Harvest 2010

Your produce needed for British Food Fortnight 18 September - 3 October

Boosting biodiversity Advice to aid farm wildlife p16

This most popular annual event, created to enable everyone to sample the delights of the very best of British food, is fully supported by The Farmers Club To enable the Club to provide maximum backing for this great food fortnight, Head Chef Jeff Plant needs donations of British farm produce from members.

Your donations will be used by Jeff and his team to create dishes that reflect the very essence of British culinary delights for serving to diners at the Club during the Food Fortnight.

In return for your generosity, you are invited to display your own promotional material at the Club over the two-week period.

Beyond that, all you have to do is help the Club spread the word that this best of British food - in special dishes representing as many areas of the country as possible - is being served throughout the Fortnight.

Sample this best of British food by dining at YOUR Club To donate produce call Head Chef Jeff Plant on

020 7925 7103 To make Dining Room reservations - for lunch or dinner - call

020 7930 3557 Learn more about British Food Fortnight at www.lovebritishfood.co.uk

INSIDE • • • •

Club visit to Shetland p4 Food security p6 Farm business award p8 Olympic feast p20

APPLICATION FORMS: • Sheffield Park Gardens 26/27 Oct • Harvest Festival Service & Buffet Supper 5 Oct p23 BACK COVER: • British Food Fortnight Access the members section of the Club website at www.thefarmersclub.com using your individual Club membership number, which is printed on your Journal envelope

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • Nicki Quayle

contents

THE FARMERS CLUB Over 160 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

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Chairman’s comments Nicki Quayle looks forward to some more understanding leadership from new DEFRA team.

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Shetland A-hoy!

A warm welcome greeted our Club visit to Britain’s most northerly islands, where dynamic farming and fishing industries underpin the economy.

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Land of plenty?

“Land of plenty, land of uncertainty” is the focus of former NFU president Ben Gill’s look at food and fuel security in the face of climate change and population growth.

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New DEFRA team credentials welcome, but eyes now on its ability to deliver many friends when the Club held its annual dinner on the eve of the Royal Ulster Show.

Friend and Club member Robin Morrow is show president this year and what a cracking show it was.

What a difference a few weeks make, cattle lying full stretched soaking up the sun and lambs growing on well. The maize is peeping through the plastic and our good friend and local contractor, Graham Rae, is hard at silaging – ensiling 3400 acres in the last few weeks of May with four teams – that’s 36 men – who complete the whole job from mowing to sheeting-up the pit! Heaven knows what his fuel bill is each month.

Students pursue Pinnacle Excellence in farm business management is rewarded in the 2010 Pinnacle Awards.

Here are the finalists and their projects.

10 Cosmetic spraying The implications of Ontario's cosmetic spraying ban, plus the intricacies of turf grass management in the USA.

Speaking of which, those of us who live in rural areas with no public transport are seriously disadvantaged by the exorbitant price of fuel – even Shetland with all its oil is paying 132p/litre at the pump. This is killing our local communities and equates to a tax on wheels.

12 St George’s at Wimbledon What could be more English than lunch at the All England Lawn Tennis Club? From expert grass husbandry to a 1000t roof, with centre court thrown in for good measure, Wimbledon had it all.

14 Bananas in global trade World trade forces mean volatile prices and intense competition. We review lessons learned in the banana sector.

16 Boosting biodiversity Are your field margins and wildlife grasslands achieving their full potential?

Researchers can help.

18 Under 30s event Shropshire was the destination for the spring farm walk, where diversification was a key topic.

19 U30s Topic: Pylon the cash Are you deriving the payments you are entitled to from power lines on your land?

20 Olympic feast London 2012 offers a great shop window for home-produced food, but only if producers secure supply contracts.

21 Whitehall Court Ramblings 22 Information and Diary Dates 24 Back Cover The Farmers Club needs your help to celebrate British Food Fortnight.

FRONT COVER Boosting biodiversity is something every farmer needs to consider. (Photo: Lucy Hulmes).

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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CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • Nicki Quayle

I think this must be the hardest job a chairman has to do – writing an article which is current and topical and yet completed 6 weeks before it hits your letterbox. This time I’ve left it to the last minute, mainly because last week we were on the Club trip to Shetland, and wow, what a visit we had!

We were blessed with fantastic weather and so overwhelmed with the warm welcome and sincerity of the Shetlanders, coupled with their innovative and ‘can do’ mind-set.

Shetland’s oil revenue is important, but compared to the multi-million pound fishing and marine industry, accounts for only a quarter of the economy. Agriculture and crofting also make a huge impact.

Our misconception that Shetland was a backwater was abruptly shattered and I would urge any of you to visit this most beautiful place. I want to place on record my thanks to the many people who worked so hard to make this visit so memorable and in particular vice–president and past Club chairman Peter Jackson. A fuller report appears in this Journal (pages 4 & 5 ).

Northern Ireland, another beautiful part of the world, provided an opportunity to visit the Giants' Causeway and catch up with

The result of the general election was multicoloured and by my reckoning blue and yellow makes green, so let’s hope that the many shades of green that patchwork our countryside are to the fore, now we finally seem to have a DEFRA team with better credentials.

Badger culling There appears to be much commonality between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on agriculture and the environment, but differences too.

Thankfully, one of the most important issues, badger culling, still looks to be on the agenda. But please let’s not talk too long – bite the bullet, because inaction is no action. Thank goodness the Welsh cull is getting closer – I know there will be upheaval and life won’t be easy, but at least something is being done and I am delighted Wales’ Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Christianna Glossop, will speak at our Royal Welsh Show Club dinner.

Pleasingly, lighter regulation, improved country-of-origin labelling and attempts to keep retailer power in check with an ombudsman also seem to be going ahead.

But I am still hard pressed to understand why the milk price is so slow to rise.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Retailers and processors must remember that all parts of the chain need a piece of the cheese to have monies to reinvest in their businesses. I hope by the time you are reading this that the price to the dairy farmer has risen, because quite frankly at the present time, with rising commodity prices, there is NO excuse for them not to.

We also need to brace ourselves for deeper Government ‘efficiency cuts’ to the DEFRA budget. If SFP processing costs of £1740 per claim in England could be reduced to the £285 seen in Scotland that might be a good start!

One of the highlights for me in recent months was the Farmers Club Pinnacle Award, which aims to nurture the agricultural industry’s younger talent. I spent a long day as part of the interviewing team and it was heartening to meet with many bright and talented young people.

We desperately need more young people to consider agriculture as a worthwhile career. For far too long farmers have allowed themselves to be viewed as country bumpkins, when in truth we are among the most qualified professionals out there, involved in veterinary medicine, biochemistry, engineering and accountancy, IT, personnel and adhering to cross compliance, GAEC, NVZ rules and regulations all in the same day - not to mention getting on with the actual farming.

(U30s chairman) and several other members of the Club will run the British 10km for Charity in aid of this good cause on Saturday 11th July. I hope you will join with me in supporting them and wishing them every success.

the high living of this year it will impact on the waistline! I would be grateful for sponsorship – please send to me at Moordyke, Aikton, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 0JF or to the Farmers Club.

I am ashamed to admit I haven’t got my act together and will not be joining the runners. However, August looks a freer month so I intend to do a sponsored walk of the Hadrian’s Wall National Trail in aid of RABI, a distance of 85 miles (not just hopping north to south as past-chairman Tony Pexton so cheekily hypothersised!).

Many members of the family will join me for parts of the walk and, hopefully after all

The train won’t be taking the strain quite so much over these summer months, but I will be putting some miles on the car. I’m pretty certain I was caught on the Lockerbie bridge of the A74 on my return from Shetland, so I am not looking forward to the morning post. I think I’ll have to learn how to master the cruise control on our vehicle – the saying ‘More haste, less speed’ comes to mind’!

RABI 150th It will not have escaped your notice that this year is the 150th Anniversary of RABI. The Institution was founded in Victorian times by those concerned about poverty in the farming community. Times have changed, but there is still hardship, especially for elderly or disabled people and families who struggle to make a living from the farm or face a crisis such as illness or bereavement.

Each year RABI pays out around £2m to assist those facing financial difficulties, £250,000 for disability aids and essential household appliances, as well as funding emergency payments in times of crisis such as foot and mouth, and flooding. To support this 150th Anniversary, past Club chairman, Julian Sayers, who is now chairman of RABI, Gemma Partridge

Open Farm Sunday draws thousands The fifth Open Farm Sunday, organised by Linking the Environment and Farming, attracted a huge audience in early June, promoting all that is best about British farming to the public across the nation, with over 420 farms participating and more than 150,000 visitors. Here, DEFRA minister James Paice chats to Andrew Nottage of Russell Smith Farms, Cambridge and LEAF's Jeremy Boxall. For more on the event see www.farmsunday.org

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

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SHETLAND • Martin Taylor

SHETLAND • Martin Taylor

The Shetland Isles was the destination for this year's Farmers Club tour. Martin Taylor describes the highlights of a fascinating insight into life on Britain's most northerly islands.

Special scenery and warm welcome in Shetland Isles YOU WILL have read the article on the Shetland Islands by Peter Jackson in the 2009 Harvest edition of the Journal. This was the enticement for members to sign up for the tour. Like trout on the Test in the mayfly season it was a lure few could resist and the quota of 50 was reached within days.

Ably led by our chairman Nicki Quayle and with Peter Jackson’s introductions to various industries, the group had a unique opportunity to gain an insight into some of the islands’ activities.

The first things that strike you about Shetland are that the islands are in the middle of nowhere, there is a Scandinavian influence, Bergen in Norway is the nearest railway station and a tree is a collector’s item! On the shortest day sunlight lasts 3 hours 45 minutes and stretches to 23 hours in summer. Lerwick averages 1,238mm of rain annually. The weather is described as ‘boisterous, but never boring’.

Our visit was to Mainland with a short visit to Bressay, where we had a superb supper and musical evening at the community hall.

The farming was based largely on sheep and cattle with a little arable, though the islands are largely self sufficient in milk, pigs and poultry.

Our first visit was to a 675 hectare unit run

by Ronnie Eunson, on an organic basis, subject to an Environmentally Sensitive

Areas agreement. The unit included a series of crofts; average croft size being two hectares. Ronnie described a croft as 'a small piece of miserable land surrounded by paper from DEFRA'!

The unit carried 990 Shetland and Shetland/Cheviot cross ewes put to Shetland, Suffolk and Lleyn rams, plus 30 cows. The cross bred lambs were mainly sold as stores to be fattened in Aberdeenshire. The fleece of the pure bred Shetland went to produce the wool which is so important for Shetland pullovers and cardigans. The very fine quality of the wool, its light weight, insulation and breathability make it a world beater.

The first people to climb Everest chose Shetland woollen garments for these qualities.

The Budge family farm at Bigton was run on a ‘conventional’ basis. You looked from the farm across the water to the island of St. Ninnians on which the Budges kept sheep. St. Ninnians is connected to Mainland by a beach. The farm has some of the best clover leys you could wish to see supporting a herd of Shorthorn/Saler cows put to Charolais bulls, the offspring being sold at 12 months for finishing on the mainland.

A ten minute ferry ride away from Lerwick is the island of Bressay where we were hosted by the Lord Lieutenant John Scott and his wife Wendy. They live in Guardie

House, built in 1724 where Sir Walter Scott stayed on his travels around Shetland. On the far side of the island John showed us the 285ha island of Noss, a seabird city, where 80,000 birds live on a mile of cliff up to 185 metres high where gannets, guillemots, kittiwakes, puffins, razorbills, shags and skuas nest.

Whilst farming is important to the economy it pales into insignificance compared to fishing. The farming of the sea divides into two distinct parts, aquaculture and deep sea fishing. Wherever you look around the voes (fjords or lochs) you see buoys in the water, signalling either a mussel or salmon farm.

Mussel farmer Michael Laurenson of Blue Shell Mussels talked about the development of his business, the biggest player in the market. The group learnt about mussel strings, how mussels take 3 years to develop before harvesting and were even shown how to identify male and female mussels! The mussels sampled were superb. For those who would like to sample some I believe they are sold in Waitrose cooked in a white wine sauce!

After a Shetland Council reception in the magnificent town hall, the guest speaker at our dinner, John Goodlad, chairman of Shetland Catch and a Club member gave us a resume of the fishing industry. This was followed the next morning by a tour of the salmon processing factory.

We began the tour by sampling the end product. If you close your eyes and visualise sitting in a room surrounded by smoked salmon rolls, enough to feed you all for at least a month, you have a clear picture of what we experienced!

Having eaten our fill and more, we were gowned and disinfected like surgeons before starting our tour of the factory at the clean end (finished product) and working our way to the dirty end (the kill). The throughput from the factory was thirty thousand salmon a day.

From farmed fish to deep sea fish. In the harbour at Lerwick we visited a pelagic trawler, current capital cost a staggering £18million to build plus quota cost! The pelagic trawlers fish for herring, mackerel and blue whiting in season. The electronic equipment on these trawlers allows them to detect shoals 3,000 metres away and lock on to their speed and direction of movement. There is no escape! A net can take £1million worth of fish on a successful trawl. Who would be a herring or a mackerel in these waters?

The fish are kept alive at a controlled temperature, which ensures they reach the factory in optimum condition. On docking the fish are blown alive through a pipe into the factory which is one of the largest pelagic fish processing plants in Europe.

The bigger white fish, cod, haddock, monkfish and the like, are caught by the smaller trawlers, packed in ice and the boxes sold at the electronic auction.

With the importance of the fish industry on Shetland it is not surprising to find the North Atlantic Fisheries College and Marine Centre, with its international reputation, established to support the local fish catching, aquaculture and fish processing. Prof David Gray, NAFC

Chairman spins a yarn

director, talked of diversification into Merchant Navy Training plus the Da Haaf Restaurant, where we enjoyed a fish lunch.

Developed in the 1970s the East Shetland Basin is one of Europe’s largest oil fields.

Oil is landed (25million tonnes annually) at Sullom Voe. Thanks to some excellent negotiating by the Shetland Islands Council enough money has been raised from concessions to fund schools, community centres, sports facilities and many other benefits in villages. However, the benefit that hits the traveller immediately is the quality of the 500 miles of roads with not a pot hole in sight!

the third most desirable destination in the world. Go in winter and have a good chance of seeing the aurora borealis!

If you have been, you will go back. If you haven’t been, you MUST GO.

Our tour and this report only scratch the surface of Shetland and its people. The history, the Scandinavian influence, music, archaeology and many other gems are there to be explored.

A survey in 2007 by the National Geographic Traveller showed Shetland as £18m pelagic trawler

Salmon processing

Group in full protective garb

Shorthorn cattle

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THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

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PROSPECTS • Sir Ben Gill

PROSPECTS • Sir Ben Gill

Global food security is an issue for

all society

Former NFU president and Hawkhills Consultancy executive director Sir Ben Gill

by people and waste. The panel (below) highlights some key figures.

Watch out for details of a special debate planned for this autumn

THE outcome of the 2010 General Election has set an agenda for change we have to be prepared to face. The reality on the economic front is clear. We have overspent; our borrowings as a country are too high; and we need to balance the books. For every £4 Government spends it has to borrow £1. That is clearly not sustainable.

Prime Minister David Cameron has made it clear that a conversation involving the electorate as a whole is needed to determine how society adapts to a lower standard of living. But the harsh reality is that this is only part of the challenge society needs to address.

When I raised the issue of food security with Government in 2003 I was laughed at for being out of date. If we did not produce it ourselves it did not matter, as we could import it, replied supermarket bosses, and if it was cheaper then all to the good.

The food price inflation of 2008 changed all that. Many, from government to industry, woke up to the reality that life was not as certain as they thought. Food shortages can occur and when they do they are one of the most destabilising events that can occur in any population.

Unilateral actions by exporting countries, seeking to protect domestic supplies 6

against export demand, changed the trading priority and “food security” moved centre stage.

So what are the issues behind concerns for our food supply? They are varied, interconnected and complex. They include climate change, water supply, land availability, growth of populations and their wealth, particularly in the developing world, all leading to increased demand for food, and the interaction of all these with the supply and cost of energy.

While energy is the last in this list, it has a strong interaction with food supply. Put simply, all food crops have an intrinsic energy content of around 18 giga joules per dry matter tonne. That means the value of crops as a supply of energy can be compared with their economic value for food.

finite production limits, underlined by BP's disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, this potential transfer from food to energy will come into effect globally and most acutely where there are large facilities to convert food into fuel, such as Brazil and the USA. At the same time rising energy prices will inevitably affect the price of our inputs, such as oil-based fertiliser and agrochemicals. We will have to adjust to a different cost base, as we were moving towards when nitrogen fertiliser exceeded £300/t.

The other interlinking factor is water. We may be relatively well supplied in the UK, but the rest of the world is not so well placed. Given the global market for many of the foodstuffs we produce, we need to understand the implications of changes, partly driven by climate change and partly

The drop in the price of oil from a peak of $150/barrel to less than half that today has reduced this underpinning competition for scarce resource. This has been most Energy used to pump water evident in the USA and Brazil, where there are huge bioethanol Water used to cool markets, based on maize and electricity plants sugar cane respectively.

Water used to extract oil from tar sands and shales

But this could come much closer to home. Heating boilers are now on the market that can run just as well on feed grains as on other energy sources, for example.

Put simply, for a heating oil price of around 45p/litre wheat would be worth over £150/t for heating alone, compared to today’s feed price of closer to £100/t.

As oil prices rise again in the coming decade, and there is no doubt they will, given rising demand in the Far East and

Water Water as an essential ingredient of all food.

Environment

Food

Energy

Most plants have an energy content of 18GJ per dry matter tonne

Interlinking factors affecting global food security

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

On top of this the US Geological Survey predicts that by 2013 as many as 36 states in the USA will suffer severe water shortages.

This has already been seen in California, where severe droughts last year compromised its ability to supply the rest of the USA with field vegetables.

The graphic (below) demonstrates the interlinking of the various factors, with protection of the environment at the centre.

But is the picture all doom and gloom? It need not be, if our political masters, and we as society, realise that the issues are not purely economic. There are enormous opportunities as we adapt to the New World in which we will have to live.

exemplary reasons, but with a totally disproportionate cumulative consequence that we will not be able to justify or afford.

We need to harness the world-class science base we are fortunate to have in the UK and exploit the enormous resource of basic scientific knowledge that has accumulated over the past three decades. We need to develop in a balanced and commercial manner and as a society we need to recognise that the solutions to the challenges we face will not be black and white but will need all of us to be prepared to compromise. The economic debate needs to broaden to cover all these issues.

If we do this we can begin to appreciate that rather than moving from a “Land of Plenty to a Land of Uncertainty” we can move to a “Land of Potential”.

WATER PRESSURE

We need to debate the issues openly and identify where we need to change; what technologies are available to help; and how we can adapt and develop them to meet the challenges we face.

2010 to 2030 growth in water demand*

We must not allow ourselves to become boxed in by the view that we can only look after the environment or produce food, but not both together. And critically we need to recognise that our society has become extremely wasteful in the way we use our primary resources. Wasteful not just in what we throw away without considering alternate uses, but also in the suffocating level of regulation, which has been introduced piece-meal, each time for

Current per capita consumption***

India

+100%

to 1,500bn m3

China

+32%

to 818bn m3

India will run out of water by 2050** China supply shortfall 200bn m3 by 2030

China

2,117 m3 per person

India

1,614 m3 per person

USA

9,943 m3 per person

In Asia industrial growth has contaminated: 70% of rivers and lakes 50% of cities’ ground water supply * Source: McKinsey & Co ** Source: World Bank *** Source: FAO

“Put simply, for a heating oil price of around 45p/litre wheat would be worth over £150/t for heating alone, compared to today’s feed price of closer to £100/t.” www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

Red Tractor ambassador Janet Street-Porter

Red Tractor’s £10bn in 10 years Red Tractor Week from 14-20 June saw the nation's food assurance scheme celebrate 10 years of success with a staggering £10bn-worth of UK food and drink now carrying the logo.

The scheme has the backing of every top supermarket, a rising number of food and drink brands, and the foodservice sector, which is supplying ever more safe, quality food to the country’s schools, hospitals and military.

With 55% of consumers already aware of the logo, Red Tractor Week saw iconic British personality Janet Street-Porter working as brand ambassador to further boost awareness and understanding.

“This is a very exciting time in the evolution of the Red Tractor scheme and we are looking forward to another decade of dynamic growth and the continued commitment and collaboration of the farming industry,” commented David Clarke, chief executive of Assured Food Standards.

Red Tractor's latest success sees the logo on all Carling lager multi-pack boxes, following a 20,000t deal struck with 70 Red Tractor barley growers last summer.

Charles Abel

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PINNACLE • Charles Abel

PINNACLE • Charles Abel

Country’s top students vie for the Pinnacle in 2010 farm business management awards FACING a panel of judges who have scrutinised your farm business management project, then presenting it to fellow competitors and fielding their questions, is not for the feint-hearted. But eight enthusiastic competitors rose to the challenge as they vied for the prestigious Pinnacle Award, now in its 13th year.

The judging panel comprised Roy Walker, who created the Pinnacle Awards in 1998 with funding from the family’s Cave Foundation, Farmers Club chairman Nicki Quayle, Farmers Club Journal editor Charles Abel and senior business management consultant Tony Turner of sponsor ADAS.

“It is hugely important to have knowledge and conviction in what you do and that has come through very strongly today,” commented Baroness Byford. “You don’t need me to persuade you that farming has a future. World population growth, with no more land to grow food on, plus the challenges of climate change, mean agriculture has a hugely important role.”

Professor Leaver commended the calibre of the finalists. “The quality of young people coming through is very encouraging for the future of the industry. They are dynamic and entrepreneurial in their approach and put intellect and their own thoughts into their projects to come up with sensible answers for the judges and the producers involved.”

Indeed, the Pinnacle process does much to benefit entrants. “The written reports, 8

Developing a farm shop in an 1847 Hants flint and brick barn would utilise farmbutchered beef from the estate’s Aberdeen Angus and Ruby Red Devon cattle, its own free range eggs and produce from local farms. Intensive marketing via newsletters and social networking would promote provenance, a “full-basket” product range and convenient opening hours.

Runner-up: Andrew Haggerty, Bridgwater College

Selected from an initial field of more than twice as many entrants, the finalists were put through their paces in a day of judging at the Farmers Club, chaired by Professor David Leaver, president of the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants.

After a day of intense competition, and equally vibrant debate amongst the judges, Baroness Hazel Byford presented the Pinnacle Awards’ Nickerson Cup and a cheque for £1250 to Phillip Dunn, a final year student at Newcastle University. Hot on his heels were silver award winner Fred Rush from the University of Reading and bronze award winner Katie Farthing from the Royal Agricultural College.

Runner-up: Abigail Cook, Royal Agricultural College

Winner: Phillip Dunn, Newcastle University Enhancing the profitability of a 174ha Cumbrian dairy farm involved numerous small technical improvements to boost margins by £7440/year, plus a proposed £195,000 reinvestment to simplify the system, raise yield, and significantly cut machinery costs and working hours. Greater use would be made of the large grazing block to achieve 7200litres/cow, 4000litres from forage and the rest from 1.6t concentrate/cow fed in-parlour, according to yield. Herd size would expand by 90 to 300 cows, over five years, using contract-rearing to save on labour and housing. Net stocking rate would rise from 1.69 to 2.36cows/ha, made possible by March to November grazing, using new cow tracks and strip grazing of rye and kale.

Silver: Fred Rush, University of Reading

Bronze: Katie Farthing, Royal Agricultural College

Acquiring and running a mid-yielding dairy farm alongside an existing highoutput unit would allow the next generation of a farming family to pursue a more extensive approach, tailored to the FBT- agreement and exploiting a very large grazing platform. The 220 spring calving herd run on an NZ-style system would weather milk price volatility better, while a wind turbine could provide a 15t CO2 saving on on-farm power, a guaranteed income stream and a USP to support milk sales.

Investment in loose housing, a lined lagoon and extending the parlour would be conditional on FBT terms.

A mini-farm and education centre, located right alongside a major National Trust tourist attraction, could be cost effective if just 3% of the passing audience visited.

Sensitivity to the existing attraction and local residents would be essential, with visitors engaged through animal feeding, activities and adopt-an-animal opportunities, all for a low entry price. “It could start as a low-capital seed with potential to grow,” enthused Katie, who has retail experience. Business Link funding and advice could help.

panel judging and presentations are a learning experience, and the finalists showed a good ability to pull it all together to make it work,” Mr Walker added.

Runner-up: Amanda Lynch, Hadlow College Developing an existing farm shop in Kent, alongside competition including 15 Tesco stores within 15 miles, was the challenge. A passion for food provenance, telling the story behind locally grown produce including the farm’s own Cox apples, was the answer. Grant funding and rental income from adjacent business units would underpin the project.

Runner-up: Stewart McCallum, SAC Ayr Low-cost cabins for walkers on the Rob Roy Way could generate significant income for hill farmers near Callander, Scotland’s latest tourism “gold mine”. With 20,000 walkers passing every year the timber camping cabins have a ready market, plugging the gap between camping and luxury cabins or bed and breakfast.

Runner-up: Peter Moss, SAC Aberdeen Harvesting Scotland’s huge on-farm renewable energy resource via small wind and water turbines was the goal, exploiting the increasingly lucrative 20-year guaranteed tax-free feed-in tariffs now available to farmers. As well as planning, installing and servicing turbines, the enterprise would offer flexible funding opportunities, including co-funding of on-farm projects.

Mr Turner agreed. “The students are clearly getting a lot out of the projects they work on, helping them to think around the subjects, not just learning the principles of farm business management, but applying them too.” Farmers Club chairman Mrs Quayle echoed that. “It reinforces our belief in the younger generation.”

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Tendering for a 96ha farm near Cannington, Devon, using a £200,000 inheritance, would hinge around buying in 7000litre/year cows to meet a 25ppl Wiseman contract and only pushing for output once a healthy herd had established. Other enterprises risked less margin than a 2.2cow/ha stocking rate with double-cropping to maximise forage supply.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

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FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST • Gareth Phillips

FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST • Gareth Phillips

Ontario is grappling with drastic new pesticide regulations. Gareth Phillips of Reaseheath College in Cheshire used a Farmers Club Charitable Trust bursary to learn lessons for the UK, as well as investigating turf management in North Carolina.

Pesticide pointers from Canada as “cosmetic” spray ban bites Pic courtesy of Greenlink International Ltd

sale and over 95 pesticide ingredients are banned for cosmetic uses.

A few exceptions remain: Golf courses: are conditionally exempt, provided they follow tough new rules. They must become accredited for Integrated Pest Management; prepare an annual report on how they minimized their pesticide use; make the report accessible to the public; and hold a public meeting annually to present the report.

Sports fields: are allowed a short term exception from the ban to host national or international level sports competitions.

Written approval for the exception must be granted by the Minister of the Environment.

Cosmetic spray ban in Ontario hit amenity sector hardest. UK needs to get its house in order.

BY THE END of 2011 the UK is likely to be adapting to life under the EU Thematic strategy for Pesticides. Canada has gone down a slightly different route and we can learn from its experiences, good and bad!

On October 10, 2007, Dolton McGuinty and his Ontario Liberal party won a consecutive majority government in the 39th general provincial election. He had promised Ontario residents a ban on the use of cosmetic pesticides.

The campaign received vociferous backing from pressure groups such as the Ontario College of Family Physicians and the Canadian Cancer Society, which want cosmetic pesticide use banned to “protect the health of the nation”.

Less than a year later, on April 22nd, a government edict stated: “Ontario is moving to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals by banning the sale and

cosmetic use of pesticides. Legislation to be introduced today will make Ontario's pesticide rules among the toughest in North America. Studies by public health experts are showing growing evidence of the potential health risk of pesticides, particularly for children”.

Pesticides cannot be used for cosmetic purposes on lawns, vegetable and ornamental gardens, patios, driveways, cemeteries, and in parks and school yards.

There are no exceptions for pest infestations (insects, fungi or weeds), as lower risk pesticides, bio-pesticides and alternatives to pesticides exist.

IPM combines biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks. Ontario has set up its own IPM accreditation program to ensure all turf managers, home lawn owners and the like follow best practice.

The way the ban came about, the way it has been implemented and the options now available to the industry in Ontario have clear implications for the UK. The bottom line is that more than 250 pesticide products have been banned from

“Ontario is moving to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals by banning the sale and cosmetic use of pesticides.”

10

Speciality turf: Pesticides can be used to maintain speciality turf used for lawn bowling, cricket, lawn tennis and croquet, if certain conditions are met. IPM and annual reporting conditions, similar to those for golf courses, must be followed.

Gareth Phillips of Reaseheath College, Cheshire

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

The introduction of the bans was felt to be unorganised and unprofessional, with little or no consultation and no thought or research into viable alternatives. The ban was introduced overnight, with no thought to offering a phased in approach.

What’s more voluntary agreement was not embraced and due to the lack of a united industry voice some sectors lost out, most notably football.

It is vital that in the UK all interested parties, including the Institute of Groundsmanship, British and International Green-keepers Association and the Turf Grass Growers Association, play an active part and contribute to the Amenity Forum to ensure a workable outcome.

Now more than ever, a greater emphasis will be placed on the skill of the groundsman/green keeper to maintain quality turf/amenity areas in Ontario. But without the use of chemicals greater resources will be required.

The amenity sector in the UK is already some way towards complying with proposed EU legislation, through the Amenity Action Plan, voluntary sprayer testing and pesticides application certification.

IPM is the way forward. We must stop paying it lip service and fully implement integrated programs.

The overall theme behind my investigations is that communication between all parties is vital, to ensure both sides of the debate end up with a workable and safe future.

GRASS GURUS In Canada Guelph Turf-grass Institute, as part of the University of Guelph and supported by the Ontario Ministr y of Agriculture and Food and the turf grass industry, aims to develop a world class turf grass facility. To find out more visit www.guelphturfgrass.ca, and also www.turfflies.ncsu.edu In the USA North Carolina Cooperative Extension gives residents easy access to the resources and expertise of NC State University and NC A&T State University. Through educational programs, publications, and events, the Cooperative Extension Field Faculty delivers unbiased, researchbased information. Extension officers are funded by the state, but all visits must be undertaken on a full cost return basis, therefore keeping the extension system financially sound.

Turf care tactics tailored to transition zone climate MANAGING TURF in North Carolina is no easy matter. The state is about 560 miles wide, making it the widest east of the Mississippi, with a transition zone climate making neither warm nor cool season grasses uniformly successful.

It is often said in North Carolina that “you can have good grass growth for nine months of the year! It just depends on which nine months you want!!” Summers are too hot for cool season grasses and winters too cold for most warm season grasses.

In the UK we only use cool season grasses (CSG’s), which start their growth early in the spring and continue growth for as long as rains and cool temperatures prevail.

They go dormant during hot, dry summers and start growth again in the cool months of autumn, if moisture is adequate.

Cool season grasses have a temperature optimum of 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit and most turn brown during extremely hot and dry conditions. By contrast, warm season turf grasses have a temperature optimum of 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit and are widely found throughout warm humid, warm sub-humid and warm semi-arid climates.

Turf grass cultural practices are generally the same wherever turf grass is maintained, geared to delivering the desired quality and type of turf surface for a particular use. Essential cultural practices include mowing, scarification, aeration, fertilisation, irrigation, cultivation, establishment, and pest, disease and weed control.

Turf grass growing zones present challenges in North America

Transitional zone management techniques are slightly different. With the daily maximum temperature in midsummer exceeding 92 degrees Fahrenheit in North Carolina, the turf grasses utilised in fine turf struggle to survive the hot, humid summers.

One solution is syringing. This involves the light application of water to prevent wilt and reduce canopy temperature. It is suggested that syringing should only be utilised when necessary, rather than on a daily basis.

Water is applied via a hose pipe using a fine rose type nozzle and application should take place during the hottest part of the day e.g. 11am to 3pm. There is no exact amount of water to be applied during syringing to define this technique.

Supplementary irrigation practices have their part to play in maintaining turf grass health and wilt prevention. Cooling the turf canopy with fans located around fine turf areas (eg. golf greens) can aid temperature and stress reduction.

Research has shown that a combination of fans and syringing can reduce soil temperatures in a native soil putting green.

Where a combination of warm-season and cool-season perennial grasses is grown, the general guideline is to over-seed coolseason grasses, such as perennial ryegrass, 4 to 6 weeks before the average first killing frost date. By over-seeding perennial ryegrass in late September/early October, before the first frost, the problem of straw-coloured turf is combated. But over seeding increases the need for daily watering and routine mowing.

Green-side fans help to cool the turf canopy in N Carolina.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

11

WIMBLEDON • Charles Abel

WIMBLEDON • Charles Abel

St George celebrated at AELTC Wimbledon Wimbledon beneath azure blue skies – what better place to celebrate St George’s Day? Charles Abel accompanied Farmers Club members and guests

THE NEW “WONDER OF WIMBLEDON”

WELCOME to Wimbledon, home of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), host of the world’s premier tennis event and a fitting venue for The Farmers Club St George’s Day Luncheon held on a stunning, blue-skied spring day.

Over 120 members and guests were made very welcome at this world-class sporting venue by not one but three tennis enthusiasts who are members of both The Farmers Club and the extremely select AELTC, which numbers just 375 members.

Past Farmers Club secretary Grieve Carson led an energetic tour of this quintessentially English sporting venue’s highlights, including Henman Hill (now considered to be Murray Mount by some), number one court, centre court and the impressive trophy hall.

Fellow AELTC/FC guides were Roger MacKinnon, whose father Hugh played at Wimbledon in 1932-36, and Peter Jackson, who took a key role in the project to create centre court’s famous new roof canopy.

This amazing structure, which was built between 2006 and 2009, involved the complete rebuilding of the centre court terraces, to increase seating capacity to 15,000 and provide the infrastructure to carry the colossal weight of the new folding roof, explained project manager Mike Bridges of Galliford.

But the heart of Wimbledon is its grass.

And what grass! “Farmers know all about growing grass for top growth,” enthused Eddie Seaward, Wimbledon’s charismatic head groundsman. “But at Wimbledon root development is the key, because we need to have the soil very dry to get the hardness we need to achieve the right ball bounce.”

The clay based courts, most of which are remade every autumn, are prepared to withstand a braking pressure of 100 pounds per square inch for 13 days of Championship play, and still provide the right bounce of the ball. And that ball bounce must be just right.

Ball bounce is measured daily to ensure compliance with the International Tennis Federation’s specification of 70-110% of the height achieved on concrete. “That bounce height really is critical, particularly when

facing tennis balls served at 120mph,” Mr Seaward commented. In recent years clay content has been raised by 2%, to ensure better rallies at Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam event still played on grass.

The courts are 100% ryegrass, chosen for wear, colour and regenerative ability. They do well under the roof too. Lateral growth is promoted with plant growth regulators and mowing adjusted a millimetre at a time until the right 8mm height is achieved for Championship play.

“We are control freaks really. We use fans and controlled watering to manage the air and water supply to centre court to achieve a pristine finish,” admits Mr Seaward. “But we’re dealing with 60 hours of play in two weeks. That’s more play than most Premiership football pitches will see in an entire season.”

THE retractable roof over Centre Court, first used on 17 May 2009, is a huge folding concertina of 5,200 square metres of strong, flexible, translucent waterproof material, allowing natural light to reach the grass, while an airflow system removes condensation, to provide the optimum internal environment for spectators and players when the roof is closed.

That means a lot of steel, 1000t in the moving sections alone, all needing to be manoeuvred with millimetre precision for a snug fitting roof. Ten huge wheeled trusses move along a track positioned on the new ‘fixed’ roof of the Centre Court, with a combination of hydraulic jacks and arms moving them apart to unfold and stretch the roof fabric until the two sections meet above the court.

Whilst the roof can be folded into a very compact area when not in use, the steel trusses carrying it need to be robust enough to withstand the elements and carry the weight of the roof across the full 77m span of the court with a clearance of 16 metres to allow for high balls!

To ensure it would all work the entire structure was built on a test site in Sheffield, before finally being erected at the AELTC ahead of the 2009 Wimbledon Championship. It can now close in under 10 minutes, so rain need never delay play for very long again.

With appetites sharpened a Champagne reception was followed by lunch in the Courtside Restaurant. Succulent seared scallops were served with a carrot and cardamom puree, and chervil foam, followed by char-grilled supreme of chicken, sauted Hampshire wild mushrooms and baby roasted potatoes, with panettone bread and butter pudding and clotted cream ice cream to finish.

Wines, both Blossom Hill Explorer Chilean, were Sauvignon Blanc 2008/09 and Shiraz Grenache 2008.

Following lunch, guest of honour Tim Phillips CBE, chairman of the AELTC, spoke eloquently of the club’s history, from its inception in 1868 to today’s Championship event which attracts 450,000 visitors and a global TV audience, with a record prize of £1m each for this year’s men's and ladies' singles champions. All based on “making the best use of grass.”

“The fact we can pay this sort of prize money shows the Championships are successful. It shows we care about the players. Remember that we are in a virtuous circle. We are investing, innovating and trying to make things better. Happily that is reflected in our

12

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

income and that means we can look after all the different constituencies that have an interest in Wimbledon to make it better.”

Like St George, roses, afternoon tea, Big Ben and London, Wimbledon is quintessentially English – and long may it continue to be so!

“Bounce height really is critical, particularly when facing tennis balls served at 120mph” Mike Seward, Wimbledon head groundsman.

HARVEST FESTIVAL SERVICE MEMBERS and guest are warmly invited to the annual Farmers Club Harvest Festival Service at the glorious St-Martin-in-the-Fields

church

off

Trafalgar Square in London on Tuesday 5th October. The service at 5pm will be led by the Bishop of Ely, the Rt. Revd Dr

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

Anthony Russell, with a buffet supper at The Farmers Club afterwards. See application form in the Information Section of this issue of the Journal (p22/23). Details of the Club visit to Sheffield Park Gardens, East Sussex on Tue/Wed 26/27 October are also included on an insert.

13

BANANAS • John Moverley

BANANAS • John Moverley

Bananas offer a fascinating perspective on the impact of world market forces on the fresh produce trade, explains John Moverley.

influence on the international banana market throughout the nineties.

International trade insight from bananas – the world’s top fruit

In addition, demand from the emerging markets of Asia, particularly China, as well as The Russian Federation and Eastern Europe, was also felt to offer great potential, although the economic situation in the Russian Federation, as well as the financial crisis in Asia, meant it was not realised.

“It is clear that in 2009 there was quite a significant price war with certain supermarkets treating bananas as loss leaders to attract customers.”

All these circumstances, together with the sluggish growth of demand in saturated developed markets in the USA and EU meant the expected levels of banana consumption were not achieved.

This resulted in lower banana prices and greater competition between banana distribution companies, which restructured and cut costs accordingly.

After much debate and discussion a new agreement was reached in 2009 to cut EU import tariffs on Latin American bananas from £157/t to about £101/t over six years.

supermarket data shows continued year on year rises in the volume of banana sales and indeed related fruits. But when it comes to pricing, it is clear that in 2009 there was quite a significant price war, with certain supermarkets treating bananas as loss leaders to attract customers.

There will continue to be a growing need for information about fresh fruit products, the available varieties and their sources.

Combined with growing consumer protection rights, this will impact on suppliers, who must ensure these needs are met.

More recently there has been a steep rise in price, with bananas proving particularly vulnerable to currency movements. In the first quarter of 2010 banana prices were 35% up on the same period last year, only partly due to supply issues following the very cold winter throughout Europe.

Recession-proof

The supermarket data also demonstrates that, although there has been some strengthening recently, the demand for organic continues to decline. But Fair Trade banana sales have significantly increased, albeit strongly influenced by the policies of specific supermarkets.

Sainsbury’s, for one, now promotes the fact that it only sells Fair Trade. Interestingly consumer surveys suggest consumer understanding of what Fair Trade really means is very patchy. Many see it as meaning better quality rather than anything to do with ethical purchasing.

Healthy eating BANANAS are the world’s most popular fruit, with over 73 million tonnes grown annually and exports dominating the international fruit trade by volume and ranking only second to citrus by value.

Each year 18 million tonnes of bananas are exported, with the main importers being the European Union (the largest in the world at about 5.5 million tonnes), the United States of America and Japan. Put together these three account for more than 70% of world banana imports.

For decades the traded crop has been subject to all the big drivers of farm commodity markets, namely policy and politics, the impact of supermarkets, quality, currency and the emergence of a marked slow-down in the growth of food sales in the UK, leading to increased retailer competition.

Banana trading has long been embroiled in a range of import regimes and restrictions, which led to some very distinct regional characteristics, compounded by transport costs.

In Europe, traditionally, imports originated from three main sources - first, national 14

Another influencing factor relates to political initiatives across Europe to boost the daily consumption of fruit and vegetables. The impact is slow, but is a major influence, which should lead to increased demand.

production principally in Spain (Canary Islands), France (Guadeloupe and Martinique), Greece and Portugal; secondly, ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries, which were granted preferential access to the European market; and finally the main source, South America.

In the late nineties the international banana market was defined by oversupply, mainly due to the higher availability of export bananas from Ecuador and some other exporting countries.

This oversupply stemmed from expectations generated by the liberalization of the European Union market following the establishment of the EU Banana Regime. In the late eighties and beginning of the nineties, banana marketing companies followed a strategy of expanding their capacities in order to maximize their market shares in the profitable EU market.

The development of the EU Banana Regime and the following dispute and agreement at the WTO, which filled the market with uncertainties and limited the actions of the different banana market operators, had an extremely strong

TOP 5 PRODUCERS

million t

In addition up to £180 million has been allocated to help ACP countries adjust to expected losses.

This agreement has the potential to change matters greatly, as South American bananas are generally produced at lower cost. It opens the European market to the dollar banana countries and major companies, and will undoubtedly impact on the current balance of trade, with further pressure on the ACP countries.

India

22

China

8

Philippines

7.5

Brazil

7.1

Supermarkets

Ecuador

6.0

Back in the UK data collected from supermarkets and wholesale markets highlight some very interesting points. The

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

What is paramount is the importance of quality, a factor set to be even more important in the future. There are clear signs that the more demanding nature of the consumer as regards choice of variety and quality will create conditions eliminating all but higher quality products from the market.

All the signs are that volumes will continue to increase, but there are real indications that this growth may not be as buoyant as might have been predicted say in 2006.

Despite calls for healthy eating and the like, there may well be some transfer to processed fruit products, certainly whilst Europe endures tight financial conditions.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

Research shows that the market for bananas and fresh fruit, along with most agricultural products, is relatively recession proof. Issues impacting on supply and the challenge of supplying enough food to meet the needs of a growing population are acting as a counter balance to economic pressures. We all need to eat.

Whilst there is undoubtedly a trading down in food purchasing patterns, this is not really reflected for bananas and related fruit. Campaigns such as five-a-day in the UK, linked to strong health messages for fruit and vegetable consumption, are a real factor here. Indeed, in times of financial austerity, buying and consuming fruit can often be seen, certainly in the UK, as a luxury that can be afforded.

John Moverley was a speaker at the International Banana and Fruit Forum & Exhibition in Ecuador earlier this year after first speaking there in April 2009.

BANANA PRODUCTION Most producers are small-scale farmers growing the crop either for home consumption or local markets.

Growers for export markets suffer low prices as price competition among grocers has reduced margins, with companies buying huge quantities at massively discounted prices. Chiquita, Del Monte, Dole and Fyffes grow their own bananas in Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. Banana plantations are capital intensive and demand significant expertise.

Most independent growers are large and wealthy landowners in these countries. Producers have attempted to raise prices via marketing initiatives such as Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance-certified.

15

BIODIVERSITY • Charles Abel

BIODIVERSITY • Charles Abel

How to REALLY boost biodiversity

Getting a buzz from bumblebee support

Boosting biodiversity pleases the public and policy-makers alike. But are you making the most of the opportunities on your farm? Charles Abel takes a closer look.

AN ambitious project aims to boost wildlife benefits by creating an incredible 10,000ha of habitat for native wild bee species on farms across the EU.

GRASS strips are a missed opportunity to meet the biodiversity demands of the public and policy-makers. Simply adding a few flower species, and managing them appropriately, can have a huge impact on a farm’s wildlife value.

But many bird species need sustaining through the hungry gap of the winter months too, so winter bird seed cover has great merit. “It’s no good encouraging wildlife in the summer and then leaving it die of hunger in the winter.”

“Grass margins and well maintained hedgerows are important, but they’re not enough,” warns Jim Orson of farm consultancy NIAB-TAG. “Alternative vegetation needs to be established to provide shelter, habitat and food for a broad range of species at key times of the year.”

Sown in the autumn or spring, it should contain both cereal and oily seeds of

Jim Orson, NIAB-TAG

“It’s no good encouraging wildlife in the summer and then leaving it to die of hunger in the winter” Jim Orson. various sizes, and often needs fertilising to achieve the best possible yield to sustain over-wintering birds.

Of the cereals, winter or spring triticale is best at holding its seed over the winter. Spring sown quinoa is easy to grow.

Fodder radish is more robust and holds its seeds longer than kale, but more birds prefer kale. Linseed is recommended where pollen beetle is a problem in spring-sown kale or fodder radish.

Insect rich covers, comprising a cereal with an open/thin canopy (preferably winter or spring triticale) plus other components such as trefoils, mustard, phacelia or linseed, often had less overall wildlife value than any of the preceding sown options.

“Ideally, farms should aim to manage at least 4ha of uncropped land for biodiversity for every 100ha of farmland. It’s what works best for the birds and it’s what the Campaign for the Farmed Environment advocates,” Mr Orson stresses.

Photo: Lucy Hulmes, CEH

The 5-year Farm4Bio trials programme, started in 2006, is helping pinpoint the best ways of achieving that. So far it has shown that narrow strips around fields are more effective in supporting insects than the equivalent area in blocks. The results also show that conventional arable farms often provide as much biodiversity as organic farms.

Natural regeneration, or fallow, only has value if spring cropping has been regularly adopted over recent years so the existing seeds in the soil are dominated by species that are most valuable to biodiversity, including fat hen, common chickweed, polygonums and knot-grass. “It’s a disaster on heavier land. Blackgrass means you should forget it.”

It is an ambition backed by substance. The earlier Operation Bumblebee saw 1300ha of such habitat established in the UK, on over 600 farms, delivering 50% of DEFRA’s requirement for pollen and nectar habitats for this key group of indicator species in one fell swoop, notes project worker Jamie Marshall-Roberts of Syngenta.

“The key is to manage the habitats as a crop, providing a matrix of habitats to meet the bumblebee’s need for feeding, nesting and breeding sites across the farm landscape.” With bumblebee numbers in the UK down 70% over the past 30 years the need for action is clear.

Making more of low-input grassland VAST swathes of farmland entered into the basic ELS scheme are simply failing to deliver any real improvements in biodiversity. But a few management tweaks could change all that, says Ben Woodcock of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

“High residual soil fertility and low seeding from the desirable plant species, mean lowinput grassland options EK2 and 3 are just not having a great benefit on farm biodiversity.”

But most importantly it is showing the huge benefits that stem from alternatives to the standard mown grass strip.

“The best by far of the sown covers we have tried is floristically-enhanced grass, containing species that are robust and easier to establish, such as red clover, bird’s-foot trefoil, knapweed, ox-eye daisy and yarrow, with less competitive fine grasses, such as fescues.” “It has had a very high rate of success in establishment, even in very dry seasons.”

16

Operation Pollinator is using seed mixes of up to 18 essential wildflower species, together with detailed farmer training and advice, to optimise the survival of these pollinator species and even increase populations up to 2013.

At the heart of the project is a mix of native wildflower species ideally suited to sustaining bumblebees. Produced for the UK by Cotswold Seeds it comprises 36% red clover, 20% Alsike clover, 20% birds-foot trefoil, 20% sainfoin, 2% musk mallow and 2% black knapweed. The seed mix is sown at 12kgs/ha and comes in a 1ha pack, costing £138.

Establishing and managing the wildflower mix effectively demands new skills from farmers, so Operation Pollinator translates scientific environmental research into practical on-farm training messages.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

The initiative fits in with ELS, HLS and Campaign for the Farmed Environment objectives and is also being considered for use in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

In trials such mixes, when well established, can lead to over 30 times more bumblebees visiting than habitats that contain no wildflower species. Natural regeneration and conservation headlands also achieved very much lower bee counts.

Significantly, the same pollen and nectarrich species that sustain the bees also underpin all farm-land biodiversity, providing a beneficial “bug factory” in May/early June for farmland birds feeding chicks, Mr Marshall-Roberts comments.

Commercial benefits may arise too.

Pollination by native bees and other

Trials with a £145/ha mix of grasses plus red and white clover and bird’s-foot trefoil boosted bumblebee and butterfly numbers substantially. “Adding legumes brings a massive increase in pollinator species,” enthuses Dr Woodcock. A £230/ha mix including chicory proved even more effective.

Jamie Marshall-Roberts, Syngenta

species can be dramatically increased as a result.”

Shallow cultivations to 5-6cm rather than ploughing to 25-30cm, and ideally strip cultivating so only 40-50% of soil is disturbed, improves germination success and cuts surface run-off, he adds.

But management must be adjusted too. In fertile soils red clover may establish well, but can then die out within 2-3 years. The key is to relax summer mowing or grazing, so key species can establish, flower and set seed. “The survival of key pollinator

Many soils have residual P and K indices as high as 3 and 4, he notes. “We need to develop some relatively simple and low cost management options so these areas become species rich grasslands that can deliver real biodiversity benefits.”

The Wide-scale Enhancement of Biodiversity (WEB) project is already showing that spending a little more on seed and managing such areas more carefully can yield big benefits.

pollinating insects is estimated to be worth over €5bn a year to Europe’s farmers.

Indeed, in France there is a suggestion that establishing such strips around oilseed rape may aid crop pollination and potentially boost yields.

Dr Woodcock believes such approaches could help low-input grassland achieve biodiversity results comparable with the pollen and nectar-rich EF4 option.

Ben Woodcock, CEH

At present this work is still under development as research for DEFRA, but will ultimately feed into the development and future refinement of ELS options.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

17

U30S • Gemma Partridge, Chairman; Patrick Durnford, Vice Chairman; MaryAnne Salisbury, Secretary

U30S • Gemma Partridge, Chairman; Patrick Durnford, Vice Chairman; MaryAnne Salisbury, Secretary

Chairman’s Jottings WE are now well and truly in the Summer Show season and that also signifies the half way point of my year as chairman of the Under 30s, a role which I am thoroughly enjoying and benefiting from hugely.

I recently represented the U30s at the Annual Dinner of the Trehane Trust; an excellent example of the opportunities that exist for young people in the world of dairy farming to travel and spend time conducting research that is both pertinent to them and valuable to the industry as a whole.

In addition to hearing from the Trehane Scholars we were privileged to have as the speaker Nick Mustoe, managing director of Kindred, the communications agency behind the recently launched ‘Make Mine Milk campaign’.

Nick provided a real insight into the world of marketing and the importance of embracing new technologies that are now so abundant within our digital world. It is hoped that the campaign fronted by Gordon Ramsay and Pixie Lott will halt the decline in sales of British milk; surely a worthy cause.

Staying within the confines of the dairy industry, the Under 30s Spring Farm Walk included a visit to the new £2.3 million dairy unit at Harper Adams University College, with a state of the art rotary parlour; a fascinating blend of commercial agriculture, original research and education, as reported by Charles Anyan.

The U30s topic for this edition of the Journal sees Under 30s member Ben Lenton of Cambridge Land Consultants outline the perhaps unforeseen benefits of having an electricity pylon on your farm; an interesting read especially for those who find themselves in such a predicament.

The Under 30s have also been out and about promoting the Club. We hosted a

successful drinks reception at the Royal Agricultural College aimed at promoting the U30s and our active programme of events to its 2010 graduates. We look forward to welcoming some of those in attendance and of course our existing members to our forthcoming Pimm’s and Supper at the Club on Wednesday 11 August and following that, the Autumn Dining Evening on Friday 17 September.

Finally, by the time this journal lands on your doormat, Lizzie, Holly and myself will have completed the British 10k Run in support of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. Thank you to all those who have supported us both financially and morally, and if you would like to donate, there is still time by visiting www.justgiving.com/thegirslfromthefarm Happy harvest and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Gemma Partridge gem.partridge@hotmail.co.uk 07769 930389

Pylon the opportunity for ready cash AN electricity line may be one kind of overhead a landowner may be grateful for. If you have a high voltage electricity line with steel pylons on your farm or estate you may be eligible for a large capital payment from the electricity company.

This stems from the nature of the rights granted by landowners when the lines were originally constructed.

In most instances pylons will have been constructed between the wars or in the 60s or early 70s. Most were constructed by obtaining temporary rights from the landowner. These are terminable and usually in the form of wayleave agreements. Such an agreement will have been in paper form originally, but may not have been renewed as ownerships change.

However, even if a current owner does not have a written agreement, it is normally still possible to terminate it.

When terminated the electricity

18

company potentially has to remove the line.

If they wish the line to remain they have to negotiate a payment reflecting the loss in value of the property caused by the lines or, if the landowner insists on removal, the electricity company has to apply to the Secretary of State for longer term rights at a Wayleave Hearing.

Going to a Wayleave Hearing is expensive for both sides and so it is more usual to negotiate a settlement.

Due to the cost of removal and their necessity as public infrastructure, pylons and lines are effectively permanent structures regardless of the type of agreement. However, there is often a strong opportunity to obtain a large capital payment for the loss in value they cause.

Pylons cause losses because of their visual intrusion and public perceptions about health issues from electromagnetic fields (yet to be fully proven). Pylons also cause additional costs to farming operations.

So how much might you be able to claim?

Shropshire tales from Spring Farm Walk

The amount depends on a range of factors but, provided the pylons are within around 200 metres of the farmhouse (250 metres for the largest), it will generally be a substantial five figure sum and far better than the value of the annual payments currently received. Where pylons run very close to farmhouses it is not uncommon for claims to reach six figures.

It is important to note that it does not matter if a property was bought with full awareness of the lines - and possibly at a discount. It also does not matter if a property was built after the line was constructed. Full claims are still permitted by the legislation.

U30s at West Midlands Shooting Ground.

SHROPSHIRE was the destination for this year’s Spring Farm Walk and with an excellent itinerary it promised to be a fantastic weekend.

The Lion hotel in Shrewsbury was the main base for the weekend and by 7pm on the Friday many members had congregated beside the bar for a well needed pint and catch up! The Lion being a 16th century coaching inn it certainly offered beautiful surroundings for a first taste of Shropshire ale.

That evening we ate at the Golden Cross Hotel just round the corner, where we were

straightforward for the property owner.

However, they must source advice from a specialist in this field as the legislation surrounding electricity lines contains many pitfalls for the unwary.

Ideally use someone on a no win no fee basis, obtain an initial free consultation, and ensure that they have the experience to take matters to a Wayleave Hearing if required. This way there is nothing to lose in exploring the opportunity and you may have stumbled across a very lucrative opportunity.

Ben Lenton is a rural practice chartered surveyor who runs a firm specialising in electricity matters. www.cambridgelandconsultants.com

It is also important to note that pylon lines crossing land with potential for development can cause significant losses to development values. Large claims can arise because land is sterilised for building along the route of the line and pylons are unsightly to anything built alongside.

Claiming

compensation

can

be

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Payments may be due

Scott Kirby (right), farm manager at Harper Adams

privileged to have the upstairs function room all to ourselves. It was quite unlike any function room many of us had seen before, an extremely old and ornate dining room, with a sloping floor and timbered ceiling; it really was an architectural gem. An excellent evening was rounded off by a visit to one of Rhydian’s haunts, the aptly named Nag’s Head.

After a well needed breakfast on Saturday we set off for the Harper Adams campus for a tour of the new dairy unit, which was opened in 2009. Scott Kirby, our guide, explained that it currently houses 400 cows and serves both as a working unit and a valuable resource for students, where various studies can be undertaken. Many of the under 30s on the day were not dairy farmers and we all found it very interesting, especially the rotary parlour and the plans for an anaerobic digester. Many thanks must go to Harper Adams for being so accommodating.

Lunchtime saw us progress to the Battlefield farm shop and café, just north of Shrewsbury, where owner Joyce Jagger described all the planning hoops that had to be jumped through, since this was on the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury. After a beautiful ploughman’s lunch we had the opportunity to have a wander around; the quality and variety of products in the farm shop was second to none! It is certainly a place to visit if you’re ever in the area.

After lunch we moved on to the West Midlands Shooting Ground at Hodnet, for an afternoon of clay pigeon shooting.

Divided into three groups with six different stands to negotiate some found it all rather easier than others! The shooting ground is extremely picturesque, with the hills and woodland making it an ideal place for such a setup. The eventual winner was Patrick Durnford.

On our return to Shrewsbury a few of us made our way down to the river to watch the

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

regatta; a cup of tea whilst watching the rowing was a welcome way to relax after a rewarding day and prepare for a busy night ahead.

The Peach Tree restaurant and C21 nightclub was our destination for the evening, where some of us enjoyed such delicacies as black pudding and Scotch egg.

The food was fantastic and the atmosphere made it a great environment in which to chat, swap notes and get to know one another. After dinner we headed to the VIP bar where we sipped Champagne and listened to the resident pianist before showing off our moves on the dance floor.

Sunday saw us visit the Sansaw estate, where owner James Thompson showed us round the ‘Pavilions’, an eco friendly office complex inside an old walled garden.

Novel techniques had been used to build an extremely James Thompson, modern and managing director sustainable office of Sansaw Estate. unit suitable for a small firm or multinational company. We also visited the farm, which is organic and includes a pig unit, giving the farmers amongst us an excellent opportunity to question James on the merits of organic farming.

Overall the weekend was a fantastic occasion; many thanks go to all our wonderful hosts who by giving up their time made it all possible. My final thanks go to Rhydian Scurlock-Jones whose excellent organisational skills meant everyone left Shropshire with some great memories and some new friends!

Charles Anyan

19

OLYMPICS • Charles Abel

RAMBLINGS • Stephen Skinner

Best of British food for Olympic feast delighted LOCOG is committed to sourcing Red Tractor certified food that represents high standards of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection. This initiative provides a great opportunity to communicate an extremely positive message that the food provided to everyone involved in the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will be fully traceable and has been produced to strict standards from farm to pack.”

Food Mountains

Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell backs British food at the 2012 Olympics. Will you be supplying? Let us know by emailing editor@thefarmersclub.com

AS it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging London 2012 the snappily named London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has set the Red Tractor standard as the benchmark across meat, fruit, vegetables, salads, cereals and dairy.

All dairy products, beef, lamb and poultry must be British or of equivalent British standard.

In addition, bananas, tea, coffee and sugar will be Fairtrade or ethically sourced and traditional British cheese such as cheddar must be British. Eggs will be British Lion mark free range and RSPCA Freedom Food Certified chicken will be available.

“We want to ensure everyone at the Games has a fantastic experience and key to that is the food and drink that’s available – we want it to be affordable, sustainable and celebrating the fantastic diversity and quality of what Britain has to offer,” comments London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton.

LOCOG is now mounting a major push to secure suppliers for the running of the Games, including food provision, with most contracts set to be awarded during 2010 and 2011. Opportunities exist for suppliers of all sizes and all locations, alongside Games partners Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Cadbury.

In line with London 2012’s sustainability commitments, the London 2012 Food Vision sets out the most challenging benchmark and aspirational standards for 20

food sourcing ever set by a summer Games, produced in consultation with the London 2012 Food Advisory Group, which includes representatives from DEFRA, Food Standards Agency, the National Farmers Union and Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food and Farming.

“As well as the millions of ticket holders and spectators, the Organising Committee is also responsible for feeding more than 15,000 athletes across both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games,” notes Olympic gold medallist and London 2012 Sustainability Ambassador James Cracknell.

“When you’re an athlete at a Games, you want to know that the right food is available at the right time – it’s a vital part of your preparation. The approach being taken for the food provision at London 2012 is the same for both athletes and spectators – responsibly sourced and ensuring a wide choice.”

NFU president Peter Kendall welcomes LOCOG's decision to back British farmers, saying: “London 2012 is often described as the largest peace-time catering operation in the world and I’m very pleased LOCOG recognises the important role UK farmers will play in providing 14 million high quality meals during this time.”

OVER 14 million meals will be served during London 2012, across 40 locations, including 15,000 athletes, requiring an estimated 25,000 loaves of bread, 232t potatoes, 82t seafood, 31t poultry, 100t of meat, 75,000litres milk, 19t eggs, 21t cheese, 330t fruit and vegetables. Seize this once-in-alifetime opportunity by signing up at www.competefor.com, the online business dating agency, where awarded contracts, shortlisted companies and procurement opportunities are all listed.

Ulster Show makes fine start to summer's regional events THE summer show season kicked off at The Royal Ulster Show with a dinner for Club members and guests which, as ever, proved to be enormous fun, with a wonderful mix of laughter, earnest intelligent discussion and good friends.

Our guest speaker was the hugely impressive Matt Dempsey, editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, and a Club member for more than 40 years. He spoke eloquently and insightfully on the differences he sees between the Irish and British farmer’s approach to farming and interestingly, how agriculture in Ireland is now appreciated by the wider public and finally, on the EU and its influence on the sector.

Robin Morrow, president of the Royal Ulster Show and a Club member, took the podium at the end and, as ever, spoke generously in his praise of the Club, our speaker and of course, our Chairman.

In June the Club held a successful breakfast briefing at the Cereals Event near Royston, Herts, where former NFU arable chairman and Club stalwart Richard Butler encouraged members and

Nuffield scholars to address fast moving market prices.

Further events at the South of England and a reception at Royal Highland and Norfolk Shows followed, plus a dinner at the Royal Welsh Show and another reception at the CLA Game Fair. It makes for a busy time – but it is a marvellous opportunity to meet existing and prospective members alike.

Back in London the Club was particularly fortunate to be able to welcome Charles Wilson, chief executive of the Booker Group, the UK’s leading food wholesaler, a Club member and son of past chairman Eric Wilson. In his address Charles showed that not only did he have a hugely detailed knowledge and understanding of his business but also, a very impressive ability to draw the broader strategic lessons from a welter of information.

Mont Blanc Agri Ascent 2010 FIVE farming enthusiasts are aiming to conquer Mont Blanc this July to raise funds for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) and Macmillan Cancer Support (Addenbrookes). The team tackling the 4,810m peak, the highest in Western Europe, and seen here training in Cumbria, includes Farmers Club member Alastair Pawsey of North Hertfordshire Farmers, Richard Warburton of Bidwells Agribusiness, Andrew Crossley of Trumpington Farm Company, Paul Foster of UAP and Jonathan Bland of Manor Farm Feeds.

To support their endeavour contact mandy.seymore@bidwells.co.uk

Selection of the Red Tractor scheme as the benchmark for food supplies to London 2012 should bring a lasting legacy for the sector, adds David Clarke, chief executive of Assured Food Standards. “We are THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

The Club will be at the RABDF Dairy Event and Livestock Show on September 7th and 8th. Now in its 134th year the event is the UK’s largest livestock trade show with over 450 exhibitors attracting over 14,000 visitors from all parts of the UK, plus international visitors from over 30 different countries.

This year's event is at Birmingham's NEC, with direct access from the M42 and M6, and Birmingham International airport and railway station are just a 10-15 minute under cover walk away. New colour-coded zones will also make it easy for visitors to find their way around the exhibits, which cover beef, sheep and goat farming as well dairying.

The Chairman and I will man our stand there and look forward to meeting both current and prospective members. Do bring along friends and/or colleagues who you think would enjoy what the Club unquestionably has to offer. For more information visit www.dairyevent.co.uk

2011 cruise on Rhine

Matt Dempsey, Irish Farmers Journal

Robin Morrow, Ulster Show Society

Plans are being made for a Club cruise on the River Rhine in late May next year.

Starting from Dusseldorf the five night tour will include agricultural visits as the specially chartered vessel travels through Germany and the Netherlands to glorious Amsterdam. We have an upper limit of 120 participants, so do let me know if this is of interest.

Alternatives on offer when Club rooms fully booked While like practically every business in this sector, times are not as buoyant as they have been in those Halcyon days of 2 or 3 years ago, it is true to say that our room occupancy remains incredibly high. Of course, this does inevitably mean frustration and/or disappointment for those of you who need to book at the last moment, and for that I apologise. But we do try to help whenever we can.

If we are full, Hamid Khaldi, our accommodation manager, may well be able to book you into either the Civil Service Club, the East India Club or the Caledonian Club, all of whom we have reciprocal arrangements with, albeit you will have to pay their prices.

In my meeting members both here in the Club and out and about at the various shows, I regularly get comments or

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

requests as to what people do or do not want. In the main, these comments are incredibly useful, but I do appreciate that I only get to meet a relatively small proportion of members. Thus, in an effort to capture the many good ideas that I am sure are out there, could I ask you to either email me at secretariat@thefarmersclub.com with your ideas, or, why not give me a call? In my view, feedback is essential if we are going to provide what you want for your Club.

21

Club Information & Diary Dates

THE FARMERS CLUB

The Secretariat 020 7930 3751

THE FARMERS CLUB Over 160 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL

Patron – Her Majesty The Queen VICE PRESIDENTS Peter Jackson CBE, Roddy Loder-Symonds Sir David Naish DL, John Parker

Diary Dates 2010 These dates are reviewed for every Journal. Please read them on each occasion, as they are sometimes revised and additional dates included.

Details of events circulated in the previous issues are available from the Secretariat at the telephone number shown above.

Club Information 020 7930 3751

Further information is available on The Farmers Club Website www.thefarmersclub.com To register for the Members’ Area, enter your membership number as shown on the top line of the address label of your Journal and then create your username and password.

Subscriptions 2011

Agricultural Attaché C D O’Suilleabhain

Embassy of Ireland

Whitehall Court C C Auld

London

J D G Barclay

London

Dr S C Chapman

London

Dress Code

Obituaries It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members:

Members are requested to advise their guests of the

W Darling A Glaskin C Gotto G Hamilton-Fletcher Mrs R Reeves

• Gentlemen must wear formal jackets and ties on

Gloucestershire Devon Surrey Wiltshire Surrey

New Members

Under 30s Miss E K Atkinson Miss M C Bell W Benbow P A Blennerhassett L E Deering Miss L Dickinson T Lockton T G Newey Miss A Unwin Miss I L Wingfield Miss S C E Young

22

weekdays. Polo-neck jerseys, jeans and trainers are not acceptable.

• There is a Club jacket and a selection of ties at Reception which may be borrowed in an emergency.

• Ladies should be dressed conventionally. Trousers

The following were elected in April, May and June 2010: J E Allright A S Ballard I Boardman L Brookes J E Cheer P I Cornish Mrs J Cundy C B Dingwall S M Foster A Fox MBE M S Gibson R C Hack R C Hartland C J Hayfield J H G Heller N J Huxtable S Irvine S Livesey A McCollum J Mills Mrs V Oliver J Scott N D Shorter P J Smart A Snodgrass G M Taylor W G Vasilieff R C Vestentoft M J Warner Dr B M Q Weaver Mr J Wheatley Miss E Wise

following:

Hampshire Kent Kent Northamptonshire Lincolnshire Kent Northamptonshire Oxfordshire Yorkshire Staffordshire Nottinghamshire Hampshire Cornwall Buckinghamshire Yorkshire Suffolk Antrim Leicestershire Norfolk Surrey Gloucestershire Shetland Hampshire Gloucestershire Shropshire Somerset Gloucestershire Sussex Suffolk Somerset Somerset Suffolk

are permitted but not casual slacks, jeans or trainers during the week.

Annual Subscriptions Town Single Town Family Country Single Country Family Under 30 Single (26-29) Under 30 Family (26-29) Under 30 Single (18-25) Under 30 Family (18-25) Overseas Single Overseas Family

£330.00 £360.00 £235.00 £265.00 £120.00 £130.00 £78.00 £88.00 £235.00 £265.00

Associate – Whitehall Court Single Family

£330.00 £360.00

• Smart casual dress may be worn from 6pm Friday to midnight Sunday, smart clean jeans and trainers permitted.

• Children should conform with the above guidelines.

• Members must advise their guests of the dress regulations.

Associate – Forty Club Town Single Town Family Country Single Country Family

£330.00 £360.00 £235.00 £265.00

Business Suite This facility is situated on the Club floor in the old House

Entrance Fees For all categories except Under 30s

£255.00

Manager’s office and gives members an opportunity to use a laptop, the Club PCs or their mobile phones in a tailor made environment. The use of a laptop is therefore no longer allowed in the public rooms and must now be restricted to the Business Suite.

Parking The Club has no private parking at Whitehall Court and metered parking in the immediate area is extremely limited. The nearest public car park, open 24 hours a day, is situated in Spring Gardens off Cockspur Street, approximately 5 minutes walk from the Club.

Life Membership Age 31 – 36 36 – 41 41 – 46 46 – 51 51 – 56 56 – 61 61 – 66 66 – 71 Over 71

Amount £6850 £6250 £5700 £5000 £4400 £3900 £3150 £2350 £1700

Telephone: 0800 243 348. The Congestion Charge can be paid at this car park.

Mobile Phones, Briefcases and Business Meetings Mobile phones must not be used in the Public Rooms.

Briefcases should be left in the Cloakrooms and Business meetings must be conducted in a private room. Members should speak with the Meetings

Lincolnshire Rutland Shropshire London Leicestershire Warwickshire Hampshire Kent Cumberland Shropshire Wiltshire

The Committee has decided that the rates of subscription due on 01 January 2011 will be as follows:

Manager for details.

Envelopes Sponsorship The Farmers Club would like to thank Agrovista UK for renewing its sponsorship of the Journal envelopes.

Agrovista is the leading research-based agronomy advice and product supply company providing solutions for arable, fruit & vegetable growers throughout the UK. For more information about the company, go to www.agrovista.co.uk.

Members who have completed Mandates need take no action.

Direct

Debit

CLA Game Fair Reception, Ragley Hall, Alcester Saturday 24 July Application form was in the Summer Journal Dairy Event and Livestock Show, NEC Birmingham Tuesday 7 & Wednesday 8 September Westmorland County Show Reception Thursday 9 September Application form was in the Summer Journal Club Visit to Cumbria Tuesday 21 & Wednesday 22 September Application form was in the Spring Journal

FULL

HARVEST FESTIVAL SERVICE AND BUFFET SUPPER TUESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2010

Harvest Festival Service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields followed by Buffet Supper at the Club Tuesday 5 October at 5pm Preacher: The Rt. Revd. Dr Anthony Russell, The Bishop of Ely Application form in this Journal (see below) Visit to Sheffield Park Garden, East Sussex Tuesday 26 & Wednesday 27 October Application form in this Journal Annual General Meeting Wednesday 8 December at 12 noon in the Club

CLUB CLOSURES 2010 Wednesday 22 December – no afternoon, bar or dinner 3.00pm Thursday 23 December to 3.00pm Tuesday 4 January 2011

The Club will be holding its annual Harvest Festival Service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Tuesday 5 October. The Service starts at 5pm; our Preacher this year will be The Rt. Reverend Dr Anthony Russell, Bishop of Ely. Do please come and join us for this important and enjoyable event in the Club calendar. All Club members and their guests are most welcome. Our traditional Harvest Festival Supper will be held afterwards in the Club from 7pm, costing £28.00 per person, including wine.

Please complete in CAPITALS WITH FIRST NAME and return to The Secretary, The Farmers Club, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL Tel. 020 7930 3751 email: generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com

THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB FOR 2010 PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN Nicki Quayle TRUSTEES Mark Hudson (Chairman), Barclay Forrest OBE Mrs Susan Kilpatrick OBE, Norman Shaw CBE VICE-CHAIRMAN Richard Holland HONORARY TREASURER Paul Heygate IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN John Reynolds COMMITTEE Elected 2005 Charles Notcutt OBE Elected 2006 Stewart Houston CBE, Meurig Raymond MBE Elected 2007 Tim Bennett, Mrs Anne Chamberlain (Chairman Journal & Communications Sub-Committee) James Cross, Richard Harrison Campbell Tweed OBE, Mrs Teresa Wickham Elected 2008 The Reverend Dr Gordon Gatward OBE Jimmy McLean (Chairman Membership SubCommittee), David Richardson OBE, John Wilson Elected 2009 Richard Butler (Chairman House Sub-Committee) John Stones Elected 2010 David Leaver, Martin Taylor Co-opted Miss Gemma Partridge (Chairman Under 30s) Patrick Durnford (Vice Chairman Under 30s) THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST TRUSTEES John Kerr MBE JP DL (Chairman), James Cross Vic Croxson DL, Stephen Fletcher Mrs Stella Muddiman JP, The Chairman and Immediate Past Chairman of the Club (ex officio) Chief Executive and Secretary Air Commodore Stephen Skinner Deputy Secretary Robert Buckolt Club Chaplain The Reverend Nicholas Holtam 020-7766 1121 Bedroom & Dining Room Reservations 020-7930 3557 Accounts 020-7925 7101 Membership 020-7925 7102 Private Function & Meeting Room Reservations 020-7925 7100 Secretariat 020-7930 3751 Personal calls for members only 020-7930 4730

Reciprocal Clubs UK Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh

I would like to reserve ……… tickets for the Buffet Supper.

Fax 020-7839 7864

OVERSEAS The Western Australian Club, Perth, Australia (Bedrooms not reciprocated) Queensland Club, Brisbane, Australia Royal Dublin Society, Dublin, Ireland (Bedrooms not reciprocated) The Muthaiga Country Club, Nairobi, Kenya The Harare Club, Harare, Zimbabwe The Christchurch Club, Christchurch, New Zealand The Canterbury Club, Christchurch, New Zealand

Cheque enclosed for £........... [payable The Farmers Club].

Address ………………...……………………………………………………………………….

E-mails secretariat@thefarmersclub.com accounts@thefarmersclub.com membership@thefarmersclub.com functions@thefarmersclub.com meetings@thefarmersclub.com reception@thefarmersclub.com reservations@thefarmersclub.com u30s@thefarmersclub.com events@thefarmersclub.com

................................................................ Post Code...............................................

Website www.thefarmersclub.com

Members wishing to visit any of the above Clubs must obtain an introductory card from the Secretariat. To see their contact details, go to www.thefarmersclub.com and click on links at the foot of the home page.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Members Name .......................................................................................................

Guest (limit 1).......................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................................

Telephone Number ...................................................................................................

Email....................................................................................................................... www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2010

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Editor and Advertisement Manager Charles Abel 07795 420692 Email: editor@thefarmersclub.com Printed by Pureprint Group, Brambleside, Bellbrook Park Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 1PL Tel: 01825 768811