Farmers Club WINTER JOURNAL 2015 • ISSUE 259
www.thefarmersclub.com
INSIDE Club news p4 Farmland debate p6 US dairying p8 Cover crops p10 Stoneleigh Park p14 Top farm manager p17 Rural crime p18 Harvest festival p19 Under 30s p20 Suffolk soil care p21
INSERTS Swan Lake Painting the modern garden
Food for thought World Expo 2015 Feeding the planet: energy for life (p12)
www.thefarmersclub.com for the latest Club news
Contents
Farmers Club Over 170 years of service to farming
3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL Patron – Her Majesty The Queen
FRONT COVER World Expo 2015 in Milan – with a theme of “Feeding the planet: Energy for Life” – provided food for thought aplenty Disclaimer: The articles published in The Farmers Club Journal do not necessarily reflect the views of The Farmers Club. No responsibility for the quality of goods or services advertised in the magazine can be accepted by the publisher. Advertisements are included in good faith’. All rights reserved.
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3 Chairman’s Comments
Time for a fresh perspective on Royal Show venue
4 Club News
Latest developments at the Club
6 Farmland seminar
Who owns UK farmland and are they managing it to best effect? A special Farmers Club seminar investigates
8 Dair y farming stateside
12
Farmers Club Charitable Trust beneficiary reports from the USA
10 Cover crop clarity
Cover crops are growing in popularity. But are you using the right one for the task in hand? New work could help
12 Food for thought
World Expo 2015 in Milan had food as the focal point. Here are 10 topical issues that emerged from this major event
14 Stoneleigh Park renaissance
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As Royal Show memories fade Stoneleigh Park and the RASE are undergoing huge change. A Club visit discovered more, including fascinating insights from the NFU and AHDB
17 Goodwood Estate
Britain’s best farm manager is a Club member from Sussex
18 Value-added food
Some key statistics lay bare the truth on added-value foods
18 Rural crime rethink
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Losses to rural crime far exceed previous estimates
19 Har vest Festival
A stunning event in the heart of London
20 Under 30s
Under 30s group meets Baroness Trumpington
21 Soil care in Suffolk
Controlled traffic farming helps boost soil health
22 Club Information and Contacts
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Chairman’s Comments • Anne Chamberlain difference to farmers’ bottom lines. And LaSalle Investment Management (LIM), the lease holders from RASE of the whole 800-acres, has impressive plans to develop a science park and a National Low Carbon Research Centre in association with local universities. However, the impending arrival of HS2 (high speed rail line), which will cut through the corner of the site, is inhibiting until this project receives the final go-head and a precise route is defined.
Chairman’s Comments “Stoneleigh has the right location with developing infrastructure and some key agricultural organisations settled into permanent homes on the site.”
THE very first Royal Show was held in 1839. The first at the National Agricultural Centre at Stoneleigh Park was in 1968 and the last in 2009, two years after torrential rains forced closure a day ahead of schedule. With the demise of the Show, our industry lost a farming and social focal point which no other event can quite replace. My memories include my Father, who had shown many winners at major shows, taking one last heifer to the Royal – just because my 10 year old daughter wanted to show at the Royal. The heifer was fifth out of seven, but my daughter was delighted and my Mother enjoyed again what she describes as the happiest times of her life – presiding over extended family and friends meals on picnic tables beside her Royal Show stockman’s caravan. Later I organised a large Food Hall exhibition, aimed at the public, called The Grain Chain from field to plate, erected at what seemed like a very competitive price until I foolishly asked the contractor how it had been done at such low cost. “Ah well,” he said, “it was built and will be dismantled by some Bulgarians, who have been sleeping behind the backdrop.” Enough of personal reminiscences. In late September this year I led a Club tour of what is now the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre (NAEC) at Stoneleigh Park (see p14). The serious objective was to see whether the old RS/ NAC site was really developing into a focal point of substance for English agriculture.
NAEC development The NFU has its HQ at Stoneleigh. The Sir Peter Kendall-reinvigorated AHDB has just moved into a new building on the site and promises to spend farming’s levy monies on R&D which makes a real
More than 1500 people now work on site. Exhibition company, Grandstand, is now headquartered at Stoneleigh and is already running 300 plus events there this year. Chairman Henry Cator has stabilised the RASE ship, with its focus now on innovation and technology transfer.
Impressive people The verdict from the Farmers Club Group following the tour and talks from Meurig Raymond, Grandstand Events, LIM, Henry Cator and Sir Peter Kendall: “Very interesting indeed, and impressive people driving the project”. My view is that Stoneleigh has the right location with developing infrastructure and some key agricultural organisations settled into permanent homes on the site. The proposed combination of national agricultural and exhibition centre serving farming, countryside and equine with a spacious and central England science park makes sense. The main hurdle between the grand plan and its early pursuit and realisation is the uncertainty about HS2. We can only hope this is resolved soon.
Westmorland Show This year’s sunlit one-day Westmorland County Show in Cumbria attracted a record 35,515 people. I had the pleasure of judging the ‘local producers only’ (so no olives) stands in the food marquee. My delightful fellow judge, introduced simply as ‘Sam’, was in fact Sam Rayner, managing director of Lakeland, the home shopping pioneers. His father Alan started the business selling plastic bags for dressed chickens, covers for haystacks and silage sheeting to farmers. There is no single recipe for a successful agricultural show but Christine Knipe, CEO at Westmorland, its office holders and dedicated volunteers and staff have put the 2nd Thursday in September on to my calendar as a brilliant countryside showcase, delivered with a smile.
Final words Although I write this in the Indian summer that was late September and early October in Northamptonshire and further afield, it is my last Journal comment as 2015 Chairman. Many people helped and supported me, but special thanks to Stephen Skinner; Denis Chamberlain, my husband, chauffeur and counsellor; Tony Strawson, Matt Dempsey and Professor Gerry Boyle. I wish next year’s Chairman, Richard Butler, every success.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 03
Stephen Skinner • Club News
Club News
Subscriptions and other costs
Bedroom works
The General Committee has agreed the following with effect from 1st January 2016:
Readers of Club News will be aware that I had promised that work would be commenced on some of the seventh floor bedrooms during the summer just gone. Well, unfortunately, we were defeated by bureaucracy and only now have we received the necessary permissions to proceed. These works include putting an en-suite bathroom into Room 21,
creating dedicated bathrooms for rooms 23 and 24, and refurbishing rooms 20, 21, 23 and 24. The bedroom corridors have also long needed redecoration and I am really pleased that this is being addressed too. The works are now scheduled to commence at the start of the New Year, at a time when bedroom occupancy is traditionally lower than usual.
Prayer Book Professor Malcolm Stansfield has revised his Book of Graces, a book I personally have found incredibly useful given the number of Graces I am called upon to deliver. It is thought provoking and challenging. To quote from the front of this small but invaluable book: ‘These graces are suitable for Farming and Countryside Occasions’, and I am happy to vouch for this fact. And while Google often provides much that I have either forgotten or never knew in the first place, it doesn’t
• Bedroom costs will increase by £5 for a double bedroom and £2 for a single bedroom. • There will be no increase in charges for meeting rooms nor for food and drink.
Room Booking provide much in the way of Farming or Countryside Graces and thus this booklet unquestionably fills this niche. If you would like to purchase a copy of this booklet (the cost is £5 including P&P), please contact Professor Stansfield at: JM Stansfield, Juniper Cottage, 9 Dennes Mill Close, Wye, Kent TN25 5DR Of note, all proceeds, except the postage and packing, go to RABI.
Photo Galleries Members will be delighted to know that the Club often commissions a professional photographer to attend key Club events during the course of the year. The Journal naturally carries a selection of those images, but far more are available to view on the Club website. Shots from the Club’s recent Harvest Festival at St Martin’s in central London are the latest offering, really capturing the atmosphere of what was a wonderful day. To see the full range of photo galleries, including images taken by professional photographers, members and staff, visit: www.thefarmersclub.com/pics
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• Annual Subscriptions will increase by £5 across all categories while the Entrance Fee will increase by £10.
With effect from 2nd November 2015, members will no longer be required to give their credit card details on booking a bedroom. However, on checking-in, members will be required to sign a checkingin slip to acknowledge their time of arrival and how many nights they are booked in for. It is important to note that in accordance with Club Rules, members are required to settle their bills before leaving. Of course, if a member anticipates leaving early and before our Reception opens, they can settle their bills the evening before they leave. Guests of members and reciprocal club members will be required to give their credit card details on booking.
Stephen Skinner This is to announce that I will retire as Chief Executive and Club Secretary with effect 30th June 2016. An Appointment Committee has been established under the Chairmanship of Julian Sayers, Chairman of Trustees, who will manage the process of my replacement. Stephen Skinner Chief Executive
Club News • Stephen Skinner
New Club Tie
Club Calendar Diary Dates
Please check the dates carefully as they sometimes change and new dates are added for each issue. Details of Club events circulated in the previous issues are available from the Secretariat on 020 7930 3751. For more information on Club events, including further details on these events and new events as they are added to the Calendar, visit the Events area of the Club website www.thefarmersclub.com
DECEMBER Statoil Masters Tennis – FULL Friday 4th December Masters tennis at the Royal Albert Hall with supper in the Club beforehand
Statoil Masters Tennis
Nutcracker Ballet – FULL Friday 18th December English National Ballet’s Nutcracker at the London Coliseum with dinner in the Club before
New Year’s Eve Party – FULL Thursday 31st December The new Club tie makes a wonderful Christmas gift. A rather fine development of the previous design, it again showing Ceres, the Goddess of Agriculture, in gold on a blue background with the wording ‘Estd 1842’ beneath – reflecting the date the Club was established. Made from silk and of a superior quality to previous offerings the Club tie is priced £25.
Nutcracker Ballet
APRIL Modern Garden Exhibition Friday 15th April New Year Party
It can be bought at Reception or contact generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com or 020 7930 3751 – ties will be posted out once payment has been received.
Details to be confirmed
Website Registration
Should you have any problems do contact IT Manager Mr Hamid Khaldi e-mail: itmanager@thefarmersclub. com tel: 020 7925 7108.
Private lecture, lunch in the Club and coach transfer to Monet to Matisse exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts Application form enclosed
St George’s Day Lunch Friday 22nd April Garden Exhibition
I was taken aback to learn that the Club has 5400 members and yet, of these, only 1002 are registered with our new website – www.thefarmersclub. com The site offers the opportunity to keep fully up to date with all that is happening at your Club, to book events, book bedrooms, see your account on-line, and pay it if required. To get the best from the site you do need to register – which is very easy.
Supper party in the Club with a stunning view of the firework celebrations
MAY Ulster Show Dinner Tuesday 10th May Details to be confirmed
Ulster Show Dinner
JUNE Royal Bath & West Show Wednesday 1st – Saturday 4th June Details to be confirmed
Swan Lake Ballet Friday 3rd June
Swan Lake
Supper at the Club and coach transfer to magnificent Swan Lake Application form enclosed
Royal Cornwall Show Thursday 9th- Saturday 11th June Details to be confirmed
Royal Highland Show Dinner Thursday 16th June Royal Highland Show
Details to be confirmed
www.thefarmersclub.com • 05
Charles Abel • Farmland Seminar
Who owns and farms our land? Does it matter who owns and farms the UK’s farmland? Charles Abel relays some of the key messages from a special seminar organised and chaired by Club Chairman Anne Chamberlain
“The old socialist threat of land being nationalised has been replaced by the nationalisation of what we can do with land. It is the freedom of use that is the issue, not the ownership.”
WHO owns land is probably less critical than the attitude of those doing the farming, it emerged at a special Farmers Club seminar held at the National Liberal Club in London in mid-October. Indeed, maintaining the productive capacity of the land, and the health of its soils in particular, was seen as the greatest priority. So, the surge of a wide range of contract farming agreements, in pursuit of presumed but possibly tenuous farming efficiencies, was felt to be having far more impact than any shift in land ownership per se. Older generations were also heavily criticised, for the severe handbrake they put on farming’s ability to progress. More needed to be done for entrepreneurial younger farmers and new entrants. But Government intervention was eschewed for fear of unintended impacts. Farm sales such as the Co-op’s Farmcare, and acquisitive expansions like Beeswax Farming, attracted a lot of attention, but just 100,000 acres of the UK’s 43million acre agricultural area are sold each year, noted panel speaker and Savills director
06 • The Farmers Club Winter Journal 2015
Richard Binning. It would take two years for ownership to shift by just 0.5%. In the 1940s land was changing hands at seven times that rate. Institutions, individuals, utilities and government bodies had long-since taken over from the artistocracy as the primary landowners, he noted, with the split between owner-occupiers and tenants broadly two-thirds to one-thirds, although the former masked a surge in contract farming, which some put as high as 40% in the arable sector, and certainly close to 25%, unlike Defra’s assumed 4%. Although 26% of holdings accounted for 76% of the farmed area, Mr Binning felt a mix of ownership would best deliver what was required of farmland – namely food, amenity, nature, infrastructure, economic contribution, landscape and energy. Failures by any one class land manager would serve as a catalyst for regulatory change, he noted. The current system of land ownership stifled progression by discouraging exit, noted panel
Farmland Seminar • Charles Abel speaker David Fursdon, chairman of the Future of Farming review, a Crown Estate commissioner, former CLA president and now chairman of James Dyson’s Beeswax Farming – perhaps the most high profile of all the new farming enterprises that have prompted fears to be aired from the popular media and industry watchers. Few businesses in other industry sectors own the factories they utilise, noted panel speaker Greg Bliss, a tenant farmer in Cambridgeshire and former chairman of the Tenant Farmers Association. Ownership was not seen as essential to productivity. Indeed, rent could serve as a greater driver of innovation than land ownership seen as a long-term capital asset.
The Liberal Club hosted the special debate chaired by Anne Chamberlain
If it ain’t bust… Ownership structures were felt to have a broadly neutral impact on farmland’s outputs, it was felt. A system that wasn’t broke, in a major way, probably didn’t need fixing, it was felt. Whether Government might flex the levers of taxation to better stimulate the productivity of farmland, and the rural economy, was a moot point. Indeed, there were repeated calls to be careful what was wished for. The unintended consequences of Government involvement could be painful for all.
David Fursdon
Northumberland farmer Hugh Fell felt CAP payments continued to stifle innovation and argued that their reduction, or removal, would stimulate a restructuring of land ownership that would boost commercial productivity. Greg Bliss
George Dunn, of the Tenant Farmers Association, stressed the need for better incentives for landlords and tenants to create long term partnerships, maybe by ending ‘sham’ contract farming agreements, capping the support paid to landowners or Government adjusting the levers of taxation. Graham Smith, of rural lawyer Roythornes, noted the boost to productivity that had arisen in overseas farming where a more robust system of compensation was introduced for tenants’ improvements.
Generational inertia Generational inertia, whereby farmers refuse to hand over to the next generation, was seen as the greatest bed-blocking brake on farming progress, with too many 25 to 35 year-olds contributing “nothing whatsoever”, merely perpetuating approaches their fathers pursued. That could be countered, if fresh thinking were embraced, by adopting technologies like renewable energy production, using agribusiness by-products, not farm-grown crops, to slash fertiliser bills by up to 70%, for example, one delegate noted. Kent farmer Philip Merricks, who like
Preserving soil quality is a key issue.
Richard Binning
many farmers in the room had a foot in landlord, owner-occupier and tenant camps, noted that the issue was less about owning land, and more about the ownership of a bundle of rights, which were rapidly being eroded. “The old socialist threat of land being nationalised has been replaced by the nationalisation of what we can do with land. It is the freedom of use that is the issue, not the ownership,” he suggested.
Conclusions The discussion was good-humoured, wideranging, insightful and not always contradictory. It stimulated thought and debate – just what Mr Shaw of The Strand intended when he first proposed a Farmers Club all those years ago.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 07
Nicola Blackie • Farmers Club Charitable Trust
Technology, cow comfort and cooling Dr Nicola Blackie of Writtle College used her Farmers Club Charitable Trust Agricultural Educators Award to investigate dairying in the USA
“I wonder how many heat stress days we get in the UK? I suspect more than we think given the changing nature of weather.”
I SPENT most of July 2014 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington investigating dairy production. In Western Kentucky the Southeast Quality Milk Initiative aims to assess 93 farms for parameters which may influence milk quality, such as housing, milking machine performance, milking routine and cow condition. This large scale project is designed to improve milk quality. SCC legal limits are considerably higher than in the UK, at 750,000/ml in raw milk. In the UK milk above 400,000/ml is deemed unfit for human consumption by the European Union. US producers are aiming for lower SCC levels so they can export to European markets. Heat stress is quite an issue in Kentucky, with approximately 125 heat stress days a year, so keeping cows cool is key. I wonder how many heat stress days we get in the UK? I suspect more than we think given the changing nature of weather. Numerous farms had exciting new additions to improve cow comfort and keep them cool, one explaining that adding a fan system had helped
lift production to 34kg/cow/day. The same farm had new gel mats – really soft and easily passing the knee test (if you are happy to drop to your knees in the stall it’ll be comfortable for the cows). The next farm had evaporative cooling cells, similar to air conditioners, making it really cool in the building. Fans at the opposite end pulled the cool air through the barn, with baffles to drop cool air onto the cows. Production averaged a very good 10,886kg/cow/year.
Compost Pack Barns Compost pack barns are an alternative loose housing system, quite different from a straw yard, using aerobic composting. With care and the right weather they can last a long time, but really good ventilation and management is essential. To start the pack 1-1.5ft of wood shavings are added and bedding aerated to 8-10 inches twice daily to incorporate faeces and ensure air aids composting. Interestingly, the average herd size is slightly smaller than in the UK, at 91 cows, compared to our 125. Research shows no significant differences in locomotion, hock or hygiene scores, nor herd SSC or reported clinical mastitis. Cows also show more variation in lying positions on the compost pack, with more REM sleep, and can perform natural behaviours, such as caudal licking and ear scratching, which can be difficult in slippery cubicles.
Conference and Farm Visits As part of my visit I went to the huge American Dairy Association Annual Conference in Kansas City, which required military planning to see all I wanted to. Cows can more easily perform natural behaviour like ear scratching on the compost pack.
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I realised there were not many automatic scrapers in the part of America I visited and
Farmers Club Charitable Trust • Nicola Blackie Research is investigating the links between lying and feeding behaviour in lame and non-lame cattle, and relating those findings to social rank.
Gel mattresses – a step up from waterbeds.
Water under pressure is used for flushing yards.
Birthing barn at Fair Oaks is an interesting tourist attraction
a pre-conference tour to Heins Family Farm in Higginsville, Missouri demonstrated the popular alternative. This farm flushed its yards with water 12 times daily, using a lot of water under pressure and a sloping site to help. The mix of water, sand and manure flows to the end of the building where clever engineering allows 95% of sand to be reclaimed.
Fair Oaks Farms
Sidebottom Dairy was winner of 2013 Farm of the Year competition, with 250 cows averaging 10,000 litres/cow/year. Both cubicles and bedded pack are used, since some cows do better on one than the other. Cows grouped by age not lactation stage, to minimize changing groups, which is felt to impact production. I am truly grateful to the Farmers Club for this amazing opportunity and to the University of Kentucky. The summer of 2014 is one I will never forget.
In Indiana Fair Oaks farm is a huge agri-tourism business with 30,000 dairy cattle. The cows we saw were milked 3 times daily in an impressive 72 point rotary parlour. They were really calm, most chewing the cud as they travelled round! In the ‘birthing barn’ cows calve live in front of a visitor audience. There is a traffic light system outside: red = nothing happening, amber = feet, green = feet/head, so hurry!
Kentuckiana Kentuckiana is an annual dairy exchange arranged through the University of Kentucky and Purdue University in Indiana, which included a number of fascinating Kentucky farm visits. Tony and Ben Compton’s farm was the 2013 Kentucky State Fair highest quality milk producer, 200 cows giving an excellent 70/80,000 SSC and rolling herd average of 10,000 litres/cow/year. Some cows had tails docked in a bid to enhance cleanliness, although research at University of Kentucky shows no benefit and an increase in fly avoidance behaviour.
Research Project Under the UK Dairy Science Programme I also looked at the relationship between lying and feeding behaviour in lame and non-lame cattle, relating those findings to social rank. It has been noted that low social rank cows spend 39 minutes per day less time feeding than those with a high social rank. Holstein cattle were fitted with an IceQube monitor to log time spent standing, lying, motion index, length and frequency of lying bouts, and step count, while a Cow Manager SensOor measured feeding behaviour. The final report will be submitted to the Journal of Dairy Science or Applied Animal Behaviour Science Journal.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 09
Applied Research
Cover crop clarity Agrovista, the company that pioneered cover crop mixes to combat herbicide resistant blackgrass, is expanding its programme to help growers choose the right cover crop mix to tackle poor soil structure and nutrient leaching
GIVEN the bewildering array of cover crops on the market, there is a real need for clarity, says Agrovista technical manager Chris Martin. “Cover crops are being sold to cure all sorts of problems. They are often backed by impressivesounding claims, which have little basis in fact.” “There is very little research being done. It’s not unusual for some mixtures to have six to eight species in them, when one or two would do a better job.” Correcting poor soil structure will be a key focus of the trials. “We are looking at several different cover crops and their agronomy to assess their ability to raise organic matter content and improve structure, bringing our soils back to life again using roots rather than iron,” says Mr Martin. Agrovista’s main focus with cover crops has been aimed at controlling problem grass weeds, using over-wintered mixtures to condition and dry heavy soils to allow spring wheat to be drilled relatively early into good seed-beds. “This has been shown to be one of the most effective ways of controlling black-grass and other problem grass weeds such as Italian ryegrass and some bromes while maintaining a profitable, high yielding wheat-based rotation,” says Mr Martin. The mixtures allow grass weeds to germinate and grow along with the cover crop,, Control is achieved when the cover crop is sprayed off before drilling, he explains.
Late-flowering black oat (Avena strigosa) has very powerful roots. Once established, these will push through compacted soil layers, says Agrovista’s Chris Martin.
10 • The Farmers Club Winter Journal 2015
Some of these cover crop species and varieties will also perform well where soil improvement is the primary aim, he believes. For example, the late-flowering black oat (Avena strigosa) is a very powerful rooter that
Applied Research
“Berseem clover has roots like jackhammers – it is amazing how quickly these can help repair soil damage. We are trialling a host of different species as soil improvers and nutrient retainers.” Black oat with clover (left) and vetch (right) – Agrovista trials aim to tease out the merits of different mixes.
will push through compacted soil layers while producing plenty of green cover to help build organic matter. It is slow to establish to allow grass weeds to germinate, but also grows rapidly later in the autumn to produce plenty of biomass, says Mr Martin. “We will continue to test various cereals but we think the black oat is the cereal of choice in both situations. Pound for pound it produces a very big root, much more extensive than rye and triticale.” Berseem clover is another plant that has performed well in mixtures aimed at helping grass-weed control. “It has roots like jackhammers – it is amazing how quickly these can help repair damage,” says Mr Martin. “We are trialling a host of different species as soils improvers and nutrient retainers. “Berseem clover scavenges nutrients very effectively, before being killed off by heavy frosts. Nutrients are then released back into the soil to become available to the crop. “Many countries, including France, stipulate that cover crops must be established over winter on land that would otherwise be bare. It probably won’t be long before we have to as well,” he adds. “Berseem clover could be a very cheap solution.”
“We avoid radishes in mixes aimed at blackgrass control, as they tend to leave holes that can encourage flushes in the spring,” says Mr Martin. “But they can do a very good restructuring job, though they are expensive – we need to see how they compare with Berseem clover.” Phacelia is a vigorous rooter that also provides plenty of green manure to build organic matter, though it does need to be established much earlier than other species, he adds. Cover crop seed treatments are also being assessed, including inoculations of mycorrhiza, a symbiotic fungus whose fine mycelia can access phosphate beyond the reach of plant roots, says Mr Martin. “This increases uptake by the plant and holds soil particles together, reducing the risk of soil erosion. This cuts the risk of phosphate pollution, which has become a key focus of the Water Framework Directive.” Agrovista’s cover crop research is taking place at sites from the Midlands to the Scottish Borders, including Newcastle University’s Cockle Park, where much of the scientific research will be carried out. “These sites cover a range of different soil types and climates to ensure we get the right mix for the job,” says Mr Martin.
Euro-a-Pro role Agrovista UK has joined Euro-A-Pro, a joint venture created in 2009 by distributors Actura-Holdis in Belgium, France and the Netherlands and BSL in Germany and the Netherlands. The three firms will work together in combined research to develop new and existing plant protection, seed, precision farming and nutrition products. Combined purchasing power includes £638m (850m) of crop protection products and 80,000 tonnes of cereal seed.
Soil improvers Vetches have also proved effective at mopping up excess nutrients and providing a shallower layer of fine roots to condition the surface layer and add biomass to boost organic matter. Radishes and phacelia are also being investigated as potential soil improvers.
Sponsored article This article is produced in collaboration with advice and supply company Agrovista, sponsor of the Farmers Club Journal envelope. Background image: Cover crop research sites range from the Midlands to the Scottish Borders. www.thefarmersclub.com • 11
Charles Abel • Global View
Food for thought World Expo 2015 in Milan – “Feeding the planet, energy for life” – gave over 20 million visitors an insight into food production now and into the future. Charles Abel spotted 10 key topics
FUEL INDEPENDENT FARM Forget diesel bills as New Holland moved one step closer to its goal of energy independent farming. Its second generation T6 methane powered tractor – delivering 179hp and 740Nm torque from 100% farm-produced bio-methane – leaves a near-zero carbon footprint www.expo2015.newholland.com
GI STAPLE FOODS
RUSSIAN FOOD SCARE Big, bold and ambitious… Russia is re-branding itself as a global food producer with attitude. Its size, soils, water resources and agricultural heritage can deliver its own food security – and the world’s, it argues. The 2014 import ban has already seen domestic dairy, meat and fish production rocket 26%, 5% and 6% respectively. www.russia2015.com
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Low GI (glycaemic index) staple foods are a battleground of the future as commodity producers seek to address modern diets. Obesity and diabetes impact developing countries too, prompting Myanmar (formerly Burma) to seek low GI rice varieties, just as scientists strive to moderate GI scores in western staples, like potatoes. Work shows significant differences in varieties, and precooking preparation.
Global View • Charles Abel
UN ZERO HUNGER
FOOD STIMULUS
SMARTER RETAILING
The UN Zero Hunger Challenge aims to banish global hunger by 2030. One target is to halt the 30% of food wasted, equivalent to 1.3bn tons, enough to feed the world’s 800m chronically hungry four times over. Commoditisation’s reduction of foodstuffs to financial instruments in global markets is seen as a key challenge www.un.org/en/zerohunger/challenge
Emotions drive eating behaviour and global food processor Nestle is working hard to better understand what causes hunger and what makes us feel satiated. It commits to produce tastier and healthier foods, with better portion guidance, more micronutrient fortification, and less saturated fat, salt and sugars. “I am what I eat, I eat what I am.” www.nestle.com
Forget food labels – supermarkets of the future will display food information on easy-to-read point-of-sale interactive screens, including carbon footprint, provenance and nutritional data, suggests Italian retailer Coop. Consumers will also dictate the ingredients and preparation of ready-made meals for on-the-spot in-store preparation and drone delivery to home.
USA FOOD 2.0 United to feed the planet, the USA is moving to a food culture of “thoughtfulness and good taste” to sustainably feed the world’s 9bn by 2050. “Our food story is rich and innovative – much more so than most people realize,” it says. “We want visitors to understand and appreciate how complex and sophisticated our story is.” www.expo2015.org/en/participants/countries/united-states-of-america
WATER SCARCITY
BIO PLASTICS
SAFEGUARDING SOILS
Commercially viable fully degradable bio-based plastics are getting closer. Bio-on’s patented process for producing polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymer looks particularly promising. It uses microbial fermentation of agro-industrial waste and by-products, such as sugar beet pulp, and no solvents, to create pellets for high-quality injection/extrusion products.
Soil is the lifeblood of every farm, as sub-Saharan Africa knows all too well. With the desert encroaching at a terrifying 600m-5.5km/year the Green Barrier initiative, devised in the 1950s, was stepped up in 2012. The aim is to create a 15km wide 7100km long barrier of Acacia and Tamarind trees from Senegal to Djibouti to halt the desert’s advance.
Water supply will dictate future farm outputs and in famine- and war-ravaged Eritrea, neighbour of Ethiopia in East Africa, huge low-cost plastic mesh fences are capturing fresh water from the heavy hill fogs that persists from November to March. Up to 8 litres/sqm per day can be collected for drinking and irrigation, to help the desert bloom.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 13
Charles Abel • Club Visit
Royal renaissance Club visit to Stoneleigh Park reveals rejuvenation of former Royal Show venue SITTING in the Farmers Club Pavilion at the 2009 Royal Show sipping a cool G&T or Pimm’s, few could have imagined the changes to be unleashed upon the Royal Agricultural Society of England over the coming years. Six years later the pain is finally drawing to a close. An exciting future is starting to emerge at what was once the epicentre of UK agriculture, with insiders believing the Warwickshire venue can regain its hub-of-British-farming status once again – and with some justification. “It has been a sad story,” RASE chairman and Norfolk farmer Henry Cator admits. “With debts of £5.5m, a £2.75m hole in the pension fund, a £600,000 trading loss and 93 staff salaries to pay the RASE was effectively bankrupt. It was not sustainable as a business, and certainly not as a charity.” The years since that last Royal Show played out under mostly blue skies have been tough – but worthwhile. The RASE now has no debts, no pension deficit, a staff of just three and half people, and a site that is developing surprisingly quickly as the benefits of a 150 year lease arrangement with an international pension fund, managed by LaSalle Investment Management, starts to bear fruit. 14 • The Farmers Club Winter Journal 2015
HS2 rail link Even the shocking prospect of the HS2 highspeed Birmingham to London railway line scything across the site, from the main entrance to gate three, and within 100m of the main ring, is not all bad news. HS2 groundworks could start as soon as summer 2017. LaSalle, as might be expected of a global property management company, is fighting hard for significant mitigation to blunt the impact of trains hurtling across the site up to once every 90 seconds. An 8m cutting and 2m sound attenuating bund and fencing could help. So too will compensation – potentially injecting further fresh capital into an already well-financed project. So, can Stoneleigh Park reclaim its status as the hub of UK agriculture? With the headquarters of the NFU and the levy-funded Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board already onsite, and over 80 farming and rural firms and organisations already there, it is well on its way.
£50m funding Plans from RASE, LaSalle and event organiser Grandstand Group add to the momentum, with LaSalle working to a master plan agreed with local planners, creating research and office facilities for organisations working in agriculture and the rural
Club Visit • Charles Abel economy. Some £50million has been allocated from the pension fund to create 22% more development and 1500 new jobs, explains estate director Colin Hooper. AHDB moved into purpose built offices this spring, a new Farmers Fayre cafe and food outlet opens this autumn where the Holstein Society building once stood, the site’s 58-bed hotel is to double in size, expanding onto the old Farmers Club pavilion site, and new equine facilities and a new visitor centre are planned. More significantly, Stoneleigh Park is now part of a portfolio of six science parks managed by LaSalle Investment Management ranging across the UK at Wilton on Teesside, Havant, Manchester, Kent and Edinburgh. Additionally, plans are now well advanced to create a National Low Carbon Centre at Stoneleigh providing a one-stop facility to research and transfer technology across the whole range of renewable and sustainable energies. LaSalle are in discussion with leading Midlands universities to promote this new programme. “We are probably closer to realising the concept of a National Agricultural Centre than we ever have been since 1963 when the first Royal Show was held at Stoneleigh,” says former RASE chief executive and LaSalle science park ambassador Denis Chamberlain. Grandstand Group now runs all events on the showground, which has been rebranded as the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre. That includes the RASE’s Pig & Poultry Live and Grassland & Muck, and the new Farm & Rural Business Event scheduled for 16th March 2016. Improved exhibition facilities include refurbishment of part of the Blackdown buildings, to create the modern Hall 3.
“We run 360 events a year here, attracting 450,000 visitors,” explains managing director Helena Pettit. That compares favourably with the Royal Show’s peak attendance of 228,300 in 1982. The five largest halls account for £10.5m of extra business for the region, she says. So will other key agricultural events return to the NAEC? “I’m hopeful, we have a lot to offer that the NEC, for example, cannot,” she says. Bringing the Livestock Event back over the next one to five years is a prime goal.
RASE Chairman, Henry Cator.
RASE future Turning to the RASE itself, it believes the remit it was given when it was created in 1837 – to promote science, innovation and technology in agriculture – is more relevant than ever, given that more people now live on the planet than have ever died on it, says Mr Cator. Through the Innovation for Agriculture initiative, in conjunction with 14 other agricultural societies, RASE is championing best practice, particularly around soil management and precision livestock farming and animal welfare. Renewable energies are a target for the future. Over the past two years over 65 events and workshops have been held and £0.5m of funding raised. “It is really starting to build momentum.”
“The RASE is not dead, it is rising like a phoenix from the ashes of its own destruction.”
“The challenge is convincing people to stop looking backwards and instead look at how exciting it is that the society is doing again what it was created to do,” says Mr Cator. “The RASE is not dead, it is rising like a phoenix from the ashes of its own destruction.” So, as memories of sunny Royal Show afternoons in the Farmers Club pavilion fade, the time has come to turn attention to RASE’s renaissance, as it strives to deliver on its original objectives – promoting science with practice, for the benefit of all of farming (Continued on p16)
STONELEIGH PARK STATS 100ha development site 1m sqft buildings 80+ businesses 450,000 visitors/year 1250 jobs on site 800 acre farm £50m investment 3000 jobs by 2030
Converting showground buildings into year-round offices is on-going. JCB building now houses dairy firm GEA Technologies (pictured). Ultrafast fibre optic broadband delivers up to 1 gigabyte/second.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 15
Charles Abel • Club Visit
NFU on target Moving the NFU to Stoneleigh Park 10 years ago was “absolutely the right decision”, NFU president and south-west Wales farmer Meurig Raymond explained, especially given the number of farming and rural organisations located on the site.
NFU’s Meurig Raymond
“We did get Agriculture Commissioner Paul Hogan to recognise it is a crisis, which he had been denying before.”
The move had also put the union on a very sound financial footing, with the old Knightsbridge building delivering a £1.5m/year rental income whilst still accounting for £3540m of the union’s £100m-plus balance sheet. Membership had grown in each of the past three years, a significant achievement in the face of continuing industry restructuring.
been significant. “We didn’t get much in terms of money, but we did get Agriculture Commissioner Paul Hogan to recognise it is a crisis, which he had been denying before.” Turning to bovine TB recent wildlife culling trials in Somerset, Gloucestershire and more recently Dorset had gone well, but vaccination trials in north Pembrokeshire had increased incidence, he noted. He was hopeful Government determination would see culling in endemic areas become part of the TB solution, either next year or in 2017.
Mr Raymond felt relationships with Defra ministers remained strong, with a good understanding of food, farming and rural issues. Uniting the industry to provide a co-ordinated message to retailers over milk prices had secured fresh money in the supply chain, stabilizing losses, he said. Winning Government support to secure an EU package for dairy farmers had also
AHDB ups the ante Moving levy-funded operations for dairy, beef and sheep, pigs, cereals and oilseeds, potatoes and horticulture into one building at Stoneleigh had transformed the way the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board worked, explained chairman Sir Peter Kendall.
AHDB’s Sir Peter Kendall
“Productivity needs to improve. The current 1.4% annual improvement is woeful.”
With the UK population set to grow by 15% to 2040, compared with just 3% across the rest of the EU, he believed the time was right for UK farmers to be more ambitious. But productivity needed to improve too. The current 1.4% annual improvement was woeful compared with global competitors. There was much to learn from unsupported sectors, like strawberries, he added. The adoption of poly-tunnels, new varieties, sophisticated irrigation and other new technologies had led to nine-month-a-year production, securing a 12.5% market share in northern Europe, up from just 5% in 1990.
16 • The Farmers Club Winter Journal 2015
“That is the sort of success story the rest of the industry needs to learn from.” In the longer term he saw a larger role for UK levy boards, noting that milk producers in New Zealand and Australia already paid twice as much levy as those in the UK, at 0.12 and 0.18p/litre, compared with 0.06p/litre here.
Club Member
Goodwood victory National recognition Home Farm products have received national recognition, most recently the Charlton Farmhouse cheese receiving Gold Medal at the British Cheese Awards, and Best Organic Cheese. Along with supplying the home estate with 40% of what is produced, Mr Hassell has built an impressive list of local customers, coffee shops, and prestigious clients in London, including The Ritz, Fortnum and Mason, and The Sky Garden.
Tim Hassell received his award from comedian and actor Hugh Dennis at a central London ceremony in early October. GOODWOOD Home Farm manager and Farmers Club member Tim Hassell scooped the Farmers Weekly Farm Manager of the Year Award earlier this autumn, the latest accolade for Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Having fought off tough competition, Mr Hassell, who was also recently awarded Sussex Farmer of the Year, is manager of Goodwood Estate’s Home Farm, where together with his team he looks after 1,375ha of organic farmland, 1,400 ewes, 400 beef cattle, 50 Sussex sucklers, 45 breeding sows and a 200-cow herd of Dairy Shorthorns. His aim is to produce top quality meat, milk and cheese as well as beer to sell at premium prices on the Estate and beyond. Since arriving seven years ago production has gone from just over 40kg of fresh produce per week to over 4,000kg today. The business has its own milk processing and bottling facility, and on-site butchery, to help secure a 25-30% gross margin for each product. Cull sows go into sausages retailing for over £8/kg, for example, and beef sells from Goodwood vans at £9/burger.
“To have nationwide recognition of my work on the farm is the biggest compliment I could receive. I thoroughly enjoy my job and love working on Goodwood Estate’s Home Farm – we are passionate about providing quality produce and giving people the best finished product, as well as caring for all the livestock. It’s also very important to me that every employee feels an integral part of the team,” says Mr Hassell.
“We are passionate about providing quality produce and giving people the best finished product, as well as caring for all the livestock.”
He plans to upgrade the farm’s core dairy enterprise, revamping the 1960s dairy with a new milking parlour, silage pits and housing for 400 cows and young stock.
Organic status Goodwood achieved full organic status in 2004 and its dairy herd was the first to be totally organically fed in the country. But the idea that the Estate could be farmed organically originated in the 1950s. The present Duchess of Richmond was one of the Soil Association’s earliest members and an advocate of wholefood, who ran her kitchen garden on organic principles and passed on her passion to her family, which is one of the reasons why her son, the Earl of March, is now committed to farm organically. Environmental enrichment and healthy food are also deeply rooted in the Countess of March’s background, her uncle, David Astor, having founded the Elm Farm Research Centre.
Imaginative marketing of produce from a diverse estate marked Club member Tim Hassell out as Farm Manager of the Year.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 17
Rural Crime
Farming Figures A quick look at… premium pricing potential for UK-sourced groceries …told through some key statistics
£4.66 billion
Value of average premium consumers are prepared to pay for UK-sourced groceries over imports up to 2020 (worth £1.82bn in milk!)
2238
Consumers and farmers in YouGov survey
Rural Crime CRIME in rural parts of England and Wales cost more than £800m last year, a survey of 17,000 people suggests, 21 times more than previous estimates (FCJ 258, Autumn 2015). The National Rural Crime Network said its poll found the average cost to victims was £2,500 for rural households and £4,000 for businesses. The NRCN, which was formed by police and crime commissioners, based its figure on the average cost of crimes reported in its survey, multiplied
One-third
Two-thirds
17%
Average premium consumers willing to pay for UK groceries over imported equivalents
2:3
Ratio of consumers buying on value over origin
18-24 year-olds
Age group basing almost half its food purchasing decisions on value
80%
Share of consumers saying lower prices most likely to make them buy more UK produce; only 39% of farmers considered price relevant
The survey also found 39% of people in rural areas rated the police as good or excellent, well down on the 63% across England and Wales. “The low satisfaction rates need to be a wake-up call for police forces in rural areas,” said NRCN chair Julia Mulligan. NFU Mutual previously estimated the cost of rural crime to be £37.8m in 2014.
THE FARMERS CLUB CHRISTMAS CARD – 2015
Proportion of farmers thinking taste or flavour will encourage consumers to buy more; 79% of consumers say it would
Proportion of consumers who say they would buy more UK produce to support UK farmers
by the total number of crimes reported in rural areas, and a survey finding that 27% of rural crimes went unreported.
This year’s Farmers Club Christmas Card features an original watercolour painting by Tim Rose. It measures 171mm x 121 mm (7”x 5”) and bears the Club logo and the greeting “With Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year”. Surplus on the sale of the cards will go to the RABI of England, Wales and N. Ireland and the RSABI of Scotland. Packs of 10 cards and may be bought at Reception “No 3” From an original or ordered from the General Office using the watercolour by Tim Rose form below. Price per pack is £8.00 inc VAT and second class postage (UK only). Please order promptly to avoid disappointment. Members are requested, if possible, to collect cards in person as it allows the Club to make a larger charitable donation.
CHRISTMAS CARD ORDER FORM: To: The Secretary, The Farmers Club, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL I would like to order ………… packs of Christmas Cards (£8.00 per pack of 10). I will collect the cards from Reception on ……………………………………….. (approximate date if known)/please deliver to the address below* (*delete as necessary).
Payment can either be made by cheque made payable to The Farmers Club, by Visa, Mastercard or Maestro card. I enclose a cheque for £………………… (add £2.50 postage for orders of 5-12 packs)
1 in 4
Proportion of consumers who always check the label to see where their food comes from
£8.4 billion
Growth in market for farmed produce due to changing demographics over next five years
Card Holder’s Name: Expiry Date:
Security No:
Card No: Signature Address
Post Code Sources: Barclays Bank, ONS, Defra, Development Economics
18 • The Farmers Club Winter Journal 2015
Telephone: Email:
Club Event
Harvest home OVER 100 members and their guests attended the annual Farmers Club Harvest Festival service at St Martin-in-the-Fields church just off Trafalgar Square in central London in mid-October. Alongside an excellent turn-out of members the Club was pleased to host as guests the Masters of many of the farming related Livery Companies. After an inspiring church service a fine buffet supper was enjoyed back at the Club. Valuing the essentials of life was the theme for the service, which was led by the Reverend Jonathan Evens, with Canon Dr Jill Hopkinson National Rural Officer with the Church of
England giving the sermon and the Club’s own Geoff Dodgson assisting. St Martin’s choir provided wonderful musical accompaniment, including John Rutter’s The Lord is my shepherd, Haydn’s The heavens are telling and the Gaelic choral blessing Deep peace. A particularly poignant part of the service was a procession to take seven baskets of produce to the altar, each containing items to reflect the diversity of food produced on British farms. The produce went to St Martin’s homeless charity, The Connection at St Martin’s, as in previous years.
For a superb selection of images from the Harvest Festival Service and Buffet Supper at the Club afterwards visit our picture gallery at: www. thefarmersclub. com/pics, where you can find images from many other Club Events too.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 19
John Jaques, Chairman; Mary Bell, Vice Chairman; Lisbeth Rune, Secretary • U30s
Chairman’s Jottings Following a slightly quieter time, whilst harvest was completed, the Under 30s sprung back into life in September to welcome Baroness Trumpington to the Club. In addition to the aspects Fiona has written about (right), the Club was full of discussion about harvest and drilling progress – with many members disappearing early on Saturday morning to continue with the work. A good number of our members used the wetter days of summer to prepare and submit an application to attend the 2016 Oxford Farming Conference (5-7 January) as a Farmers Club Scholar. The Scholarship was launched by Farmers Club Chief Executive Stephen Skinner and OFC 2016 Chairman Al Brooks at the Pimm’s evening in July. Club Chairman Anne Chamberlain and Stephen commended the evident thought, time and effort that had gone into each application. William Wilson of Colchester, Essex was selected to attend, the judges particularly noting William for being ‘clear about his own ambitions’ and liking his ‘candour and attitude’. We trust he will gain from this opportunity and look forward to him reporting back at the U30s New Members Weekend on 5-7 February 2016. We are now looking forward to the Autumn Farm Walk weekend on the Isle of Wight and the next dining evening at the Club, on Friday 27 November, where we will be joined by the entrepreneurs behind the new luxury chocolate brand Doisy and Dam (www.doisyanddam.com).
Contact John for more information John Jaques U30 Chairman www.thefarmersclub-u30s.com john.jaques@bidwells.co.uk 07799 633304
20 • The Farmers Club Winter Journal 2015
Baroness Trumpington It was a great privilege to join four of the Under 30s committee members to welcome Farmers Club life member Baroness Trumpington to the U30s September Dining Evening.
The Baroness was very happy to take questions and concluded by advising members: young people should join local government and societies, in which to meet people and learn from them.
For the pre-dinner speech U30s Chairman John Jaques and Vice Chairman Mary Bell joined The Baroness at the front of a very crowded room to address members eager to hear all she had to say.
Dinner was particularly scrumptious and followed by drinks on the terrace, and a trip to Opal for some eager to continue the evening with current and new friends.
The Baroness described working at Bletchley Park during World War II, including the isolation of not being able to roam between buildings and tales of the mischief with colleagues to pass the time. On rare occasions Winston Churchill visited, regarding the team as the ‘geese that laid the golden eggs, but didn’t cackle’!
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we visited Borough Market to taste the delights the stall holders had to offer. It was a bright sunny morning, so the perfect opportunity to wander back to the Club along the River Thames. It was a great weekend and I look forward to the next event.
The Baroness was most animated when she spoke of the VE Day celebrations in London, the bright lights, the conga into the Ritz and late night dancing with strangers. After the war she travelled to New York to work in advertising, but returned to England to pursue a career in politics, which she clearly remains very passionate about. She had a number of parliamentary roles including Minister at MAFF.
FIONA NORMAN Twitter: @FionaJNorman Position: Associate Rural Surveyor, Bidwells LLP
U30s • John Jaques, Chairman; Mary Bell, Vice Chairman; Lisbeth Rune, Secretary
Suffolk Soil Care Controlled traffic farming at Driver Farms features 12m Horsch Sprinter drill with 4000litre tank for placement of fertiliser, biologicals and chemicals beneath seed at drilling. Soils are the most fundamental thing our species depends upon, allowing us to flourish and sustain life on this planet. They have changed us from nomadic hunter gatherers, only staying in one territory until food is exhausted, to the highly complex society we are today, capable of apocalypse and space travel. All this in 40,000 years, a speck in the history of our planet!
Heavy cultivations and ploughing, to remove compaction, disturb the natural biological systems in soils. These are important as they help provide crops with nutrients and a healthy growing environment. The fungal and bacterial populations of soils are generally not even thought about, but we must encourage and nurture them if we are really going to sustain healthy soils.
I farm in Suffolk, with my parents, growing combinable crops on heavy clay with a mixture of our own land, contract farming and rental agreements. I am currently doing a Sainsbury’s Agricultural Scholarship, which this year is focused on soil health. The knowledge and contacts gained are proving incredibly helpful.
There is nothing worse for soil than being left bare for extended periods. So we are slowly trying to make use of cover crops to harvest energy from the sun and recycle nutrients.
Biological farming At home we have been putting together a new farming system, based on biological/ conservation farming. Despite some challenges we are already seeing benefits. Moving to a 12m controlled traffic farming system, where RTK GPS keeps machines on the same marks every year, means only 20% of our soil is driven on and compacted. On our difficult heavy clay that is incredibly important, allowing us to reduce cultivations and use direct drilling.
We have also introduced companion cropping, which involves planting something with the cash crop, to help it grow, then destroying it before it becomes a problem. Berseem clover and phacelia in our oilseed rape have brought some quite surprising results.
“These little workers will be doing for us what in the past Mr Simba and Mr Dowdeswell have done – at much less expense in a far more sustainable way.”
Learning curve Of course, none of this is a golden bullet. A well-rounded farming system, with good rotation, up-to-date drainage and importing of manures is incredibly important. Cover crops can be a massive pain, not dying off and causing alelopathic effects in following crops. This year some companion crops have simply chosen not to grow! We have also occasionally lost GPS signal, with machinery driving itself off controlled traffic lines. So it is all a massive learning curve. But if done properly, with attention to detail, I believe we are heading in the right direction. The past harvest was successful, with yields again pleasing and all our winter crops were drilled up in good time. I was out digging holes in fields the other day and worm populations seem better than ever, which is incredibly encouraging. These little workers will be doing for us what in the past Mr Simba and Mr Dowdeswell have done – at much less expense in a far more sustainable way.
ADAM DRIVER Driver Farms, Brittons Farm, Brockley, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Twitter: @ ajdriver1 Website/Blog: www.driverfarms. co.uk/news Email: adam@ driverfarms.co.uk
www.thefarmersclub.com • 21
The Farmers Club • Club Information
Club Information
020 7930 3557 • www.thefarmersclub.com Office Holders Patron – Her Majesty The Queen HONORARY VICE PRESIDENTS Peter Jackson CBE, Roddy Loder-Symonds, Sir David Naish DL, John Parker THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB 2015 VICE PRESIDENTS Barclay Forrest OBE, Mark Hudson, Norman Shaw CBE, Mrs Susan Kilpatrick OBE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN Anne Chamberlain TRUSTEES Jimmy McLean (effective 1 Jan 2016), Mrs Nicki Quayle, Julian Sayers (Chairman), Paul Heygate VICE-CHAIRMAN Richard Butler HONORARY TREASURER George Jessel DL IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Jimmy McLean CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND SECRETARY Stephen Skinner CLUB CHAPLAIN The Reverend Dr Sam Wells COMMITTEE Elected 2013: Lindsay Hargreaves, Tim Harvey, Nick Helme, Peter Jinman OBE (Chairman – House Sub-Committee), Mrs Jo Turnbull Elected 2014: Allan Stevenson (Chairman – Communications Sub-Committee), Alison Ritchie (Chairman – Membership Sub-Committee), Robert Lasseter, Martin Taylor, Campbell Tweed OBE Elected 2015: Tim Bennett, Matt Dempsey, Richard Maunder, Gerald Osborne Co-opted: John Jaques (Chairman Under 30s), Mary Bell (Vice Chairman Under 30s) THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST TRUSTEES Stephen Fletcher (Chairman), John Kerr MBE DL, James Cross, Vic Croxson DL, Mrs Stella Muddiman JP, The Chairman and Immediate Past Chairman of the Club (ex officio)
NEXT ISSUE Watch out for your New Year issue of the Farmers Club Journal, due out in mid-January, with all the latest Club news, including a look at how farming can better embrace disruptive business ideas (above), a profile of the new Farmers Club Chairman and reports on the presentation of the Farmers Club Cup at the House of Lords, the Club’s Ladies Lunch and a seminar on how farming could be affected by voting in the EU referendum.
22 • The Farmers Club Winter Journal 2015
Swan Lake
Monet to Matisse
On Friday 3rd June the Club is visiting the magnificent “Swan Lake” at the Royal Albert Hall, where dancers from the English National Ballet perform in Derek Deane’s in-the-round production, which caused such a sensation at its world premiere in 1997.
On Friday 15th April the Club is visiting the landmark exhibition “Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse” at the Royal Academy of Arts.
True love triumphs over evil in this powerful story set to Tchaikovsky’s memorable score played by the English National Ballet Philharmonic, with 60 swans, stunning costumes and sensational lighting transforming the Royal Albert Hall into a magical lake for this unrivalled dance event. Our programme starts at 5.00pm with a two-course supper in the Club, before departing for the Royal Albert Hall by coach at 6.20pm. The ballet begins at 7.30pm and ends at 10.15pm (approx) after which the coach returns to the Club. This event is limited to 40 places. Tickets are priced £120.00 each (max two per member), including supper, ticket and coach transfers. All applications should be received by 4th December 2015. If oversubscribed, places will be decided by ballot. To register interest apply online at www.thefarmersclub.com or complete the booking form enclosed with this issue.
Using the work of Monet as a starting point it examines the role gardens played in the evolution of art from the early 1860s through to the 1920s. Highlights include a remarkable selection of works by Monet, including the monumental Agapanthus Triptych, reunited specifically for the exhibition, Renoir’s Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil and Kandinsky’s Murnau The Garden II. Our programme starts at 11.45am with a private lecture by Anne Haworth in the Club, followed at 12.45pm by a twocourse lunch with wine. At 2.00pm we depart by coach for the Royal Academy. Members must make their own way home. The event is limited to 25 places, priced £70.00 each (max 2 per member), including lunch, ticket and coach transfer. All applications should be received by 4th December 2015. If oversubscribed, places will be decided by ballot. To register interest apply online at www.thefarmersclub.com or complete the booking form enclosed with this issue.
Club Closures From 12 noon on Wednesday 23 December 2015 to 3.00pm on Monday 4 January 2016. Members may book a bedroom to stay when the Club is closed on the understanding that it is on a room only basis as no other facilities are available.
Club Information • The Farmers Club Deaths It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members: Mrs H Barrell Gloucestershire Mr A Colley Hampshire Mr N Cuthbert Surrey Mr S Draper Dumfriesshire Mr C Foot Dorset Earl of Leicester Norfolk Lord A Luke Northamptonshire Mr M Malleson Buckinghamshire Mr J Norris CBE Essex Mr F Von-Celsing Sweden
of crop management advice, with many years of experience backed up with the most advanced and comprehensive range of agronomy trials in Great Britain. For more information visit www.agrovista.co.uk
New Members The following were elected: UK Members Mr J Arrell Mr R Bray Mr D Chapman Mr A Dodds Mr P Frost Mr J Glanville Mr M Hall Mr J Hoskins Mrs J Huggett Mr J Macconnachie Mrs M Mayer Mr C Meynell Mr P Moore Mr D Whitby Mr C Wilson
Parking The Club has no private parking at Whitehall Court. However, the Club is pleased to be able to offer all its members discounted parking with Q-Park, our preferred parking partner. Discounts of 20% are available on the day and on prebookings. The nearest Q-Park is situated in Spring Gardens off Cockspur Street, approximately 5 minutes walk from the Club. Details of this can be obtained by phoning the Club Reception on 020 7930 3557 or by visiting the website at: http://www.thefarmers club.com/news/parking -5-mins-from-club
Under 30s Miss P Martin Miss A Hind Miss E Newey Mr A Seaman Miss A Sharpe Mr H Sinkler Mr C Staveley
Londonderry Leicestershire Hertfordshire Norfolk Devon Dorset Berkshire Gloucestershire Lincolnshire Cambridgeshire Glamorgan Staffordshire Yorkshire Yorkshire Somerset London London Kent Norfolk Lincolnshire Northamptonshire Lancashire
Envelope Sponsorship The Farmers Club acknowledges the support of Agrovista, sponsor of the Journal envelope. Agrovista is the leading authority on all aspects
Reciprocal Clubs UK City Livery Club, London (No bedrooms) Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh The New Club, Edinburgh Northern Counties Club, Newcastle Note: We have informal agreements with the East India and Caledonian Club for bedroom bookings if we are full. Reception also holds a list of hotels within a 15 minute walk that might be considered ‘good value for money’.
OVERSEAS The Western Australian Club, Perth, Australia (Bedrooms not reciprocated) Queensland Club, Brisbane, Australia The Australian Club, Melbourne, Australia
Mobile Phones, Briefcases and Business Meetings Mobile phones must not be used in the Public Rooms (except the Shaw Room). Briefcases should be left in the Cloakrooms and Business meetings must be conducted in the Shaw Room or designated and pre-booked meeting rooms. Members should speak with the Meetings Manager, Mrs Lynne Wilson for details on 020 7925 7100 or meetings@thefarmersclub.com
Business Suite The Business Suite provides PCs, printing and WiFi for members. WiFi WiFi is available throughout the Club at no charge. Shaw Room The Shaw Room may be used for meetings of two or three people for up to an hour without booking. iPads, laptops and mobile phones may be used but phones should be set to silent ring. Club Closures Members may book a bedroom to stay when the Club is closed on the understanding that it is on a room only basis as no other facilities are available. Storage of Shotguns Members are reminded that the Club does not hold a licence for the secure storage of shotguns. There are however a number of “Registered Firearm Dealers” in London who offer this service. Details are available from Reception.
Royal Dublin Society, Dublin, Ireland (Bedrooms not reciprocated) Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club, Dublin, Ireland The Muthaiga Country Club, Nairobi, Kenya The Harare Club, Harare, Zimbabwe The Christchurch Club, Christchurch, New Zealand (operating from The George Hotel www. thegeorge.com and able to offer reciprocal visitors preferred accommodation rates) The Canterbury Club, Christchurch, New Zealand Members wishing to use any of the above Clubs should obtain an introductory card from the Secretariat.
Club Contacts THE FARMERS CLUB
Over 170 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL
Chairman 2015: Anne Chamberlain
Chief Executive and Secretary: Stephen Skinner
Club Number 020 7930 3557 Reception ext: 200/201 reception@thefarmersclub.com Bedroom Reservations ext: 204 reservations@thefarmersclub.com Restaurant Reservations Option 3 restaurantmanager@thefarmersclub.com or asstrestmanager@thefarmersclub.com Conference & Banqueting Vendula Papackova ext: 109 or direct line: 020 7925 7100 meetings@thefarmersclub.com Events & U30s Lisbeth Rune ext: 103 events@thefarmersclub.com Club Manager Virginia Masser ext: 102 clubmanager@thefarmersclub.com Head Chef Paul Hogben ext: 111 or direct line: 020 7925 7103 chef@thefarmersclub.com Financial Controller Zarreena Neeson ext: 106 or direct line: 020 7925 7101 financialcontroller@thefarmersclub.com Membership Mark Fairbairn ext: 107 or direct line: 020 7925 7102 membership@thefarmersclub.com PA to Secretary Claire White ext: 104 or direct line: 020 7930 3751 generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com Bedrooms ext: 3+ [two digit room number] eg. ext 301 for Room1 Whitehall Court Porters 020 7930 3160 Fax 020 7839 7864 Website: www.thefarmersclub.com THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Editor and Advertisement Manager: Charles Abel 07795 420692 E-mail: editor@thefarmersclub.com Designed and produced by: Ingenious, www.ingeniousdesign.co.uk The printing inks are made using vegetable based oils. No film or film processing chemicals were used. Printed on Lumi Silk which is ISO 14001 certified manufacturer. FSC® Mix Credit. Elemental chlorine free (ECF) fibre sourced from well managed forests
www.thefarmersclub.com • 23
Farmers Club
Christmas Card 2015
Members are invited to order this year’s Farmers Club Christmas Card, featuring this original painting of the entrance to 3 Whitehall Court, which has been commissioned by the Club.
page 18 of this Journal, or from the General Office (generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com).
The card is printed with the Club logo and the greeting “With Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year”.
Surplus on the sale of the cards will be donated to RABI of England, Wales and N. Ireland and RSABI of Scotland, both of which are dedicated to helping members of the farming community facing hardship.
Available in packs of 10 the cards may be bought at Reception, or by using the order form on
Please place your order promptly to avoid any disappointment.