We’re cheerful now – but maybe not after three weeks of this Page 7
Experts fear more rainfall will be typical BY JOHN VON RADOWITZ wdnews@b-nm.co.uk After the alleged summer of 2012 the last thing farmers will want to hear is the latest piece of research from a West university suggesting we should get used to more rain. Expert scientists are saying melting Arctic sea ice may be to blame for the recent spate of soggy summers in the UK. Loss of ice due to climate change is affecting strong air currents high in the atmosphere, research suggests. As a result, weather systems
2012
The wettest summer in a century in the UK are being shifted bringing more summer rain to the UK and other parts of north-west Europe. Scientists at the University of Exeter used a computer model to simulate the effects of retreating Arctic sea ice on European climate. The model produced a pattern of rainfall consistent with an extraordinary run of washed-out summers experienced in the UK between 2007 and 2012. Lead researcher Dr James Screen said: “The results of the computer model suggest that melting Arctic sea ice causes a change in the position of the jet stream and this could help to explain the recent wet summers we have seen.
“The study suggests that loss of sea ice not only has an effect on the environment and wildlife of the Arctic region but has far-reaching consequences for people living in Europe and beyond.” Jet streams are powerful 200mph air currents high in the atmosphere that steer weather systems. Normally in summer, the polar jet stream flowing between Scotland and Iceland keeps bad weather north of the UK. When the jet stream shifts south, it brings unseasonable wet weather with it. Arctic sea ice is retreating at a rate of around half a million square kilometres per decade – about twice the area of the UK. The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, compared weather patterns associated with low levels of Arctic sea ice and the high sea ice conditions seen in the late 1970s. It showed that while melting sea ice led to more summer rain in north-west Europe, Mediterranean regions were likely to get drier. Further ice loss could increase the risk of wet summers in the UK, say the scientists, although they make no prediction of future sea ice levels. In their paper, the researchers point out that the series of wet summers that doused north west Europe between 2007 and 2012 was “unprecedented”. For England and Wales, the summer of 2012 was the wettest and the summer of 2007 the second wettest since 1912.
Machinery sold 52 years after farm bought Things going full circle are part and parcel of life on a farm – but rarely is the symmetry as neat as an auction in Gloucestershire earlier this month. Fifty-two years after they sold a Cotswold farm, rural land agents Moore Allen and Innocent returned to the same field to auction the farm machinery of the man who bought it. John Peel purchased the 1,000-acre Dudgrove Farm, near Fairford, at the sale in 1961. And when he decided to contract out his land, he asked Moore Allen & Innocent to conduct the sale of 84 pieces of farm machinery – ranging from ploughs and cultivators
Auctioneer Peter Kirby at the sale of machinery in the Cotswolds
Some of the machinery accumulated in more than 50 years farming at Dudgrove Farm, near Fairford in Gloucestershire, which went under the hammer of auctioneer Moore, Allen and Innocent
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to tractors and a combine harvester – from the very same field. And as the vendor had been a brigade major in the Brigade of Guards before turning to farming, the auctioneers carefully set out the lots to represent a regimental parade. More than 100 farmers and dealers flocked from all over the UK – including Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall – for a chance to bid on the equipment, which was described by auctioneer Peter Kirby as being “maintained to an extremely high standard.” As expected, the top price of the day was achieved by the 2009 John Deere T56 combine harvester, which sold for £86,000. A 2007 New Holland T7050 tractor achieved £40,000, while a 2009 New Holland T6030 tractor made £29,000 and a 2001 New Holland 8770 tractor realised £20,250.
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Whether butter or badgers, it’s experience that counts Page 6
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Farming
2 FARMING WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS
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Worst time of year for farm burglaries BY JEFF WELLS wdnews@b-nm.co.uk Farmers are being warned that this is statistically the worst time of the year for rural burglaries. And it is feared that the rising cost of energy could make stores of heating oil particularly attractive to thieves targeting the countryside. Rural crime costs private landowners, rural businesses and individual householders millions of pounds a year – and with the clocks going back last weekend the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) warned people should be even more aware of the need to protect their property. It has warned farmers and landowners that October and November are statistically the two months in the year where police receive more reports of burglaries than any other time – but CLA South West director, John Mortimer, says he wants to stress that the fight against rural crime is a two-way street which requires action from the rural population as well as the police. “Remote rural areas present plentiful opportunity
Somerset MP Ian LiddellGrainger raised issue this week
£50m
The annual cost to farmers of rural burglaries for thieves. Isolated houses and buildings, less lighting, fewer witnesses and the ease of being able to watch the owner’s movements all add up to a very attractive target for thieves – and each year, as soon as the clocks go back, we seem to experience a spike in crime in the countryside. “This winter, with higher heating oil costs and people already struggling to pay bills, we are concerned that we could see a bigger increase than usual.” It is a topic that was raised during home affairs questions in Parliament on Monday by Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger. He asked a question of policing minister Damian Green. He said: “One of the stubborn points that I hear from my constituents is that although crime is dropping, which is obviously welcome, rural crime is still not coming under control. “Will the Minister please
take a very close look at the police community support officers? “Most of the stolen property turns up in Exeter or Bristol. If we had the resources for PCSOs, we would be able to detail a lot more of the thefts that are going on across places such as Exmoor, get some of the stuff back and deter these criminals if they thought they were going to get caught when they get back with the stuff that they had stolen.” Mr Green said: “I am happy to tell my honourable friend and the house that in Avon and Somerset crime is down 21 per cent since June 2010. We should pay tribute to the police in Avon and Somerset for doing that. I will look carefully at the recommendations that my honourable friend makes about rural crime.” Mr Mortimer said in his warning to farmers that relying on the farm dog was not enough. “Beating rural crime will involve farmers and landowners taking some ownership of the problem and ensuring that they have taken every possible precaution to make the criminals’ lives difficult. “Protecting property need not be complicated but it does need to be effective.” Top of the rural crime list – which is estimated to cost farmers and landowners more than £50 million a year – is the theft of machinery, such as quad bikes and other transportable equipment. Mr Mortimer says that owners can have a real impact on this by reviewing their security arrangements, fitting better locks and ensuring that their machines have trackers fitted. “Sheep and cattle rustling, fly tipping, hare coursing, poaching and metal theft all feature on the rural crime hit list “People can always get crime prevention advice from their local police forces, but individuals also need to think about what they can do. “We suggest they take a look around and look for weak or vulnerable spots such as areas in permanent darkness or whether their oil tank is secure and whether equipment such as strimmers and chain saws are marked and locked away. “Although crime in general is falling, rural crime is on the increase – even though we know that it is being underreported. “Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy but if we want to get rid of the scourge of rural crime then we have to meet it head on and have confidence in the police to deal with it and make sure we report it to them when it happens.”
Rugby star Phil Vickery tackles McDonald’s massive supply chain
Phil Vickery on the production line as he undertakes the Big Mac tour learning how it is made from beginning to end. He was employed by McDonald’s as part of its quality control programme. Main picture; he sees first-hand the conditions cattle are kept in
Farmer turned rugby legend turned celebrity chef Phil Vickery has put his reputation on the line to delve behind the scenes at McDonald’s. While the former Gloucester and England captain admits he’s paid by the fast food giant to report back on how some of its food is made, he said he approached the job of a socalled quality scout leader with an open mind – and knew it might be unpalatable to some. “McDonald’s to the general public is a bit of a taboo subject,” said Mr Vickery, who lives in Taynton, in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean. “But I have been there with my family and I thought ‘let’s have a look’. “I was allowed to see anything and speak to anyone I wanted to throughout the
supply chain and I was impressed. I am employed by them but I would not have stuck my neck out like this if I didn’t believe in it.” McDonald’s UK unveiled a series of interactive reports revealing how some of its most iconic products are made. The reports are told through the eyes of quality scouts, members of the public who this summer took part in unprecedented behind-thescenes visits from farm to food production to restaurant counter, led by Mr Vickery. More than 1,700 people applied for the role and 16 were selected to investigate and chronicle the journey of four products – the Big Mac, Happy Meal hamburger, fries and the sausage and egg McMuffin. They included mums, dads, grandparents, teachers and ag-
ricultural experts from all corners of the UK. The quality scouts were given unlimited access at every stage of the supply chain, from the farms where McDonald’s ingredients are produced, through to cooking their own product in a restaurant. Over a six-week period, they travelled thousands of miles visiting some of the 17,500 British and Irish farms that supply McDonald’s menu, as well as abattoirs, bakeries and beef patty suppliers. They met and interviewed farmers, food producers and McDonald’s employees, asking challenging questions about where ingredients come from and the people and processes involved. The 2011 Celebrity MasterChef winner helped select the quality scouts and joined the Big Mac visit. “As the son of a dairy farmer and someone who is passionate about good food, it was important to me that we selected people who were sceptical about how McDonald’s makes its food and how its ingredients are sourced.
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Cattle join bid to help wildlife near airport Bournemouth Airport is to begin work with Natural England and Dorset County Council to restore heathland near the site at Hurn. Merritown Heath and Moors Riverside Meadows – both sites of special scientific interest – are home to some threatened species including nightjars, Dartford warblers and sand lizards. Part of the work will involve the introduction of grazing cattle to maintain the heath habitat. The announcement follows a successful funding bid to Natural England, which has brought the site under a tenyear Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement. The Defra-funded stewardship scheme aims to help farmers and land managers deliver long-term environmental benefits. The cattle are expected to be introduced to the site, which lies within the boundary of the commercial passenger airport, within the next two years. Dorset County Council will manage the land and erect fences to contain the herd. Its senior ecologist, Danny
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Duration, in years, of the Higher Level Stewardship arrangement
“Each quality scout came armed with their own ideas and they interrogated farmers, suppliers and McDonald’s own people at every stage. “Many of the quality scouts reconsidered their perceptions of McDonald’s as a result of the visits – Christine, a grandmother from Lancashire, ate her first ever Big
17,500 How many British and Irish farms supply McDonalds
10,000 Tonnes of British pork bought by McDonalds in 2012
Mac on one of our visits.” Cotswold Chef Rob Rees, a board member and trustee of the School Food Trust, said: “If the industry is moving to do
something better, then that has to be a good thing. “I would hope the quality scouts scheme is transparent and would speak up if they saw something they didn’t like – it works both ways.” Warren Anderson, vice president of McDonald’s supply chain, said: “People have never been more interested in what goes into their food and where it comes from. We receive questions every day from people looking for information about the products on our menu. “We are extremely proud of our longstanding British and Irish supply chain and this is why we decided to go further than ever before, inviting people to see for themselves how some of our most iconic products are made. “The response to our call for quality scouts was overwhelming and we’ve worked hard with our suppliers to provide a series of transparent access-allareas visits. The testimonials and facts speak for themselves and we hope, through the reports, we will help answer some of the most commonly asked questions and misconceptions about our food.”
Alder, said: “The HLS will enable threatened species such as the nightjar, Dartford warbler and sand lizard to continue to thrive and help develop educational visits for local schools to explore the ecology of the habitats found here.” The land is also known as the Hurn Common SSSI and is protected under European legislation as part of the Dorset Heaths Special Area of Conservation and Dorset Heathland’s Special Protection Area. Moors Riverside Meadows is also protected as part of the Moors River System SSSI.
Sheep stolen from farm field
Phil Vickery in his playing days for Gloucester. The World Cup winner comes from good dairy farming stock
Police are investigating the theft of 38 Texel sheep from a field at New House Farm, Rowlestone, Hereford. The sheep, valued at £150, were stolen between 11am on Sunday and 9am on Monday. West Mercia Police have issued an appeal for information. A spokesperson for the force said: “We would welcome any information from people who may have spotted the sheep being taken or who have knowledge of their whereabouts and the identities of the thieves. “Please contact Hereford police station on 101.” Information can also be given anonymously to the Crimestoppers charity by telephoning 0800 555 111.
The atmospheric top picture, sent in by Tony Giblin, shows heavy horses ploughing at Warth Farm, Arlingham, near Stroud, with May Hill in the background. A Highland longhorn cow at Sidbury hillfort on Salisbury Plain, as taken by David Hargrave of Durrington, Wiltshire. Steve Kemp took the third picture, of Southern Counties auctioneer Ian Soutar taking bids at an agricultural sale in Shaftesbury last weekend. The bottom picture shows maize being harvested near Lydney, in Gloucestershire, and was taken by Mike Davies, of Whitecroft, Gloucestershire
4 FARMING WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS
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Science ‘must fight politics in decisions’ BY GRAEME DEMIANYK wdnews@b-nm.co.uk Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has argued there is “no absolute right” when being given scientific advice, and that it is the politician’s job to “make the call”. The minister, who has sanctioned badger culling in the South West amid criticism it is “anti-science”, said he drew on his experience from living in the countryside and being “bombarded” by advice. This week, Sir David Attenborough entered the debate surrounding the cull, accusing the Government of “ignoring science” by extending the badger cull in Gloucestershire by eight weeks. It is one of two
Owen Paterson has been accused of having an anti-science approach MORE ONLINE westerndailypress.co.uk
Cheddar Gorge has been listed as a target for ‘vandals’ in the Coalition. Read more at www.westerndailypress.co.uk pilots that will determine whether culling to eradicate bovine TB destroying farming in the region is extended. But speaking to The House magazine, Parliament’s inhouse publication, the Shropshire MP said: “Ultimately you have to make the call, but I see myself as someone who has lived in the countryside all his life and you are constantly in the countryside bombarded with scientific advice. “So if you ever had anything to do with animals, you had conflicting veterinary advice and ultimately you have to
make the decision: is that vet right or is the other vet right? “So I’m used to, completely accustomed to, dealing with scientific advice but ultimately you have to make a political decision. There is no absolute right in a scientific decision. We have some good advisers here who I respect enormously, but obviously I have got my own sources outside, my own experience which I have to draw on.” Labour rejected culling on the basis of a ten-year study that concluded it was “unlikely to contribute effectively” to tackling the disease. But the coalition used the same study to justify culling on the basis it could lead to a reduction in the rates of TB in cattle of 16 per cent. Mr Paterson also underlined how the rural economy is his top priority – with the environment second. His comments come amid criticism for downgrading the role of the farming minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He said: “Exports are a key part of our first priority here, which is to grow the rural economy. Our second priority is to improve the environment, and the other two are to protect the country from animal disease and protect the country from plant disease.” The minister added that consumers no longer care about the issue of genetically modified crops, and that they would cut costs for hardpressed shoppers. “If an animal, a chicken or a pig has eaten GM material, you can’t tell. The fact that the public didn’t react to that was very interesting,” he said. GM foods is one of the central lines of inquiry of a study by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee into food security within the UK and abroad.
FOOD INQUIRY PAGE 12
Meat scandal sill hitting sale of ready meals A major food group blamed the continuing impact of the horse meat scandal for a dismal financial performance. Poultry and ready meals giant 2 Sister Food Group said profits were also eroded by its purchase of loss-making chicken, beef and lamb operations from Dutch food group VION, as well as currency swings and higher prices. The Birmingham-based group, owned by entrepreneur Ranjit Singh Boparan, reported losses of £33.5 million in the year to the end of July after exceptional items, interest and tax, compared to profits of £42.5 million a year earlier. The maker of Fox’s biscuits and Goodfella’s pizza said it felt the continued squeeze from the horse meat scandal and cash-strapped shoppers. Like-for-like sales grew 5.6 per cent to £2.4 billion. Including acquisitions, total sales surged 23.3 per cent to £2.9 bil-
‘Conditions are tough, with inflation hitting consumers’ Ranjit Singh Boparan
Parks in London have banned sky lanterns due to their fire risk and danger to livestock. The Royal Parks, which manage Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill said visitors to the parks on Bonfire Night would be searched by police and any sky lanterns would be confiscated
lion, as the group consolidated its position as one of Britain’s biggest food producers. The company has been on a debt-fuelled growth spurt since buying Yorkshire-based Goodfella’s pizza maker Northern Foods for £342 million in 2011. But it said the market saw ready-meal sales plunge by as much as 40 per cent when the horse meat scandal emerged early this year, after traces of horse DNA were found in frozen beefburgers sold in Tesco, Iceland, Aldi and Lidl. That hurt sales in its chilled food division, which makes ready meals for chains including Marks & Spencer, even though no traces of horse meat were found in its products. It warned harsh conditions are set to continue as the readymeal market recovers slowly and budgets remain under pressure. It continues to close plants to slash costs, and shut a factory in Leicester in June.
Free-range chickens will roam under panels planned to power poultry farm A solar farm consisting of more than 2,000 panels has been earmarked for agricultural land in Mid Devon. EBS Energy wants to develop a five-acre plot at Venn Farm, Sampford Peverell, and has sent plans to Mid Devon District Council setting out its intention to produce 1MW of clean energy over the estimated life span of 25 years, supplying nine large poultry houses. Agent Andrew Preston, of Greenslade Taylor Hunt, wrote in a letter to planners: “Photovoltaic panels are widely recognised as being a
viable and sustainable means of generating energy from the sun without prejudicing the earth’s resources for future generations. “The South West benefits from the highest levels of direct sunlight and solar radiation in the UK, and hence is a preferred location for these projects.” The earmarked land is open pasture and is used as a foraging area for free-range chickens, which would continue to roam beneath panels if development gets the goahead. Mr Preston added: “The
An application has been lodged to build a 2,000-panel solar farm on agricultural land at Sampford Peverell in Mid Devon
land will continue to be used agriculturally while the electricity generated will in part be used to supply the business.” During the construction phase, the development is likely to generate around 30 two-way lorry movements delivering building materials, including fixings, frames, panels and cables. Around five staff members are also expected to be present on site daily during construction, expected to last around six weeks. Trees around the perimeter will remain and hedgerows
will be managed so they grow taller. A statement from the agent said: “The proposed development is to generate renewable energy which will contribute towards the provision of a secure energy supply by supporting the adjacent poultry business, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “Development can be achieved without having significant adverse impact upon the character of the countryside, the amenities of local residents, the management of water resources, the environment or heritage assets.”
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Cull control ‘vital’ to reach badger target BY PETER HALL wdnews@b-nm.co.uk Farmers getting hands-on and taking “ownership” of badger culls is central to their success, according to the man who is heading the drive to eliminate the disease in the South West. Bill Harper, chairman of the National Beef Association’s TB committee, implored farmers to take responsibility for TB control implementation. As the pilot badger culls were extended this month, having failed to kill sufficient numbers in either Gloucestershire or Somerset after six weeks, he insisted that farm-
‘Gassing badgers is preferable to trapping and shooting’ Bill Harper ers taking control had made a critical difference between the two trial badger cull areas, in West Somerset and around the Tewkesbury area of Gloucestershire. Mr Harper said that farmers in Somerset had shouldered the responsibility for appointing and co-ordinating the marksmen employed. In contrast, the Gloucestershire area had not seen such a hands-on approach from those directly affected by bovine TB. Mr Harper believed this made a significant difference in results achieved between the two areas. Speaking at a meeting organised by the NBA in West Cornwall, Mr Harper went on to say that the farmers of West Penwith might face a set of difficult decisions around their localised-control programme. He added that he was sceptical about the short-term prospects for the gassing of badgers, proposed as an altern-
Anthony Gibson Regular readers will already be broadly familiar with the conclusions of two reports published last week, one on the risk of disease spread from badger culling, and the other comprehensively debunking the alleged health risks from high-fat foods such as butter and red meat. To take the badger report first: A detailed study of badger movements in the wild led by Dr Robbie McDonald of Exeter University concluded that the disruption of badger social groups, as might be caused by partial culling, for example, increases the likeli-
ative to using of marksmen as in the trial culls. He told the meeting: “Foam gas, as used to slaughter diseased chickens, offers the most practical option,” he said. “Gassing is preferable to trapping and shooting, but to date there is no gas licensed for use with badgers. That is five years away.” To build on the trial cull results, Mr Harper encouraged farmers to support a professional roll-out programme. But that would require an experienced and professional full-time manager. Funding such a move could cost as little as £2.50 per animal per year. The farmers of North Cornwall were gearing-up to make their contribution to such a scheme, said Mr Harper – who stressed he was looking for a similar commitment from West Penwith. Turning to vaccination, Mr Harper was clear that the best place to deploy stocks was in an area between the Manchester Ship Canal and the Humber, a distance of only 37 miles. Creating a fire wall across this short distance could maintain the free status of the North, while farmers tackle the issue from the south upwards. West Penwith was the natural starting point for such a project, and farmers would have the support of Defra Secretary Owen Patterson. Jointly working with the Government and Natural England, farmers could get on top of the scourge of bovine TB, Mr Harper insisted. Meanwhile, the highly controversial pilot badger culls continue, amid rumours, claims and counter claims about them. But one aspect seems certain ... the “benefits” of carrying out the culls by shooting freerunning badgers would appear to be a lot less attractive an option now than they were before the pilots began.
National Trust refuses to ban cull on its land
From allotments to smallholdings and upwards, it’s been a great year for vegetables, both in quantity and quality. So whether you get your veg from the ground, the farm shop or the supermarket, cook it with Chris Rundle’s recipes in this Saturday’s West Country Life
The National Trust, one of Britain’s biggest landowners, has refused to take sides on the badger cull after voting down a motion to ban culling on its land. In a statement issued yesterday in the wake of the organisation’s annual meeting at the weekend, the trust insisted: “We neither support nor oppose the current cull pilots, which do not involve us.” The charity, which boasts more than four million members, goes on to say that it would allow culling on trust land only if it were sure it would make a “meaningful difference” to the incidence of bovine TB in cattle. The trust, which owns more than 600,000 acres, admits that at least a quarter of its tenant far mers’ cattle are at risk from bovine TB. An attempt by five members of the trust to persuade the organisation to launch a badger vaccination programme on all the land which it owns was rejected by members following recommendation of the board of trustees that it be turned down. Patrick Begg, rural enterprise director at the trust, said: “In England we won’t stand in the way of the pilot badger culls, provided they are carried out in scientifically sound and humane ways.” But he said there was still a question mark over whether culling could work over large areas in bovine TB ‘hotspots’. Last year a £230,000 pilot programme to trap and vaccinate badgers on the trust’s Killerton Estate in Devon was launched. At the time one of the farming tenants on the estate, John Kittow, welcomed the vaccine but said a cull was still needed as part of a package of measures to bring bovine TB under control. The Killerton vaccination trial is one of three continuing in the West Country – as the Defraled shooting trials continue after being granted an extension in both zones this month Anti-cull trust members wanted a cull ban on all trust land. The board of trustees said: “The current culling pilots in England do not involve trust land, but their findings will provide important infor mation.”
Take the advice of the day with more than a healthy pinch of salt hood of TB being spread among badgers, and so onward into cattle. This is not a surprise. I remember writing at least 20 years ago, when the government of the day was considering yet another weakening of its strategy for culling diseased badgers, that: “We know from long experience that partial control (of badgers) is very often worse than no control”. Thanks to Dr McDonald’s work at Woodchester Park in Gloucestershire, we now know why this is the case. His study found that TB-infected badgers tend to be shunned within
social groups and are thus relatively isolated, so limiting disease spread. Disrupting the social group seems to increase the risk of disease being spread. As Dr McDonald concluded: “Our study shows that social structure is very important for the transmission of infection in wild badgers. It also suggests that social stability is a good way of mitigating disease spread. So if you can intervene in a system and maintain social stability, that’s likely to be the best of both worlds.” In practice, there are two ways of achieving that: vac-
cination, which doesn’t apparently disrupt social groups, or the removal in their entirety of social groups which include diseased badgers, by trapping, shooting, snaring or gassing. This was the strategy that was successfully followed at Steeple Leaze, Thornbury and Hartland in the 1970s. If it is no longer feasible, because of political or legal issues, then vaccination, for all its drawbacks, is probably the least bad option. Anything else risks making the situation worse. As for the “butter is good for you” article in the British Medical Journal, it echoes pre-
cisely a presentation given by nutritionist Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride. She described the dogma that the consumption of high levels of saturated fats in red meat and dairy products causes heart disease and cancer as “the greatest scientific deception of the 20th century”. The scientific basis for her conclusion was broadly similar to that put forward by the author of this latest report, the leading cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, and is related to the fact that the right sort of cholesterol, such as is produced by the saturated fats in dairy products and red
meat, is actually good for you. The villains are sugar, processed carbohydrates and trans-fats, all used increasingly to replace the flavour lost by the removal of natural fats. For more than half a century, doctors and government ministers have been telling us to cut saturated fats. Butter consumption has fallen by 70 per cent. In the same time, obesity levels have soared, heart disease has increased, while the incidence of cancer is up by 14 per cent in men and 32 per cent in women. It pays to learn from experience.
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WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30 2013 FARMING 7
Chris Rundle
Jack Roocroft driving his tractor in Monmouthshire – such modes of transport could be essential on Exmoor as the A39 through West Somerset is closed for roadworks You will doubtless be enthralled to know that down where I live we are content. And (should you be inclined to doubt the veracity of that statement) don’t just take my word for it. The assertion has, indeed, been confirmed officially. This end of Somerset has been singled out by the Office of National Statistics as one of the areas of Britain where people are happiest. How statisticians have managed it I know not, but they have now produced a chart plotting levels of contentedness which shows those out in the sticks are by and large much more cheery about life than those in urban areas, and those in this corner of the sticks more pleased with their lot than most. Country-dwellers may not be as well off as their city-dwelling cousins. But it’s not about material things: money, or big houses, or possessions. Rather it’s everything to do with access to green spaces and a sense of community typified by the simple, pleasurable experience of being able to walk down a street and meet and talk to people you know rather being an anonymous member of an anonymous crowd. To some extent this is merely an attempt to formalise and quantify something we have always taken for granted without making a song and dance over it. Cider maker Julian Temperley defines one of the characteristics of Somerset in general as its classlessness. “We don’t doff our caps to anyone,” as he puts it. That’s evident all around at this end of the territory. No-
one puts on airs and graces. People dress down. The only time anyone wears a suit is for a wedding, a funeral or to answer charges in court. The bloke shambling around in a Barbour which looks as if it’s just done a six-month stint lining the dog’s basket is probably the local landowner who owns everything out to the horizon. The pace of life is considerably relaxed. Everything that needs to be done will be done – dreckly. (Arriving on the Scillies to take up a new parish, a clergyman who was unfamiliar with the patois asked a local boatman what
‘Some cottages are so isolated that their residents still wave at passing cars’ this ‘dreckly’ word meant. “Well,” said the boatman, “’tis a bit like manana – only without the urgency.”) One of my sisters, who quit the area for one of the snittier parts of Surrey several decades ago, says she notices a palpable difference in people whenever she returns. One night we got chatting to a scruffy-looking bloke who had just rocked up at the pub in a battered VW Golf. While he was up at the bar my sister asked who he was and I explained he was the MD of a rather successful local company. She was astounded. Back home, she said, anyone in such a position would have arrived in the pub looking like he had
been dressed from top to bottom by Jermyn Street – and would make sure everyone noticed his personalised-plate Bentley parked conspicuously across the front door. However, the generally-held feeling that all is pretty much right with the world in this vicinity is about to be severely imperilled because Somerset County Council has decided to dig up the only main road into the area, the A39. Now, anywhere else this would be regarded as a country lane. It is narrow – too narrow for two lorries to pass in places. It sends traffic to thunder through villages whose inhabitants spend their days and nights cowering from the passage of lumbering 40tonne juggernauts, protected by nothing more than a nineinch skin of brickwork and a skim of pebbledash. Most of the A39’s line still follows the old turnpike route. Its inadequacy was recognised in the 1930s when plans were drawn up to dual it – but later abandoned because there was a war on. Bypasses for some of the villages were proposed in the 1980s but, thanks to the county council’s appalling record on road improvements – and some underhand shifting of the financial goalposts by a Lib Dem administration 20 years ago – never built. But if that wasn’t bad enough, the county council is now closing the A39 completely for drainage works. Between 9am and 3.30pm every day. For three weeks. Now you might have thought, given the route’s strategic importance, that the job might have been scheduled
Routes through the valleys of Exmoor could become more suitable for walking should the weather turn bad while he A39 is shut, with navigation through villages such as Wheddon Cross, nestled atop the moor sure to become interesting
nocturnally. Anywhere else in the county it probably would. Here, no. Because we have never shouted the odds about such things – or indeed anything, really, being the contended souls we are – it’s been assumed we will put up with the inconvenience uncomplainingly. That is unlikely to be the case. People have to get to and from places. They have appointments to meet, trains to catch, meetings to attend, even shopping to do. And while there are alternative routes they consist of little more than single-track lanes – one running through the longest ford in the country, which will be interesting if we get even more heavy rain – the others looping up over the hills along byways where cars are seen so seldom the inhabitants of the isolated cottages still come out to watch them pass, and wave. It is all looking like a recipe for total and utter chaos. Travellers using the bus services between Taunton and Minehead, on the other hand, are in for a real treat. Public transport will be required to follow the same deviation as stipulated for HGVs which, given a difficult right turn in Wheddon Cross (the highest village in Somerset, so you get some idea of the terrain) will perform a spectacular dogleg down to within a couple of miles of the Devon border. Thus bus passengers from Taunton will travel across the Brendon Hills by way of Ralegh’s Cross and Heathpoult Cross where they will turn sharp left and head down to the quaintly-named Machine Cross on the Exe Valley road.
PICTURE: CHAS BRETON
At this point they will be 20 miles from Minehead – only six miles closer to their destination than they had been when they left Taunton, despite having been in transit for well over an hour. Ahead will lie a twisting ascent to Wheddon Cross and an equally tortuous, if scenic descent to the Aville valley and Dunster, where the delights of the single-track, lights-controlled section of the main street await them. In other words, a tour of some of the more scenic parts of West Somerset that GK Chesterton’s rolling English drunkard would have been proud of as he designed the rolling English road. I am told the estimated journey time will be well over double the normal hour and 20 minutes and is in fact likely to be nearer three hours and, further, that PCSOs are being detailed to ride shotgun on the buses, not merely to protect the drivers in case of extreme passenger unrest but also to reassure visitors that they have not been shanghaied to become chattels in the white slavery trade that still flourishes on Exmoor. What the mood of the locals will be after three weeks of delayed, detoured journeys; angry encounters with the oncoming traffic on country lanes and raging arguments over who should be backing up; or solid jams of vehicles in locations where currently one car a day counts as busy, I have no idea. But I doubt, somehow, it will still be possible to categorise them as being among the cheeriest in the country.
8 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS
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Farmers’ bulletin board Market reports FROME Wednesday October 23 BEEF CATTLE (108) More cattle forward met a fast competitive trade. The quality cattle in very strong demand and at a premium. More could have been sold. Other grades a good trade. Sire names are now wanted for all Hereford and Angus cattle. UTM Steers (44) The best bred and finished steers met a flyer with 16 selling in advance of 200p/kg. Top price of 237p/kg for a Blue steer from SA Harris whose 5 Blue x steers averaged 224.2p/kg. Limousin x steers sold well to 232p/kg from RE Carnell. Second grades met a strong demand with feeding cattle wanted. Herefords sold well to 203.5p/kg from Louch and Ferrari. Angus steers with sire names in demand to 208.5p/kg from MH Winstone & Son. Devons to 188.5p/kg from DJ Ruddick. Longhorns to 189.5p/kg from Longlands Farm. UTM Heifers (21) A cracking Limousin heifer from WA Waterman topped at 242.5p/kg. Blue x heifers from SA Harris to 236p/kg. Other Continental cross breds a good trade from 172.5p/kg. Herefords to 198.5p/kg from R & J Gregory. Angus to 185.5p/kg from E Rossiter. Friesian heifers to 165.5p/kg from MH Winstone & Son. Bulls (3) Interest in the light weight bulls to average 168.3p/kg. Angus to 177.5p/kg from EH & S Burt, Isle of Wight. Overage Beef (40) A mixed quality entry met a satisfactory trade. The best Blue steers and heifers to 229.5p/kg and 218.5p/kg from Steve Harris. Simmental steers to £1507 from S & J Symes. Angus steers to 212p/kg and Hereford steers to 203.5p/kg also from Steve Harris. Friesian steers to 181.5p/kg from S & J Symes Ltd. Hereford heifers to 187.5p/kg and Angus to 186p/kg again also from Steve Harris. BARREN COWS & BULLS (161) Plenty of cows on offer but mainly of very poor quality. Numbers are high nationally and trade has eased throughout. Dairy Cows (126) The very few best Friesian meat cows sold from 100p/kg to top at 136.5p/kg from WL Baxandall, Isle of Wight. Manufacturing cows plentiful but at lower levels from 80p/kg. Plain cross bred types from 60p/kg. The very plain and poor types more difficult to sell around the 50p/kg. Beef Cows (33) The best meat cows sold to 156.5p/kg from Downs Farm for a quality Blue. Angus to 146.5p/kg from JR & DI Dowling. Simmentals to 145.5p/kg from D Green. Other grades met a variable trade and easier throughout. The plain poorly conformed cows were certainly easier. SHEEP (660) Prime Lambs (394) A fierce trade for all grades and in advance of many regional centres. More would have certainly sold to advantage. Buyers willing to pay a premium for the well finished Continental lambs. The best to 188p/kg from PJ Pobjoy & Son whose 21 averaged 181.9p/kg. A pen of (47kg) from A Clements averaged 182.98p/kg and 18 from BA & CM Godwin averaged 177.94p/kg. Many other good entries were forward with yellow line lambs selling to a noticeable premium. Please select lambs on finish as well as weight. Cull Ewes & Rams (34) A slightly firmer trade with medium framed fleshed Suffolks to £75 from Balmain & Balmain who also sold Mules to £54. Smaller ewes wanted and generally from £35 to £45. Store Lambs (178) A larger entry sold to a fantastic trade with additional buyers forward and many going home empty handed. Smart Poll Dorset ram lambs to £89. The best Continental x to £70.50 for Rougé x from Edward Tabor. Stronger Suffolk x to £67 from Balmain & Balmain. Smaller native breeds also selling well and generally £50+. Please keep the store lambs coming. Breeding Ewes & Rams (54) A small end of season entry with the better younger ewes still finding demand. Medium Continental x 2Ts to £92 from D Selman. DAIRY (36) Although milk prices are at some of the highest levels seen in recent times, surprisingly the trade has become quite sluggish. Most other centres have been experiencing a similar easing of prices. Strong calved Holstein heifers
from David and Peter Green topped at £1,720 but fewer heifers over £1,500 this week. Included entry was a consignment of Swedish Red x, Holstein x and Jersey x cows and heifers which were out of calving patterns from Simon Martin Farms. Virtually all went to local clients and, although not calving until May and 150-200 days in milk, they created keen interest. The best were over £1,000 to a top of £1,220. An in-calf Holstein Friesian heifer presented by Dennis and Norman Perkins sold well to £1,410. NON-EXPORT CALVES (196) A reduced entry forward and quality much improved from last week. Trade subsequently lifted overall and particularly for the best bulls. Plenty of customers produced fast bidding throughout. Continental Bulls Trade was sharper with both the best and middle quality sorts seeing a lift in prices. Another large entry of Blues to £444 from WL Samways, £442 from MW & MR Giles and £440 from MS Shears. Limousins to a top of £400 from RGE Durston with a further three from AJ Harding at £394, £364 and £314. Blondes to £390 from MS Shears. Continental Heifers As with the bulls, heifers met a much faster trade with improved quality and more potential buyers. Blues to £338 from JM Stratton & Co and £290 from RL & CJ Curtis. Simmentals to £290 from JEJ Churchill and £209 from FJ & GT Hannam & Sons. Blondes to £262 from M Reid. British A reduced entry and demand firm for all sorts, particularly the middle types. Hereford bulls to £334 from SH Harris and £300 from both Hoskins & Vickery and FJ & GT Hannam & Sons. Hereford heifers to £306 and £200 from Mitchell Bros. Angus bulls to £337 from MS Shears and £332 from DF & BA Wheeler. Angus heifers to £236 from DF & BA Wheeler and £214 from MW & MR Giles. Friesians Fewer on offer and demand for the rearing sorts picked up from last week. Holstein Friesian bulls to £120 from WL Samways and £106 from WT Harding & Son. British Friesian bulls to £113 and £112 both from RF Stratton & Co. Trade for the killing and poorer sorts also saw brighter demand. Friday, October 25 STORE CATTLE (1143) A limited number of Cows & calves with hard types from £700-£800. Feeding Bulls Quite a firm trade with better shaped bulls easily over £740.Angus bulls (11mo) to £760 with Simmentals (15mo) to £880. Older Friesian bulls (26mo) topped at £690. Young Continentals Demand still racing ahead for the best quality suckled cattle this week and the ringside full to capacity with potential buyers. A grand entry of Limousin x steers and heifers (6-8mo) from Ashley Chase Estates created exciting prices. Their Limousin x steers topped at £822 and their Charolais x steers (5-6mo) realised £848. Heifers were equally as strong to £638. This week saw RF Stratton & Co forward with their annual consignment of 90 top grade cattle. Their wonderful Charolais steers (7-8mo) were 20 times over £900. Heifers were always in excess of £700. Saler steers (7-8mo) from the same home to £825. All the best-grade cattle were again dear. Lesser-shaped cattle are just beginning to see the trade hardening and meet some resistance. Several Dairy x Blues (3-5mo) saw firm prices. Forward Continental Steers Another tremendous trade with all forward Steers wanted and selling to advantage. The best over £1,500 again. Blue Steers were the highlight of the day selling to £1,505 from RL & CJ Curtis. Others to £1,200 from Hollands Farms (Blandford) Ltd. The excellent consignment of Charolais (19mo) from Stafford Cox met a ferocious trade from £1,300 to £1,360. Simmentals equally in demand to £1,350 from Michael and Giles Coleman, £1,330 from Brenda and Gerald Hallett, £1320 from Barrett and Thompson and £1,255 from Betty Chiswell. Hereford (106) Prices for Herefords with named sires still very much to the fore and all buyers were looking for types which are either suckled or out of British Friesian bred cows. Superb Hereford x steers (11-12mo) from RF Stratton & Co were of excellent type and quality and saw prices of £800 and £775 on 15 occasions. Young heifers were scarce but all were wanted ranging from £380 to £500. A larger enrtry of medium forward Steers met a strong demand. Younger feeders sold from £760 to £880. Framed feeders from £905 to £960 from C & A Carpenter. Fleshed
heavier Steers met fast bidding from £1040 from Robert Fear and Brenda Hallett, £1045 from A & E Hallett and ME Richards.Forward types to £1150.Medium Heifers with potential from £650 to £790. Forward Heifers for Spring bulling to £810 to £940 from Steve and Rich Weeden. A top at £945 from Graham Stott. Angus (292) More small Angus x weanlings (4-6mo) were on offer this week. Buyers were quite keen for these as numbers are normally limited steers ranged from £350 to £450 and Heifers from £250 to £300. 50 excellent suckled steers & heifers (6mo) from John Russell created fast bidding with steers to £678 and heifers to £478. Medium steers with named Sire and Farm Assurance met a fast trade from £815 to £938. Another quality trade for the forward Steers from £1,020 to £1,165 from LJ Bannell. Fleshed Steers from £1,240 from CT & MJ Garraway, £1,250 from RP Loxton to £1345 from RJ Adams. Medium heifers in demand from £600 to £750. Framed types with bulling potential from £820 to £970. Fleshed Heifers sold well to a £1,045 from HC Norris & Son and RP Loxton. Friesians (153) As quoted in previous weeks demand quite difficult for the younger Holstein Friesians under 14mo. Buyers very selective and narrow steers under £300.Those with more British Friesian shape seeing much more interest ranging from £350 to £500. 16-18mo Steers with flesh and
cover producing the better firmer prices from £570 to £740. Framed deeper bodied steers met keen interest and wanted from £810 to £980 from DA & AKJ Withers. Forward Steers now over £1,000 again with British types from £1,072 from DL & VRJ Higgins & Sons to £1160 from J Saxton. Holsteins to £1130 from Hollands Farms ( Blandford) Ltd.
SEDGEMOOR Tuesday, October 22 BARREN COWS, BULLS, OTM & UFM PRIME (189) A much larger entry following the wet weather and farmers deciding to shed cattle, which sold to a competitive trade at similar levels to last week, despite the drop in deadweight prices for the second week running. SHEEP (425) Lambs (271) A similar entry sold to a slightly easier trade for the handyweights but as strong if not stronger for the heavier, well fleshed lambs. The best handyweights sold to 185, 181 and 177ppk from Messrs Escott Bros. Others 178ppk from Messrs MEJ Branfield & Sons and Messrs FA Kingcott & Son. Heavier lambs sold to £94.50 from Mr B Gibbins. Others £86.50 from Mr A Stoodley; £84 and £81.50 from Messrs Escott Bros; £83.50 and £82 from Messrs AV & SC Stanbury; £81 from Messrs CF & A Osmond and £80.50 from Mr R
Chaddock. Overall average £74.06. Cull ewes and rams (154) A larger entry of 154 Cull Ewes and Rams sold to a stronger trade again for all presented. The best were £90 plus and sold to £99 from TJ Rowland Farms and Mr R Chaddock. Others £98.50 from Messrs TE & J Middleton & Son; £96.50 from Mr CCG Partridge; £94.50 from Messrs PJ & LA Veysey and £92.50 from Mrs LJ Vowles. Overall average £60.02. Rams sold to £95.50 from Mr A Stoodley. Saturday, October 26 DAIRY CATTLE (80) A much smaller entry of 80 cows and heifers saw an improved trade for an entry generally lacking quality. The best still command prices over £1,800 to a top of £1,980 for a non pedigree heifer from Andy Neill Farm Services who had others to £1,820. Messrs Snook Ltd saw heifers at £1,920 and £1,900; £1,860 for Messrs Heywood & Son; £1,860 Mr P Snell; £1,850 Mr NC Taylor; £1,840 Messrs RL & ME Trott; £1,820 Witcombe Farm Partners and £1,800 Mr FE Luff. Cows to £1,700 Messrs CJ Parish & Sons who had dry cows to £1,420. Other 2nd calvers to £1,640 Mr A Wiggins. In calf heifers due November to £1,390, Towhill Farms, Exeter. Served heifers due in the spring very difficult to place on this autumn trade. Calves to £210 x3 Mr CL Veysey. STORE CATTLE, STIRKS, SUCKLER & GRAZING COWS (969)
A good late October entry but not the anticipated autumn flush after ten days wet weather. If a big entry does not result next week, we will know we have already sold them. With this in mind buyers were very keen to secure the best types. Store cattle and grazing (585) Top was £1,285 for a tremendous 20m purebred Angus heifer from Messrs D & K Russell, Waterrow. Angus and Hereford steers with pedigree sire details in exceptional demand. Angus steers rose to £1,275 for a well-grown 25m sire described bullock from Messrs EF & MA Cottle, Bruton, who sold another at £1,205. Other strong Angus steers £1,105 (24/25m & FA) Messrs TL Spiller & Son, Cotleigh, who sold others £1,085 (25m) and £1030 (23/24m); £1,060 (23/25m) Mr DW Hewlett, Yeovil and £1,055 (18/19m) Messrs MJ Frampton & Sons, Broadwindsor. An overage Murray Grey steer (FA) hit £1,165 for Messrs CL, AE & RC Sweet, Burtle. Hereford steers peaked at £1015 for a forward 23m red from Mr RJ Elliott, Bristol. Continental steers peaked at £1,265 for forward feeders (19/25m & FA) from Mr KJ & Mrs LC Popham, Bridgwater who sold others at £1182 (20/23m) and £1160 (17/22m). A very shapely and lean Charolais steer (U+1) from Messrs Escott Bros, Wheddon Cross achieved £1,165. Good feeding Charolais from Mr AC & Mrs DM Dyer sold well at £1185 (18m & FA) and £1,090 (18/20m). Limousin steers rose
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WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30 2013 FARMING 9
Diary dates
Rural life is well covered in the Western Daily Press, with forthright farming opinions from Ian Liddell-Grainger and Derek Mead, and a round-up of news from the dressage arenas and cross-country courses across the South West – every Saturday
OCTOBER
Baker, Bath. £288 Messrs Bowditch and heifers £305 Messrs MW & LJ Baker. Others £225. Friesians (122) A medium mixed-quality entry met a steady trade with few excitements. Best British Friesians to £140 Messrs M & P Watts & Son. Others to £138 Messrs JV & MJ Pidgeon when Holstein Friesians sold to £140 Mr PT Herrod. A shortage of the top types, mediums generally £60-£100, plainer types from £40 but selective. Small calves £10-£40 on size. Older Friesians to £335, a fine 12 week calf from Messrs P & N Tapp, Washford and £225 Mr DW Sprackman. SHEEP (4474) Store Lambs (2974) Ram lambs topped the section and sold to £107 from Mrs G Howieson. Store lambs sold to £88.50 from Mr J White. Others £88 and £75 from Mrs G Howieson; £86 from Mr N Sargent; £79.50 from Mr G Clothier; £78.50 from Messrs NF Clothier & Sons; £75 from Messrs H & CJ Atwell; £74.50 from Messrs RJ Rood & Son and £74 from Mr MJ Knowles and Messrs RCL Watts & Son. Medium ranged £58-£70. Very small nearly all £30 plus. Overall average £61.86. Grazing Ewes & Rams (1215) The best sold to £105 from Mr N Sargent. Others £98 from Mr KJ Seymour; £97 and £96 from Messrs D Clothier & Sons; £96 from Messrs KJ & PA Sellick and £93 from Messrs JC & TE Merchant. Mediums ranged £50-£75. Plain £35-£50. Boners nearly all £20 plus. Overall average £53.99. Breeding Ewes (235) Good levels of interest from start to finish with Polled Dorset to £120 from Mr WW Reynolds. Suffolk Mules to £101 and £100 from Messrs NF Clothier & Sons. Others to £98 from Mr K Godwin. North Country Mule 2T’s to £98 and £97 from Mr Z Bessell. Stock Rams (50) As the season is winding down the best remain well sold however 2nd and 3rd quality sold at much lower levels. Suffolks to £330 from Mr A England, who also sold a Blue Face Leicester at £320. Texels to £285 from Messrs FH Chave & Son. Charollais to £205 from Messrs NF Clothier & Sons. Monday, October 28
Having a look at the Field King cultivator at the Southern Counties farm machinery auction at Shaftesbury, north Dorset. In all there were more than 1,200 lots on offer at the well-attended sale PICTURE: STEVE KEMP
to £1175 (26m) for a red from Messrs D Wyatt & Son, Axminster. Good pure Simmental steers (19m & FA) from Mr GM & Mrs SJ Reed, Bickleigh hit £1,125. After the Russell’s market topper, other well grown Angus heifers (25m) from Mr EF & Mrs MA Cottle again achieved £1125, who sold others £1,095, £1,025 and £955 (also all 25m). Continental heifers peaked at £1070 for a 28m Limousin from Mr BC Knapp, Pilning, who sold another (28m) at £990. Other Limousins at £1040 (29m & FA) Messrs CL, AE & RC Sweet, Burtle, who sold leaner types (27/28m & FA) at £945. A well grown 14m Charolais heifer from Mr MS & Mrs MJ Andrews, Winsford sold really well at £970. Another Angus (25m) at £960, Messrs M & CM Ryall, Barnstaple and other Limousins (overage) £955, Messrs RMG & RG Salter, Buckland St Mary. Young stores in great demand to £995 for Simmental steers (16/17m) from Mr AF Clapp, Newton Abott. 16m Simmental steer £975, Messrs Bendle & Lintin, Chittlehampton. 15/17m mixed continental steers at £972, Mr JD Meyrick, Yarcombe. Suckler cows, calves & stock bulls (7) Small entry when a Charolais cow
(09/07) sold to £980 from Mr DE Merrick. Stirks & busk calves (377) A larger entry when some quality consignments were forward sold to an excellent trade particularly for the suckler bred types. Top price of £900 (6m) from Mr BM Taylor. Others at £780 (8m) and £770 (5/7m) from Messrs E & IW Studley. Blondes to £830 (6m) £815 (6m) £735 (6m) £720 (6m) and £715 (6m) from Messrs D & P Pengelly. Charolais to £800 (6/8m) from Messrs MS & MJ Andrews – a wonderfully consistent entry. Other Charolais to £790 (7m) from Mr C Chilcott who also sold another at £720 (7m) and £765 (5m) from Messrs A & JL Jackson. Angus to £785 (5/9m) from Messrs AR & JL Denning. Simmentals to £780 (8m) from Mr DM Barker when others sold at £700 (8m) from Messrs FA Kingcott & Son. A fine entry of heifers which rose to £820 (11m) for Limousins from Messrs EH & RL Leyshon, who also sold others at £750 (11m) £690 (11m) and £605. Other Limousins at £740 (9m) from Mr RAD Legg who sold another at £665 (11m) and £635 (10m); £665 and £655 (6/7m) from Messrs E & IW Studley and £595 (6m) from Mr BM Taylor. Charolais to £690 (7/8m) from Messrs MS & MJ
Andrews, who also sold others at £645 (6/7m); £670 (6m) from Mr C Chilcott; £645 (7m) and £600 from Mr WG Evans; £665 (8m) from Messrs D & P Pengelly and £605 and £600 (5m) Messrs A & JL Jackson. Non-export calves (465) Beef Breeds (343) A good seasonal entry found strong competition for the best continental calves, more selective for medium types, particularly heifers. Best bulls to £462 for a 10 week Simmental from Philip Stevens. Blues to £450 Messrs P & N Tapp and £445 and £440 Messrs TE Pocock & Co. Simmental bulls £440 and £425. Other Blues £415 Messrs FH & PJ Bailey and cracking Limousin £415 Messrs James of Chetnole. Medium bulls from £300, smaller Blues £180-£260. Small bulls from £150. A decent trade for the best heifers to £388, £382, £368 and £365 Messrs TE Pocock & Co. Simmentals to £382 Stevens Bros but younger heifers generally £160-£220 and only the best over this level. Plenty of action with the Angus and Herefords. Angus bulls averaged £241 to £345 Messrs P & N Tapp, £306 Mr Ray Triggol and heifers £168 Messrs R & S Turner Ltd. Hereford bulls to £292 Messrs MW & LJ
PRIME CATTLE (157) UTM (133) & OTM (24) Prime A slightly reduced entry of finished cattle, which may indicate the autumn flush is over and with the approach of the Christmas buying period, the trade may have hit its bottom in the current cycle. An extreme range in terms of quality on offer. Top was 232.5ppk for an exceptional black Limousin from Mr TL Greenshields. Steers topped at 220.5ppk for a shapely, lean, red Limousin from Messrs HWC & JM Butler. Best types were 210 to 220ppk. Better 200-210ppk. Good cattle around 200ppk. Commercial types up and down of 190ppk. Steers sold to £1,555.60 for a well fleshed 739kg red Limousin from Mr J Porter. Heifers sold to £1,483.35 for the top drawer Limousin from Mr TL Greenshields & Son, who also sold another at £1,428.77. OTM cattle to £1,549.38 for a tremendous (868kg) Blue steer from Messrs A & DM Dennis & Son. OTM Heifers to £1,250.28 from Mr TL Greenshields & Son. PIGS (743) Finished lambs and hoggs (743) A slightly larger entry of 743 Lambs sold to a very similar strong trade for all presented – well ahead of the trade experienced later on last week. The best sold to 200, 192 and 189ppk from Mr M Olof. Others 200ppk from Messrs EB & JA Webber; 195 and 194ppk from Messrs VJ & MJ Headon; 190ppk from Mr ER Rosewell and 189ppk from Messrs PG & JE Baker. Heavier lambs sold to £87.50 and £84 from Messrs VJ & MJ Headon; £87 and £85 from Milborne Wick Farms Ltd; £85.50 from Mrs PJ Holloway; £85, £84.50 and £84 from Messrs MB & KN Crabb and £85 from Mr THJ Denbee. Overall average £77.39.
BLACKMOOR GATE A strong entry of quality sheep forward again for last week’s sale with 375 breeding ewes forward, selling to an average of £42 for the best from R & O Richards & Son, Surridge and selling to a peak of £88 for Suffolk Mule 2Ts, with Texel-cross-Exmoor Mule 2Ts from the same home selling to £81. Grazing ewes sold to a similar trade on the week with
the best to £60 for J Tucker, Jubilee Gardens. Cull rams sold to £15.50 also for Mr Tucker. The 1,755 store lambs forward averaged £59.06 with the best selling to £70 for T T Irwin, Francis Farm, a much stronger trade, although the average stayed the same.
EXETER Exeter Livestock Centre on Friday saw another very busy day in the cattle section. A larger entry of over 400 stores with steers topping at £1,200 firstly for J J Searle of North Hollacombe with a pair of 25-month Simmentals, then for Dave Pollard, Black Dog with his younger 15-month Limousins. Yearling steers peaked at £1,050 for four smart Charolais suckler types from Paul Pincombe, Lapford. Heifers from Phillip Haydon peaked at £1,025 for his 24-month Charolais. An entry of 247 stirks was headed by the early show and sale of suckled calves. Steers topped at £830 for a pair of Limousins from Messrs Folland, Roborough, Winkleigh, with their heifers leading the way at £710. An run of calves from J Burrough & Co, Beer, saw five-month Limousin steers to £750 and a group of five Limousin and Blonde heifers of the same age were judged the best bunch of females and made £590. A smaller entry of 83 suckler cows and calves saw a decent trade for the best. Top of the day was £1,520 for a 2009-born pedigree Limousin cow from C C Partridge, Tiverton. A pedigree Devon sold very well to £1,380 for John Marks, Modbury. A record entry of 160 calves saw a top of £415 for a Limousin bull from A W Harris & Son, Tiverton. Heifers to £265 for a British Blue from Weavian Farms, Bideford. British Blues from Messrs Roberts, Dulverton sold to £330 for a bull and £255 for a heifer. Simmental bulls sold to £312 for Earth Products, Plymouth. Most medium heifers between £180 and £220. Aberdeen Angus bulls to £250 for Weavian Farms and the same vendors sold Saler bulls to £222 and £200. Friesians topped at £170 for month-old British Friesians from Messrs Higgin, Totnes. Holsteins to £115 from Messrs Barton, Cullompton. In the sheep pens, 1,753 store lambs sold to £75 for C M Davies, Kingsbridge and £73.50 for John Walter-Symons, Holbeton. Some nicely bred small lambs looking very well sold in the top £50s and only the very small, plain or hill-bred sorts were less than £45. Average £58.76. The 55 grazers sold to £51.50 for both Lovaton Farm Partnership, South Tawton and Peter Renouf, Exmouth. The 67 breeding ewes saw John Troake, Worlington reach £70 with FM and BM Suffolk ewes. The 42 stock rams saw Andy and Wendy Reed, Blackborough top at £280. The 128 pigs included a useful entry of 25 cull sows which met spirited bidding to £194 twice, firstly for Tim Stockwell, Kingsbridge and then for Richard and Vicky Gibbins, Poltimore. Tim Stockwell went on to see his run of 12 sows to £191, Lovaton Farming Partnership at £189 and Andrew Freemantle at £185. The 62 prime pigs sold to £154 for Mr Freemantle. Tim Stockwell once again sold a lovely run to £129 with Messrs Boyns, Penzance saw their best mediumweights hit £113 and Messrs Quantick at £110. A better entry of store pigs saw quality six-weekers from Messrs Thomas, Callington reached £31 with Messrs Serpell of Plympton seeing their best to £29. The primestock market on Monday saw well-finished sorts once again in good demand, and a top per kilo of 208ppk (£1,365) for John Drew, Blackawton with his best 29-month continental heifer, while younger well-bred Limousin steers from Charles and Ann Down, Abbotskerswell rose to 206ppk and £1,290. Solid heavyweight Simmental steers from the Bragg Family, Clyst St George made to 204ppk and £1,526. The 74 barren cows saw a South Devon from Phillip Coaker, Postbridge top at £1,057, Ivan Mortimore, Chagford made 136ppk for his best, smart Limousin cows from A J Rogers, Ivybridge ran to 135ppk and Steven Slade,Aylesbeare made 133ppk for a Aberdeen Angus cow. Holstein Friesian cow trade saw good meat sorts from Andrew Peters, Talaton to 122ppk (£976) and 118ppk (£904) for John Daw, Coldridge. The 1,044 prime lambs saw heavies dearer to a top of £95 for Jacob Keast, North Tawton and £94.50 for Malcolm Osborne, North Bovey. Premium to 193ppk for lightweights from Ivan Mortimore, Chagford. The 624 cull ewes to £99 for Steve Lethbridge, Eastleigh.
Today: Yeovil Dairy Meeting, Lambrook Farm, Queen Camel, 11am. Details: 0800 756 2787 Today-31: CropTec, East of England Showground, Alwalton, Peterborough. Details: 01772 799424 31: Family Farmers’ Association Annual Open Meeting, Houses of Parliament, London, 2pm. 31: Archive Ford Tractor demonstration films show in aid of BOAT, Earth Centre, Bicton College, 645pm
NOVEMBER 1: Borderway Agri-Expo, Carlisle. Details: 01228 406200 6: Dairy Meeting, Carvannel Farm, North Cliffs, near Camborne, 11am. Details: 01749 341761
Quota Milk Average wholesale price (4.00% butterfat, for 2013/2014 quota): clean 0.20ppl, used 0.20ppl. Entitlements 2014 season price: Non-SDA £210-£215 per hectare. 2013 season average price: Non-SDA £213 per hectare; SDA £190 per hectare, moorland £39.60 per hectare Naked Acres 2013 hosting and letting season-average price: Non-SDA £49 per acre; SDA £35 per acre; Moorland £7 per acre Townsend Chartered Surveyors, Exeter, (01392 823935) and www.townsendchartered surveyors.co.uk
Useful numbers Defra general inquiries 08459 335577 Met Office 01392 885680 NFU South West 01392 440700 south.west@nfu.org.uk EBLEX South West 0870 608 6610 0871 504 3581 Rural Payments Agency 0845 6037777 Farm Crisis Network 0845 3679990 7am–11pm RABI helpline, financial help 01865 727888 ARC Addington Fund 01926 620135 office hours The Samaritans 08457 909090 24 hours a day Sole Occupancy Authorisation for multiple movements between groups of premises under the same occupation and management issued by local Divisional Veterinary Manager Devon 01392352825; Cornwall 01872 265500; Somerset 01823 337922
Contact us Western Daily Press Telephone 0117 934 3223 E-mail wdnews@bepp.co.uk Fax 01752 765535 Online www.westerndailypress.co.uk/ farming
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12 FARMING WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS
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News digest PESTICIDE USE
BUSINESS
Arable farmers are being urged to study a checklist to prepare for new pesticide legislation. The Sustainable Use Directive affects areas related to crop spraying and the Voluntary Initiative has produced a simple checklist, printed on a ‘Are You Ready for SUD?’ card. Voluntary Initiative manager Patrick Goldsworthy said: “Key changes affect ‘grandfather’ rights, sprayer testing along with the need to demonstrate that ‘integrated pest management’ (IPM) is being followed. Key dates include: During 2014: Demonstrate Integrated Pest Management is followed on your farm. November 26, 2015: Sprayer operators must hold a Recognised Certificate. November 26, 2016: Equipment to have an NSTS Certificate.
Agricultural machinery dealer MST has been appointed by grassland and tillage equipment manufacturer Pöttinger UK as the main dealer across Devon. The Devon-based company, which can trace its agricultural trade heritage back to 1830, is gearing up to re-affirm its position as a major agricultural business in the region. The partnership will see MST, which has depots in Tiverton and Plymouth, carrying the full range of Pöttinger stock that includes all grassland and tillage products as well as the impressive range of Pöttinger forage wagons. While Pöttinger is a name more readily associated with grassland harvesting, the last four decades have seen continuous development and expansion of its now extensive range of tillage equipment. Encompassing both traditional and minimal tillage equipment, the range offers everything from mouldboard ploughs and power harrows, through to a wide range of innovative cultivators and more than 60 different models of seed drills. Manufacturing more than 28,000 machines annually from production facilities located in Germany, Czech Republic and its headquarters in Grieskirchen, Austria, the Pöttinger business celebrated its 140-year anniversary in 2011. Last year Pöttinger took the step of making a long-term commitment to the UK market by establishing its own sales subsidiary Alois Pöttinger UK Ltd. “The UK is a key market for us, therefore to reflect its importance we have taken the step of forming our own subsidiary”, said chief executive Heinz Pöttinger. Graham Joll, head of sales at MST, said: “This is very much in line with MST’s strategy to strengthen our agricultural positioning and offerings. We shall continue to invest and partner with quality manufacturers like Pöttinger.”
Checklist for pesticide rules
MST to expand with new name
TENANT FARMING
Conference offers advice Tenant farmers are being urged to attend the NFU Tenant Farmers’ Conference on November 7. The event, at Harrogate in Yorkshire, will look at national issues as well as opportunities to invest and expand. The conference has attracted some of the industry’s leading figures including Cornish MP and newly appointed Defra Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, George Eustice who will speak alongside NFU president Peter Kendall. The focus will be on government strategy for the tenanted sector, including the implementation of CAP. John Varley, of Clinton Devon Estates, based at Bicton, and John Macmillan, from Cambridgeshire County Farm Estate, will highlight how landlords and tenants need to work together and the importance of county farms to the tenanted sector.
The Alford family added yet another honour to their trophy cabinet at the Cornwall Calf Show, with January-born Limousin heifer Foxhillfarm Izzy taking the top spot in the breed section, Continental section and overall championship. By Wilodge Vantastic and out of Bankdale Alice, she pipped her brother Foxhillfarm Impeccabull in the class. Melanie Alford, above, is pictured at the Royal Bath & West Show with Foxhillfarm Gracie, sister to both FOOD SECURITY
Farmers invited to contribute to MP food inquiry Food security in the UK is to be the subject of an inquiry by MPs, which will also look at possible roles for GM food. In a statement yesterday, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee said the UK is 62 per cent self-sufficient in food, but highlighted the worldwide spike in cost in 2008. The statement continued:
“Globally, climate change, population growth, energy supply and water security are all putting pressure on food production and have the potential to lead to higher food prices. In the UK, food-price inflation was 3.1 per cent in 2012, rising to 4.4 per cent by the middle of 2013.” A previous inquiry into the issue found Defra lacking,
saying it could no longer neglect food security and had to show stronger leadership. The committee is inviting written evidence on issues including the improvement of food security in the UK and EU; efficiency and the link between the price paid for food and the cost of its production. It will also take in the role of GM crops.
Given the size of the global food market, the study will also investigate implications of volatility in global food supply and demand, as well as how supply chains, and systems for traceability, can contribute to increased resilience. Consideration will also be given to the obstacles facing food producers, including small farmers.
MACHINERY
MACHINERY
John Deere has made a further leap ahead in the Interbrand ranking of the 100 Best Global Brands for 2013. According to the latest report, John Deere’s brand value stands at $4.865 billion, a further 15 per cent increase compared to the previous year. The company is now ranked in 80th place, having moved up from 85 in 2012 and 97 on its first appearance in the top 100 in 2011. This continues to place John Deere ahead of other well-known worldwide brands including Jack Daniels, Ralph Lauren and Pizza Hut. “John Deere continues to demonstrate its commitment to building leading products for those ‘linked to the land’,” comments Interbrand on its website www.interbrand.com.
Livestock farmers in the market for a lively yard and field-work tractor will get a power bonus if they opt for the power shuttle version of the new McCormick X50 tractor. The new model is available from dealers Symons Agricultural Services, of Hayle, RSM Beare, of Launceston and Stoke Canon near Exeter, Devon; Read Agriservices, of Wanstrow, near Shepton Mallet, Mark Baker Engineering, of Ilminster, and Martin Richards Agricultural Engineers, of Sturminster Newton. Three of the four models spanning 85-113hp have Power Plus, an electronic enginemanagement system that gives power when operating a ptodriven implement or hauling a trailer, tanker or spreader “This is a unique feature on a tractor of this size,” said Paul
New range delivers extra power
John Deere up in brands list
The new McCormick X50 tractors come with a flexible choice of transmissions.
Wade, product specialist at McCormick distributor AgriArgo UK. “A farmer wanting a 95hp tractor will get that power with the McCormick X50.30 for jobs like cultivating and ploughing; but when it comes to operating a diet feeder or towing a muck spreader, he’ll have the performance of a tractor with seven per cent more power.” Add the increased torque, improved throttle response and better fuel economy by the all-new Perkins engine and the X50 Series adds up to highly attractive package. The X50 Series replaces the T-Max models in the McCormick line-up. Synchro shuttle versions with a 24x12 transmission, dry clutch and mechanical rear lift control have maximum power outputs of 85hp, 95hp, 102hp and 113hp.