Machinery

Another John Deere tractor, this 6830 4wd was a 2011 model, and had an AutoPowr 50kph transmission. It had a front linkage and PTO, cab and front-axle suspension and was on Firestone 520/85R38 rear, and 420/85R28 front wheels and tyres. Carrying a 61-plate and with its original Ben Burgess stickers, it had worked 4,848 hours and remained very tidy. It made a well deserved £42,000.

This was a 2018 model, with DirectDrive 50kph transmission and Premium speci cation. It had a front linkage and PTO, front-axle and cab suspension and was on Michelin MachXBib 650/85R38 rear, and 600/70R28 front wheels and tyres. Like most of the other tractors it had been supplied by local dealer, Ben Burgess and was in tidy condition. On a 68-plate, it had worked 3,699 hours and made £74,000. with a headland sprayer, had a home-built cab and had worked 1,540 hours.

Two Underhaug UN4217-S soil separators were available for bids, both carrying their Pecks dealer stickers. A 2004 model with a multi-blade share and intake rotor, a 40mm rst web, six rows of stars, a 35mm rear web and 20mm cross conveyor, top scrubber web and a steering axle sold for £1,200. A similar machine (nearer the camera), but a year newer and with a 35mm rst web, and a 30mm rear web sold for £1,100.

This selection of four 14t steel monocoque trailers included (inset) a 2008 Easterby ET14 14t tandem axle model, with sprung axles and drawbar, a hydraulic tailgate and 385/65R22.5 wheels and tyres which sold for £6,700, and three ECE 14t tandem axle trailers with 385/65R22.5 wheels and tyres, sprung axles, rigid drawbars and hydraulic tailgates, which made £4,000, £3,800 and £3,900.

In very tidy condition, this John Deere 6195R Premium, with DirectDrive CVT 50kph transmission, a front linkage and PTO, front axle and cab suspension and on Mitas 800/70R38 rear, and 600/70R28 front tyres was registered on a 19-plate and had worked 2,328 hours. It achieved a very impressive winning bid of £81,000.

This rotary cultivator/bedformer combination included a 1999 Standen Cultibed single bed tiller with a rear linkage, to which a Pearson Bedformer with standard bodies was attached. It made £500.

Baselier haulm toppers are always in demand, and this 2019 BLKB610 mounted rigid three-bed model had an end towing kit, hydraulic transport wheels, and bed ails with centre plate de ectors. It made £11,000.

An ‘included’ lot, this Heath SuperChaser bale collector and transporter with capacity for 10 large bales was equipped with flotation tyres

A second John Deere 6830 with AutoQuad 40kph transmission was also available for bids. Fitted with a 900kg front ballast weight, and equipped with cab and front-axle suspension, it was on Continental 520/85R38 rear, and 420/85R28 front wheels and tyres. Registered in April 2009, it carried a 59-plate, had worked 7,744 hours, and sold for £32,500.

Calf housing: Cost e ective ways to boost health and growth

Speaking at a webinar during GB Calf Week, Tim Potter of Westpoint Farm Vets o ered advice on how to get the most out of your building potential – as well as practical steps to improve calf health and growth rates. Sarah Kidby reports.

In a time of dramatically increasing feed and energy costs, getting optimal calf growth from the energy supplied is key. Tim advised farmers to look to treatment records and growth rates to get an idea of where improvements could be made. Points to consider include risk factors for your farm and the age and time of year at which disease is occurring. While disease is multifactorial, the webinar focused on environmental impacts on calf immunity and growth – beginning with understanding what space is available. A good shed can be ruined by overstocking, Tim said. As a guide, he advised 1.5m2 space for 50–84kg calves and 1.8m2 for 85–140kg calves.

Minimising heat loss

In a warm calf, the majority of its energy goes towards growth, but in cold, sick animals it’s reserved for keeping warm and ghting disease, meaning growth rates will be impacted. Measuring and monitoring temperatures in sheds helps to detect changes over time, and if the temperature falls below target, the options are: providing extra heat (bearing in mind the nancial implications of doing so); providing extra feed to maintain growth; and minimising heat loss.

When it comes to the latter, a dry environment is essential and deep, dry straw on concrete will help prevent heat loss – therefore it’s important not to skimp on bedding after cleaning, Tim advised. Nesting scores can also be useful for giving a more objective view of bedding, with a recommended score of 3/3, where the calf’s legs are generally not visible when lying down.

Jackets have become much more universally adopted across UK farms. Measuring temperatures in the shed, particularly overnight is important to inform decision making on when to put on and remove jackets, Tim noted. A protocol should be in place on the temperature at which jackets will be put on and removed; and whether jackets will be used for all calves or just sick animals. Calves must be dry when the jacket is put on and when the time comes to remove it, this should be done rst thing in the morning, not at night when temperatures are falling. Jackets should also be thoroughly washed and disinfected between calves to avoid disease spread.

Trying to minimise unnecessary water sources in calf housing is another worthwhile endeavour, as humidity allows pathogens to survive in the environment and transmit from animal to animal, Tim continued. We can’t change the weather or stop calves urinating and defecating, but some water sources are within our control. Leaks can be repaired, feed and water troughs kept in good condition, and buildings designed to prevent ingress of water. Feed and water troughs can also be relocated (e.g., placed away from bedding, slightly outside of the pen, with any piping well protected so calves can’t damage it). Water troughs should be emptied outside the shed down a drain. Likewise, consider preparing milk feeds and washing equipment etc outside the shed. Investing in drainage in key areas (such as near troughs and milking machines) is also important – as is regular cleaning out to avoid clogs.

Improving ventilation

Ventilation will become more important as we experience increasingly extreme weather – the very hot temperatures in summer 2022, for instance, caused real di culties. Additionally, just as we saw with Covid, maximising fresh air into the shed helps to disperse bacteria and viruses, thereby reducing calf disease. However, there is always the challenge of fresh air vs draft and the need to avoid wind chill. Tim advised looking at what your calves are telling you – are they huddling together to keep warm? Are they avoiding certain parts of the building? It’s important to ensure the shed is evenly ventilated – an anemometer can be bought online for as little as £10 and gives an objective measure of wind speed in the shed – aim for a speed of less than 0.2m/sec.

Putting yourself at calf level is also key: “It’s very easy as a vet or a farmer to look in a pen and think the temperature is right, but in cold weather you might be wearing rubber boots, waterproofs and a heavy jacket. [...] You won’t pick up drafts at ankle level so get into the shed and think about what your calves are actually experiencing,” he said.

Another factor to consider is if calves are in a draft, the lower critical temperature (below which animals must burn extra energy to keep warm) increases. For example, a newborn calf in a sheltered environment will have an LCT of 10ºC, but wind speed of 2m/sec brings the LCT up to 17ºC. “That means for a large proportion of time in the UK calves will be burning additional energy to keep warm, which will negatively impact the growth rate.”

There are some simple, coste ective solutions, however. Sheeting gates at calf level and quarry belting at the bottoms of gates not only prevents drafts but also prevents animals such as badgers entering, with potential bene ts for disease prevention. Alternatively, bales may be put into sheds for calves to nest behind. These are minimal investments with big returns, Tim pointed out.

Available from most plumbers’ merchants, smoke bombs are often used to visualise how rapidly air changes within the shed and how quickly the smoke is eliminated. Precautions should be taken to avoid res and it’s important to be aware that an empty building won’t provide much information as we are reliant on stock to impact the shed’s ventilation properties.

Signs of poor ventilation to look out for include cobwebs, tiger stripes and condensation.

Additionally, as calves don’t generate enough heat to drive the air movement needed for the ’stack e ect’, especially in larger environments, tube ventilation systems can provide a relatively coste ective solution – bringing fresh