New year 2010

The Farmers Club, in conjunction with the RASE and the Royal Agricultural College, invites you to a Conference entitled

“Soil and Soil Management” On Wednesday 3 February 2010 At the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Glos GL7 6JS Sponsored by Yara UK Ltd The event will be chaired by John Reynolds of The Farmers Club and will be based on the RASE “Practice with Science” Group’s Report: ‘The Current Status of Soil & Water Management in England’ Guest speakers will include:

Prof Gordon Spoor, formerly of Silsoe College, ‘Report outline and response to comments on the Report’ Prof Keith Goulding, Rothamsted Research ‘The Current Status of Soils: a Researcher’s Views’ Mark Tucker, of Yara UK Ltd ‘Using soil analysis and other techniques for correcting soil variability’ Alastair Leake, of the Soil Management Initiative ‘A practical farmer’s experience of soil and water management’ Philip Wright, of Wright Resolutions Engineering Consultancy ‘Cultivations and Soil Structure’ Coffee/Tea will be provided from 3.30pm and the conference will commence at 4.00pm and conclude with a hot buffet supper at 7.30pm. The cost of a ticket for the Conference, including coffee/tea on arrival and buffet supper with wine will be £25.00. If you have any questions, or would like to book a place please contact: MaryAnne Salisbury on 020-7930 3751, or email events@thefarmersclub.com.

Nicki Quayle and husband David First lady Chairman of The Farmers Club INSIDE… Application forms for: • Concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields Saturday 20 March • St George’s Day Lunch, Wimbledon Friday 23 April Details on back cover about: • Soils and Soil Management Seminar, Royal Agricultural College Wednesday 3 February Please note your individual Club membership number, printed on your Journal envelope.

You will need it to access the members’ section of the Club website at www.thefarmersclub.com

25

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • Nicki Quayle

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • Nicki Quayle

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

contents

Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

2

Chairman’s Comments Nicki Quayle introduces herself, explains her farming background, past and present, and the many other credentials that have led to her becoming the Club’s first lady Chairman.

4

Fresh Berry Success Professor David Hughes describes proudly how the British fresh berry industry has gone from strength and what must be done to keep it that way.

6

8

Huge challenges facing farming in what promises to be a momentous year ahead Reynolds, and his wife Janet, for all their tremendous hard work and commitment last year to ensure the continuing success of the Club. As my year commences, I look forward to working with not only our excellent and hard working staff, who make the Club so special, but also with my fellow Committee members and Trustees.

Transferring Knowledge SAC Farm Business Services consultant Colin Dargie used a Club Charitable Trust bursary to study knowledge transfer in New Zealand.

Planning Permission Ray Williams of ADAS looks into why getting planning permission is becoming increasingly difficult and ways to help ensure a successful application.

I would particularly like to welcome the new members who will be joining our Committee this year, namely Professor David Leaver and Martin Taylor; along with Tim Bennett, Anne Chamberlain, James Cross, Richard Harrison, Campbell Tweed and Teresa Wickham, who have been re-elected for a further term.

10 Training for the Future Kate Brannan explains the vital role of Lantra in ensuring land-based industries have sufficient people trained to the highest of standards.

12 Superb Club Events Don Gomery and Stephen Skinner report respectively on Club lunches held at the House of Lords and in Edinburgh to commemorate St Andrew’s Day. 14 Calf Rearing in Canada David Bell, Senior Technician at the SAC Dairy Research Centre, Dumfries, used a Club Charitable Trust bursary to study calf rearing in British Columbia, Canada 16 Money from Farm Waste Jo Paterson tells how U30s’ member Tom Spilman has set up a company which installs anaerobic digestion plants that convert farm waste into electricity and heat.

17 John Harris Peter Bell pays tribute to Club Vice President and Past Chairman John Harris OBE MC, who died in October.

18 Under 30s 20 Ladies Lunch Lunch speaker Anne Main MP urges more women to go into politics.

21 Whitehall Court Ramblings 22 Information and Diary Dates 24 Back Cover An invitation to attend the Club Soil and Soil Management Conference at the Royal Agriculture College, Cirencester, on Wednesday 3 February.

FRONT COVER Nicki Quayle, first lady Chairman of The Club, with husband David

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.

2

MAY I start by wishing you all a very happy and prosperous New Year. I trust you are all suitably rested following the festivities and ready to tackle the forthcoming year and your business with a renewed drive and enthusiasm.

For me, the New Year always brings with it that feeling of a new beginning, where everything is possible and when one undertakes new ventures and opportunities. No more so than for me this year, when I have the huge honour and privilege to serve you as your Chairman.

As many of you who have visited the Committee Room at Whitehall Court will know, the walls are lined with the portraits of my predecessors and I am very conscious that I have a hard act to follow.

One past Chairman in particular, I fear, will be keeping his beady eyes on me, and that is my husband David, who was Chairman of the Club in 2003. He tells me he’s going to change his name to Dennis Thatcher and walk three paces behind with a gin and tonic in his hand.

It was during David’s year as Chairman that Club Vice President John Parker suggested I stand for the Committee. Having initially laughed off the idea, the more I thought about it the more I realised that the Club has been such a major part of my life, as well as somewhere I hold most dear, that I felt the need to give something back in return. I was lucky enough to be elected, and rest, as they say, is history.

I cannot go any further before I pay tribute to my immediate predecessor, John

Many of you may will have heard the sad news that John Harris OBE MC, who was a Vice President of our Club, died at the age of 95 in October last year. On behalf of all our members I would like to send our sincere respects to John’s family and to pay tribute to such an honourable, bright and brave man who gave such support and commitment to The Farmers Club over many years. It is said that, as an Army Officer, he led his men from the front, and all lucky enough to know him will realise just how typical this was of the man.

My background So who am I? Well, I was born and raised in Sussex, on my parents’ farm.

Disappointingly for my parents, although I was the first female for several generations, I was a real ‘tomboy’. There was nothing I liked better than to be out and about on the farm, be it milking cows, helping with the harvest or down at the piggery… this latter being a real ‘no, no’ with my mother for, as many of you will know, the smell rather lingers!

Following the formal part of my education, I went to work for the National Farmers Union in Knightsbridge, initially in the Livestock Department which, at the time, also incorporated Hill Farming and Animal Health. Later I joined the Milk Department, and remember clearly the controversial introduction of quotas. It’s amazing how one gets used to such things, and now it’s now equally controversial when there is talk of quota removal.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Soon the spirit of adventure was calling and I left the NFU to travel solo for a year on a working holiday, visiting the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

With the wanderlust sated, I returned home and back to the NFU, this time into the Horticultural Department, dealing particularly with the organisation of the British Growers Look Ahead (BGLA)) Conference, held annually in Harrogate.

It was a thoroughly rewarding experience, working in a small team headed by Tony Harris. However, it wasn’t to last, as another gentleman led me astray up to the ‘wilds of the north’, Cumbria. A few years later David and I were married, and here I remain.

While working at NFU HQ I came to know a certain Richard Macdonald. I guess with hindsight it was no surprise that he rose through the ranks of the NFU to become Director General and has since become on of the most respected figures in UK agriculture. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for the tremendous work and dedication he has given to the industry.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard here for the tremendous work and dedication he has given to the agricultural industry and to wish him well in his retirement. As to his successor, Kevin Roberts, who will be taking the helm later this year, we wish him every success as he faces the tough challenges of today.

Orton within our parish. It was rather a baptism of fire to be thrown into the limelight dealing with MAFF/DEFRA, local authorities, the EA, to name a few, and the politics associated with all that.

Happily, times moved on and the memories dimmed slightly. We restocked and life resumed some sort of normality. Sadly, several years later, we made the tough decision to sell the herd, following David’s ill-health forcing him to take life easier .

Although David’s older family - John, Susan and Victoria - had all flown the nest, we kept the farm in case our two boys, Ben and Doug, currently studying veterinary medicine at Glasgow, decide to come home, as ‘frustrated vets’ often do. Life is certainly different now; we still miss the cows, but probably not the delights of calving a heifer on a cold winters night!

We currently have a contract farming agreement with a neighbour, wintering dairy youngstock and growing cereals.

Who would have believed that we would have yet another wet summer (15” in August alone). Thankfully, a dry back end allowed us to keep stock out until the end of October and to finish the harvest, and as I write this in mid-November our winter crops are looking good.

Whether one believes in climate change or not, our weather patterns are certainly in disarray, with the torrential wet weather in West Cumbria – 12.3” in 24 hours – surpassing all recorded levels. The horrendous impact on families and businesses will be felt for a long time to come, and our hearts go out to them.

Climate change is, without doubt, an issue we all need to address. However, I was angered by Lord Stern’s suggestion that we all become vegetarian (though I accept it would help some parts of our industry).

Had he proposed we stopped flying to distant shores for our holidays, I would suggest that this would have a greater impact not only on our carbon footprint but would also improve the UK economy!

It will be interesting to see if any agreements reached in Copenhagen are both achievable and sustainable.

I have tried to organise a varied programme throughout my year, as you will see from the Diary Dates at the back of this Journal, and I do hope you will find something which appeals. David and I very much look forward to meeting as many of you as possible, either in the Club or when we are travelling the length and breadth of the country to regional events and shows.

Farming partnership I farm in partnership with David a 250-acre farm in NW Cumbria. At our peak we were milking 230 pedigree Holstein Friesians plus followers, and growing maize, wheat and barley for our own use. While David was National NFU Treasurer in London, I managed to put the NCA which I had achieved from Newton Rigg, our local agricultural college, to good use by keeping the farm ticking along.

There were several ups and downs, but the worst was losing our herd during the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic. It was a traumatic experience and exacerbated by the fact that I was Chairman of Aikton Parish Council at the time, with the largest burial site at Great

Ian Pigott wins The Farmers Club Cup Ian Pigott has won The Farmers Club Cup, awarded annually on the recommendation of the Club Chairman and Committee to a person or organisation that has made an outstanding contribution to UK agriculture. The founder of Open Farm Sunday – which with the help of LEAF involved 200 farms in its 2006 pilot year, swelling to 6,000 farmer-helpers attracting 150,000 visitors in 2009 – is seen here (right) being presented with the prestigious Cup by then Club Chairman John Reynolds at a Whitehall Court wine-tasting dinner on 4 December.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

3

SOFT FRUIT • Professor David Hughes

SOFT FRUIT • Professor David Hughes

Great British success story as fresh berries go from strength to strength costs have been increasing at a rate remorselessly greater than crop profitability, eroding net returns and causing growers to question the balance between risks and financial rewards.

Clearly, there is a need to address picking productivity, and the trend towards using rig-based picking equipment on larger berry enterprises is indicative of this.

The impressive growth of domestic production for both strawberries and raspberries has been underpinned in no small part to the introduction of polythenecovered tunnels. More than 90% of the berry crop is now under high ‘Spanish’ tunnels, up from less than 50% in 2000.

Jubilee – Britain’s premier strawberry variety

WHEN it comes to fruit production and fruit consumption, the UK lingers in the lower leagues of Europe: we import close to 90% of the fruit we consume, and the further north one travels, the less likely fresh fruit is to be part of the diet… indeed, Scottish males are more prone to do needle point than munch an apple or pear.

Yet, within this veritable fruit desert, berry fruit domestic production and consumption has flourished, particularly over the past decade.

At around 3kg per person, consumption of fresh berries is modest compared with the most frequently eaten fruit, bananas, followed by apples and citrus. However, the combined retail sales value1 of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries is close to £700 million, only a snip behind the leader, apples.

Fresh strawberries comprise 60% of berry sales value, with raspberries at 19%, blueberries at 17% and blackberries at 4%.

Around 90% of fresh berries are sold via the top seven retail supermarket chains. Long gone are the days when ‘pick-your-own’ was a significant force in the market place.

Back in 2000, we produced 16,000 tonnes of strawberries in the UK, while by 2009 this had blossomed to 55,000 tonnes. Over the same period, raspberry production has multiplied seven times, from around 1,000 tonnes in 2000 to 7,000 tonnes in 2009.

4

Imports of fresh berries have increased, too, but at a more modest rate: in 2009, strawberry imports were 40,000 tonnes and raspberry imports 7,000 tonnes. Our home-produced market share for strawberries was 40% in 2000, rising to 58% in 2009. Back in 2000, there were virtually no imported raspberries but, now, we consume equal amounts of domestic and foreign fruit.

Marketing characteristics Of the 4.5 million hectares of cropped land in the UK, a tiny 6,000 hectares (0.1%) is taken up by fresh berries, principally strawberries (4,500ha) and raspberries (1,500ha). Mind you, a 40ha fresh berry enterprise produces approximately the same farm sales value as a 4,000ha combinable crop farm.

Like other high-value horticultural crops, berry farming has a high proportion of total costs directly related to production. In technical parlance, variable costs can account for 75-90% of all expenses, compared with 30-45% for a combinable cropping business2. Thus, the opportunity for gaining economies of scale through spreading overhead costs over more turnover are limited in the fresh berry business.

Labour costs (crop establishment, picking, etc) range between 55-70% for strawberries. Over the past decade, labour

In their absence, the production growth would not have happened. The British fresh berry season has been lengthened and, most importantly, there is much greater predictability of domestic supply, which has given retailers the confidence to replace imported fruit with home-grown berries.

The increasing technological sophistication of berry production has brought with it the need for better on-farm management and significant capital investment. For example: • a three year June/July-bearing strawberry crop requires per hectare expenditure of £175,000 for crop establishment, husbandry, harvesting, marketing and overheads, and 40ha-plus farms are increasingly the norm… ie, bringing a total investment in excess of £7 million; • and this figure pales vis-à-vis a table top system of production, which would require substantially more finance over the 10-year life of the investment.

Fresh berry enterprise profitability is particularly sensitive to, first, farm gate price and, second, to yields. In real terms, prices have seen little or no growth over the past few years, underlining the need for berry farmers to be strongly represented in the tough UK retail market.

There are four principal supply and marketing groups channelling farmers’ produce through to the consumer in the main domestic season. BerryGardens Limited, a wholly-owned marketing company of the farmer co-operative KGG3, is the leading supplier of strawberries and raspberries from May through to October.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Eligible for European Union Producer organisation (PO) funding, the farmer cooperative provides its 78 members with, among other things: • strong, but fair, representation with the tough, powerful supermarket firms that dominate the UK fresh produce retailing environment; • quality control services and substantial technical support to improve on-farm productivity; • a benchmarking service whereby members can check their own on-farm performance across a range of production activities with their fellow farmer owners; • a comprehensive R&D programme aimed at producing market-winning varieties for members in the future; • an exclusive link with the world’s leading fresh berry breeder to provide access with unique varieties to the UK’s premium fresh berry market segments; • in-depth understanding of consumer and customer requirements and trends through investment in market research; • partnerships with overseas growers to provide retail customers with 52-week coverage for fresh berries; • a share-holding in a grower-owned business that has increasing value to shareholders as the marketing business grows and prospers.

Key issues Coping with recession. Fresh berries have shown market resilience during the difficult recessionary period. Retail sales value in 2009 was 6.5% above 2008, with blueberry and blackberry sales markedly strong. Fresh berries are seen as an ‘affordable treat’ by many consumers and, in the economic gloom, they have been a welcome ray of light at snack or meal times.

However, expanding domestic production of fruit contributes towards meeting several key national objectives, namely: • health-related and contributing towards national ‘5-a-day’ fruit and vegetable consumption targets; • climate change/environment-related, to be simplistic, in reducing ‘food miles’, and being consonant with the ‘eat seasonally’ exhortations of the government; • through crop coverage reducing pesticide usage and increasing the efficiency of water management; • contributing to reduction in the food import bill through expanded domestic production.

It would be a classic case of the nation shooting itself in the foot if over-zealous planning regulations for tunnels were to stop high-value investment in fresh berries in its tracks and cause farmers to exit this buoyant sector.

Overseas labour usage. Almost all field labour used in establishing and harvesting fresh berries comes from offshore. The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) has worked well and, in many countries is viewed as “best practice”.

In the longer-term, complete reliance on imported labour is unsustainable and, without doubt, will lead to a technological solution of which the emergence of picking rigs is just one small step.

Declining real returns in fresh berry production. As real prices for fresh berries decline and farm returns falter in the face of

rising costs and higher investment risk, the challenge for berry farmers is the same as for all other sectors: to have a profound understanding of customer, shopper and consumer wants for our products; to drive down costs remorselessly; to increase productivity; to innovate not just with new products but, also, in finance and in supply chain management; and to remain a strong supplier in the face of increasing retail concentration.

EU financial support to the horticultural sector. Indubitably, the EU ‘PO’ programme for the berry producing sector has been influential in assisting expansion and the co-ordinated marketing of produce through producer organisations.

The increasingly restrictive rules and regulations governing participation in the PO scheme may cause POs and their members to re-evaluate the usefulness of the overall programme. This would be unfortunate as, in the past, the programme has been an unequivocal ‘winner’ for PO members, the EU CAP, and EU taxpayers.

• Dr David Hughes is Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing, Imperial College London, as well as a Non-Executive Director of KGG BerryGrades Ltd. He can be contacted by emailing profdavidhughes@aol.com

1 The “at the till” value through all retail outlets in the UK, but not including sales through restaurants, sandwich shops, etc. (Source: TNS WorldPanel, November, 2009) 2 John Pelham, Anderson Midlands, 2009 (jpelham@andersons.co.uk) 3 Soon to be renamed BerryGardens Growers

However, parts of the business have suffered, such as organic berry sales, which were lower year-on-year after a period of strong growth, and also sales of premium-priced produce. Late-2009 sales figures show, though, that premium product sales are making a welcome comeback.

The poly tunnels issue. The continued success of the fresh berry sector in the UK has been placed under threat by a wellorganised, influential lobby group campaigning against the use of poly tunnels, largely on the grounds of tunnels spoiling countryside views.

Maravilla – Britain’s premier variety of raspberry

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

5

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER • Colin Dargie

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER • Colin Dargie

Knowledge and technology transfer used to improve farm business performance in NZ Colin Dargie, an agricultural consultant with SAC Farm Business Services, used a Farmers Club Charitable Trust bursary to study knowledge transfer in New Zealand. Here is a précis of his report NEW ZEALAND farmers have long been hailed as innovators with a thirst for knowledge, new ideas and new technologies to improve their business performance. My Farmers Club Charitable Trust study tour afforded me the opportunity to come face to face with leading farmers, consultants, advisers and scientists across New Zealand and to learn about new and innovative methods of knowledge and technology transfer.

Until the late 1980s, New Zealand farmers benefited from a network of governmentfunded extension officers providing a free advice service to farmers as a means of getting science and technology into practice on farm. Since then, methods of knowledge and technology transfer have changed and farmers are more reliant on private consultants and industry-funded initiatives from which to gain knowledge.

My study tour looked to investigate different methods of delivery and evaluate the pros and cons of each.

The Monitor Farm Programme has been one of the great success stories of knowledge transfer in NZ agriculture and the concept has been adopted successfully in Scotland in recent years.

The concept has served the meat and wool industry well in New Zealand for more than 10 years now. The NZ deer industry has followed suit with ‘focus farms’ based on the monitor farm model. Like all good Southern Alps from Lewis Pass

business models, change is inevitable and necessary to maintain impact and to continue to represent good value to funders and participants.

Monitor farms have tended to start out with average or below average farms, which can alienate those with a higher level of technical and financial performance who see little to gain from participation. One monitor farmer commented that, while he could see the benefits gained by the community group of applying the activities learned on his farm, he himself was not seeing a significant improvement in farm performance from participation.

Raising the starting level of performance of the monitor farm may, indeed, have the opposite effect by alienating those with a lower level of knowledge and personal farm performance.

On a similar tack, monitor farms have been criticised for trying to implement too much change on one individual farm business, thus limiting the ability to measure impacts and correlate improvements in performance to one particular change in policy.

Furthermore, the commitment required from the monitor farmer to open up his or her business to the community group for a three-year period and to implement change throughout is one which deters many from taking on this mantle and contributing to the continued success of the programme.

Monitor farms provide a useful platform for discussion, social interaction and demonstration of new ideas and technologies. Choice of monitor farm and monitor farmer is critical to the project success and to avoid alienation of participants. The ‘one size fits all approach’ can still alienate participants and, for some, lack of ownership of the project limits commitment and adoption of technologies.

Monitor farms must evolve to continue to have an impact on the performance of the industry and the UK should learn from their evolution in New Zealand.

Farm business groups are a longestablished concept in NZ agriculture and one which evolved through the extension services offered by MAFF over 20 years ago. The farm business group affords likeminded farmers the opportunity to meet on a regular basis with peers to discuss business performance in a closed and confidential group.

Such has been the success of these groups that farmers were willing to fund the administration and facilitation in their own right, following the removal of a statefunded extension officer to perform these functions.

Farm business groups provide a more intimate forum for discussion than monitor farms and allow the sharing of information in a confidential manner and with standard levels of divulgence. With smaller numbers, the members can have more control over how the group evolves and

Dairyteam consultants at an on-farm team meeting, Manawatu

take more ownership over its management.

Equality exists among group members and all are seen to be giving and taking information to the same degree.

The concept of demonstration farms is one which has developed from monitor farms and was first applied on the Lincoln University Dairy Farm, near Christchurch.

In response to the success of this first demonstration farm, a further such farm has been developed in Southland, near Invercargill, to replicate its success.

The Southland demonstration farm has been developed in response to the extensive conversion to dairying in the area and the desire for a focal point for knowledge and technology transfer. It receives support from Dairy NZ, as well as a number of commercial sponsors, and is operated on a commercial basis on a 15-year lease agreement.

Key benefits of the demonstration farm are: • The farm is run by the community group for the community group. It employs a manager, staff and a consultant to oversee overall strategic management. In contrast to a monitor farm, the demonstration farm is not constrained by the personal objectives of the monitor farmer or his staff. The management team can take decisions on the future strategy of the farm without being influenced or constrained by the monitor farm business.

• The demonstration farm takes science and puts it into practice on a commercial

6

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Stud Romney ewes and lambs, Masterton

scale. Research farms had often been criticised for the scale on which they work or the necessity for research protocol limiting the commercial potential of science. The demonstration farm concept removes this and puts proven science into practice in a commercial situation.

• The demonstration farm relieves pressure on the monitor farmer to reveal his or her business to the community group. Monitor farms can be criticised for being a one-way channel of information and the monitor farm can feel disadvantaged for opening up his or her business with no similar level of divulgence from participants.

• The demonstration farm provides a regular flow of information to the community group in the form of weekly ‘farm walk notes’. These are designed to be a short, punchy report highlighting key performance indicators, successes and constraints for the week, allowing community group members to benchmark themselves against the demonstration farm. These notes are emailed or available for download from the demonstration farm website, from where number of downloads can be measured to give an indication of participation.

• Being run as a commercial farm, the demonstration farm must be seen to be making an above-average financial return. Sound cost control and transparency in financial data provides a

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

sound financial benchmark community group members.

for

This study tour afforded me the opportunity to come face-to-face with leading scientists, consultants and advisers across New Zealand and see first-hand the approach of the country’s agricultural industry to knowledge transfer (KT). In a short period of time, I had the chance to see innovative and successful KT techniques in practice and learn useful lessons for the application of KT in my profession in the UK. I am most grateful to the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, my employers - SAC - and the vast array of organisations and individuals in New Zealand who gave most willingly of their time and expertise to make the experience what it was.

On a personal level, the experience has broadened my horizons and developed key interpersonal skills applicable to my career.

While difficult to measure, these skills will be of value to me in my working and social life for many years to come.

Knowledge transfer is a constantly evolving technique and our industry must continue to strive to develop new and innovative techniques to ensure science is made available in a practical, measurable manner to continue to enhance the performance of farming businesses in the future.

• Colin Dargie can be contacted at SAC Consulting by emailing colin.dargie@sac.co.uk or by calling 01307 464033.

7

PLANNING PERMISSION • Ray Williams

PLANNING PERMISSION • Ray Williams

Why obtaining planning permission is becoming so increasingly difficult

Renewable energy in final energy consumption (2020 target) Definition: Share of renewable consumption to gross final energy consumption.

Comprises of direct use of renewables (e.g. biofuels) plus energy produced from renewables (e.g. wind, hydro).

Ray Williams is head of corporate affairs at consultancy ADAS. Here he explains why getting planning permission is becoming increasingly difficult and ways to help ensure that your application is successful.

IN RECENT years, environmental impact assessments (EIAs) have become a crucial element in the planning application process for new farm developments.

While this is no bad thing – after all, they are there to protect the environment – they do pose another significant obstacle to farmers simply wanting to develop their business.

And farmers are finding it an increasingly onerous task to meet the new legislative requirements – which can change with alarming frequency – while simultaneously allaying the fears of potential objectors.

Developments facing this kind of doublepronged challenge include wind farms, intensive poultry sites, anaerobic digestion installations and other renewable energy systems.

Most of these developments are subject to the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Act of 1999. These regulations require that an EIA is carried out for major developments as part of the planning application to ensure environmental effects are taken into consideration.

Alongside, are a series of practical examples of how legislation in the Town and Country Planning Act is applied to rural developments.

Intensive poultry buildings. Whether we like it or not, intensive livestock systems ensure meat is produced at prices that consumers want. However, serious challenges need to be overcome in order to ensure planning applications are approved.

Chief among these are issues around odour, noise and ammonia production, which can adversely affect Sites of Special Scientific Interest and natural habitats.

to address odour, ammonia disposal, increased traffic volume and the visual impact of the development, applications have proved successful.

Generally, the planning process favours expansion on existing sites rather than new builds. In many ways, however, implementing the policy along these lines is fundamentally flawed.

The government has committed the country to produce 15 per cent of our energy from renewable sources by 2020, which is about 35 per cent of the electricity we use currently. However, we have a long way to go. In 2006, less than two per cent of our electricity was derived from renewable sources, meaning the UK lags well behind most of Europe in terms of attaining our self-imposed, but realistic, 15 per cent target (see figure alongside).

Time and again ADAS has seen that sites originally built in the 1960s, when no such limitations were in place, are highly unsuitable for expansion. Frequently, they were built in close proximity to homes and businesses and, therefore, extending these sites is detrimental to local residents’ quality of life.

In these circumstances it would be better to develop a new site elsewhere on the farm away from houses. This common sense approach does not always win the day, however, and it is sometimes unclear why many local authorities reject such applications.

Despite this rigid implementation of policy, where farmers put forward a clear strategy

To get anywhere near that goal, we need drastically to improve the conversion rate of wind farm applications. At the moment only one in every three applications is successful. Compare this to the success rate of planning applications in general – about 70 per cent – and the level of wind farm rejection is disproportionate. Why? While a simpler, faster process needs to be implemented, many cases are rejected because developers have not put forward a sufficiently persuasive case; consultation is crucial in this regard.

Landscape impact: the location of wind farms often coincides with areas of high landscape value. A modern turbine can be seen from 22km away, so it is not difficult to appreciate that the visual impact is a major challenge. For 40 years, planning policies have been designed to ensure the protection of these areas. Now planning authorities are being faced with applications which they have historically been encouraged to refuse.

8

Source: Collected and Compiled by Europe’s Energy Portal

Renewable energy. Renewable energy – generated from naturally replenished sources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat – does not make a net contribution of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Some of the issues that need consideration are:

Wind turbine

Final energy consumption is the energy that households, industry, services, agriculture and the transport sector use.

Noise: turbines need to be sited up to a kilometre away from dwellings, which with large turbine formations can be difficult.

However, careful design and the use of THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

(Above) Poultry Farm (Left) An anaerobic digestion unit

noise reduction systems eliminate the problem.

can

often

Bird collision risk: while this issue has attracted a lot of attention, it is not often a reason for refusal. As with most ecological issues, careful site selection, turbine layout and mitigation measures can remove most of the ecological impact.

Appropriateness of location: many developers fail to demonstrate why their site is appropriate for a wind farm. As one inspector put it to ADAS, “demonstrating that the need for renewable energy cannot be met elsewhere at lower environmental cost is crucial”. Despite being one of the most difficult aspects to assess, it has been instrumental in refusals for major schemes in the Lake District. However, if pitched correctly, it can play an important role in approval – for example at Fullabrook Down in north Devon, where ADAS carried out the EIA. The EIA for Fullabrook Wind Farm, a 22 turbine site, assessed the impact on a range of environmental elements including ecology, landscape and tourism. Following a public inquiry, planning consent for the 66MW scheme was granted in October 2007. The ADAS EIA methodology was cited as a reason for the successful approval by the planning inspector.

From start to finish, this project took four years to compete and was only awarded planning permission after a five-week public enquiry. The cost, understandably, was significant. However, the owners have recouped their investment, having now sold the site for a considerable sum.

Anaerobic digestion (AD). The AD process involves the biological breakdown of organic waste or specially-grown bio-crops to produce methane gas. The methane can be used to produce electricity and heat.

Incentives such as the much-anticipated feed-in tariff, in which end users will be paid for the energy they produce by electricity suppliers, means such systems now look increasingly economically viable. ADAS is currently working on twelve AD systems before the feed-in tariff kicks into action in April.

These systems provide a method of extracting electricity from waste which would otherwise be lost. One of the particular benefits to farmers is that a byproduct of anaerobic digestion is fertiliser.

There are a huge number of positives, but the planning process often focuses on the negatives such as odour and gas storage issues. Once again, transport and visual impact mitigation measures will need to be addressed through EIAs. However, most farms look to be in a strong position for successful applications because agricultural land is suitable for the disposal of the AD digestate.

What next? We need to redouble our efforts to produce renewable energy. As part of this we must accept that a level of environmental impact may be a price worth paying if we are to save the planet.

• Ray Williams can be contacted by emailing ray.williams@adas.co.uk or by telephoning 01905 371476 or 07831 355047.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

EU Member State

2006 Figure

2020 Target

% To cover:

1 United Kingdom

1,5 %

15 %

13,5 %

2 Ireland

2,9 %

16 %

13,1 %

3 Denmark

17,2 % 30 %

12,8 %

4 France

10,5 % 23 %

12,5 %

5 Netherlands

2,7 %

14 %

11,3 %

6 Spain

8,7 %

20 %

11,3 %

7 Greece

7,1 %

18 %

10,9 %

EU

9,2 %

20 %

10,8 %

8 Italy

6,3 %

17 %

10,7 %

9 Latvia

31,4 % 42 %

10,6 %

10 Belgium

2,6 %

13 %

10,4 %

11 Cyprus

2,7 %

13 %

10,3 %

12 Germany

7,8 %

18 %

10,2 %

13 Luxembourg 1 %

11 %

10 %

14 Malta

0%

10 %

10 %

15 Portugal

21,5 % 31 %

9,5 %

16 Slovenia

15,5 % 25 %

9,5 %

17 Finland

28,9 % 38 %

9,1 %

18 Austria

25,1 % 34 %

8,9 %

19 Lithuania

14,6 % 23 %

8,4 %

20 Estonia

16,6 % 25 %

8,4 %

21 Hungary

5,1 %

13 %

7,9 %

22 Sweden

41,3 % 49 %

7,7 %

23 Poland

7,5 %

15 %

7,5 %

24 Slovakia

6,8 %

14 %

7,2 %

25 Bulgaria

8,9 %

16 %

7,1 %

26 Romania

17 %

24 %

7%

27 Czech Republic

6,5 %

13 %

6,5 %

Source: http://www.energy.eu/#renewable

9

AGRICULTURAL TRAINING • Kate Brannan

AGRICULTURAL TRAINING • Kate Brannan

industry to develop the best ways to achieve this.

Training essential to ensure bright future for UK farming and land-based rural industries

Many have also benefited from England’s Women and Work Programme, which helps boost women’s access to funded training. The aim is to help progression prospects in industries where their gender is under-represented and, over time, encourage more women into these industries.

Kate Brannan, Marketing and Communications Manager of Lantra, describes the vital role of the organisation in ensuring that agriculture and other land-based industries have sufficient people – employers and employees – trained to the high standards needed to compete and flourish in today’s demanding marketplace.

Lantra’s recent Skills Assessment Report, which sets out the skills gaps and shortages of the current workforce, identified that the capability to be selfsufficient will be challenged because of a critical shortage of skilled workers in the environmental and land-based sector.

The report highlights that 31% of vacancies across agriculture are hard to fill because of skills shortages, compared to 21% across all sectors, with significant problems when seeking farm managers (70%) and farmers (59%). Furthermore, challenges such as climate change, new technology, food and fuel security mean that farmers and growers now need even higher levels of skills and knowledge to do their job.

Lantra, helping to equip the next generation with skills through succession planning advice

RESEARCH shows that businesses who do not train are 2.5 times more likely to fail than those who do. Add to this the fact that training has been shown to boost staff productivity by 4% per employee, and that for every £1 invested in training the return can be between £3 and £6, it is easy to see why skills are essential to the success, and sometimes even survival, of businesses in the current climate.

So who is there helping to ensure the right training exists for the agricultural employer and their employees?

Licensed by the UK Government, Lantra Sector Skills Council is an employer-led organisation that works with agricultural businesses to tackle their skill needs so they can improve their performance and productivity. In a nutshell, the aim is simple – to work with industry to help it get the most out of the skills system, and help the skills system get the most out of the sector.

So why are skills so vital? Skills are essential to the future sustainability and profitability of agriculture, but perhaps more importantly the UK’s ability to produce sufficient food, both for itself and to contribute to world demand.

10

Today’s agricultural industry demands skilled, competent workers who can adopt and implement new methods and techniques. So how can Lantra help? By identifying the needs of today’s agricultural industry. Through research and by working closely with employers, Lantra can help businesses benefit from more effective funding and training opportunities.

Hosting consultations A key way Lantra does this is by hosting a range of consultations throughout the year, giving industry employers and employees the opportunity to provide feedback on the latest qualifications, review apprenticeships or identify exactly what skills are needed in a particular job.

This is an essential part of Lantra’s work and, by getting involved, the sector can take control of the standards that define their industry. For example, one of the most important consultations is on National Occupational Standards (NOS). NOS identify the essential building blocks – the detailed knowledge, understanding, ability and experience – that somebody needs if they are to carry out a role effectively.

These standards form the basis of many vocational qualifications, so they need to be completely up-to-date to best reflect how the industry currently operates and they must be easily understood by everyone.

They can be used to help identify the sorts of skills needed for a workforce and to

identify best practice, develop training and recruitment plans, write job descriptions and also recognise required training needs.

So if the NOS are incorrect, then qualifications and so on will not be fit for purpose, ultimately impacting upon the abilities of the future workforce.

Flexible learning Lantra is also working with industry to break down qualifications into bite-sized chunks for the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF), in response to employers’ demands for more manageable and flexible learning.

The QCF will change the way the skills of individuals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can be recognised and accredited. Designed to make the entire qualification system simpler to understand and use, qualifications are sliced into small individual pieces that can be fitted together to create complete qualifications that are more relevant to the needs of employers and more accessible for learners in general.

Lantra is also working within Scotland to develop qualifications for the Scottish Qualification and Credit Framework.

There are numerous benefits to qualifications and skills. They can help all industries achieve a more productive and safer environment, improve staff retention, increase job satisfaction and secure more new entrants to the workforce.

Lantra’s Liz Pridgeon, Qualifications and Curriculum Development Manager, talking to employers at an event

and uses skills to help achieve this. This ambitious new strategy aims to ensure that agriculture in the UK can equip itself with the right skills to ensure a profitable and sustainable future for agriculture.

Lantra works to see a sector fully capable of meeting today’s challenges, delivered by a workforce that is recognised for its professionalism, where farming is valued and is an attractive career of choice.

Funding programmes Lantra also manages a number of funding programmes to support the industry’s access to training. In England, Lantra works with six Regional Development Agencies to deliver LandSkills. The programme offers farmers, growers and foresters and others whose livelihoods depend on primary production or land management up to 80% funding towards identified training and development needs, to help businesses develop, no matter their size.

LandSkills works with local training providers, partner organisations and

Business Forward, jointly run by Agri-Bip, Lantra and the Rural Business School at Duchy College, aims to help and support rural businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly with 100% funding for training and staff development.

Lantra manages the Farm Business Advisers Accreditation Scheme for Scotland (FBAASS), which has accredited more than 100 advisers to deliver Whole Farm Reviews. The Scottish Rural Development Programme funds rural women to further develop their business skills and assists families with succession planning.

In Wales Lantra arranges subsidised funding support to develop the skills of rural businesses through Farming Connect.

Best practice events, commissioned by the Environment Agency Wales, where run to deliver advice on effective sheep ectoparasite control and health and safety to safeguard waterways.

Future needs But as well as helping to ensure those working in the industry have the skills they need, Lantra also recognises the need to attract new people into the agricultural industry. Its Skills Assessment Report identifies that 60,000 new entrants are needed over the next decade, just to maintain current workforce numbers.

Currently, 41% of the agricultural workforce is over 50, with the average age of key

decision makers on farms being around 55… and close to half of these do not have successors in place.

In each of the UK’s four nations, Lantra has been involved in developing new qualifications with an environmental and land-based element that can be delivered in schools and colleges to 14-19 year-olds. It is leading the new Diploma in Environmental and Land-based Studies as part of a range of new qualifications in England, aimed at young people aged between 14 and 19.

The Diploma is the most significant development in education since the introduction of GCSEs, as it is putting agricultural-related subjects back in mainstream education, helping to raise awareness of the opportunities and giving an invaluable insight into the sector. It has been developed in close consultation with employers, so learners completing this qualification will have the skills and knowledge that businesses require.

In response to a the need for a website which can act as a first port of call for people interested in agriculture, Lantra is currently redeveloping its careers website, www.afuturein.com This will provide real-life examples of people working in the agricultural industry and also help visitors identify progression routes. Not only will it have comprehensive information aimed at people considering such a career, but also material that can be used as a resource by career practitioners.

When fully explored it is easy to see how Lantra is at the heart of the UK’s agricultural industries. By liaising directly with businesses, employees and volunteers, Lantra makes certain that the voice of the industry is heard and understood, and that the UK’s agriculture industry is given the respect it inarguably deserves.

• To learn more about the work done

by Lantra, or to get involved with its programmes or consultations, visit www.lantra.co.uk or call 0845 707 8007.

Instigating change Lantra works to ensure agriculture is recognised as a strategic priority and gets better support from funding agencies.

Environmental and land-based businesses spend more money on skills and training per employee than any other sector - £2,975 a year, compared with an all-England average of £1,725 - but often they miss out on grants and economies of scale which benefit larger companies.

East Midlands farmer Mr Wedd of Piltons Farm, near Derby, meets Scarsdale vet Rose Jackson and LandSkills East Midlands Programme Manager Richard Loynes to discuss the launch of Farm Skills courses

To alleviate this, Lantra is working with other key industry representatives as part of the AgriSkills Forum, developing a strategy to ensure agriculture remains strong, productive, resilient and sustainable

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

11

HOUSE OF LORDS AND ST ANDREW’S DAY LUNCHES • Don Gomery and Stephen Skinner

HOUSE OF LORDS AND ST ANDREW’S DAY LUNCHES • Don Gomery and Stephen Skinner

Farming has a great story to tell… its task now is to go out and tell it WHAT has become the annual House of Lords Lunch proved, yet again, to be a splendid occasion, attracting a full house of some 90 Club members and guests on 25 November, hosted by Baroness Byford and chaired by then Club Chairman John Reynolds, accompanied by his wife Janet.

Other peers present were the Duke of Montrose, the Countess of Mar and Lord (Henry) Plumb.

Members gathered for mid-day drinks, accompanied by much friendly chatter, in the Cholmondeley Room (although many had met earlier at the Club), before moving into the adjacent Terrace, with its magnificent Thames-side views, for lunch.

Our hostess, Baroness Byford, welcomed everyone to the Palace of Westminster, John Reynolds ran through the programme and it was over to Past Chairman (1998) Ken Young for Grace.

Then followed a superb lunch - sponsored

by GreenHow - of red trout, Woburn pork with black pudding, blackberry and apple frangipan tart, coffee and chocolate truffles, washed down with House of Lords’ Sauvignon Blanc and Claret.

Our guest speaker was Sally Muggeridge, Chief Executive of the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT), and known to many present, as the IPT is based in 3 Whitehall Court, giving Sally “the treat” of being able to escape from her busy and crowded office to “the relative tranquility and civility of the Club situated above us”.

In introducing her, John Reynolds explained that the IPT is a registered charity, dedicated to fostering better mutual understanding between Parliament and industry. It is non-profit-making, nonpartisan, and non-lobbying, running courses and facilitating educational fellowships for MPs, MEPs, peers and officers of both houses.

Denis and KaCrehamberlain n Mercer

Sally’s subject was ‘Westminster: A thousand miles from a cornfield?’, based on the words of Dwight D Eisenhower, in the midst of his 1956 re-election campaign, that “Farming looks mighty easy when your plough is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the cornfield”.

farmer, felt the government did not fully understand their concerns.

Sally (niece of journalist and broadcaster Malcolm Muggeridge) started her talk by saying that none of us needed reminding that farming is, and has been from earliest civilisation, the most important industry in this country and the rest of the world. “It is, therefore, the most important industry with which the IPT engages.”

Sally spoke about the pressures on farming and rural communities today… shrinking labour force, depopulation of villages, much blame for global warming, questions about the sustainability of farming, demands that people give up meat, to name but as few.

“People have forgotten the importance of food and agriculture to our economy and future health and prosperity.”

She went on to give a brief description of British politics at the time the Club was formed in 1842, when Parliament was dominated by big landowners whose concerns were maintaining high rents, low taxes and plentiful sport. Many in agriculture, particularly the ordinary

“Nothing has changed since,” she added.

“We are not a thousand miles from the cornfield in Westminster or in Brussels, but we might as well be.”

With many decisions affecting livelihoods now being made in Brussels, not Westminster, she said that a positive engagement with the EU was “vital”, and that the Lisbon treaty would, for the first time, ensure MEPs have oversight of the

roduses John Reynoldeaskeintr the guest sp

Sally Muggeridge talking to Club members

Questione Baroness Byford, who hosted the Lunch

CAP through the EU’s co-decision process.

Establishing relationships was key, Sally added. Politicians needed to look to the long-term and work with the agricultural community to provide leadership, while farmers needed to look to the long-term by recognising that targets need to be set for emissions decades away, by making major investment decisions that will take years before generating a return.

“In particular, government has a critical role to play in incentivizing capital investment, supporting agricultural support and fostering new technologies,” she said. “But politicians too often do not see or understand this side of agriculture.

“Politics is a short-term game, yet what is required is a long-term plan for support.

Perhaps this is the biggest challenge facing all businesses, not just farming.”

agriculture has a great story to tell, “so tell it”. This included the work done by the farming community to preserve rural environments; the fact that, in 2007, farming contributed £6.8bn to the UK economy.

Farmers must also be proactive. “Most parliamentarians want to learn, and will be glad to find out more about your businesses and concerns. The General Election presents an opportunity as much as a challenge.

“Be flexible and work at a range of levels.

And if the IPT can help… just ask.”

Much food for thought, on yet another splendid Club occasion, combining interest with a superb meal in a magnificent setting, shared with the very best of like-minded company.

Don Gomery

Sally ended by saying that British

r Meurig

Raymond

Questioner

Ian Lindsay

Guest speaker Sally Muggeridge

David King and Philip Bolam

A splendid St Andrew’s Day Lunch at Royal Overseas Club, Edinburgh ON MONDAY 30 November The Farmers Club took the slightly unusual step of celebrating St Andrew’s Day away from London in the Royal Overseas Club in Edinburgh, and what a splendid event it was.

The weather may well have been a ‘wee’ bit sharp but in every other respect it was quite outstanding, providing stunning views of this most beautiful of cities. And while the weather was a little cool, the warmth of welcome at the Royal Overseas League was quite the opposite.

With some 60 members and guests, those attending were treated to wonderful views of the castle from the dining room, some excellent piping by Barry Ashby, Pipe Band Leader at RAF Kinloss, and a thought 12

provoking, intelligent speech by Michael Mavor CVO, recently retired headmaster of Loretto School and previously headmaster at Rugby and Gordonstoun schools.

Gordonstoun School in 1933, to drive home the importance of excellence in farming and education, as well as emphasizing the importance of both to the future of the UK.

Michael is clearly steeped in education, having been headmaster of three of the most prestigious schools in the UK, where he has instigated great change, building on and enhancing their strong and well deserved reputations. He also had the great honour of going to school with one of our Club Trustees, Barclay Forrest, and seems to have survived the ordeal rather well.

The applause Michael received afterwards, and the hub of interest around him, said much for how well he was received.

Drawing on this and his other experiences, Michael drew many parallels between education and farming and quoted freely from Dr Kurt Hahn, the founder of THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Our piper, too, added much ‘colour’ to the event. I have known Barry for years (we first flew together in 1980), and while he may have come originally from well south of the border, he has lived and worked in Scotland for many, many years. His leadership of the Kinloss pipe band is widely respected for its excellence, as is his own skill with the pipes, and I look forward to hearing him again at our forthcoming www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

Burns Night on Friday 22 January.

The Royal Overseas League is, in many respects, very similar to The Farmers Club and provides a perfect location for when you are in Edinburgh, be it for work or pleasure… and we do, of course, have reciprocal arrangements.

So, a splendid, heart warming lunch among friends and in a truly wonderful setting. We must see whether we can repeat the experience in the not too distant future.

• It is with tremendous sadness that I have to tell you that Michael Mavor died suddenly of a heart attack in Peru on Tuesday 8 December. He will be greatly missed. A special man who gave much.

Stephen Skinner 13

YOUNGSTOCK REARING IN CANADA • David Bell

YOUNGSTOCK REARING IN CANADA • David Bell

Good management of colostrum feeding key to successful calf rearing in Canada David Bell – Senior Technician at the SAC Dairy Research Centre, Dumfries – used a Farmers Club Charitable Trust bursary to study calf rearing in British Columbia, Canada. Here is a précis of his report. research facility, especially its work with calves.

The centre’s policy on calf rearing can only be described as “similar” to that of any college and/or commercial farm in the UK. Unless dictated through a specific research project, at UBC all calves are removed from their dam as soon as practically possible.

The reasoning behind this is essentially the health of the calf. Although not common practice in this part of Canada, it was felt that removing the calf from its dam quickly reduces the time the calf is exposed to any disease and dirt present in the calving pen and on the teats of the udder. It was also believed to be the least traumatic and stressful method for both cow and calf to be separated before any bond could be established.

David Bell

IN SEPTEMBER 2008, while the heavens were opening across the UK, the state of British Columbia, Canada, was experiencing an unexpected heat wave, with temperatures reaching 30° Celsius.

However, this wasn’t to last, and towards the end of my tour some snowfall was experienced. What a contrast in temperatures!

As can be gathered from this opening statement, the destination for my bursary award from The Farmers Club Charitable Trust was British Columbia, but in particular the state university’s Dairy Education and Research Centre (locally referred to as “UBC”). It is situated in the small town of Agassiz, which is about a twohour drive east of Vancouver, in one of the most stunning locations ever witnessed.

This was to be my base for the duration of my travels. It was chosen because its mission is to become a world leader for dairy education, research and technology transfer and has, within the past ten years, started to undergo a major upgrade of facilities, then in the final stages of completion.

I was particularly interested to examine the centre’s youngstock management and 14

One incident witnessed regarding this has stuck in my mind. At an afternoon milking a cow was in need of some assistance at calving, having been in the birthing process from early morning. The resultant calf born didn’t even get the chance to catch a glimpse of its mother, or the cow to get a sniff or lick of its calf, before the newborn animal was rushed to the calf house.

Within fewer than five minutes, the cow was being herded into the milking parlour to join the rest of the herd, having had no time to fully recover from giving birth… a slightly thought-provoking way to demonstrate the whole dairying process.

The whole area of defining calving ease proved to be a real talking point for the duration of my stay at UBC. The main problem was with the definitions being used for assisted calving. In Canada there are four categories: Easy, Normal Pull (one person), Hard Pull (two persons) and Caesarean.

Without any prejudice against female students, all of the male farm staff were slightly concerned that any assisted calvings being undertaken by more than one of the female students were recorded as Hard Pull (two persons) but queried whether this calving would have been recorded as a Normal Pull (one person) if it had been done by males.

In the true nature of the centre, it was agreed that maybe this should become an area to be researched by someone, perhaps by using some gauge of force expressed on the calving ropes!

Teat and bucket feeding system

Colostrum management at UBC is extremely successful and knowledge about this was one of the major attainments from my trip. Their management of colostrum comes from dedicated research undertaken by themselves and in collaboration with Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC), which is a Government Research Institute located next to UBC. In surveys carried out in the US, between 810% of dairy calf deaths have been attributed to poor colostrum management. This is in line with the UK calf mortality rate, which is quoted in various publications as in the region of 8%. Although no such information is available for Canada as a whole, in British Columbia it has been found that 23% of dairy calves are at risk from poor colostrum management.

All colostrum from the Centre’s newlycalved cows and heifers is tested using a device known as a colostrodoser, which measures the colostrum quality, in particular the level of immuno -globulins (Ig).

As a matter of routine, no newborn calf is fed colostrum with an Ig below 50g/litre, such colostrum being discarded.

Colostrum containing more than 50g Ig/litre is frozen immediately for future use. However, again as a matter of routine, there are always at least 4 litres of colostrum kept in the refrigerator in case a calf is born overnight.

Any frozen colostrum needed is thawed in warm water.

A piece of research in its initial stages during my stay was looking at ways of ‘cleaning’ colostrum. There is some evidence showing that colostrum comes out the udder very near sterile. but soon becomes contaminated.

At UBC, some of the colostrum was mixed with different levels of formic acid before

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Each pen contains a DeLaval machine feeder

Side view of calf research facility building Aerial view of Agassiz and UBC (centre right)

being frozen. Upon being thawed out, ready for feeding to a calf, a sample of the colostrum/acid mix was taken, plated on media and incubated to see what number of bacteria grew. The calf receiving this colostrum cocktail was monitored as well, in order to examine the quantity drunk over 24 hours, and also had its blood sampled to obtain absorption levels.

The researcher overseeing this study was keenly trying to recruit human volunteers to sample the mix. I decided to ‘pass’ on this occasion!

After being fed colostrum, when put into one of the individual calf pens in the Calf Research Facility, each calf is subsequently fed 3 litres of pasteurised milk twice a day up to around six days of age. The calf is fed from a teat-and-bucket system which, as the name suggests, is a teat attached to a pipe which is inserted into a bucket with a lid… a simple but effective feeding system.

At four-days-old, all heifer calves are dehorned using a caustic paste and general anaesthetic. A couple of days after being dehorned, the heifer calves - unless needed to be kept individually for research purposes - are moved onto the next stage of feeding, in group pens.

There are six group-feeding pens in total, in which a lot more detailed studies can be carried out. Each pen contains a DeLaval machine feeder, a concentrate feeder, a water intake bin and a roughage rack.

Attached to every machine feed station and water intake bin was a weighing platform, enabling staff to monitor calf weights every time they visited these stations throughout the day and for the duration of each calf’s stay in the group pen.

Overhead cameras were also sited above the group pens, allowing behavioural studies to be carried out. All of the weighing platforms and intake recording bins are connected to a central display unit, which in turn is connected to various computers located in a designated room within the building.

The DeLaval machine feed stations are connected to a ring distribution system from the pastueriser. Unless an experiment is being carried out and dictates otherwise, each calf receives up to 12 litres of pasteurised milk per day up to weaning at between 49 and 56 days.

At the time of my visit, an ongoing experiment was looking into the effects of an extended milk phase. With this, calves

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

were randomly allocated to one of three treatments… milk up to day 42 of age, milk up to day 60 and milk up to day 84.

It would be of interest to examine the results from this study, as there have been various pieces of similar research work carried out in the UK… for example, accelerating growth rates in the preweaning phase by using milk replacer powder with a higher protein content.

The UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre has all the facilities in place to carry out such dedicated and varied research, with the above-mentioned being only a very small insight into the research being carried out with youngstock.

My sincere thanks go to the selection panel of The Farmers Club Charitable Trust for giving me the chance to travel to this part of Canada and examine research and facilities. Also to the Scottish Agricultural College for allowing me the time off and the staff at the University of British Columbia Dairy Education and Research Centre, who were most welcoming.

It was a truly memorable experience.

• David Bell can be contacted at SAC by calling 01387 259137 or by emailing david.bell@sac.ac.uk 15

U30 TOPIC: ANAEROBIC DIGESTION • Jo Paterson

JOHN HARRIS OBITUARY • Peter Bell

Installing an anaerobic digestion plant can make you money from farm waste

JOHN HARRIS, OBE, MC and bar, BSc (Agric), who died on 25 October after a brief illness, aged 95, was a great stalwart of The Farmers Club. A member for almost 60 years, half of them on the General Committee, he was Chairman in 1972 and, finally, a Vice President. His experience and wisdom over the years were of incalculable value to the leadership.

Says 2009 Chairman John Reynolds: “The Club owes John Harris more than words can say. His intelligent and always sound advice, as well as his warmth and friendship, will be very sorely missed”.

A typical agricultural biogas plant in Germany

UNDER 30s’ Club member Tom Spilman runs Yorkshire Energy Solutions, a renewable energy company based, as the name suggests, in Yorkshire. He has recently set up a partnership with the German biogas company PlanET Biogas, and believes there are huge opportunities for farmers to utilise slurry and other farm by-products to produce a valuable income stream through biogas.

Tom moved back home to the family farm in Helperby, North Yorkshire, after serving as an officer in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment for four and a half years. He has transferred many of the skills he learned in the Army to set up his own business.

Anaerobic digestion (AD), Tom believes, is a fantastic technology which, with new funding now available from the Government, could provide a favorable financial opportunity for farmers. The Government is in the process of introducing a Feed In Tariff (FIT), which is fuelling the excitement around this technology.

From April 2010 the Government will guarantee a certain price (approx 15p/kwh) for the electricity produced from a biogas plant over a 20-year period. There will also be an incentive for using the heat produced, which will be introduced in April 2011.

Apart from the financial remunerations, it is a carbon neutral process, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and producing an excellent fertiliser. Once digested, slurry is an even better fertiliser because it has been broken down so the nutrients are more easily available to the crop.

16

Most organic materials can be used in AD plants. Organic material is fed into a digester where bacteria, under anaerobic conditions, produce a mixture of gases, predominantly methane.

Gas is fed from the digester to a combined heat and power unit, which turns it into electricity and heat. The electricity is fed into the national grid and the supplier paid for it, while the heat produced can be used to warm buildings.

Tom makes it sounds simple, but to implement it is very complicated. To increase his ability to market the technology, Tom went into partnership with PlanET Biogas, as he believes the company’s technology and reliability are second to none.

In 1998, two farmers from Vreden, northwest Germany, decided to build their own biogas plant. PlanET grew from there and has now built more than 150 plants around the world. Indeed, PlanET is a market leader in Germany and the Netherlands, where it has built more than 20 plants. Its experience ranges from plants running on maize silage, to animal slurry/manure and food waste.

For more unusual materials, PlanET has a mini digester, which is an exact replica of a full-sized digester and will assess how best to use unusual substrates. For the past three months it has been used to test substrates such as abattoir waste, vegetables and chicken carcasses.

“It allows our scientist to advise on plant size and suitable mixes of substances,” Tom says.

To provide more information on AD, Tom is happy to travel to prospective sites, to give advice and answer any questions. He believes AD is especially pertinent for farmers at the moment, as there are substantial grants available to farmers to help cover the cost building plants that could produce a valuable income.

• Tom Spilman can be contacted by telephone on 01904 234073, by mobile on 07973746040, or can be emailed at tom@yorkshireenergysolutions.co.uk

Back in England with the Farmer & Stockbreeder, he soon took over the livestock department, later becoming Editor before moving into top management.

Behind all this was a happy and rewarding marriage to Swiss-born Erika. They had two daughters, Gillian and Bridget, and three grandchildren, Rachel, Jess and Jo. Gardening and fly fishing were John’s abiding interests. A natural leader, he was not to suffer fools gladly.

Born on 2 June, 1914, at Meir, north Staffordshire, John was one of three, with a brother and a sister. His father headed the foundry and ironworks of the porcelain manufacturing company, Bullern of Stokeon-Trent.

Life was rural. His parents gave them “a wonderful childhood”, John says in his memoirs. His mother died in 1944, his father 31 years later.

From Mill Hill School, he went to Wye Agricultural College in Kent, where his ability as an exam-taker earned him a good degree. Interviewed by Richard Haddon (later Sir Richard), he was offered a place on the Farmer & Stockbreeder at £4.50 a week.

Tom is at the early stages in the UK. “We’ve sold our first plant in the UK and will start building it this coming spring,” he says. “It will be built on a farm and have an electrical output of 190KW. “Until then, for those that are interested in a biogas plant we will be running guided biogas tours to Germany to have a look at the technology first hand”.

A career in farm journalism was early interrupted by WWII. Volunteering before the outbreak, John enlisted in the County of London Yeomanry. On commission, he joined the 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry, being Adjutant during the decisive battle of Alamein and beyond. Promoted Major, he led his squadron after D-Day from Normandy to Bremerhaven, during which he was awarded the MC twice.

John joined the paper in 1937. But war was looming, and he enlisted as a trooper in the 4th County of London Yeomanry. The paper released him.

PlanET mini digester at the 2009 European Biofuels Conference, with German colleague Stephan Hoffmann

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

When he married Erika, at the time of the Dunkirk crisis, he was a Corporal.

Recommended for commission, he went to Sandhurst, from which he joined the 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry.

John Harris, OBE, MC John had risen to Captain by the time the unit sailed to the Middle East in May 1942 and to Adjutant for the Alamein battle and beyond.

After some months of occupation duties he was demobbed and back in an unrewarding Civvy Street, rejoining the F&S. It was not long before he took over the Livestock Department, at a time when much space was given to shows.

Geoffrey Hilton, at that time a comparative junior (but later in high office) recalls the meticulous orders issued before shows and the verbal chastisement of those who produced copy not up to the required standard. “When we became competent, life was much easier,” he said.

In due course, Haddon handed the day-today editorship to Alan Ramsay (“imperturbable; we loved him”). The wheel turned and Ramsay retired, passing the baton to John, who took sole charge after a brief co-editorship with George Wardrop.

In 1956, John and Erika built a new house, Rough Close, in Edenbridge, Kent, later extended, to become the happy home of daughters Gillian and Bridget, and in which John lived for the remainder of his life.

Meanwhile, changes were taking place in the ownership of leading farming papers, which eventually led to market leader Farmers Weekly going one way and the F&S another… amalgamation with the NFU’s house journal, British Farmer. Thus, a never entirely happy hybrid was born. John was then managing director of Agricultural Press, under which both papers fell.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

Mergers continued, with John becoming chairman of two divisions of the International Publishing Corporation (now Reed Elsevier), taking in such disparate titles as Melody Maker and Amateur Photographer. Nearing retirement, he received an OBE. This was the first time he went to the Palace, but not the last, later attending a Garden Party as chairman of Sevenoaks Council, a body he served for many years and well into his retirement.

The old life still gripped him, however. As a non executive director of Reed Business Press (as it then was), for some years he travelled up to Glasgow for Scottish Farmer board meetings. He also much enjoyed his five years as chairman of the BBC’s Agricultural Committee, as well as his association with the RASE. A man who never fully retired, John enormously relished reunions, agricultural, military and the like. In later years he had more time for his much-treasured garden and for his fishing, notably on the Test. His dogs were a delight. And he looked back on family holidays with nostalgia.

John and Erika’s Diamond celebrations marked a high spot; her death in 2002 a sad low. To the end, his daughters Gillian and Bridget and grandchildren, Rachel, Jess and Jo, were an enduring solace, as in a lesser way was an enormous number of old friends and colleagues. Attendance at his Service of Thanksgiving spoke volumes.

Never to be forgotten, he lives on in memories beyond count.

Peter Bell 17

U30S • Luke Paterson, Chairman; Gemma Partridge, Vice Chairman; MaryAnne Salisbury, Secretary

U30S • Luke Paterson, Chairman; Gemma Partridge, Vice Chairman; MaryAnne Salisbury, Secretary

Making a splash and learning a lot on superb Autumn Farm Walk in Dorset THE UNDER 30s headed to Dorset for the 2009 Autumn Farm Walk, to enjoy an actionpacked weekend away. Staying in Corfe Castle, Saturday’s visits were based around the Lulworth Estate and the town of Wool.

Our day commenced at Lulworth Castle, where a brief history and introduction to the Lulworth Estate was given by Property Manager Nick Kelly. The Estate has been in the ownership of the Weld family since the late 1600s and comprises approximately 12,500 acres of land, 170 residential properties and a growing tourism business that benefits from the World Heritage status of the Jurassic coast.

magnificent event this is. I would highly recommend attending part, if not all of the conference, should the opportunity arise.

The main Club held its Soils and Soil Management Seminar on 10 November at Lincolnshire Showground, which a few under 30s attended, This was a very informative event, and time well spent.

The seminar certainly achieved one of its goals, which was to add more depth to the Club.

One of the highlights for me was attending the Oxford Farming Conference. What a

18

After lunch at the Lulworth Estate pub, the Weld Arms, the group headed to the eastern end of the estate to visit Paul Simpson’s 600-acre coastal downland farm.

This has been a flagship farm for the Higher Level Stewardship scheme in the area, so, perhaps not surprisingly, we were given a great insight into the pros and cons of the scheme.

For the rest of the afternoon, everyone had a chance to explore Lulworth and the Dorset coastline, before heading to Swanage for the evening. We had dinner at the Ocean Bay restaurant, before heading for the bright lights of Swanage’s finest pubs and clubs.

Beetle banks, conservation headlands and careful cropping have seen the numbers of grey partridges increase across the farm,

Although we have not yet, as I write, had the pleasure of hosting Guy Smith for the U30s’ November dinner, I do know that ticket sales have been very strong, without the need for the Committee and me leaning on friends and members to attend.

Is this an indication that Saturday is a better day to host our events?

My personal thanks go to the main Club Committee and staff for all their help and support during my year as U30s’

Our thanks to Patrick Durnford for organising such a great weekend.

Philip Hoare

Chairman, and especially to MaryAnne, our U30s’ Secretary, but who does so much more. She is, indeed, the backbone of the U30s.

Many thanks, too, to 2008 Chair Lizzie Benson for her always sound advice throughout my year. I wish Gemma all the best for her year in the hot seat.

Future event Let me end by flagging up the U30s’ New Members’ Dinner (you don’t have to be one to attend) and Winter Event to be held from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 January.

The New Members’ Dinner will be held in the Club on the Friday night. On the Saturday we are hoping to visit the Cirque du Soleil – Varkai, followed by dinner that night at a venue still to be decided in London.

Luke Paterson.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

On Sunday morning, everyone met at Studland, and with a few sore heads went on a sea-kayak tour. After splitting into pairs and donning some flattering wetsuits, the group headed off along the Jurassic coastline back towards Old Harry’s Rocks and Swanage. We spent an amusing morning kayaking through arches, around stacks, into caves and trying to catch waves.

Only a few of us capsized. I was one of the first, thanks to a fidgeting U30s’ Vice Chairman in the front of the kayak!

The Banks Arms

Chairman’s Jottings

Sadly, this is my last Jottings as U30s’ Chairman. It’s hard to believe a year has passed since I took on this challenging but very rewarding role. Being involved with the Club and its members has been both a pleasure and a privilege.

which is also benefitting from the capital works available.

Our next visit was to the organic East Burton Dairy, where Robert Hyde is dairying in less conventional Dorset manner, milking 300 Friesian sheep for locally produced Greek-style yogurt.

Robert also runs a flock of Dorset Downs, a breed associated with the farm since the 1800s, and grows organic cereals for niche high-value markets such as organic malting barley.

Group shot, Sunday morning

A HAPPY, healthy and prosperous 2010 to you all.

Much of Robert’s land is rented from the Lulworth Estate.

le

U30s at the cast

Paul Simpson talks to U30s

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

LADIES’ LUNCH • Don Gomery

RAMBLINGS • Stephen Skinner

Ladies’ Lunch speaker Anne Main MP urges more women to go into politics (Left to right) Guest speaker Anne Main MP, U30s Vice Chairman Gemma Partridge and hostess Janet Reynolds

She explained how, after university and post graduate training, she had worked in an inner London school, before having her three children. Sadly, she was widowed at a very young age, but found that becoming involved with local politics was a useful and interesting diversion from the strains of this situation.

While serving as a town councillor, she soon realised that her experience of life meant that she could relate very directly to many of the difficulties faced by her electorate. Finally, she was persuaded into national politics, and in May 2005 took the St Albans seat for the Conservatives, with a narrow majority.

IN MID NOVEMBER thirty three ladies assembled at the Club, first for a ‘glass of something’ in the Cumber Room and then for luncheon in the Eastwood Room. They had all accepted an invitation to The Farmers Club Ladies’ Lunch and were looking forward to meeting old friends and making new acquaintances.

The Ladies’ Lunch was instigated in 1995

by Winifred Sloan, who, as the wife of the then Chairman, Drew Sloan, felt it important to acknowledge the support given to the Club by the wives of the members of the Committee. Since then, the event has become an annual fixture and one always much enjoyed by those who attend.

Wives and widows of Past Chairmen receive an invitation, as do the wives of current gentlemen Committee Members.

They are joined by the lady members of the current Committee, lady Trustees and lady members of the Charitable Trust.

out that there were now many more women directly involved in the running of the Club and that next year, for the first time, the Club Chairman would be a lady. This remark was met with a murmur of approval.

Next, U30s’ Vice Chairman Miss Gemma Partridge said Grace and the ladies settled down to enjoy a first course of tian of crab and cottage cheese followed by a main course of delicious Welsh lamb.

After the Loyal Toast, Mrs Reynolds introduced the speaker, Mrs Anne Main, Member of Parliament for St Albans. Mrs Main spoke on life at Westminster, and her enthusiasm and energy brought about an immediate rapport with her audience.

Mrs Main’s description of what happens ‘in debate’, and of how MPs actually spend their time, was fascinating and her frankness was considered very refreshing.

More ‘ordinary’ people should become involved in politics, she believed, as it was experience of life that brought insight, empathy and common sense into law making.

Mrs Nicki Quayle gave the Vote of Thanks, ably expressing the enthusiastic response to Mrs Main’s talk, and then presenting her with a bouquet of flowers. Finally, the guests enjoyed a pudding of chocolate tart and cream, to round off the meal very nicely.

Club a bustle of busy activity as we enter the winter period HOW good it is to see and hear the Club busy again. While we are still working through the accounts, what is clear is that, starting in September and continuing into October, we have seen room occupancy back almost to historical norms.

What is more, the dining room has been getting busier in the evenings and some quite lovely comments have been made about the quality of food produced by Head Chef Jeff Plant and his team.

New staff members…

I AM also delighted to welcome some new members of staff. Gina joined us this summer to work part-time behind Reception, helping primarily during the busy periods. For those who have met Gina, you will have quickly realised how well she is doing and how welcoming she is to one and all.

I am also delighted to welcome Antonio, known as Toni, who has brought not only a broad experience of running restaurants (and was an airline steward for a while), but also an outstanding manner, so important in a Club such as ours.

…and some new roles AS MANY of you will also have noticed, I have ‘tweaked’ the management structure within the Club. Chris Burden, our House Manager, has moved on, while Haffa Benhacine has been appointed as our Operations Manager and Hamid Khaldi our Accommodation Manager.

Haffa now has responsibility for the dining room and the provision of service to the bar and all our meeting rooms, while Hamid is responsible for Reception and provision of service to our bedrooms. While this new structure will take a little while to settle down, so far so good.

A big ‘Thank You’ WHILE I am on the topic of staff, could I thank all of you who so generously contributed to our staff fund this Christmas.

As you will all know, we do not have gratuities here at the Club and thus the staff fund is the one vehicle through which the staff can be rewarded for their efforts over and above their normal pay. And, believe me; it is very greatly appreciated by them all.

Sadly, at the last minute, illness had prevented Mrs Sloan from joining the ladies, but she was very much in their thoughts and a bouquet of flowers was sent to her the following day.

AFTER the summer show season, my opportunities for getting out and about naturally decline and, thus, when a chance came to visit the Scottish Agricultural College for its Annual Dinner and Report, I jumped at the opportunity.

Why I mention this, though, is that once again I was much impressed with what I saw and heard. This was not only, of course, from Professor Bill McKelvey, Principal and Chief Executive of the SAC, whose swift résumé of the college’s activities over the past year was deeply impressive for its scope and its success, but we also heard from Professor John Oldham.

John is currently Head of Research and Development at the SAC and captured wonderfully well how limited in reality is the time available to achieve targets set for emission reduction and our need to increase food production to feed the projected global population in 40 years time. This is not long when one considers how quickly time has flown since 1970!

He also showed that, while research was clearly essential and fundamental to our development, there has been a huge amount of research carried out in the past which to all intents and purposes is being ignored (or perhaps just forgotten), which is as relevant today as it ever has been. His strap line of ‘re-search and research’, I think hit the spot.

WFU celebrates 30 years

(From left) Jill Willows, Karen Mercer and Sue Butler

Members of the Women’s Food & Farming Union gathered at the Club in late October to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the organisation, which was formed primarily to boost sales of home-grown food, particularly apples, in 1979.

In addition, invitations are presented to a few special ladies who, in various ways, have given service to the Club.

Traditionally, the event is hosted by the wife of the current Chairman who, on this occasion, was Janet Reynolds.

Pictured here (left to right) are the Earl of Selborne (who played a major part in the formation of the WFU), Patron Baroness Byford and past presidents Elizabeth Browning, Ionwen Lewis, Helen Bower (current President, partly hidden), Gillian van der Mere, Faith Tippet and Teresa Wickham, in whose kitchen the seeds of the WFU were initially sown.

Once the ladies were seated, Mrs Reynolds opened the proceedings by welcoming everyone and reminding them of the history of the event.

She drew their attention to the changes which had taken place since 1995, pointing 20

Much food for thought on my visit to the SAC

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

21

THE FARMERS CLUB

Club Information & Diary Dates

THE FARMERS CLUB

The Secretariat 020 7930 3751

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

Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

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.

There was an insert in last year’s Autumn Journal providing full details of the Club facilities and other information for members to retain. Spare copies can be obtained by forwarding a s.a.e. to the Club Secretary.

Obituaries It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members: M Bown D Dampney R Fryer D Harding J Harris OBE D Higgons F Momber G Marjoram C Mottram

Surrey Hampshire Norfolk Sussex Kent Nottinghamshire Hampshire Norfolk Devon

Honours and Awards Members honoured in The Queen’s New Year Honours’ List will be shown in the Spring Issue. Please inform the Secretariat if you received an Honour.

New Members The following were elected on 07 October and 09 December 2009: J I Anderson Colonel E B Armistead CBE Miss K A Bartlett N F Bartram G W Beresford A R Bower P Bratt The Revd Sarah Brown I Burrow Miss J E Burrow S Butler S J Carr P A Christensen CBE A J Cordial P H Crighton V J Croxson J Cuddy S R Dawson M R Deeley C J Driver Mrs L J Evans R M Flint P Forster Miss R Geraghty D Harriott Mrs A Hayward-Paine M D Hellowell J P Holden J R Hollis Revd Canon W R Hughes C T Joice R K Kempsey Mrs K E Kenyon

22

Shropshire Somerset Suffolk Norfolk London Nottinghamshire Yorkshire Northamptonshire Derbyshire Yorkshire Lancashire Sussex Oxfordshire Lincolnshire Suffolk Cheshire Glamorgan London Oxfordshire Suffolk Devon Lincolnshire Bedfordshire Warwickshire Sussex London Cambridgeshire Gloucestershire Lincolnshire Carmarthenshire Norfolk Staffordshire Wiltshire

Mrs R J Kirkby J J Kynge Dr D G Llewellyn J R Lord Dr S P Mann Mrs P K M Marris S T Martin Mrs S McGettigan Mr R A McGregor Miss A L Milne R Morris Ms Sarah Mukherjee Mr D Peers I Pennington Dr H M Phillips A Poulton R W Pratchett G P Price Ms L Rausing C M Read B J Reading E D Rout N Russell D F J Scott J P Scott I R Smith P H Smith The Countess Sondes J R Stevenson T Stuart J M Sutherland P A Telling Mrs E D Tilley C Townsend J G Walker R N Warner-Smith P H Wastenage R E West Dr J M Wilkinson M C Williams A R Wolfe P Wrixon Overseas G Dale Dr Phillipa J Howard Dr T G Rowan R K Shah Under 30s T C Allen T D Barker Miss F Bradshaw Miss O C Brass F E Carter Ms S A Chase Miss G L Dalton Miss L Elliott N G Elliott S J Fieldsend Miss C L Green Ms F M Guy G R Harrison A Hodgkins C J Horn M J Horn O M Hurlock Miss H A Jessop B M Lenton

Lincolnshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Suffolk Cambridgeshire Worcestershire Wiltshire Worcestershire Warwickshire Gloucestershire Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire Devon Shropshire Yorkshire Sussex Wiltshire Herefordshire London Lincolnshire Northamptonshire Norfolk Somerset Yorkshire Aberdeenshire Derbyshire Gloucestershire Kent London Devon Berwickshire Surrey Denbighshire Norfolk Leicestershire Hertfordshire Devon Leicestershire Lincolnshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Herefordshire France Australia Republic of Ireland Kenya Oxfordshire Suffolk Glamorgan Oxfordshire Dorset London Hampshire Warwickshire Wiltshire Rutland Gloucestershire Wiltshire Lincolnshire Aberdeenshire Hampshire Hampshire Suffolk Lincolnshire Cambridgeshire

I MacFarlane R C MacWatt A Maiden J D McNair A C Morris H T Read H Sancroft-Baker D Spilman N Strelczuk Miss P Swift E Taylor G P Upex G Walker Miss M Wastie D C G Westacott

Somerset Kent Herefordshire Essex Oxfordshire Monmouthshire Oxfordshire Lincolnshire Oxfordshire Suffolk Londonderry Cambridgeshire Northamptonshire Northamptonshire Somerset

Agricultural Attache Dr B Polten

German Embassy

Whitehall Court I D Leist C Sheppard J Laycock Omitted from October 2008 D T Wickham

LAMMA Show, Newark Wednesday 20 & Thursday 21 January

London London London

There was no need to hold an election for the General Committee from 2010 – 2012 as EIGHT nominations were received for EIGHT vacancies.

Tim Bennett (Carmarthenshire), Anne Chamberlain (Cambridgeshire), James Cross (Essex), Richard Harrison (Bedfordshire), Campbell Tweed (Co. Antrim) and Teresa Wickham (Kent).

Dress Code Members are requested to advise their guests of the following • Gentlemen must wear formal jackets and ties on 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 are permitted but not casual slacks, jeans or trainers during the week.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Saturday 20 March Application Form in this Journal

Great Yorkshire Show Reception Wednesday 14 July Reply slip in the Summer Journal

St. George’s Day Lunch at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon Friday 23 April Application Form in this Journal

Royal Welsh Show Dinner Sunday 18 July Reply slip in the Summer Journal CLA Game Fair Reception Saturday 24 July Reply slip in the Summer Journal Dairy Event and Livestock Show, NEC Birmingham Tuesday 7 & Wednesday 8 September Westmorland County Show Reception Thursday 9 September Reply slip in the Summer Journal

Cereals Event, Royston, Cambridgeshire Wednesday 9 & Thursday 10 June

Elected to join the Committee are:

Returning for a further term are:

Royal Norfolk Show Dinner Wednesday 30 June Reply slip in the Spring Journal

Club Visit to the Shetland Isles Monday 24 to Thursday 27 May

Club Committee Members

Martin R Taylor (Gloucestershire) Consulting officer, Milk Marketing Board, Lecturer at the Royal Agricultural College, Retired senior agricultural bank manager, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Farmers, Trustee and Treasurer of the Rural Stress Information Network, Secretary and Treasurer of the Gloucestershire Farm Management Association, Treasurer Gloucestershire FWAG and past Captain of the Club Golf section. Has a small flock of pedigree Exmoor Horn sheep.

NFU Conference, Birmingham Tuesday 23 & Wednesday 24 February (more details at www.nfuconference.com)

Royal Ulster Show Dinner Tuesday 11 May Reply slip in the Spring Journal

Hampshire

David Leaver (Kent) Former Principal of the Royal Agricultural College and Professor of Agriculture at Wye College. Currently member of the Council of Food Policy Advisors, Chairman of Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust, President of the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants, Vice Chairman of RASE Practice with Sciences Committee and Secretary of the Commercial Farmers Group.

The Royal Highland Show Dinner Wednesday 23 June Reply slip in the Spring Journal

Club Visit to Cumbria Tuesday 21 & Wednesday 22 September Application Form in the Spring Journal

South of England Show Reception Friday 11 June Reply slip in the Spring Journal

VICE PRESIDENTS Peter Jackson CBE, Roddy Loder-Symonds Sir David Naish DL, John Parker 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 Luke Paterson (Chairman Under 30s) Miss Gemma Partridge (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

• 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.

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

Envelopes Sponsorship The Farmers Club would like to thank Agrovista UK for its generous 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.

Reciprocal Clubs UK Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh OVERSEAS The Western Australian Club, Perth, Australia (Bedrooms not reciprocated)

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

Queensland Club, Brisbane, Australia

Mobile Phones, Briefcases and Business Meetings

The Canterbury Club, Christchurch, New Zealand (Bedrooms not reciprocated)

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 Office for details.

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

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

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL New Year 2010

Club Chaplain The Reverend Nicholas Holtam 020-7766 1121 Reception & 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 Fax 020-7839 7864 E-mails secretariat@thefarmersclub.com accounts@thefarmersclub.com membership@thefarmersclub.com functions@thefarmersclub.com meetings@thefarmersclub.com reception@thefarmersclub.com u30s@thefarmersclub.com Website www.thefarmersclub.com THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Editor and Advertisement Manager Don Gomery 01892 610628 Email: don.gomery@btinternet.com Printed by Pureprint Group, Brambleside, Bellbrook Park Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 1PL 23 Tel: 01825 768811