Dairy Farmer Digital Edition March 2012

DAIRY FARMERForward thinking for a profitable future March 2012

TIP OF THE MONTH: Silage champ tells us his secrets for producing top quality forage – p16

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Inside this issue…

Forage & GrasslandPages 16-24

Compass FarmPage 6-8

New productsPage 32

Milk pricesPage 34

RenewablesPage 26-30

**DF Mar Cover 24/2/12 11:41 Page 1

Rumenco WP DF 24/2/12 12:17 Page 1

CONTENTS

1DAIRY FARMER MARCH 2012

Vol 59 No 3 March 2012

News and commentNews review 2 Cowmen comment 4Compass Farm 6Potter’s View 12 Breeding 14

Forage & GrasslandRed clover leys 20Lucerne as protein 22

RenewablesFeed-in Tariffs 26Anaerobic digesters 30

RegularsMarketplace 32 Milk prices 34Workshop tips 36Good Evans 40

NEXT MONTH

Animal health special

In this issue…Jumping through hoops

For politicians to get oneround of applause at theNFU Conference isunusual, but to get twois almost unheard of.

Anything more might smack ofsycophancy.

So who was this rising star ofthe firmament and what wastheir party trick? Well, it wasnone other than FarmingMinister Jim Paice. And why? Forhis tough stance in announcinga badger cull to tackle thegrowing incidence of TB.

His boss has just confirmed aSeptember start, and such wasproducers’ pent up, hands-tiedexasperation at continuing tolose stock and have their farmsshut up, that they couldn’t helpthemselves but show someappreciation for someone at lastprepared to grasp this nettle.

What particularly came acrossloud and clear was just howimportant the two cull areas are

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Editor

to the success of the short-termand long-term disease controlstrategy. Specifically, the criteriaon which the success of the cullwill be judged is whether it is‘safe, effective and humane’,and for that lots of hoops haveto be jumped through before allare satisfied.

If the cull is successful thennext year there will be 10 areas,and the year after another 10.By then it is hoped an effectivecattle or oral badger vaccine willhave been developed.

But it’s not all clear bluewater. The Badger Trust will beall too ready to pounce on everyopportunity to throw a spannerin the works and any judicialreview of the culling plans couldbring things to a shudderinghalt.

And what if the cull is stoppedthrough neglectful non-compl-iance with protocol? Well noone was going there at the

conference. Clearly Plan A isfraught with risk, and Plan B is… well there is no Plan B.

That’s why the cull must befollowed to the letter – cruciallyeverything depends on it!

DF Mar p1 Contents 24/2/12 12:19 Page 1

2 DAIRY FARMER MARCH 2012

NEWS

Dairy bites the dust ■ The Dairystix portion packof milk was viewed at onetime as being one of the mostinnovative in the industry.

But the company behind it –Farmright, whose subsidiaryQuadar Foods manufactured it– has been forced into admin-istration as it was unable toattract equity funding to investin new technology and breakinto new markets.

Around 80-90 farmers havebeen affected to the collectivetune of several millions, withDairy Crest also hit for £4million.

Meadow Foods, Freshwaysand Milk Link, among otherbuyers, are known to havestepped in at very late noticeto carry out emergency milkpick-ups.

UK bottom of league■ The UK is still residing atthe bottom of the EU milkprice league table, accordingto the latest EU milk pricecomparisons compiled byWillem Koops of LTONetherlands for the EuropeanDairy Farmers Association.

But there was some goodnews. UK prices increasedremarkably in the second halfof 2011. In Euros, prices hereincreased by 10% for DairyCrest and 14% for First Milk,or 15% for Dairy Crest and18% for First Milk whencurrency is factored in.

The rolling average EU milkprice in 2011 was ¤34.54/100kg,equivalent to 28.75ppl. Thiscompared to ¤31.32 for NewZealand farmers and ¤32.70 forthose in the US.

Compared to 2010, averagemilk prices across Europeincreased by 12% beforeadditional year-end paymentsfrom, say, the co-ops.

Milk production ■ January’s production came inat 1118.5 million litres, some22.3m litres more than January2011. Butterfats are running at4.05% for the year, some 11points up from last year’s 3.94.Cumulatively we have nowproduced 11,238.6m litres ofmilk, 97.1m litres more than atthis time last year.

NEWS IN BRIEF NFU anger overmissing 5p/litreL

ast week’s NFU Conferencesaw farmers’ anger directedonto milk contracts. Over the last 18 monthsthere has been a 5ppl

differential between the farmgatemilk price and the Actual MilkPrice Equivalent, said Dairy Boardchairman Mansel Raymond. Thisequated to a £1bn litre sum across13bn litres. “Farmers want theirmoney back,” he stressed, withoutsetting out from whom.

Nevertheless, producers were ina seller’s market for their milk,with every buyer looking for extramilk, he added.

Farming Minister Jim Paice saidhe could not regulate for cont-racts, but stated he would bepushing hard for a Voluntary Codeof Practice that is followed byproducers and processors whichwill make a difference to thesupply chain.

“I have kicked and bullied theindustry to have a Code ofPractice. There are no alternativesand it has got to be there and befair for both sides,” he said.

The week before the NFUconference when the EU DairyPackage regulations were votedthrough the European Parliament,the NFU expressed disappointmentit did not go far enough as theamended text failed to guaranteeminimum terms for dairycontracts.

This has been the major policygoal for the NFU for a number ofyears, but has now been effect-ively rejected by both the UKGovernment and the EU. Instead,explicit provisions for minimumterms in contracts will now be left

to member states to implement,should they wish.

“In the UK, Defra is favouring avoluntary approach to dairycontracts, via a code of practice.The NFU is fully engaged in thisprocess, but the status quo ofcombining long notice periodswith complete buyer’s discretion,with no option for farmers toleave the contract earlier ifagreement on price change is notmet, is an important line in thesand for the NFU and itsmembers,” said Mr Raymond,who also serves as the Copa-Cogeca milk committee vice-chairman.

“In the UK we know farmersare adversely affected by poorcontracts. As an example, it’s quitecommon for a contract to have 12or more months notice require-ment to leave, yet the price thefarmer is paid can be changed atwill by the processor withoutnotice. This isn’t a contract, it isexploitation,” he declared.

Milk markets weakenfurther across EuropeCOMMODITY markets haveslipped further across Europe andthe world, although the creamprice seems to have stabilised ataround the £1.25 mark.

Dutch butter prices are now¤190/t lower than they were inJanuary and almost ¤1000/t lowerthan the 2011 peak of ¤4240/t.The last time butter prices were aslow as this was back in April 2010.Global butter prices are $1300lower than they were at theirpeak of $5200 in March 2011.

In the Global Dairy Tradeauction of February 1, the price ofevery commodity dropped and thelatest auction on February 14fared little better, with all of theother commodities falling in value.Whole milk powder was down 3%

to $3421 per tonne (£2162);skimmed milk powder dropped2.6% to $3259/t (£2060); anhyd-rous milk powder (a pre-cursor tobutter) fell by 10.5% to $3546/t(£2238); and Cheddar was down$81 to $3559/t (£2246). The overallindex was down 3%.

PricesAlthough the liquid processors areundoubtedly hurting because ofhigh UK milk prices and lowercream prices, it is still almostimpossible for them to reduceprices because of the effect thiswould have on farmer morale. It isknown the last major buyer to cutprices – Muller – has lost signif-icant milk volumes as a result ofthe move.

I have kicked andbullied the industry tohave a Code of Practice.There are noalternatives and it hasgot to be there and befair for both sides.Jim Paice

TB – stickwith rulesSPEAKING at the NFUConference, Farming MinisterJim Paice emphasised the legal,practical and financial difficultiesthe eradication plan faced, andthat beating the disease wouldbe a ‘long, hard slog’.

He also stressed the need forthe process to be as bureaucraticas it is. “Any wrong step onthe way could jeapardise theprocess.” Beating the diseasecould take as long as 20 years,he believed, and that was if thecull plan got moving quickly andworked.

However, what the Govern-ment did and how quickly itmoved would depend on howmuch money it had, but it hadto bear in mind the disease iscontinuing to spread into newareas all the time.

**DF Mar p2 3 News 24/2/12 11:42 Page 1

NEWS


TB movementrules tighten

The Animal Health andVeterinary LaboratoriesAgency (AHVLA) hasbeen forced by the EUto introduce new rules.

This means herds which havean Officially TB Free StatusWithdrawn (OTFW) breakdownwill now have to wait until theyhave completed their first ShortInterval Test (SIT) after 60 daysof the reactor animal leavingthe farm, or being suitablyisolated.

Interval testsIn order to regain Officially TBfree status they must test clearat two consecutive shortinterval tests at no less than 60-day intervals. In the past whenfarmers have been sufferingfrom an OTFW breakdown they

could continue to move cattleinto isolated facilities oncompletion of a veterinary riskassessment, without having towait for a SIT.

Grant lossThe AHVLA was forced to makethe move because not to havedone so would have riskedthe EU not approving theeradication programme, withthe consequent loss of grantfunding.

Nevertheless the NFUslammed the move, largely dueto the short notice given tofarmers, and meanwhile theBadger Trust has announced itwill be mounting a JudicialReview of Defra’s badger cullplans unless there is a change of plan.

Co-ops investin processingFRESH from announcing a majorinvestment at its Lockerbiecreamery, Milk Link has nowannounced a further £2.4minvestment in its cheeseprocessing operations at itsOswestry packing plant andLlandyrnog Creamery.

In addition, a £400,000innovative whey de-salinationplant is to be installed at MilkLink’s Llandyrnog Creamery. It willbe the first of Milk Link’s sites touse the technology to filter saltedwhey, and will help improveprofitability at the site, says thecompany. Currently, whey thatcomes off the curds after saltingcannot be processed due to itshigh salt content, and has to bedisposed of.

First Milk are not being leftbehind in the investment stakeseither – it is hoping to investsignificantly in its Maelor plant,and has applied for planningpermission.

Scottish dairy farmers better off SCOTTISH dairy farmers are muchbetter off than English ones,according to a survey of dairyfarms by the north-west basedfirm of farm accountants Dodd &Co.

The Scots had higher milkprices (tax year 10-11) at anaverage of 26.06ppl compared to24.96p, and received almostdouble the Single Farm Paymentat 3.94p compared to 2p.

They also had generousinvestment grants, which meantthey invested twice as much as

the English farmers, at 9.8pplcompared to 4.68ppl.

Across all farms the top 25%(average 355 cows and 2.7mlitres) had a gross output of32.66ppl, variable costs of 13.8pand fixed costs of 12.75. Profitafter drawings, tax and othercosts was 2.38p.

The average farmer in thesurvey (230 cows and 1.78mlitres) had a gross output of31.38p, variable costs of 14.46pand fixed costs of 12.5p. Profitafter drawings was 0.99p.

Those in the bottom 25% (136cows and 1m litres) had a grossoutput of 31.23p, variable costsof 15.49p and fixed costs of13.91p. Overall they showed aloss of 1.8ppl.

The milk price disparitybetween the top and bottomherds is increasing according tothe survey. In 2008 the differencebetween the top and bottom25% was 1.7p, increasing to a3.12p margin in 2010 (due to theDFOB effect). Last year itdropped back to 2.11p.

New faceof milkcampaignKELLY Osbourne is the latestcelebrity fronting the ‘make minemilk’ campaign, and will be seenon buses across Great Britainsporting the iconic milkmoustache.

The accompanying headline is‘breakfast, make up, wardrobe’,and aims to communicate thehealth benefits of consuming lowfat milk as part of a healthybreakfast to teenage girls andfamilies.

Other celebrities to don thetash include X-Factor judge KellyRowland, Harry Potter star RupertGrint, F1 driver Jenson Button,supermodel Elle Macpherson, popprincess Pixie Lott and Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay.

The campaign was originallycreated by the Milk MarketingForum – a consortium of ArlaFoods UK, Dairy Crest, First Milk,Milk Link and Robert WisemanDairies, with support provided byDairy UK and The Dairy Council.

Of the £7.5m total spend for thethree-year campaign, a third comesfrom European Union funding, butthis is due to come to an end inOctober 2012.

PETER Kendall has been re-elected as NFU president for afourth term by Council membersand Meurig Raymond remains asdeputy president, also for afourth term. Adam Quinney hasbeen elected vice-president andreplaces Gwyn Jones.

NFU elections

**DF Mar p2 3 News 24/2/12 11:42 Page 2


COWMEN COMMENT

John CameronJohn Cameron is farm manager of WoodPark farm on the Wirral, which is part ofthe University of Liverpool Vet School andis currently involved with animalhusbandry trials in association with Tesco.

We’re hoping to reduce our feed protein levels

YIELD: 185 cows selling 11,100litres/cowHERD: Closed herd with all replace-ments bred and reared on-farmLAND: 200 acres plus 100 rented.

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Since the start of the yearwe have taken on a newtrainee, hoping to trainhim to be a herdsman inthe next three years.

Over my time, I’ve had anumber of interviews myself andthey mostly comprised joiningthe boss for a cup of coffee inthe kitchen, telling them a bitabout yourself and then sudd-enly finding yourself with a jobin a strange part of the countrybefore you leave.

But being part of a university,there are a number of hoops tojump through before we caneven think about putting thekettle on. Things like do we needsomebody? What will their jobbe? How many hours will theywork? What qualifications arerequired? What will their salarybe?

Once that’s been decided, thego-ahead is required from thehuman resources department, apanel of interviewers has to beselected, and decisions have tobe made as to how the interviewwill be conducted withoutstumbling across the wrong typeof questions. God forbid wemight ask a closed question!

We interviewed six really goodcandidates who were given theopportunity to say more thanjust yes or no to our questions inorder that we could establishhow much they knew, yet at thesame time without making themfeel too uncomfortable.

We now have a keen youngman who, while he thinks heneeds to impress us, probablydoesn’t realise the responsibility Ifeel to make sure he is properlytrained and mentored to be a

first class herdsperson.The cows are milking well this

winter and we really couldn’t askfor much more from them. Youcan’t beat that feeling when thefirst two sides come in lookingfit, healthy and full of milk. Italmost justifies getting out ofbed at 5am.

We’re happy too with our drycow transition managementwhich is there or thereabouts,with few of the expectedproblems of milk fevers orretained cleansings. And thefresh calvers have fantasticappetites with lots of milk.

The challenge now is to keepthe condition on them. The vetstell us that losing more than halfa condition score betweencalving and first service willaffect their fertility, make themmore inclined to be lame andprobably wear out quicker.

Lucerne So as we’re always up to trysomething different, we are inthe process of lowering theprotein percentage in the diet(17.5% for the highs, 16% forthe lows) and improving thequality of the NDF with lucerneto see what happens.

Surprisingly, fat and proteinpercentages have raised a fewpoints and the milk has stayedthe same. It’s difficult to saywhether the cows have lost lesscondition and we may need toreduce protein a little more yet.

We have an old Ford 7610,nicknamed the ‘donkey’. It usedto be the main fieldwork tractorand, although with 17,000 hourson the clock it looks like amuseum piece, nobody can say ithasn’t earned its scratches and

dings. It spends its life pullingthe Keenan around in themornings for three hours thenusually gets parked up until thefollowing morning.

We have a cunning tractorstrategy whereby two tractorswould have to be out ofcommission before we couldn’tfeed the cows, which means thatthe donkey has a loader to itsname, but not a very good one.

The new tractors have shuttleshifts, seat suspension (and evencab suspension on the latestone), air con (with warmth) anddecent Radio 2 reception, whichwe now take for granted.

But on the day when the newloader is out of commission,tractors are swapped round andthe bucket gets attached to thedonkey and off I go. Damn thingwon’t change gear, the indicatordoesn’t get you backwards orforwards, every bump jars yourback, and you wonder what thatclutch thing is all about.

After two hours loading, I canbarely get off it due to achingknees, and I feel I’m going toneed bits replacing if I have todrive it much more.

Now before anybody suggestsit’s my age, our 25 year-old reliefperson is now seeking compen-sation for new hips after using ittoo. He just doesn’t realise howfar tractor design has come inthe last 20 years!

**DF Mar p4 Cameron 23/2/12 13:29 Page 1

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COMPASS FARMS

We’ve heard fromfeed company KWand we’ve heardfrom BishoptonVets, but now we

want to peep behind the curtainat Crosby Grange to hear directlyfrom the Smith brothers them-selves about the challenges theywere facing and how they dealtwith them.

In the telling of this story youmight expect a fair bit ofrecrimination, self doubt andobfuscation, but what you get isan unfolding analysis of whathappened and when thingsstarted to go wrong, or as JohnSmith aptly refers to it as the time‘the wheel came off’.

The Smith family moved fromits small Cleckheaton ‘green top’Pennine farm in 1980 to the NorthYorkshire Crosby Grange andstraight away put in a system for80 cows.

John Smith takes up the story:“I came back from BangorUniversity in 1983 to the 181acres here, and the followingyear we were awarded 350,000litres of quota.”

They now run 350 cows on 550acres (220ha) of mostly rentedland, with more than 2m litres ofquota, so to the casual observer itwould be classed as a success story– but it nearly wasn’t.

■ Daily milk yield up by 8 litres/cow■ Calving interval cut from 454 to 418 days■ Average SCCs cut from 300 tounder 150■ Clinical mastitis cases cut by 50%■ Reduced calving problems by bettertransition diet■ Less disease following pro-activepreventative plan■ Better labour relations withappointment of herd manager■ Team work, with each personknowing what they have to do.

Improvements

Step 3: We had to changeto get back on right trackThis month, in the final part of our three-part series on Crosby Grange, North Yorkshire, Peter Hollinsheadtalks to the Smith brothers who, as the host farmers, are at the very heart of this KW Compass Farms project.

They managed to buy theoriginal holding in the early 90sand increased the herd to 250cows. Between 2003 and 2005they erected a large cubicle shedand new parlour, and yields wentup to 9200 litres sold.

“We were doing alright andincreased the herd further to 350cows – then in 2006 our main manleft and the wheel came off,” saysJohn.

Single-mindedThe reason may, paradoxically, liein their single-minded approach,coupled with an over-riding workethos which would never allowthem to feel they were beatendespite the odds being stackedagainst them with the newly-enlarged dairy unit.

Suddenly the two brothersfound themselves with the help ofonly one worker and one self-employed person looking after allthe jobs associated with theirburgeoning head count, nowtotalling 750.

“It was hard work and we weregetting up at 5am and sometimesnot finishing till 11pm. That sortof routine takes its toll.

“We always thought we coulddo it on our own, but we found

out we couldn’t,” confides Johnwistfully.

But it wasn’t just the physicalside of the work that wasdemanding, as there were evergrowing office jobs and the debtfrom the Yorkshire Bank for theexpansion that had to be serviced.

John says: “We found we had alot of financial pressure and a lotof paperwork to do.”

In an attempt to escape thetightening vice, they employedsome unskilled staff which,although he credits them withworking hard, he says therewasn’t anyone driving thingsforward and ensuring theattention to detail that’s soessential in managing stock well.

“We thought we could managethe staff but we couldn’t, and weshould have had a herd managerearlier,” he admits with thebenefit of hindsight.

But they didn’t and the baldreality was beginning to dawn asyields plummeted to below 7000litres that control was quicklyslipping from their grasp.

“I think I just lost interest,”explains John, and says this wastheir darkest moment when heand brother Mark seriouslyconsidered whether to give up

the seemingly unequal struggle.Doubly perplexing to them was

the challenge to their firmly-heldconviction that hard work anddetermination would see themthrough virtually anything.

Instead it was provinginadequate in dealing withdecreasing yields, milk penalties,bank overdraft and crashing milkprices. Adding to that was arealisation that although theywere only in their late 40s, theenviable belief of the young inindestructibility and boundlessenergy was beginning to bechallenged.

Co-incidentally, in 2007 theystarted using KW feedstuffs andfrom the onset their arearepresentative thought thenutrition was wrong and broughtin their chief man to investigate.Enter Michael Marsden.

“It was Michael Marsden whogave us a kick up the backside. Herecommended we get new staffand a new vet and that weneeded to be on a recordingscheme,” says John.

“We were about ready to giveup as we’d had enough. I think ifwe’d been a bit older we wouldhave gone, but in your late 40s itstill seems there’s a long time togo yet.”

OpennessNot surprisingly, some deepdiscussions took place betweenthe brothers, and one of thereservations, according to John,was the degree of openness thatKW would demand if CrosbyGrange was to become one itsCompass Farms.

“We didn’t really want to do itas we would have to disclose a lotof financial information,” he says.

“We were at the lowest of thelow, but having spent all thatmoney we decided we would giveit a go,” he adds. “Ultimatelyyou’ve got to make up your mindand go with it – fundamentally at

John (right) and Mark (centre) talk to KW’s Steve Allen about herd diets.

**DF Mar p6 7 8 Compass 23/2/12 13:31 Page 1

COMPASS FARMS

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ART4081

HERD manager Mick Spears says thingshave radically changed from what hefound when he started in autumn 2009to what is happening now.

“When I came I found high cellcounts of more than 300,000 andmastitis and fertility problems. John hadlost interest and the three farm workerspreviously employed had not reallygelled,” he says. “Managing a herd isall about attention to detail – it’s notrocket science.”

He gives full marks to KW’s MichaelMarsden and Steve Allen: “Michael wasthe catalyst to get things going. He saidthey needed new staff and fortunatelythey followed his advice.

“They got me in to give thatattention to detail and see thingsthrough new eyes. Steve has been agreat help in sourcing feedstuffs, andeven when in short supply he hasmanaged to get them so the cowscould have the same diet for 365 daysa year.”

He says with wife Bridget in chargeof the calves and two young keenworkers, Dave Hoskins and AndrewTweddle, he now has a reliable teamwho you know ‘are going to do whatyou want them to do’.

“And Genus RMS has done a very

Mick Spears – herd management is all about attention to detail

good job – when you don’t have thestaff yourself, it takes a load off my mindto know they are finding bulling cowsand inseminating them.

“As for Bishopton Vets, I have accessto them 24/7 should a problem crop up,but it’s a team effort with both vets andnutritionists.”

He says that since 2009, things havechanged dramatically – last summer thecows were averaging a colossal37litres/day, but he wanted to pull thatback a bit to ensure they got in calf. Thefigure now stands at 31 litres on the 337

head – with 160 heifers in with that.Despite this, he says there are still a

lot of things to achieve.“Lameness is the next big problem we

need to tackle. We had a big purge 12months ago and got a foot-trimmer in.John and I tend to do them now, but it’sa matter of finding the time,” he says.

When asked what he thought of thesituation at Crosby Grange when hearrived on his first day, he says: “I felt itwas something I could get my teeth intoand make a difference,” and there’s nodoubt he has.

heart I am an optimist. We’d bothgot reservations, but Michaelcould see what was going wrongand he put us in touch with LKLbecause he said we neededsomeone to help us manage it,”he declares.

So had the turning point beenreached? Just to shake confidencein their hard-won decision, theclosed herd just then hit the rockswith a breeding fault affectingthe next heifer generation.

“We had 130 heifers come intothe herd that year and after thefirst lactation there were only 15left.” But the die was cast toproceed and such set backs had tobe met and overcome.

So it was in positive spirit thatJohn describes the two datesirrevocably etched in his mind.Namely July 1, 2009, whenBishopton Vets were appointedand November 1 that same yearwhen herd manager Mick Spearsstarted.

As a matter of good fortune,Mick’s wife Bridget was anexperienced calf rearer and tookon that role and two other youngstaff were appointed.

“Once vet Jonathan Stathamcame in, we started battling with X



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OLDER brother Mark looks after thearable side of the 550 acre (220ha)mostly rented unit, covering three farms,with 100 acres (40ha) maize and 130acres (52ha) winter wheat for wholecrop, and 320 acres (130ha) grassland.

“We both liked cows and I wasdoing the milking with John for twoyears with another person feeding cowsand doing land work. John and I weretrying to do it all ourselves but werealised we needed more help.

“We took our foot of the pedal,”he says, “when you get over 200 cows you can’t keep on top of it all asyou should.

“Financially I don’t think we couldhave carried on and I think we would

have been driven out if we hadn’t donewhat we did – we had to get a grip,”he confides.

“We should have got a person likeMick in straight away as we neededsomeone who had his finger on thepulse and could put the necessaryroutines in place.”

As to the commitment to the future,he simply explains the cold reality:“We’ve invested a lot of money in thelast 18 months and now we’re lookingto get something back.”

Asked about his present feelings, hesays: “Yes, I’m fairly happy, so long aswe can hold on to staff. In another 18months I think we’ll be fully back ontrack.”

Mark Smith – looking for return on investment

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W the disease problem. We hadvaccinated for IBR but not beenrigorous enough and were onlydoing it once a year. Now we aredoing it three times a year.

“With BVD we had PIs whichwe didn’t know about and so weblood tested everything, whichwas quite expensive. Our last testshowed no PIs now and in 12months time we should becompletely clear,” he says.

But just as things started tomove in the right direction, theywere forced to knock on thebank’s door again for anotherloan – this time for workingcapital to pay for the on-goingpreventative programme.

As ever, the bank was obliging,but at this stage any extra debtserved only to up the ante andpinpoint the sheer necessity forthe new strategy to succeed.

With their heifer breedingdisaster behind them, thingsstarted to look up in the spring of2010 as the endeavours of thenew team were starting to showthrough, and the good quantityof heifers coming through (afterusing sexed semen on all heifersfor some time) allowed a rigorouscull of older and high cell count

cows, which would help reducethe punishing milk penalties.

“Cow numbers dropped to 300,but while we had less milk, it wasbetter quality – we had alwaysused to be in the top band butlatterly we weren’t and it wascosting us money.

“In 2010 there was a replace-ment rate of 50%, in 2011 40%and this is expected to drop tobelow 35% this year. We have53% heifers in the herd now.”

LactationsDespite the young age of theherd, the Kite figures forDecember show 9538 litres soldper herd member. Not only that,but with 150 heifers reared a year,and around 130 making thegrade, it should provide surplusheifers for sale in future as thereare currently few cows past thirdlactation. John is particularlythankful the OTMs finished intime to give him a reasonable cashreturn from his cull sales.

Ask John Smith when hisconfidence started to return andhe will tell you: “In the spring of2010 I was feeling confident inmyself and by the end of 2010 Istarted to feel we were going in

the right direction. I feel the cowsare getting back to where wewant to be.

“However, one thing which didworry me was that in 2010 feedcosts started to go up and peakedat a purchased feed cost of10p/litre, yet the milk price wasn’tgoing up. Fortunately, it thencame back down to 8.45p/litreand the milk price steadied.”

Encouragingly, the latest resultsshow that with more precision inthe feeding regime the figure hasfallen back even further to7.45p/litre.

But two other things play onhis mind. While thankful his milkbuyer, Arla, had supported theexpansion of the herd, he is

somewhat irked by their eight-year money raising levy which,without it making him ashareholder, will set him back£160,000 – money which he couldconstructively use himself.

The latest blow is that, despitebeing in a TB-free area andhaving a closed herd, he has justhad two reactors, which have notshown lesions and which arebeing investigated further.

“Let’s hope it’s only a hiccup – Idon’t believe we’ve got it. I hopeit’s a false reading,” he claims.Fortunately subsequent tests todate have been clear.

Nevertheless it is putting a stopto any lucrative calf sales. Withplenty of heifers coming on hehad increased the number of cowsput to beef bulls in the hope ofcashing in on these sales.

When you ask him aboutwhether he has regrets about notgetting out earlier, he settles backand says: “I am content with whatI am doing now and I wouldn’tchange it really.”

And as a capping throe to theexpansive mood, he adds: “Thenext thing is to reduce the bankdebt and we’re trying to get cownumbers up to 400.”


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Keep a look outfor mycotoxinpoisoning signs

LATEST UPDATE ON MYCOTOXINS

Diagnosing andtreating mycotoxinpoisoning is rarelystraightforward andoften the only sure

diagnosis of a problem comesafter the treatment has beenadministered, according to vetMark Burnell of Synergy FarmVets.

Mr Burnell says while theremay be a number of symptomswhich are often a sign ofmycotoxin poisoning, none aredefinitive in themselves.

“Diagnosis is often done ona presumptive basis havingruled out other factors and isoften only conclusive after theuse of a whole-herd treatment,usually in the form of adding abinding agent to the diet.”

He admits there are someacute cases where the sourceof the poisoning may beobvious. “And in these casesdiagnosing mycotoxin poison-ing is fairly straightforward,”he says.

“But in most cases where thesymptoms vary from animal toanimal and where there is noregular pattern within a herd, itis hard to be definitive. In thesesituations it is essential farmersrecord every possible detail andmake their vet aware of anypattern of symptoms whichmay emerge.”

What tends to happen isthat cows will show some formof non-specific symptoms, suchas lethargy, poor feed intake,variable milk yield, foot issuesand even knuckling over onthe fetlocks.

“These are often classicmycotoxin poisoning sympt-oms, but equally can be caused

When your herd is not performing just as you feel it should, it couldbe time to consider whether mycotoxins might be implicated.

by other problems too.“In some cases milk yield will

drop off significantly or cows maybe scouring for no apparentreason. One of the tell-tale signsof mycotoxin poisoning is oftenblood being passed in the faeces.

“When you see any of thesesymptoms it could be mycotoxinpoisoning, so a conversation withyour vet is essential. But there israrely a pattern to the symptomsand it seldom affects the wholeherd in the same way.”

Where you think mycotoxinpoisoning could be the cause ofsuch things, then adding aneffective mycotoxin remediationproduct, such as Ultrasorb, to thediet is the best way of solving theproblem and often the only wayof providing a definitivediagnosis. If the symptoms persistafter the product has been addedthen it is unlikely to have beenmycotoxin poisoning causing theproblem, explains Mr Burnell.

Treatment“There is little else that can bedone to treat individual cases ofmycotoxin poisoning, although itis possible to drench affectedcows with a solution containingthe binding agents. This can beeffective in cases of milk drop.

“And where cows have becomedehydrated as a result of acutediarrhoea then it is important tohelp them rehydrate by tubingthem with water, and in severecases including an electrolytesolution too. Scouring cowsshould also have their dietchanged to help them recover.”

Mr Burnell says where cows areknuckling over on their fetlocksthey should be moved to strawyards to limit the damage to

themselves. “Cows which areknuckling can scuff the skin andallow infection in. Steroid and anti-inflammatory treatments are oftengood for treating these cases.”

While it is rare for mycotoxinpoisoning to cause death, MrBurnell says it does happen. “Inmost cases it will be when a cowfalls unexpectedly and then can’tget up again. Additionally, somecows can suffer a milk drop anddon’t recover from it and mayneed culling as a result.”

It is important to rememberyou don’t necessarily have to havepiles of mouldy feed to have amycotoxin problem, claims MrBurnell.

Analytical chemist DeirdreNorton, of Micron Bio-Systems,says one common sign of myco-toxin poisoning can be poorfertility when the toxin zeara-lenone is the causal element.

“This toxin mimics oestrogen,spurring the mammary systeminto activity. This can influence aherd’s fertility management andhas been observed in extremecases to cause unserved heifers tobag up. It can also cause spontan-eous abortion.”

She says due to the many anddiverse symptoms of mycotoxinpoisoning, diagnosis can be

difficult. “However, when aneffective multi componentmycotoxin remediationproduct, such as Ultrasorb, isadded to the diet, the recoverycan be pretty dramatic, helpingto confirm initial diagnosis.”

Mark Cox, of Micron Bio-Systems, says traditional strat-egies to address mycotoxins infeed have included the removalof contaminated feedstuffs andthe inclusion of either crude claybinders or single yeast extractproducts in the ration in anattempt to dilute the effects oftoxins in the rumen.

“However Micron hasdeveloped a new strategy thatemploys a four-way approachto mycotoxin control toremediate the effects ofmycotoxins in feed and shieldyour animals,” he says.

“Clay mineral particles bindpolar mycotoxin cell structureswhile yeast wall componentsand yeast cell extracts bind andmodify toxin cell structures torender them non-toxic.

“Our novel microbial nutr-ient package supports tissueand beneficial micro-florarecovery and only costs aroundsix pence per cow per day," he adds.

**DF Mar p11 Micron Signed off 23/2/12 13:37 Page 1


POTTER’S VIEW

Fresh back from attendance at this year’s NFU Conference, Ian Potter says it istime the industry looked to planning its future starting with producer groups.

Ian PotterIan is a specialist milk quotaand entitlement broker.Comments please to [email protected]

NFU should take lead in milk plan

This year’s NFU Conferencetitle was Meeting theChallenge, and therecertainly are some bigones to tackle. The move

to the ICC at Birmingham wasinspired and saw around 1100delegates attending.

NFU president Peter Kendalldescribed TB as the biggestagricultural issue on the domesticscene. Delegates entering theconference were greeted byaround 50 demonstrators whowould best be described as lowkey holding placards stating ‘No’to the badger cull and ‘No’ to arepeal of the hunting ban. Alllooked pretty well fed, mind, andtheir protests do not extend toboycotting food.

Mr Kendall emphasised howimportant it was for all livestockfarmers to do some local PR onTB, informing the public what thebadger cull trial was all about andTB’s impact on farming.

All present, including Govern-ment, were unanimous that if thepilot cull was successful it wouldtake the TB battle to the nextstage, although it would be manyyears before results are seen –perhaps 20 years. Most alsoagreed the only real long-termsolution to eradication is avaccine, but that’s several yearsaway still.

Farming minister Jim Paicecommented TB, and the decisionto cull, was one of the toughestchallenges facing Government. Hismessage was culling badgers isnot the solution to eradicating TB,it is simply one tool in the box. Hethen issued a warning that ‘anywrong step by anyone couldjeopardise the whole process’. Inother words, if one farmer doessomething stupid, the consequ-ences are likely to be the pilotswill be axed and not rolled out toother areas.

I’ll comment on the other bigtopic in the Industry aired at the

Conference at a later date –namely CAP reform. However it’sworth mentioning now that thereis a long way to go with theproposals. At least Dacion Ciolos,as EU Commissioner, has statedpublically they will not ‘penalisechampions’ but recognise the factthat when it comes to agri-environment schemes Britain isahead of othermember states.However, Mr Kendallwas quick to pointout UK farmers areeffectively penalisedtoday, being the onlymember state withvoluntary modul-ation. This has to bescrapped in order toput us on a level playing fieldwith the other 26 states.

Following last year’s ‘Blamefest’Dairy Breakout fiasco, I amdelighted to say this year’s sessionsaw a seismic turnaround fromthat demoralised, destabalisedvictim talk, into one with positivesigns of cautious optimism.

Two people on the NFU's DairyBoard questioned why we (the UKdairy industry and the NFU) didnot have a strategy and plan forthe industry post-2015. The Irishhave one, and it’s a certaintyMuller and Arla have their ownones. Mr Paice’s response was notthat we shouldn’t have a plan,but we certainly don't want aGovernment-run one. It remindsme of what Kate Allum said atthis year’s Semex Conference:“The UK dairy industry is fiddlingand faffing about at the edgesand we need to think differently.”Incidentally Mr Paice did say hethought our two main GB milk co-ops had come of age and were‘both led by extraordinarypeople’. It was great to hearpeople at the very top have suchconfidence in them.

So step up to the plate the menand women who want to sort out

a long-term UK dairy industryplan. (Or was that the idea ofDairy 2020? We’ve heard verylittle about it for a while and I’venever ever been briefed.). Stepaside those who are only aroundto milk the industry and sup tea.It’s time for all parts of theIndustry to work together, andthe NFU will need to take a lead

on this. Arguingamong ourselvesis not thesolution, in factit’s one of theproblems.

This was apoint highlightedby Mr Paice,which prompteda round of

applause after his comment liquidprocessors in the UK have beensquabbling over who battles for aparticular supermarket’s business,and, in doing so, have failed tofocus on other markets.

The Commission’s dairy packagewas also debated, in particular thefact regulated contracts wouldnot be adopted in the UK. InsteadGovernment has opted for avoluntary code of conduct. MrPaice is right that regulated milkcontracts would be a case offarmers picking and choosingwhen they want regulation,which was clearly referring to thefact only a few hours earlier apress release from Governmenthad adopted more than 150recommendations of theMacdonald report agreeing toslash red tape. The next movemust surely be for NFU and NFUSto take the lead and to set aboutpulling together existing farmerrepresentatives into formalProducer Organisations, along thelines I suggested last month.

By the time you read this therewill be fewer than 20 days to theMarch 31 quota deadline. Reme-mber, if you have quota and havenot milked against any of it since

April 1, 2011 you have to disposeof it or face having it confiscated.Last year, 339 farmers had 123mlitres of milk quota confiscated,worth around £250,000.

As we approach the spring milkprice negotiations, I am going tomake a prediction (which, inreality, is a calculated guess).

I reckon Tesco and the otherswho operate cost of productionmodels will at least stand-on withprices, and could (at a push,maybe) even stretch to paying ashade more. Such a move wouldbe a great boost for farmerconfidence. However the storymight not be so rosy for someother farmers supplying liquiddairies. It’s a fact some of themare hell-bent on dropping pricesas soon as they can, presumablyusing cream and/or AMPE pricesas their main excuses. It will beinteresting to see how this playsout, and who dares to move inthat direction first. I may beslightly biased but, as I write, I cansee little justification for pricescoming down, although I admitcommodities have fallen. Mullerwas more stupid than bold, andhas lost significant amounts ofmilk as a result of its price cut.Others will suffer the same fate ifthey drop prices.

Finally, Farmright and theestimated £4m plus of hardearned money from farmersthey are unlikely to see again. Itbrings home the fact security ofsupply and the financial securityof the buyer are fundamental,and several farmers had betterdo some homework on theirmilk buyers PDQ. The bigquestion is whose bankruptcywill be next?

For sure there will be more!

Peter Kendall was quickto point out UK farmersare effectively penalisedtoday, being the onlymember state withvoluntary modulation.

**DF Mar p12 Potter 24/2/12 10:16 Page 1

LETTERS


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“The increased investment in our UK facilities means that we are lookingfor dairy farmers to join Arla’s direct supply group, Arla Foods Milk Partner-ship (AFMP),” said Ash Amirahmadi, head of milk procurement.

“We believe we can add value to members’ milk and through our strat-egy of investment and growing brands, AFMP members are able to benefit from the success of Arla’s products.

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Arla Foodscommitsto further UKinvestment

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

From: Mike Madders, chairman RedTractor Assurance Dairy Scheme,Dumfries.

While enjoying RogerEvans’ regularcontributions, I dowish to clarifyseveral points he

made regarding Farm Assurancein the February 2012 issue.

Firstly, although BSE was onedriver in the establishment offarm assurance, our industry stillconstantly faces challenges on avariety of issues including healthand welfare and the environment.

Through meeting assurancerequirements and adopting aproactive, preventative approachwe can encourage improvementwithin the industry. Furthermore,through the use of the Red Tractorlogo, we can communicate these

high standards to the public whoare taking an ever-increasinginterest in where their food iscoming from.

Secondly, although Red Tractorassessments are carried out byindependent certification bodies,the standards are set by a special-ist Technical Advisory Committeewhich includes farmers, processors,and veterinary and welfareexperts. Revisions are generally toaddress industry challenges andupdated legislation, and not toself-serve the interests of thosedelivering the scheme.

Further producer benefitsare also now being securedthrough ‘Earned Recognition’arrangements whereby duplic-ation is being removed and thefrequency of statutory inspect-ions in dairy hygiene andanimal health on assured farms

Red Tractor assurance issomething to be proud of

is being reduced.Finally, it is slightly misleading

to refer to retailer requirementsfor dedicated supply groups as‘farm assurance’ requirements.Being Red Tractor dairy farmassured is a core requirement forall, with the additional retailer

elements only necessary for thosethat have made the commercialdecision to opt for such contracts.

Overall I believe producers canbe rightly proud of the manyachievements brought to ourindustry by Red Tractor dairy farmassurance.

MAKE MINE MILK

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**DF Mar p13 Letters 24/2/12 10:18 Page 1


BREEDING

Genomics lifts selectionpressure on young siresDave Thorbahn is president and CEO of Ohio-based Select Sires, North America’s largest AI company.Bruce Jobson talks to him about the future for dairying and the challenges facing international bull studs.

QGLOBALLY there are fewermilk producers and herdscontinue to increase in

size. How does the Select global‘brand’ sit in the current market?

AWe’re the largest US dairyAI unit with 34% marketshare. Last year, Select

increased its sales by 9%domestically and 10% on aninternational basis. The companyis experiencing sustained growthacross all sections delivering over12 million units sold annually.That’s an extremely positiveposition.

QWhat are the reasons forthe company’s continuedgrowth in a challenging

market?

AWe are providing dairyfarmers with the bestavailable genetics in the

form of proven, unproven andgenomic young sires. However, it’snot all about genetics. We’re alsoproviding farmers with the highestlevels of customer service with awhole range of management toolssuch as our mating services,nutritional advice as well as animalhealthcare products. Select Sirescomprises nine farmer-owned co-operatives and has over 40,000members who are US dairy andbeef producers.

QThe company is famed forits Holstein bulls such asElevation, Bell, Mark,

Blackstar, Durham, Oman, Mr Samand now Planet. Will genomictesting change the company’sphilosophy?

ADairy farmers trust our sireprocurement and progenytesting programmes. Take

a look at the current US HolsteinAssociation (Dec 2011) sire listingsbased upon 97% reliability. Selecthas 33 of the top 100 sires andconsistently over the past decadewe’ve averaged over 30 bulls inthe top 100 each year.

Genomics isn’t a replacementfor progeny testing but we’reusing genomic information as atool to help better identifypotential AI sires and bullmothers. If anything, Select israising the bar with our youngsire selections.

QWill Select Sires now testfewer young bulls owingto genomics?

AWe’re aiming to testsimilar numbers of bulls(375 annually) and

incorporate genomics to helpidentify the preference of ourcustomers. Breeders havedifferent preferences – large herdowners invariably seek ease of

management, as well as healthand welfare traits. Other marketsaim for type, production or acombination. Genomics hasprovided a means to betteridentify a young bull’s potentialacross numerous traits.

The industry has embracedgenomics as a tool, and if usedproperly everyone will benefit.Sire analysts can help reducelevels of inbreeding by identifyingoutliers – previously not identifiedas genetic AI material – as well asidentifying outcross bulls.

Used in a different waygenomics could lead to increasinglevels of inbreeding and a furthernarrowing of the bloodlines.

Genetic proofs are not asaccurate as progeny testing andbreeders have to consider theirown individual breeding goals.For example, a small herd mayrequire more ‘precision breeding’and may therefore prefer to useexclusively proven sires due to thehigher levels of accuracy involved.A larger herd, encompassing alarge mix of animals andtherefore not necessarily seekingthe same degree of accuracy, mayconsider the benefit of incorpor-ating genomic sires within theirbreeding programme.

Select is using genomic tech-nology to aid our identification

process. But we’re not sitting backand continue to push forward theboundaries by owning six of thetop 10, and 10 of the current top25 US GTPI (genomic TPI) siresavailable.

QLots of breeders will stillprefer to use a highreliability proven sire –

have young genomic sires beenembraced by your customers?

AUndoubtedly. Due to theavailability of genomicinformation, the market

has increased for sampling youngsires. Breeders have moreconfidence and may considertesting a genomic sire because ofthe increase in the level ofaccuracy – from 35% to 60-70%.

But let’s put this into perspec-tive. Select’s top selling sire isMillion, recognised as a global-leader and sire of sons. Last year,we sold over 243,000 units ofMillion. Our second and third topselling bulls are Shot and Planet,with sales over 240,000 and209,000 units respectively. That’sclose to 700,000 units soldannually from three proven bulls.

QLet’s see what’shappening in the US dairyworld. In 2011, USDA

announced increases of over

**DF Mar p14 15 Breeding 23/2/12 14:36 Page 1

BREEDING

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economies. We’ve gone through athree-year cycle and US farmershave had a solid year. However,this market may soften towardsthe end of 2012 and 2013.

QOne area that appears tohave sustained significantgrowth is Jersey cattle and

the related cheese market. Hasgrowth filtered through into theAI industry?

ASelect has justannounced that for thefirst time ever annual

sales of Jersey semen havesurpassed the 1million unitlevel. The breed has becomeincreasingly popular in NorthAmerica over the past decadeand we have a strong line-up ofsires suitable for the domesticand global market such asTbone and Country Miles.

A lot of farmers are targetingfeed conversion and efficiency ofproduction as well as being awareof the growth in cheese prod-uction. In January 2012, Jersey USAannounced it’s highest number ofheifer registrations (95,000). Like-wise, Jersey Canada announced itshighest number of heifer regist-rations for the past 40 years.

QYou mentioned Canada –Select established aseparate testing

programme in 2001 (Program forGenetic Advancement Canada)and established a distributor,Select Sires Canada. Howsignificant has this proven?

AThis was a significant stepfor Select. It was a leap offaith which has proven the

strength and depth of our sireselection programme. Weestablished a separate progenytesting programme starting withsix, then 10 bulls annually and havegradually built up to over 25 youngsires. We established a small teamof 10 people and now have over 50field staff on the road. Select SiresCanada continues to grow and lastyear increased sales by 9.3%.

The young sires, housed in Ohio,were specifically selected for theCanadian market. One of the firstbreakthrough sires was high typesire To-Mar Fortune. RegancrestDesign emerged in 2006 and wasa big seller in the UK.

QLirr Drew Dempsey is thecurrent No1 Canadian LPIbull – has he changed the

perception of Select in Canada?

AYes, unquestionably. Within10 years we had our firstNo1 Canadian LPI sire (April

2011), and Dempsey regained poleposition in December 2011. He isour highest selling sire in Canadaand has propelled the companyforward domestically and on aninternational basis.

He’s a Select Sires pedigreebull top and bottom (Durham xDerry) that offers +18 onConformation score and hisdaughters average 83% GoodPlus and Better. The bull isopening new doors for Selectand he was proven through theCanadian evaluation system.

QFinally, you joined SelectSires 10 years ago. Theindustry has changed

significantly over that time, sowhat does the next 10 years hold?

AThe industry is constantlychanging and evolving.Select Sires remains

positive about the future as wellas the profitability of the dairyindustry on a domestic as well asglobal basis. As a company, weremain focused in order to providethe best available genetics andservices to our customers.

100,000 heifer numbers in the top24 dairy states. That wouldsuggest increasing confidence inthe US market?

AUS dairy producers wentthrough a very tough timeduring 2008 and 2009. The

milk price decreased considerably– in some cases by almost 50%. Alot of producers decided to leavethe industry and sold their herds.But generally, whether it’s in theUK or US, or globally, herd sizecontinues to increase.

Increasing demand for milk andmilk products in China, Asia andIndia reflects the growth in those

Dave Thorbahn: raising the bar.

**DF Mar p14 15 Breeding 23/2/12 14:38 Page 2


FORAGE & GRASSLAND

Italian ryegrass is basefor rocket fuel foragesMore than 3000 forage samples are analysed in the Mole Valley Farmers Forage for Profit Awards. Ann Hardyvisited the 2011 dairy forage winner to find out how he grows and ensiles such a high quality crop.

Table 1: Grass silageanalysis for the award-winning first cut

D value (%) 75ME (MJ/kg) 12.1FME (MJ/kg) 8.8NDF (g/kg) 48.2DM (%) 33.9pH 3.5Ammonia N (% of total N) 8.6CP (%) 14.7ERDP (%) 11.8DUP (%) 1.8Sugar (%) 6.0

Pete Turner likes to sow the Italians in the autumn after wheat andplough up 18 months later before the maize goes in.

Treating grass as an arablecrop has been the key tomaking good silage atOxstall Farm, Bradford onAvon, near Bath, where

Pete and Oliver Turner areenjoying the fruits of their laboursas recent Mole Valley Farmerscompetition winners.

Having clinched the dairyforage section of the recentForage for Profit Awards, Petesays it is because the arable anddairy on their 1400-acre holdingso neatly dovetail together theyhave made arguably the bestgrass silage in the south-west ofEngland.

“We like to grow first wheats,and like to follow the wheatwith grass,” he says.

Opting in particular for Italianryegrass, he says this allows themto have the crop in the ground forlittle more than a year.

Generally adhering to arotation of grass, maize, wheator barley and sometimes oilseedrape before returning to grass,he says sowing the grass inautumn allows the first cut ofsilage to be taken in late April,subsequent cuts to follow atintervals of around 30 days, anda further cut to be taken thefollowing spring before puttingthe land into maize.

“Last year we took four cuts

but we didn’t put any fertiliser onafter the second,” he says. “Rye-grass has got this tendancy ofpushing up seedheads so the thirdcut was more fibrous and we willuse it for youngstock. The fourthcut went into square bales andwill be used for dry cows.”

Fourth cutSome 80 acres of fourth cutwere also sold to a neigh-bouring beef farmer, as Peteexplains: “The drought didn’treally affect us here and we hadso much it became a bit of anembarrassment.”

Indicating he may experimentwith yet more cuts this year, withthe aim of getting more leaf andless stem, Pete says: “One minute

the crop is down here and thenext it has rocketed away and ifthe weather isn’t right you can’tget on to it as quickly as you’dlike.”

But the first cut in 2011 wasclearly a triumph, with its prize-winning credentials earning itthe ‘rocket fuel’ epithet from thecompetition’s judges.

Key features of its analysisinclude a D value of 75,metabolisable energy of 12.1MJ/kg DM, a dry matter of 34%,crude protein of 14.7% andsugars at 6%. (See Table 1).

Managing the ryegrass swardshas more to do with intuitionthan reference to the book, andusually begins with minimumtillage of the corn stubble,spraying the chitted weeds withglyphosate, feeding the groundwith a by-product from the powergeneration industry (chickenmanure origin), and creating atilth with a Väderstad TopDownbefore drilling the Italian ryegrassfrom mid-September onwards.

Herbicides used on theprevious arable crops also help

to ensure the ground is fairlyclean, as Pete explains: “All wewant in the pit is good qualitygrass – if you put rubbish in,you’ll get rubbish out.”

“Our grass is an arable cropfull stop,” he says, and he willcontinue to experiment withnew varieties as ‘that is how youimprove’.

“We’re building on last year’svarieties, but have introducedHunter which should improveour yields and we have broughtin a new species of advancedItalian ryegrasses called Perun,”he adds.

Using 5kg each of Meribel(grown the previous year), Perunand Hunter at a rate of15kg/acre, he says: “This will giveus the chance to see how thenew advanced hybrids performwithin a mixture which hasalready done well for us.”

Applying bagged fertiliserfrom late February onwardswhen he can ‘feel it in hiswater’, Pete says he counts thedays back from the plannedcutting date and works on anMats are used to hold down the sheet with big bales at the edge.

**DF Mar p16 18 ITALIAN 24/2/12 10:19 Page 1

Ecolab WP DF 23/2/12 13:56 Page 1


FORAGE & GRASSLAND

Table 2: Total Mixed Ration including high sugar Italianryegrass silage

Cow details Early Mid Late

Milk yield (kg) 44 36 17Feed details (freshweights)First cut silage (kg) 22 22 36Maize silage (kg) 18 18 5Wheat straw (kg) 1 1 1Molasses (kg) 0.5 0.5 0Sugar beet pulp (kg) 3 2 0Protected fat (kg) 0.3 0.3 0Protected linseed and soya (kg) 1 1 0Wessex Gold (kg) 4 2 0Mineral buffer (kg) 0.3 0.3 0.3Bespoke blend (kg) 8 6 2NutrientsOverall ME (MJ/kg DM) 12.3 12.2 11.5Dry matter intake (kg) 27.0 23.5 16.3

The silage’s high sugars and low structural fibre need to be balanced.

application rate equivalent totwo units of nitrogen per acreper day.

Silage making begins oncePete’s wife, Rosemarie, alerts theteam to a forecast window offavourable weather, which lastyear saw the first cut taken onApril 24.

“It’s important to us we doour own silaging – at least forthe grass – as we want to keepcontrol,” says Pete.

Mowing generally begins ataround 11.30am with a triple setof mowers cutting a swath ofeight metres, which is spread‘like a carpet’ for a wilt ofaround 24 hours.

“We’ll go on cutting untilaround 9pm while the sugars are

as there’s so much value in thatclamp you have to look after it.”

Weighting the clamp withrecycled 1x2m rubber mats, headds: “It’s like putting a big baleon the clamp but a lot cleaner,and easier to manoeuvre thanbales or tyres.”

BalancingOpening the clamp the followingwinter, the job of balancing theration falls to nutritionist DavidBalls of Mole Valley Farmers, whotakes particular note of thesilage’s relatively high sugar andlow structural fibre.

“We instantly reduced themolasses in the ration to lowerits sugar while increasing thewheat straw and sugar beetpulp, and increasing the soyahulls in the blend,” he says.

“Italian ryegrass silages arevery high in sugar and extremelyfermentable, especially whentaken early, so this has to betaken into account in the other

ration components.”All 330 milkers are fed a TMR

with three diets compiled forearlies, mids and lates. (See Table2). A maximum 36kg first cutsilage is fed to lates before it isdropped from the ration andreplaced with baled silage afterdrying off. One consequence ofsilage quality is impressive drymatter intakes of up to 27kg/dayfor the high yielders.

With the herd averaging9600kg at 4.1% fat and 3.28%protein, Pete feels their goodproduction (especially milksolids), low cell counts (137somatic cell counts despite beingbedded on straw) and generallygood health and fertility furthertestify to the silage quality.

“But most importantly, I knowthey are making me money,” hesays, referring to their marginover purchased feed of£1973/cow/year. “When thesilage analyses well, I know I cansave money on concentrates.”

still high, and if everything goeswell we will get through up to180 of the 200 acres of Italianryegrass we grow,” says Pete.

The following day, mowing iscompleted and the crop ispicked up, with a trailed flywheel forager favoured over thecylinder type.

“We think the length andtype of chop is better suited tothe cows which had previouslysuffered displaced abomasumswhen the chop was too short,”says Pete.

Raking into rows an hour orso before pick-up, the foragerclears 30 feet at a time whichthen goes to the clamp.

Clamp management is critical,according to Pete, who will rollon day one until around 11pm,leave the clamp unsheetedovernight, and layer fresh grasson top the following day.

“We don’t roll again until thefresh grass is on top as to do sobefore would introduce air,” hesays.

Finally sheeting is with anundersheet of film and a 1000gauge black plastic and greencanvass on top. Pete says: “Thethree layers provide an insuranceThe prize-winning silage.

**DF Mar p16 18 ITALIAN 24/2/12 10:19 Page 2


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FORAGE & GRASSLAND

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Red clover gets fresh lookfor long-term ley inclusionRed clover has gained popularity in recent years as a source of home-grown protein while at the same timereducing fertiliser bills by fixing nitrogen.

Up until recently redclover has beenconsidered only for twoto three year leys, andmainly grown in

mixtures to provide high qualitysilage and autumn aftermathgrazing for finishing stock.

This short term characteristichas without doubt been adownside, limiting its uptake.

Longer lasting red clovers havebeen a priority for plant breedersat the Institute of Biological,Environmental and Rural Sciences(IBERS), Aberystwyth University, asDr Athole Marshall explains.

“Red clover is unlike whiteclover in that individual plants aredependent for survival on a single

crown at the top of a tap root.Any deterioration of the crown,either naturally or throughphysical damage, will limit the lifeof the plant,” he says.

“There is natural variation incrown deterioration in red cloverpopulations, as well as variation inother life determining factorssuch as pest and diseaseresistance, so it has been possibleto select for greater longevity.”

Tolerance to grazing – possibleas varieties are tested undergrazing pressure – is an importantarea, as is resistance to the moreimportant diseases like Sclerotiniaor clover rot and pests such as thestem nematode.

Long term trial plots are nowshowing the results, with fourthyear data revealing new varietiesthat are still producing in theregion of 14t DM/ha.

“Perhaps more significantly isthe fact that over the four years,the new material is totallingaround 60tDM/ha compared with40-45t DM/ha from the controls,”adds Dr Marshall.

The first new varieties from thebreeding programme, AberClaretand AberChianti – both withsignificant fourth year yields – arenow included in the latestRecommended Lists, with seedbecoming available in 2012.

“Red clover is most typically

Fourth Year Red Clover Yield Data Ibers Long-Term Trials 2004-08

grown in a mixture with ryegrass,though it can be grown as amonoculture,” says Paul Billings ofBritish Seed Houses.

“To obtain optimum qualityfrom the red clover, it should becut when between 30 and 50% ofthe flowers show red, which isnormally around mid-May in thesouth and mid-June in Scotland.Second and third cuts shouldideally be taken at seven-weekintervals thereafter.

“Companion grasses need to beselected carefully, particularly toavoid them coming into head tooearly and therefore reducing thequality of the silage. Italian rye-grasses are typically too earlyheading, as are some hybrid rye-grasses.

“Ideally, intermediate or late

heading perennial ryegrasses willmake the best companion grassesfor conventionally cut red clovermixtures. Also, as red clover isrelatively low in water-solublecarbohydrates, so using Aber highsugar grasses will increase thesugar levels overall and improvethe ensiling process. I would,however, still recommend use ofinoculants when making redclover silage,” he says.

“The nitrogen fixing attributesof red clover are a bonus whichshould certainly not be over-looked. Once established, it isperfectly conceivable that acompatible grass and red cloverley will produce the same drymatter as a grass-only ley receivingup to 200kgN/ha of artificialfertiliser,” he adds.Dr Athole Marshall: longer term.

**DF Mar p20 Clover 23/2/12 13:40 Page 1


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DF_03_P21 24/2/12 11:29 Page 21


FORAGE & GRASSLAND

Lucerne offershome-grownprotein source

New UK-friendly varieties are set to regenerate interest in lucerneas a home-grown protein source. Helen Mathieu, of BritishSeed Houses, offers pointers for managing the crop.

Increasing interest in lucerne as aforage crop is perhaps unsurprisinggiven its potential as a source of home-grown protein and its capacity to alsosimultaneously reduce reliance on

bought-in fertiliser and cope with droughtconditions.

Capable of producing 10-15t DM/ha of18-25% protein forage – and fixingnitrogen at up to 300 kgN/ha – it isperhaps more a lack of understanding ofthe crop which has prevented lucernebecoming more widely grown.

According to Helen Mathieu of BritishSeed Houses, the false starts some dairyfarmers may have had in the past withlucerne should not be a deterrent with theadvent of more UK-friendly varieties.

“There’s no doubt some pastdisappointments with lucerne will havebeen due to growing the wrong varietaltypes and/or errors in husbandry,” she says.“However, with access to better varietiesand with a real focus on the detail, there isno reason why many dairy farmers cannotreap the benefits of lucerne.”

A deep-rooting legume, lucerne isadaptable to most free-draining soil typesin this country. When fully developed itstaproot can extend to two metres, hencethe crop’s reputation for droughttolerance. Lucerne will not, however, thrive

in waterlogged conditions and to do wellrequires a soil pH of 6.5 or higher and thecorrect balance of soil nutrients.

“While self-reliant as far as nitrogen isconcerned, lucerne does have a relativelyhigh requirement for potash, calcium andphosphate,” says Helen. “So soil testing isessential followed by the appropriateaction to maintain soil indices at 2 andabove.”

Nurse cropLucerne is notoriously slow to establish, soattention to detail in seedbed preparationis vital. The standard principles of a fineand firm seedbed apply, with rolling toensure good soil-to-seed contact andmoisture retention. Common practice inthe UK is to sow lucerne in spring with anurse crop such as spring barley or Italianrye-grass.

“Lucerne is most commonly grown as amonoculture,” she says, “though it can besown in a mixture with a companion grass.Growing the crop as a stand-alone specieswill maximise the protein content of theforage.”

There are currently two main types oflucerne (Provence and Flemish) grown inEurope and it is important for UK growersto understand the difference and, inparticular, their winter dormancy ratings.

Lucerne is adaptable to most free-draining soil types but needs care at harvesting.

**DF Mar p22 24 Lucerne 24/2/12 12:44 Page 1

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FORAGE & GRASSLAND

“Provence types are very drought tolerantand have a long growing season, but are notwinter hardy in the UK,” says Helen. “Incomparison, the Flemish types are more cold-tolerant, due to their winter dormancy, and willyield well over three or four large silage cuts.

“Winter dormancy ratings range from 1 (verydormant in winter) to 12 (virtually no winterdormancy), and the optimum for UK conditionsis 4 to 5 with a variety like Timbale (4.4) beingideal,” she says.

“Lucerne breeders have been active in recentyears in improving the performance potential ofvarieties, with yield and protein productionincreasing alongside greater resistance tocommon problems such as stem nematode.”

Lucerne is quite persistent if appropriatelymanaged, so growers can expect up to five orsix years duration. It is primarily grown as asilage crop, typically cut three or possibly fourtimes in a season. However, lucerne can begrazed but – not unlike red clover – requirescareful management particularly in wetconditions to avoid poaching damage.

In addition, one or two other managementguidelines need to be adhered to in order togain the most from lucerne, says Helen.

“It is important to allow the crop to flower atleast once a year, as this ensures the plantdiverts nutrient reserves to the taproot, therebyimproving winter hardiness and spring growth,”she explains.

“When cutting aim to maintain a stubbleheight of about 7cm to avoid damaging theshoots required for re-growth, and leave at leastfour to five weeks between cuts. Aim to cut thecrop at the early flower bud stage (whenaround 10% of the flowers are showing). Andlater cuts should be taken well before anyautumn frosts,” she adds.

HarvestingWhen harvesting lucerne, the key points toremember are that 70% of the protein and 90%of minerals and vitamins are contained in theleaves, so it is vital to keep as much of thefoliage in the forage as possible. There arevarietal differences in terms of stem-to-leaf ratioand leaf retention, but best results are achievedby preventing excessive leaf shatter by avoidingthe use of an aggressive mower conditioner andminimising the wilting time.

“Lucerne should ideally be cut early in theday, as the dew leaves the crop, to maximise thedrying time,” says Helen. “Drum mowers arebetter than disc mowers, and flail conditionersshould be avoided. Turn the crop where it lies,but do not spread it.

“The aim with lucerne is for a 30-40% drymatter silage in the clamp, with a chop lengthof 3-4cm. This will need to be rolled well, and itis advisable to use an additive,” she claims.

Lucerne can also be ensiled in bales with atarget dry matter of 50%, but a minimum offour layers of wrap are needed to avoid stemspiercing the plastic.■ Details on growing lucerne will be available ina free guide from British Seed Houses later thisspring (01522 868714), and the company will alsobe staging a series of on-farm demonstrations.

**DF Mar p22 24 Lucerne 23/2/12 13:43 Page 2

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DF_03_P25 23/2/12 14:44 Page 21


RENEWABLES

Recent announcements of changes to the Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) have altered the economics of investing inrenewable energy on farm. Promar’s Environmental Consultant Tom Gill explores the impact of the changes.

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Solar PV Wind Anaerobic DigestionSystem Size 50kW (rated) 50kW (rated) 300-500 (kWe)Capital Cost £75,000 £250,000 £1.5-£2 millionGeneration FIT 15.2p/kWh 25.3p/kWh 14.7p/kWhNet cash flow £8,900 £41,500 £300-£500,000Payback 9 years 6 years 5-7 yearsReturn on Investment 11% 16% 10-12%

Renewable energies havebeen high on theagenda for manyfarmers and landownersfor the last 18 months

with a huge interest in thepotential return from theinvestment.

This was fuelled by theGovernment’s commitment torenewable energy, and an aimto provide cost-effective energyto meet 90% of the commit-ment under the 2020 RenewableEnergy Directive.

“A range of technologies isavailable for farmers looking toinvest in a renewable energysource,” Mr Gill explains. “The

most popular have proved to besolar PV (SPV) which convertssunlight into electricity, andwind.

“Other technologies still intheir infancy in terms of wideradoption include anaerobicdigestion (AD) where organicmatter is converted into biogasand electricity, and small-scalehydro power which harnesses theenergy in flowing water.

“It is anticipated biomassproduction from forestry andwaste wood will play a morefundamental role now theRenewable Heat Incentive is inplace,” he predicts.

“Each scheme comes with a

level of both capital and runningcosts, and the key element in aninvestment appraisal has beenthe FIT which determines theincome that can be generated,”he says.

Mr Gill explains that the FITswere introduced in 2010 andtheir purpose was to promoteand encourage the uptake ofrenewable energy schemes bybusinesses such as dairy farms.

SupportThey provide financial supportfor the generation of up to fivemega watts capacity of electricityfrom SPV, wind, AD andhydropower. The payments areindex linked and are guaranteedfor 20 years (25 years for SPV) –in effect giving a guaranteedincome.

“The FITs are funded fromconsumers’ energy bills so are apolitically delicate subject. Theyhave also been incrediblysuccessful.

“The graph shows the increasein the number of the differenttypes of renewable energy

systems installed since early 2010.Up to the end of December 2011,96% of installations were SPV.This was far more than predictedand is simply making the currentFITs unaffordable.

“Consequently in October lastyear the Government published aconsultation on FITs with theobjective of reducing the tariffsfor new installations to a moreaffordable level with the aimthat they apply to all installationsfrom April 2012,” he declares.

Under the proposals the FITwill be reduced by differingamounts. While the FIT for SPVwill be halved, the windpayment has only been cutmarginally while for AD there isno change.

“Changing the FIT meansthat farmers must carefully re-assess their investment plans todecide whether the paybackperiod and the likely return

Each scheme comeswith a level of bothcapital and runningcosts and the keyelement in aninvestment appraisalhas been the FIT.

Tom Gill

Tom Gill: work out your ROI.

Table: Return on investment for different technologies(excl finance and operating costs, and depreciation)

**DF Mar p26 28 Renewables 23/2/12 13:44 Page 1

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high take-up of this solar techno-logy is that capital and install-ation costs have reduced. In theright location, which is a southfacing orientation with aminimum 30 degree angle andno shading, good returns can stillbe made despite the reducedFIT,” he explains.

The wind data is based on thecurrent FIT and a 6m/s windspeed on a site optimised forwind speed and direction. Mr Gillbelieves wind remains one of themost stable technologies despitea proposed tariff reduction inautumn 2012.

“Finally for AD, the tableassumes a 250-cow herd with thedigester using an equal mix ofmanure and maize silagefeedstocks with some of theenergy utilised for heat. ADremains very expensive to set up.To obtain the best results,farmers will need to harness thegas power and overcome thechallenge of securing sufficientsupplies of feedstocks tomaintain output.”

Mr Gill believes that farmerswho are close to making a

decision should finalise theirplans as soon as possible and geton with the investment to ensurethat the FITs now in place applyto their scheme.

He stresses that there is noguarantee that they will not bereviewed again in the future, butthe good news is that theGovernment consultation sends aclear message that it intends tosupport the uptake of small-medium scale renewables for theforeseeable future.

It has also set out the stepswhich will be triggered shouldthere be a similar upsurge ininterest in another technology,as was seen in SPV in the last 18months.

“It is inevitable the new tariffswill see an overall reduction intake-up of renewable energysystems, which will not behelped by current concernsbeing voiced by the CoalitionGovernment about on-shorewind tariffs which may bereduced in the future.

“If farmers are still interestedin renewable schemes the bestadvice is to do your research,consider the best options foryour farm/location andinvestigate the whole package.Consider carefully such things asoperation and maintenancecosts, contracts, finance require-ments and most importantlyROI.

“If the figures stack up thekey thing is to crack on and takeadvantage of the current rates,”Mr Gill says.

once capital has been repaid.”The new tariffs have once

again increased the focus on thewisdom of committing to arenewable energy scheme.

According to Mr Gill schemescan still be a sound financial andenvironmental investment butwill never be for everyone.

“It has always been the casethat investment in renewableenergy has only really been anoption for cash rich businesses orthose who can easily borrow thecapital without leaving the coreenterprises of the businessstarved of investment. In thisregard nothing has changed.

Plan“The vital aspect is not toconsider investment in renewableenergy in isolation. It has to beconsidered within the context ofa three, five or 10-year businessplan. How will renewable energyfit within the objectives andrequirements of the wholebusiness?”

The table looks at theanticipated return on investmentfor a medium farm scalerenewable energy scheme at thecurrent available tariffs, but it

excludes costs of finance, deprec-iation and annual operatingcosts.

“The FIT used to calculate theresults for SPV will be effectiveon or after March 3, 2012, but iscurrently subject to a SupremeCourt appeal. One benefit of the

If the figures stack upthe key thing is tocrack on and takeadvantage of thecurrent rates.

Tom Gill

Cumulative installed capacity confirmed on FITs shows the main interest has been in photo-voltaic devices.

**DF Mar p26 28 Renewables 23/2/12 13:44 Page 2


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29

DF_03_P29 24/2/12 11:37 Page 21


RENEWABLES

Digestors designed to caterfor the medium sized herdAnaerobic digesters are perceived as being restricted to large scale units, but Will Llewellyn andcolleagues at Evergreen Gas are working specifically to develop a range of small scale, modular AD plantsaimed at medium sized UK farms and rural communities.

As UK farmers look toprotect themselves fromthe uncertainties ofworld energy prices andchanging environmental

regulations, AD is becomingincreasingly popular thanks to itscombination of energy productionand fertiliser enhancement.

Not only are the outputsvaluable, but the energy iscontinuous. A well run farm ADplant can have an availability of atleast 80%, and will keep gener-ating even if it is dark or the windis not blowing.

The question one must there-fore ask is: Why isn’t everyone atit? The key to this is finding anAD plant which fits into existingfarming practices at the rightprice.

Like any living process,anaerobic organisms require adegree of husbandry to enablethem to work at their optimumrate, and this influences plantdesign. Biogas is typically 55-60%methane by volume and can beburned in a spark ignition engineto generate electricity. Waste heatfrom the engine’s exhaust,coolant and oil is captured andused to heat water that has avariety of uses. While an AD plantrequires a small percentage of theelectricity it generates to runitself, the surplus heat andelectricity is available for use onthe farm and, ultimately, anyspare can be exported and sold.

Electricity generation isincentivised under the Feed-in

Tariff (FiT) introduced in April2010. FiTs for AD are in threebands according to the plant’selectrical output and are indexedagainst RPI. (See panel).

The higher FiT level for thesmaller generation projects is tocompensate for the higher costper installed kW(E) for smallerplants. Mike Cave, businessdevelopment manager atSmartest Energy, a licensedelectricity supplier specialising inrenewables, advises in today’smarket, an export tariff of 4.7pper kWh is achievable. He addsthe supermarkets Marks andSpencer and Sainsbury’s havebeen actively purchasingelectricity generated from AD.

A connection to the grid isneeded to exportelectricity. There is nostraight answer forthe cost of thisconnection because itdepends on the sizeof the connection (inkW) and will increasewith distance to thenearest point ofconnection. That said,if there is already athree-phase connect-ion to the site andthere is spare capacityin the network, then theconnection may be relativelyinexpensive. The local DistrictNetwork Operator (DNO) has thisinformation, and should beapproached early on in any ADproject.

Surplus heat from biogascombined heat and power unitsis eligible for support under theRenewable Heat Incentive solong as the heat exchanger onthe CHP is rated at less than200kW(H). The current level ofsupport is 6.8p per kWh(H) andis indexed against RPI. There is asignificant quantity of heatwhich is available for use afterprocess requirements.

However, heating for thedigester itself does not currently

qualify for RHIsupport. PaulThompson, seniorpolicy analyst atthe RenewableEnergy Assoc-iation, says theheat must bedelivered to theplace of use bywater or steam toenable accuratemetering, andmust be for spaceheating, water

heating or any other process notused to generate electricity.Typical examples of such use areheating farm buildings, cottages,poultry sheds and so on.

Digestate is also very import-antbecause it is a valuable biofertiliser.The digestion process increases theproportion of plant availablenitrogen in the digestate relativeto the feedstock and can helpreduce crop prod-uction costs.

But what concerns most prod-ucers is the capital cost and returnon investment. The economics ofan AD project depend on threekey parameters: capital cost,operational costs and income. Aplant’s income less operational

cost must be proportionate tocapital cost in order to generatesufficient return on capital andmake the project financiallyattractive.

Dairy farms stand to benefitfrom AD. Encouraged to managetheir slurry, they have highelectricity consumption to run theparlour and refrigerate milk, andrequire year-round hot water.

Even slurry-only digesters can bemade economically viable withoutadditional crops. What is needed isa lower cost plant from the outset.There is movement in this small-scale arena, with companiesreacting to this demand.

The capital cost of a small-scalefarm AD plant ranges from about£250k to £750k, and withbeneficial use of the outputs cangive a simple payback period ofless than five years. Installing asmall scale AD plant should be anattractive proposition to farmersbecause in the future they may beencouraged to further reducetheir carbon footprint, and ADenables them to mitigate fugitivemethane emissions toatmosphere, depend less onimported fertilisers and togenerate renewable energy. AD isunique as it delivers a combin-ation of these factors.

Having considered the theory,practice and support mechanismsin place, the case is strong forsmall scale AD plants. In additionto providing energy security tofarms, reducing costs and beinga valuable diversificationopportunity, beneficial use of theoutputs from AD reduces thecarbon footprint of foodproduction. Technology is reactingto the market’s demand foraffordable AD solutions that canstand up, and there is hope thatthe small scale sector will enjoy asurge in activity.■ More information on EvergreenGas at www.evergreengas.co.ukor call 01584 711 763.

Anticipated rates Oct 2012:■ 0-249kW(E) earns 14.7pence per kWh■ 250-499kW(E), 13.7 penceper kWh■ 500kW(E)-5MW(E) receives9.0p per kWh.

FEED-IN TARIFF

Will Llewellyn says his company’ssmall-scale AD plant should be anattractive proposition to farmers.

The capital cost of asmall-scale farm ADplant ranges from about£250k to £750k, andwith beneficial use ofthe outputs can give asimple payback periodof less than five years.

Will Llewellyn

**DF Mar p30 Renewables AD 23/2/12 13:45 Page 1


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DF_03_P31 24/2/12 12:58 Page 21


NEW PRODUCTS

New products are now featured in each issue ofDairy Farmer. Please sendinformation and photographsto Jennifer MacKenzie [email protected] call 01768 896 150.

New products

Parlour pulsation■ A reliable and easilymaintained pulsationsolution for large and smallparlours is now available forthe first time in the UK.

The Read slide pulsator,imported from New Zealandby Kent-based PHR MilkingEquipment, was spotted bydairy farmer Peter Jouleswhen he was in NewZealand researching rotaryparlours for his herd in theUK.

So impressed was MrJoules with the Read slidepulsator, he installed it onhis 70-point rotary parlourand took on UK andEuropean distribution forthe product.

Read slide pulsators areavailable in 4+0 and 2+2configuration for bothherringbone and rotaryparlours and are available inthree pipe sizes of 2ins,2.5ins and 3ins.

Read guarantees its pulsatorbody and slide for 10 years.Details [email protected] orvisit www.phrmilking.co.uk

Mastitis test kit■ Farmers and vets can nowmake more evidence-baseddecisions about mastitisprevention with a new highsensitivity, rapid responsetest kit to detect mastitispathogens in milk.

The kit containing sixsample pots with preservative,detailed instructions, teatwipes, disposable gloves and apost-paid return box costs£99+vat.

Results are notified direct tofarmers by e-mail or post,with a copy to their vet.Details at www.farmlab.co.uk or call 01730 815 206.

NEWS IN BRIEF

HOME-GROWN farm feedsspecialist FiveF’s innovative‘alkalizing’ complementarycompound feed product canhelp livestock producers controlwinter acidosis problems.

When added to damp foragesources, new AlkabupHa rapidlyreleases ammonia to neutraliseexcess acid in the diet. FiveF saysits dietary inclusion will improverumen performance and boostdry matter intake, and the 90%protein product also contributesto calcium and magnesiumrequirements.

Depending on the pH,moisture level and fermentationacid content of the dietaryforages, recommended feedinglevels are between 500g and1200g per cow per day to amaximum of 1500g, equating toa net cost of between 5p and15p per cow per day.

Simply mixed into the ration,it can be fed out immediatelyand the acid load reductioneffect will develop over a coupleof hours at the feed barrier.■ Details on www.fivefllp.comor call 07989 985 937.

Innovativealkalizingfeed product

Revolutionary design of plastic cubicles

Extra models for Gator range

IN conjunction with dairy experts,plastic products supplier JFCManufacturing has developed arevolutionary cubicle system.

The Deluxe Cow Cubicle is oneof the first on the market toincorporate the entire cubiclestructure, including brisket board,divider rails and optional cow mat.

Designed without a head rail, amajor restriction for cows enteringand leaving the cubicle, it allowscows to get down and rise withease.

The impact resistant polyethyl-ene cubicle has flexible plasticdivider rails filled with polyuret-hane foam to give the structure

greater integrity and strength andensures cows enter and exit withminimum stress.

The cubicle encouragesoptimum positioning of the cowwhile lying and standing whichpromotes greater comfort.■ Details on www.jfcuk.com orcall 01691 659 226.

JOHN Deere has added to thelargest range of utility vehicles inthe industry with the new XUV550 and XUV 550 S4 Gators.

The new 4x4 Gators, in greenand yellow livery, are available intwo and four-passenger versionsfrom spring 2012.

The XUV 550 S4 model’sstretched chassis adds a rearbench seat to the two standardfront bucket seats. The rear seatcan be converted in seconds to acargo rack.

A 12.1kW (nominal power at3600rpm) V-twin OHV air-cooledpetrol engine provides briskacceleration to a top speed of45kph (28mph). The standardspecification also includes a fully

sealed and enclosed CVTtransmission, all-round hydraulicdisc brakes and a best in classground clearance of 262mm(10.3in), with underbody skidprotection optionally available.

A wide range of attachmentsand options will be available.■ Details at www.JohnDeere.comor call 01949 860 491.

Greater accessto feeding data

Making the best useof the diet andcontrolling feedcosts will becomeeasier thanks to

new developments in feederwagon technology.

Users of Keenan’s PACE systemhave been able to downloadinformation of feeder wagon useto their computer and when milkoutput information is added thesystem calculates feed efficiency.

However this relied on the farmerdownloading the data which wasstored on the farm PC restrictingaccess by the farm’s nutritionist.

With the new system data isautomatically uploaded onto acentral web-based system usingmobile phone and Cloudtechnology. This means the data isavailable faster with a report sentby email or direct to a smartphoneapp. This allows farmers to givetheir nutritionist, consultant or vetdirect access to the data.

Another development announ-ced by the company tackles theproblem of overmixing. TheAutoStop shuts down the PTOdrive to the mixer wagon whenthe required number ofrevolutions have been completedand the optimal physical mix hasbeen produced.■ Details atwww.keenansystem.co.uk

**DF Mar p32 New Products 23/2/12 13:46 Page 1

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DAIRY FARMER MARCH 2012 33

DF_03_P33 23/2/12 14:31 Page 21


MILK PRICES

Phone Neil or Richard NOW on Tel (016973) 32585Email: [email protected] or Fax (016973) 32546

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WE ARE ONLY A PHONE CALL AWAY

Milk PricesMilk price analyst StephenBradley comments on the latest milk industry developments.

M&S increase ■ Under its M&S Milk Pledgepricing model, the company hasincreased its base milk price forDairy Crest producers in itsdirect supply pool by 0.402pplfrom Feb’12. This takes ourstandard litre (4% b/f & 3.3%prot, Bactoscans of 30,000/mland SCCs of 200,000/ml1mltrs/yr on EODC) price up toan enviable 32.5ppl. As well asputting the price 3.61ppl abovethe company’s previous 2009high, it also increases the gapagainst league table competitor(Waitrose) to 1.41ppl.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Sainsbury’s suppliers get biggest price gain

This month our milk priceleague table highlightsmilk prices paid for Dec’11,with just two milk pricechanges. First was Arla

Foods’ increase in b/f paymentsabove 3.7% base, which for ourstandard 4% b/f increased from0.5p per % to 1p per %, and liftedour standard price by 0.15ppl. Thesecond was United’s 0.25pplreduction taking our standard pricedown to 28.56ppl.

With our Dec’11 leaguehighlighting 12-month rollingaverage prices for 2011, the lastcolumn (far right) highlights theindividual change in price for eachmilk buyer compared with thecalendar year 2010. With a year-on-year increase of 3.75ppl it is ourAFMP supplier who switched fromArla’s non-aligned contract tosupply Sainsbury’s who enjoyed thebiggest jump in milk price.

The largest improvements comefrom the manufacturing milkbuyers. In second place is SouthCaernarfon with a rise of 3.55ppl,followed by First Milk Cheese with3.49ppl. Wyke Farms and JosephHeler are ahead of First Milk’sBalancing price with increases of3.38ppl and 3.33ppl respectively.

Glanbia Cheese also nudge inahead of Caledonian Cheese withan increase of 3.28ppl, before wecome across the best liquid priceimprovement. This was posted byFirst Milk liquid with an increase of3.14ppl. Blackmore Vale FarmCream come a close second with3.07ppl tied with Meadow Foods.

Saputo UK, with its 3.05ppl,managed to just beat BeltonCheese’s 3.01ppl.

Dairy Crest Davidstow’s rise of2.96ppl split the Milk LinkManufacturing and Roddaincreases of 2.97ppl and 2.95pplrespectively. First Milk Highlands &Islands, Meadow Foods Lakes,Barber, Wensleydale and MeadowFoods Level all with increases of2.9ppl or above beat Milk Link’sLiquid increase of 2.87ppl.

Parkham Farms, M&S, ourRWD supplier who switched tothe CDG contract and Dairy CrestSainsbury’s all came in slightlyabove the table average increaseof 2.74ppl.

It is the bulk of the liquidcontracts which post belowaverage improvements. The best ofthese was Arla Foods with itsstandard and non-aligned supplierswith increases of 2.45ppl and2.41ppl respectively, havingreceived a boost with last year’snew Cravendale bonus of 0.25ppl.

Dairy Crest Regional Premiummanaged to pip Arla Foods Asdawith an increase of 2.34ppl. TheTesco price increases of 2.21ppl falljust below the Robert Wisemanprice rises, although the Arla FoodsTesco price suffered due to thecompany’s haulage charge whichpushed the increase down to2.12ppl, just ahead of CadburySelkley Vale.

The two lowest price increasesbelong to Dairy Crest. The Waitroseincrease of 1.66ppl manages tobeat milk&more by 0.04ppl.

Please telephone01772 799487

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Please telephone01772 799487

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**DF Mar p34 34 Milk Prices 24/2/12 11:47 Page 1

MILK PRICES


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Nov'11 Dec'11 Dec'11 12mth Diff

4.0/3.3 4.0/3.3 4.0/3.3 Ave Dec'11

Before Before 1mltr Jan'11 v

Seas'lty Seas'lty SAPP Dec'11 Dec'10

(i) (ii) **(iii) (iv) (v)

D.C – M&S ∞ 32.10 32.10 33.37 30.11 2.79

RWD – Tesco Scotland 30.21 30.21 30.21 29.57 2.22

RWD – Tesco England 30.21 30.21 30.21 29.57 2.22

Arla Foods – Tesco •• 29.96 29.96 29.97 29.33 2.12

D.C – Waitrose ∞^ 31.09 31.09 32.33 29.17 1.66

D.C – Sainsbury's 30.79 30.79 32.58 29.06 2.77

RWD – Sainsbury's Central Scotland 30.53 30.53 30.53 28.95 2.26

RWD – Sainsbury's England 30.53 30.53 30.53 28.95 2.26

Arla Foods – AFMP Sainsbury's •• 30.33 30.48 30.48 28.70 3.75

Cadbury – Selkley Vale Milk 28.56 28.56 28.56 27.88 1.68

Arla Foods – Asda•• 29.23 29.38 29.38 27.77 2.31

D.C – Davidstow ∞ 28.99 28.99 30.78 27.76 2.96

United Dairy Farmers ≠≠ 28.81 28.56 28.56 27.71 2.56

Caledonian Cheese Co – Profile ‡ 29.56 29.56 29.68 27.70 3.23

Wyke Farms 29.00 29.00 29.00 27.47 3.38

Barber A.J & R.G 28.61 28.61 28.61 27.41 2.92

Robert Wiseman – The Co-op Dairy Group 29.78 29.78 29.78 27.32 2.78

Blackmore Vale Farm Cream 28.65 28.65 28.65 27.16 3.07

Wensleydale Dairy Products 28.49 28.49 28.50 27.14 2.91

Caledonian Cheese Co 28.93 28.93 28.93 27.09 3.19

Milk Link Rodda's ¢• 28.91 28.91 28.92 27.05 2.95

Milk Link – London Liquid 28.50 28.50 28.50 27.01 2.87

Milk Link – West Country Liquid 28.50 28.50 28.50 27.01 2.87

Parkham Farms 28.82 28.82 30.32 26.94 2.79

Grahams Dairies 28.60 28.60 28.60 26.94 2.21

Arla Foods – AFMP (Non-Aligned) •• 28.73 28.88 28.88 26.87 2.41

Robert Wiseman – Aberdeen 28.43 28.43 28.43 26.75 2.21

Robert Wiseman – Central Scotland 28.43 28.43 28.43 26.75 2.21

Robert Wiseman – England 28.43 28.43 28.43 26.75 2.21

D.C – Liquid Regional Premium ∞ ¶ 28.61 28.61 30.40 26.74 2.34

Saputo UK – Level supply # 28.21 28.21 28.21 26.69 3.05

Milk Link – Manufacturing ¢• 28.51 28.51 28.52 26.67 2.97

Paynes Farms Dairies 28.45 28.45 28.45 26.65 2.28

Arla Foods – AFMP Standard •• 28.48 28.63 28.63 26.62 2.45

Meadow Foods – Seasonal 28.38 28.38 29.38 26.59 3.07

Meadow Foods Lakes ∞^ 28.46 28.46 28.88 26.54 2.93

Belton Cheese 27.80 27.80 27.80 26.49 3.01

Meadow Foods – Level 28.38 28.38 28.38 26.42 2.90

Glanbia – Llangefni (flat) 27.85 27.85 28.29 26.40 3.28

Saputo UK – Seasonal # 27.91 27.91 29.41 26.39 3.05

Joseph Heler 27.99 27.99 27.99 26.32 3.33

Glanbia – Llangefni (Constituent) 27.78 27.78 28.22 26.31 3.24

South Caernarfon 28.02 28.02 29.52 26.30 3.55

First Milk – Highlands & Islands § 27.97 27.97 28.52 26.22 2.94

D.C – Liquid Milk & More ∞ ¶ 27.80 27.80 29.59 26.05 1.62

First Milk – Liquid § 27.90 27.90 28.50 25.91 3.14

First Milk – Cheese § 27.50 27.50 28.09 25.75 3.49

First Milk Balancing § 27.50 27.50 28.09 25.73 3.31

Average Price 28.86 28.86 29.26 27.26 2.74

Notes to tablePrices paid for 1mltr producer supplying milk of average constituents 4% butterfat and 3.3% protein, SCCs of200,000/ml and Bactoscans of 30,000/ml on EODC excluding capital retentions and MDC levies. SAPP =Seasonally Adjusted Profile Price. (i) Nov’11 prices before seasonality. (ii) Dec’11 prices before seasonality.(iii) Seasonally adjusted profile price for Dec'11 taking into account monthly seasonality payments and profilesof supply. ** Seasonal adjusted profile supply for 1mltr supplier (using monthly RPA figures) for Dec'11=2,760ltrs/day, flat supply=2,740ltrs/day. (iv) Table ranked on the seasonally adjusted price for the 12mths toDec’11. (v) Difference between the 12mth average rolling price between 2011 and 2010. § SAPP reflects 80%of producer’s previous year’s daily average volume (2,269ltrs/day) paid as a core price with the remaining mar-ginal volume (491ltrs/day for Dec'11) priced @ 110% of the core price for Dec'11. ¢ SAPP reflects 2,726ltrs(Aug to Dec’10 daily average) paid as ‘A’ ltrs with the remaining ‘B’ ltrs paid @ 105% of the ‘A’ price (ie con-stituents plus Market Related Adjustment) for Dec'11. • 34 'B' litres/day applicable for Dec'11 with daily vol-ume of 2,760ltrs/day above the 'A' volume of 2,726ltrs. 0.5ppl production bonus for Milk Link & First Milkapplicable in the seasonal price due to Dec'11 daily production above Dec'10 based on RPA monthly figures.•• No balancing charge for Dec'11. ∞ Price before seasonality includes 12mth rolling profile payment of1.21ppl to Dec'11 (n/c from the previous month). Milk & More 12mth rolling profile payment also 1.21ppl.∞^ Price before seasonality includes 12mth rolling profile payment of 0.57ppl to Dec'11 (n/c on previousmonth). # Constituent payments priced by volume. ≠ Seasonality built into monthly base price. Arla Foods –AFMP Standard reflects price before the addition of 0.25ppl Non-Aligned Farm Premium. ¶ Price includes0.4ppl Regional Premium. ‡ Non-seasonal price includes 12mth average rolling profile 0.63ppl to Dec'11(unchanged on previous month). Tesco milk prices include the 0.5ppl bonus for co-operation with Promar cost-ings. Milkprices.com cannot take any responsibility for losses arising. Copyright: Milkprices.com

**DF Mar p34 34 Milk Prices 23/2/12 13:51 Page 2


WORKSHOP TIPS

This month Mike Donovan gives a few pointers on how to go about savingmoney by milling locally-grown cereals.

MikeDonovanMike is a respected machin-ery columnist who gives ususeful tips on building ormodifying our own farmequipment. Sign up for hisfree newsletter atwww.farmideas.co.uk

On farm mill-mixingcuts transport costs

Road diesel and haulagecosts are behind thismonth's farm ideaspiece because it is thesewhich, in part, trans-

form £170 wheat into moreexpensive dairy cake.

The cost of moving bulkymaterial from A to B to C isadded to the price ofingredients, and that transportremains the same whether thebulker is delivering £200 feedwith an ME of 11.7 or a 13.5 MEration costing £250.

That is why a trailer load offeed wheat from your neigh-bour can be an attractive optionfrom both feed value and thesaving on haulage costs. HGCAsays the ME of wheat is morevariable than many farmers andcattle nutritionists imagine, andits tests showed a range for MEfrom 12 to 15, and crude proteineven more variable from 90 to160g/kg dry matter. Increased Nfertiliser produces higherprotein but lower starch.

AdaptedThe mobile grinder mixer is auseful tool to convert grain intofeed, and this adapted ViconGEHL 120 which I saw in Suffolkis a great adaption. It has beenfitted with a loading augerdriven by a hydraulic motorfrom the tractor, and the augerfits into a mobile hopper bigenough to take a ton of grain.

The hopper is moved close tothe grain store, filled with thetractor bucket, and the GHL 120parked beside. A spool valve and

flow restrictor is mounted onthe mixer and the auger motorcan be reversed if needed. Theauger sits in a bracket whichrotates, and the lightweighthydraulic motor makes it is easyto lift and handle.

GravityThe farm’s mix for rearing black-and-white bulls for beef is two-thirds wheat and one-thirdbarley, plus minerals andmolasses which are added to themix in the outlet to the deliveryauger. This keeps the grinderand mixer free of the stickystuff. The 25-litre drum has a tapin the cap and feeds by gravityinto the auger. The mobile cattlefeed processor grinds the grainfine to optimise its efficient useby the stock.

This Vicon GEHL was boughtfor £350 in a farm sale. It was ina sorry state and needed newparts and some welding. Itmakes a first rate adaptablemachine which not only grindsefficiently but, with its mobileloading hopper, eliminates theneed to move a trailer of feedfrom grain store to where thegrinder can work.

Grain from the hopper is transferred by the home-built auger modifica-tion – the molasses tank is on the side of the mill.

The grain bucket is used to load the hopper direct from the store.

**DF Mar p36 Donovan 23/2/12 13:52 Page 1

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DF_03_P39 24/2/12 11:52 Page 22

We’ve all seen thepictures, we knowhow it’s supposedto work and so itshouldn’t be a

problem to emulate those imageson our farms, should it?

I’m talking about deep sandcubicles. It shouldn’t be difficult tofill a cubicle with deep sand. Weknow we need to have it deepenough to do the knee drop test– that is if you can drop yourselfdown on to your knees withouthurting yourself, then, so thetheory goes, a cow will also beable to flop down in comfort aswell. We all know if cubicles arecomfortable, there’s a fair chancecows will use them.

I’ve never done the knee droptest myself – well you wouldn’teither given the state of myknees. But I’ve fallen over in themand you do get a soft landing.

Falling over in cubicles can be amessy job. I know a farmer whowas getting the cows out of thecubicles early one morning formilking and found one cow wasunwell and wouldn’t get up.

While down he got a therm-ometer to check her temperature,which is a fairly daft thing to dojust there. Standing checking thetemperature, he was so engrossedhe didn’t notice the approach ofthe automatic scraper. The scraperbumps in to his leg, he loses hisbalance and he falls over on tothe concrete.

It is inevitable in dairy farmingthat if something like this everhappens you inevitably fall overand land on the side that isscraping all the slurry.

Where we struggle with sandcubicles is the habit the cows havedeveloped of leaving the parlour,finding fresh sand in their beds,and spending the next half hourpawing at it with their front feet.

There’s sand everywhere, averitable sand storm, and the onlything missing is the Bedouin tent.

I reckon within an hour of puttingfresh sand out, 30% of it is in thepassage and not on the beds. Thisis not the picture I want, it’s notthe picture I see in the farmingpress, but at themoment I can’t seewhat I can do aboutit.

I know I will be toldto put tyres in thereand bolt themtogether. Off hand Ican’t imagineanything worse. Atthe moment I’mwondering if I couldtie them togetherwith big bale string and fix eachtyre with string to the front of thecubicle.

But there’s already tyres andstring everywhere around ouryard and I spend a lot of timepicking them up – do I want tocompound the problem? No. Do Iwant to stop the cows hollowingout the front of their beds? Yes.

The issue of the slaughter ofdairy bull calves on farms is aboutto come back in to the headlines,or may very well be in theheadlines by the time you readthis. I’m just a bit surprised by allthis. I was in the market last week

and watched the calves being soldfor a short while. What I woulddescribe as the very worst sort ofHolstien bull calves were making£30 odd. It left me thinking: “I

wouldn’t want topay that for that.”

Decent bullcalves were £50and on towards£100. I’m not sureof the economicsof all this ascereals are notthat muchcheaper, so it’s gotto be driven bythe high returns

on finished cattle, so quite whyeveryone is shooting calves onfarm is beyond me.

We are into calving our springcalvers and most of the calves arefrom the Blue bull. This is quitehandy because the suckler herdsare just starting to calve as well.

Farmers who lose a calf off asuckler cow make their way hereto buy a calf to replace it. This isat the other end of the calf tradespectrum. I am often amused atsome of the market reports I readwhich describe the previousweek’s calf trade. Often I’ve had acalf there and have not enjoyed

all the superlatives I see described.But it’s a good thing because Iknow the farmer on my yardlooking for a calf has read it aswell and, to be honest, where elsewill he get a calf on a Saturdayafternoon?

It can be a long process and if itoccurs when you are sneaking halfan hour in the armchair beforemilking, and it’s cold or wet, youcan do without it, but if you areoutside anyway it can be fun.

First you have to hear how theylost the calf. “She hadn’t startedwhen I looked at nine o’clock”, or“the calf was fine – I think one ofthe other cows must have kickedit”. Then we move on to “I lost acalf like this last year”, or “thiscow’s mother lost a calf like this10 years ago”. And all the timethey are pushing and poking thecalves you have for sale as theysort out the best one.

After about half an hour weget down to: “How much do youwant for this one?” So you tellthem and they start to look at thesmaller calves again, but if you arepatient, they come back to thebest one.

Now it’s time to finish the deal.“Your neighbour is coming for acalf in half an hour.” “Is he?”They can’t cope with that, they’llpay an extra £20 to stop theirneighbour getting the best calfand you don’t have to worryabout it if they get their headstogether and compare notesbecause they will never admit to aeach other they have lost a calf.Which is just as well because Ihaven’t got a clue if theirneighbour has lost a calf anyway.

Soon the calf is in the LandRover and the cheque is in mypocket. They usually ask me towrite the cheque which is alreadysigned which proves that theymeant to buy the calf anyway andthat they probably can’t write.

And if I had half their money, Iwouldn’t have to write either!


GOOD EVANS

This month Roger Evans faces the problem of stopping his cows pawing out the loose sand from theirfreshly bedded cubicles, and attempts to match the canny tactics of his suckler neighbours.

How do you keep the sandin your deep bed cubicles?

It is inevitable in dairyfarming that if some-thing like this everhappens you inevitablyfall over and land onthe side that isscraping all the slurry.

**DF Mar p40 Evans 23/2/12 13:53 Page 1

Cattle Services WP DF 23/2/12 13:55 Page 1

Clear of

milkfever.

Dull, sunken eyes are a sign of clinical milk fever. Talk to your vet today about how Bovikalc boluses can lower the risk of milk fever by quicklyraising calcium levels. Helping to keep your herd healthy and productive.THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF BOVIKALC®

Advice on the use of Bovikalc® or other products should be sought from your veterinary surgeon. Bovikalc® contains calcium chloride and calcium sulphate. Further information available from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YS, UK. Email: [email protected] isnotaveterinarymedicinewhichissubjecttoauthorisationbytheIrishMedicinesBoard.Dateofpreparation:May2011.AHD6754

�� Bovikalc and Milk Fever, visit our website at www.bovikalc.co.uk

Boehringer WP DF 24/2/12 10:42 Page 1

Dairy Farmer Digital Edition March 2012

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