Farmers Journal Scotland | July 21st by Farmers Journal Scotland

FARMERS JOURNAL Scotland

‘We’re the bedrock of a thriving rural economy’ Alison Milne of the National Council of Rural Advisers >> 5

REVEALED INSIDE

22 July 2017 Vol 1 No 8 | £3.10

Scotland’s favourite tractor

Lowest beef kill on record Tighter supply driving price ODILE EVANS NEWS CORRESPONDENT oevans@farmersjournal.co.uk

Prices remain buoyant with the weekly kill down to the level normally associated with a bank holiday week. The beef kill in June this year was the lowest on record since 1999. The average weekly kill last month was 7,300 head, 200 less than a typical June week. Over the last six weeks, there have been 8% fewer animals in abattoirs. Tight supply has pushed prices 8-11% higher. “The increase in store prices is welcome, but while it is fine in the short term, we would prefer to see a consistency in numbers,” chair of the Scottish Beef Association Neil McCorkindale said. “We continue to be alarmed by the drop in suckler cow numbers.” Supplies are further tightened by a 0.5% drop in carcase weights. Lighter steers are taking 7.5kg of beef off every carcase. Advice from abattoirs last year to castrate bulls seems to have been taken up by farmers. The young bull kill has dropped by a fifth.

Ä See back page

Neil Stewart harvesting winter barely at Grahamslaw farm near Kelso. It is the earliest harvest they have on record, which goes back almost 30 years. “Nice and thick crop which wasn’t treated with glyphosate,” said Neil. \ Hector Innes

Farmers Journal

Cutting-edge shed in Northumberland

Farmers being treated A third of farmers over the age of 65 with utter contempt

Buildings >> 34

News >> 4

News >> 3

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

2 NEWS

Comment John Sleigh Scott ish editor jsleigh@farmersjournal.co.uk

Opportunities for next generation to step up

here is reason to be hopeful that the next 10 years will be a decade of youth rejuvenation in Scottish farming. While ďŹ gures from the Scottish Government (page 3) show that we seem to be going backwards, all is not lost. There are younger people in the industry, even though they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have their name on the IACS form. Just because a farm is headed up by someone in their 60s does not mean that youth is not present. Farmers donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t squirrel away their money but

spend it on growing their business and employing others. Most will have at least one farm adviser to help with paperwork and technical support. If a contractor is used on farm, they employ a lot of staďŹ&#x20AC;, often younger than the farmer. Furthermore, lots of our marts have strong trainee programmes which are developing top talent for tomorrow. However, the ďŹ gures do highlight a worrying trend that is not in the interests of Scottish farming. A balance is to be had between youth and experience to build a vibrant sector.

There are plenty of reasons to be negative about the chances for new people to get into farming â&#x20AC;&#x201C; land shortage, biased support system and capital requirements â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but youth has some fantastic assets, which will see it grow over the next 10 years. Once we leave the EU, producing food will become more important as the Government will want to retain a level of food security. It will also need farmers to play their part in the balance of trade. Domestic production can either prevent us from having to buy foreign imports or be exported to get cash into our economy, which will be increasingly important once the UK is on its own. Young people are brilliantly placed to take advantage of this opportunity. Those who have been farming without subsides are some of the most technically gifted farmers in Scotland. Their margins are very thin, so everything needs to be questioned to strip back costs and maximise output. Never before has so much advice been at farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ďŹ ngertips â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the talent is being able to digest, select and

implement it. New and young businesses can edge ahead of the competition by scouring the world for information on cattle handling, drainage and sheep dosing at the touch of a button. Calving cows and lambing ewes is hard work. There is no getting away from it. While there are many successful farmers in their 60s who make a brilliant job on livestock farms, they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go on for ever. There might be some scaling up in operations in the coming years, but the intensity of labour required means that the next generation are needed in the livestock sector. Market orientated food production is going to be increasingly important. To secure a premium for produce, a far closer relationship with the consumer is necessary. This is another strength of the next gen-

The vast majority want to see new folk making a good job of things. Everyone wants to see land farmed and farmed well

eration; through utilisation of social media and branding, farmers can reach out to consumers. The most striking feature of successful new entrants is their positive attitude and a willingness to listen. Land availability might be tight but your chances of getting ground improve tenfold with positivity and good people skills. I know of countless examples of startup farmers getting a lend of equipment from neighbours that can make or break a businesses in the early years. But the main reason the next generation is going to succeed is the support from the industry. The vast majority want to see new folk coming on and making a good job of things. Everyone wants to see the land farmed and farmed well. Young people in the industry is like immigration â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you want a steady trickle of new folk: not too much to destabilise the sector and not so little that it stores up issues further down the line. Over the next 10 years, we should hopefully see a rebalancing of the industry between old and young to everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s betterment.

Farm safety week Lynx licence Lynx UK Trust has submitted its around the corner The application for a licence to release Farm Safety Week kicks oďŹ&#x20AC; on Monday 24 July. Farming continues to have one of the poorest safety records of any occupation in the UK and Ireland, but all the main farming organisations in the partner countries are working together for this week to address it. The Farm Safety Foundation will be using Facebook and Twitter to remind farmers of all ages to take their time and think about what they are doing and about what might go wrong, as making a few simple safety checks could actually save a life. See also Farm Safety >> page 52

lynx into Kielder Forest, according to the National Sheep Association. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is almost inconceivable that once released the lynx would ever be removed and therefore we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accept this is a pilot project â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is a release,â&#x20AC;? NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said. He described the Lynx UK Trustâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consultation process as ďŹ&#x201A;awed, making â&#x20AC;&#x153;inconsistent and selective eďŹ&#x20AC;orts to publicise meetingsâ&#x20AC;?. This comes in the same week the University of Stirling published a study into the impact of illegally released beavers on Tayside. Prof Nigel Willby, one of the study team, said beavers oďŹ&#x20AC;ered â&#x20AC;&#x153;enormous potential beneďŹ tsâ&#x20AC;? to the environment and that â&#x20AC;&#x153;sometimes the negative views of farmers can dominateâ&#x20AC;?.

Inside this week 22.07.2017 Contents News

A farmer writes

AGRIBUSINESS Feature 20 minutes with Industry insight

33 Machinery

Key greening rules to change

23 26 32 34 35 52 43 P57 P60

64 Country Living FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

64 COUNTRY LIVING

Jane Austen LIFE & TIMES

56 58 59

Two key changes to greening requirements have been announced by the Scottish Government for next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scheme.

Technical )DUP 3URo W 3URJUDPPH 'DLU\OLQN %HHI Pedigree Dairy Arable Buildings Machinery Farm Safety Focus Industry Insight Country Living

4 News

Mairead Lavery reflects on the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legacy 200 years after her death; and how her work reflected her own life and times

Unlucky in love Tom Lefroy was Janeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first love interest and Irish nephew of her friend, Anne Lefroy. Anne didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t condone such interest and hurried him out of the country. She knew Tom would lose his inheritance if he married a woman of Austenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social status. In 1801, Austen apparently met and fell in love with a young clergyman. He had plans to meet her family later in their travels but died before he was able to do so. Austen accepted a marriage proposal from Harris Wither, who would offer her great financial security, but changed her mind the following day.

FICTION IMITATING LIFE

7 A Farmer Writes

Ready to wrap? Keep your baler-wrapper in good shape

Womblehill bulls growing at 1.4/kg a day

POSITION OF WOMEN This cruelty of life, especially towards women, is possibly best illustrated by the Dashwood women in Sense & Sensibility. Upon the death of Mrs Dashwoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s husband, her stepson inherits everything and he reneges on a promise to support her and her three daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret. They end up

Editorial Tel: 0131 472 4107 edit@farmersjournal.co.uk

GeorgiosArt / iStock

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to believe that well RYHU \HDUV DIWHU WKHLU oUVW publication, the six novels written by Jane Austen are probably more popular now than they ever were. And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just because they are on the school curriculum or that they are perfect for transposing on to the big screen. What makes her novels so popular is Janeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wit, sparkling dialogue and keen observation of ordinary life. Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s describing the dresses ladies wore to a ball, or who danced with whom and for how long, she could capture the ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775, the youngest of a large family. Her father George was a rector. He and his sisters had been orphaned when they were children and had to depend on the support of relatives to make their way in life. When Janeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father died suddenly in 1805, she, her sister Cassandra and mother, were at WKH PHUF\ RI KHU EURWKHUV IRU oQDQFLDO support and somewhere to live. This uncertainty and dependence on relatives for basic survival surely shaped the memorable characters that leap from the pages of her novels. Characters such as Mr Collins, the rector who is dependent on Lady Catherine de Bourgh for his position in life, or his wife Charlotte Lucas, who was prepared to â&#x20AC;&#x153;settleâ&#x20AC;? for Mr Collins because, being no beauty, she thought him her only chance of marriage and having a home of her own. In Pride & Prejudice, Jane and Elizabeth Bennetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest hope is that WKH\ ZLOO PDUU\ IRU ORYH DQG QRW EHFDXVH RI oQDQFLDO QHFHVVLW\ 0HDQZKLOH WKHLU mother is prepared to accept any approach so long as it means getting one of KHU oYH GDXJKWHUV VHWWOHG 7LPH LV UXQQLQJ RXW EHFDXVH DV VRRQ DV KHU KXVEDQG GLHV WKH IDPLO\ ZLOO ORVH HYHU\WKLQJ $QG WKLV LV D FDVH RI oFWLRQ LPLWDWLQJ OLIH DV LW is exactly what happened to Jane, her sister and their mother.

Farmers Journal Scottish Edition, Rural Centre, West Mains, Ingliston, Newbridge, Edinburgh, EH28 8LT

living in a cottage thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s owned by relatives with barely enough money to feed themselves. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only through making good marriages that they can escape this life of dependence and poverty. Contrast these concerns and uncertainties with the situation of Mr Bingley in Pride & Prejudice, who can rent out houses, host balls and live a delightful life on ÂŁ5,000 a year. Or the options open to Georgina Darcy or Emma Woodhouse because of the huge dowries they would bring to a marriage. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no wonder Jane Austen was reputed to say â&#x20AC;&#x153;a large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard ofâ&#x20AC;?.

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BRIEF FLING While Jane never married, she did have what might be termed a summer pLQJ ZLWK D PDQ IURP ,UHODQG ZKHQ she was 20. Tom Lefroy was the son of an army general and he was a month older than Jane. Alas, he, too, needed to PDUU\ IRU PRQH\ DQG -DQH MXVW GLGQ W oW WKH ELOO Jane Austen left behind six novels and although she and her family found it tough to get them published initially, since 1833 they have never been out of print. She did not become wealthy from her writing but it did give her some oQDQFLDO LQGHSHQGHQFH -DQH oUVW EHFDPH LOO LQ DQG WRRN QR QRWLFH RI LW EXW E\ WKH IROORZLQJ spring she was seriously ill, possibly suffering from Addisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease. She died in the care of her devoted sister, Cassandra, and brother, Henry, on 18 July 1817. As to her legacy, well it has to be a wonderful array of characters that people continue to love and identify with 200 years after her death. CL

Austentatious Celebrating the legacy of Jane Austen 200 years after her death.

Printed by DC Thomson, Dundee, Scotland. Published and originated by The Agricultural Trust, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 28 July January 20172017

NEWS 3

A third of farmers over 65 ODILE EVANS NEWS CORRESPONDENT oevans@farmersjournal.co.uk

The proportion of farms in Scotland being run by those over the age of 65 has increased from a quarter in 2008 to almost a third. The share of farms being run by younger people has fallen, with just one in 10 Scottish farms now occupied by someone under 40, according to ﬁgures obtained by Farmers Journal Scotland. Between 2008 and 2016, the proportion of farmers under 40 occupying Scottish agricultural holdings fell from 12% to 10%. Over the same period, the percentage of farms occupied by over 65s grew from 25% to 32%. In any other industry, that would be retirement age. These ﬁgures highlight the true vulnerability of the industry, according to the Scottish Association of Young Farmer Clubs (SAYFC). “We hope it can act as a real incentive to industry leaders and policymakers about the urgent need to engage with young people in agriculture, in order to ensure the future of agriculture in Scotland,” said David Lawrie, national vice-chair of SAYFC. The news comes despite years of Government initiatives to help support new entrants. The Young Farmers Scheme has been very popular,

with around 300 applications submitted in the first round, prompting a budget increase of £3m on top of the £6m already set aside for farmers under 40. A total of 180 new agricultural businesses have received a commitment of funding: 76% are classified as genuine new entrants, 15% are successors and 9% are new businesses using some part of an existing holding. A fourth round is open for applications and closes on 30 September 2017. A separate capital support of up to £25,000 to assist business development projects is available to all new entrants who started their business in the five years preceding their application. Currently, around £6m of funding has been committed to over 330 projects, with the majority of support going to agricultural buildings, livestock handling facilities and fencing. The data, compiled by the Rural Industries Work Package of the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme 2016-2021, shows a similar pattern in other rural businesses. A recent SRUC telephone survey of the non-land based business sector shows a somewhat similar pattern. Just 3% of rural business owners or partners were under 30, with 11% aged 30 to 39, whereas 35% of business owners or partners were in the 50 to 59 age bracket.

Figure 1

Age bracket of occupiers of Scottish agricultural holdings 2008

2016

12% 10% 40 and under

35% 31% 41-54

28% 27% 55-65

25%

1,300 farmers waiting for CAP payment JOHN SLEIGH SCOTLAND EDITOR jsleigh@farmersjournal.co.uk

Nine per cent of CAP claimants are still waiting their full payment almost three weeks after the EU deadline at the end of June. Payments worth around £34m are still to be made. The number of claims being processed per week has dropped from 1,745 in the week before the EU deadline

to 126 processed last week. “We are continuing to work hard to ensure we complete the remaining payments as quickly as possible,” a Scottish Government spokesperson said. “Our payments made to date, along with the national loan scheme, mean that the vast majority of farmers and crofters have received their money.” Jedburgh farmer Stephen Withers said: “I am still wait-

ing for nearly £12,000 of support payments. When I speak to the department I am told there is an issue with the computer. Why have they not sorted the computer yet? I put my form in 14 months ago. It is total nonsense. “Despite being told by Government staﬀ there is still payment outstanding, the computer system wrongly says I have been paid in full. How many other farmers are in this

situation and are we included in the unpaid figure? This whole thing is a merry-goround.” Last month, Farmers Journal Scotland revealed that despite a considerable number of payments outstanding, there would be no EU ﬁne for Scotland for failing to pay farmers. In an interview, Cabinet secretary Fergus Ewing admitted that the SNP-designed scheme was too complicated.

Two key greening rules set to be changed JOHN SLEIGH SCOTLAND EDITOR jsleigh@farmersjournal.co.uk

Two key changes to greening requirements have been announced by the Scottish Government for next year’s scheme. In a letter to NFU Scotland, it has been confirmed that from May 2018, farmers will

be able to maintain drains in Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) until 15 March, and establish EFA fallow on land claimed the previous year as temporary grassland in year ﬁve (TGRS 5). Currently, farmers cannot drain on EFA ground between 15 January and 15 July, and temporary grass needs to be four years or younger to qualify for EFA fallow.

The changes come after months of lobbying from NFUS, which challenged the Scottish Government on its gold-plating of greening requirements, placing Scottish growers at a disadvantage compared with farmers in other parts of the UK and Europe. “We thank the Scottish Government for taking on board

the arguments made by NFU Scotland on these points,” NFUS president Andrew McCornick said. “I ﬁrmly believe these commonsense improvements on greening rules will still deliver on all the environmental and biodiversity requirements set by greening, but give farmers greater ﬂexibility on how they manage EFA fallow land.”

32% over 65

Source: Scottish Government's June Agricultural Census: 2008 and 2016

Postcode lottery of rural crime NFU England and Wales is calling for fairer funding of rural policing, after more than 1,000 rural police stations closed between 2000 and 2012. The NFU’s Combatting Rural Crime report was presented to the House of Commons on Monday 17 July. It revealed that rural crime costs the UK £42.5m per year. In Scotland, this ﬁgure stood at £1.7m in 2015.

COLLIE MASTER: Robert MacDonald with his bearded collies. Robert farms at Castle Grant Home Farm, near Granton. He farms with his wife Mags on 900 acres from 900ft to 1,200ft with 126 cows and 500 ewes.

From ﬂy-tipping and harecoursing to vehicle theft and arson, rural crime is a worry for farmers. The NFU found that there is no standard protocol across police forces for combatting rural crime and called for a more consistent approach. The costs of quad bike theft in Scotland reduced considerably when police forces received specialist training.

Cleveland Meat slaughterhouse suspension lifted Cleveland Meat Company’s Food Safety Authority (FSA) suspension was lifted last Friday 14 July. The abattoir’s FSA approval was suspended on 30 June after a routine review found evidence of “serious deficiencies”. Based in Stockton-on-Tees, northeast England, the company is known to buy cows and cast ewes at markets in northern England and southern Scotland. The FSA said it was satisfied that the deficiencies in rela-

tion to its operation as a slaughterhouse, cutting plant and cold store had been resolved and lifted the suspension. “CMC was given an opportunity to provide adequate guarantees over future production,” a spokesperson for the FSA said. “In line with our policy, the approval for these activities was suspended until the serious deﬁciencies were resolved.” However, Farmers Journal Scotland understands that the approval for operation as a

processing plant for treated stomachs, bladders and intestines has been withdrawn. “The guarantees provided in regard to the approval to operate as a processing plant indicated the serious deﬁciencies relating to that activity would not be resolved within a reasonable time period. We therefore withdrew this approval,” the spokesperson said. Cleveland Meats Ltd filed its 2015/16 accounts, which stated that a “material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the com-

pany’s ability to continue as a going concern”. The company, founded in 1973, employs 66 people an average month. The most recent set of accounts show a turnover for the 18 months up until August 2016 of £38.6m. The accounts also state that bad debt was blamed for the losses. When approached by Farmers Journal Scotland, the company’s two directors, Michael Broad and Beryl Broad, declined to comment.

– ODILE EVANS

)$50(56 -2851$/ FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017 Saturday 28 January

4 NEWS

Farmer fury over bypass ODILE EVANS NEWS CORRESPONDENT oevans@farmersjournal.co.uk

Farmers along the new Aberdeen bypass are at their wits’ end after disputes with Transport Scotland and the contractors, Aberdeen Roads Ltd, during construction. Issues with fencing, drainage and access to land have been magniﬁed by a lack of communication and a slow response time from Transport Scotland. “In my opinion, farmers are being treated with utter contempt. Little issues are being left to become big problems,” MSP Peter Chapman told Farmers Journal Scotland. He said that some of the new fences erected have failed to keep livestock out. “If the cattle get out on this, it’s four or five miles to the nearest junction,” tenant farmer Iain McPherson said. “The fencing is only otterand badger-proof.” The new 36-mile road is expected to open this winter. “Our biggest issue is water. A lot of our land lies towards the road,” McPherson added. “Originally they were going to put in drains but the goalposts keep changing. When you build a road right through a farm, it plays havoc with existing drainage systems.” Discontent stems from a failure to understand how the construction aﬀects the dayto-day running of a farm. “In 2012, the district valuer told me that the 10 acres that they are taking off me was worth £4,500. I just laughed

My farming week John Sim, Rorandle, Monymusk, Inverurie

at her because land around here was making over £6,000/ acre at the time,” Brian Dawson said, adding that the value of the severance payment is also an issue. “I haven’t had any capital gains allowances, which is having significant tax implications for my business.” Dawson has told NFU Scotland that he is willing to go up as a test case against the Government. “We’ve been pushed beyond the acceptable boundaries and it’s time to do a test case to see how far the Government is actually allowed to go,” he said. The construction of the road has caused significant stress to farmers with the issue of mental health being been raised with Transport Minister Keith Brown MSP. 7UDQVSRUW 6FRWODQG “We take seriously our obligations to work with those affected by the construction of the new road and are working with the contractor to ensure any outstanding issues, including field access issues, fencing and drainage, can be resolved as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson for Transport Scotland said. “Should any matters remain unresolved, TS will review the situation in an attempt to facilitate a solution.” Any landowner who is experiencing difficulties should contact their local Community Liaison Assistant by calling the project enquiries line on 0800-058 8350 or emailing enquiries@aberdeenroads. com

Eric and John Sim, Rorandle, Monymusk, Inverurie. I farm: “Hill ground with 170 suckler cows and 70 acres of spring barley, some for malt and some for feed. The highest point on the farm is at 850ft.” This week: “We baled silage off a reseed; the pits are full already. We’re also weaning calves and tubing cows to prevent mastitis.” Breeding: “We’re moving away from Simmentals; the Charolais bull crossed with a Simmental cow were too big-boned. Now we have all Limousin bulls and Limousin Bluetype cows. Some are Irish, which we like as they’re quiet and a bit wider for calving. There’s no point producing a big calf as it’s too big

for the market and lighter cows eat less as well.” Grass: k:H UHVHHG HDFK oHOG HYHU\ oYH \HDUV DQG HYHU\WKLQJ LV *36 soil-mapped. This helps the grass to yield better – there’s more leaf to it. It has been an exceptional grass season this year. We’ve put in higher phosphates on silage ground.” Cattle prices: “It’s good to see prices rising but the costs are still high. I would say cattle are back up at where they were two years ago. Our store cattle are sold at Thainstone and the fat cattle in Scotbeef, Inverurie.” %HHI (IoFLHQF\ 6FKHPH “We bought

weighing scales at the Highland Show. We’re still in the scheme but not happy with how it’s being handled. I don’t see the payment happening in August and the carbon audit will add another cost.” 6WUDZ “We purchase a lot of straw but the anaerobic digestion plants are pushing up the price.” )DPLO\ “There’s my son Eric and wife Linda helping out on the farm as well.” Quotable quote: “Anything young has more vigour to it, be it grass RU IDUPHUV %XW WKH \RXQJ oQG LW GLIoFXOW WR VWDUW IDUPLQJ ZLWK WKH costs.”

— Odile Evans

Massey is Scotland’s Time ticks Brexit bill standoﬀ in Brussels favourite tractor on BES in latest round of negotiations Scotland’s favourite tractor is the Massey Ferguson, with more than 8,500 machines registered, according to ﬁgures obtained by Farmers Journal Scotland. The popularity of Massey Fergusson is clear, with 5% more tractors registered in 2016 compared to 2007. “Massey Ferguson are known for reliability and warranty package for tractors over 180hp, making them attractive option for farmers. Most of our Massey sales come from repeat business as farmers stay loyal to the brand,” said sales manager Steven Player, who sells Massey Fergusons for Reekies in Coupar Angus. Other tractors have been gaining ground, with John

Deere only 860 registrations behind the No 1 brand, having grown by 24% over the same period. The two manufacturers combined make up more than 40% of the tractors in Scotland. Third most popular is New Holland, with 4,590 units. Some of the fastest-growing brands are Fendt and Claas, growing 187% and 186% respectively from 2007 to 2016. There are 39,028 tractors registered in Scotland, up nearly 5,000 since 2007. Meanwhile, the number of diﬀerent makes has fallen from 127 to 111 over the same period.

– JOHN SLEIGH

SEE ALSO

The Massey Fergusson 135 >> P 41

579 24 55

Tractor growth in the last 10 years 390

69 35

Case & Case International Claas Deutz Fahr Fendt John Deere Kubota Massey Ferguson New Holland Valtra/Valmet Zetor

2016 2754 1468 499 573 7700 1155 8,558 4589 1044 777

2007 2465 514 388 202 6210 667 8133 3183 593 872

Change 289 954 111 371 1490 488 425 1406 451 -95

% growth 12 186 29 184 24 73 5 44 76 -11

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 28 January Saturday 22 July 2017

10 LIVESTOCK

Utilising an extended lambing period to achieve all year-round lamb sales While most people love to see the back of a six- to eight-week lambing period, Barry Cassidy speaks to Iain Campbell, who is happy to lamb for almost 16-weeks

hen looking at the reports on prime lamb sales from the Caledonian Mart in Stirling, it is not unusual to see the name Meikle Seggie among the leading prices. It is also not unusual to see the name Meikle Seggie among the leading prices for 52-weeks of the year. Meilke Seggie Farms, just outside Kinross in the burgh of Perth and Kinross, is owned and farmed by Iain Campbell. Iain farms 1,000 acres (300 acres of which is less-favoured area) on which he runs 1,600 ewes and 100 sucklers. Uniquely, he aims to sell lambs yearround and pay a visit to the Caledonian Mart at least once a week. He also has three calving periods too, just for good measure. Complementary On every farm the, most important decision is to operate a system that suits the farmer. While some farmers choose to focus on one particular stock type, such as sheep or sucklers, Iain believes the two complement each other. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To be honest I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have it any other way and I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to keep them separately. To my mind, I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a beneďŹ t to mixed farming rather than being entirely focused on one,â&#x20AC;? he says. The suckler herd is a mix of breeds but it is predominately made up of Angus, Simmentals and Belgium Blues. They calve indoors and are split up into three main blocks with 33% calving in spring, 33% in summer and 33% in winter. Iain explained the split is essential for management purposes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shed space is limited on the farm, so by splitting up calving I can ensure I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t overcrowd sheds and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t end up overstretched labour-wise either. I also lamb outdoors and that means I can easily manage 1,000 ewes by myself.â&#x20AC;? Between lambing, calving and all other jobs that need to be carried out, Iain has made the conscious decision to setstock the farm. This allows him to make the most of his available labour time. It is also where he ďŹ nds an advantage in mixed farming, as cattle and sheep grazing alongside one another have been shown to increase pasture productivity. The 52-week lamb supply The ability of Iainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farm to sell a constant supply of lambs year round is what sets him apart from most other farms. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I suppose it happened accidently about four years ago,â&#x20AC;? Iain says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve stuck with it since then.â&#x20AC;? The ďŹ&#x201A;ock of 1,600 ewes is a mix of varieties; 100 SuďŹ&#x20AC;olk crosses, 200 Blackface ewes, 500 mule ewes and 800 Texel crosses. There are several key-components that combine together to make Iainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s system of operation possible. Firstly, lambing

Sheep farmer Iain Campbell extends his lambing period up to 16-weeks in order to have year-round sales.

Cambpellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farm in numbers

1,000 acres

1,600

The number of ewes on the farm made up of

100

Suffolk crosses

200

Blackface ewes

500

mule ewes and

800

Texel crosses as well as herd of

100 sucklers

takes place from February through till May, a total of 16 weeks. The ďŹ rst to lamb are the SuďŹ&#x20AC;olk crosses and these lambs are targeted to be sold after 12 weeks, before lambing has even ďŹ nished. To achieve this extended lambing period, Iain requires tups that have suďŹ&#x192;cient stamina to last throughout an extended breeding season. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The tups will go to the ewes from August onwards, once the lambs have been drafted oďŹ&#x20AC;, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no set period that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be with them. I use Beltex tups because I ďŹ nd keeping the fat oďŹ&#x20AC; them is the hard part rather than worrying about them losing condition,â&#x20AC;? Iain explains. Another major part in ensuring a sufďŹ cient supply, is producing enough lambs and ewes. Iain is well covered in that respect, with impressive scanning rates throughout his ďŹ&#x201A;ock. This year the mules scanned at 195%, Texels at 200% and Blackfaces at 160%. The ďŹ nal and most important part is the ability to handle the mammoth and sustained workload. Achieving a yearround lamb supply is a marathon, not a sprint and it requires a lot of commitment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time consuming, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for sure,â&#x20AC;? Iain says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m drawing lambs to the mart at least once a week and sometimes twice when thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cattle to be sold.â&#x20AC;? On top of the time requirements to bring the lambs to market, Iain must also draft oďŹ&#x20AC; approximately two to three hundred lambs every week. Crucially, he has a mobile handling system that is well set up in a shed throughout the summer to make this possible. High demands means higher demand However, the additional labour input is rewarded when it comes to market time.

Many butchers buy directly from the Caledonian Mart and Iainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stock is usually in high demand as it comes with certain guarantees. Not only is Iain able to provide lamb at times of the year when supplies are limited and prices are at their highest, but buyers are also assured of the lamb

Ă Farm facts Ă&#x201A; Farm owner: Iain Campbell Ă&#x201A; Address: Meilke Seggie Farms, Kinross Ă&#x201A; Area: Perth and Kinross Ă&#x201A; Buys tups: Usually privately but has bought from Caledonian Mart Ă&#x201A; Buys bulls: Privately Ă&#x201A; Sells livestock: Caledonian Mart in Stirling Ă&#x201A; Contractor: Used for all major jobs Ă&#x201A; Most important machine: Quad bike Ă&#x201A; Labour: Iain and one part-time worker Ă&#x201A; Scheme membership: None Ă&#x201A; Strength: Year-round lamb sales

quality. The level of consistency from Iainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lambs means they are always in demand even when supplies are not tight. Take last week for example, from the 500 lambs the mart sold, he secured one of the leading prices of ÂŁ110 as well as the top price per kilogramme of 250p/ kg (average was 214.6p/kg). The majority of these lambs will have been sold from a grass only diet, but those that do not achieve the required weight or conformation oďŹ&#x20AC; the grass will be pellet-fed. Quality In addition to having the supply, Iain also has a high-quality product as there are no major disease or health issues within the ďŹ&#x201A;ock. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I try to handle them as little as possible. Most years, the only thing the sheep receive is the required ďŹ&#x201A;uke doses,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;About six years ago we started using Footvax on all the ewe lambs and this has made a major diďŹ&#x20AC;erence. Lameness incidence is down now to about 3% whereas it was running at about 10 to 15%.â&#x20AC;?

&DPSEHOO KDV D pRFN RI HZHV ZKLFK KH IDUPV DFURVV DFUHV

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

LIVESTOCK 11

Reversing the robot trend in Dumfries Reversing the robot trend in Dumfries

Lorrie Kyle speaks to a Dumfries couple who have replaced their robotic milking machine with a more traditional parlour

fter installing a robotic milking machine over six years ago Nigel and Alison Boyd have ripped it out again and are going back to the traditional herringbone. The theoretically labour saving robots turned out to be a frustrating experience for the Boyds, who are based just outside Dumfries. Their 100-cow herd is now being milked twice a day in the new herringbone parlour. “The theory was the Robots could save labour, that they would milk each cow to the full potential and that the machines were better for the health of the cow,” Nigel told Farmers Journal Scotland. “In practice, we found this wasn’t

always the case. Cows made their way to the machines where they could be milked in some cases up to four to ﬁve times a day. This brought on problems as maintaining consistent milk yield during the lactation period could be disrupted due to the cow’s udder changing shape as the lactation progressed. In many cases this could cause the cow to dry oﬀ prematurely as she was not getting properly milked.” He explained that the advertised idea of saving labour didn’t come to pass because someone on the farm had to be available on call 24/7. At any given time a problem would be detected with the machine and you would receive an automated call. Usu-

Nigel and Alison Boyd’s dairy cows

ally the farmer would either fix the issue themselves or call for help from the manufacturer’s service team. The Boyds found that it was difficult to get relief milking staff as the machine was so specialised that only someone who had been trained to work it could fill in. Trained service

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technicians were more expensive than ordinary farm labourers, they found. The increased number of daily milkings took their toll on the cow’s feet due to additional walking. This in turn, interfered with the lactation. The robot arm and sensor camera proved to be temper-

amental. With each cow having a different stance and younger heifers prone to kicking oﬀ the clusters, the computer regularly notified the person on duty that there was a problem. Nigel and his family believe their current, more conventional, system leads to a more

sustainable working life. Relief milkers are more readily available, he gets his time off and it is not interrupted. “There is a definite finishing time when you have switched the milking machine off and I know that all the cows are milked properly – all of the time.”

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday Saturday24 22June July 2017

12 LIVESTOCK

Sunshine, shearing and With silage in the pit, it’s time for the Websters to do a winter feed budget to see if they have enough fodder for the winter, or go for another cut

First-cut silage ZDV PDGH WKH oUVW week of July.

ime stands still for no man – never a truer saying. It is now mid-July and 2017 marches on. Spring whizzed past this year and our daughter Kimberley’s wedding at the beginning of June has been to date the fastest and most enjoyable 24 hours ever experienced. Our usual summer workload is now in place and a visit to the Highland Show for a couple of days made a welcome return to the calendar. Late-comers Our silage is cut a little later here as it is coming from lambing fields and the sheep effectively graze off the first cut, meaning that we generally cut late June. The grass received 350kg/hectare of 10:18:28 and 350kg/hectare of 27% nitrogen + sulphur in May. The weather was catchy for a week or so but we finally got the chance to cut on the 6th of July, with the plan to lift two days later. Unfortunately, the light showers that were forecast for the following day were anything but, leaving the fields sodden. We got 36 hours of dry weather after that and lifted started on the 9th. We got a contractor in to lift the bulk of the silage with a self-propelled chopper and we put an extra tractor on to the pit alongside the buckrake to make sure it is well-rolled.

If we are short for winter, we are considering ammoniatreating some straw to feed to the spring calving cows between autumn and Christmas

On par Looking at the pit, there is less in it this year than last year but at the same time, there is 4ha less in it, so yields are on a par for the year. In the last update, we mentioned that there was 4ha of surplus grazing that was for the pit but with it having been targeted for grazing and not cutting, it did not get rolled until later. This meant that when the chopper went in to the field, it had picked up a couple of stones the first time round. We decided that it would be best to leave the rest of that field for bales and it will get cut and baled along with two fields that are coming out of fallow on the 15th of July. Once that is all gathered in, we will do a feed budget to see what we will need for winter. Last year, alongside the pit, we had cut a steep barley field for wholecrop and got 200 bales from it. At the moment, the pit is a bit short but with the 8ha going in to bales, we should be around about the same point as last year.

If we are short for winter, we are considering ammonia treating some straw to feed to the spring-calving cows between autumn and Christmas. We will then switch them over on to their normal diet six weeks pre-calving.

New arrivals The summer calvers have started just started calving and the 13 heifers that we will sell with calves at foot in September are due shortly.

They are all on a very bare grass ﬁeld in front of the house where we can keep an eye on them and are stocked quite heavily, to keep the condition oﬀ them until they calve.

Potash levels At the start of the project, soil samples were taken from a number of fields and found that some fields are quite high in potash, so for fertiliser on the aftermaths we are going to treat them accordingly. Those fields that are high will get 150kg/ ha of 27% nitrogen + sulphur and no potash to reduce the soil reserves to moderate (M). Those that are more balanced, will get 150kg of 24:0:14. The bulls went in with the spring calvers at the beginning of May. One of the aims over the project is to tighten the calving patterns. We want to get calving down to two 12-week periods, so bulls will be taken away from the cows to keep defined periods. The spring herd will see the bulls taken away in September. Button management tag for any ewe that has caused a problem on the farm.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 24 July June2017 2017

LIVESTOCK 13

silage at Ardhuncart

Charles and Alison going through ewes and lambs

May ’17 The Websters spread 10:18:28 and nitrogen + sulphur on their land

6 July Silage was cut

9 July Silage was lifted, after a spell of bad weather hindered the Websters from continuing

Once they calve, they will be moved on to some of the silage aftermaths and this should give a good start to their lactation. This year, prime lamb prices have been much firmer than 2016. We have had a couple of draws so far, with 43 wedder lambs away. We have now weaned the lambs and they are now grazing an 8ha reseed that was sown this spring. It has an ideal cover for them and with it being clean grazing, we are expecting them to grow on and finish quite quickly. The ewes are destined for a period on the hill post-weaning to dry them off and then will return nearer home to allow us to go through them to check for any more culls. This will give us an indication of how many replacements we will need for 2018. The ewe trade As with the prime lambs, the ewe trade has also been good, so we took the opportunity to cull 25 ewes. They went up to Thainstone and aver-

Webster family at Ardhuncart cutting silage.

aged £77/head through the ring. We work a simple button-tag system to identify the ewes for culling. Through the season, any ewes that we identify for culling gets a button-tag in her left ear. This makes them easy to identify when they are coming down the race for shedding out. As mentioned in the last update, we had a bad go with mastitis this spring and have culled harder than desired but it was necessary. We are keeping 80 of the better ewe lambs and will pick the best out to be gimmered next year as our own replacements. The remainder will be sold as breeding sheep, either as ewe lambs this year or as gimmers next year.

Charles and Alison Webster

Scottish Rural Development Programme

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

14 BEEF

BETTER FARM BEEF CHALLENGE NI

Harvesting second-cut silage under way Second-cut silage is now under way on the BETTER farms, with sward quality excellent

here was a ďŹ&#x201A;urry of silage activity earlier this week as some programme farmers looked to make the most of the fine weather which provided ideal conditions to mow, wilt and ensile, or bale grass. While weather always plays a big part in silage making, you have to be in the position to take the opportunity during these short windows when conditions are ideal. This is where farm planning comes into play. On the programme farms, the

Ă Week in review Ă&#x201A; Fine weather has allowed some farmers to get second-cut silage harvested this week. Ă&#x201A; %UHHGLQJ KDV QRZ o QLVKHG IRU VRPH spring-calving herds. Ă&#x201A; Fertiliser is being applied at 25 to 30 units per acre after grazing. Ă&#x201A; Cattle are being weighed to monitor performance.

farmers work closely with programme adviser Francis Breen to plan out when key tasks will be completed. For instance, despite a diďŹ&#x192;cult start to the grazing season, silage ground was still taken out for cutting in mid- to late May. Most farmers managed to harvest grass on time, with a few running into early June. Within a week of cutting, silage ground was then closed up to have a potential second cut of grass ready from mid- to late July. This was also aided by super growing

conditions during the past month, which helped boost grass yields. Once second cut grass is harvested, this land will join the grazing rotation for August, helping to ease stocking pressure and build grass covers for extending grazing well into autumn. Silage aftermath will also provide highquality grass for the herds that operate autumn calving. It will also provide a grazing block of top-quality grass for weanlings should the farmers with early born spring calves look to wean calves in early September.

Farmer focus: Oliver McKenna, Eskra, Co Tyrone Gearing up for autumn calving

FDOYLQJ GLIo FXOW\ &RZV DUH JHWWLQJ PLQ erals through lick buckets pre-calving.

My autumn herd is due to start calving in early August and they are currently grazing on older less-productive swards to control body condition. There are 26 cows and heifers in this group and all animals are served to AI bulls, with Simmental and Limousin bulls used on cows. Limousin and Red Angus were used on heifers. , o QG WKDW $XJXVW LV D JRRG WLPH WR calve cows, especially if the weather is on your side. Cows will be brought home for calving soon. They will be kept in a paddock next to the yard for supervision and will calve outside as much as possible. If there DUH DQ\ GLIo FXOWLHV FRZV FDQ HDVLO\ EH moved into the adjacent handling pens if necessary. The autumn cows are in good condition and a big advantage of this herd is WKDW FRZV DUH o W KDYLQJ EHHQ DW JUDVV all summer, which helps to cut down on

Once calved, cows will be moved to good-quality grass. I have second-cut silage due to harvest now and this will provide ideal grazing in August, with clean swards of high-quality aftergrass. With cows on these swards, they should not require any concentrate feeding. Depending on weather, cows will stay at grass until the beginning of October. They will be housed early to settle on to the winter diet ahead of the indoor breeding period. Cows will be bred to AI again, as I am VHHLQJ WKH EHQHo WV RI XVLQJ WRS VLUHV LQ terms of calf quality and growth rates.

Post-calving management

Building numbers I have 12 heifers to be served to try to increase the autumn herd to my target of 30 cows for next year. As with the cows, the heifers will be housed in early October to settle before breeding. Heifers and cows will be served to QDWXUDO KHDWV IRU WKH o UVW o YH ZHHNV RI

7KH EUHHGLQJ SHULRG IRU WKH VSULQJ FDOYLQJ KHUG KDV QRZ o QLVKHG ZLWK DOO FRZV served to AI. breeding. After this point, any animal not seen in heat will be synchronised DQG VHUYHG WR o [HG WLPH $, , DP

planning to keep the breeding season for the autumn herd to eight weeks in total.

Rumen ďŹ&#x201A;uke stalls weight gain in bulls

WATCH ONLINE watch the video on www.farmersjournal.tv

Last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s autumn-born male calves are at grass and will be housed around 6HSWHPEHU IRU LQWHQVLYH o QLVKLQJ DV young bulls. 7KH SODQ LV WR KDYH WKHVH EXOOV o Q ished before Christmas. At present, they are on grass only, but I will introduce meal to them in early August to get them used to the change in diet post-housing. There are nine bulls in this group and they are running with six bullocks born in spring 2016. These animals were too light at housing to kill as bulls this year. At their last weighing on 1 July, the

autumn bulls averaged 365kg liveweight with a daily gain of 1.11kg/day from 12 June. I was concerned that the bulls were not thriving as well as they should have been, plus they had very loose dung and were empty looking. After taking a few dung samples, the results showed the bulls had a high EXUGHQ RI UXPHQ p XNH VR WKH\ ZHUH treated with Levafas Diamond. Since treatment, bulls are looking much better, although I am still keeping a close eye on them in case they DUH KLW E\ UXPHQ p XNH DJDLQ The bullocks were also weighed on

1 July. They averaged 474kg liveweight and have gained 1.3kg/day from mid-June. As they are running in the same group as the autumn bulls, they ZHUH GRVHG IRU UXPHQ p XNH DV D SUH caution.

Spring-born bulls slaughtered Last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spring-born bulls were slaughtered from April to June at around 14 to 15 months of age. I killed nine bulls and they averaged 376kg deadweight. The heaviest bull was a Herefordcross animal weighing 417kg deadweight and graded U=3+, while the

IRISH

Supported by

FARMERS JOURNAL farmersjournal.ie

lightest bull was a Salers-cross animal weighing 337kg. 7KLV ZDV P\ o UVW WLPH NLOOLQJ VSULQJ born bulls and I am pleased with how they performed. But I think I could improve on this performance next year, as you can always make a few tweaks here and there around feeding rates to push animals that bit earlier. For instance, bulls were offered 2kg/ day of concentrate from weaning to November, then increased to 3kg/day through to February and then built up to ad-lib. This is something we will look at this autumn after weaning.

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

DAIRYLINK 15

Dairylink Ireland

Summer grazing round-up on Dairylink farms

G Two project farmers in Co Cavan have described grazing conditions recently as ideal and both are ahead of last year, writes Conaill Keown

ood grass growth has been recorded on all Dairylink project farms so far this year. Two of the project farmers in Co Cavan – Charles Clarke and David Brady – have described the grazing conditions recently as ideal. Both farms are ahead of last year in terms of grass growth, partly related to weather conditions and partly to soil fertility and reseeded paddocks. The continued focus is on soil fertility on both farms, with compound fertiliser used to target low fertility paddocks. Charles is following cows with 18:6:12 and is getting slurry on to silage ground. His farm is currently stocked at 3.7cow/ ha, with 90 bales taken oﬀ the platform at this stage. This is less bales than last year, but stocking rate is high for the farm, with good conditions allowing him to continue. Herd fertility is looking good, with low return rates. Forty-ﬁve heifers are due to calve down next February. While he is keen to take all heifers on board to improve overall herd genetics, he will have to cull and sell cows to make space for the replacements – herd expansion is not an option for Charles at the moment. Cows are going into 1,500kg DM pregrazing and the grazing block is well set up for the next four weeks. The farm cover per cow has been moving between 150kg and 170kg/cow, with the current stocking rate at 3.7 cows/ha. The herd demand is 52kg DM/cow.

Co Tyrone Similar to Cavan, there has been sufficient moisture to maintain steady grass growth in Tyrone. On Monday of last week, Kevin McGrade’s farm walk had a growth rate of 60kg/ha. The good conditions this week will increase this. Twenty-eight percent of the herd has been dried off and calving will start in the first week of September. Heifers are due to return from the contract rearer to calve down in September. Kevin has 60 acres reseeded this year, with some additional land rented allow-

ing an expansion of the herd. Some milking stock has been purchased recently, with an additional 57 heifers (0-1 year) in the system due to calve in 2018. Production is well ahead on both farms (Robin Clements being the other) from last year, due partly to herd expansion and better grass utilisation. Soil fertility has been a focus, with new reseeds receiving lime and compound fertiliser to address P and K deﬁciencies. Both farms have also used 25:5:5 or 18:6:12 on the grazing block in conjunction with CAN. The reseeded area on both farms is really doing well. High-sugar late-heading grass varieties have been used, with conventional reseeding of pre-spray with glyphosate, plough and sow and follow with post-spray at four to six weeks after reseed. Weed control with this system is very good, with very clean swards on both farms.

Kevin McGrade, Dromore, Co Tyrone

Nigel Corbett and family, Banbridge, Co Down

Robin Clements, Trillick, Co Tyrone

Bill Brown, Millisle, Co Down

Both farms in Co Down this year have improved access to paddocks on farm. The key driver for this is improving milk produced from grazed grass. Multiple access to paddocks and no longer than 36 hours grazing blocks will help improve grass utilisation. Nigel Corbett has a new lane (600m) in place linking both sides of the grazing block, with multiple access points on both sides of this lane. He is currently working on improving water access in paddocks with new drinkers and water supply. An earlier turnout for the herd, better utilisation during the grazing season and extended grazing in the autumn results in more grass in the cows’ diet. Nigel has started to dry oﬀ cows due in September, with the heifers due to calve down also in September and October. Two silage cuts have been taken, with a smaller third cut due in mid-August. Cows are moving into second-cut re-

Charles Clarke, Bailieborough, Co Cavan

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FARMERS JOURNAL farmersjournal.ie

growth, which will allow some of the grazing block to be reseeded. Ten acres has been earmarked to be sprayed and reseeded this month. Lime will be applied to this area. Soil fertility has improved on the farm. Straight P and K fertiliser was applied in the spring and 25:5:5 has been used along with CAN in the grazing rotation. Bill Brown is also drying oﬀ cows this week, with antibiotic and teat sealer used on all cows. Milk recording information has highlighted some high SCC cows that will get a longer dry period, similar to cows with low body condition. The ﬁrst 30 dry this week will get an eight-week dry period. Grass is still ahead of the herd, with 10 acres skipped last week and due to be cut and baled this week. Grass quality is good, with no stem in the sward and cows going into 1,600kg pre-grazing cover. Bill has another 15 acres for reseeding in August, which will take the total area reseeded in 2017 to 35 acres.

Weekly grass and milk production statistics from participating farms Week ending 17/07/17 Average farm cover (kgDM/ha) Growth rate (kgDM ha/day) Stocking rate LU/ha Days at grass this week % of herd milking Average concentrate fed (kg/cow/day) Calving system

David Brady, Tierlahood, Stradone, Co Cavan

Supported by

Co Down

C Clarke R Clements

B Brown

D Brady

553

659

K McGrade N Corbett 679

810

829

448

101

3.59

3.26

2.11

3.1

3.54

2.34

100

Spring

Autumn

3.2 2.7 70% 70% Autumn Autumn 23 21.0

Spring

Milk Yield (l/cow/day)

25.2

Fat %

3.74

4.46

5.08

4.04

4.01

3.68

Protein %

3.29

3.7

4.01

3.45

3.41

3.47

Milk Solids (kg/cow/day)

1.82

1.60

1.22

1.77

1.60

1.69

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

16 NEWS

Turning things around in Cork Passionate cattle-breeder Kieran Noonan has a rather long to-do list, writes Ciarán Lenehan

Winter accommodation problems

ieran Noonan farms 105 acres near Charleville, Co Cork. He keeps 50 suckler cows, which calve in the autumn. An AItechnician by day, Kieran aims to sell his progeny live, as strong weanlings. However, half of Kieran’s cows are pedigree and he enjoys a degree of success selling breeding stock. This culminated in the sale of a Limousin bull (LM4302) by Wilodge Cerberus from one of his Castleview-bred cows to an AI company in late-2016. As a business the farm’s viability is questionable – unfortunately the case for many beef farms. In the last six years, Kieran’s average gross margin has been just £205/ha. So what now? How do we turn things around? Having spent time with Kieran and on his farm, the BETTER team, led by programme manager and advisor to the southeastern group Alan Dillon, have identiﬁed a number of key areas for Kieran to work on.

The war on rushes Of Kieran’s 105 acres, around 50 are overrun with rushes. The plan is to reseed and drain 15-20 acres per year from 2018 – Kieran is carrying out other important infrastructure works this year and thus the cash to do more work on his grassland is simply not there. Rushes will be sprayed with 5l/ha of MCPA, cut six weeks later and baled to remove them from the land. The following reseeding protocol will then apply: 1. Spray oﬀ with round-up (max allowable rate) leave for 10 days. 2. Clean boundary ditches and drains. 3. Address any major swampy areas with shallow boundary-to-boundary shore drains (no pipes used). 4. Plough to 5in if ﬁeld is uneven and level with land leveller. 5. Apply lime – 2-3t/acre. 6. Disc and power harrow/ seeding 7. Roll and fertilise using three bags of 10-10-20 per acre. 8. Post emergence spray after six weeks. 9. Graze after eight weeks with calves/ light stock. 10. Continue to address soil fertility afterwards, with 18-6-12 being the main fertiliser. Top up with 2t of lime per acre after two years.

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FARMERS JOURNAL farmersjournal.ie

A TEAGASC/IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL INITIATIVE

Kieran Noonan works as an AI technician and uses 100% AI when breeding on his own herd.

Kieran Noonan, Co Cork

Fixed costs £/hr labour &DVKp RZ

Calving pattern Farm system Farm size 2016 gross margin Land type

Autumn Suckler to weanling 42.7ha £676/ha Heavy

Silage quality Making good quality silage is key in an autumn-calving herd. The most important period in a suckler cow’s production cycle is that between calving and breeding. Keeping this short is paramount and driving energy intake is one of the keys to doing so. In an autumn-calving herd grass silage is usually the staple during this period and silage with sub-70% DMD is unacceptable. In such a scenario fertility will take a hit unless we intervene with meaningful amounts of expensive concentrates. In 2016, Kieran fed 67-68% DMD silage and was forced to feed 1.5kg of meal to cows in addition. His herd-wide calving interval is 380 days and his spread has gotten away from him somewhat. In contrast, other BETTER beef autumn-calving herds are feeding 75% DMD silage to cows with no meals and have sub-365 day calving intervals. Going forward, Kieran will aim to make his main ﬁrst cut of silage in mid- to late-May, having grazed it tightly either late in the back end, or the spring prior to 1 April (weather permitting).

Adviser comment

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watch the video on farmersjournal.tv

Kieran has a long way to travel to LPSURYH WKH SURo WV RQ KLV IDUP +DOI WKH IDUP LV JURZLQJ QR JUDVV DW DOO DQG DV D UHVXOW WKHUH LV D ORW RI SUHVVXUH on the grazing ground that is kept in good order. The priority here is to get grass growing without breaking the bank. The poor land is not overly wet so PXFK RI LW ZLOO JHW DZD\ ZLWK RQO\ minor investments in drainage, along

In association with

ZLWK UHVHHGLQJ DQG VRLO IHUWLOLW\ LP provements. *UDVV YDULHWLHV ZLOO EH VHOHFWHG IRU heavy land. 2QFH WKLV ODQG LV EDFN LQ SURGXF tion Kieran will be in a position to cut costs dramatically and carry a more UHDOLVWLF ZKROH IDUP VWRFNLQJ UDWH once this is completed. The whole job ZLOO WDNH IRXU \HDUV WR FRPSOHWH - Alan Dillon

Kieran is tight on shed space at present. His main shed was designed to accommodate around 100 animals, but when young autumn calves in the creep areas are taken into account that figure is closer to 140. Last winter, Kieran was hit hard with respiratory problems in his young calves. While he didn’t lose any animals, thrive was severely hit. His birth to 200-day weight gain was 40-50% lower than what an autumn calver with his type of animal should be aiming for, at 0.57kg/day. Subsequent blood tests revealed Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasturella multocida pneumonia strains, which typically effect the upper respiratory tracts (tonsils) of animals before moving to the lungs. Vaccinations are one part in the puzzle of disease prevention and simply help to tip the scales in our favour – the scales can also go the wrong way if other measures aren’t taken. Indeed, there is no vaccination against P. multocida currently available. The ﬁrst issue to be addressed is overcrowding. Kieran is erecting a lean-to on to the side of the existing shed that will work as both a calving area and a creep area for young calves. The team has also identified some structural adaptations to Kieran’s current shed that will help to get air ﬂowing: 1. While the roof sheets are spaced, there is scope to create a capped opening along the apex of the shed’s roof. 2. The value of vented side sheets as a means for letting in air is questionable, such that it has now been removed from the TAMS spec list. Kieran will replace these with Yorkshire boarding before the winter. 3. Kieran will create some large square openings in the sheets above the shed doors. If needs be these can be easily covered with green mesh netting. He will also aim to leave doors at each end of the creep areas open, using round bales as shelter at ground level. They will be shut in extreme weather conditions.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

NEWS 17

NFU Scotland news

With milk prices static despite surging commodity prices, vice-president Gary Mitchell (left) and former milk committee chair Graeme Kilpatrick (second left) took the chance to meet with representatives of the giant European co-op Arla at the Great Yorkshire Show recently.

How safe are you? Farm Safety Week starts on 24 July and the union will be calling on all farmers, crofters, their families and their staff to do more to improve Scottish farming’s tragic record on farm safety.

These lovely Limousin ladies will be on show when the Dick family, who run the famous Ronick herd, host Forth and Clyde Region’s annual stockjudging at Westerton Farm, Cowie on Wednesday 26 July.

Don’t forget to submit your entry to our 2017 photography competition. There is just over a month to go until the deadline with some fantastic prizes up for grabs for all ages. For more information visit: www.nfus.org.uk/photography-competition-2017.aspx

Don’t take Scottish food and drink for granted

ood has been taken for granted for far too long, according to NFUS vice-president Martin Kennedy. Writing on the union’s website, Kennedy said: “Agriculture is facing crisis and unless farmers and crofters receive much more for their products, or are supported to at least the current level, then the UK will become reliant on imported food, produced to standards

NFUS activities

set by others. “And as we look to a post-Brexit era, farming and crofting have a very positive future, but only if the people who take the decisions have the political desire to listen to this industry. “If they abandon us, then farmers and crofters will lose the will to do the job they are good at because of such poor returns, severely endangering Scotland’s valuable food and drink sector and our

precious environment. “In real terms, food is still far too cheap relative to its cost of production. If food prices had risen at the same rate as house prices over the past 40 years then a fourpint carton of milk would cost £10.45, a roast chicken would be £51.18, a loaf of white bread would be £4.36 and a leg of lamb would cost you £53.18. “At these prices, future support for agriculture would not be required but,

In real terms, food is still far too cheap relative to its cost of production

Morrisons promise

Dairy farmers

NFUS member discounts

NFUS has welcomed Morrisons’ move to fully support British livestock farmers. Morrisons will no longer stock lamb from New Zealand and Australia, and will instead move to 100% British in its own-label brand, Market Deals. This move is a vote of conﬁdence for farmers and crofters in Scotland and follows similar commitments from other supermarkets.

Latest ﬁgures show 33 Scottish dairy farmers have left the sector, leaving 924 remaining. Scottish dairy cow numbers are up and the average herd size is now 191. NFUS dairy policy manager. George Jamieson will establish why farms are still leaving the sector, recognising that it will take many years to recover from the losses sustained over the past two years.

Last year, members saved more than £1m by taking advantage of the many aﬃnity deals set up by the union – a record set to be broken in 2017. NFU Scotland membership discounts and services has set up its own Facebook page to keep members up to date with discounts. Go to: www.facebook.com/NFUScotlandServicesandDiscounts/

unfortunately, this is a long way from where we are. We now spend only 8% of our income on food and the availability of tasty, safe and aﬀordable produce really has been taken for granted for far too long.”

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Would you like free advice about your cashﬂow and tax? NFUS members can attend a free one-to-one surgery with partners Johnston Carmichael chartered accountants and business advisers at Thainstone Mart on Friday 11 August. To book a half-hour session, please contact Colin Gordon on 0131 472 4011 or email colin.gordon@nfus.org.uk.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

18 LIVESTOCK

Farmers Journal open day T What’s been happening on the farm? The oﬃcial start date for the lease was 1 January and Ger O Dwyer has been employed as full-time farm manager. For the project, 112 cows have been purchased and calved last February, March and April. As well as those, 15 replacement heifers have also been purchased and bred in May. A huge amount of work has taken place on the farm in relation to cleaning existing drains, fencing, the water pipe and drinker installation, roadway construction and reseeding. A number of amendments have been made to sheds to facilitate calving. Calving went well, with one loss out of 112 calvings. Conception rate to ﬁrst service has been good, at 65%. An infertile bull has upset the breeding season a little, but was observed early and hopefully the impact will be minimum.

Dr in

RESEEDING?

Tullamore Farm map

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watch the video on www. farmersjournal.tv

How to get there The farm is located just outside Tullamore, Co Offaly, quite close to the site of the National Ploughing Championships in 2017. The open day will be signposted from all major routes around Tullamore and will be accessed on the day via Mucklagh village. The event eircode is R35AT81. Parking is free and the farm tour will take approximately two to two-and-a-half hours. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. Catering facilities will be provided in the yard area on the day.

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WATCH ONLINE

he Irish Farmers Journal’s recently-established 200-acre mixed grazing suckler and sheep demonstration farm will open its gates to the public for the first time on Tuesday 25 July, at 1pm-7pm. Farm tours will take place at regular half hour intervals during the day, and farmers will get to see the farm and the livestock that have been purchased for the project. Farmers attending will see how the farm aims to run an efficient mixed-grazing system, by implementing technologies like grassland management, breeding and animal health practices on the farm. All cows and calves will be on display on the day with performance figures. A selection of sheep will also be on demonstration. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed will officially launch the event at 4pm, followed by six short demos in the seated demonstration arena, located in the yard. The aim of the open day is to demonstrate some simple changes that drystock farmers can make to their farm/business to become more profitable.

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Adam Woods outlines what you can see and experience at our Tullamore Farm open day on 25 July

What to see?

Exceptional Yield Unbeatable Grazing Best For Animal Performance

Discuss with the Goldcrop Team at : Tullamore Farm Goldcrop.ie or 021 488 2800

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The plan for the farm will be presented, including the beef and sheep systems operated, and the projected stocking rates and output. The plan is to produce under 16-month bull beef and high index replacement heifers for sale. The sheep system will be midseason lamb production. A 60 dairy calf-to-beef system was established this year. The farm plan, including the physical and ﬁnancial targets, will be explained. The farm has a tar-

get of £1,584 gross margin when it is fully stocked and operational by year end. 6RLO IHUWLOLW\ DQG JUDVVODQG PDQDJHPHQW

The farm is stocked at about 2.7LU/ha, placing a huge de-

mand on grass, especially in spring. See what decisions and changes to infrastructure have been made to the farm since the start of the project, and learn how the farm aims to improve soil fertility. A large proportion of the farm has been reseeded since the

start of the project with different grass varieties and using different methods. The farm has been divided into over 40 permanent grazing divisions, with further scope to divide these again into 80 grazing divisions. See how paddocks and roadways have

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

LIVESTOCK 19

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; what awaits you been designed and where drinking troughs have been positioned to facilitate maximum grazing eï¬&#x192;ciency. The fertiliser plan for the farm will be explained, including the plan for autumn grazing to ensure early turnout is achieved in spring 2018. 3. Genetics and breeding management

Every cow rearing a calf with good weight for age is the backbone of the system. Hear about how AI and stock bulls are being used in a 120-cow herd and why easy calving, high replacement index sires are being used on the herd. The replacement index of the herd is high at Â£101, with cows strong on milk and fertility traits. The 2017 breeding season will be explained, including how the farm has dealt with an infertile stock bull. The replacement policy will be explained and how these animals will be sourced in the future.

TULLAMORE FARM FACTS v Farm size: 200 DFUHV v Stock: VXFN OHU FRZV DQG HZHV v Stocking rate: / 8 KD v System: VSULQJ FDOYLQJ ODPE LQJ JUDVV EDVHG V\VWHP v Production system: XQGHU PRQWK EXOO EHHI DQG UHSODFHPHQW KHLIHU SURGXFWLRQ PLG VHDVRQ ODPE SURGXFWLRQ v Labour: RQH ODERXU XQLW q *HU 2 'Z\HU IDUP PDQDJHU v Lease term: \HDUV v Rent cost: d DFUH v Capital expenditure: 7XOODP RUH )DUP /WG IDUP RZQHUV

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Who will be attending

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4. Proposed sheep system and mixed grazing management

A mid-season lambing ewe ï¬&#x201A;ock will be established, with lambing taking place after mid-March to facilitate the busy calving period. The system will be kept as simple as possible, with all replacements bought in and all progeny sold. Mule ewes will be purchased at the outset, with the emphasis on achieving a medium to high litter size. This, along with a high stocking rate, is a critical component of the sheep system on Tullamore farm. Stock will be mixed grazed using a variety of diï¬&#x20AC;erent fencing methods.

Live seated demonstration arena timetable 4pm: 2Io FLDO ODXQFK E\ 0LQLVWHU IRU $JULFXO WXUH 0LFKDHO &UHHG 4pm-7pm: %UHHGLQJ GHPRQVWUDWLRQ LQ DV VRFLDWLRQ ZLWK ,&%) ZLWK OLYH GLVSOD\ RI FRZV DQG FDOYHV 4pm-7pm: +HDOWK DQG VDIHW\ GHPR LQ DV VRFLDWLRQ ZLWK )DUP 5HOLHI 6HUYLFHV 4.30pm: 7KH ZHDQOLQJ H[SRUW PDUNHW q ZKDW W\SH DQG ZKHUH WR" ,Q DVVRFLDWLRQ ZLWK %RUG %LD 5pm: )DUP VXFFHVVLRQ DQG WD[ SODQQLQJ LQ DVVRFLDWLRQ ZLWK ,)$& 5.30pm: )LYH WRS WLSV IRU D KHDOWK\ KHUG

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

20 LIVESTOCK

Our farm in numbers Ahead of next weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s open day, CiarĂĄn Lenehan takes a look at the important numbers behind Tullamore Farm

The basics Ă&#x201A; 200 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; farm acreage. including a 20 acres GHPR oHOG Ă&#x201A; 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; years of a lease. Ă&#x201A; 140 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ÂŁ123/acre rent annually. Ă&#x201A; 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; farm is split in two blocks in close proximity to each other. Ă&#x201A; 120 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; targeted cows calving.

60:40 Capital expenditure agreement. For every ÂŁ1 invested in the farm, the Irish Farmers Journal puts up 60p and the Grogan family (farm owners) contribute 40p.

24t 24t of 19-6-12 will be spread across the farm to bolster soil health, along with 3t of muriate of potash. 40t of lime are needed.

WATCH ONLINE watch the video on www.farmersjournal. tv

16 0DOH SURJHQ\ ZLOO EH oQished as bulls under 16 months of age in the summer. Heifers will be sold as high-index yearlings for bulling.

3% When selecting sires, the PD[LPXP FDOYLQJ GLIoFXOW\ for a bull on heifers is 3% and on the mature herd 8%.

9kg $W NJ WKH KHUG V oJXUH IRU carcase weight is bang-on the national average. At the end of the day the farm is selling kilos of carcase weight and this is obviously not ideal. However, there is scope to drive progeny performance by selecting sires with strong growth potential.

150

The number of ewes in the PLG VHDVRQ ODPELQJ pRFN

Calving began on 4 February 2017.

Calving on Tullamore Farm began on 4 February 2017.

ÂŁ101

10.2kg

The herdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s replacement index averages ÂŁ101, placing it in the top 10% nationally.

:LWK D PLON LQGH[ oJXUH RI 10.2kg, the herd is in the top 1% nationally. This is of course driven by the dairy genetics in the herd.

3 Three stock bulls will run with the herd from 2018. They were purchased as young bulls this year and it was decided that three weeks of AI be carried out to take the pressure off them.

The number of dairy-beef calves purchased in 2017 to boost output ahead of sheep establishment.

77% 1.9 In three weeks of AI, 77% of the herd were submitted for service and there was a 65% conception rate.

The farm is targeting 1.92 lambs per ewe joined and 1.7-1.75 lambs weaned per ewe.

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

LIVESTOCK 21

A bull fertility problem has reared its head on Tullamore Farm this year. Thanks to farm manager Gerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vigilance, the ending could have been much worse. Following a recent scan, it was discovered than none of the cows served by one of our bulls were in-calf at 30 days or more. He has been stood down, AI has resumed and the other bullâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workloads increased.

There are 40 permanent grazing divisions on Tullamore Farm, all of which will be grazed in sections with temporary reels.

10 Aiming for a calving period of 10 weeks.

ÂŁ205 The calves are AA/HE-cross and cost ÂŁ205 a head in 2017. The aim will be to slaughter these at 18-20 PRQWKV IURP JUDVV DW D oQDO live weight of 500kg

1.4km 1.4km of roadways were installed on Tullamore Farm, costing ÂŁ13/m.

ÂŁ1,654 The aim is to achieve a farm gross margin of ÂŁ1,654/ha.

80% 80% of the suckler herd is oUVW FURVV /LPRXVLQ IURP WKH dairy herd.

669kg Farm cover on Tullamore Fa r m t h i s we e k wa s 669kg DM/ha. Demand is 57/ha/day, giving the farm 11.7 grazing days ahead at present â&#x20AC;&#x201C; right on target. Growth was 62kg DM/ha/day this week.

10ac 10 acres of kale have been sown on Tullamore Farm to ease pressure on winter housing facilities. The Maris Kestrel variety was sown at a rate of 2.2kg/ acre. From early November, April-calving suckler cows will strip graze it.

1.5ha Animals will spend 2-4 days in paddocks between 1.5ha and 2ha in area. Grazing groups will consist of 30-40 cows and progeny.

50,600 ÂŁ1,443 An investment of 57,500 has been made in fencing alone. Single-strand electric, double-strand and sheep fencing have cost ÂŁ1/m, ÂŁ1/m and ÂŁ4/m respectively.

ÂŁ237

The target sale price for the slaughter bulls will be ÂŁ1,443 and ÂŁ924 for the yearling heifers.

The farm is currently being reseeded, which is costing ÂŁ237/acre, all-in.

26 2 6 1 4 0 - g a l l o n wa te r drinkers have been installed at a cost of ÂŁ110 each (ex. VAT).

ÂŁ2,502

Ger Dwyer, Farm manager at Tullamore Farm, speaking at the Industry day and farm walk in June

Targeted gross output per hectare (sales â&#x20AC;&#x201C; purchases, +/- inventory changes).

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Just 12% of the farmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soils contain optimum concentrations (index three or four) of potassium (K). In terms of phosphorous (P), the story is slightly better with 54% at optimum levels. Farm soil pH is good, with just 10% below a pH of 6.

390kg Targeted sale weight for both live heifers and bullbeef carcases produced on the farm.

ÂŁ79 The target for spring lambs will be a sale price of ÂŁ79 and for cull ewes, ÂŁ62.

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8 July 2017 Vol 1 No 6 | £3.10

11 Livestock

Scottish ﬂock with NZ genetics Brogan Farm has embraced New Zealand genetics and rotational grazing as they move towards an outdoor ODPELQJ p RFN

Quality farms ﬂood the market

20% rise in farms for sale from Caithness to Kelso ODILE EVANS

NEWS CORRESPONDENT RHYDQV#IDUPHUVMRXUQDO FR XN

Approximately 20% more good-quality farms have become available this year and are commanding prices of up to £15,000/acre. Issues such as succession and farm incomes are driving the sale of farms in excess of 600 acres. “It’s the lag of 2014/2015 farm accounts that has brought these farms to the markets,” said Ian Hope, agricultural property specialist from Galbraith Group. “I’m not convinced Brexit is a factor, as there is not enough information available yet for it to inﬂuence sale of land.” Hope is convinced this is part of a cycle. Until recently, 200ac to 400ac parcels were sold when they became unsustainable, and now this is hitting larger farms. Typically they are being sold in lots and bought by neighbouring farms. Such is the demand for land that prices are staying buoyant, hitting £15,000/ac in Angus, £13,500/ac in Perthshire and £11,000/ac in Fife.

Ä Continued on page 2

Cattle enjoying the warm weather

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

PEDIGREE

LIVESTOCK

Vendéen victory Roscommon Mart played host to the Vendéen AllIreland premier sheep show and sale last week See p47 for full report

The Harry Browne Memorial Cup Vendéen supreme champion with Ena Nagle and judge Padraic Niland.

24 PEDIGREE

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

Nagle and Coughlan claim big at VendĂŠen show and sale Ă&#x161;na Sinnott reports from the VendĂŠen All-Ireland premier sheep show and sale in Roscommon

ith six classes to display, three supreme champions to announce and nearly 60 pedigree VendĂŠen sheep to sell, Roscommon was the place to be last Thursday, 13 July, as Roscommon Mart played host to the VendĂŠen All-Ireland premier sheep show and sale. New parking facilities and great hospitality from the mart staďŹ&#x20AC; made the day extremely enjoy-

Reserve champion Growvite shield winner Cheryl Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien with judge Padraic Niland.

able for vendors. The knowledgeable Padraic Niland was the judge on the day. Proceedings began at 12pm and the shearling ram class was ďŹ rst on the agenda. Cheryl Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brienâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shearling ram, from Springvale, Kildorrery, Co Cork, claimed the top spot. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brienâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winning VendĂŠen was sired by B7257 and his dam was Quitrent Lavina. When put under the hammer, this top shearling ram made ÂŁ493.

John Lynch from Ballinalee, Co Longford, was second and Andrew Gilmore from Cortubber, Kingscourt, Co Cavan, followed in third place and made ÂŁ414 when in the selling ring. Ram lambs with five terminal traits were in the next class for Niland to judge. His deciding view saw Ena Nagle take the honours. Nagleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exceptional ram lamb travelled all the way from the Landmark ďŹ&#x201A;ock, Ballyloughy, Mitchelstown, Co Cork,

and it was worth the journey as the rebel didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop there in terms of winning rosettes on the day. Ena Nagle brought home the overall supreme champion title, the Harry Browne Memorial Cup, and the lamb performance cup, which was sponsored by Pat Oliver. When left for farmers to bid upon, the animal made ÂŁ757, making it the secondbest price made on the day. The champion was from the Cottage Jasper family.

Highest price Ciaran Coughlan may have come second in this class but he managed to take home the most money for his ram lamb, making ÂŁ801 in total. Coughlan, who runs the Noggus pRFN VROG KLV UDP ODPE WR .HLWK $QGHUVRQ IURP 6SULQJoHOG &R :HVWmeath. Longford man John Lynch FDPH LQ WKLUG SODFH ZLWK KLV oYH VWDU index ram lamb. Ena Nagle was in top place in the second ram lamb class also. Making ÂŁ616 in the ring, the sire was Cottage Jasper and the dam was Landmark Lace Ally. Andrew Gilmore and Cheryl Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien secured second and third place, respectively. :LWK MXVW WZR HZHV LQ WKH VKHDUOLQJ ewe class, John Lynch saw the red URVHWWH JRLQJ KLV ZD\ ,WV VLUH ZDV .LOleen Owen and its dam was Ballinascraw Merit. Nagle claimed the second place in this class.

&ODVV D HZH ODPEV ZLWK oYH terminal traits, was between three vendors. Ciaran Coughlan came out ZLWK WKH oUVW DQG VHFRQG KRQRXUV while Brendan Rooney followed in third. Coughlan reached ÂŁ264 with his winner and ÂŁ238 with his secondplaced ewe lamb. The next class, also ewe lambs, was won by Brendan Rooney. Andrew Gilmore came second and Coughlan took third. Rooney, from Drumfad, Grange, Co Sligo, made ÂŁ405 in the ring. His winner was sired by Ballinascraw Jasper and the dam was Landmark Lot Ally. :KLOH (QD 1DJOH FODLPHG WKH honours for the lamb performance cup and the supreme champion cup, reserve champion place was awarded to Cheryl Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien for her winning shearling ram. The reserve champion made ÂŁ493 in the bidding arena.

Top price at the VendĂŠen sale was a ram lamb owned by Ciaran Coughlan. Keith Anderson from 6SULQJoHOG Co WestPHDWK bought the animal.

PEDIGREE 25

FARMERS IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

Tubbertoby takes home the silverware A celebration for the Arva show, a new president in the IHBS and the best herds in the northeast are acknowledged. Shane Murphy reports on the goings-on in the pedigree world over the last two weeks

n Sunday 30 July, the Arva Agricultural Society will hold its 60th annual show on the Arva showgrounds with kind permission of its owner Philomena Fyfe. With a number of changes made to the over 200 classes available, there is plenty of choice for people looking to enter in either the livestock or home industries sections. While it is a great opportunity to see award-winning animals, there is also an abundance of baking, flowers and vegetables on show, with over £13,200 in prizes up for grabs. This year marks the society’s 60th anniversary and some special attractions have been organised to celebrate this milestone. On the day, there will be hot air balloon rides available (weather permitting) for those wishing to get a bird’s eye view of the show field. There will also be a free kids play area with bouncy castles and more, while at 8.30pm there will be a fireworks display at the lake shore, which is sure to be a sight to behold. On show night, the ever-popular show dance will be held in the Breffni Arms Hotel, Arva, with music by Robert Mizzell. IHBS appoints new president The Irish Hereford Breed Society’s new president Pat McCarthy, Ballymore, Bandon, Co Cork, took up office on Saturday 1 July. This is Pat’s second term as a member of the society’s council and he brings extensive experience of dealing with dairy and beef farmers from his role as manager of Cork Marts in Skibbereen and Bandon. A founder member of the West Cork Club, McCarthy has served both as its secretary and as its chairm during the 1990s. His son Patrick has also served as secretary of the club and part of the club’s organising committee when it hosted an

Top Holstein herds in northeast rewarded The annual herds competition in the northeast Holstein Friesian Breeders Club is one of the key events of the club’s calendar. Sponsored by McAuleys Animal Feeds, Balrath, Navan, Co Meath, the competition drew over 50 herds. The competition was judged by noted UK breeders and premier herd winners, husband and wife duo Robert and Elaine Butterﬁeld, Yorkshire. The spring-calving herds were judged by well-respected and former RDS chair, Tom Cannon, from Platin, Drogheda. The overall top honours went to the Flanagan family, Termonfeckin, Co Louth, for their Tubbertoby herd. This marked the ﬁrst time in the 40-year history of the competition that the Tubbertoby herd clinched the silverware.

Full results: Large herds results Â 1st: Anthony and Paul Daly, Curtles herd, Kells, Co Meath. Â 2nd: Paul Feeney, Ballivor herd, Ballivor, Co Meath. Â 3rd: James and Tom Kelly, Monamore herd, Co Louth. Small herd results Â 1st: Paul Flanagan, Tubbertoby herd, Termonfeckin, Co Louth. Â 2nd: Richard Whelan, Lumville herd, Enfield, Co Meath. Â 3rd: Brendan Clarke, Lissispin herd, Ardee, Co Louth. Spring herd results Â 1st: Michael Kieran, Knockcais herd, Drumconrath, Co Meath. Â 2nd: John Healy, Randalstown herd, Slane, Co Meath. Â 3rd: Joseph McKeever, Stackallen, Slane, Co Meath. 6XIIRON pRFN FRPSHWLWLRQ The South of Ireland Suffolk Society recently ran an all-Ireland flock competition for the first time in nearly 10 years. High entry levels meant that competition was stiff throughout all the sections. However, it was Eamonn Duffy’s Kells flock which secured the top accolade of champion flock.

Newly appointed president of the Irish Hereford Breed Society, Pat McCarthy. 0F&DUWK\ WRRN XS RIoFH RQ -XO\ 2017.

Pictured at the launch of the St Laurence’s GAA Club/Complex development draw was (left to right) Pat Keatley of St Laurence’s, Niall Grufferty of Dunbia Meats and John Doran the breeder. The draw is for a 5-star terminal, 5-star replacement Simmental bull or €3,000 cash, plus 10 other prizes. Tickets are €20 each and can be purchased from Pat Keatley at 087-2908518 or online at ZZZ P\FOXEoQDQFHV com

excellent Hereford cattle show at Clonakilty for the visit of the European Hereford Conference tour in 2005. McCarthy’s Bearnagaoithe herd was founded in 1991 on female lines from Coolbueclan, Skehanore, Carrigroe and Drisheen. Following the death of his late wife Mary, numbers were reduced signiﬁcantly, but in 2003 the Bearnagaoithe herd began to rebuild, with the purchase of a heifer from the Lislaughtin herd of the late Harold Fitzell. McCarthy says it has been a great honour to have been elected president of the society to represent his fellow members, particularly at a time when the Hereford breed is in such demand. He says that in his own region, demand was never as strong and he believes this is driven initially by easy calving and thereafter by the demand and premium available on Hereford stock from the calf stage right through to slaughter.

Over-30 ewe section Â 1st: Eamonn Duﬀy, Kells. Â 2nd: S and S Gahan, Barrowlands.

Highly commended Â Sean O’Connor, Islandmore. Â Richard G Moore, Columbkille. Under-30 ewe section Â 1st: Colin and Jonathan Watchorn, Beechbrook. Â 2nd: Sean and Valerie Tiﬃn, Tiﬃns. Best stock rams

Â Colin and Jonathan Watchorn. Best ewe lambs Â S and S Gahan. &KDPSLRQ pRFN Â Eamonn Duﬀy, Kells. 5HVHUYH FKDPSLRQ pRFN Â S and S Gahan, Barrowlands.

Contact Cattle Procurement

Gabriel Lynch +353(0)867775966 +353(0)749140608 +353(0)749140228 gabriell@foylefoodgroup.com www.foylefoodgroup.com

&HUWLo HG $QJXV %HHI 6FKHPH · Up To 30 Cent/kg Bonus Available · No delay on bonus paid at time of slaughter · Greater number of angus cattle required due to increased demand

26 PEDIGREE

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

Parade of champions Pictured here are some very worthy champions across a number of shows during the last few weeks, including locations such as Louth, Charleville, Cork, Longford and Mullingar

Beef to the heel Mullingar all-Ireland heifer champion Chancy Lady. Owned by Michael Martin and exhibited by Sarah Murray.

Dairy interbreed champion and Holstein champion Laurelelm Seaver Coll from Ricky Barrett at Cork Summer Show. Castledaly Rio, Hereford champion at the Longford Show for Michael Farrell. \ Tricia Kennedy

Peter Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell, Mallow, with the champion Simmental bull Raceview Herman at the Charleville Show. \ Mike Hoar

Limousin champion at Longford Show was awarded to Wilodge Tonka from Martin, Gerry and Sophia Davis. \ Tricia Kennedy

Overall Belgian Blue champion Forenaught Ice from John Cahalane at Cork Show.

FARMERS IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

NEWS 27

Mix of farm enterprises yields results Kieran Mailey looks at the cereal enterprise at Carse Hall Farm

arse Hall Farm is located on the shores of Lough Foyle, close to Limavady. Brothers Robert and Tom Craig run the farm in partnership, working on 500 acres of land which is split into 250 acres of grassland and 250 acres of cereals. The Craig brothers are extremely focused on sustainable farming and conscious about farming in an environmentally friendly way, but are still able to maintain output comparable to more intensive production systems. Just like the dairying side of things, the cereal enterprise is extremely well managed. Attention to detail is where the biggest gains are to be made in terms of grain yields. Background The cereal enterprise is split with 150 acres of winter barley, along with 80 acres of spring barley and 20 acres of lucerne as a crop break. Cereals are grown across four land blocks. The largest and most productive land parcel is the home farm where grain yields are usually 0.5t per acre higher than on the out farms. That is due in part to higher seed germination rates on the home farm at 90% or better, compared with 70% or better on outfarms. The arable and dairy units

across the whole farm are closely integrated and both provide a good balance to the entire farming operation in terms of land use, land management, output, cashflow and time management. Homegrown grain is mostly used within the 220-cow dairy herd, either as dried grain or whole crop forage. Straw is also used for feeding and bedding. Organic waste produced on farm is recycled as a fertiliser for cereals, helping to reduce the amount of purchased fertilisers. In the past year, purchased phosphate and potash fertiliser has reduced by 50% alone, with more targeted use of slurry, farmyard manure (FYM) and digestate from local anaerobic digesters. Seed grain Of the 150 acres of winter barley grown on the farm, it is split into 50 acres of seed barley, 50 acres of feed barley dried to 14% moisture on farm, and 50 acres of whole crop barley ensiled in June, along with second-cut silage. The farm has grown seed barley on contract for Morton seeds over the past 18 years. Producing seed barley does require some added management input. Crops must be grown from certiﬁed seed and walked twice per year. Robert walks the crops in early and late June, during which he hand-rogues any weeds present, which is a time-consuming process. To reduce the level of seed contamination from other grains, Robert only grows seed barley straight after grass to

Around 50 acres of seed barley is grown for Mortons.

Brothers Robert and Tom Craig run Carse Hall Farm outside Limavady.

ensure a clean seed bed. It is also the reason that he only grows barley, to reduce the chance of wheat and oats regrowing in a subsequent seed crop. Ethos The core ethos within the entire farm business is to add value to sales wherever possible. It is the main reason that seed barley is produced. Six-row barley has also been grown in the past to add value with varying success. “Seed barley is worth around an extra £18/acre over conventional grain, but there are added costs, as the purchase price of the seed is higher, plus you must factor in your own time to walk the crop and rogue weeds,” says Robert. Feed barley Both spring and winter barley are used as feed for the dairy herd.

This year, one 30ac field of Cassia winter barley was under different management. Farmyard manure was spread as the source of phosphorus and potassium in February at 12t/ acre, which saved approximately £39/acre in purchased fertiliser costs. According to Robert, the crop was much slower to develop and grain fill was also slower compared with other crops that received both slurry and nitrogen. With a 10m spreading width, there was additional crop damage from the dung spreader compared with the 20m spreading width of the fertiliser spreader. But within the past month, the crop has filled out with pickle size increasing significantly. The true picture will be known at harvest. Next year, the trial will be adapted to a mix of FYM and slurry to give a more readily available nitrogen source for early season growth. Yields All crops are grown to target 11t/ha (4.5t/acre). The five-year average for winter barley on farm is 4.25t/acre with spring grain pushing 2.5t/acre. During the last three years, weather has been challenging, and yields have dropped to 3.5t/acre for some winter crops. Spring grains for seed are grown in rotation after potatoes on out farms as this regime suits prevailing soil type. With yields of 2.5t/acre for spring barley and a higher price premium over winter grain, it provides the same return as winter crops, which have usually struggled to surpass 3t/acre on the same land.

ÁFarm facts Â 500 acres farmed with 250 acres of grassland and 250 acres in cereals. Â 150 acres of winter barley. Â 80 acres of spring barley. Â 20 acres of lucerne. Â Three-year grass ley rotation. Â 220 pedigree Holstein cows. Â Rolling average yield: 10,500 litres. Carse Hall Farm, Limavady

Planting Target planting date for winter grain is 15 September for optimum yield, but this can run into October if weather allows. Glyphosate is only used onfarm before planting to kill off weed grasses before ploughing. No glyphosate is used before grain harvest. FYM is ploughed into the ground and seed is drilled using a one pass system at the rate of 320 to 380 seeds/m2. Herbicides are used post emergence to control weeds at seedling stage. There is a strong environmental awareness on the farm, with the use of chemical sprays kept to a minimum. Fungicides are used spar-

ingly, with Robert preferring to manage crop health through best practice at planting, postemergence, fertiliser timing, crop rotation and control of weeds. Barley is typically grown with 160 units/acre of nitrogen applied in three dressings. Chicken litter is not used due to the risk from botulism. Instead, there is sufficient FYM produced from the dairy cows and followers. The high yielding cow group are bedded on straw and use three large 8x3x3 bales per day during housing and around 1,500 bales per year. High-yielding cows are bedded to reduce the risk of injury of slipping on solid concrete floors. Yields increased by two litres/day when cows moved on to straw-bedding from cubicles. Soil maintenance Since 2003, there has been a concentrated effort to improve soil nutrition by using more FYM over slurry. It has taken almost 15 years, but phosphate (P) index has increased from 0 to 1+ with potash (K) levels rising to 2across the farm. Soil compaction is avoided at all costs. Potatoes are no longer grown as a break crop on the home farm, or maize, as late harvesting has led to soil compaction in the past. Lucerne is now grown as a break crop because it fixes nitrogen and offers three cuts of high protein forage for cows. Slurry is applied with an umbilical system that uses two outlets and can spread up to 20m in band width. Tram lines are also set to 20 meters to reduce the amount of travelling on crops.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

28 LIVESTOCK

Dairy

Cathal Moran from Kilkenny currently works on 19ha of leased land, in comparison with just 8ha he leased in 1997.

On this farm cows come ﬁrst. My view is you can always sell some cows if you have to, but you can’t take back concrete

Growing a strong dairy enterprise on leased land Aidan Brennan meets Cathal Moran, who has increased the size of his farm by taking on leased land

hen Cathal Moran took over the farm from his father Edward in 1997, they were milking 16 cows with a milk quota of 60,000 litres. The 57 ha farm overlooking the ﬂat plains of Kilkenny had mul-

tiple enterprises, from sheep and tillage to cattle and forestry. Signiﬁcant expansion has taken place since then. Next year, the farm will milk in the region of 360 cows. Today, there are 259 cows going through the parlour and there are 144 ha being farmed. Funnily enough, the only land bought in the meantime was 50 acres of forestry – Cathal’s pension fund. This farm has expanded through leasing land and it is this that the Irish Grassland Association will focus on when they

visit Cathal as part of the summer tour, next Tuesday. Lucky Cathal has been fortunate in that, over the years, opportunities have come up around him to lease land. This has enabled him to expand his milking platform. Eight hectares were leased in 1997, 13ha in 2007, 16ha in 2010, 20ha in 2015 and 19ha in 2017. All of this land is a cumulative addition to the farm and so far all leases have been renewed.

But up to 2015, it wasn’t land that restricted milk, it was quota. In 2009, Ireland was way under quota and the feeling among many was that quota was no longer a limit. Cathal went from 72 cows in 2009, to 144 cows in 2010. But quota was still an issue and he got stung with a superlevy bill. To avoid another big ﬁne, cow numbers dropped to 132 in 2012 and increased steadily to 194 by the time quota was deﬁnitely no longer a worry in 2015. In all, Cathal says he spent £220,000 on milk quota since he started farming. Performance Despite being in Kilkenny and havingexcellent quality land, the Moran farm is not without its challenges. While drought may be an issue in a dry summer, it is actually the terrain that will cost Cathal more in the long term. The farmyard is built on the side of a hill and the majority of the land is below the hill. On a clear day you can see four counties from the handling unit. The yard itself is about 500 feet above sea level. With 300 acres around the parlour in an elongated farm layout, walks are long. Cathal measured the distance to every paddock on the farm and the average is 900m. Take away the paddocks that are on the periphery and closed for silage during the main grazing season and the average drops to 660m from the parlour.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

LIVESTOCK 29

The view from Cathal Moran’s cow paddocks. On average, the cows must walk 2.6km to and from the milking parlour, which Cathal fears is using up their energy.

The dairy on the Moran farm.

The milking parlour has 30 units, with room for eight more.

Some of the cows in the Moran herd.

That still means the average walk is 2.6km per day. Allied to the fact that cows are climbing to reach the parlour, this means that extra energy is consumed going up the hill. With this in mind, the production per cow last year of 480kg of milk solids sold is quite good, even if a tonne of meal was fed per cow. Stocking rate on the milking platform last year was 2.96 cows/ha and Cathal reckons this was a factor in the extra meal being fed. Stocking rate on the milking platform this year is 2.57 cows/ha. Black and white The herd is primarily black and white having come from a British Friesian base. Cathal bucks the trend for large grassbased herds in that he hasn’t gone down the crossbreeding route to any great extent. “I’m happy with the cows I have. To me fertility is the biggest driver of output and luckily we have good fertility in our herd so crossing to gain hybrid vigour of which fertility delivers approximately sixty percent of the proﬁt advantage doesn’t appeal to me at the moment especially with the gains being made in black and white genetics over recent years, but I’ve nothing against Jerseys either just breed to the highest Economic Breeding Index (EBI) bulls whatever the colour,” Cathal says. Average constituents in 2016 were 3.67%

protein and 4.31% fat. Herd EBI is £91 and fertility performance is good. Seventeen late-calving cows were sold this spring, meaning the whole herd calved in just seven weeks. The rolling average empty rate is 5% to 6% after 12 weeks. Dairy artificial insemination (AI) is used for the first five weeks and then beef AI is used for the next four weeks followed by natural service by two stock bulls for the next three weeks. Leases The farm map in the office tells Cathal’s expansion story. For many farmers, getting an opportunity to lease one farm next door is a big opportunity, but Cathal has been able to lease a couple of farms. The original block of owned land has now snowballed. How did it happen? “It certainly wasn’t planned as such. I suppose we spent a good bit of time and money developing the original home farm with drainage, reseeding and soil fertility. Our motto has been to do the same on land we lease. We have spent a good bit of money on reclaiming and reseeding leased land but we don’t do it for charity. Leased land has to perform,” Cathal explains. It is clear that Cathal has positioned himself to be an attractive tenant for landowners in the area wishing to lease out their land. Today, 62% of the Moran farm is leased,

with some leased land linking other leased land. The last three years have seen signiﬁcant investment in infrastructure. The original farmyard was across the road from where the parlour is today. The old yard is now used for rearing calves and wintering some cows. Cathal started developing the yard across the road in 2000, building a 35cow cubicle shed and a six-unit milking parlour. More cubicles and a lagoon were built in 2007. One hundred outdoor cubicles were built in 2013. The biggest investment took place in 2015, building 246 cubicles, a 30-unit milking parlour and dairy, installing three-phase electricity and building a bigger lagoon. The yard is now set up for 360 cows. Kale and beet were used to bridge the gap between cow numbers and available cubicles before 2015. On top of money spent in the yard, water, fences and new roadways were installed also. Most of the stone used for roads was sourced from the hole dug when building the lagoon and the yard is set into the side of the hill so stone is not scarce. Over the last three years, £633,600 was spent. The milking parlour is a 30-unit DeLaval herringbone with space for eight more units. Cathal says he couldn’t afford or justify a rotary parlour. Looking ahead, Cathal is planning a new silage slab. At the moment, a couple

the number of cows farmed by Cathal and his father in 1997

259

the number of cattle currently on the Moran farm

360 the numberof cows Cathal Moran plans to have next year

of thousand round bales are being made. Other possible considerations include an underpass but he wants a few more years under his belt before making any further big investments. “On this farm cows come first. My view is you can always sell some cows if you have to, but you can’t take back concrete.” Cathal says. Lessons With considerable commitments (leases, debt, labour bills and drawings), how does Cathal manage? “We have a lot of commitments so we do need to protect ourselves in light of fluctuating milk price. For me, that’s achieved in two ways. A high proportion of the milk sold to Glanbia is in the fixed milk price schemes. At its peak, we would have had two-thirds of the milk fixed, but that is back to about 55% now. “The second thing we focus on is achieving higher constituents by focusing on fat and protein per cent. Currently this adds about 3p/l to our milk price. Between the two of these, milk price last year averaged 28p/l.” On the fixed milk price scheme, he said that while he’s been a net gainer under the scheme, it was never about winning or losing but about minimising the impacts of a fluctuating milk price. The Irish Grassland Association dairy summer tour takes place on Tuesday 25 July. Tickets are available at www.irishgrassland.com

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

30 LIVESTOCK

Grass+

Dairy

Heat and moisture driving on grass AIDAN BRENNAN DAIRY SPECIALIST abrennan@farmersjournal.ie

The average grass growth this week is 70kg/day. Some farms are really struggling for grass, particularly in Cork where the dry spell is biting hard on free-draining land. However, thunderstorms on Tuesday night and widespread rain on Wednesday and a lot more rain in the weather forecast means that any soil moisture deﬁcits should be short-lived. With soil temperatures nearing 20°C and with moisture in the soil all the conditions

are right for a burst in growth, particularly on farms that were dry. There tends to be a compensatory growth effect after a dry spell. However, I wouldn’t expect a spike in growth on farms that were growing well up to now, but I would expect this good growth to continue. A lot depends on fertiliser. Many farms have never grown as much grass as they are this year as a result of the really favourable weather. While this is great to see, growth doesn’t come from nothing and extra soil nutri-

ents will have been used up. I would be a small bit concerned that some farms will run out of steam heading into the autumn when they should be building up covers. That is not to say that more fertiliser should be spread now, but it does mean that oﬀtakes need to be replaced, particularly if the extra grass is being turned into silage as this really depletes nutrients. On farms that are growing lots of grass now, I would consider holding back on some nitrogen now, with the objective of spreading more than normal in a months’ time,

thereby levelling the grass growth curve and helping to build up grass covers into September. Spreading 15 to 20 units/ acre of nitrogen after grazing should probably be suﬃcient now for most farms. Some farmers will blank spread fertiliser from now until the end of the year. This is a good policy as it means the whole farm gets covered. It often happens that when spreading after grazing, slow growing paddocks get spread less frequently, compounding the issue.

Growth rates around the country (kg DM/ha/day) Beef farms Dairy farms

68 57

110

70 Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork

Shane Leane

Teagasc Ballyhaise

Donal Patton

Damien McGrath

Aidan McCarthy

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.18 Growth rate (kg/day) 34 Average farm cover (kg/cow) 138 Yield (l/cow/day) 18.6 Fat % 4.83 Protein %3.75 Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.64 Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4 We were crying out for rain right up to Tuesday night, but then we got 7mm over the night and things greened up straight away. Cover per cow went low so we had to increase supplement. I was worried about going too low so we increased meal feeding to 4kg/cow/day since last Friday. So far we have kept it in and will do another grass walk on Friday and review it then. We didn’t have to feed silage but we did premow a heavy paddock that was planned for silage. It worked well and didn’t seem to affect production.

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.14 Growth rate (kg/day) 101 Average farm cover (kg/cow)152 Yield (l/cow/day) 19.2 Fat % 4.35 Protein %3.67 Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.59 Supplement fed (kg/cow/day)1 *URZWK LV DEVROXWHO\ p \LQJ it here, growing over 100kg/ day, and the damp muggy weather of the past few days is only helping. We skipped over more paddocks again this week, cutting some of them for the second time. We have set average farm cover per cow at 152kg, as this is where we want it. Total growth to date is 8.3t/ ha up to 1 July. At this stage we have around 77% of our winter feed requirements met, before second cut is taken. SCC is holding steady at 100,000.

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.5 Growth rate (kg/day) 76 Average farm cover (kg/cow)185 Yield (l/cow/day) 21.75 Fat % 3.82 Protein %3.48 Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.64 Supplement fed (kg/cow/day)1.5 *UDVV KDV EHHQ p \LQJ LW KHUH all summer and the weather is really helping. We got a good bit of rain Tuesday and Wednesday so this should keep grass growing well for another while. I’m grazing covers of around 1,600kg. I only skipped over two paddocks so far this year as the overall stocking rate is quite high. Every paddock was topped once. I’m currently following the cows with one bag/acre of 18:6:12, having went all summer with one bag/acre of 27:2.5:10. The farm is low in P and K so we’re building this up by spreading compounds.

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.57 Growth rate (kg/day) 74 Average farm cover (kg/cow)158 Yield (l/cow/day) 20.5 Fat % 4.08 Protein %3.71 Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.64 Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2 It’s been a great year. If anything it’s been a struggle to keep on top of grass. We got a good bit of rain Tuesday night and it’s been drizzly since. I cut 18 acres for bales earlier in the week as the farm was growing more than the cows could eat. Pre-grazing yield is around 1,350kg/ha, but it was up around 1,600kg for a good while. I’m spreading one bag/acre of 24:2.5:10 plus sulphur after every grazing. I’m keeping the bulls in for another two weeks as I’m trying to build up stock numbers. Calves are on the milking platform but off meal.

Tuam, Co Galway

Phone: 01224 426001 (Aberdeen) or 0141 301 1044 (Glasgow) GRAZING GUIDE 2 This guide aims to help farmers ensure that they are exploiting the full potential of grazed grass on their farm, irrespective of production system or land type. Our expert team cover topics such as the role of clover, farm infrastructure, reseeding and soil nutrients in improving grass growth and utilisation.

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Schull, Co. Cork

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

LIVESTOCK 31

Grass+

Beef

Return of rain and second-cut ground CIARĂ N LENEHAN

Our measuring beef farms grew 64kg DM/ha/day on average this week, in what has been an excellent period for grazing. On many farms, second-cut silage ground is coming back into play and, while the aftergrass will be welcome from a stock performance point of view, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose focus of the bigger picture that is the complete grazing block.

Aim to build to 15 daysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of grass as it returns. With much of the country receiving biblical levels of rainfall yesterday and the forecast being for more of the same in parts over the weekend, grass utilisation will inevitably suffer and silage making will grind to a halt. If things get sticky, move cattle more regularly. Revert back to the mindset of someone who is trying to graze ďŹ elds in February. At Tullamore Farm, our manager Ger is grazing in 48-hour blocks presently,

Ferocious rain Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be afraid to stand cattle in a yard or on a roadway if the rain gets ferocious, until it subsides. Then, they can go back into paddocks. On the silage end, paddocks stopped as surplus will prob-

ably have to wait now. While we always encourage forage quality, consider what is being fed on the farm this winter. Provided body condition is right at housing, spring-calving sucklers can be maintained on 62-65% DMD grass silage during the winter months. If we are achieving three to ďŹ ve bales per acre from surplus paddocks, this is likely too good for these types of cows. With 25% dry matter bales, a suckler cow will eat around 2.1 bales a month.

Ger Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Dwyer

Ricky Milligan

Ken Gill

Kieran Noonan,

System: suckler/calf to beef Soil type: variable Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 669 Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 57 Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 62

System: suckler/calf to beef Soil type: free draining Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 770 Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 39 Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 69

System: suckler to organic beef Soil type: heavy clay Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 886 Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 28 Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 31

System: suckler to store/weanling Soil type: heavy Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 1,041 Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 68 Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 67

Growth has been consistently ahead of our demand, but we are keeping on top of things by actively removing paddocks. We have 90 bales taken from surplus paddocks alone to date in 2017. Grazing has been progressing well since our last update. Cows and calves are grazing in 48-hour blocks and achieving good clean outs (4-4.5cm). Pre-grazing heights are running at 1,400-1,600kg DM/ha. It remains to be seen how much rain will fall in the coming days and what effect it will KDYH RQ RXU FOHDQRXWV , o QG that grazing tight early on in the year gets rid of any woody material and cows are happy to graze paddocks right down thereafter. With a small degree of lameness creeping into the herd, we are dressing hardcore roadway sections with a soft 804 dust. The team and I look forward to seeing you on 7XHVGD\ -XO\ IRU RXU o UVW open day on the farm.

Growth rate has remained strong in recent weeks and as a result I was able to take surplus bales from paddocks last week in order to keep quality in the grass. My second-cut silage was mowed on Monday afternoon and picked up on Tuesday evening. It was a light crop but it looked to be top quality and should make good silage. Two weeks ago I sprayed a number of paddocks which had a heavy dock burden and it looks like I have achieved a good kill. Faecal samples were taken from yearling steers and heifers two weeks ago and OLYHU p XNH ZDV GHWHFWHG DOO stock were dosed with Tribex and they look to be doing well. I hope to get a weight on them by the end of the week to see their average daily gain since turnout. All dairy-bred calves are grazing in front of the main herd of cows to ensure they are getting the best-quality grass available. The bull was taken from the cows last week in order to keep the calving compact.

Grass is holding up well, despite the fact that some RI WKH o HOGV FXW IRU VLODJH at the end of June would KDYH EHQHo WHG IURP D OLWWOH more rain. I have enough grass to keep cattle going for another week and then I will put them back on silage ground. This is important to provide clean grazing in order to reduce the need for dosing which I try to keep to an absolute minimum in line with organic consumer demand. My cows are on very restricted grazing on the o HOG ZKLFK , DP SODQQLQJ WR plough next week for a crop of turnip, rape, and kale. This tight grazing is necessary as I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spray off the o HOG ZLWK FKHPLFDOV EHIRUH ploughing. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m planning to weigh all the cattle next week. After this, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll pick out those that DUH FORVH WR o QLVKLQJ DQG ZRXOG EHQHo W IURP D ERRVW These cattle will be put in a smaller paddock and will be fed with a pea/barley combicrop when it is harvested in a few weeksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time.

I am in the process of burning off seven acres of rough grazing with glyphosate. I intend to plough and reseed this ground in the coming week (see main BETTER farm page for protocol). Grass varieties selected will be suitable for wet land. Ground cover and persistency are very important traits when selecting grass for heavy land due to the constant threat of poaching. A post-emergence spray will be applied six weeks later. This is the most important part of any reseeding job. I am continually fertilising the grazing ground with 18-6-12 to try and build phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). I am applying it at a rate of 1.5 bags/acre. Silage was cut in early June and I am hoping for at least 70% DMD to cut meal bills. I plan to start reclaiming more rough grazing ground around 20 July. This will involve cleaning away scrub around the boundary followed by a few drains before addressing soil fertility and reseeding. IN the yard, work will begin soon on a lean-to type shed extension.

BEEF SPECIALIST clenehan@farmersjournal.ie

47 61

93 311

but will go to 24 hours if the sod begins to cut under cattle. Permanent paddocks are being split with polywire reels at present and he will simply introduce more if needs be. Centrally located drinkers give him options in this regard.

118

56 Tullamore Farm

101 69

103

6655 599

71 63 97

92 65

10-year average grass growth kg DM/ha/day

100

2017

80 2016

60 40

10-year average

20 0

IRISH

In association with

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A TEAGASC/IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL INITIATIVE

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Co Cork

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

32 ARABLE

Arable

Andy Doyle (00353) 1 4199531 adoyle@farmersjournal.ie

Irish farm group secures straw deal The deal negotiated between the IFA and arable farmers will provide a minimum base price for straw, as any type of straw can be supplied. Andy Doyle reports

he headline value of a new deal for straw negotiated between the IFA and Bord na Móna is £53/t ex store. The deal brings to a conclusion the original negotiations with Biotricity a few years ago. Announcing the deal at a recent IFA meeting in Co Laois, Tom Shortt of the IFA said that the deal should help to put a floor in the straw market by providing demand for an additional 60,000t of straw and by providing an index-linked 15-year deal in the process. The deal revolves around a £100m investment to build a new electricity generation plant on a greenfield site in Rhode, Co Offaly. This will use straw to generate electricity and use the residual heat to dry timber that will be brought on to the site. There is also a plan to pelletise the ash and move it back on to farms as a source of fertiliser. The price of £53/t is based on a challenging 14% moisture content. However, moisture contents from 8% to 20% are acceptable but subject to a 50c price adjustment per point above and below 14% moisture. The deal requires that straw be baled and moved into store post harvest and the price is then a loaded exstore price. The growers must pay for baling, transport to their sheds and loading on to the dellivery trucks. While the deal is with Bord na Móna, it is understood that the new entity in Rhode will be called New Leaf. The company will pay for the transport from the farm to the plant in Rhode but the farmer must load the truck. Against this background Tom suggested that the £53/t price equates roughly to £26/t for the straw and £26/t for baling, delivery to store, storage, etc. As a general rule, most cereal crops will grow roughly the same amount of straw as grain so a 4.5t/ac crop of winter wheat will grow just under 4.5t/ac of straw. But only about 50% of the straw is harvested due to leaf loss, chaff or awns and the remaining stubble. And of these the height of the stubble can be the biggest variable. These numbers equate roughly to what

ÁKey points Â New contract for 60,000t of straw agreed with Bord na Móna. Â Price is £53/t payable as 20% in July, 30% at harvest and 50% postcollection. Price is index-linked. Â The deal has a 15-year lifespan. Â The company intends to produce electricity, dry timber with waste heat and pelletise the residual ash.

7KH GHDO EHWZHHQ ,)$ DQG %RUG QD 0ÃQD LV IRU VWUDZ IURP DQ\ FRPELQDEOH FURS EXW EDOHV PXVW EH WDNHQ IURP WKH oHOG DQG stored indoors for collection.

happens in practice. At 50% recovery, a 4.5t/ac of winter wheat straw would take off 2.25t of straw which equates to 4.5 big bales (8x4x4) at approximately 500kg/ bale. A 3t/ac spring barley crop would remove about 1.5t/ac of straw, which would be 10 4x4 round bales at 150kg/ bale. Using these numbers, the winter wheat crop should equate to about £59/ac for the straw but the spring barley crop might only turn into £40/ac. However, this latter value is still better than the lowest prices of £6/bale off the field, assuming £3 to bale it and 10 bales per acre. The contract price pays the grower to gather and store the straw and so it has the potential to leave more money . Tom stated that this deal is very much about establishing a floor on the price of straw and it very much does that. He went on to advise growers to commit no more than 20% to this deal so as to avail of any uplift in price on the remaining 80% of straw. But it’s not just about price. Where else can you sell straw forward at a price equivalent to £26/t? This is technically a 15-year deal for a proportion of a farmer’s straw and the price is index-linked on the upside. As well as that, Tom said that 20% of the contract payment is to be paid in July, 30% is to be paid during harvest and the remaining 50% is to be paid on delivery. Tom said that about 40,000t of straw

has been committed since the previous negotiations, so 20,000t to 30,000t are now needed as commitment from growers to complete the deal. Tom emphasised that any type of straw – wheat, barley, oats, rape or beans – can be used to supply the contract. However, moisture is a real issue and straw may take a lot of work in some years to ensure that it is put into store within spec. Supplier company to be established While the IFA has been the primary negotiator of this deal, Tom Shortt said that a company will be set up to manage the affairs and organise the logistics required. This will be essential for the ongoing project. Tom also said that New Leaf will provide capital to build straw stores where they are needed as the straw will have to be kept dry for burning post delivery. The repayments on such capital would then be repaid as a deduction from the payment over the duration of the contract. Asked about the possibility of a bad year, Tom commented that we have virtually never failed to gather straw, even if it took some time and a level of losses from turning, etc. He then suggested that a fund may have to be put in place to help cater for the bad years which will happen. But this contract is still no more risky than supplying any other market.

ÁIn numbers

60,000t contract.

£53/t ex-store, index-linked.

15-year deal term.

14% moisture base (8% to 20% moisture range)

44p/point moisture adjustment.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

NI 33

Challenging reality of island farming There is always someone farming in more diﬃcult conditions than you, writes John Egerton

t’s very easy to get caught up in life’s daily struggles and perhaps even to think that we have been dealt a poor hand. It might be the amount or quality of land that we own that troubles us. Or it might be the way the land is scattered about around the country. It’s very easy to find something to complain about. Probably like most farmers, I have no difficulty finding problems. For me, it’s usually the weather or some weatherrelated problem. However, no matter what your lot in life, you can always be sure there is someone in a more difficult situation than you. AI work When I’m out round the countryside doing AI work, I come across lots of farmers working in challenging conditions. There is one farmer, in particular, that must be commended for sticking at farming. He lives down a dead-end road. As you travel the road the land starts to go downhill. Then you come to the end of the road and there’s a cattle grid and then you’re on to a lane. Part of the lane sits two or three feet above the surrounding fields. It’s plain to see these fields flood for most of the winter. And probably part of the summer. You’re now approaching the shores of Lough Erne. At this stage, I always think of the local saying “for six months of the year the lakes are in Fermanagh and the other six, Fermanagh is in the lakes”. You then drive on down into the farmer’s yard and, on a good day, it’s

The cattle crush on the island in Lough Erne.

the most beautiful setting you will ever see. The lake comes to within about 20 yards of the front door of his house. When I started coming to this man’s house to AI his cows, it was always dark and cold and wet. I used to think it was a bleak place to live. Then, as the days got longer, for the ﬁrst time I arrived in daylight, and was struck by the reality of living by the shore. That day, on getting out of the car the farmer informed me that the cow was in a diﬀerent block of land to normal. “Will we go in the boat or the tractor?” he asked. I looked at him wondering if it was a wind-up. But he was telling the truth. The cows were on an island and we could go around the shore on the tractor or take the shortcut on the boat. At this stage, I didn’t know what to do. I looked at the boat (a small boat with just enough room for two people)

and thought to myself “I’m not getting in that”. So, the tractor it was. We travelled along the shore. The path wasn’t great and I wondered if the tractor was going to make it. The farmer assured me that the ground was hard under the water. I wasn’t convinced. The last bit we had to walk until we came to a steel structure, which was the handling facilities. I got the cow inseminated and then took a look around. It was ﬂat almost as far as you could see, and covered mostly in rushes and scrub. The farmer told me that it was under water for large parts of the year but that he manages to get it topped most seasons. He also said that the cattle do reasonably well on it.

No matter what your lot in life, you can always be sure there is someone in a more diﬃcult situation than you

Special I have been back there quite a few times since that, and it always makes

me smile. The few pounds I get for the AI wouldn’t pay me at all for the time it takes, but there’s something special about the place that gives me a lift. The farmer now has a son (about 13 years of age) and if you need an extra boost he’s the one to give it to you. He has been brought up on such marginal land and in difficult conditions. Committed He is always out helping his father and is 100% committed to farming. He always knows what AI straw he wants to use on particular cows. Sometimes he and the father don’t agree, but there’s never a cross word spoken. What going there has taught me is that we all have different challenges in farming, and it is important to always make the most of what you have. And the next time things go against you, remember there is always someone worse off.

New tractor sales increase in NI

Big variations in grass growth in 2017 PETER MCCANN NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT pmccann@farmersjournal.ie

Differences in rainfall and soil moisture content have led to significant variations in grass growth across NI in the first half of 2017, data from AgriSearch’s GrassCheck programme indicates. Data recorded on dairy farms located across NI from April to June shows large county by county variations. Dairy farms in Co Antrim have recorded the highest average growth of 7.1t dry matter per hectare (DM/ha) over the threemonth period, compared with the lowest average of 4.8t DM/ ha in Co Down. “Variation between counties was particularly evident for the month of May when Down and Armagh yielded 1.8t DM/ ha on average over the month, while the remaining four coun-

ties yielded 2.9 t DM/ha,” said Dr Debbie McConnell from AFBI. This was due to rainfall levels falling below average across NI from April, with eastern counties experiencing the driest conditions. Daily growth dipped to around 50kg DM/ ha/day on some farms in May as soil moisture reserves were used up, while growth rates of around 100kg DM/ha/day were recorded on farms in the west at the same time. “High levels of rainfall in June did restore growth rates back to 78kg DM/ha/day across NI with much less variation evident,” McConnell said. Total growth Grass growth across NI is on par with previous years with GrassCheck research plots recording total growth of 6.56t DM/ha between March and June this year. This rep-

In brief

Figure 1

On-farm monthly growth

NBA to visit Reid beef unit

8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

Antrim April

Armagh

Down Fermanagh Derry May

resents a 4% increase on last year, but is in-line with the long-term average (2007 to 2016). The pattern of grass growth across NI in 2017 has been similar to long term trends, with 1.6t DM produced on GrassCheck plots in March and April and 5t DM produced in May

Tyrone

June

and June. That compares with 2016, which was characterised by a cold and wet spring, with just 1t DM/ha grown in March and April, and then a large peak in May and June, which yielded 5.3t DM/ha, 1t above the long term average, conﬁrmed McConnell.

The National Beef Association (NBA) has organised an open meeting and visit to the beef finishing unit of Eric Reid outside Richhill in Co Armagh on Wednesday 16 August, starting at 6.30pm. The modern unit consists of 16 pens, each holding approximately 20 cattle grouped by weight. Following the farm tour there will be a presentation on “Optimising rumen function for improved meat eating quality” by Dr Jamie-Leigh Douglas, AB Vista, and also an update from the NBA. Attendance is by booking only. Email sharon@nation albeefassociation.com or call 01434 601005.

Registrations of new tractors in NI increased by 3.6% in the first six months of 2017 compared with the same period last year, according to figures published by the Agricultural Engineers Association last week. Overall, there were 260 new tractors over 50 horsepower registered in NI in the first half of the year. Across the UK, tractor registrations increased by 14.1% compared with the first six months of 2016, with a total of 6,142 tractors registered in the first half of 2017.

Across the UK, tractor registrations increased by 14.1% compared with the oUVW VL[ PRQWKV RI

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

34 BUILDINGS

Cutting edge suckler shed Ciarán Lenehan looks at an expansive suckler shed in Lowick, England, which will eventually house a 120cow suckler herd and its progeny

Straw The cattle will be bedded with straw from the tillage enterprise and, while it might to be diﬃcult to comprehend straw bedding on such a scale from an Irish point of view, in Conor’s part of the world straw is plentiful and cheap. “I plan to chop all of my oaten straw and a portion of my wheat straw with the balance going for bedding along with all of my barley straw. Given the amount of straw we’re taking oﬀ the tillage ground, dung is important as a means of putting nutrients back in.” The shed’s roof is 42ft high at the apex, through which there is a capped central ridge

Shed plan

door

riginally from Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Conor Colgan runs an 820 acre tillage and pedigree beef operation in Lowick, around an hour north of Newcastle, along the English coast. He breeds Saler cattle and is currently building toward a 120-cow herd. Animals not sold for breeding are retained for finishing. The farm produces wheat, oats barley and oilseed rape, with the majority of the oats going to Quakers. “I hope to dedicate around 160 acres of pasture to the cows annually,” Conor told me. Following the passing of his father, Conor saw a need to restructure the farm business. “It was decided that the best thing to do was build a completely new farmyard on a greenfield site.” Conor erected a 10-bay double, 60 x 35m (197 x 115ft) suckler shed. On one side (right of pic 2), his suckler cows will winter in two groups, split by a poured concrete wall (pic 3). His calves will run in five groups opposite the cows.

Handling unit Wall

Conor Colgan.

Cows

Calves

Cows

Calves

acting as an air outlet. Vented sheeting has been used along the sides of the building. Though this is not ideal from an air inlet point of view, the airspace en-

compassed by shed is such that ventilation should not be an issue. To ensure that the building is well-lit, translucent sheets have been incorporated intermittently into the roof structure.

There are continuous head locks atop the complete length of concrete stub walls along the feed passage (pic 3), which is 24ft wide. Cattle are fed using a diet feeder on Conor’s farm.

MACHINERY 22 July 2017

Mid-season maintenance Top tips for keeping your baler wrapper combi in good running order this season

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36 MACHINERY

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

UNDER THE HOOD Baler wrapper maintenance and the latest Claas grass kit

n this week’s machinery section, Peter Thomas Keaveney looks at essential mid-season maintenance that should be carried out on your combination baler and wrapper unit with expert help from Michael Boyle of McHale. I got a look at Claas’s newest grass machinery, from a small drum mower and Alistair small single rotor rake to a full sized tedder. Claas is making sure that it has ma- Chambers chines for all sizes of grass operation. Simon Henly takes a look at stalwart of farming, the Massey 135. The Massey is Scotland’s most popular tractor brand. In motoring, I got one of the ﬁrst drives of Renault’s new crossover – the Koleos – and found it to be a good performer. In FTMTA news this week, the Irish tractor sales ﬁgure makes for depressing reading, with sales down 12.5% on the same time last year. It doesn’t paint a bright picture with the anecdotal evidence that combine sales are well below last year also. With harvest in full swing, it is a combine spotters’ dream out there. As always, be careful, whether involved in the harvest or just an interested spectator. achambers@farmersjournal.ie

SEE ALSO

Pages 8-9 for our Scottish tractor feature

Samuel Graham, Killinchy, Co Down, won the European tractor drivers’ championship 2017.

NI farmer wins European tractor drivers’ crown Sam Graham, a farmer from Killinchy, Co Down, beat oﬀ tough competition from farmers and contractors representing 13 European countries to win the European tractor drivers’ championship 2017, organised jointly by John Deere and Michelin. The runners-up were David Durand from France and Stefan Häkansson from Sweden. The event was held at the Michelin Technical Innovation Centre test circuit in Ladoux, France, and saw farmers and contractors testing their skills behind the wheel of John Deere’s new 6250R

tractor – riding on Michelin’s latest generation ROADBIB tyres, which were unveiled at the event ahead of their planned 2018 launch. Sam earned his place at the ﬁnal after registering to take part online and winning hundreds of votes to secure himself the chance to compete at international level. This saw him treated to an exclusive two-day visit to Ladoux, which is one of the world’s largest vehicle test centres, featuring 20 test tracks with a combined length of 45km. To compete in the championship, each

participant had to master the challenges of speed, manoeuvrability, fuel eﬃciency and soil protection by developing their own winning driving strategy for tasks that are typical for the daily work of a farmer or contractor. The winner was the driver who adopted the best overall strategy, combining speed with the lowest possible fuel consumption and lowest soil compaction in the ﬁeld. Their skills were tested around a carefully constructed 18km course where even the smallest mistake mattered.

JCB goes to British Grand Prix Fourteen JCB Loadall telescopic handlers were used at the British Grand Prix last weekend. The 531-70 models, which can lift weights of 3t, provided four days of support at the race circuit. Loadall development engineer George Cooper, 25, of Tean, near Cheadle, and Sam Goodman, 21, of Derby, who works in product sales at JCB’s world HQ, waved off the fleet of machines with traditional racing chequered flags when they left for the circuit last week. George has been instrumental in helping develop a special jib attachment for the Loadalls, which made it easy to quickly recover crashed cars during the various race events, including F2 and GP3 classification races and F1 practice, qualifying and the main F1 race event. George has spent six months working on the reconfigured 531-70 and the attachment and he was one of five JCB employees on hand to drive the

Loadalls at the circuit, working alongside nine qualified telescopic handler operators employed by Silverstone. George said: “We have been working with the motorsport governing body FIA to develop the special Loadall over the last six months. The main benefit of the new jib attachment is it moves the lifting point of the car away from the actual machine, so it makes it easier and safer to recover a vehicle from the track.” The 14 machines were strategically located around the circuit on bends and at points where the likelihood of a car spinning off is higher. In addition to the Loadalls, JCB has supplied a further six machines to Silverstone, including a 8026 mini excavator, VMT260-120 roller, site dumper and a backhoe loader to meet the needs of the circuit on and off the track.

Fourteen JCB telehandlers were used at last weekend’s British Grand Prix.

MACHINERY 37

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

FTMTA NEWS

Be a part of a stronger farm machinery industry – join the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association – contact FTMTA at 045 409309 or membership @ftmta.ie for details.

Tractor and self-propelled UHJLVWUDWLRQ oJXUHV The most recent tractor registration figures prepared by FTMTA cover the first six months of the year. The figures to the end of June confirm the position seen in earlier months of a market lagging some way behind the levels of 2016. A total of 1,168 new tractors were registered during the first half of this year, which is a decline of some 12.5% on the 1,335 units registered during the same period of last year. June saw 66 new units registered, which is almost an 11% drop on the 74 units of June 2016. The three counties with the highest level of registrations during the six months to the end of June were Cork, Tipperary and Wexford, with 153, 105 and 78 units registered, respectively. Slightly over 86% of all new tractor registrations during the first six months of the year have been of machines with greater than 100hp, nearly 53% were of

Smyth Trailers releases new high-capacity silage trailer ALISTAIR CHAMBERS MACHINERY TESTING SPECIALIST achambers@farmersjournal.ie

Smyth Trailers has produced a special trailer with forced rear steering. The trailer is based on their already successful Supercube design. The trailer is 25ft long (7.6m) and 8.3ft (2.55m) wide with an overall height of 12.8ft (3.9m), which gives it a payload capacity of approximately 50 cubic metres. Other sizes are also available. The forced steering works in conjunction with a mini ball located next to the tractor’s hitch, which in turn is connected via an adjustable push rod to the steering’s hydraulic system. The push rod forces oil to enter the left or right hydraulic cylinders, depending on the direction the trailer is being towed. As it’s a closed pressurised oil system, the displaced oil forces the steering axles to turn in either forward or reverse, with the front and rear axles steering in the opposite direction of each other, further reducing the turning circle and keeping it in line with the tractor’s track. The trailer is fitted with a ball-andspoon hitch for added safety and also the added payload that this system affords. Attached to the axles are 560/60-22.5 low ground pressure tyres, which reduce soil compaction and increase the trailer’s weight-carrying capability and stability.

units with more than 120hp and 22% of all tractors registered during the period were machines with in excess of 150hp. Backhoe loaders have seen a healthy increase in registrations during the six months under review with 28 new units registered, which is a 40% increase on the 20 units in the same period of 2016. Telehandlers show a 5% increase at 175 units over the six months and wheeled loaders are up 26% over the period at a level of 58 new units registered. Self-propelled forage harvesters have also seen a reasonably strong level of activity during the ﬁrst six months of the year, which is obviously the key time for sales and registration of such machines in the run up to silage season.

A total of 37 new self-propelled foragers have been registered to the end of June. Data in relation to registrations of new combine harvesters would normally only really become reliable during July as the harvest draws close. Sales of implements are harder to track reliably given that such machines are not road registered but, anecdotally at least, sales of new grass harvesting related machines are reported to have held up well during 2017.

)707$ H[HFXWLYH FRXQFLO QRPLQDWLRQV The 2017 annual general meeting of the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Asso-

ciation will take place at 12pm on Thursday, 7 September, at the FTMTA offices near Naas. Nomination forms in relation to vacancies on the FTMTA executive council to be filled at the AGM will be issued to member firms by email only in the coming days. Any member wishing to nominate a member to serve on FTMTA executive council should complete the form and return to the association no later than 5pm on Tuesday, 8 August. Full details in connection with the AGM, including the agenda and associated material, will be issued by email only to member firms in due course following close of nominations.

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38 MACHINERY

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

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Mid-season check on baler-wrapper Peter Thomas Keaveney spoke to Michael Boyle of McHale Farm Machinery for tips and advice on points to check midway through the baling season

ichael Boyle, from Milltown, Co Galway, in the west of Ireland has been a service technician with McHale Farm Machinery for almost 20 years. He has been working on the McHale Fusion integrated baler and wrapper unit since it came to the market in 2003, so he has a vast knowledge of the machine. For this piece, we chose a 2012 McHale Fusion 2 combination baler doing an average of 13,000 bales per year, a typical contractor or farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; machine being worked around the country. Safety From 2007 to 2016, 21% of all deaths in agriculture involved farm machinery. With the ever-increasing workload contractors and farmers are put under, it is essential that each and every one of us takes the time required to carry out simple maintenance and daily checks on our machinery. An adequate hitch pin is essential and Michael recommends that a bolt should

be used to secure the underside of the pin. The drive shaft should have a perfectly functional cover. There should be easily accessible grease points without having to remove the cover. All lights should be checked regularly and kept in sound working order. All panels and guards must be correctly on the machine while it is in operation. The brakes should be checked at least twice per year and adjusted if necessary. Wheel studs must be checked and tightened if required. Pick-up reel The pick-up reel is an essential part of the machine and must be maintained to a very high standard for the machine to function. Michael recommends that the pick-up reel needs to be gone through in depth before the machine is put to work. Any broken or damaged tines should be replaced and all scroll pins on the tine bars need to be replaced at regular intervals. Cam bearings on the tine bar ends along with bushings need to be replaced

at least once per season. The cam track should also be inspected for any wear. All bands must be attached while the machine is in operation. Bearings in the small wheels that the reel runs on should be inspected and replaced if necessary. Chains All chains should be checked on a regu-

lar basis. They can be adjusted using the easily accessible tensioners. It will be evident when chains are coming to the end of their life span, as the tensioners will be at the maximum and the chains will start to slacken more and more before they eventually break. Once the baler hits around the 20,000 bale count, Michael explained that the

MACHINERY 39

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

Wrapper unit: All of the rollers on the wrap dispensers should be cleaned and oiled. All rams should be greased on a regular basis.

Netter: The reservoir for the barrel wrap option should be checked and kept topped up with hydraulic oil. Pick-up reel: The pick-up reel is an essential part of the machine and must be maintained to a very high standard.

Safety: A perfectly working drive shaft cover and good hitch pin are essential.

Cleaning: This build-up of grass around the wheel arches should be cleaned down daily.

All of the rollers on the wrap dispensers should be cleaned and oiled. All rams should be greased on a regular basis. The two cut-and-tie units can be easily taken out and cleaned. They should be taken out at the beginning of the season every year. It’s a simple task of opening one bolt, sliding them out by hand and then cleaning and oiling them. The blades can be changed very easily too if required.

operator should replace the full set of chains. Otherwise, these chains will begin to break one by one, which will slow down the operation on busy days when the time frame to complete work may already be minimal. McHale Farm Machinery gives people the option of purchasing a kit containing the full set of chains cut to length, which provides for easy replacement.

Peter Thomas Keaveney with Michael Boyle.

Knives Ideally, a new set of knives should be fitted to a baler at the start of every season. In perfect grass conditions, a new set of knives will adequately chop up to 1,000 bales. These knives should then be removed and sharpened professionally using a grindstone. This method is far better for longevity of the knives and it is safer than sharpening them at home using an angle grinder. After their first sharpening, this process should be repeated after every 500 to 600 bales, depending on grass conditions. In perfect swarths, a set of knives can chop up to 7,000 bales (after frequent sharpening). Michael recommends that there should be a spare set of knives on the baler in case they come into contact with any objects which may damage or break them. He said every farmer or contractor should have a spare sets of knives on the shelf in the shed ready to go at all times. Cleaning Michael emphasised the importance of regularly cleaning down the baler. He said: “It is absolutely vital that these balers are often cleaned down. Old grass will build up and can pose a fire hazard.

Knives: Knives should last for 7,000 bales with regular sharpening in good grass conditions.

“Operators who clean down their baler on a daily basis may spot something loose or even a hydraulic hose leaking oil. Simple things like this can avoid major downtime later down the line. “Dust and dirt should be cleaned oﬀ sensors and valve chests using an air compressor. This will help maintain and improve the overall life span. “Operators should back their baler into the shed on a wet day when things are not too busy and spend time going through the machine. These days should be spent oiling and greasing all points, changing knives, cleaning out the knife banks and replacing scroll pins, etc,” he said. The control box should be mounted on a safe bracket in the cab. The wiring loom should be kept free of any dust and

WATCH ONLINE watch the video on www.farmersjournal. tv

dirt. If possible, there should be a good power supply to the control box. As Michael said himself, “if you respect and look after the machine, it will look after you”. Wrapper unit The wrapper unit doesn’t require much maintenance. The break pad unit for the wrapping ring should be maintained at the beginning of every season. If this is done correctly, it should be perfect for the full season.

Netter This particular baler comes with the option of applying standard netting or the more recently introduced barrel wrap option. Because of this, there is a small oil reservoir for the barrel wrap, which is located on the right-hand side of the baler beside where the roll of barrel wrap is placed. This reservoir should be checked and kept topped up. At the beginning of the season, the netting unit may require some maintenance around the erring wheel. Michael said that if this is gone through at the start of the season, it should be ﬁne. The erring wheel should be kept nice and rough. If it has gone smooth, it means that it requires replacing. Michael explained that for larger issues, such as problematic valve chests or any issues with sensors, operators should contact main McHale dealers. Michael stressed the importance of having a good dealer on hand who is willing to provide a top-notch after-hour and weekend service if required. Michael also reminded us of the importance of storing these machines indoor in a dry environment for the off season.

40 MACHINERY

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

New grass machinery launched by Claas

C Following on from last week’s tractor launches by Claas, Alistair Chambers this week looks at their new grass gear

laas has added a new singlerotor swather to its green harvest range. The Liner 320 completes the Claas range of compact swathers and incorporates advanced technology features found on larger rakes in the range. The Liner 320 has a working width of 3.2m for use with smaller tractors and in awkwardly shaped fields or on difficult hillsides. As with larger Claas rakes, the rotor drive, including the cam track, is completely sealed and continuously lubricated. The rotor is fitted with eight tine arms, each with three 9mm diameter spring tines that are clamped in place using a cotter pin. Working height is quickly and easily adjusted using a lockable hand crank. In standard trim, the Liner 320 is carried on a single axle fitted with large 16/6.5-8 tyres, but a tandem axle is available as an option. Each of the robust arms incorporates a defined bending point, so in the event of the arm striking a solid object, this will bend to avoid the drive system being damaged. A U-shaped stabilising frame incorporating the three-point link points to attach the Liner 320, guarantees smooth contour following, even in difficult conditions or on hilly terrain. Having removed some of the tine arms, the Liner 320 can be folded down to 2.25m for transport or storage and the protective covers can be easily folded out of the way for ease of access or maintenance. The current Corto 3200F front mower has now been joined by the new Corto 310F, which has a working width of 3.05m. The Corto 310F features three-dimensional ground contour following, resulting in a clean cut and protection of the sward. This system is based on an integrated lateral and longitudinal linkage geometry, which allows the mower to pivot freely for accurate ground contour following. The Corto 310F also incorporates a simplified process for adjusting the swath discs, making it far easier and quicker to alter the swath width. Where particularly narrow swaths are required, it is also possible to fit a second set of swath discs. Other new features include improved crop flow through the mower and flexible rubber collision protection that prevents damage should an obstacle be hit. All these improvements have also been incorporated into the Corto 3200F, which also features a new design and improved crop flow. A new option available on both the Corto 3200F and 310F is the actively float-

ABOVE: The Claas Corto 285F on a dual-wheeled Arion 410 for working on hilly ground. LEFT: Claas showed a full range of grass machinery at its press day. BELOW: The Liner 320 rake shares a lot of its features with its bigger relations.

ing hydraulic suspension system, which was previously only available on the Disco disc mower range. As ground conditions change, active ﬂoat enables the operator to alter the ground pressure imposed by the mower by transferring the weight of the mower from the ground to the tractor while on the move. This results in improved ground contour following and protection of the

sward, as well as a reduction in soil contamination on rougher ground. Higher forward speeds are also possible and fuel consumption reduced. A new addition to the Corto range is the 3200 Contour, which has two large and two small drums, giving it a working width of 3.05m. It replaces the current Corto 310. The Corto 3200 contour is designed so that the main pivot point is at the centre

of gravity and this, combined with the active ﬂoat suspension which is standard, guarantees optimum ground contour following across all terrain. In the event of a collision with an obstacle, the break-back protection system incorporates an angled pivot point so that the mower body is lifted up and over the obstacle. The belt drive also acts to cushion peak loads, helping to avoid damage to the drive train. To aid ease of use, the design of the Corto 3200 includes standard features such as double-link arm guides and kennfixx grips on the hydraulic hoses to make hitching as easy as possible. For transport, the mower is carried at 120° so as to provide optimum weight distribution and enhanced visibility to the rear. Options include hydraulic locking of the mower when in the transport position (in place of a cable) and a parking frame is also available that allows the Corto to be stored in the transport position. Where space is tight, this frame is also available with castor rollers to enable the mower and frame to be rolled into the ﬁnal storage space. Claas has also updated the smaller Corto 190 rear drum mower, which has a working width of 1.85m. New user-friendly features include folding protective covers on both sides, mechanical break-back protection and a parking stand. Optional features include spring suspension to reduce wear and tear to ensure improved ground contour following, plus hydraulic headland lift for an improved lift height.

MACHINERY 41

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

VINTAGE

The Massey Ferguson 135 Thousands of MF 135s were sold across Britain and Ireland, with many still working on farms today. What was their appeal? Simon Henley goes back to the 1960s to unearth the story behind the legend

nyone whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been involved in farming during the past 50 years, will have either seen or driven a Massey Ferguson (MF) 135. It was the most popular tractor of its genre, providing a combination of performance and versatility which appealed universally to farmers around the globe. The Red Giants The MF 135 made its UK debut in December 1964. It was the smallest Coventrybuilt model in the new Massey Ferguson DX (100 Series) lineup, which MF marketed as The Red Giants. The new models also included the 30hp French-built MF 130, the mid-sized Coventry-built 58hp MF 165 and the range-topping 72hp MF 175. During a production run which lasted 14 years, more than 340,000 MF 135s were manufactured, with production peaking in 1967, when a total of 43,240 were built. It seems unbelievable today, but sales of the MF 135 in 1967 accounted for 22% of the UK tractor market, and 56% of the global market in the 43hp-52hp market sector. Mechanically, the MF 135 was based on its predecessor the MF 35X, retaining a slightly revised version of the excellent Ferguson hydraulic system â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for which the brand had become famous. Power to the wheels was directed by the same six-speed/two-range gearbox, or MFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s optional 12-speed multi-power transmission. Tucked under the tractorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bright-red hood was a Perkins AD3.152 engine, an improved direct-injection version of the three-cylinder Perkins unit found in the 35X, now rated at 45.5hp. This would later be increased to 47hp, providing the MF 135 with a power-to-weight ratio of around 27hp/t, a ďŹ gure which remains impressive even by todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standards.

MF 135 dash-console was an all-steel design which featured gauges for fuel, engine temperature, oil pressure, a battery voltmeter and a double-needle tractor meter.

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New features Like its stablemates, the MF 135 featured a distinctive new look, which had been developed for the DX 100 and 1000-Series tractors by a team of engineers and draughtsman in Detroit, Michigan. The new range also introduced a host of new features, designed to improve both operator comfort and tractor performance. For the MF 135, this included a new steering console with a full range of gauges. It also included a choice of clamshell fenders, or, a new ďŹ&#x201A;at-top fender design with integrated aluminium grabhandles. There was even the option of a foot throttle. A brand new feature on the MF 135, was Massey-Fergusonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hydraulic PressureControl. This brilliant but woefully underrated rear-linkage weight-transfer system used a special linkage-mounted coupling to enable the tractor to comfortably pull large trailed implements and turntable trailers. Power steering became an option in 1969, following the change from a swept front axle to a straight beam-axle. In September 1970, following the introduc-

tion of UK safety cab regulations, the MF 135 was oďŹ&#x20AC;ered with several cab options, including the popular two-door Scirrocco ďŹ&#x201A;exi-cab. The Scirrocco design featured a safety frame ďŹ tted with removable panels and cladding, which could be stripped down to a windscreen and bare frame in less than ďŹ ve minutes. The ďŹ&#x201A;exi-cab, also had the benefit of being quieter than optional steel-clad alternatives, produced by the likes of Duncan and Sekura. Production of the MF 100-Series for the domestic market ceased in 1976, when the full-line of new MF 500-Series Q-cab tractors was launched. Although the new range oďŹ&#x20AC;ered the MF 550 as an alternative, the popularity of the 135 prompted MF to extend its tenure, with the introduction of the QD (quick-detach) model, equipped with a removable Q-cab built by Cabcraft. The MF 135 was ďŹ nally replaced by the MF 230 /240 models, which were introduced in 1979. Its legacy survives today, in the form of the latest Massey Ferguson 4700 Global-Series tractors.

Massey Fergusonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s multi-power gearbox was an option on the MF 135 throughout its production life. The transmission, which was introduced on the 35X, provided a two-speed powershift in each gear ratio.

More than 340,000 MF 135 tractors were built between 1964 and 1978. Above right: the MF 135 with a cab option.

42 MACHINERY

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

ROAD TEST Renault Koleos

Koleos and the gang – the new Renault hits the road The Koleos is a new direction for Renault and it seems that the company has made a very good attempt at a big ﬁve-seater crossover. Alistair Chambers reports

On back roads, the Koleos soaked up the bumps and humps comfortably.

he latest addition to the Renault crossover range is the Koleos. This is the big, grown-up older brother to the Kaptur and Kadjar. The smaller ones have been a success for Renault in their respective categories with their funky styling and fun interiors. The Koleos is a very different kettle of fish with its grown-up styling and serious specifications. On the road The Koleos comes with two different engine options – a 130bhp 1.6l diesel and a 175bhp 2l diesel. On the test day, a chance to drive both was afforded me. Firstly, the higher-powered version was brought out for a spin; this one came in the higher signature specification, an automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive. On the move, the engine pulled well and moved down the road swiftly. The automatic gearbox was smooth and seemed to choose the right gear for most situations unlike some of the autos on the market. On the classic Irish back road, the Koleos soaked up the bumps and humps comfortably but was quite wallowy when pushed on around the twisty stuff. This is to be expected as it is a large car that is very much marketing itself at the luxury motorway cruising sector. Once out on the motorway, the big Renault really came into its own – the 175hp engine got up to motorway speed with ease and cruised very comfortably and quietly at the national limit. This car comes with lane assist and adaptive cruise control at all specification levels – both handy features when used correctly. Once in the lower horsepower version, which came as a two-wheel-drive with a six-speed manual box, this will probably be the big seller on the Irish market. Out on the road, the two-wheel-drive version seemed to have more responsive steering but other than that there was very little difference between it and the more powerful one. The power difference was barely noticeable, whether this was due to power being soaked up by the automatic gear box or the fact that with the manual, you can choose the correct gear at all times. Off road There was an opportunity to bring the four-wheel-drive Koleos around an offroad track. I will admit that I wasn’t confident that it was going to be world beating in the rough stuff. From the

minute I engaged the auto four-wheeldrive and moved off, my mind was changed. Over the first obstacle, the Koleos cocked a wheel and carried on manfully. From this point on, the big Renault was an engaging off-road drive. Both inclines and declines were managed with ease. Even without a descent control system, the Koleos had no issue with steep declines and when facing into steep but not cliff-like ascents it scrambled up them with ease with just a bit of right boot. The Koleos was very manoeuvrable and was brilliantly capable on the rough stuff.

The automatic gearbox was smooth and seemed to choose the right gear for most situations

Technology and interior From the driver aids mentioned above to the dual zone climate control, the Renault is packed with nice features. The Koleos comes with Android Auto and Apple car play as standard on the R-link2 multimedia system. This system comes with an 8in display on the Dynamic S Nav speciﬁcation and the 8.7in portrait touchscreen as seen in the new Megane and Scenic on the Signature Nav speciﬁcation. Sitting in the Renault is comfortable, whether with the full leather in the

Sitting in the Renault is comfortable.

The Koleos has two engine options.

higher specification or the part leather in the lower specification. Leg room in the back is sizeable and would comfortably take three adults on a long journey. The boot space of the Koleos is big and very practical with its level load area and powered opening and closing on the higher-specified machines.

da Kodiaq and Hyundai Sante Fe being the class leaders at the minute. It seems to more than stand up to them at first viewing. It is packed with technology and has two nice engine and gearbox options. Renault is aiming this at the executive market and is therefore not offering a seven-seat option unlike its main competitors. The Koleos is currently arriving in dealerships around the country and will make good in-roads into the market with its grown-up quality feel and finish.

Verdict The Koleos is a nice new entrant to this sector, which includes some serious heavyweight competition, with the Sko-

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130bhp

175bhp

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114m/h

124m/h

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Two-wheel-drive

Four-wheel-drive

Price

£27,500

£34,200

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

FOCUS 43

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44 FOCUS

Prices helping to generate more optimism Primary producers are beneďŹ ting from higher market returns which should bode well ahead of the breeding season. Darren Carty reports

hile 2017 lamb prices have followed the seasonal downward pattern of previous years, the big beneďŹ t for primary producers is that prices have averaged 22p/kg to 31p/kg above 2016. This is despite factories on a number of occasions attempting to reduce prices but being forced to increase base quotes. The big significance is that average returns for a 20kg carcase in recent weeks have held above the ÂŁ88 mark that many producers see as the minimum price

necessary to generate a return and allow a level of investment to take place. February lambing producers that have a good percentage of their lambs sold will be faring much better, as are producers with more scope to push top-quality lambs into the butcher and wholesale market. While it is still early days to judge, it also looks as if there will be good demand for store lambs with surplus fodder in some areas leading to less second-cut silage while some beef farmers are entering the market and splitting the risk of putting all their investment into cattle. Lower supplies of New Zealand lamb coming into the EU and ďŹ rm market demand in high-value emerging markets is said to have contributed to the positive trade in recent months, as did Ramadan falling at a time when throughput was only starting to grow. However, one element that is surely helping the trade is lower volumes of

Spring grass supplies should be taken into account when selecting the lambing date.

Tria Resultl Availa s ble

sheepmeat. This is stemming from two avenues â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fewer spring lambs processed and at lighter weights. There should certainly be a lesson learnt from this â&#x20AC;&#x201C; keeping lambs moving as they come ďŹ t and reducing the volume of overweight carcases and free meat ďŹ&#x201A;owing into factories will in general help to prolong and generate extra demand. The only downside is that in recent weeks lighter carcases are in some cases resulting from poor lamb kill-out. Breeding season optimism The fact that cull ewes are also a positive trade is incentivising farmers to turn over ewes faster and maintain a younger, more productive ďŹ&#x201A;ock. This is capable of delivering on many levels with fewer issues faced by culling out problem breeders. The opportunity should also be taken of culling persistent poor performers as it is these animals that will drag down the overall performance of the ďŹ&#x201A;ock. This can only be achieved by having a means of recording performance and this is one area that is worth investing time and money in. Optimum lambing date The favourable market performance in 2017 is leading to some farmers reviewing their lambing date. This follows many midseason producers pushing out their lambing date in recent years on the back of unfavourable weather and low grass growth rates increasing costs, while a number of early lamb producers also switched their lambing date or moved a percentage of their ďŹ&#x201A;ock to later lambing due to uncertain market returns and losses incurred.

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The decision to move the lambing date should be based on more aspects than price alone; nevertheless, it is important to also be mindful of market dynamics. The big unknown in the market continues to be the potential fallout from Brexit. There are numerous questions that will not be answered in the short term such as what, if any, level of tariďŹ&#x20AC;s could be applied to sheepmeat exports from Ireland to the UK, the consequences of these tariďŹ&#x20AC;s, if applied, on the trade of 400,000 sheep imported from Northern Ireland and the future of the New Zealand tariďŹ&#x20AC;-free quota of about 227,000t. All of these factors are up in the air and are unlikely to be discussed in detail, never mind resolved, before this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s breeding season. Therefore, the more likely factors that will possibly inďŹ&#x201A;uence markets in the ďŹ rst half of 2018 are the potential carryover of hoggets into 2018 and the likely demand from Easter and Ramadan falling just a few weeks apart. Easter Sunday falls on 1 April 2018 while Ramadan moves two weeks earlier, starting on 15/16 May and ending on 14 June. Easter and Ramadan have been variable in their potential to increase prices in recent years but both have helped to generate extra demand and help underpin prices for longer, as we have seen earlier this year. Note that Eid al-Adha, which lifted demand and live exports in 2016, will also move forward from 1 September 2017 to 22 August in 2018. This could present an opportunity for some producers to target this market with demand likely to remain strong in the period post-Easter leading through to Ramadan. This will lead to a change

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

FOCUS 45 Going on the experience of 2016 and 2017, a lambing date of early to mid-March has worked best for lowland producers to match grass demand with supply

ing their lambing date earlier or tweaking it for a percentage of their ewes. If this is the approach taken, account needs to be taken of the eﬀect this will have on grass supplies this autumn and next spring.

in direction for some breeders with a lambing date of 1 February required to have the first lambs coming fit for slaughter three months later on 1 May. Producers targeting the Easter trade will need to lamb a month earlier, translating to breeding commencing in just a few weeks’ time. Plans will need to be well in motion for this system with later lambing a more realistic approach for flockowners toying with the idea of mov-

Grass growth For most producers, matching the lambing date to grass supply will remain the most suitable system. This is particularly the case for higher-stocked farms where demand for grass rises rapidly in spring. Going on the experience of 2016 and 2017, a lambing date of early to midMarch has worked best for lowland producers to match grass demand with supply. Moving too far ahead of normal grass growth will lead to concentrate feeding required for ewes, while delaying the lambing date for too long will lead to a surplus developing earlier and diﬃculties in managing grass. Assessing the most suitable lambing date should now be the priority with all other decisions such as the start of the breeding season, optimum time to purchase replacements and autumn-grazing plan all inﬂuenced by this.

Nutrition key to positive breeding performance Breeding preparations should begin once ewes have been successfully weaned. Darren Carty reports

MORE ONLINE

See www.farmersjournal .ie sheep section for a detailed guide on body condition scoring

If there is anything to be learned from the experience of the last three years, it is that adequate nutrition pre- and postbreeding and having ewes at the optimum body condition score can deliver big benefits in terms of boosting ewe litter size. This is evident mostly in ﬂocks that historically had a low litter size and benefitted from strong autumn grass growth rates. Preparation for breeding should start once ewes have been dried oﬀ post-weaning. There are usually very little problems with ewes that are in optimum body condition at breeding; rather, it is ewes in poor body condition that are generally at fault of reducing the average litter size or extending the lambing period. Scottish Blackface ewes in particular are very responsive to improvements in body condition score and nutrition prebreeding with the potential to increase litter size, improve conception rates and reduce barrenness while also tightening the lambing spread. Lowland ewes will also achieve a good response. For this reason, it is important to act early as these animals falling well below target will need the full period to regain condition and hit the recommended body condition score of 3.5 at mating for lowland ewes (similar target for hill ewes on lowland pasture, reducing back to a BCS of 2.75 to 3 where these ewes are run on hill and mountain grazing).

Improving by one condition score is the equivalent of gaining about 8kg to 12kg liveweight with the variation depending on ewe breed and mature liveweight. This takes eight to 10 weeks to achieve with access to good-quality grass. Younger animals will generally regain condition faster than older sheep in the flock. If animals fail to regain condition despite preferential treatment, culling may be the best option as these animals will invariably be the problem ewes short of condition in the run up to lambing. Reports regarding ewe condition are variable with some flocks reporting ewes in good condition while others report ewes feeling the effects of higher litter size or poor-quality silage last winter and going to grass in lower condition than normal. Regular monitoring It is important to handle ewes regularly to monitor progress. Ideally, there should be two groups of ewes run, a group in adequate body condition that are fed to maintenance and a group receiving preferential feeding. The latter group can be run with lambs if the number of groups is an issue or grazed for a period after lambs with ewes receiving maintenance feeding used to graze out paddocks and improve the quality of regrowth. Ewes can be switched between groups when required.

Muscling the Sheep Industry PURCHASE YOUR PEDIGREE REGISTERED CHAROLLAIS RAM, JUDGE: MR BRYAN EVANS FLOCK: (FORMERLY PENTHOS FLOCK UK) AUCTIONEER: MR. GEORGE CANDLER The ‘Backstone’ Cup and Sheep Crook to be presented to the Supreme Champion The ‘Edwin Kelso’ Memorial Cup will be presented to the highest placed LambPlus ram lamb. (evaluations may be taken into account)

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IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL 6DWXUGD\ -XO\ Saturday 22 July 2017

46 FOCUS

Is Sheep Ireland delivering for sheep farmers? Eamon Wall, Sheep Ireland, reviews what has been delivered since 2009 and what needs to happen to move breeding forward

An excellent database is one thing; ﬁlling it with sound performance data is the next step

heep Ireland has been in existence now since 2009. So what has been delivered in this time? The objective of Sheep Ireland is to increase the profitability of Irish sheep farmers through genetic improvement. So has this been achieved? Before we answer this question, it is necessary to paint the background to what is required to achieve genetic improvement. The first thing is data – sheep performance data – and lots of it. A database is required to host this data and facilitate the capture of future data. Since 2009, Sheep Ireland has developed one of the best database and data recording web-screen systems in the world. This infrastructure forms the solid foundation upon which Irish sheep genetic improvement can be built into the future. An excellent database is one thing; filling it with sound performance data is the next step. Sheep Ireland construct the €uro-Star indices using performance data collected from pedigree ram breeders and from commercial farms. The vast majority of commercial data is collected from the Sheep Ireland Central Progeny test flocks (2,500 ewes across five flocks) and from Teagasc flocks involved in research and the Teagasc BETTER farm sheep programme. There are also a small number of independent commercial flocks involved in performance recording. The data being captured from pedigree ram breeders is largely being recorded by each individual breeder themselves with annual visits to the majority of flocks from Sheep Ireland personnel to carry out ultrasound scanning of muscle and backfat.

BELCLARE PREMIER SALE Kilkenny Mart Tuesday August 8th 2017

All Sheep will have Sheep Ireland €urostar Ratings on catalogue. Pedigree ram sale, also selection of females available on day

Judging 11.30am

Data integrity The question is often asked – is data submitted by breeders trustworthy? To answer this question, we should assess if the current €uro-Star indices, which are formulated using this data, are capable of predicting sheep that will perform better in the future. The answer to this question is yes. This is evident from the commercial farm data being collected by Sheep Ireland across the Central Progeny Test flocks over the past number of years, where significant differences are being seen between high €uro-Star index and low €uro-Star groups of animals (see Table 1). It is also the evidence being found in the INZAC (Irish and New Zealand Across Country Comparison) research flock based in Athenry, where the high index groups of Suffolk and Texel ewes are significantly outperforming their low-index counterparts. These differences are currently being predicted by the €uro-Star indices based on the current data available to Sheep Ireland, and this illustrates that there is significant value to the data being collected from Irish pedigree ram breeders. Is sheep genetic improvement being maximised in Ireland? The answer to this question is unfortunately no. Based on the latest DAFM sheep census, there are just over 83,500 breeding rams in Ireland. Somewhere between 25% and 33% of these rams will need to be replaced annually (requiring between 21,000 and 28,000 replacement rams annually). At present, 12,500 pedigree ram lambs are being performance-recorded annually through the LambPlus programme (this number is growing annually). This number of performance-recorded rams falls well short of meeting the annual ram demand for Ireland. Combine this

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with the fact that a large number of these 12,500 ram lambs will not make it as breeding rams due to physical faults, poor €uroStar indices, etc. Genetic progress in hill sheep The vast majority (95%) of these performance-recorded ram lambs are from lowland sheep breeds. Unfortunately, the uptake of performance recording

among ram breeders in our hill areas is not where Sheep Ireland would like it to be. The absence of formal ﬂockbook structures, where the parentage of purebred lambs born annually is captured and recorded on to a database, is the major first hurdle that must be overcome in order to facilitate performance-recording of hill sheep.

Table 1: €uro-Star index comparison Performance trait Lamb mortality% Number of lambs born

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FOCUS 47 and the construction of them is. However, the way to use and understand indexes is really simple. The €uro-Star indices are a prediction of future performance based on past performance. If a particular bloodline has very high average growth rates, it is likely that future generations of this bloodline will have high growth rates. The same applies for all traits. There will be exceptions to this rule. Individual animals may not live up to the potential of their genetic index. More data may be recorded on a bloodline, which changes the initial predictions made. This can result in movement in an animals €uro-Star index, something which can be very frustrating for ram breeders and buyers alike. It is important that users of the indices realise that this can and will happen on occasion, especially given the fact the level of performance data available is building from such a low base. As more data is generated going forward, this will lead to more stable genetic evaluations for the industry. Using a team of high-index breeding sires is a well-accepted and used concept among Irish dairy farmers. These teams are used when there is not a lot of data available on particular bulls and their bloodlines. This approach spreads the risk associated with one bull’s index dropping. Even though one or two bulls may drop, the herd will still make genetic progress as the team average index remains high. Most Irish sheep farmers use a number of rams annually, so this team’s concept is very applicable.

Practical diﬃculties associated with recording data in hill areas (lambing outdoors, etc) is one of the main issues that has prevented this from happening. This, coupled with the marginal returns from this system of sheep farming in recent decades, has dissuaded many hill ram breeders from engaging in performance recording of their sheep. The reality is that in Ireland many rams are purchased annually with no background information recorded on them. Compare this situation with the Irish suckler industry, where almost 90% of bulls in use on farms are pedigree registered bulls with known back ancestry. This high level of usage of pedigree bulls and the ancestry information that it provides helps to track the top-performing bloodlines, protect against inbreeding and allows genetic indices to be produced. Without animal ancestry information, genetic indices are not possible. Where next? In order to increase the rate of sheep genetic gain in Ireland, we need to increase the volume of performance records being collected annually. More performance data will help to make the €uro-Star indices more accurate for Irish farmers and will increase the rate of gain

we make as an industry. Our sheep breed societies need to continue to support sheep breed improvement. The CPT programme has invested heavily in the generation of performance data for our main sheep breeds and the high-index progeny test rams that come out of the CPT annually need to be promoted within each breed society for the benefit of Irish commercial sheep farmers. Irish ram breeders will provide what

Sheep Ireland’s Eamon Wall.

Irish sheep farmers demand, so it is critical that greater numbers of Irish sheep farmers look for more than a physically correct “good-looking” ram – this should be the minimum requirement of any ram purchase. Good looks simply do not tell us anything about the potential future performance of a ram. However, if we have data on that ram’s siblings and ancestors, then it is very possible to predict how a ram is likely to perform and this is how the €uro-Star indices are constructed. How genetic indices work Indexes can be made sound very complicated,

Summary Genetic evaluations work. This has been shown in other sheep industries and in other animal sectors in Ireland. The Irish €uro-Star sheep indices are working. This is being shown by the Sheep Ireland Central Progeny Test and the INZAC flock in Teagasc. €uro-Star indices for individual rams may move, but by consistently purchasing high-index breeding rams, a flock will make genetic progress, leading to higher flock performance at farmer and national level. For the upcoming 2017 ram sale season, we urge farmers to include the €uro-Star indices as one of the selection criteria to improve the genetic makeup of the flock and overall farm performance.

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

48 FOCUS

Breeding more important than market returns Sheep genetics and management consultant Murray Rohloff says a farm’s breeding programme can have a much greater influence on farm profitability than market returns, writes Darren Carty

he UK’s exit from the European Union is already raising questions about the level of subsidies available to farmers in the future. This is relevant to both the UK and EU member states as with a UK contribution in excess of £9bn to the EU budget, additional funds will need to be found to prevent a deficit in the Common Agricultural Policy post-Brexit. While in theory there will be higher funds available to the UK, there is no guarantee that agriculture will receive any more support as it contributes just 0.7% to the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP). Sheep geneticist and management consultant Murray Rohloff spoke at the recent Northern Ireland National Sheep Association (NSA) event in Ballymena livestock market. The focus of his presentation was using the experiences of New Zealand to outline pathways of improvement in an era of potentially lower farm supports. Murray started off by outlining that the way New Zealand coped with the removal of subsidies cannot be used as a blueprint for the UK, or other EU states, due to the variation in farm size, breed make-up, market dynamics, etc. He believes, however, that there are numerous lessons that can be adopted by farmers in the UK and Ireland to improve farm profitability irrespective of the level of subsidies in the future. This, he says, will also help to insulate farmers from any reduction in global sheep prices caused by Brexit-related trading imbalances. Breeding is an integral part of many of the seven factors Murray outlined.

Better control of pasture “Lambs are particularly sensitive to sward digestibility. If you don’t get it right then you are basically removing your potential to make money. Better control of pasture in late spring/early summer will define how profitable your enterprise is. Profit relates to days to slaughter which in turn is influenced by the quality and

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quantity of dry matter consumed but also by having the type of animals that can best perform in a grass-based system. This factor is 80% controlled by the farmer and 20% by the breeding programme in place”.

%HWWHU o W RI HDUO\ VSULQJ IHHG VXSSO\ “Sheep farmers are essentially dairy farmers for the first six weeks of lactation. You don’t see a dairy farmer tighten up or discount cows in early lactation. The aim has to be to ensure spring feed supply satisfies ewe demand. If not, ewes will not reach peak lactation and lamb performance will be an uphill battle”. With the exception of unusual weather events, Murray says that achieving this is 100% down to the farmer and is influenced by grassland management and selecting a lambing date that best suits the farm.

0DWFK ODPELQJ SHUFHQWDJH DQG IXQFWLRQDOLW\ WR HQYLURQPHQW “The lambing percentage and functionality of the breed selected must suit your environment. If your output is too low you won’t have enough mouths to manage grass and cover costs. On the other hand, if you have too high a lambing percentage for the environment you are in there will be high losses. “New Zealand systems are geared for outdoor lambing and there has been huge cost savings in improving survivability and health traits. Some New Zealand farmers are now looking at one labour unit of 4,000 ewes, with over 90% born unassisted. I realise there are big differences between the New Zealand and UK system but there is still room for improvement.” This, Murray says, is 100% driven by breeding and care should be taken to implement a breeding policy that opti-

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Better control of worms “Worm control is the number one animal health problem globally. I was one of two farmers in the world that developed sheep with worm resistance.” Development in this area is slow but it holds huge potential in an environment of increasing anthelmintic resistance. The breeding element of this is low at present but is something that Murray says should be fully utilised where available.

$ELOLW\ WR WKULYH DQG o QLVK RQ JUDVV “Breeding animals that have the ability to thrive and finish in a grass-based system has been the focus in New Zealand for the last 30 years. The UK is full of breeders who are selecting sheep that thrive and excel on concentrates. This is the opposite of what is desired by the commercial farmer. “The behaviour and physiology of breeders and their animals has to be diﬀerent. This is 100% the role of the breeder but it has to be driven by market demand. In New Zealand, there were over 4,000 ram producers providing rams for over 40m ewes when subsidies were removed. “Some did not transform to a grass-based system

and over time their market has disappeared. Now, 578 breeders provide rams for a flock of 19.8m ewes, with 99% of rams sold recorded. “Commercial farmers are going to have to learn that they have to reward farmers producing good rams; if this doesn’t change then the focus on show sheep over functional animals won’t change.”

,QFUHDVLQJ HZH UDP ORQJHYLW\ DQG DYHUDJH UDP VHUYLQJ FDSDFLW\ “The average ram longevity in the UK is just 2.1 years. We expect to have rams in New Zealand for at least four years that are capable of serving between 100 and 150 ewes in a year. We have to ask ourselves why we have rams that have difﬁculty in getting ewes pregnant.” Murray is a joint venture owner of EasyRams UK, which aims to produce rams from a grass-only diet that will excel in commercial enterprises. He says if the industry adopts this approach there is huge potential to reduce costs and increase output but again states that for this to happen there must be a marked change in the mindset of pedigree and commercial farmers.

$ELOLW\ WR VKRUWHQ WKH ZLQWHU Murray says that breeding sheep that can excel in a grass-based system and suit the environment in which they are located will in turn allow feeding programmes to be tailored for better feed allocation, which in turn has the ability to shorten the winter, he says.

Murray Rohloff, Sheep geneticist, consultant and breeder.

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FARMERS JOURNAL IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

FOCUS 49 The SheepNet group (back row L to R): Darren Carty, Irish Farmers Journal; John Curley, Teagasc BETTER Farm, Roscommon; John Renehan, Kilkenny farmer; Tim Keady, Teagasc and SheepNet facilitator. Middle row: Brendan Joyce, INHFA; Damian Costello, Teagasc; Frank Hynes, Teagasc; John Lynskey, IFA; Seamus Fagan, Department of Agriculture RVL; John O’Rourke, vet. Front: Ciara Long, Sheep Ireland; James Dunne, Teagasc; Anthony McShane, Louth farmer; Ken Mathews, Offaly farmer; Mervyn Foley, Dawn Meats. Missing from photo John Brooks, ICSA, Finbar Kiernan, vet, and Simon Byrne, consultant, Wexford.

Table 1: Number of ewes and sheep producers in participating countries Ewe Number of Country pRFN SURGXFHUV France

5.4m

48,000

Ireland 2.6m Italy 6.3m Romania 5.8m Spain 11.5m UK 14.6m Turkey 22m

36,313 54,500 232,000 64,000 72,000 127,000

Country proMHFW SDUWQHUV Institute De L’elevage/INRA Teagasc Agris BANAT Neiker SRUC Togen

Getting more from Europe’s 85m ﬂock A new project, SheepNet, aims to increase productivity and proﬁtability of sheep enterprises, which will also hopefully halt the decline in the number of sheep producers. Darren Carty reports

reland is one of six of the main sheep-producing nations in Europe that have come together, along with Turkey, to partake in a new project called SheepNet. The aim of SheepNet is to harness information and a better understanding of sheep production within each country and use this to improve productivity and profitability of sheep enterprises right across the EU and Turkey. The initiative is being taken to stem the decline in sheep production. While current EU sheep numbers are in the region of 85m animals on 830,000 farms, this represents a sharp decline, with the ewe flock falling by about 15%, while 50% of producers have exited the sector since 2000. Turkey’s interest in the project is driven by the fact that like France, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK, it is a major sheep-producing country with a national flock of about 20m ewes or a total of 31m sheep across 127,000 producers. Table 1 lists the size of the ewe flock in each country, the number of sheep holdings and the organisation leading the project in each country. Tim Keady, Teagasc, is the Irish national facilitator in the three-year project. He says: “The EU is only 84% self-sufficient in sheepmeat, with a deficit of about

140,000t. There is huge potential to grow sheep production with an increase in the average litter size of just 0.22 lambs per ewe capable of closing this deficit. “Sheep play a vital part in the management of less favoured areas and are a key part of economic and social activity. Therefore, the decline in numbers is a worrying trend for the future of these areas.” The three main target areas being addressed are reproductive efficiency (reduced barren rates), gestation efficiency (reduce embryo mortality, abortion, etc) and lamb mortality, all of which affect your profitability (number of lambs reared per ewe joined to the ram). “SheepNet aims to produce a wealth of information by exchanging scientific and practical knowledge in a bottom-up, top-down approach by collecting and sharing information from researchers, advisers, farmers and the relevant industry stakeholders. “This will form a resource which can be used by everyone to help address the challenges identified that are currently limiting output.” Each country has established a scientific and technical working group around the national facilitator, with the members of the Irish group pictured above. Updates will be available at www.sheepnet.network.

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IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

50 FOCUS

New services and products

No Mate harness Agrihealth’s latest sheep breeding accessory is the No Mate harness. Developed by New Zealand company Rurtec, the harness is designed as an alternative to vasectomisation of rams and will impede breeding when a fertile ram is run with females. If used with the company’s Mating Mark harness and crayon, ewes that have attempted to be mated will be marked. The harness, distributed by Agrihealth, has a recommended retail price of £53 and is available through agricultural co-ops, merchants and veterinary premises. If you cannot source a harness or want further details, call Agrihealth on 047 71800 or email info@ agrihealth.ie. A video clip of the harness can be viewed at https://youtu. be/OptzIvqpVus.

The DipFast sheep shower unit.

New mobile sheep shower unit Northern Ireland sheep farmer Mark Kelly set about designing an alternative way of applying sheep dip over eight years ago. Using an old oil tank, spray nozzles and pump system, he designed a way of treating his own ﬂock which quickly generated requests from neighbouring farmers to treat their sheep or manufacture similar units. After a three-year research and development process, Mark and his sons Aidan, Patrick and Colm, have launched DipFast. Structure The sheep shower unit, manufactured by Harlequin Manufacturing, can be best described as an oil tank-like structure, made from moulded polyethylene, with a spray system that can apply dip through 22 jets at a ﬂow rate of 140 litres per minute. The jets are located all around the structure with four located

on the removable heavy-duty mesh floor. It can hold six large-framed sheep or eight if shorn, with the unit closed at both ends by a transparent door. The base of the unit is heavy-duty galvanised steel, which allows the unit to be moved with a front loader or bale handler. It can also be manufactured mounted on a trailer for easy transport in fragmented holdings. Independently tested The unit has been independently tested by AFBI which reported excellent overall fleece saturation levels, no animal welfare issues and benefits in terms of health and safety of the operator with no product escaping from the unit during testing. The unit, which runs off a 240v pump and dual filtration system, costs £5,456 including VAT. For details see dipfast. com, email info@dipfast.com or call 07856 868136.

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Milford Sheep Breeders Association The Milford breed of sheep originates from Milford and the surrounding area of Co Donegal. The exact origin of the breed is unknown with breeders explaining that it stemmed from crossing Donegal-type Scottish Blackface ewes with Border Leicester and Cheviot breeding. It is thought the ﬁrst sheep were bred over 50 years ago with the breed type remaining constant in recent years. The characteristic Milford ewe is large-framed with a distinctive speckled head and is described as possessing good maternal attributes and being very prolific with scanning rates of two lambs and over common for the breed. The breed has witnessed a revival in interest, which has been harnessed into the formation of the Milford Sheep Breeders Association. With 24 breeders the group held their ﬁrst sale last September, which has added extra optimism according to breeder Dwayne Shiels.

Milford sheep breed.

“We had a better response than we could have ever expected with many other breeders from Roscommon, Leitrim and Sligo attending, as well as commercial farmers looking to try out the breed. Ewe

lambs sold from £114 to £123 with the prizewinners selling from £150 to £192. There were a few pens of hoggets and these sold from £158 to £194 with a top price of £209,’’ Shiels says. Breeding rams ranged from £176 to £396 and a top of £854. A show and sale of ewes and rams takes place on Monday 4 September in Milford mart. For further details contact Dwayne on 086-7315358 or mart manager John Stewart on 087-1277884.

WICKLOW CHEVIOT SHEEP OWNERS ASSOCIATION Come to Wicklow for your Brood Ewes & Store Lambs. Over 100,000 Available. Contact: Anne Marie Whittle Telephone: 087 6161591 Email: owners@wicklowsheep.com www.wicklowsheep.com

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017 6DWXUGD\ -XO\

FOCUS 51

New semen sexing technology available Ram Testing Ireland, the company based in Creeslough, Co Donegal, has recently taken on the distribution rights of the Emlab Genetics semen sexing agent for Ireland and the UK. The deal covers the sheep and goat industry and will see Ram Testing Ireland offer a semen sexing agent, which owner John McGee (pictured below) says will boost the percentage of male or female progeny born. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The semen sexing agent boosts the percentage of male or female RIIVSULQJ ERUQ LQ D pRFN WR WR DQG DOVR GHOLYHUV DQ LQFUHDVH LQ FRQFHSWLRQ UDWHV RI WR 7KH agents are suitable for cervical AI and laparoscopic AI and for use with fresh or frozen semen.â&#x20AC;? Breeders can select from Sheepplus to increase the number of female progeny and Ramplus to increase male progeny while goat terminology is Nannyplus and Billyplus. John says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the Sheepplus or Nannyplus, it works by accelerating the motility of the X-chromosome (ie female) bearing sperm, and by decelerating the motility of the Y-chromosome (ie male) bearing sperm. After insemination, the sperm are sorted in the reproductive tract of the dam. The result is more ova (egg cells) fertilised by the X-

chromosome bearing sperm increasing the number of females born.â&#x20AC;? According to John, the technology FDQ KXJHO\ EHQHoW EUHHGLQJ GHFLVLRQV with farmers able to increase the percentage of females born if targeting replacement females for example or males born if aiming to focus on the ram breeding market. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It will complement our offering to farmers and help producers make breeding decisions with greater accuracy. For example, Wicklow Cheviot breeder Daniel Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mullan, Rasharkin, XVHG 6KHHSSOXV LQ ZLWK WKH HZHV EHLQJ DUWLoFLDOO\ LQVHPLQDWHG E\ 3HWHU Thompson of Knockanboy Veterinary &OLQLF 'DQLHO UHSRUWV WKDW LQ KLV FURS RI ODPEV KH KDG HZH ODPEV ZLWK WKH HZHV KDYLQJ VFDQQHG DW lambs per ewe, so you can quickly see the opportunities available.â&#x20AC;? The sexing agents will be available for purchase through www.ramtesting. net and will be distributed to sheep and goat breeders across Ireland and the UK ahead of the upcoming breeding season. Typical costs are ÂŁ3 to ÂŁ4 per ewe depending on the amount purchased while additional charges depend on delivery requirements. For further information, see the website or FDOO -RKQ RQ

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TGM EID stick reader TGM Software Solutions Ltd has introduced a new EID stick reader, the Agrident AWL200. The reader combines EID tag reading with the capability to record management events such as linking ewes to lambs or rams, weight recording and health treatments. Information can also be pre-loaded to the AWL wand reader, which in turn will allow producers to identify and separate sheep based on alerts that have been set in PC software. This can be used for example to separate sheep for breeding while the link software allows the user to download data in spreadsheet format on their computer. The AWL reader works with various Bluetooth-enabled scales and mobile printers. The company is offering an introductory package which includes free link software and a free mobile print-

FARMERS JOURNAL Scotland

Helmut Ruppert of Agrident and TGMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s George Megarry introduce the new AWL200.

er for those purchasing before the end of August. The cost of the AWL200 (free link software) is ÂŁ458 plus VAT. For more details, phone TGM Software on 048 92 689681.

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More grass when it is really needed With second-cut wrapped up at Arnage, the focus returns to stock

Direct payments safe until 2022 NFU Scotland welcomes Lord Duncanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conďŹ rmation JOHN SLEIGH SCOTLAND EDITOR jsleigh@farmersjournal.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE

Direct payments have been conďŹ rmed for Scottish farmers until 2022 by Scottish Minister Lord Duncan. For the ďŹ rst time since the Brexit referendum, a UK minister has confirmed that the current payment system will remain in place for the duration of the current Westminster Parliament. This provides clarity to Michael Goveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview at the Great Yorkshire Show, where he said the UK Government would match the subsidies coming from the EU â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at least for the next few years. The payment oďŹ&#x20AC;ers an anchor of support to Scottish agriculture during the potential turmoil of Brexit negotiations. The payments are worth ÂŁ3.3m to the Scottish rural economy over the 2015 to 2020 period. Currently the money comes from the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Common Agricultural Policy budget, but will be funded by the UK Government in future.

Ă&#x201E; Continued on page 2

Iain Campbell of Meikle Seggie Farm, Kinross, weighing lambs

before auction at Caledonian Mart, Stirling. \ Craig Stephen Farmers Journal

Arable farmer optimism ahead of harvest 2017

Payments will continue for the duration of the parliament, through Brexit and out the other side

News >> 4

News >> 5

Call for brisket tag ban to be lifted News >> 3

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28 January 2017 Vol 70 No 4 R2

The slaughter records give valuable information for breeding decisions. Some sheep are plain looking, but they kill out well Farmer focus >> 26

BSE negligible risk status recommended for Scotland

JOHN SLEIGH SCOTTISH EDITOR jsleigh@farmersjournal.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE

The Scottish Government have announced that they are a step closer to BSE negligible status. This comes after the World Organisation for Animal Healthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (OIE) scientiďŹ c commission recommended that Scotland be recognised as an area of the UK having Negligible Risk status. This recommendation will need to be passed by the OIE General Assembly of Delegates at its meeting in late May 2017. Before the May meeting any other country has the ability to ask for the papers and pose questions which has the potential to delay the process. Along will Northern Ireland, Scotland hopes to become the ďŹ rst region of a member state awarded BSE negligible risk. Scotland has been BSE-free since 2009, and has had no cases of BSE in animals born since 2005. The status could be worth millions of pounds to the beef sector as more parts of the animal could be used and more export markets could be opened up.

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL S Saturday 22 July 2017

52 FOCUS

FARM SAFETY Reduce the workload on the human body

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Sean Mullooly outlines a number of tips to ease the risk of injury when working with sheep

FARMERS JOURNAL farmersjournal.ie

Dipping and pour-on products

All sheep dips contain hazardous substances. In order to kill the parasites on sheep, the sheep dip must be absorbed. This also poses a risk for operators of harmful chemicals coming in contact with their skin and being absorbed or inhaled. Farmers and others who are users of these products must act responsibly to protect their own health and also dispose of spent sheep dip or chemical containers in a manner that poses no risk to the environment. Ensure that proper protective clothing is worn, eg face masks, gloves, boots and aprons and remember that this will need to be repeated if handling sheep soon after treatment. Always follow the guidelines and safety instructions provided with the product you are using.

General handling

Weaning, drafting lambs for slaughter and sorting ewes for breeding and culling are just some of the tasks that involve a lot of manual handling. When handling a sheep, keep the animal close to your body and avoid having to lift the animal. If required to lift, use the proper technique by keeping your back straight, feet shoulder-width apart and lift with your legs and thigh muscles. Always get help when lifting heavy loads, or use a hoist. Using a cradle when weighing lambs will help, as will the use of a turnover crate for handling ewes or rams. Raddling rams can be a particularly onerous task with mature rams regularly weighing 90kg to 100kg or even more. Getting help to turn large rams is recommended. :KHUH FDWFKLQJ LW LV DOVR DGYLVDEOH WR p RFN VKHHS LQWR D smaller area where the ram has a lower chance to move and break free and as such will be easier to restrain. 6RPH IDUPHUV o QG WKDW IHHGLQJ D VPDOO OHYHO RI PHDO LQ WKH UXQ XS WR PDWLQJ PD\ KHOS WR p RFN UDPV LQWR SHQ ning with greater ease during the breeding season. Use caution when working with rams, particularly during the breeding season as they may be more excitable and easily aggravated.

Shearing

This is probably the most strenuous job on a sheep farm and while the majority of shearing is carried out, shearing of ewe lambs or lambs will soon begin again. It might seem unnecessary but a light stretch and warm up with gentle exercises before shearing, and cool down afterwards with slow, continuous stretches can go a long way to preventing injury. Ensure all of the shearing equipment is serviced and in good working order before you begin and regularly check it as you go. Maintain good posture and a straight lower back when shearing to avoid potential injury. When it comes to lower back support there are a number of options to choose from. A simple lower back belt can provide extra support where needed or you can go for a more elaborate brace support. This is effectively a harness hanging on a spring, which takes the weight of your upper body when you are bent over shearing the sheep. This takes the pressure off your lower back. Take regular breaks to alleviate fatigue.

Prices for mobile sheep handling units start anywhere from ÂŁ1,780 to ÂŁ2,670 and can go much higher depending on diďŹ&#x20AC;erent speciďŹ cations and addons such as software systems

Yard design and equipment There have been huge improvements in sheep handling equipment in the last few years. The important thing is trying to ďŹ nd something that suits you and your system and, more importantly, something you can aďŹ&#x20AC;ord. A good drafting system is essential in reducing the workload. Adjustability is key so that you can tailor the size of the race and penning to the number of animals you are working with. Extra gates should always be on hand to keep the animals as tight as possible so that you are not running around the pen after them. Prices for mobile sheep handling units start anywhere from ÂŁ1,780 to ÂŁ2,670 and can go much higher depending on different speciďŹ cations and add-ons such as software systems. There are simple units on the market too and there are critical pieces of equipment that can greatly reduce the workload. For example, automatic drafting gates can greatly reduce the manual handling of sheep. These units can divide the sheep by weight, identity or remote control. This allows for one operator to sort sheep with minimal eďŹ&#x20AC;ort. It also takes the lifting, pulling and dragging out of the process. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to splash out on an automatic drafter, cheaper manual ones can be just as eďŹ&#x20AC;ective. Remember many automatic drafting systems like these require a power source which isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always suitable for portable units. Electricity around livestock always poses a risk. So when you are using electrical tools around livestock, ensure that all cables are tied back and out of reach of livestock to avoid the risk of electrocution to you or the animals. Designing a yard layout that allows sheep to move freely is also important, as is avoiding non-slip surfaces. Including equipment such as forcing gates or designing penning so that sheep move easily will deliver long-term beneďŹ ts.

Personal hygiene Animals can transmit diseases to humans via saliva, urine or contact with skin or wounds. Practise good personal hygiene and wash your hands before eating and after handling sheep.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 28 July January 20172017

VIEWPOINTS 53

Editorial Justin McCarthy jmccarthy@farmersjournal.ie

Plenty of questions on future of dairy

ver the past three weeks, we have been running a special series looking at the performance of Irish dairy co-ops. Week one showed a diﬀerential of 6c/l in the milk price paid by the top and bottom performing co-ops. There are of course some legitimate reasons for the diﬀerential – the main one being the decision by the top-ranking co-ops to pass back a dividend through the milk price from their non-core dairy businesses, but typically this accounts for less than 2c/l. The co-ops at the bottom of the league need to address whatever is preventing them from paying a competitive milk price – whether it be product mix or the ongoing requirement for investment – and detail the time frame involved. Farmers should not accept the same excuses time and again as to why they are receiving €150 to €300 less per cow than those supplying the same product to an alternative co-op. A beef factory paying €300 less per finished animal wouldn’t stay in business long. Guaranteedsupply base Of course, these poorer performing co-ops have traditionally had the luxury of a guaranteed supply base regardless of their performance and the milk price paid. Week two of our analysis shone a light on board structures. More than 200 farmers sit on the boards of our dairy co-ops. There is a cost to this level of representation with each member rightly receiving a fee for their time and input. But leaving this aside, does such an unwieldy board/ representative structure best serve the strategic interests of Irish dairy farming? The fragmented nature of our dairy

processing sector has been repeatedly shown to be a drain on milk price – both through elevated processing costs and an inability to extract full value from the market. Previous industry reviews have shown the impact on milk price to be in the region of 3c/l, or equivalent to €180m per annum. We have seen within the EU and at international level that it is the co-op board and in particular the co-op chairs that drive the consolidation agenda, not the CEOs or executive teams. Do the chairs and boards of Irish co-ops not accept the potential for consolidation to drive better prices back to farmers? Why does the Irish dairy industry think it can reverse what is clearly a global trend where mergers and acquisitions are seen as key to delivering economies of scale and developing routes to market for new products. It is not only a global phenomenon; we have seen it developing at pace in the Irish beef industry. Is it credible to think that a flotilla of small Irish dairy processors each crossing paths on international markets effectively selling the same product is the most efficient way to extract the maximum value from our 6bn litre milk pool? In our five-page feature this week, Jack Kennedy and Eoin Lowry look at how some of our main dairy coops compare on an international basis. It is perhaps at an international level that the fragmented nature of our processing sector is most exposed with Irish co-ops languishing at the bottom of international leagues. Again, there are a number of unique challenges that the Irish dairy sector faces when measured on an international basis – mainly our seasonal supply base and additional costs in getting to market.

NI comment

David Wright, Northern Ireland editor dwright@farmersjournal.ie

NI left behind in political deadlock

ast week the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier met with political leaders from Scotland and Wales, as well as British Labour party leader

Jeremy Corbyn, as he sought a range of views ahead of the start of the latest round of Brexit negotiations this week. But given the political deadlock

We must also recognise the fact that Irish dairy farmers have not been restricted in their growth ambitions with co-ops making the necessary investment to process all additional milk produced. Nevertheless, do we simply accept that the rightful place for milk produced by Irish farmers from a sustainable grass-based system is at the bottom of the international price league? Such an acceptance would clearly be at odds with the premiumisation message created around the Kerrygold butter brand that consumes some 15% of total dairy production. It is incomprehensible at a time when there is a growing realisation of the superior health benefits of dairy products produced from grass that we would accept Irish prices

Do the chairs and boards of Irish co-ops not accept the potential for consolidation to drive prices back to farmers?

at Stormont, there were no political leaders from here in a position to go to Brussels and emphasise the important issues around Brexit for Northern Ireland. Instead, it looks like it will be the autumn at the earliest before the political institutions are restored at Stormont. So in the meantime, we are left with civil servants in charge. However, their powers to make any decisions which could cut across departments are currently limited without a Stormont Executive in place. On hold It means that a number of important issues for the agri-food industry are effectively on hold. That includes setting up a new marketing organisation to promote our food and

FINANCE

that languish at the bottom of the international league. At the same time, we are seeing some processors in the EU pay a 1.5c/l premium for milk produced from cows that are on grass for what equates to 30 days in the year. The current position of Ireland within the international league also exposes the ﬂaws in how co-ops are extracting the premium from producing 16% of the world’s infant formula. Along with the quality produced, is one of the reasons that the leading players in this market are all present in Ireland merely the fact that the fragmented nature of our processing sector allows them to control the premium passed back to the farmer by having Irish co-ops compete with each other? The potential for Ireland to extract the full value from this lucrative market through establishing a standalone infant formula brand has been repeatedly shot down on cost. Nevertheless, is there an alternative? Can we channel this product through Ornua for it to be sold on licence to the various manufacturers, therefore removing internal competition?

Last week, the Irish Central Statistics Office published a new measure of Irish economic activity known as modified gross national income (GNI). Unlike GDP, GNI strips out the profits from US groups based here. Viewed through the GNI lens, our economy shrinks by 30%, our current account surplus turns to a deficit and debt levels rise 25% – reinforcing the fact that our sovereign debt is nearly twice the EU average. The question for Government is whether or not it is going to use GNI as the true measure of economic performance and, more importantly, how this is going to be reflected in upcoming budgets and spending plans.

drink, putting forward a plan to eradicate bovine TB or establishing a new land use policy for NI agriculture. It is a very frustrating time for any farming leader lobbying government. But the impression given at present is that everything has come to

a halt, and there is a danger that the current political impasse is used as a reason not to make any decisions at all. Unfortunately, there is a culture of fear around decision making in the civil service, and once engrained, it is a hard mindset to overcome.

The impression given at present is that everything has come to a halt, and there is a danger that the current political impasse is used as a reason not to make any decisions at all

Direct rule What might change the status quo is a return to direct rule, which while not palatable to many, and certainly not ideal, would potentially put the onus on senior civil servants to take more of a lead. The alternatives are that the political impasse is broken soon, or as one senior ﬁgure in the UFU put it recently, DAERA top brass “man up and take some responsibility”.

Is gross national income the new economic benchmark?

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

54 AGRIBUSINESS

AgriBusiness

Eoin Lowry (01) 4199500 elowry@farmersjournal.ie @FJAgribiz

FBD Hotels signs £88m La Cala deal Lorcan Allen speaks to FBD Hotels chief executive David Kelly around the company’s latest joint venture property development

BD Hotels, the whollyowned subsidiary of the investment vehicle Farmer Business Developments, has announced plans for a further £88m development of its 1,000 acre La Cala resort in Spain. The development, which will be carried out as part of a joint venture with British construction ﬁrm Taylor Wimpey, will see the construction of 280 units at the La Cala site. This is the fourth joint venture development between FBD Hotels and Taylor Wimpey since 2014. However, this latest deal between the two companies differs slightly from previous agreements in that only 190 of the 280 units will be owned 50:50 between Taylor Wimpey and FBD Hotels. The remaining 90 units will be entirely owned by FBD Hotels. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, FBD Hotels chief executive David Kelly said this latest joint venture would bring gross sales from its four development phases with Taylor Wimpey to more than £176m when realised. “In total we have now agreed joint venture developments for 658 units on the La Cala site since 2014. These developments account for 36% of the development land FBD Hotels

owns in La Cala” said Kelly. “Gross sales should come to more than £176m and our cut from that will be £37m or £38m. In total, 114 units have been sold to date which has brought in about £9m to FBD Hotels. So we’ve realised about 25% of the sales value of our share of these units already. We will get the balance of that return over the next five to seven years,” he said. Development Although these four development phases have used more than a third of the development land available at La Cala, a further 250 acres of bare land remains available for development down the road. Close to 60% of all the units sold to date are bought by either UK or Belgian customers according to Kelly. While unit prices have increased between 10% and 15% over recent years, Kelly says the depreciation in the value of sterling since the Brexit vote has not aﬀected demand from UK buyers as yet. What is noticeable according to Kelly, is the change in booking patterns since the fall in sterling with UK tourists leaving it later in the year to book holidays. Aside from this, Kelly says the overall tourist market in Spain is very

La Cala resort.

Gross sales should come to more than £176m and our cut from that will be £37m or £38m

strong, with 75m visitors arriving in 2016. Tourist numbers to Spain are forecast at 82m next year. “Spain is the third biggest country for tourism numbers,” says Kelly. “Displacement is deﬁnitely helping, with more people choosing Spain as a safe holiday destination following terrorist attacks in places like France, Germany, Tunisia and the UK.” FBD Hotels reported an 8%

increase in earnings (EBITDA) for its 2016 ﬁnancial year to £78m. Tu r n o v e r f o r t h e y e a r amounted to £42m. Since Farmer Business Developments assumed full control of FBD Hotels in November 2015, the priority for Kelly has been to reduce the £40m debt on the company’s balance sheet. At year-end 2016, net debt was reduced to £33m which leaves the balance sheet in

very good shape according to Kelly. “The net debt still remains a priority for me. But the strong performance is enabling us to loosen up a bit,” he says. “Last year we redistributed £1m to Farmer Business Developments, which is two years ahead of schedule. My aim is for this business to start making annual and consistent repayments to Farmers Developments.”

Proﬁts jump at Dawn’s French joint venture Elivia in 2016 THOMAS HUBERT NEWS CORRESPONDENT thubert@farmersjournal.ie

France’s second-largest meat processor Elivia, a joint venture between Dawn Meats and the French co-op Terrena, has reported a 30% increase in sales for its 2016 ﬁnancial year to just under £1bn. The signiﬁcant increase in sales is a result of further corporate streamlining by the French processor, with seven sub-

sidiaries merged into direct ownership last year. This brings the total number of processing facilities operated by Elivia across Northern France to 16 and helped the processor’s cattle kill for 2016 increase by 1% to more than 430,000 head. More importantly, the business recorded a significant improvement in proﬁtability in 2016 despite continued investment. For the 12 months to the end of December, Eliv-

ia reported earnings (EBITDA) of £13 m, which is almost double last year’s earnings of just over £7m. However, Elivia continues to operate off very tight earnings margins of just 1.6% despite the improved performance last year. After racking up losses close to £616,000 in 2015, Elivia returned to the black for its 2016 financial year, with operating profits improving to £576,400. This leaves the business working off a razor-thin profit mar-

gin of less than 0.1%. The consolidation of profits from subsidiary businesses yielded more than £10m in financial inflows, which accounted for the increase in pre-tax profit to £11 m, up from just £1m a year earlier. The addition of these subsidiaries into the overall business saw staff numbers grow from 1,933 to 2,113, with another 553 employees of associated companies now working for the parent business.

The annual accounts ﬁled by Elivia show a £6 m increase in the value of its buildings and a £17 m rise in the value of equipment, which reﬂects the three-year investment programme agreed with Dawn Meats when the Irish company took its 49% stake in the company in 2015. Elivia has also been expanding capacity at several factories and modernising its processing and IT infrastructure. The company reports receiving

just under £1 m in investment subsidies from the French government attributable to last year, and another £440,000 in operating subsidies. Elivia’s overall net debt position at year end increased moderately by £9m to £154m. Dawn’s stake in Elivia remained 49% at the end of 2016. The agreement signed with Terrena in 2014 oﬀers the Irish partner an option to increase its shareholding to a maximum of 70% by 2019.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

MAIN MOVERS

AGRIBUSINESS 55

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on 19/07/2017

Kerry co-op increases dividend to £2.42/share LORCAN ALLEN IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL lallen@farmersjournal.ie

Kerry co-op, the farmerowned holding company with a 13.7% stake in Kerry Group plc, has paid a dividend of £2.4 per share to its farmer shareholders for 2016, which amounted to a little over £10m. The dividend payment to shareholders is a 10% increase on the £2.2 per share payment made in 2015. The increased dividend payment is a result of the improved performance of Kerry Group plc last year, with the ﬂavours and ingredients business recording a 7% increase in earnings to £776m as turnover remained relatively ﬂat at £5.4bn. The improved performance saw Kerry Group increase its dividend payment by 12% to 56c per share. As a result, Kerry co-op saw its income from its 13.7% stake in Kerry Group increase from £8.6m in 2015 to £11m last year. 2SHUDWLQJ H[SHQVHV Annual operating expenses to run Kerry co-op increased to £1.2 m last year, with the majority of this related to non-executive board member fees. The fees paid to 32 nonexecutive directors of the coop board came to £414,392 last year, which averages almost £12,936 per board member. Some non-executive board

members received more than others, with payments ranging from €1,100 to €32,384 per year. At the beginning of 2016, the three senior management of Kerry co-op were Stan McCarthy, Brian Durran and John O’Callaghan, all of whom receive no remuneration for their roles. During the year, Stan McCarthy stepped down as chief executive of the co-op, while Brian Durran resigned from his position as secretary of the society in December – a position held by Durran since 1986. At the end of 2016, the society’s 13.7% stake in Kerry Group plc was valued at more than £1.4bn based on a share price of £60. Based on this week’s share price in Kerry Group of £68, the co-op is valued close to £1.8bn. Unlike many of the other dairy co-ops in Ireland, Kerry co-op no longer owns any physical milk processing or agribusiness assets. The agritrading and milk processing assets are fully controlled by the agribusiness division of Kerry Group plc. However, Kerry co-op maintains an option to buy certain assets of Kerry Group’s agribusiness division, which operates the animal feed mill and milk processing assets. The option to buy these assets was agreed between Kerry co-op and Kerry Group plc in 2002 and can be exercised at any time up to 2020.

Rising cream prices hit Dairy Crest profits Dairy Crest, the UK dairy processor based in the southeast of England, has said the soaring price of cream used to make its Country Life butter brand has affected profit margins for the first half of the year. Cream procured from processed milk is the primary input for butter production and has seen sharp price rises in recent months. In January, the European

spot price for cream was trading about £3,960/t as the market prepared for the seasonal lift in European milk production. However, spring milk production on the continent was adversely affected by weather and cream available for butter production is much tighter than anticipated. As such, the spot price of cream has increased close to £6,160/t over recent months.

Chopping meat at a JBS packing plant in Sao Paulo

JBS sells oﬀ further assets in Canada LORCAN ALLEN IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL lallen@farmersjournal.ie

JBS, the world’s largest beef processor based in Brazil, has announced that its indirect subsidiary JBS Food Canada has reached an agreement to sell its major cattle feedlot located in the province of Alberta in a deal valued at $40m (£30.8m). JBS has said it will sell the cattle feedlot and the adjacent lands to MCF Holdings, a subsidiary of the livestock trading ﬁrm Nilsson Bros, which previously owned the feedlot. The

feedlot has the capacity for 75,000 head of cattle. Under the terms of the agreement, MCF will continue to supply cattle to JBS Canada’s nearby beef processing facility. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory review and approval. The sale of this feedlot is the latest stage of JBS’s plans to oﬄoad noncore assets in a bid to pay down the group’s spiralling debt costs. $VVHW oUH VDOH JBS has already announced that Northern Ireland poultry processor Moy Park is on the market for sale, while other

£31m Value of Canadian feedlot sold by JBS

assets including its 19% stake in the Brazilian dairy company Vigor Alimentos, as well as the Five Rivers cattle feedlot in the US that has the capacity to ﬁnish close to 1m cattle per year will also be sold. The Brazilian processor has also struck a $300m (£234.1 m) deal with rival processor Minerva to sell its beef processing businesses in South America. The deal includes

the sale of five beef processing units located in Argentina (1), Paraguay (3) and Uruguay (1), which have a combined slaughtering capacity of 9m head of cattle per annum. JBS is aiming to raise $1.8bn (£1.4bn) from the sale of noncore assets in what is undoubtedly a fire sale to shore up the company’s highly leveraged balance sheet with net debts of $14bn (£11bn) at present. The cost of carrying this debt has skyrocketed after JBS’s parent company J&F Investimentos was fined £2.6bn by Brazilian prosecutors following a lengthy corruption and bribery investigation.

Proﬁts fall for Irish National Ploughing Association EOIN LOWRY AGRIBUSINESS EDITOR elowry@farmersjournal.ie

With record crowds of 283,000 attending last year’s Irish Ploughing in Tullamore, the National Ploughing Association recorded a proﬁt of £856,770 for the year ended 31 January 2017. Despite the higher crowds

over the three day event, the profit figure was down 18% on 2015. The accounts do not include details of senior management remuneration. In 2015, turnover at the company was £4.4m while costs amounted to £3.5m. 3URoWV Last year’s profits bring accumulated profits to £12.4m

– an increase of £2.3m or 29% since 2013. The NPA has over £1.8m cash in the bank along with £9.7m in investments which are mainly held as fixed-term deposits along with a smaller amount held in a secure capital fund and £22,880 in prize bonds. Commenting on the recent results, NPA managing director Anna May McHugh said

the cash reserves are required as a rainy-day fund as it costs more than £3.5m to run what is an outdoor event every year. It is estimated that visitors to the Ploughing spend over £35.2m over the three-day event. This spending results in a tax take of over £5.8m for the Exchequer. Almost £8.8m is spent on food every year at the event.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

56 AGRIBUSINESS

20 minutes with Joe and Bill Connolly

Joe and Bill Connolly of Connollyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red Mills with the Connollyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red Mills plant in the background in Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny. \ Dylan Vaughan

Business brieďŹ ng

Lorcan Allen

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Growing consumer demand for meat proteins around the world has boosted profits for Cargill, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest player in the agricultural commodities sector. Reporting its ďŹ nancial results for 2017, Cargill said that its meat protein business continued to experience strong consumer demand in both the retail and foodservice sales channels. Operating proďŹ ts for Cargill increased by 85% last year to more than $3bn (ÂŁ2bn) as profit margins increased 130 basis points to 2.8%. Sales for the year increased 2% to $109.7bn (ÂŁ84bn), while net debt was reduced 30% by year-end to $7.5bn (ÂŁ6bn). Cargill said the strong increase in profits in 2017 was driven by the â&#x20AC;&#x153;exceptional performanceâ&#x20AC;? of its global meat protein business. In North America, beef sales beneďŹ ted from strong consumer demand, which was complemented with brisk export demand for beef. On the chicken side, profit margins were boosted by higher exports of cooked chicken from its operations in southeast Asia.

Green Belt Ltd, the forestry management company based in Virginia, Co Cavan, has reported pre-tax losses of more than ÂŁ177,760 for its financial year ended August 2016. This is actually an improved result compared with the previous year when Green Belt racked up close to half a million in pre-tax losses. While no turnover figure for Green Belt is disclosed, accounts show the business made an operating loss of close to ÂŁ96,026 for its 2016 ďŹ nancial year. The loss incurred last year means the shareholder funds, or retained proďŹ ts in the business, fell by 6% to just over ÂŁ3m. Green Belt manages over 300,000 acres of forestry in Ireland for private clients, investors and pension funds. The company also has operations in the UK and eastern Europe, as well as a 2,000 acre teak plantation in Central America. In April, Green Belt partnered with Microsoft to plant 137ha of Irish land in native trees that will sequester 35,600t of carbon over 40 years.

The bottom line

The opportunity of a lifetime must be taken in the lifetime of the opportunity

Our industry is facing strong over-supply of urea and other commodity nitrogen products â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Svein Tore Holsether, chief executive of Yara

Ă Chart of the week Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the greatest challenge of running a family business? Bill: When you are working for yourself in a family business, you are always thinking about the business. My father used to say this was part and parcel of working for yourself. You are continuously representing your business in every conversation or meeting.

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How do you plan for succession? Joe: Some family companies set up boards in an eďŹ&#x20AC;ort to keep all the family members involved. We believe that it is necessary to work in the company in order to have an understanding of how the business works. In our case, Bill and I were selected to take over the business from our late father Liam Connolly. We started in the company as teenagers, worked our way up and now we run the business as a partnership. All decisions are made jointly.

world has got smaller and global factors are aďŹ&#x20AC;ecting the price of grain more than ever.

Have you started planning for the next generation? Joe: Yes, all of our children have worked in the business at some point, during school holidays and in some cases came to work for us after they qualiďŹ ed. Gareth, John and William Connolly are part of the ďŹ fth generation and are progressing through the business as both Bill and I did. Do you buy grain from local farmers? Bill: We have 300 grain growers supplying us with approximately 80,000t of grain per annum. Ireland is a net importer of grain as demand for native grain exceeds supply. The

Ă&#x201A; Directors: Bill Connolly and Joe Connolly, Connollyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red Mills. Ă&#x201A; Grain bought from Irish farmers: 80,000t. Ă&#x201A; Employees: 320 worldwide.

How have you developed the export side of the business? Bill: Our brother Michael heads up the export team. He took over the export sales in 1993 and has grown the business from mainland EU to the current 74 countries worldwide. While saying that, we are ďŹ rmly committed to continuously growing our share of the Irish market. If you cannot do business at home there is no point in going abroad. The reputation of our feeds has allowed us to progress from one international market to the next. We really emphasise the quality and consistency of our feeds. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your secret to success? Joe: There is no secret. From a business management perspective, we are positive people who work hard at manufacturing and promoting top quality products. I believe the opportunity of a lifetime must be taken in the lifetime of the opportunity. We availed of the opportunities we identiďŹ ed over the years and continue to invest in our business and our people.

Amazon moves into meal-kit solutions 8m 7.5m 7m 1m 7

World news Nitrogen prices to stay ORZ LQWR q <DUD Nitrogen prices will remain low into 2018, according to Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara. Reporting half-year results, Yara said the continued increase in capacity for urea production was weighing on global nitrogen pricing and that this situation was likely to persist into 2018. Traditionally, the benchmark for global nitrogen pricing has been set in China, which is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest producer and exporter. But the rising price of coal, which is the main energy source for Chinese producers, has led to a substantial decline in Chinese urea production and

Shares in Blue Apron, the online US food company that posts meal kits to consumers, plunged almost 15% this week after ecommerce giant $PD]RQ oOHG D trademark for the phrase â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do the prep. You be the chef.â&#x20AC;?

consequentially exports have fallen. Capitalising on Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems, fertiliser companies in Europe and the US have increased production and lowered prices to capture market share from Chinese fertiliser exporters. And with more newly built nitrogen plants set to come online next year, Yara anticipates nitrogen prices will remain subdued well into 2018. In the first half of this year, Yara recorded a 9% decline in sales to less than ÂŁ4bn despite a slight increase (+1%) in the volume of fertiliser sold. Operating proďŹ ts for the ďŹ rst half of the year more than halved (-62%) to ÂŁ247m as profit margins showed a massive decline from 14% in 2016 to less than 6% this year. The sharp decline in operating proďŹ ts reďŹ&#x201A;ects the weakness in fertiliser prices at present coupled with rising energy costs for Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest fertiliser company. The company expects its natural gas costs to rise by ÂŁ7m to ÂŁ14m for the second half of 2017.

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

AGRIBUSINESS 57

Horsemeat scandal gave a view over the cliﬀ INDUSTRY INSIGHT Phelim O’Neill

For Scotland, it was not just a case of making sure the product was beef, but making sure it was Scotch beef, eligible to carry the PGI branding

h or sem ea t sc a nda l has emerged in Spain, with the Guardia Civil along with Europol reporting at the weekend that it had dismantled an organised crime group that was trading unfit horsemeat. Sixty-five arrests were made in an investigation that concentrated on horses from Spain and Portugal but involved eight EU countries in total including the UK. However, Europol confirmed to Farmer’s Journal Scotland that the UK involvement was confined to the use of information that had been previously submitted by the EU authorities. This latest incident differs from the one in 2013 when burgers and pies in several supermarkets, ready meals and fast food outlets were found to contain horsemeat in what were supposed to be beef products. This was a food fraud issue with no concerns about the fitness of the product. On this occasion, however, the investigation was focused on unfit horses being processed and making their way into the legitimate trade in horsemeat. There is a link with the 2013 incident through a Dutch businessman who is linked to both incidents and was arrested in Belgium in relation to this latest event. The investigation in Spain was triggered by the Guardia Civil’s Environmental Protection Service after unusual activity was detected in horsemeat markets. This involved processing unfit horses and forging their identity by modifying their microchips and documentation. There is a significant niche market for horsemeat in mainland Europe, particularly in France and Italy. This is serviced by a horsemeat processing industry which is regulated under EU official controls similar to the processing of other meats. There are no horsemeat processing facilities in Scotland nor is horsemeat a common meat anywhere in the UK or Ireland. The 2013 scandal revealed just how little the industry and indeed large burger chains, ready meal producers and big supermarkets knew about the lowervalue meat products they were sourcing, particularly for their budget ranges. The incessant driving down of price created the incentive for unscrupulous elements in the industry to blend even lower value product (horsemeat) with beef and when it was in a 20kg frozen block, it was unidentifiable without species testing, which did not happen. It was only when the issues emerged in Ireland that it was revealed just how little knowledge top retailers and burger outlets had of their supply lines. Thereafter there was a rush by the industry and large publicly listed supermarket and food service customers to place an unprecedented focus on product integrity. For Scotland, with its PGI status for beef and lamb, it was not just a case of making sure the product was beef, but making sure it was Scotch beef, eligible to carry the PGI branding. What had been previously thought to be reliable supply

chains were found wanting and this had consequences. Horsemeat gave the meat processing industry a view over the edge of the cliﬀ as it did to their major customers caught up in the fraud and has led to changes. The traditional meat trading or broker service that bought and traded large blocks of frozen manufacturing beef has been curtailed as meat processors and their customers focused on shortening their supply chains to minimise the risk of anything going wrong again. Not only have traders been squeezed out but so also have smaller stand alone

abattoirs. Previously these would have been substantial suppliers to the retail packing and burger manufacturing business of the big groups. Takeovers There have been signiﬁcant takeovers and merging of interests in Scotland recently with the merging of Dunbia’s Elgin business with Highland meats in Saltcoats. Both these organisations have extensive retail packing and burger manufacturing capacity and the mergers and acquisitions further tighten their control of supplies.

While Scotland has avoided direct involvement with the horsemeat scandal, it is a timely reminder to farmers and factories the importance of product authentication given the PGI status and premium positioning of Scotch beef and lamb. There is always a risk that these are targeted by counterfeiters through substituting with a cheaper alternative and passing off as Scotch. It would be particularly difficult given the robust traceability system and tight supply chains of the Scottish industry, but these issues from horsemeat are a warning that there is no room for complacency.

READ ABOUT OUR FOCUS FARM’S JOURNEYS, EVERY WEEK IN THE FARMERS JOURNAL SCOTLAND: The Farm Profit Programme is a joint venture between ANM Group and the Farmers Journal. Over the next three years, the programme has one simple aim – making livestock pay.

MARK & SHONA MACKAY Greenvale Farm, Dunnet, Thurso, Caithness Farm Size: 368ha

THE BIFFEN FAMILY

Arnage Farms, Mains of Arnage, Ellon, Aberdeenshire Farm Size: 227ha

THE DUGUID FAMILY

Mains of Cranna, Aberchirder, Huntly, Aberdeenshire Farm Size: 164ha

THE DUFFUS FAMILY

Mains of Auchriachan, Tomintoul, Ballindalloch Farm Size: 1,540ha

CHARLES & ALISON WEBSTER Ardhuncart Farm, Kildrummy, Alford, Aberdeenshire Farm Size: 250ha

ANDREW & KATHRYN GAMMIE Drumforber, Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire Farm Size: 131ha

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

58 AGRIBUSINESS

Global Focus Who will conquer high-priced Japanese market? Despite weaknesses in the Japanese economy, this large aďŹ&#x201E;uent market presents opportunities for European exporters. Thomas Hubert reports from Tokyo

Japanese tillage farmer Shigeo Maeda (right) and baker Shinji $PDJDWD ZKR EX\V pRXU IURP wheat grown on his farm.

o anyone wondering about the importance of the Japanese market, the shock of Tokyoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s constant ďŹ&#x201A;ow of people will be an instant revelation. The city is home to 37m people who throng its busy streets day and night under towering neon lights. They commute through an even busier sprawling transport system, where they can buy hot and cold food and drinks from underground malls and ubiquitous vending machines â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you can even pay for ice cream with your metro pass. Supermarkets, bars and restaurants extend vertically into highrise buildings. The national population is 125m, but it peaked in 2010 and is now ageing rapidly. All observers of the Japanese food market are quick to warn of this risk: according to government forecasts, the population will shrink to 102m by 2045. The country has also suffered from years of economic stagnation caused by the global financial crisis and the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear accident. Yet, for many reasons, Japan remains an attractive export market and the proposed free trade agreement with the EU holds some promise for Irish farmers. Japanese farming representatives point out that although the TPP trade deal with other Pacific nations including the US and its equivalent with the EU are not yet in force, the country is far from being a closed market. As reported last week, the domestic farming population has aged and dwindled faster than the rest of the nation, and consumers have been shifting away from the traditional rice staple in favour of more western diets incorporating dairy and beef. Japan is therefore importing more than 60% of its food by calorie count and 46% by value. This is more than any other developed country. Although the government is encouraging more domestic production of those products favoured by 21st century Japanese consumers, such as cheese, this industry shift represents a massive undertaking and Japan will continue to import large quantities of food for decades to come. This is evident on supermarket shelves, where a two-tier market has developed. Local beef steak retails for ÂŁ44.5/kg, and up to ÂŁ71.2/kg for densely marbled cuts from the most sought-after Wagyu breed cattle. But in the same refrigerated cabinet, Tokyo shoppers can buy Australian or US steak for ÂŁ17.8/kg. Japan imports

Milk consumption is becoming increasingly popular in Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cafĂŠs.

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Take video tours of Japanese farms: ifj.ie/japan

Podcast More on farmers journal.ie/podcast

500,000t of beef per year, and 20,000 live cattle from Australia. The same goes for pork, with domestic chops selling for ÂŁ14.24/kg whereas US ones are only ÂŁ8.01/kg. Canadian and European pork can also be found in Japan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mostly Spanish these days, with some Irish products as well. In the dairy aisle, all liquid milk is domestic and standard cartons are priced at ÂŁ1.2/l. In a nod to real milk lovers, only the full-fat stuďŹ&#x20AC; can be called â&#x20AC;&#x153;milkâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; semi-skimmed must be labelled â&#x20AC;&#x153;dairy drinkâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and local premium brands command higher prices. But the rest of the section shows a strong presence of imported products, with portions of Australian processed cheese selling for ÂŁ4.09/ kg and grated Parmesan from the US giant Kraft Foods fetching ÂŁ3.03 for a tub of 80g â&#x20AC;&#x201C; higher than the Japanese-made equivalent. The use of European PGIs is not protected, and this is part of the proposed trade agreement. Meanwhile, butter â&#x20AC;&#x201C; only domestic in the supermarket visited by the Farmers Journal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; sells for a whopping ÂŁ15.13/kg. A number of factors have been playing in favour of opening Japan to international agricultural trade further. Shortages of certain products have hit consumers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; butter at the end of 2015, and potatoes last month â&#x20AC;&#x201C; making oďŹ&#x192;cials and public opinion more open to the idea of relaxing import restrictions. Japan is also keen to plug some of its ag-

Consumers shop at the food market in Kanazawa, western Japan.

ricultural trade deďŹ cit through developing exports. One ministry of agriculture official pointed out to the Farmers Journal that it was â&#x20AC;&#x153;hugeâ&#x20AC;?, with ÂŁ80bn worth of food imported every year but only a few hundred millionsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth exported. Value Government policy is to boost both the value of domestically produced food to 73% of consumption by 2025, and exports to ÂŁ8bn by 2020. That year, Tokyo will host the Olympics and the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farmers and processors are currently scrambling to meet international quality standards such as the food safety HACCP certiďŹ cation in time to showcase their products at the event. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ten years ago, it was all about protecting our market,â&#x20AC;? international relations manager with the national co-op federation JA Zenchu Yasuyuki Kobayashi

told the Farmers Jouranl. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now this stance has changed: with incomes rising in Vietnam, China, we think that maybe we could sell agricultural infrastructure, etc, to other Asian countries.â&#x20AC;? Yet, the biggest event in preparing the ground for the proposed free-trade agreement with the EU was the signature of TPP. US president Donald Trump parked it since coming to power earlier this year, and it is still opposed by many Japanese farmers and politicians on the left of the political spectrum, with posters against the deal visible in Tokyo. Yet it has set a precedent and is now the benchmark: Kobayashi said the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position on trade negotiations with Europe was â&#x20AC;&#x153;not to exceed the concessions taken in TPPâ&#x20AC;?. Europe would like more, and an EU oďŹ&#x192;cial said the 81% elimination of tariďŹ&#x20AC;s achieved under TPP only looked good because it applied to such a high level of existing protectionism in the ďŹ rst place. But some middle ground seems to be emerging. From an EU point of view, a trade deal with Japan would open opportunities in dairy and meat. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Grass-fed beef is a niche market in Japan,â&#x20AC;? oďŹ&#x20AC;ering a chance for differentiation from existing US and Australian imports, Tomoe Yokouchi of the semi-state agency Agriculture and Livestock Industries Corporation told the Farmers Jouranl. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are also interested in importing dairy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; New Zealand is our main source, but I think only Ireland can compete with them,â&#x20AC;? he added, with price a key factor here.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

VIEWPOINTS 59

Viewpoints A 10-year view of farming

1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

and some dairy products and a decline price of maize for more than the orecasts and reality can in meat, especially beef prices, as delast 100 years. As can be seen diverge dramatically mand growth slows and production from the graph, the real price but trends are much continues to steadily increase. has ďŹ&#x201A;uctuated wildly with more stable. ForeThe OECD/FAO forecast should reinwar time booms and peace casts for product force the case for at least a stability in time slumps. We have now prices and output can be EU funding for the CAP as the next essentially reached a stage in spectacularly inaccurate if review begins. For individual farmers, world food production where weather patterns change in a the relentless drive to reduce costs or scarcity for those in normal, given year in an important to diďŹ&#x20AC;erentiate their product from the peaceful democracies is a crop producing region. They DEMPSEY AT remote possibility and if bulk commodities of overseas, largecan also change if an imporLARGE scale producers will continue. But one there is a regional, climatic tant input such as oil or ferticlear message is that those who expect problem as in east Africa at liser spikes in price and sigMatt biofuels to be the saviour of the tillage the moment, there are more niďŹ cantly aďŹ&#x20AC;ects the price of Dempsey than enough stocks available sector will be disappointed. On the inputs and the cost of producother hand, those who calmly assess to deliver aid without worldtion. where their comparative advantage Producers in individual countries can wide price shocks. lies and develop accordingly, should So, what can be expected for the also be dramatically aďŹ&#x20AC;ected by political be able to ride out most storms in bad decisions. Ethiopian farmers receive next 10 years? The prognosis is more times and do well on average. For Irish more for their grain than do their Euro- of the same â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in other words a rough producers, that seems to imply dairypean counterparts and, over the last continuation of the present trends ing as the key enterprise. seven to eight years, we have seen an with some small increases in cereals extraordinary convergence in dairy pricLong-term price of maize in real terms ($/t) es between New Zealand and Europe. Up to 2010, New Zealand dairy farmers 1400 had received about half the European price for milk â&#x20AC;&#x201C; now they are, if not slightly above, Irish prices. But over the long-term, the trend in agricultural prices is unmistakable. The latest Agricultural Outlook produced by the OECD, the rich world economies and the FAO, the Food & Agricultural Organisation of the Unit0 ed Nations, has a spectacular graph showing the long-term trends in the

Ă THE HOME FARM Suddenly, the 8ft high wall collapsed. As it fell into the pen beside the cattle crush that we use for drawing cattle, P\ o UVW WKRXJKW ZDV LI WKHUH KDG EHHQ D FKLOG RU DQ DGXOW in the pen at the time, they would at a minimum have been badly maimed or more likely killed. The facts are simple. The wall was built about 100 years ago, of a little concrete holding rubble and rough stones together. It had been built well before tractors and power loaders and was to enclose the yard so that stock could be contained if they were in the yard or prevented from getting in if they were meant to be outside. In recent years, the wall has doubled up as providing a useful barrier at harvest for grain temporarily held before being loaded on to trucks. We have also taken to dumping zero-grazed grass against it and scooping up the grass with a power loader to put it in the diet feeder for mixing and feeding. That was what we were doing when we clearly applied too much pressure and so, caused the collapse. We now have no option but to dig down, put in a new foundation and build a wall capable of meeting modern farming demands. Meanwhile, on the day-to-day operations we had a small DPRXQW RI VHHG ZLQWHU EDUOH\ ZKLFK ZH o QLVKHG RQ WKH Tuesday just ahead of the threatened thunder storms. As on most tillage farms, there is at this time of the year a buildup of fungicide and agri chemical containers. The local depot was taking them in, for a fee. Not surprisingly, the depot was busy but in some ways, the scene was reminiscent of a prisoner of war camp where farmers were briskly interrogated as to their name, address, herd number, mobile number â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not a please or thanks or even as the money was handed over, an acknowledgement that it was farmers and their purchase of inputs that was keeping the recycling and disposal company in business. +RZHYHU WKH ZKROH RSHUDWLRQ ZDV HIo FLHQWO\ KDQGOHG DQG I wondered as I drove away if I was not just nit-picking.

UK running out of options as realities of Brexit sink in There is too much optimism in Ireland over Brexit. The reality is that there is no simple path to a frictionless border

K Brexit minister David Davis turned up in Brussels on Monday morning for a joint appearance with the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Michel Barnier to initiate formal negotiations on Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s departure from the European Union. If you expected any clariďŹ cation on the British position, you will have been disappointed. Davis departed straight back to London, where he is one of a growing ďŹ eld of candidates for the Tory leadership whenever Theresa May gets the gold watch. Had he stayed on for a few hours, he would have been unable to clarify the British position anyway, since there is none. Cabinet ministers are in open conďŹ&#x201A;ict about the deal to be done and over a full year has been wasted since the referendum. There is rather too much optimism here in Ireland about the possible outcomes, the shape of which are largely beyond Irish inďŹ&#x201A;uence. Even Philip Hammond, the chancellor of the exchequer and the latest to be accused of treachery by the Tory press, is publicly committed to quitting both the single market and

THE OUTSIDE VIEW Colm McCarthy

the customs union â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a â&#x20AC;&#x153;hardâ&#x20AC;? form of Brexit. His oďŹ&#x20AC;ence is to favour a transition period after 29 March 2019, when Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resignation from the EU becomes eďŹ&#x20AC;ective. For this acceptance of practical reality, fully consistent with the referendum decision, he has been at the receiving end of leaks and invective from the merry band of Brexiteers, for whom a no-deal crash-out seems to be the desired outcome. If and when Britain departs the EU, there are ďŹ ve broad possibilities. These are: Ă&#x201A; (i) Stay in the single market but not the customs union. Ă&#x201A; (ii) Stay in the customs union but not in the single market. Ă&#x201A; (ii) Stay in both. Ă&#x201A; (iv) Quit both and negotiate a freetrade deal as a third country. Ă&#x201A; (v) Crash out without a deal. Not enough time The UK governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stated position is fourth on that list: a free-trade deal as a third country. Everyone who understands what is involved believes that such a deal cannot be negotiated in the time available and that a transition period is needed. Those most familiar with the mechanics of free-trade deals (this would be one of the biggest ever) think the transition will have to be a long one, perhaps ďŹ ve

years or more. Hammond seems to favour a shorter transition but will doubtless have been advised that it will have to be longer. Option (v), a no-deal crash-out, would be a disaster and I ďŹ nd it hard to believe that the grown-ups in British politics will permit this to happen. Aside from anything else, it would destroy the Tory party. This might not matter too much if Labour oďŹ&#x20AC;ered a plausible alternative but Labour is also split down the middle on Europe. The ďŹ rst three options look improbable for various reasons. Option (i), staying in the single market, would entail continuing jurisdiction for the European Court and free movement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; anathema to many Tories but also to the Corbyn wing of Labour. Option (ii) would require the sacriďŹ ce of freedom to agree unilateral trade deals outside Europe, and Brexiteers imagine that enormous opportunities would go a-begging. This is an article of faith for which supporting evidence is not needed. There is overwhelming evidence to the contrary and quitting the customs union looks like pain for no gain. Option (iii) would be close to staying in the EU and would raise the why-bother question. There will be a serious attempt to negotiate a free-trade deal once the real talks get under way. It will fail to conclude in the time available and will lead to a

transition period. This innocuous and inevitable outcome will be labelled treachery and could bring down the government. An outbreak of pragmatism could be see transition accompanied by retention of access to the customs union, a mixture of options (ii) and (iv). This would be seen as a climb-down by Brexiteers but would appease British business, increasingly alarmed as the implications of Brexit sink in. If the objective is damage limitation for Britain, you will be hearing more about this option in the months ahead. However, it does not solve the hardborder problem in Ireland. The only precedent is the arrangement with Turkey, a form of partial customs union membership. There are border checks with Turkey and the deal does not cover trade in agricultural products. The retention of the frictionless border regularly promised does not look to be possible, short of a complete reversal of the Brexit decision. A customs arrangement on the lines of the Turkey deal would still see Britain (and Northern Ireland) outside the single market and, hence, would reintroduce non-tariďŹ&#x20AC; barriers into Ireland-UK trade relations. Given current British intentions, as Minister Simon Coveney has been pointing out, there is no simple path to a frictionless border.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

60 COUNTRY LIVING

COUNTRY LIVING Fireblight hangs on Fireblight is not mentioned much these days since other severe plant diseases, such as ash dieback, oak wilt and chestnut blight, appeared. It was once considered to be a threat to hawthorn hedges, apple trees, pears and many other related plants, but that did not happen. However, there is lots of fireblight about still, affecting garden shrubs, notably pyracantha and cotoneaster. It is called fireblight for the way the leaves on twigs turn brown and dry just as if a bonfire had been set too close by. But there are other symptoms too. Affected twigs of current-yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth hang over at the tip in a crozier shape. Affected branches exude droplets of white or creamy liquid, which contains bacteria to spread the disease to new sites. If you have a pyracantha or cotoneaster showing these symptoms, it should be dug out and burned.

Splendid in flower these days, the colourful evening primrose can be a fine addition to a rural garden, writes Gerry Daly gerrydaly@theirishgarden.ie

omewhat closed-over during daytime, but opening fully in the creeping twilight of sundown, evening primrose p RZHUV KDYH DQ HWKHUHDO quality. 7KH ODUJH p RZHUV UHPDLQ UH markably bright, even as darkness sets in. It is almost a glowing effect and it is very summery and can transform a garden with a magical touch on a quiet calm summer evening. It is easy to understand how WKLV p RZHU JRW LWV FRPPRQ QDPH q LWV p RZHUV DUH D OLJKW VRIW \HOORZ and they open in the evening. However, evening primrose only VKDUHV LWV SDOH \HOORZ p RZHU colour with primroses and is not related. Instead, it is related to the willowherb family, and the OLQN FDQ EH VHHQ LQ WKH ZLU\ p RZHU VWHPV DQG SRLQWHG p RZHU EXGV ,WV p RZHUV RSHQ LQ WKH HYHQLQJ IRU SROOLQDWLRQ E\ QLJKW p \LQJ months, which come to get some QHFWDU IURP WKH p RZHUV DQG incidentally carry pollen to the QH[W p RZHUV ,W DOVR HPLWV D ORYHO\ fragrance on a warm, calm night. (DFK p RZHU ODVWV MXVW D IHZ days, but they are carried in succession over a long period through summer and autumn. 7KH ZLU\ p RZHU VWHPV JHQHU ally do not need staking and stand up very well, perhaps leaning over in a windy garden. The height RI WKH p RZHULQJ VWHPV YDULHV between 60cm in dry poor soil to

Evening primrose over 150cm in rich ground. The common evening primrose is an annual or biennial, ODWH VRZQ SODQWV p RZHULQJ WKH following year. This plant is the source of evening primrose oil, used medicinally for relieving stress. The oil is pressed from the seeds. The plants, once they have been planted out, tend to self-sow around the place for years, but never become a weedy nuisance. Even if no plant appears for a few years, seedlings can pop up years later after a little soil disturbance. And plants can appear in

gardens unexpectedly, but obviously carried in the pot of another plant or on footwear or soil. The common evening primrose, Oenothera biennis, is native to North America, although it is naturalised in many parts of the world. It is not unusual to see plants or groups of plants in rural gardens, but for some reason, not so much in town gardens. This is probably because the evening primrose has a wildness, a natural appearance, that suits a rural setting but can look untidy in a town garden. 7KLV p RZHU LV SUHWW\ RQ LWV RZQ

but looks well with blue agapanthus, drooping purple dierama, white daisies and tall red crocosmia, and that is even by day when WKH p RZHUV DUH KDOI FORVHG There is a perennial variety, Oenothera fruticosa, with smaller p RZHUV DQG GHHSHU \HOORZ FRORXU although there are lemon-yellow versions. It makes a mediumVL]HG SODQW WKDW p RZHUV RYHU D long period and will last for years, unless the soil is heavy and wet in winter. The lovely low-growing Oenothera missouriensis is perfect for the front of a bed or border, or a

large rock garden. This one has EULJKW OHPRQ \HOORZ p RZHUV FP across, and is very eye-catching. It is a vigorous plant, growing from a central rootstock with reddish stems trailing along the ground DQG FDUU\LQJ WKH ODUJH p RZHUV The white evening primrose, Oenothera speciosa, is a lovely plant, reaching about kneeKHLJKW ZLWK ZKLWH FXSSHG p RZHUV A pink form called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Roseaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is the one usually seen for sale. Both of these are mountain natives and, though they look delicate, they are completely hardy. Given a dry VRLO WKH\ DUH o QH EXW WRR PXFK dampness will cause root rotting problems. All kinds of oenothera can be raised from seeds, sown in spring or mid-summer. CL

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

COUNTRY LIVING 61

Drought in Woodside rang from Vietnam and that delayed us about an hour so with milking still to be done, Tim said weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d do it in the jeep to save time and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d change the fence for the cows as well. This farm is high and free-draining, and runs around the side of the hill. The plots near home were the last grazed, so they were skinned. On down we went to last weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grazings. There was no point in throwing down the quadrant, there was nothing to cut. We were silent as we climbed into the jeep and drove further down to the new grass seed plots. The grass was lush and ready for grazing. It measured at 1,600kg dry matter. Tim reckoned it was even more because of the higher than normal dry matter. He was working on 15%, but thought it could be more like 17%. In any case, it would keep the cows happy for the next few days. This shows the value of reseeding. The new grass is certainly outperforming the rest. We motored on.

With son Colm away on holidays, things have gone back in time on the family farm, as Katherine Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary and Tim get to spend more time together managing the land

kkoleary@gmail.com

hese last few days, life is different on our farm. Colm is on holidays in Vietnam and Tim and I are mostly on our own. Our other son Philip is busy with work and the house is very quiet. He attends to the young calves and heifers on the leased ground in the evenings. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like old times, when it was just Tim and I on the farm. I realise just how bedded in Colm and Tim have become in their relationship and management of the farm. All the systems are in place. Before, Tim and I would be talking and strategising about the farm direction. That part of our lives is now over, to a degree. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at times like this that I realise how the dynamic is constantly changing. My input is not as needed or as valuable to the business any more. Is life easier for me? It probably is, but effort on my part has to be made to stay involved. During the spring Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m full-on rearing the calves, but at this time of year I try to tidy up around the place and attend to house maintenance. I get great satisfaction out of doing my own painting and so on. Some jobs are beyond me. The big window in the living room has had a damaged vacuum in one pane for some time, meaning that it was cloudy and dirty looking. Some weeks ago I contacted a man to replace it. He rang yesterday, saying that he was on his way. I was delighted. He removed the old one and laid it on the lawn. His work probably took an hour before he lifted it again. Of course, the sun continued to beat down on the pane of glass, scorching the grass below. So my view has been restored, but not without an ugly black patch on the lawn.

GRASS DISCOVERY

GRASS WALK We seem to have a micro climate here in this corner of the world, where the rain has stopped falling and we have to be content with an occasional drizzle. Cork airport KDV D PP PRLVWXUH GHo FLW while the norm is 28mm for this time of year. Every night I put out the washing and bring it in at my ease the following day. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m getting through all the washing of cushions and blankets that are only washed occasionally. This lack of moisture has been affecting grass growth for the last three weeks. The fact that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m enjoying getting the washing dried

so easily is of no consolation on the farming side. Grass growth has slowed considerably and the allocation to the cows has gone down to 10kg DM. They are now eating the silage bales that were made earlier in the season. But that was part of the plan. The aim is to feed the cows 100% grass, but there will always be pinches in the system. We are in a drought situation. Farmers in other parts of the FRXQWU\ ZLOO SUREDEO\ o QG WKLV hard to believe. This has happened in a few weeks. Yesterday, Tim, our youngest, Diarmuid, and I had a date for a grass walk. It takes about an hour. Colm

Grass growth has slowed considerably ... the aim is to feed the cows 100% grass, but there will always be pinches in the system. We are in a drought situation

Diarmuid and I were taking turns opening and closing fences. The next few were poor enough. We came to the inches. These are two KHDY\ o HOGV DW WKH ERWWRP RI WKH farm. Tim jumped out uttering expletives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At least weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve found some grass.â&#x20AC;? Only a farmer would know that the man had not gone mad. He was on his knees with enthusiasm and cutting. Diarmuid had the bag and scales. Grass in carefully and bag up. Result: 1,200kg. The inches need minding in wet weather, but are a bonus in drought conditions. They will be valuable feeding next week. Now we were back talking and strategising. The trick is to slow down the rotation enough to allow the grass to build up. The grass wedge was generated from the computer. It didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look too bad, but had a plateau for seven days at the end. Tim has seen this before. The wedge does not accurately demonstrate WKH UHDOLW\ RI WKH GHo FLW LQ JUDVV growth on the farm. The computer is just not able to deal with drought. So the cows will remain on 10kg of grass and 7kg of silage until the rain comes. Then we will measure every four WR o YH GD\V EHFDXVH ZH FRXOG JHW into surplus very quickly. The plots reading the same are all primed and grazed to probably 3cm with fertiliser on the ground. They will grow green from the base together. That will have to be managed. More bales will be made for sure. CL

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

62 COUNTRY LIVING

Al fresco favourites Try out these finger-lickingly delicious nibbles the next time you dine al fresco, writes Neven Maguire

KH o UVW WLPH , HYHU KDG FULVS\ FKLFNHQ ZLQJV ZDV LQ the Elephant and Castle in Dublin and they are still DPRQJ WKH EHVW , QHYHU WLUH RI WKHVH 7KH\ DUH DGGLF tive and a perfect snack any time. You can also use drumsticks, but they will take that bit longer to cook. These sausage rolls are my wife Ameldaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recipe and we enjoy them often through the summer. There are always some in the freezer. Freeze them uncooked and they take about 15 minutes to cook straight from the freezer. Everybody loves them. A little pesto added to the sausage meat makes D QLFH FKDQJH <RX PLJKW OLNH EDVLO LQVWHDG RI WKH p DW OHDI parsley. And add some sweet or hot chilli sauce depending on your taste.

>> Recipes CRISPY CHICKEN WINGS WITH BLUE CHEESE DIP Serves four to six vegetable oil, for deep-frying 1.3kg (3lb) chicken wings (at room temperature) 75g (3oz) cornflour 1 tsp celery salt 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp cayenne pepper 4 celery sticks, trimmed and cut into thin sticks For the dip: 100g (4oz) blue cheese, crumbled 4 tbsp mayonnaise 4 tbsp sour cream 4 tbsp buttermilk 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley For the sauce: 120ml (4fl oz) hot pepper sauce (such as Frankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s) 1 tsp celery salt 1 tsp garlic powder Â½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional) 50g (2oz) butter, melted 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 To make the blue cheese dip, blend all the ingredients together except the parsley in a bowl with a hand blender, then stir in the parsley and season to WDVWH &RYHU ZLWK FOLQJo OP WKHQ FKLOO until needed. This can be made up to

I never tire of these. They are addictive and a perfect snack any time

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

two days in advance. 2 Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 190Â°C (375Â°F) and put the oven on a low heat. 3 Using a sharp knife, discard the wing tip and keep the little drum and wingette together. 4 3ODFH WKH FRUQp RXU LQ D ERZO ZLWK the celery salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. 5 Mix well, then use to coat the chicken, shaking off any excess. Deep-fry in batches for 10 to 12 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. 6 Transfer to a wire rack on baking sheet and keep warm while you cook the remainder. 7 To make the sauce, mix the hot sauce with the celery salt, garlic powder and cayenne, if using, then stir in the melted butter and vinegar. Pour the sauce into a small pan and allow to just warm through. 8 Once all the chicken wings are cooked, toss them in enough of the warmed sauce to coat, allowing any excess to drain off. 9 Serve at once, piled high in a bowl with the blue cheese dip and the celery sticks alongside. Have plenty of QDSNLQV IRU WKRVH VWLFN\ o QJHUV

AMELDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PERFECT SAUSAGE ROLLS Makes 16 small sausage rolls 500g (1lb 2oz) good-quality sausage meat 1 small onion, finely chopped 50g (2oz) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped 3 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese 500g (1lb 2oz) puff pastry, thawed if frozen (all butter, if possible) plain flour, for dusting 1 egg, beaten 2 tsp sesame seeds sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Photography: Ramona Farrelly | Styling: Sharon Hearne-Smith

1 Preheat the oven to 200Â°C (400Â°F/gas PDUN 7R PDNH WKH o OOLQJ mix the sausagemeat in a bowl with the onion, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley and Parmesan. Season to taste. 2 Cut the pastry in half and roll out one piece to make a long oblong shape, 35 x 17cm (16 x 6Â˝in) on a OLJKWO\ p RXUHG ZRUN VXUIDFH 3 )RUP KDOI RI WKH o OOLQJ LQWR D ORQJ log shape that will run the whole length of the pastry, approximately 5mm (Âźin) from the edge. 4 Brush with some of beaten egg, then IROG WKH SDVWU\ RYHU WR HQFORVH WKH o OO ing and press down to seal the edges, HLWKHU FULPSLQJ ZLWK \RXU o QJHUV RU pressing down with a fork. Repeat with WKH UHVW RI WKH SDVWU\ DQG o OOLQJ 5 Cut into bite-size sausage rolls, trimming down and discarding the ends. 6 Add some salt to the remainder of the beaten egg and then use to glaze the sausage rolls. 7 Then sprinkle each one lightly with sesame seeds and arrange on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, well spaced apart. 8 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked through and lightly golden. Arrange on plates or a large platter and serve hot or cold. CL

COUNTRY LIVING 63

After a mere four weeks of marriage, my husband is a broken man With her husband laid up, Maria Moynihan tries to channel her inner Florence Nightingale, though feels more like Florence and the Machine (gun) mmoynihan@farmersjournal.ie

fter a mere four weeks of marriage, my husband is a broken man. Though, contrary to popular belief and widespread predictions, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not my fault. A slide for a ball at a Sunday afternoon football match led to the fracture of his tibial plateau â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a shattering of the very top of the shin bone, within the knee joint, which â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in his signature style â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he attempted to remedy with a bag of frozen peas and a pair of makeshift crutches fashioned from a sweeping brush and dismantled keyboard stand, rather than go to hospital. k,W V MXVW D WZLVW y KH FRXQWHUHG ZKHQ , JRW WKH FDOO WR FRPH KRPH â&#x20AC;&#x153;Though you might bring me back a VWLFN\ EXQ y Snapping into Dr Quinn Medicine Woman mode to bring my stoic Sully to South Doc and on to A&E, it soon became clear, however, that no amount of vanilla slices could fuse this o VVXUH 6XUJHU\ ZDV VFKHGXOHG DQG D Lady Gaga-esque leg brace strapped on from ankle to thigh, with strict instructions not to place any weight on it for at least six weeks. k-XVW OLNH 9LGLF y KH VLJKHG FRP paring his enforced sabbatical from the district league B division to the travails of the former Manchester United captain. :KDWHYHU DERXW 9LGLF , IHHO -RVH Mourinhoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pain. With work and other commitments, the timing could not have been worse to lose my star centre-back. Fortunately, his parents ZHUH DEOH WR FDUH IRU KLP ZKHQ , KDG WR WUDYHO WKH o UVW IHZ GD\V DIWHU KH OHIW hospital, restoring him with a diet of roast dinners and replays of Midsomer Murders and Lewis; though there was apparently a crisis when he was forced to sit through an episode of Loose Women with the TV remote agonisingly out of reach. +H LV VWLOO VXIIHULQJ IURP p DVK backs, though that might be more to do with the lucky bag of pills, pain-

Maria Moynihan is a columnist with Irish Country Magazine. See www.irish countrymagazine.ie

killers and jellies he is popping at present.) 6LQFH KLV UHWXUQ WR RXU KRPH , YH tried to channel my inner Florence 1LJKWLQJDOH WKRXJK , IHHO PRUH OLNH Florence and the Machine (gun) when he bleats some of his more prima donna-like appeals from the comfort of the couch, like: k, DFWXDOO\ SUHIHU P\ VDQGZLFKHV TXDUWHUHG QRW KDOYHG y k$Q\ FKDQFH RI DQRWKHU EHG EDWK"y â&#x20AC;&#x153;Can you sniff the sock on my broken leg to see if it needs to be FKDQJHG"y *ULWWLQJ P\ WHHWK , EULHp \ FRQVLGHU blowing up like Kathy Bates Ă la Misery; or at least playing hide and seek with his crutches until he capitulates to a list of my own unreasonable demands. But, despite his blatant atWHPSWV WR PLON WKH VLWXDWLRQ , UHDOLVH WKDW WKLV LV WKH o UVW WLPH KH UHDOO\ LV GH pending on me to do all the things we both take for granted, like washing or preparing dinner. And, truth be told, if the shoe was on the other foot â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or RWKHU NQHH q , ZRXOG SUREDEO\ SURYH D more petulant patient; and he a more considerate carer. 6R , OO JURZ XS DQG WU\ QRW WR JUXPEOH ,W V ZKDW , VLJQHG XS IRU DIWHU DOO 7KRXJK ZKHQ LW FRPHV WR VQLIo QJ offending items of clothing, he can put a sock in it. CL

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

64 COUNTRY LIVING

Jane Austen LIFE & TIMES

Mairead Lavery reflects on the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legacy 200 years after her death; and how her work reflected her own life and times

FICTION IMITATING LIFE Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775, the youngest of a large family. Her father George was a rector. He and his sisters had been orphaned when they were children and had to depend on the support of relatives to make their way in life. When Janeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father died suddenly in 1805, she, her sister Cassandra and mother, were at WKH PHUF\ RI KHU EURWKHUV IRU oQDQFLDO support and somewhere to live. This uncertainty and dependence on relatives for basic survival surely shaped the memorable characters that leap from the pages of her novels. Characters such as Mr Collins, the rector who is dependent on Lady Catherine de Bourgh for his position in life, or his wife Charlotte Lucas, who was prepared to â&#x20AC;&#x153;settleâ&#x20AC;? for Mr Collins because, being no beauty, she thought him her only chance of marriage and having a home of her own. In Pride & Prejudice, Jane and Elizabeth Bennetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest hope is that WKH\ ZLOO PDUU\ IRU ORYH DQG QRW EHFDXVH RI oQDQFLDO QHFHVVLW\ 0HDQZKLOH WKHLU mother is prepared to accept any approach so long as it means getting one of KHU oYH GDXJKWHUV VHWWOHG 7LPH LV UXQQLQJ RXW EHFDXVH DV VRRQ DV KHU KXVEDQG GLHV WKH IDPLO\ ZLOO ORVH HYHU\WKLQJ $QG WKLV LV D FDVH RI oFWLRQ LPLWDWLQJ OLIH DV LW is exactly what happened to Jane, her sister and their mother.

GeorgiosArt / iStock

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COUNTRY LIVING 65

Mrs Bennet A DEFENCE When it comes to embarrassing mothers, Jane Austenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mrs Bennet takes the biscuit. But did her giddy image belie a woman desperate to secure the future of her daughters? asks Mairead Lavery

rom the opening paragraphs of Jane Austenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pride & Prejudice, we meet the character of Mrs Bennet. This mothHU RI oYH GDXJKWHUV ZKR ZH DUH WROG DUH DOO RXW LQ VRFLHW\ LV SRUWUD\HG DV D JLGG\ JRRVH ZLWK QR UHDO LQWHOOLJHQFH 6KH GRHVQ W HQJDJH KHU EUDLQ ZKHQ VSHDNLQJ DQG DV D UHVXOW FRQVWDQWO\ PRUWLoHV KHU WZR HOGHVW GDXJKWHUV -DQH DQG (OL]DEHWK 7KLV SDLU DUH UHDO ODGLHV LQ FRPSDULVRQ WR WKHLU WKUHH \RXQJHU VLVWHUV q .LWW\ 0DU\ DQG HVSHFLDOO\ /\GLD ZKR HQGV XS PDNLQJ D GLVJUDFH RI WKH HQWLUH IDPLO\ $OO 0UV %HQQHW FDQ WKLQN RI LV JHWWLQJ DW OHDVW RQH RI KHU GDXJKWHUV PDUULHG WR D PDQ RI JRRG IRUWXQH 6KH NQRZV WKH QDPH DQG LQFRPH RI HYHU\ HOLJLEOH EDFKHORU LQ WKH GLVWULFW DQG ZRXOG VHWWOH IRU D PHPEHU RI WKH PLOLWLD DV D VRQ LQ ODZ LI VKH KDG WR +HU KRSHV UHVW RQ -DQH WKH SUHWW\ RQH 6R ZKHQ VKH KHDUV WKDW WKH ORFDO ELJ KRXVH 1HWKHUoHOG LV OHW WR DQ HOLJLEOH \RXQJ PDQ VKH LV RYHU WKH PRRQ k$ VLQJOH PDQ RI ODUJH IRUWXQH IRXU WR oYH WKRXVDQG D \HDU :KDW D oQH WKLQJ IRU RXU JLUOV y VKH JXVKHV WR KHU KXVEDQG DV VKH SORWV D PHHWLQJ DQG PDUULDJH 1R ZRQGHU LW V VR HDV\ WR EH GLVPLVVLYH RI 0UV %HQQHW 7R VHH KHU DV D VPDOO PLQGHG ZRPDQ ZLWK QR WDVWH RU HGXFDWLRQ RU HYHQ PDQQHUV %XW , EHJ WR GLIIHU <HV VKH LV FRQQLYLQJ DQG VFKHPLQJ DQG DOZD\V SXWWLQJ KHU IRRW LQ LW %XW ZKDW PRWKHU ZRXOGQ W GR WKH VDPH LI VKH ZDV LQ 0UV %HQQHW V VKRHV" 0UV %HQQHW LV GHPHQWHG ZLWK WKH VLWXDWLRQ VKH DQG KHU oYH GDXJKWHUV DUH IDFLQJ 6KH NQRZV WKDW XSRQ WKH GHDWK RI KHU KXVEDQG ZKR LV QR VSULQJ FKLFNHQ WKDW WKHLU KRPH HVWDWH DQG LQFRPH ZLOO WUDQVIHU WR WKH REQR[LRXV 5HY &ROOLQV 7KLV ZLOO OHDYH KHU DQG KHU GDXJKWHUV DW KLV PHUF\ RU OLWHUDOO\ RQ WKH VLGH RI WKH URDG 7KH JLUOV DUH WRR KLJK XS WKH VRFLDO SHFNLQJ RUGHU WR KDYH MREV DQG HYHQ LI WKH\ KDG LW ZRXOG EH DV JRYHUQHVVHV RU FRPSDQLRQV 8QIRUWXQDWHO\ WKH\ DUH WRR SRRU WR VXSSRUW WKHPVHOYHV DQG DUH QR FDWFK oQDQFLDOO\ DV WKH\ KDYH GRZULHV RI RQO\ d D \HDU :KDW V HYHQ ZRUVH LV WKDW KHU KLJK PLQGHG SXW SDVVLYH KXVEDQG KDV IDLOHG WR SXW D SHQQ\ DVLGH DV VDYLQJV IRU KLV GDXJKWHUV +H IDLOHG WR ORRN DIWHU WKHLU LQWHUHVWV HYHQ WKRXJK KH NQRZV IXOO ZHOO WKDW WKH URRI RYHU WKHLU KHDGV DQG DQ\ LQFRPH KH KDV ZLOO JR WR KLV FRXVLQ DIWHU KLV GHDWK $QG \HW KH LV DOZD\V PRFNLQJ KLV ZLIH IRU KHU FRQFHUQV DV WKH H[FKDQJH EHORZ FOHDUO\ VKRZV k$ VLQJOH PDQ RI ODUJH IRUWXQH IRXU RU oYH WKRXVDQG D \HDU :KDW D oQH WKLQJ IRU RXU JLUOV y k+RZ VR" +RZ FDQ LW DIIHFW WKHP"y k0\ GHDU 0U %HQQHW y UHSOLHG KLV ZLIH kKRZ FDQ \RX EH VR WLUHVRPH <RX PXVW NQRZ WKDW , DP WKLQNLQJ RI KLV PDUU\LQJ RQH RI WKHP y

Image taken from page 355 of Pride & Prejudice / The British Library

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Diary Every morning before anyone rose, Jane practised the piano, cooked breakfast for the household and retired to write. She was said to have worked in a room that had a squeaky door and refused to have it repaired as it ensured that she was aware of anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach.

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66 COUNTRY LIVING

Medical marvels MEDICINE IN THE TIME OF JANE AUSTEN With illness featuring strongly in all the novels of Jane Austen, Margaret Hawkins takes a look at medicine in her time

Austen’s talents In a book written by Jane’s nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, he says that Austen was “successful in everything she attempted with her fingers”. Jane had a flare for folding and sealing letters, a useful skill in a time before ready-made envelopes. Her nephew noted “her paper was sure to take the right folds, her sealing wax to drop into the right place”. Jane excelled at the game bilbocatch, which comprised of a wooden handle with a pierced ball attached by a string. The player attempted to catch the ball in a cup on the top of the handle. She was known to have succeeded more than 100 times in series, until her arm ached.

llness features strongly in all the novels of Jane Austen. The topic is used to move plots along, shape characters and often to trigger comedy. But did it preoccupy her so much because – in her day, and in her own case – good health was often hard to hold onto? If Jane Austen had lived in this century, she probably wouldn’t have died so young. One suspected cause of her death, at the age of 41, was Addison’s Disease, a kidney problem where the adrenal glands don’t produce enough hormones. Symptoms include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, exhaustion and darkened skin – all symptoms that the novelist wrote of in her letters to family members. Nowadays, someone with this condition would be given the required hormones (cortisol and aldosterone) in tablet form to keep them well. Other experts suggest that Jane Austen died of Hodgkin’s disease: a blood cancer. Treatment today would include chemotherapy and radiation – and most people now make a full recovery from it. She also suffered with conjunctivitis from her early 20s onwards. Nowadays, antibiotic eye drops would be prescribed, ending the discomfort that often impeded her ability to write.

NO ANAESTHETIC, OR ANTIBIOTICS Think about what else was missing on the health front in her time. Anaesthetics – like ether and chloroform – were about 40 years away, so surgery or tooth extraction relied mainly (and unsuccessfully) on alcohol to mask the pain. Joseph Lister (of Listerine fame) was yet to develop an antiseptic and Pasteur hadn’t yet developed pasteurisation or his important vaccines. And the origins of infection – that bacteria could be spread by water, food or air – weren’t fully understood either. It would also be 1928 – over 100 years later – before Sir Alexander Fleming would discover penicillin, the antibiotic that went on to revolutionise healthcare. Medical devices, such as the stethoscope, had yet to come on stream too, and the smallpox vaccination of Edward Jenner hadn’t been discovered either – so no wonder health was a constant concern. With poor (or no) sanitation common, venturing out, particularly in towns and cities or to visit the sick could be a dangerous move in Jane Austen’s day. Old, very damp houses didn’t help on the health front either. Tuberculosis was rife, and people could easily die IURP FROGV DQG pX q VRPHWKLQJ WKDW VHOGRP KDSSHQV WRGD\

QUESTION OF HEALTH Jane Austen, who published her first novel, Sense & Sensibility, in 1811 was to die by July 1817. We can only speculate how many more novels she would have written if good health had been her lot, but her legacy was to sum up her time for generations to come including the impact that good – and bad – health could have on her world.

Not having good health back then could, of course, have serious social consequences. If you couldn’t work, you had QR LQFRPH LQ DQ HUD GHYRLG RI ZHOIDUH EHQHoWV (YHQ IRU women like Jane Austen, being frail could be a social disadvantage, a fact highlighted in her novel Sense and Sensibility when John Dashwood reminds Elinor that Marianne’s illness (after being jilted by Willoughby) will reduce her chances of a good marriage. With many women dying in childbirth, too, in that era – including three of Jane Austen’s real-life sisters-in-law – a robust constitution was a necessity in prospective brides.

MEDICAL SUPPORT As far as medical support went, this was very hit-or-miss in the late 1700s and early 1800s. While there were the three categories – physicians, surgeons and apothecaries – at that time none were well trained, regulated or trusted and there was always a strong element of unlicensed “snake oil” salesmen doing the rounds too. Surgeons were considered tradesmen, as their work was messy – tooth extractions, amputating limbs – and they worked with their hands. Physicians, although considered gentlemen and able to dine with the gentry (because they didn’t get their hands dirty), might never have had any real practical training before qualifying; and apothecaries (dispensers of drugs/remedies like laudanum) weren’t well-regulated either. The main medical text book of the time, which Jane Austen would have been familiar with, was William Buchan’s Domestic Medicine. It focussed on the four humours – blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile – and keeping these balanced in the body. For Buchan, restoring the balance could mean blood-letting, starving and purging (vomiting) to relieve the body of symptoms like fever. So while we, in this day and age, have a certain amount of emotional security around health issues – as in reasonDEOH FRQoGHQFH WKDW PRVW LOOQHVVHV FDQ EH FXUHG WUHDWHG – that kind of emotional security wasn’t there in Jane Aus-

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COUNTRY LIVING 67

A ladyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education CAREERS AND EDUCATION IN THE TIME OF JANE AUSTEN Mary Phelan speaks to Jane Austen expert Darryl Jones about the careers and educational opportunities available to women at the end of the 18th century

tenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day. Illnesses of many sorts actually appear in all her novels. Who can forget how handy wet feet and catching cold were in orchestrating an opportunity for Mr Bingley to fall in love with Jane Bennet in Pride & Prejudice? In the medical literature of the time, causes of illness were put down to â&#x20AC;&#x153;diseased parentsâ&#x20AC;? (now the genetic dimension); sedentary habits; individual intemperance (modern day â&#x20AC;&#x153;lifestyleâ&#x20AC;?); climate; location; anger; wet feet and abrupt changes of temperature. It was believed then, too, that fevers could be triggered â&#x20AC;&#x153;by injury, bad air, violent emotion, irregular bowels and extremes of heat and cold.

WOMEN DIDNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T HAVE MUCH POWER From reading her novels itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s obvious that a lot of psychological problems may have been manifesting themselves in physical symptoms too. Women didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have much power in those days, so was getting sick â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or pretending to be sick, or having hypochondriac tendencies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the result of a general lack of say or power in society? Were the many headaches indicators of stress or social tension, for example? When Mrs Bennet became frustrated, her â&#x20AC;&#x153;nervesâ&#x20AC;? got the better of her and she took to the bed until circumstances suited her again. Given that women had little power, rights or options in Jane Austenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day, maybe it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any surprise that they fainted, had hysterics or generally pleaded illness if it all got too much for them emotionally. The very tight corsets may not have helped on the feeling-well front either, given that they could impede EORRG pRZ )DLQWLQJ ZDV VR FRPPRQ DW WKH WLPH WKDW chaise longues â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or fainting couches, with one end risen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; were commonplace pieces of furniture. Was Marianne Dashwoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emotional pain simply expressing itself in physical illness? Or did her poor emotional state simply make her more vulnerable to infection? Whatever the case, Sense & Sensibility has a lot to say about illness and the complexity of it. CL

o what did education look like at the time of Jane Austen? Girls like Elizabeth Bennett or Emma Woodhouse were educated at home by governesses, while men went off to school. This is why, according to dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Trinity College Dublin Darryl Jones, the VSKHUH RI LQpXHQFH DQG WKH JHRJUDSKLFDO VSKHUH in which women operated at this time was very often quite small. When Jane Austen writes about three or four families in the country village, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because the world in which she herself would have moved was a very small domestic sphere, while her brothers were off in the church or navy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Educationâ&#x20AC;? may not be the most accurate description of what girls experienced at home with their governesses. The term â&#x20AC;&#x153;accomplishPHQWVy VHHPV PRUH oWWLQJ WR GHVFULEH WKH kHGXcationâ&#x20AC;? women received during these times. While a gentlemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education would have been in the classics (Latin and Greek), the accomplishments in which girls were instructed GLGQ W HQFRPSDVV D FODVVLFDO RU VFLHQWLoF HGXFDtion. Rather, accomplishments could mean, for H[DPSOH VRPH GHJUHH RI SURoFLHQF\ LQ PRGHUQ languages: French for example. It also encompasses drawing and artwork and sewing and embroidery. Darryl Jones notes that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the whole function of this kind of education is not to improve the minds of young girls but to make them appropriate or luring wives â&#x20AC;&#x201C; prospective wivesâ&#x20AC;?.

NOVELS Despite the fact women didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get a formal education to a very high degree â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of the kind we would recognise today â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one place where they did have an opportunity to enlarge their understanding of the world was through reading novels. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to remember that novels at this time were not considered to be high art â&#x20AC;Ś

[because] novels were generally associated with, and read by, women at the time. So there was something sort of disreputable about novels,â&#x20AC;? says Darryl. Country Living enquires as to whether even a woman displaying Mensa levels of intelligence would have been recognised and sent off to university in Jane Austenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time, but Darryl explains that Oxford and Cambridge didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start admitting women until the 1860s and 1870s â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and even then women were not permitted to take degrees. Darryl says Cambridge didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t award degrees to women until as late as the 1940s. Darryl says that for any of the daughters in a family like Pride & Prejudiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bennets, taking paid work was not really acceptable. Darryl explains: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The professions, as it were, were not open to women. So that would be the law, the clergy and, to an extent, the military as well, and these were the ways in which middleclass landed gentry men made their way in the world if they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t inheriting the property. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Generally the eldest son inherited the property, like Mr Knightley in Emma. His youngest brother John Knightley is a lawyer, so he has to make his way in the world and he does that through the professions.â&#x20AC;? For women, apart from becoming a governess, there really wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t very much. And really â&#x20AC;&#x201C; being a governess was not considered acceptable for ladies of high social standing. In Emma, Jane Fairfax talks about going into the governess trade, which she describes as a trade in human pHVK ZKLFK DFFRUGLQJ WR 'DUU\O -RQHV PHDQV â&#x20AC;&#x153;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s either slavery or prostitution or some kind of combination of both of those thingsâ&#x20AC;?). Shop-keeping was an option for women during this time, as well as becoming a respectable gentleman-farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife, like Harriet Smith does in Emma. Becoming a servant was, of course, an option for working-class girls of the time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as even to keep a small family going at the time required an army of servants. CL

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

68 COUNTRY LIVING

Scents & sensibility BEAUTY IN THE JANE AUSTEN ERA From homemade potions to hippo teeth and mouse brows, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;making upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was very hard to do in Austenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s era, writes Dolly Buckley

he passionate, headstrong and beautiful heroines created by Jane Austen still resonate with audiences all over the world. Austenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s female characters bounce off the pages and embody the Regency era. Gone were the thick mercury-coated ZKLWH IDFHV EULJKW EORRG UHG OLSV DQG IRRW KLJK pHD infested wigs, replaced by a much more understated style. But how much effort did it really take to achieve the natural look 200 years ago?

DQG RWKHU KLJK SLJPHQW pRZHUV DQG FDUPLQH One popular cosmetic was rose lip salve, which was made from white wax, almond oil, alkanet root and Otto rose. For a bright red lip, vermillion was used to create a stronger stain.

NOT SO HIGH BROW Ladies would not have plucked/waxed or threaded their eyebrows in the Regency era. Instead they would use the soft back skin of a small mouse. The mouse would be skinned and thin pieces of pXII\ pHVK ZRXOG EH JOXHG WR WKH EURZ DUHD WR FUHDWH a fuller brow. Unfortunately, the glue had an annoying habit of coming unstuck â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and many a grand society lady had trouble keeping her dignity while covertly trying to reposition a wayward brow that had slipped out of place.

LOTIONS AND POTIONS Looking your best in the 1800s was not easy, as products were few and far between. Manufacturers competed in fantastic lotions with names such as Olympian Dew, Bloom of Ninon and Milk of Roses. These were very popular among the upper-class ladies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; although it is doubtful whether they did actually improve the complexion. Home remedies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as crushed strawberries, cucumber and milk pulp â&#x20AC;&#x201C; were used to rejuvenate the skin, with lemon water, salt and lavender scrub to clear pimples, boils and carbuncles. Baking soda, goatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s milk and camomile was a Regency favourite for a luxury bath soak, while ladies washed their hair in frothy egg whites, rose water and rum.

BEAUTY SPOT $QRWKHU DUWLoFLDO DGRUQPHQW ZDV WKH EHDXW\ SDWFK 7KH SDWFKHV ZHUH PDGH IURP VLON YHOYHW RU oQH leather and cut in the shape of stars, half-moons and birds, to be glued to the face to highlight certain TXDOLWLHV )RU LQVWDQFH D FRTXHWWH pLUWDWLRXV ZRPDQ would wear one at the corner of the mouth or eye to add a mischievous glint or a charming, playful dimple on the cheek. Some ladies had no choice but to use the patches to cover warts, scars and even to NHHS WKH pLHV IURP EX]]LQJ DURXQG DQ RSHQ VPDOOSR[ wound.

WHITER SHADE OF PALE Pale skin was deemed the epitome of attractiveness, as freckly, tanned skin would insinuate that you had been labouring away outside to earn your living, and were therefore of a lower class. All manner of ointments were made to try to combat/remove freakish freckles. For example, rye meal, rose water, oil of tarter and honey were warmed up together and applied by dabs from a dampened linen cloth, while rubbing stinky horse manure on the face, neck and bust would supposedly lessen the speckles.

MAKING UP WAS HARD TO DO Application of makeup by the society ladies was taken very seriously, with a vanity hand mirror and an eagle-eyed chamber maid on hand. Heavy use of makeup was very much frowned upon and associated with lustful ladies of the night, so no mistakes could be made. Mixing lamp soot with a little oil and burnt cork produced a black sticky paste to apply to eyes, eye brows and lashes, using the end of a small feather or aquatic grasses. Belladonna drops (a poisonous dark, bitter berry plant used to poison Juliet in Romeo and Juliet ZDV XVHG WR EULJKWHQ UHGGHQHG H\HV 5LFH pRXU DQG D OLWWOH FUXVKHG SHDUO was used as a light dusting powder, while blusher was made from rose petals

PEARLY WHITES Dentistry was still in its infancy and teeth frequently just fell out. Hippo ivory was very popular to use for replacement teeth, particularly at the front of the mouth, as it was a good colour match to human teeth. Women, however, were starting to become more diligent with tooth care, using tiny cattle bone toothbrushes covered in swine bristle attached by thin wire, while â&#x20AC;&#x153;tooth powdersâ&#x20AC;? were made from salt, PLQW GULHG LULV pRZHU SHSSHU DQG OHPRQ IURP (J\SW

SCENTS AND SENSIBILITY 5HJHQF\ SHUIXPHV q RU RGRXU HTXDOLVHUV q IHOO LQ WZR FDWHJRULHV pRUDO DQG musky. Floral perfumes were created from distilled blooms â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as orange, rose and jasmine â&#x20AC;&#x201C; while musky perfumes were created from vanilla pod, amber, coriander, nutmeg, clove and lemon peel. Perfumes were kept in small silver pDVNV DQG ODGLHV ZRXOG VHQG WKHLU ORYHUV D VFHQW VRDNHG JORYH RU ODFH KDQN\ CL

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

COUNTRY LIVING 69

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;My daughter and I disagree on her future careerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

ear Miriam, Our daughter is due to sit the Alevels next year. She is a bright girl and has always done well at school. We hoped she might be interested in going into something like primary school teaching after her exams, but she has her heart set on becoming a makeup artist, if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind. She is obsessed with all these girls on Snapchat and spends all her spare time trying out makeup techniques and posting pictures of herself on her own blog. I can see that she is talented at makeup and people seem to be interested in what she does, but I just think she is capable of achieving much more in life and should go on to university and get a proper degree and maybe even a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for herself. Of course, she says that we should support her no matter what she wants to do in life, and that this is her dream. But you only get one shot at the Alevels and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want her to have any regrets later in life. What do you think, Miriam? Concerned Mother

GET IN TOUCH Do you have a problem you would like to share with someone who may be able to help? If so, you can write to Miriam, Country Living, Irish Farmers Journal, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12, or send an email to miriam@ farmersjournal.ie

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AGRIWORD 906 ACROSS 1 Red ďŹ sh nip around Amity (10) 6 Produced new livestock (4) 10 Thin soup (5) 11 Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d can lice (chopped, North European) (9) 12 Lively Polish dance (7) 15 Move suddenly and clumsily (5) 17 & 4D Enjoyment with this has its ups and downs! (4,5) 18 Middle-Eastern potentate (4) 19 Cleaned with a cloth (5) 21 Rebels ďŹ nd Mr Botham in marshes (7) 23 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Prohibition Goreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;? How trite (5) 24 & 35A Change Lotto IDs? The tasks I must perform! (2-2,4) 25 The capital of Norway (4) 26 Cried out for some drink (5) 28 At the junction, a hip-hop artist is a captivating type! (7) 33 Some kind of bad quip, Ms - itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly not as good as expected (4,5) 34 Shade of blue (5) 35 See 24 across 36 Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tough luck to get the likes of Parmesan (4,6)

BY FINĂ&#x2030;AGAS

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Rather than fret about the future right now, I would say that the most important thing is to support and encourage her to do the best she can

A READER WRITES: â&#x20AC;&#x153;HORRIFIEDâ&#x20AC;? GRANDMOTHER ear Miriam, In reply to â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want my motherin-law to mind my son.â&#x20AC;? Surely it should be â&#x20AC;&#x153;ourâ&#x20AC;? son? Who would want a daughter-in-law who refers, publicly, to her mother-in-law in such terms? The unfortunate husband, who is according to her â&#x20AC;&#x153;all rightâ&#x20AC;?, would understandably not want to cut out his mother who cared for and loves him. $ OLWWOH OHVV VHOo VKQHVV ZRXOG QRW JR astray and a realisation that the little boy has two parents and two grandmothers. +RUULo HG PRWKHU DQG JUDQGPRWKHU CL

Some clues are cryptic, some more straightforward and some have an agricultural theme

DOWN 1 Lies (4) 2 Enforced seclusion from others, to avoid contagion perhaps (9) 3 Surname of the ďŹ rst Prime Minister of India and father of Indira Gandhi (5) 4 See 17 across 5 Julius Caesar was warned to beware the ____ of March (4) 7 One on horseback (5) 8 The hero danced around a 3D shape (10) 9 Gibbet (7) 13 Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right to employ a stratagem (4) 14 Fruit comes from a tropic (7) 16 In relation to weedkillers, one ďŹ nds some birch ideal (10) 20 Argue the case that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not poetry thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quaint (9) 21 So ďŹ&#x201A;irt around with the one with the bouquets (7) 22 Ms Barnacle married James Joyce (4) 27 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;LandďŹ ll sitesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (5) 29 Did the artist offer to be beastly sick? (5) 30 Cheap kind of fruit (5) 31 The largest island in the Caribbean (4) 32 Brazilian soccer legend, believed by many to be the gameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest (4)

>> Answers AGRIWORD 905

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ACROSS 1 Ploughing a lone furrow 6 Wall 10 UnďŹ t 11 Tarpaulin 12 Chasten 15 Banff 17 Olga 18 Hook 19 Rower 21 Battery 23 Tosca 24 Memo 25 Beau 26 Pushy 28 Mammoth 33 Potpourri 34 Crisp 35 Rink 36 Natural gas DOWN 1 Plug 2 Offshoots 3 Gates 4 Istle 5 Gore 7 All-in wrestling 9 Barbary apes 13 Tuba 14 Nostrum 16 White paper 21 Babylon 22 Roam 27 Satin 29 Adieu 30 Mocha 31 Aria

9 10

17 19

18 21

24 25

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Congratulations to Laura Nicholson, Aberfoyle, winner of Agriword 903. Send entries to Farmers Journal Scotland, Scottish Ag and Rural Centre, West Mains, Newbridge, Edinburgh, EH28 8LT

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

70 BUSINESS OF FARMING

Scottish weather DETAILED WEATHER FORECAST: 21 July – 23 July

Weather data courtesy of www.yr.no

NORTHEAST

NORTHWEST Fri

Sat

Sun

Fri

Sat

Sun

13°C

14°C

13°C

14°C

17°C

7 m/s SE

7 m/s E

3 m/s NE

7 m/s SE

4 m/s E

3 m/s E

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

FRI

SAT

SUN

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

FRI

SAT

SUN

EAST

WEST Fri

Sat

Sun

Fri

Sat

Sun

15°C

18°C

19°C

17°C

15°C

17°C

6 m/s E

7 m/s NE

2 m/s N

5 m/s E

5 m/s NE

3 m/s NE

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

FRI

SAT

SUN

SOUTHWEST

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

FRI

SAT

SUN

SOUTHEAST

Fri

Sat

Sun

Fri

Sat

Sun

14°C

15°C

17°C

14°C

15°C

7 m/s SE

1 m/s E

1 m/s SW

6 m/s SE

4 m/s E

2 m/s S

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

FRI

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30 25 20 15 10 5 0

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FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

BUSINESS OF FARMING 71

Market digest | Stories from around the world

Pig market: 17/07/2017

Despite dryness in some important grain belts of the US, the 86 'HSDUWPHQW RI $JULFXOWXUH 86'$ KDV UHYLVHG XSZDUGV LWV KDUYHVW SURMHFWLRQV IRU IRU ERWK FRUQ DQG VR\D EHDQ The USDA has increased its forecast for corn production this year to 362m tonnes, while soya bean production is set to increase to 116m tonnes.

Comment: 7KH PDLQ SURFHVVRUV UHPDLQ RQ WKH VDPH RIo FLDO quotes as the previous week, with the southern plants leading on â&#x201A;Ź1.74c/kg. The picture is not as clear cut the further QRUWK \RX JR ZLWK QR RIo FLDO FKDQJH LQ SULFHV EXW UHSRUWV from pig suppliers indicate that between 2c/kg and 4c/ kg of an increase was paid over the past two weeks. From a low of â&#x201A;Ź1.70c/kg up to â&#x201A;Ź1.76c/kg is being paid for pigs across the country. The higher prices and reports of a few cent more are being paid for spot loads and lighter pigs by some plants. There is great competition for pigs, especially in the northern part of the country, with plants struggling to o OO WKHLU NLOO ODVW ZHHN :LWK ORZ QXPEHUV RI SLJV IRUHFDVW WR EH VODXJKWHUHG DFURVV WKH (8 IRU WKH QH[W o YH PRQWKV SLJ farmers are hopeful that the current good price will at least be maintained in 2017. Ireland is now well below the EU average price and this is not a situation that can be sustained, according to IFA pigs chair Tom Hogan. In order for Irish pig farmers to compete, we have to at least follow the trade of our European neighbours. Hogan called on all processors to lift prices to â&#x201A;Ź1.80c/kg.

Compiled by Lorcan Allen

%UD]LOLDQ OLYH FDWWOH H[SRUWV IRU -XQH H[FHHGHG head, which was a 53% increase compared with the same month last year. More than 60% of these cattle ZHUH VKLSSHG WR 7XUNH\ ZKLFK EULQJV WRWDO OLYH FDW WOH H[SRUWV IURP %UD]LO WR 7XUNH\ WR MXVW XQGHU KHDG LQ WKH o UVW VL[ PRQWKV of 2017.

2211

Prices reported to IFA

Chinese demand for infant formula has remained strong in 2017, despite rising dairy SULFHV )RU WKH o UVW o YH months of 2017, Chinese imports of infant formula amounted to 98,500t, which is 26% ahead of the same period in 2016. 7KH YDOXH RI WKHVH LP ports has also increased this year to â&#x201A;Ź1.3bn.

Research institute StratĂŠgie Grains has cut its IRUHFDVW IRU WKH (8 ZKHDW KDUYHVW WKLV VHDVRQ by 900,000t to just under 141m tonnes. This is WKH WKLUG FRQVHFXWLYH PRQWK WKH LQVWLWXWH KDV FXW LWV ZKHDW KDUYHVW RXWORRN LQ (XURSH DV GU\ ZHDWKHU LQ )UDQFH DQG 6SDLQ ORRNV VHW WR KLW yields.

European pig prices: Week ending 15/07/2017 i NJ

1.685

Ireland N. Ireland N/A

Grain trends Grain prices: Futures wheat price (MATIF) for December 2017 (â&#x201A;Ź/t), SPOT native wheat 2016 and 2017, SPOT barley 2017 and SPOT corn ex-port (â&#x201A;Ź/t)

ANDY DOYLE

240 220 200

MATIF Dec 2017 SPOT native wheat Corn ex-port

180 160

SPOT native SPOT native barley wheat 2016

140 120 100

2015

2017

2016 F M A

M J

news of high yields in Russia add to current harvest pressure. It seems likely that serious problems will need to emerge in maize production to push up physical prices, as buyers believe that total sup-

N D

370 350 330 310 290 270 250 230 210 190 170

(â&#x201A;Ź/tonne) Est forward price for Aug/Oct: â&#x201A;Ź228/tonne

2015 2017 J

F M A

M J

2016 S

N D

575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 375 350 325 300 275

Week ending 15/07/2017 12/07/2016

1.648 1.833 1.635

Pigs 58,904 60,756

Sows 1,587 1,751

Total Cumulative 60,491 1,749,324 62,507 1,767,260

Potatoes: 18/07/2017 Ex-farm potato prices reported to the IFA Low Rooster Box â&#x201A;Ź320 Rooster 10kg â&#x201A;Ź3.50 Kerrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pinks 10kg â&#x201A;Ź3.20 New season Queens 10kg â&#x201A;Ź6

High â&#x201A;Ź360 â&#x201A;Ź4.00 â&#x201A;Ź3.60 â&#x201A;Ź8

Average â&#x201A;Ź340 â&#x201A;Ź3.75 â&#x201A;Ź3.30 â&#x201A;Ź7

Comment: Due to the warm weather, demand has slackened over the past week, but with the current broken spell we should see the market improve. There is some new season premier still around, however these should be soon cleared. This week should see many growers in the south and southHDVW o QLVKHG RQ 4XHHQV ZKLFK ZLOO OHDYH D JDS LQ WKH PDUNHW for those starting to harvest in other regions. All retailers will move onto bigger pack sizes over the next week, which will further help the sales of Queens. Movement of old-season crop has been slow for some growers, as many packers use up their own stock. However, most growers are now cleared, and with over six weeks still left in the market, there will be no issue moving the remaining stock.

2015 J

1.600

Pig Slaughterings

2016

M J

France

Denmark

2017

F M A

1.601

Germany

ply will still be more than adequate and that there is no justifiable reason for a sustained price increase. The drop in native forward prices was reďŹ&#x201A;ected on Monday in Glanbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oďŹ&#x20AC;er of â&#x201A;Ź131 for green barley and â&#x201A;Ź144 for wheat for harvest. Other co-op offers since then put green barley back at â&#x201A;Ź125/t. Native prices are very difďŹ cult. Barley is anything from â&#x201A;Ź155 to â&#x201A;Ź165/t out to November, with wheat around â&#x201A;Ź180/t. November wheat price would appear to be in the â&#x201A;Ź175 to â&#x201A;Ź180/t bracket.

(â&#x201A;Ź/tonne) Est forward price for Aug/Oct: â&#x201A;Ź338/tonne

Belgium

Netherlands

Soya bean meal

Rape meal

(â&#x201A;Ź/tonne) Est forward price for Aug/Oct: â&#x201A;Ź191/tonne

per bushel at close of business last Tuesday week to â&#x201A;Ź5.264/ bu on Tuesday of this week. Physical prices react much less than futures because they live in the gap between real sellers and real buyers. Recent

Maize meal

320 300 280 260 240 220 200 180 160 140 120

1.819

Britain

Prices fall due to currency and sentiment Grain prices have weakened over the past week. This is part-harvest, part-international weather and partfunds. Markets remain nervous on maize and soya. MATIF December futures wheat dropped â&#x201A;Ź8/t in the past week from â&#x201A;Ź187.25/t at close of business last Tuesday week to â&#x201A;Ź179.25/t this Tuesday. This was mainly in response to supply information, currency, weather and funds. Recent crop condition information from the US may have halted the decline, but there is no major upwards recovery. Chicago December wheat futures price fell from a close of $5.762

N/A

N D

FARMERS JOURNAL Scotland

12 Farm ProďŹ t Programm e

More grass when it is really needed With second-cut wrapped up at Arnage, the focus returns to stock

SUBSCRIBE Direct payments safe un TODAY! til 20

HELPING YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR FARM

NFU Scotland welcomes Lord Duncanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conďŹ rmation

JOHN SLEIGH

SCOTLAND EDITOR

jsleigh@farmersjournal.co.uk

Subscribe at www.farmersjournal.co.uk/subs or call us: Aberdeen Ĺ° Glasgow 014-13011044

EXCLUSIVE

Direct payments have been conďŹ rmed for Scottish farmers until 2022 by Scottish Minister Lord Duncan. For since the Brexit referend the ďŹ rst time um, a UK minister has confirm ed that payment system will remainthe current the duration of the current in place for Westminster Parliament. This provides clarity to Michael Goveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interview at the Great Yorkshir where he said the UK Governm e Show, match the subsidies coming ent would â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at least for the next few from the EU years. The payment oďŹ&#x20AC;ers an anchor of support to Scottish agricult ure potential turmoil of Brexit during the negotiations. The payments are worth ÂŁ3.3m to the Scottish rural econom y over the 2015 to 2020 period. Currently the money comes from the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Co A

15 July 2017 Vol 1 No 7 | ÂŁ3.10

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017 Saturday 28 January

72 BUSINESS OF FARMING

Irish management notes

Beef

Adam Woods

Dairy

Aidan Brennan

Arable Andy Doyle

awoods@farmersjournal.ie

abrennan@farmersjournal.ie

adoyle@farmersjournal.ie

ÊFERTILISER AND GRASS: With rain forecast over the next few days, grass growth rates are expected to pick up again. Fertiliser should be going out in the next two weeks, to try and build grass supplies coming into August. Fertiliser efficiency drops off as the year progresses and it’s important to get maximum impact out of any that is spread. There are a lot of fields around the country that are showing signs of fertiliser deficiency, with a yellow colour. Applying between 20-30 units of N fertiliser/acre should get a good response. Make sure you are not forgetting about P and K – a compound fertiliser will give a better response if soil is deficient in P or K. Applying a fertiliser with added sulphur will also give a higher response than just straight CAN, especially on regular silage fields or on farms with lighter soils.

ÊMILK CHEQUES: This week’s milk payments will probably be the biggest ever received on most farms. June is the peak milk month and most co-ops have increased milk prices from last month. This is really good news, but it presents farmers with a dilemma: what to do with the money? The biggest fear I have is that the foot will be taken off the pedal when it comes to managing costs, and the extra cash that should have been generated in the high milk price will be consumed by increased expenditure. Let’s face it, farmers have a good track record of doing this, with numerous research projects showing that the farmer’s margin stays the same, regardless of milk price. So what should farmers do with the extra cash that is going to be generated over the next few months? Paying off bills is the obvious one. Most merchants are still owed money for meal and fertiliser. Perhaps you could get a discount if you were to pay them all off now? Contractors are owed money for silage and slurry. In many cases they won’t come looking until later in the year but cash is important to them so again, a discount could be worked into the price. Paying down debt is another option. Whether or not this is a good idea is down to personal preference and exposure to debt. Bankers don’t always view this as being overly positive when viewing future proposals – having a cash deposit is more attractive to them. Building up soil fertility has a huge return on investment. Now is a good time to be spreading lime. I’m hearing of very good deals being done for fertiliser now too, with delivery later in the year or next spring. Building up a rainy day fund is probably one of the best options. This can take a number of forms – livestock, hard cash or feed stocks. The important thing is that you are actually wealthier after 2017 than you were after 2016. This wealth can either be in the profit and loss account or the balance sheet, but don’t give it all away to others.

ÊHARVESTING: Combines have been moving across the country and the prospects of a bumper winter barley harvest seem well and truly gone. While most reports associated with 6-row winter barley remain good, reports from the 2-row crop appear much more variable. Some say that average yields are back 0.4-0.5 t/ac with huge variability. While early 6-row and 6-/2-row mixes may average close to 4t/ac, 2-row types appear to be topping off at an average around 3.5t/ac. There are some 4t crops but there appear to be many below 3t/ac also. Yields and quality are difficult to rationalise with some poor crops having good specific weight (65-68) and some 4t+ crops only hitting 63-64KPH. Anecdotal evidence might suggest that better yields are coming from fields closer to ley or in a good rotation or those getting organic manures. Could it be that worn ground just did not have adequate moisture retention? Take-all and BYDV may have had an impact also. Some winter rape crops have been cut along the east coast with yields above 1.8t/ac at 10-11% moisture. Most crops are still a week or more away from combining.

ÊRUSHES: As part of the Basic Payment Scheme, farmers have to demonstrate that their land is in a grazeable condition. This will mean controlling rushes in heavily-infested areas of grassland. Applying herbicide to fresh, green regrowth will achieve a better kill. MCPA is an effective treatment for rushes. Take care to use the recommended rates and make sure no heavy rain is forecast after spraying. Glyphosate can be used when applied via a weed licker, but care is needed as it could potentially kill some grass if applied incorrectly. Rushes should be left for about four weeks after spraying/licking before being topped. Rushes will occur in areas which have poor drainage and low soil fertility. A soil test will provide a better assessment of what fertiliser and lime is required. Planned drainage works will also help longterm control. ÊFEED OPTIONS: Where you are feeding high levels of meals over winter, this could be a good year to look at the option of buying directly off the combine. Handling barley on-farm is not the dirty, dusty job that it used to be. Large mobile rollers are now available through many contractors around the country. These machines roll and apply additives to the crop at a rate of up to 30 tonnes per hour. Cost will depend on moisture content of the grain. At 18-20% moisture, you are looking at the acid costing between €8/t to €26/t, with rolling costing a further €12/t to €15/t. Having adequate storage facilities is important to keep it clean and dry. Rations don’t need to be complicated with too many ingredients – simple barley/soya rations will do a good job on finishing farms. ÊOPEN DAY REMINDER: An open day will take place on the Irish Farmers Journal Tullamore Farm next Tuesday, 25 July, from 1pm-7pm. All livestock will be on display and live demos will take place in the yard area from 4pm-7pm. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. The eircode for the event is R35AT81. See pages 34-38 for more details.

Sheep

Darren Carty dcarty@farmersjournal.ie

ÊBLOWFLY STRIKE: The humid weather over the last week and higher-risk season for blowfly strike has greatly increased the incidence of flystrike. While many farmers will be well aware of the risk in lambs, there have also been lots of reports of flystrike in hoggets and ewes that were shorn early in the season. It is worth being mindful of this and taking the necessary precautions of dagging dirty tail-ends and applying pour-on or dipping. The drop in temperatures may reduce flystrike activity but it won’t eliminate it. Be careful to follow manufacturers’ guidelines as some pour-on products do not possess treatment properties and therefore it is important to carry out treatment first. Where a serious strike has oc-

ÊBULLS OUT: At this stage of the year most dairy farmers are approaching around week 12 of breeding. Cows served today won’t calve until mid-April, and if a beef bull is used they will probably carry a week or 10 days longer. While the longer the breeding season lasts, the lower the empty rate will be, you have to look at the overall picture. Latecalving cows are a massive cost and a drain on cash as they don’t produce nearly as much as an early calver, but need similar feeding. Best policy to avoid late-calvers is to pull out the bulls now. Some people will say that you will get a higher sale value for a cow in calf versus an empty cow. And while this may be true, in general the sale times are different so the costs of keeping the cow aren’t the same. ÊTIME OFF: The summer is going fast and holidays would want to be planned now. If bringing in relief, pay them to do a few milkings when you are around to familiarise themselves with the setup and learn the routine. Leave clear and simple instructions for when you are gone. curred, it is important to monitor animals and apply an appropriate spray to reduce the risk of secondary infection. ÊCOBALT SUPPLEMENTATION: As cobalt is not stored by sheep, there is a risk of deficiency where lambs are grazing on cobalt deficient soils. Issues generally start to occur from the end of July onwards. Early signals include lambs performing below target or losing condition despite on a relatively good level of nutrition while tell-tale signs of more advanced problems are lambs starting to pine away, going dry in the wool and in cases experiencing ears becoming scaly or scabby with skin flaking away. Veterinary advice shows lambs requiring about 1mg cobalt per head per day. The most common treatment and preventative options are oral supplementation, cobalt bullets or boluses and feeding meal with adequate mineral inclusion levels. Where supplementing with an oral drench, whether a standard cobalt product, cobalt B12 product or mineral drench, remember cobalt supplementation needs to be administered every two weeks. ÊPOOR KILL-OUT: There are a lot of reports of lambs killing out poorly, which is increasing the risk of lambs falling below the minimum carcase weight or killing at fat scores of one

ÊQUALITY IS VARIABLE: Grain quality is generally good but not exceptional. One might say that this represents the lack of grain fill that impacted on yield but this is not necessarily the case. Most specific weights seem to be between 63 and 66 but some are higher, even with six row. There are also values as low as 55KPH on some 2-row crops. A number of 2-row crops have been cut at between 2.5 and 3t/ac. Grain moistures dropped rapidly in recent days with many crops delivered at 14.5 to 18% moisture despite green straws and grains. ÊSTRAW: Demand for winter barley straw is good and many fields have been cleared already. Many reports suggest straw yield is back by 2-3 bales per acre compared with last year with price up by about €3-€4 per 4x4 bale. This is roughly income neutral if you have fewer bales to sell. If your yields appear to be hit by very worn ground it is important to consider what you can do about it. Chopping straw makes no sense when its value is high, except on headlands where incorporation is exceptionally valuable to improve soil structure. But if you want to get yield out you must do something to put body back into the ground. That’s your insurance policy year to year. ÊDESICCATION: Many other crops are coming in very quickly and this may be increasing the impact of late tillers with their green grains. It is not uncommon to have the ripe grains close to 15% moisture with green grains still quite green. And with straw breaking down one may not have time to wait for glyphosate to work. In the past Reglone (diquat) might have been used to fill this role on barley or oats crops. However, Syngenta inform me that Reglone is no longer approved for use pre-harvest on barley or oats and it was never approved for use on wheat. The same applies to all other brands. and two. Draft lambs on a combination of weight and condition with kill-out values of 42% to 43% in lambs lacking flesh (ram lambs most at risk), not uncommon at present. ÊBREEDING SALES: Breeding sales are kicking off in greater frequency with sales activity stepping up a notch in August. Purchasing animals well in advance of the breeding season has numerous benefits with the major advantage being the potential to implement a sufficient quarantine period of at least four weeks and allow animals to become acclimatised to their new environment. This is particularly important when purchasing ram lambs in allowing young rams to transition from a high plane of nutrition to a grass-based diet. ÊFEC LABORATORIES: Last week’s article on the sheep welfare scheme omitted two laboratories in error that are approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for analysing faecal egg counts. The two labs are Paralabs, Unit 2 Manderville, St Patrick’s Street, Portumna, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, which can be contacted by email at info@paralabs. ie or by calling 087-2931167, and Oldcastle Laboratories, Cogan Street, Oldcastle, Co Meath, which can be contacted by emailing info@oldcastlelabs.ie or on 049-8541160.

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 28 July January 20172017

BUSINESS OF FARMING 73

On the Irish market Ringside comment

In the spotlight

Trade ticking along nicely DARREN CARTY LIVESTOCK SPECIALIST dcarty@farmersjournal.ie

July has traditionally been the quietest month for mart sales, with some centres transferring to fortnightly sales or seeing activity reduce to minimum levels. Trade to date in July has gone against this trend in some marts, with the bigger sale venues in particular benefitting from higher sale entries. Throughput is being helped by the ending of brucellosis testing and strong demand from factory agents attracting significantly higher numbers of cows through mart sales. Many marts are also holding one-off special autumn-

born weanling sales to provide a sales outlet to breeders of these animals. These sales are performing well, with specialist bull-beef ﬁnishers, buoyed by ﬁrm beef prices, very active in sourcing good-quality bulls. Continental bulls weighing 400kg to 470kg with potential to easily kill into U grades are selling from €2.35/kg to €2.50/kg, with the best-quality lots exceeding this level. Lesser-quality bulls are still meeting a good trade, with R grades from €2.20/kg to €2.30/kg, while O grading rougher-type bulls are selling back to €2.00/kg. Demand for similarly aged quality bulls that are falling below this weight category is being helped by strong farmer demand.

This 575kg top-quality Limousin-cross heifer, born June 2015, sold in Saturday’s sale in Balla Mart for €1,575 (€2.74/kg).

At a glance: Average price paid week ending 18/07/2017

The marts

Weight €/head € over kg Weekly diff Yearly diff

Accurate mart pprices, es only ly in the Irish Farme mers Journal nal a

550 1199 649 12 12

S S

Weight €/head € over kg Weekly diff Yearly diff

450 1026 576 -1 2

T S

Weight €/head € over kg Weekly diff Yearly diff

350 826 476 -1 2

T S

Steers

Heifers

Weanlings

The best demand remains for goodquality continental steers with age on their side and potential to slaughter at less than 30 months of age. Good-quality lots weighing 450kg to 550kg are selling from €2.30/kg to €2.55/kg on average for R and U grading lots. Angus and Hereford types are making from €2.10/kg to €2.20/kg on average, with lesser-quality O grading types selling back to €2/kg. 2016born Friesian steers are selling in general from €1.75/kg to €1.90/kg, depending on weight and quality.

Heifers are following a similar trend to steers, with heavy forward-store DQG VODXJKWHU o W KHLIHUV LQ WLJKW supply. Good-quality lots weighing 400kg to 500kg are selling from €2.25/kg to €2.45/kg on average for R and U grading lots, with bestquality lots rising to and exceeding €2.50/kg. Small numbers of heavLHU VODXJKWHU o W KHLIHUV DUH VHOOLQJ from €2.00/kg to €2.15/kg for O grading lots and up to €2.25/kg to €2.30/kg for better-quality types. Some marts are starting to see higher numbers of dairy crossbred KHLIHUV o QLVKHG DW OLJKW ZHLJKWV

Weanlings are appearing in small numbers, with bulls coming on offer being generally strong lots aged nine to 12 months of age. Lighter lots continue to meet strong demand from farmers, with light bullocks commanding a premium RYHU EXOOV GXH WR WKH GLIo FXOW\ LQ castrating animals at this stage of the year. Prices for bulls weighing 300kg to 370kg range from €2.60/ kg to €2.80/kg, with top-quality lots and shipping types hitting €3/ kg. Friesian bulls are selling from €1.70/kg for lesser quality lots to €1.95/kg on average.

YearlyComparison Steers

260

240

250

230

240

220

230

210 200

2015 2017

2016

220

270

260

250

2015

240 2015

230 220

2017

210 200

190

Average price for 300-400kg weanling heifer (c/kg)

Average price for 300-400kg weanling bull (c/kg)

Average price for 400-500kg heifer (c/kg)

250

Weanling Heifers

Weanling Bulls

Heifers

Average price for 500-600kg steer (c/kg)

210 2016

250 240

2016

200

220 210 200

190

170

180

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2015

230

2017

180

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2017

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2016

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017 Saturday 28 January

74 BUSINESS OF FARMING

Irish beef trends

Factory bullocks: Under 30 months R Grade factory bullocks (cent/kg) DW incl VAT 480 460 440 420 400 380 360 340 320 300

Plenty of life in the trade

2015

DARREN CARTY

2017 2016

Factory cows

O Grade factory cows (cent/kg DW) incl VAT 410 390 370 350 330 310 290 270 250 230

2015

2017

2016

Factory heifers: Under 30 months R Grade factory heifers (cent/kg) DW incl VAT 500 480 460 440 420 400 380 360 340 320 300

2015

2017

2016

Export factory disposals

Cattle born on this date will be over 30 months old this week

€4.15/kg respectively, with regular sellers with greater negotiating power securing 3c/kg to 5c/kg higher. Bulls less than 16 months and trading on the grid are moving at a base price of €4.05/ kg, with small numbers at a base of €4.08/kg to €4.10/kg. Cow prices have strengthened by 5c/kg in some of the cow-specialist plants, with others holding quotes static. P+3 grading cows continue to sell from €3.20/kg to over €3.30/kg, with O grades from €3.30/kg to €3.40/kg and 5c/ kg higher in plants specialising in the cow trade. R grades are selling from €3.45/kg Livestock tool Latest mart and factory prices at \RXU À QJHUWLSV www.farmers journal.ie or our news app

Quality-based pricing grid for steers and heifers CUMULATIVE

10/07/2017

11/07/2016

10/07/2017

11/07/2016

2761 650 12597 7756 7618 42 31424

3052 609 11225 7545 7293 12 29736

114953 14916 317943 199000 247232 6178 900222

124498 16240 297486 179456 237029 3176 857885

YOUNG BULL BULL STEER COW HEIFER CALF TOTAL

21/01/15

Beef producers have weathered negative price pressure from factories and continue to command similar prices to recent weeks. The majority of steers are trading on a base of €4.05/kg, while heifers are trading on a base of €4.15/kg. Sellers with signiﬁcant numbers on hand or greater negotiating power are having more success in securing a higher base for heifers in particular, with more reports of €4.20/kg paid at the higher end of the market. This is being partly driven by tighter supplies, with last week’s heifer throughput falling from 8,224 head to 7,618. Top prices for steers are €4.08/kg to €4.10/kg. Bull throughput also continues to fall off, with last week’s throughput falling 421 head to 2,761. Last week’s overall kill reduced 690 head to 31,424. The majority of R and U grade bulls are selling for €4.05/kg and

Source: Department of Agriculture

2+ 3 44= 4+ 5

number of weeks. The big difference this year has been strong market demand and a more balanced trade for all elements of the carcase. Manufacturing beef in particular has benefited from lower supplies of beef on the global market and a recovery in demand from markets outside the UK and further afield than the EU (Philippines and Hong Kong). Meanwhile, the latest Department of Agriculture live export figures show 2,468 bulls exported to Turkey in the week ending 6 July. This included 1,312 bulls aged from three to 12 months of age and 1,151 bulls aged between 12 and 21 months of age. Another boatload of heavier finishing bulls is set to be exported next week. The shipment to Turkey boosted exports for the week to 4,142, with Spain importing 707 head (495 calves, 82 weanlings and 124 stores) and Italy 421 (248 calves, 92 weanlings, 63 stores and 18 animals over 21 months of age). The other notable exports were 310 head exported north, of which 166 were destined for direct slaughter.

to €3.55/kg, with heavy U grade cows still sought after and selling at the top of the market from €3.60/kg to over €3.70/ kg. %ULWLVK SULFHV NHHS ULVLQJ British prices have maintained their gradual upward momentum, rising by 1p/kg to 2p/kg again in the last week. The AHDB reports average R4L steer and heifer prices now hitting £3.80/kg. Sterling has been ﬂuctuating in recent days and stood at 88.4p to the euro on Wednesday. This leaves British R4L prices averaging the equivalent of €4.53/kg including 5.4% VAT. Northern producers have, in many cases, resisted an attempt by some plants to pull quotes by 2p/kg to 4p/kg. Base entry quotes for U-3 steers and heifers are £3.60/ kg (€4.29/kg), but regular sellers are still securing 2p/kg to 4p/kg higher. <HDUO\ FRPSDULVRQ Prices are running about 20c/ kg ahead of the same period in 2016, with factories gaining the upper hand in the wake of the Brexit vote and easing prices 5c/kg to 10c/kg over a

Bonus structure for quality assurance payment

U+

U-

R+

R-

O+

O-

P+

24 24 24 24 18 0

18 18 18 18 12 -6

12 12 12 12 6 -12

6 6 6 6 0 -18

BASE BASE BASE BASE -6 -24

-18 -12 -12 -12 -18 -36

-24 -18 -18 -24 -24 -42

-30 -24 -24 -30 -30 -48

-36 -30 -30 -36 -36 -54

R= and R- carcases grading fat class 2+,3 and 4- will be paid the base SULFH 7KH o JXUHV LQ WKH VXUURXQGLQJ FHOOV UHSUHVHQW WKH YDULRXV SUHPLXPV penalties paid across the range of conformation grades and fat scores. For example an R+3 carcase will be paid 6c/kg above the base price.

U+

U-

R+

R-

O+

O-

P+

2+ 3 44= 4+ 5 Steers and heifers grading within the shaded area will be paid an extra 12c/ kg if they are quality-assured and under 30 months old at slaughter. Qualityassured cattle must be on the farms for at least 70 days before slaughter. Animals over 30 months and not quality-assured will be deducted 12c/kg.

Irish sheep trends

Factories struggle to pull prices

Weekly sheep slaughterings (head) 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0

2016 2017

PETER VARLEY 2015

Lambs and hoggets: Week ending 18/07/2017 c/kg

700 650 2015 Hoggets

600 2016 Hoggets

550

2017 Lambs 2016 Lambs

500

2017 Hoggets

2015 Lambs

450 400

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

The level of success to pull sheep prices has been variable, despite signiﬁcant pressure by sheep factories. This time last week, prices of €5.50/kg to €5.55/kg were paid for factory lambs, but after continuous downward pressure, farmers are now being paid lower prices of €5.30/kg to €5.45/kg including bonuses, a reduction of 10c to 20c/kg. Producer groups are securing €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg when all bonuses are taken into account. Factory agents attempted to pull prices even lower, but tighter supplies made this more diﬃcult to achieve. Farmers successfully resist-

ed the lower quotes and negotiated higher prices, but not as high as last week’s values. In the marts, prices have been holding strong and agents continue to be very active for lambs. With lambs being marketed lighter this year and with last week’s numbers steady at 48,666 head, meat volumes are lower than processors would like. 6LJQLo FDQW UDQJH Oﬃcial quotes have fallen by 20c/kg in most plants, but the quotes continue to range signiﬁcantly, with a gap of 15c/ kg to 20c/kg between the highest and lowest. Ballon Meats holds top position with its all-in quote of €5.30/kg. Of the main export

plants, Kepak Athleague is leading with its quote of €5.25/ kg excluding bonuses, followed by Kildare Chilling with €5.20/kg excluding bonuses. Irish Country Meats slashed its quote this week by 20c/kg to a base of €5.10/kg, sticking to the trend of holding bottom place in the quotes table. IFA national sheep committee chair John Lynskey said sheep farmers are resisting pressure on lamb prices from the factories. He said that, in the UK, prices are ranging from the equivalent of €5.35/kg to €5.55/kg, according to the AHDB. UK mart prices are £2.10/kg (liveweight), which is the equivalent of €5.34/kg including VAT (deadweight). Factory prices in the UK are higher, reported at £4.66/kg for 15

July, equivalent to €5.58/kg including VAT. &XOO HZHV A total of 8,796 ewes and rams were slaughtered last week, a decline of 1,208 head on the same period in 2016. Prices are very strong, with €2.80/kg to €2.95/kg being paid. Carcase weight limits vary from 40kg to 43kg. Kepak has increased its quote for ewes by 15c/kg to a base of €2.75/kg, with all other processors on a base of €2.70/kg. NI Quotes have fallen by 5p/kg to a base of £4.25/kg (equivalent of €5.09/kg including VAT). Farmers are securing prices of £4.30/kg (equivalent of €5.15/kg including VAT).

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 28 July January 20172017

BUSINESS OF FARMING 75

Northern Ireland Report

Quotes unchanged but price deals on oﬀer for U-3 animals and rise to 362p/kg on steers and 364p/ kg on heifers. Most reports indicate that plants are starting most farmers from a base of 364p to 366p/ kg, but few cattle are moving at this level. Those that are being bought at base tend to be from farmers with limited numbers or cattle that receive additional premiums for speciﬁc breed schemes.

KIERAN MAILEY NORTHERN DEPUTY EDITOR kmailey@farmersjournal.ie

The cattle trade is holding steady this week, as processors return to their normal kill schedule after last week’s holidays. As a result, they are keener for numbers. However, plants have left oﬃcial quotes unchanged this week, which start on 360p/kg

NI beef base quotes: Week ending 22/07/2017 (p/kg inc VAT) 0 E U R O P

+=+ = + = + = + = -

22= 2+ 3+=- 44= 4+ 360 362 364 366 364 360 356 358 360 362 364 362 358 354 356 358 360 362 360 356 352 354 356 358 360 358 354 350 352 354 356 358 356 352 348 350 352 354 356 354 350 346 348 350 352 354 352 348 344 342 344 346 348 346 342 338 336 338 340 342 340 336 332 330 332 334 336 334 330 326 324 326 328 330 328 324 320 318 320 322 324 322 318 314 312 314 316 318 316 312 308

2IoFLDO 3ULFHV 1, Week ending 15/07/2017 (p/kg ex VAT) &DWHJRU\

6WHHUV

+HLIHUV

<RXQJ EXOOV &RZV

U2 U3 U4 R2 R3 R4 O2 O3 O4 P2 P3

369 373.4 365.5

366.7 370.8 364.8 362.4 369.7 365.9 350.3 359.5 362

361.2 364.7

369.3 365.3 356.2 356.4

358.8 361.3

297.9 298.1 270.3 280.6 284.5 242.4 262.7

336.5 344

Note: EU deadweight price reporting – the prices in this table are around 3p/kg below the prices actually paid by NI factories, all of which trim carcases to the UK spec, removing brisket and bed fat before weighing. The reported factory prices have been adjusted downwards by 1% to allow for the greater EU reference weight of the carcase.

2IoFLDO 3ULFHV %ULWDLQ Week ending 15/07/2017 (p/kg ex VAT) England/Wales 6WHHUV +HLIHUV 378.2 375.9 371.3 373.5 378.5 378.4 359.9 366.4 367.5 327.8 331.5 341.6

6WHHUV

383.2 378.8 372.3 373.9 376.1 373.1 361.6 368.3 367.8 324.7 337.5 330.6

U3 U4L U4H R3 R4L R4H O+3 O+4L O+4H O-3 O-4L O-4H

Scotland +HLIHUV

391.5 390.2 385.4 391 393.6 393.9 385 381 379.1 345.3 345.5 351.5

398.6 400.1 390.3 394 392.3 393.5 380.6 388.1 375.5 318.6 336.2 311

Farmers with a good supply of prime cattle are ﬁnding it much easier to negotiate on price, with reports of 4p to 8p/ kg over base price on offer putting cattle at 370p to 372p/ kg. /DUJHU oQLVKHUV Some larger finishers have reported that there is more on oﬀer, especially for sellers who still have a good supply of steers and heifers that will

Harvesting second-cut silage under way NISBP >> P51

be coming on to the market over the next few weeks. Last week, the average price paid for steers and heifers was 361.68p/kg. The average price paid on U3 steers is holding at 375.6p/kg, with U3 heifers on 373p/kg. Young bulls averaged 366.9p/kg for U3 animals. The weekly kill fell by 2,300 head to 5,981 due to plants being closed midweek. The prime kill totalled 4,522, while the cow kill stood at 1,385.

MartWatch: Prices in p/kg week ending 11/07/2017

Mart comment

Mart prices for various weight categories and difference in p/kg on last week

STEERS

HEIFERS

:($1/,1* %8//6

WEANLING HEIFERS 200-300kg

400-500kg

200-300kg

Top1/3 223 16

Top1/3 210 -4

Top1/3

AvgBot1/3 196 159 18 16

500-600kg

Top1/3 204 -17

AvgBot1/3 174 140 -18 -25

600kg plus Top1/3 213 -6

AvgBot1/3 189 159 -5 -6

AvgBot1/3 142 62 -48 -105

AvgBot1/3 125 74 -71 -100

Top1/3

600kg plus

400kg +

Top1/3 159 -55

Top1/3

AvgBot1/3 130 100 -63 -61

AvgBot1/3

Top1/3

AvgBot1/3

400kg + AvgBot1/3

Quality cattle in demand

300-400kg

AvgBot1/3

Top1/3

300-400kg

500-600kg Top1/3 181 -35

AvgBot1/3

Demand for cull cows remains strong, both at meat plants and in the live trade. With a tight supply of prime cattle, processors are also now using cows to ﬁll the supply gap. Quotes for O+3 grade cows are 275p/kg, with R grade cows on 285p/kg. There are plenty of deals on oﬀer for cows, with good-quality beef-bred animals making 300p/kg, with plainer cows moving at 290p/kg.

Top1/3

AvgBot1/3

The Marts: The tables are based on data from: Ballymena, Clogher, Dungannon, Kilrea, Markethill, Omagh, Rathfriland and Enniskillen marts. 6ODXJKWHULQJV RI VKHHS DQG FDWWOH LQ 1RUWKHUQ ,UHODQG Week ending Cumulative 15/07/17 02/07/16 2017 Prime cattle * 4,522 4,131 177,413 Cows 1,385 1,358 49,918 Sheep & Lambs 6,469 7,224 189,825 Ewes and rams 375 306 13,241 (prime cattle includes steers, heifers and young bulls) ,PSRUWV DQG H[SRUWV RI FDWWOH IRU GLUHFW VODXJKWHU Week ending Cumulative 08/07/17 09/07/16 2017 From GB 104 136 3659 To GB 42 51 844 From ROI 166 32 6,326 To ROI 176 261 3,955 ,PSRUWV DQG H[SRUWV RI VKHHS IRU GLUHFW VODXJKWHU Week ending Cumulative 08/07/17 09/07/16 2017 From GB 0 0 637 To GB 0 0 0 From ROI 0 0 0 To ROI 8,379 6,620 179,933 Figures are subject to change

2016 172,692 47,379 177,042 13,031

Difference 3% 5% 7% 2%

2016 2,067 3,212 7,520 7,673

Difference 77% -74% -16% -48%

2016 875 195 0 178,316

Difference -27% -100% 1%

There was a good showing of cattle at Swatragh Livestock Mart’s weekly sale on Monday. Cattle oﬀered for sale were of excellent quality, leading to an exceptional day’s trading with plenty of buyers on hand for all classes of stock. The heifer trade peaked at £1,175 for a 550kg animal (£2.14/kg), while bullocks sold to a top price of £1,370 for a 610kg animal (£2.25/kg). Cattle quality was reflected in prices paid. Other noted prices paid for heifers ranged from £590 to £800 for animals weighing 204kg to 312kg (£2.56 to £2.89/ kg), with heavier lots weighing 500kg selling to £1,100. Bullock prices ranged from £800 to £1,200 for animals weighing 400kg to 500kg (£2 to £2.18/kg) liveweight. There was also a good entry of suckler cows for sale, with the trade peaking at £1,450. General prices for cows ranged from £790 to £1,400, with several lots selling beyond the £1,200 mark.

SHEEP COMMENT See page 60

North price trends at a glance Source DARD Finished sheep: Deadweight price (p/kg)

Steers: Deadweight prices (p/kg) 390 380 370 360 350 340 330 320 310 300 290 280 270

500 450

2017

2016 400 350

2016

2015 300

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

250

2015 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Finished pigs: Deadweight price (p/kg)

Cows: Deadweight prices (p/kg) 290 280 270 260 250 240 230 220 210 200 190 180 170

160 2017

2017

150 140 2016

130 120

2015

110 100

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2015 2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017 Saturday 28 January

76 BUSINESS OF FARMING

Camera at the mart Aberdeen and Northern Marts, Thainstone, Friday 14 July

Seven Limousin steers averaging 406kg, aged 13 to 14 months, sold for £1,080/head.

Six 414kg Limousin steers, aged 12 to 14 months, sold for £1,085/head.

A lot of four steers, averaging 404kg, aged 12 to 15 months, including one Shorthorn and three Belgian Blues made £860/head.

A 370kg Limousin steer, aged 15 months, sold for £880.

Three Limousin Steers weighing an average of 350kg, aged 12 to 14 months, made £1,030/head.

Two Luing steers weighing 396kg, aged 14 and 19 months made £890/head.

One 492kg Simmental cross steer aged 23 months made £1,150.

One 418kg Limousin Steer aged 12 months made £840.

One 400kg Charolais cross steer, aged 13 months, made £1,080.

One 382kg Shorthorn Steer aged 15 months made £850.

One 382kg Shorthorn Steer aged 15 months sold for £850.

One 356kg Charolais cross steer, aged 12 months sold for £900.

Store cattle: week ending 18 July (£/hd) and change on last week Continental steers

Ayr Tu Caithness Mo Castle Douglas Mo Dingwall We Dumfries Mo Forfar Sa Huntly Th Kirkwall We Lanark Th Lockerbie Fr Newton Stewart Fr Newtown St Boswells Th Stirling (caledonian) Mo Stirling (ua) We\Mo Thainstone Fr

Continental 10to 14-months

956.64 27.22 909.29 11.37 1190.73 1192.5 949.83 925.8 1003.38 -112.88 798.86 -221.94 1092.45 144.31 1025.16 142.49

Continental heifers 1074.78 234.6 805 -245 837.35 834.7 933.79 -88.26 958.65 118.65

Continental 10- to 14-month heifers Native steers 905.83 60.5 1091.91 215.66 1055 26.67 770 993.33 812.12 866.67 822.5 -60.95 1060.55 137.71 894.64 82.97 959.71 287.13

Native 10- to 14-month steers 967.14 92.14 1090 675 880 3.33 966.61 298.68

Native heifers 975.31 -29.41 1058 748.75 795 919.42 41.42 963.52 377.16

Native 10- to 14-month heifers 890 170 780 650 747.73 -85.6 896.32 382.99

Store cattle numbers 169 0 12 0 0 90 0 0 0 0 170 0 0 552 923

Store cattle price 1005.38 158.34 952.08 -47.18 1090.06 877.56 948.97 -74.41 1022.28 236.27

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 28 July January 20172017

BUSINESS OF FARMING 77

Irish mart report – Kilrea

Irish mart report – Kenmare

This pen of lambs weighed 21kg half-weight and sold for £77 (€88).

This group of lambs weighed 21kg halfweight and sold for £81 (€82).

These Scotch ram lambs weighing 22.8kg sold for €44.50 (€1.95/kg).

This large pen of Texel-cross ram lambs weighing 26.2kg sold for €56.50 (€2.16/ kg).

This group of lambs weighed 20.5kg halfweight and sold for £75.80 (€86).

This group of lambs weighed 21kg halfweight and sold for £81.80 (€93).

This pen of good-quality Suffolk wether lambs weighing 42kg sold for €91 (€2.17/ kg).

This mixed pen of Texel-cross and Suffolkcross lambs weighing 46.9kg sold for €95 (€2.03/kg).

This group of lambs weighed 21kg halfweight and sold for £81 (€92).

This group of lambs weighed 21kg halfweight and sold for £82 (€93).

These good-quality 35kg Suffolk store lambs sold for €75 (€2.14/kg).

Six Cheviot ewe lambs weighing 42.3kg sold for €90 (€2.13/kg).

Steady trade for lambs at Kilrea Mart Stores start brightly in Kenmare Camera at the mart paid a visit to the weekly sheep sale at Kilrea Livestock Mart in Co Derry on Monday. With no sale last week due to the July holidays, there was a good entry of sheep on oﬀer, with several lots of top-quality lambs met with ﬁrm demand from buying agents working for a number of processors both north and south of the border. Prices were steady given the bigger sale numbers, with top-quality lowland-type animals weighing 23kg to 24kg half-weight selling from £93 to £94 (€105 to €107).

The majority of lambs brought forward for sale weighed 21kg to 22kg half-weight, selling from £88 to £90 (€100 to €102), with Texelcross lambs commanding higher prices over other breeds. Suﬀolk lambs sold to £89 (€101) at 21kg to 21.5kg half-weight. Plainer lots were selling from £83 to £86/head (€94 to €98). Lighter lambs weighing 20kg to 21kg halfweight sold from £80 to £82 (€91 to €93) for good-quality lowland-type lambs, while plainer types sold back to £75 (€85).

Last Monday evening’s sheep sale at Kenmare Mart saw 1,200 lambs on offer. Manager Dan McCarthy said: “The lamb trade has started off lively, with plenty of demand from farmers up the country. Hopefully, this will continue, as there are plenty of quality store lambs coming out. Three-quarters of the lambs would have been lowland types or crosses, with the rest hill lambs, but that will change over the next few weeks.” Suffolk-bred lambs were making €2.05/kg to €2.15/kg, with the heavier lambs back to

€2.05/kg. The rougher crossbred lambs oﬀ the hill sold for between €1.90/kg to €2/kg and Scotch lambs were making €1.80/kg to €1.90/ kg. While lambs dominated the numbers, Dan said trade was strong for other sheep also. “Hogget prices were ﬂying. Mountain hogget ewes were making €90 to €120/head, with lowland hoggets making €120 to €150 /head. There were very few cull ewes, but what was there met strong demand. Around €1/kg or maybe a shake over or under it was the general run.”

Store sheep: week ending 18 July 2017 (£/hd) and change on last week Numbers

Ayr Caithness Castle Douglas Dingwall Dumfries We Forfar Huntly Kirkwall Mo Lanark Lockerbie Newton Stewart Newtown St Boswells Mo Stirling (caledonian) Tu\Mo Stirling (ua) We Thainstone Fr

0 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 63

Store sheep average price - 51.94 - - - - - - - - - - 77.6 - 48.98 11.23

Continental & Suffolk - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 48.1 -11.08

Halfbred & Mule - 63 - - - - - - - - - - - - 47 -22.3

Cheviot - 50.71 - - - - - - - - - - 72 - 47 -1.9

Blackface 7.17

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017 Saturday 28 January

78 BUSINESS OF FARMING

Deadweight cattle Average Scottish deadweight price for steers

World cattle prices

R4L (ÂŁ/kg)

Week ending 11/07/2017

400

p/kg

330

324

350

R3 Steer

R3 Young Bull

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Ger Italy Nld

Southern England Midland and Wales Northern England 3

379.8

384.4

380.2

375.5

372.6

374.0

391.5

390.2

372.8

378.0

375.6

375.9

370.3

380.9

391.0

393.6

O+

359.9

364.6

361.3

363.9

358.1

368.3

385.0

381.0

-O

328.5

341.0

326.5

321.9

328.4

334.5

345.3

345.5

Heifers

-U

383.0

376.0

387.6

382.1

376.7

378.0

398.6

400.1

371.4

373.9

378.0

377.7

367.9

375.5

394.0

392.3

O+

363.6

364.2

359.8

364.5

361.6

373.2

380.6

388.1

-O

335.4

335.0

312.9

328.9

324.5

342.7

318.6

336.2

Young bulls

Scotland Steers 386.1 +0.4S

Heifers Young bulls 389.6 +2.1S

372 -1.1T

Steers

Northern Ireland (R grade)

280.5 +1.6S

Steers

Heifers

Young bulls

Cows

360.5 -0.3T

363.4 +0.1S

355.9 +0.6S

267.6 -0.7T

Heifers Young bulls

363 -3.6T

-U

370.8

375.0

366.5

364.4

359.8

363.1

383.8

384.4

Steers

363.1

359.9

356.7

358.5

355.7

351.9

377.4

381.3

360.5 -0.3T

O+

340.3

332.7

339.5

328.4

320.0

338.8

338.5

-O

316.5

315.0

309.7

305.9

307.9

318.9

316.0

367.1 +1S

343.4 -3.6T

Cows 258 -2.2T

Central and Wales

Cows

Northern England

Scotland

Southern England Midland and Wales Northern England

Pol AUS US

Scotland

Southern England Midland and Wales Northern England

316

Scotland

-U

Southern England Midland and Wales Northern England

309

Averages (p/kg)

UK deadweight reporting: Week end 11/07/2017 (p/kg) Steers

Dec

279

Scot Irl

R3 Steer

300 Jan

292

R3 Steer

325

272

Av. Steers

376

Steer

369

348

R3 Young Bull

394

2016

R3 Young Bull

375

Steer

2017

Heifers Young bulls 367 -3.1T

348.4 -5.9T

Cows 247.6 +5.5S

Southern England

Scotland

308.6

307.1

303.1

303.0

301.1

299.6

306.6

302.6

O+

292.3

287.8

295.6

292.1

289.0

285.5

297.3

296.7

-O

280.6

276.5

278.9

279.6

273.9

282.4

286.2

P+

257.6

253.7

249.9

254.6

255.1

245.4

253.6

247.1

Steers

Heifers Young bulls

Cows

358.7 +0.1S

359.1 -0.4T

249.3 -5.2T

355.4 +1.5S

Prime cattle: week ending 18 July 2017 (p/kg) and change on last week Heifers

Steers Market Ayr Mo\Tu Caithness Castle Douglas Tu Dingwall We\Tu Dumfries We\Tu Forfar We Huntly We\Th Kirkwall Mo Lanark Mo Lockerbie Newton Stewart We Newtown St Boswells Mo Stirling (caledonian) Th\Tu Stirling (ua) Th Thainstone Th

Total cattle 9 0 4 31 7 20 0 24 33 0 0 64 77 2 52

370-550 kg 224 -

-15 -23.66 7.17 199.17 52.67 -29.58 212.33 5.33

551-650 kg 214 238.5 223.33 216.17 200.38 232.33 233.21 167.8 221.53

-9 0.5 -16.67 -3.5 30.95 3.43 -1.12 -13.6 6.15

>650 kg 191 215 156.33 217 207.44 199

-1 12.33 -0.33 -3.45 -7.37

330-500 kg 238 222 215 215.25 236.44 205 190 248

5.33 114 -20 69.93 -0.56 36.6 -16.9 75.18

501-590 kg 210.75 193 236.38 215.83 230.89 218.18 225.51 232.23 228.54 233.93

-20.75 -3 -1.42 35.03 -5.04 -2.53 -1.74 -1.73 13.35 7.82

>590 kg 169 190 235.9 212 227 141.32 211 230.94 195.39

0.9 -12.6 15 -26.26 -15.43 2.55 -7.44

Young bull numbers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 4

All young bulls 150 186 149.5

-48 10.83 -69.5

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 28 July January 20172017

BUSINESS OF FARMING 79

Liveweight sheep Average price for prime lamb

Average price for cull ewes New-season lamb

250 200

80 70

Old-season lamb

150

100 50 50 0

40 Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Numbers of prime lamb

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Numbers of cull ewes 8000

30000

6000

22500

Old-season lamb

15000

New-season lamb

4000 2000

7500 0

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

0 Jan

Jul

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

World lamb prices: (p/kg) New Zealand 17.5 kg lamb (02 June)

374

Ireland lambs (28 May)

429

France butchers lamb (28 May)

581

US lambs LW (02 June)

307

UK price

466

Data provided by

British deadweight lamb price reporting (Old Season Lambs) Final SQQ: week ending (12.0 - 21.5kg) 1 E U R O P

Num 6 42 244 143 3

p/kg 461.7 460.4 448.0 404.3 360.0

2 p/kg 483.1 477.8 467.2 447.1 355.6

Num 825 2591 7668 1729 8

Num 1784 8377 16638 2018 3

3L p/kg 482.9 476.7 466.0 452.9 326.7

Num 556 3251 5512 362

3H p/kg 464.7 463.6 458.7 446.5

Num 65 370 610 23

4L p/kg 444.3 440.1 443.1 440.0

Num 4 36 79 1

4H p/kg 418.8 418.5 418.9 425.0

Num 2 6 12

5 p/kg 381.5 395.5 385.4

Prime sheep: week ending 18 July 2017 (p/kg) and change on last week Ayr (Mon) Caithness Castle Douglas Dingwall Dumfries Forfar Huntly Kirkwall Lanark Lockerbie Newton Stewart Newtown St Boswells Stirling (caledonian) Stirling (ua) Thainstone

Hoggs 25.5-32kg

Hoggs 32.1-39kg

Hoggs 39.1-45kg

Hoggs 45.6-52kg

69.44 118.07 -

115.5 -

86.96 137.5 106 138.28 -

Average Average price price change 69.44 117.75 -

-21.83 -

Total old season lambs 0 3 0 0 4 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 105 0

Total ewes 562 0 95 163 291 88 396 0 554 0 132 390 501 1419 0

Total ewes average price 69.66 74.32 66.78 65.17 70.93 79.8 63.03 74.59 82.4 73.12 64.38 -

Total ewes average change -0.27 15.4 -0.42 -10.97 5.1 10.38 -16.12 0.26 5.07 10 -6.28 -

FARMERS JOURNAL Saturday 22 July 2017

80 BUSINESS OF FARMING

Market view

£1=€1.13 €1= | £0.8839

Lower kill keeps beef prices up BEEF John Sleigh

Beef prices have risen as supply continues to tighten. R-grade 4L steers are making around £3.87-£3.90/kg up to 400kg. Heifers are similarly priced, with premiums of 10p for U grades. Young bulls are still making a strong trade, with R-grade bulls getting around £3.78/kg, meaning there is only a 10p premium for heifers and steers. Beef-sired cows were making £1.38/ kg liveweight in marts over the last seven days, 2p back on last week. The highest average price was at Thainstone where cull beef cows were going for £1.50/kg liveweight. Dairy-sired cows were making £1.07/

kg liveweight up a penny on the week. The best trade for dairy cows was Dumfries, where they averaged £1.14/kg. Over the last week there were 1,916 store cattle sold, a rise of over 300 head. As numbers slowly build, the price is holding steady, with an average of nearly £1,000/hd. Continental steers between 10 and 14 months old at Forfar last week averaged £1,193/hd. Elsewhere, ﬁgures from the Polish Institute of Agricultural Economics and Food Economy (IERiGZ-PIB) and AMI in Germany suggest that the Polish beef production could be

1% Growth of beef production in Poland in 2017

slowing after a number of years of growth as Europe’s “low cost” producer. The strong growth reported a few years ago of 13% is estimated to be only 1% in 2017. The Polish dairy herd was culled hard in the 2017 as the milk price dropped. But this has turned around as milk prices rise again, restricting beef supply. The smaller suckler sector in Poland is killing more cattle at home, as few are sent to Germany or Demark for ﬁnishing or slaughter. Nevertheless, most of the beef leaves the country, as the average Polish person eats only 2kg of beef a year.

Deadweight cattle in Scotland:

Store cattle in Scotland:

Week ending 18/07/17 (£/kg)

Week ending 18/07/17 (£/hd)

+2p R4L steers

+1p R4L heifers

+4p R4L young bulls

0+4L cows

+49 Continental 10 to 14 month steers average

+£68 Native 10 to 14 month steer average

£3.94 £3.92 £3.81 £2.97 £970 £915 Sheep in Scotland: Week ending 18/07/17 (£/kg)

+£38

NC Continental 10 to 14 month heifer average

£841

Native 10 to 14 month heifer average

£793

R3 Steer UK & Ireland: Week ending 15/07/17 (£/kg)

Mercosur-EU trade deal to be ﬁnalised AMY FORDE NEWS CORRESPONDENT aforde@farmersjournal.ie

The controversial EU-Mercosur trade deal could be finalised by year end, with EU and Mercosur bloc negotiators aiming to find a balanced deal. Any trade deal with the Mercosur bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) must meet the European Union mandate in relation to agriculture, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, has said. Responding to questions from Agra Facts this week at the postAgrifish Council press conference, Commissioner Hogan said that further talks in Brussels in September would dictate how much progress is being made. “[It will] allow negotiators to take stock of how far we can get between now and the end of the year.” A formal round of negotiations is then to take place in October, with Commissioner Hogan noting a “moderation in expectations on the Mercosur side”, in an effort to get the deal finalised in December. A number of member states called for caution in the bilateral talks with the Mercosur countries, in particular beef and sugar, according to Agra Facts.

USA BSE case

-1p Liveweight newseason lamb

+4,720

+£1

-135

Total number new season live sales

Live ewes per head

Total ewe live sales

£2.09 12,796 £71

-3p S England

NC N England

-4p NI

-1p ROI

2,265 £3.70 £3.73 £3.72 £3.53

Scottish lamb kill down 2% on sheep market SHEEP John Sleigh

Prime sheep slaughter fell by 2% year-on-year at Scottish abattoirs last week, with carcase weights also down, but only marginally. Prices for lambs have split, with dead weight prices falling to around £4.50/kg for R-grade carcases, which is a fall of 10p this week. The live trade is down 2p to £2.09/kg liveweight. Stirling Caledonian mart had the highest price for new season heavy lambs at £2.22/kg and light lambs were most at Dingwall, where they made £1.93/kg. Across GB, the number of lambs

The live trade is down 2p to £2.09/kg liveweight

at auction were up 8% on the previous week. However, we are still seeing 9% fewer lambs on the market compared with last year. Interestingly, cast ewes are up 12% year-onyear. Figures reported by AHDB show that sheep slaughter numbers in GB were up 3% compared with the same month last year and 7% up on May 2017. Meanwhile, the average carcase weight fell to 19.1kg from 19.8kg in May, but this is still 700g heavier than June last year. New Zealand (NZ) sheep numbers look to be stead-

ying, according to its Ministry for Primary Industries. It claims that the falling ewe numbers will slow and lambing percentages will grow, along with carcase weights. The ministry suggests that it will kill 19.4m lambs, which is down 6.5% on last year. Exports have been estimated to have fallen by 7% to 345,000 tonnes, with a slightly smaller number suggested for the coming four years. AHDB reports that from January to May this year, UK imports of NZ fresh and frozen sheep meat fell by 21% compared with 2016.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed that an 11-year-old cow in Alabama has tested positive for atypical BSE, but did not enter the food chain. The animal was showing clinical signs of the disease and was found through routine surveillance at an Alabama livestock market. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Alabama veterinary officials are gathering more information on the case. This is the fifth detection of BSE in the US. Of the four previous cases, the first was a case of classical BSE that was imported from Canada; the rest have been atypical (H- or L-type) BSE. Atypical BSE generally occurs in older cattle, usually eight years or older. It seems to arise rarely and spontaneously in all cattle populations. Classical BSE is the form that occurs primarily in the UK; its primary source of infection is feed contaminated with the infectious prion agent. The US has negligible risk status for BSE.

– AMY FORDE