sits on the Great Orme, a limestone headland which rises up 208 metres (682 feet) on the North Wales coast near Llandudno.

His Farm Business Tenancy covers the 58 hectares (143 acres) at Parc Farm, plus 364ha (900 acres) of grazing rights on the hill.

I

n the face of recent challenges, it can be difficult to find a silver lining in the world of agriculture.

A new Government with new policies and agendas has thrown the spotlight onto farming once again.

New worries and uncertainties are piled upon the day-to-day stresses we all wake up to.

My current headaches are worm resistance in lambs and the unprecedented loss of rams during tupping.

It’s enough to once again question the sanity of my career choice.

Yet, amid these difficulties it’s important to remember that farming is a calling for many, a way of life, and an essential part of society. It is also reassuring to learn that in the main, the public gets it, they see the bigger picture and are supportive of farmers.

Last week Arla announced trials of the feed additive Bovaer on 30 farms across the UK. The additive, which claims to reduce methane emissions from cows, has sparked concern among some consumers, raising questions about its safety and the ethics of introducing additives into the food chain.

The public’s passionate response to Arla’s trial demonstrates an ever

‘Farming is a calling for many, a way of life and an essential part of society’ growing interest in understanding what goes into the food we consume.

Consumers are no longer satisfied with simply trusting the companies that produce their food.

Last week, we as a family had the opportunity to spend an enjoyable day at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair – a vibrant two-day event packed with competitions and enthusiastic crowds.

I found myself constantly engrossed in captivating conversations. There were some intriguing suggestions for this column – many involving our new Government, but not all entirely suitable for print.

During the show, Deputy First

Minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced the latest Sustainable Farming Scheme, Wales, proposals, addressing key changes being made to the controversial scheme, including the removal of the requirement for farmers to maintain a minimum of 10% tree cover.

The announcement came as a welcome relief.

These adjustments, which are definitely a step in the right direction, brought a sense of optimism and hope for the future of Welsh agriculture.

It also highlighted the importance of continued dialogue between policymakers, farming unions, environmen-

tal groups and farmers to ensure that the needs of the agricultural sector are properly understood and addressed.

As I drove home through the surrounding Welsh countryside, I reflected on the day, and the resilience of farmers and the farming community.

It is so much more than profit. It’s a way of life and the backbone to rural communities. It’s the pride in our produce. It’s moving with the times, while holding onto our heritage and traditions for future generations.

I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. May 2025 bring you prosperity and continued progress.

Farmers Weather by Dr Simon Keeling

Once cold air arrives, it is hard to get rid of THE Atlantic jet stream has strengthened again this weekend and is forcing low pressure systems to rush east across the Atlantic.

It is bringing gales and heavy periods of rain. As I type, the main low pressure systems are expected to be passing over the south, or to the south of the UK. However, this southerly track encourages winds to turn more northerly through the British Isles, bringing colder temperatures and wintry showers.

Once cold air arrives at this time of year, it tends to be hard to get rid of, especially if it is in for more than a 100 | DECEMBER 6 2024

p100 101 Dec 6 shirl LP KJ AB.indd 2

couple of days. The density of the colder air can also encourage higher pressure to form.

That is what will happen this weekend west of Ireland. The buckling of the jet stream and accompanying cold air will be building pressure and then further increases the northerly winds, bringing more cold temperatures, denser air, and perpetuating the cold conditions.

Risk Add to that colder air in Europe and, as soon as the winds turn more northeasterly, the risk of showers increases. As temperature fall, so the

risk of these showers turning to sleet and snow increases too.

So, we are going to be on watch at weatherweb.net through this weekend and into next week for signs of these phenomena occurring.

I do have a slight concern that if temperatures fall far enough across England and Wales, it may be difficult to get rid of the cold for several days.

Scotland and Northern Ireland will probably fair better with a flow coming more from the Atlantic, allowing temperatures to be a little milder. It means some busy days ahead and all eyes down for sleet, ice and a risk of snow.

For location specific forecasts visit farmersweather.co.uk and for video updates go to weatherweb.net or call the number below.

Call Farmers WeatherLIVE

0906 599 9308 Calls charged at £1.55 per minute, plus telephone company access charge. Calls from mobiles and some networks may be considerably higher.

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04/12/2024 13:34

NEXT WEEK Cornwall Alan Carter Kent Dan Hawes

‘This is bureaucracy at its most perverse’ Devon James and Isobel, with their two young children, recently bought their first farm, and plan to run beef and sheep over 13.8 hectares (34 acres), renting a further 44.5ha (110 acres). James works for tech firm Breedr as UK country manager. You can follow them on Twitter @jpbwfarm.

B

ack in June, we were full of excitement as we applied for planning permission to add a bedroom and an open-plan kitchen and dining room to our home.

With a new baby arriving in the spring, it felt like the right time to upgrade our farm worker’s house – built 30 years ago – to make it fit for family life for the next 30 years.

Today, after months of delays, countless extensions and endless backand-forth, our council has indicated they would refuse our application.

The decision is devastating– not just emotionally, as we prepare for our third child – but financially, too. We’ve already spent thousands of pounds on surveys and planning consultants.

With no realistic path forward, we’ve withdrawn the application.

But the nightmare does not end there.

Threatening The council is now threatening enforcement action over the agricultural tie on our house because I work in addition to farming.

Let that sink in: we’re a family of four, soon to be five, not only facing a lack of space for our growing family, but now also the possibility of being evicted from our home – or facing yet more thousands in fees to fight it.

This is bureaucracy at its most perverse. It has a pathological aversion to

Crossword 1274

anything outside the norm – anything that dares challenge the status quo.

It’s the same mindset that led the Treasury to recommend Labour implement the ‘family farm tax’.

They either didn’t understand, or care, that farms have been exempt from Inheritance Tax not as a loophole, but as a necessity. Family farms cannot survive such burdens.

I’m 32 years old, a first-generation farmer. We own 34 acres and rent another 120. I have two children in the local school and a third on the way.

We run 45 suckler cows and a flock of sheep. I work off-farm to ensure we can keep the lights on and food on the table. Surely, I’m the kind of person policy should be designed to support?

And yet, here we are – trapped in a

Send in your correct entries to be in with a chance of winning £20 worth of Love2shop vouchers every month. Send to: Crossword No. 1274, Farmers Guardian, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Caxton Road, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 9NZ.

ACROSS

1 Expressing hopes for the future; maybe this is where to do it (7,4) 9 Wiseacre - dumb-cluck finally with no barrier (4-3) 10 Crime racket oddly appearing in two US cities (7) 11 Become so ragingly violent, maybe about weapons (9) 12 Title of respect in Madrassah I believe (5) 13 Bill’s mate found on church seat (5) 14 Curiously endearing pomegranate syrup (9) 16 Alsatians chewed up attacker (9) 18 66 diamonds. Very bright! (5) 20 Loosely grips spray-like ornament (5) 22 Unexpected winner, Black Beauty maybe (4,5) 24 Unusually covet an extremely small South American coin (7) 25 Queuing outside cold bank (7) 26 Plant in frostiest season immature (11)

NAME ADDRESS

POSTCODE

system that seems designed to crush people like us.

The ‘experts’ will say I should keep quiet, keep my head down, and not draw attention. But that’s exactly why systems persist.

It’s how bullies and jobsworths thrive, and why meaningful change never happens.

I ran for Parliament in July because I believe we need more people in Westminster who have built businesses, who understand what it’s like to raise a young family in modern Britain, and who know the relentless challenges faced by rural communities.

One day, I’ll be asked what drove me to push for radical change in the way our Government operates. Moments like this will be my answer.

DOWN

1 Tree-covered areas seek favour of leader of distant countries (9) 2 Laborious speaker of an East European language is originally heard (7) 3 Chain letter contains an inserted piece (5) 4 Tiny bird initially gets surprisingly coldest round summer’s end (9) 5 US area I sorted out, vast land mass (7) 6 Eel climbing emptied out church drain (5) 7 Fleece trimmed and short haircut for this winter transport (6) 8 Farewell remark: two of these for bedtime? (3-3) 14 Cunningly organised, imposing! (9) 15 Reversal of order of popular translation (9) 16 A large bag with European wine (6) 17 Involved with corn, firmly establish an attitude, say (7) 18 This mode of transport can produce vile endless aches (7) 19 Person controlling food intake put off consuming ices primarily (6) 21 Repeat some of dire news (5) 23 Regretting telephone call involving head of university (5)

Answers to crossword 1272: Across: 1 League, 5 Facade, 10 Unpin, 11 Born-again, 12 Hey presto, 13 Nihil, 14 Locally, 16 Giggles, 18 Bye-byes, 20 Tramway, 22 Recap, 24 Unwrapped, 26 Fingering, 27 Tyrol, 28 Rooted, 29 Seethe.

Down: 2 Empty, 3 Generally, 4 Embassy, 5 Furlong, 6 Chain, 7 Deathblow, 8 Bushel, 9 Uncles, 15 Crescendo, 17 Guarantee, 18 Bereft, 19 Studied, 20 Town gas, 21 Yodels, 23 Pleat, 25 Perch.

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JAMES AND ISOBEL WRIGHT

DECEMBER 6 2024 | 101

04/12/2024 13:34

Farming Matters Forthright opinions from throughout the world of agriculture

‘Nature-friendly farmers must be financially rewarded if we are to meet targets’

R

egenerative farming and nature-friendly farming have become popular buzzwords in recent years.

This reflects a growth in awareness of how, as farmers, we need to be guardians of the countryside. However, I still believe we need more support to help us look after nature.

I have farmed the 400 acres of Lark Rise Farm in Cambridgeshire, owned by the Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT), for more than 30 years.

Thanks to the foresight of its founders, Robin Page and Gordon Beningfield, the CRT was ahead of its time.

Today, their original thinking that farmland has a pivotal role to play in supporting nature is rightly at the forefront of environmental policy.

Pioneered I fully back the Government’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and have pioneered many of the practices contained within them during my years at Lark Rise.

It is now crucial to understand the importance of biodiversity in our landscape and to provide financial incentives for its protection and promotion.

It is undoubtedly too grandiose to suggest the Government has taken some of our practices in hand, but

looking at the SFI, it certainly makes me feel like I have been consistently at the forefront of regenerative farming for years.

Equally, I feel that more needs to be done to help farmers support the environment around them.

While I accept the CRT model is not for everybody, the Government must continue to financially reward nature-friendly farmers if we are going to meet international targets to help reverse biodiversity decline.

Farming the way I do and successfully balancing the needs of food production has been a labour of love.

Over the years, the farm has been divided into smaller parcels of land, with wildlife-friendly habitat created to support many species of birds, mammals, insects and spiders, and the vegetation they live in or feed on.

It is my strong belief that nature should exist across all my farmland and not only be confined to small areas within it.

I am immensely proud of the many achievements at Lark Rise, including the Red List Revival Award for ‘highest density of grey partridge’ and the return of breeding lapwings as well as yellowhammer, corn bunting, linnet and skylark.

We also recently received news that we have an extremely high level of rare

arable weeds too, showing the breadth of our nature recovery.

When in my tractor, I am always amazed by the number of birds following me, demonstrating how many invertebrates there are living in the soil.

From day one until now, my remit from the CRT has been to farm in a style that mixes both modern technology and traditional methods to reverse biodiversity decline.

If you get the bottom of the food chain right, then species higher up should thrive. I welcome the ‘low-input harvested cereal crop’ SFI option.

If you live with broad-leaved weeds in your crops, the insects will follow.

Complex The system is complex and our success is not just down to luck, but thanks to hard work, careful planning and consideration for wildlife.

The SFI, which I hope will remain and be improved upon, is taking us in the right direction.

Although, there really does need to be greater help to encourage more farmers to take it up.

Farmers and farming practices are central to reversing nature’s decline.

Therefore, I urge all those involved in the farming industry to play their part and for the Government to ensure

TIM SCOTT

Countryside Regeneration Trust farmer and trustee

Tell us your views Post Letters to the Editor, Farmers Guardian, Unit 4, Caxton Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ Email fgeditorial@agriconnect.com

the financial incentives for protecting nature are enough to allow positive change for nature to happen at scale.

If we do not fight for the environment and fail to offer adequate rewards for farmers for protecting it, nature will disappear from the countryside. That is a future I do not want to imagine.

We need investment to secure a healthy and resilient future for farming, while also restoring our natural landscapes and wildlife.

And we need to make sure this stays at the forefront of Government policy.

In next week’s

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Regenerative farming to improve biodiversity needs robust financial support from the Government, says Tim Scott.

102 | DECEMBER 6 2024

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04/12/2024 14:55

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