Farming 06 November 2013

If the sugar’s not all there, it’s not jam, says Chris Rundle: Page 7

Government moves CAP goal posts

BY PETER HALL wdnews@b-nm.co.uk The Government could modulate at 9 per cent instead of the planned 15 per cent under reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

In responding to Defra’s consultation paper on CAP reform and how it would be implemented, the National Farmers Union (NFU) said it would be a sensible move if the Government adopted a staged approach to modulation rates.

Defra is pressing to move 15

9%

The Government could modulate at just 9 per cent per cent of funds from Pillar One direct support payments to Pillar Two rural development schemes.

But NFU president Peter Kendall pledged to: “hold the Government to its word” that it would only modulate at 15 per cent if it could demonstrate it would deliver worthwhile and valuable outcomes for farming and society.

He said: “We know that new schemes take time to design and make operational and so we believe it would be much more appropriate to make use of the flexibility available to the Government to implement a two-staged approach to future modulation rates, if ad-

ditional funds are required.

Based on our own internal calculation, we believe the Government could afford to levy modulation at no more than 9 per cent initially, and then this would continue to finance half of the Entry Level Scheme and maintain everything else at current levels in the Rural Development Programme for England.”

As the ELS has closed to new applicants and a successor scheme will not be open until 2016, if Defra transferred 15 per cent from next year, all the Government would be doing was to create: “a war chest of modulated funds, which could disappear out of the farming industry”, he said.

But Mr Kendall conceded that Defra’s decision to adhere to the EU’s approach to “greening”, rather than a national certification scheme was very good news.

He added: “But it is disappointing that Defra looks like it will close the door on giving flexibility to farmers troubled by the requirement to grow three different crops on arable land. The NFU is not ready to give up on that yet.”

As part of the consultation, Defra also confirmed existing Single Farm Payments will be rolled forward into the new scheme, thus becoming the new Basic Payment Entitlements – a decision that has been expected, but unconfirmed until now.

Hugh Townsend, land agent and surveyor, explained: “The main driving factor for this

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Cull was a ‘failure’ The Government’s badger cull is a “complete failure” and must be halted, animal rights campaigners and Labour have demanded after shooting trials in Somerset and Gloucestershire failed again to meet targets despite being extended.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson played down the below-par results, insisting sufficient animals were “removed” to suggest a fouryear scheme would have “clear benefits” in tackling bovine TB. But he faced claims that in fact the trails could have increased the risk to livestock.

Extra time was allowed in two regions of Somerset and

70%

The target figure the badger cull aimed to eradicate

The first badgers have been vaccinated in west Cornwall as part of a programme to prove immunisation is more effective than culling. A pilot scheme is taking place on up to five neighbouring farms

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Gloucestershire in an effort to eradicate 70 per cent of the badger population after the initial six-week period proved insufficient to hit the target.

Another 90 were killed in Somerset in the period which ended on Friday, Mr Paterson said, taking the total to 940 – an overall fall of only 65 per cent.

An eight-week extension is continuing in Gloucestershire, where 708 of an estimated 2,350 badgers – about 30 per cent of the total – were killed in the first shootings.

The failure to meet the targets is despite the estimates of the pre-cull badger numbers being twice revised significantly downwards, The Wildlife Trusts pointed out.

Paul Wilkinson, head of living landscape at the charity

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Reform should be helping, says Anthony Gibson: Page 2

1

Farming

2 FARMING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS

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Potato sector wants cream of the crop

BY PETER HALL wdnews@b-nm.co.uk Potato growers from the South West will take the trip north to British Potato 2013 at the end of the month – to join packers, processors, retailers, researchers, specialists, consultants, and international visitors in Harrogate.

The event takes place on November 27 and 28 at the Yorkshire Event Centre.

Ilminster-based sponsor Branston is one of the UK’s largest buyers, packers and distributors of potatoes and a spokesman said those travel-

‘The potato sector is an exciting, fastpaced environment’ Emily Borton

Emily Borton decided a future in the potato industry was for her ling north from the firm are looking forward to meeting growers on its stand.

“We still see this as the most important event in the UK potato industry,” explained Graeme Beattie, the managing director.

“Our involvement gives us a great platform to interact with our suppliers and customers from across the UK. “Much has changed since the last event and there have been some enormous challenges thrown at the industry.

“So this will be a unique opportunity for discussion on the future direction for potatoes.”

This year a special initiative takes place which focuses on

Anthony Gibson Having now read the Government’s consultation paper on how it proposes to implement CAP “refor m” in England, two things strike me.

The first is that despite all of the lobbying, posturing, politicking and negotiating of the past two years, the measures on which farmers are now being asked to give their opinion are remarkably similar to those published by the EU Commission in October 2011.

And the second is that Owen Paterson and co seem to be making the best of what was always going to be a pretty bad job.

attracting young professionals to the industry. Dr Sharon Hall, of the Potato Council, said: “Our latest industry survey identified that more than 60 per cent of farming companies and more than 75 per cent of supply chain businesses find it difficult to secure employees of the right calibre, with the majority believing they will have a resource gap over the next five years.”

Recruitment, training and “up-skilling” are necessary solutions to the knowledge gap.

“For a challenging but rewarding career, now is the perfect time to enter the sector.

This is the place to meet industry professionals and seek the opportunities.”

Emily Borton, 21, fromWadebridge, in Cornwall, graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in Agriculture, with honours in Farm Business Management.

In April 2014, Miss Borton, who comes from a family of livestock auctioneers, will embark on a career in potatoes.

“When you’re near the end of your studies and start to apply for jobs, you work out the roles that really appeal,” she said.

She starts a graduate scheme at Greenvale AP next April, where she will complete four six-month placements in different areas of the business.

“I’m hoping to pass my BASIS during this time, as agronomy is an area I really enjoy,” she added.

“The potato sector is a fastpaced environment which will be exciting to be a part of.

Starting out in a fully vertically integrated business like Greenvale gives me the opportunity to understand the sector as a whole.”

To register for a free tickets in advance of the event visit www.potato.org.uk/bp2013.

Conference to discuss future of agriculture Where are the opportunities in agriculture? How can they be funded? And how should farms be operated for the future?

Those are the core questions at the heart of the next Oxford Farming Conference, which runs from January 6 to 8.

Farmers from across the West Country are expected to head to the event.

Adrian Ivory, co-chairman of the 2014 conference, said: “Driving the debate will be our industry research, which investigates the structure, processes and relationships needed to establish a truly competitive UK agriculture sector.

“The research report we’ve commissioned is likely to be controversial, because it highlights the need for changes to how farms are operated and funded, some of which will be

‘The research report is likely to be controversial’ Adrian Ivory

At just 19 years old, young farmer Lewis Cook from Ivybridge was justly proud of his achievement as he won the title of overall champion at the Liskeard Primestock Show with his Limousin X Belgian Blue cow called Donna PICTURE: EMILY WHITFIELD-WICKS

unpalatable to those who prefer working within the status quo.”

The research project has been produced for the OFC by a Bidwells-led consortium.

“Opportunities for agriculture cannot be grasped unless the political environment is conducive – so having firsthand access to politicians is a key part of the conference,” he said.

Both the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolo, and the Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, will deliver papers at the conference.

They will be joined by Simon Coveney, the Irish Minister for Agriculture, who was involved in CAP negotiations under Ireland’s EU presidency, and Peter Kendall, the NFU president.

The “Oxford Union Debate” event at the conference will see two politicians debate the motion: “This house believes that green energy is not worth the carbon it takes to produce.”

Full details about the conference programme can be found at www.ofc.org.uk

Reform should be aimed at getting farmers back on track Much the most contentious of the proposals is that Single Farm Payments should be standardised across the uplands and the lowlands, with only open moorland receiving a lower rate. At current exchange rates, and after allowing for 15 per cent modulation, it will mean upland farmers receiving £20 per hectare more than the 2012 payment, and lowland farmers some £23.50 less.

The moorland payment goes up from £31 to £53, taking the overall transfer of support into the hills to £36.5 million per year.

Now, while that will certainly not be popular, especially among relatively unprofitable lowland livestock farmers, it is entirely logical and fair.

When Single Farm Payments were introduced in 2006, hill farmers were given a lower rate because they had been receiving less in the headage payments which the new subsidy was designed to replace.

But with the phasing out of this “historical” element, and given the fact that the other two bases for the payments, as a buffer against market or climate volatility and a reward

for “green” farming, are every bit as valid in the hills as elsewhere, the justification for a lower payment has entirely disappeared.

The Government’s proposal has left the NFU not so much sitting on the fence as impaled on it, but it is unquestionably the right thing to do.

So also, I think, is the plan to cut a path of least resistance through the three EU “greening” measures, rather than attempting to design some sort of bespoke scheme for English far mers.

Much of the sting seems to have been taken out of perman-

ent pasture retention and environmental focus areas, and if the three-crops rule will inevitably produce frustration and distortion, farmers are usually pretty adept at finding ways to cope with EU bureaucracy.

For me, the best thing in the paper is the plan to replace the existing architecture of agrienvironment schemes with a single new scheme, to operate from 2016.

This will be targeted partly at SSSIs and the like, and partly at important landscapes, so building on the approach which was at the heart of the success of the late lamen-

ted Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme.

And 15 per cent modulation?

Well despite Peter Kendall’s continuing protestations, that seems pretty much set in stone, given Owen Paterson’s commitment to it, which he spells out in no uncertain terms in his introduction to the paper.

That being so, the important thing is to make sure that as much as possible of the money is used where it can do most good – in research and development, knowledge transfer, advice, training and all of the other activities necessary to get agriculture back on track.

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WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18 2013 FARMING 5

Bees’ nesting is hailed victory for conservation

Toby Baker today joins the Western Daily Press farming team as we expand our coverage of agriculture, rural affairs and food production in the newspaper on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Mr Baker, boss of meat wholesalers and slaughterers Bakers of Nailsea Ltd, is the great grandson of founder Tom Baker. Toby’s two sons, James and Russell, also play a part in the business, which is now innovating and expanding its services to customers. Mr Baker will begin a new weekly column in the Western Daily Press this Saturday – offering an interesting insight into the world of farming and food production in the West Country

Awards honour stars of county’s dairy industry

BY JEFF WELLS wdnews@b-nm.co.uk The winners of the first Somerset Dairy Careers Awards will be revealed at the Dairy Show, taking place at the Bath and West Showground on Wednesday, October 2.

The celebration, organised by the Somerset Dairy Careers Project, aims to recognise the talent Somerset has to offer the dairy industry. Prizes and trophies will be presented in six categories, with a £450 cash prize for one winner.

All cash prizes have been donated by businesses, which will be presenting awards.

Sponsors include: Bakers of Haselbury Plucknett; Lye Cross Farm; Bigwoods Agri Ltd & Deutz Fahr; Mitchells Chartered Accountants; Greenslade Taylor Hunt; Bridgwater College, Cannington Campus and Community Council for Somerset – Som-

erset Society. Dairy employers have not been forgotten as Mole Valley Farmers will present the Dairy Employer Award to a winner who has helped support the next generation of dairy employees in Somerset. As she shortlisted entries to the awards, dairy farmer Caroline Spencer said: “It has given me a huge lift knowing there are such enthusiastic people out there who genuinely want to be involved in the industry.”

Laura Milverton, Somerset

FARMING ONLINE westerndailypress.co.uk

Dozens of farmers blockaded the Muller Wiseman processing plant in Shropshire in protest over the price of milk – www.westerndailypress.co.uk

Classic scene at the Dairy Show – here in 2008 at the Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet in Somerset

Dairy Careers Project coordinator, said: “We have been very impressed with the number of the applicants, as this is the first year for the awards. The enthusiasm from all the applicants working in the industry is outstanding.

“With the average age of a farmer at 58, we need bright, enthusiastic young people to drive the industry forward.

We hope that the awards will help to raise the profile of the dairy industry in Somerset and other young people will see the opportunities are out there.”

Funded by the Big Lottery’s Local Food scheme, the Somerset’s Dairy Careers Project is run by Community Council for Somerset which is working to support young people looking to start and build a career in the dairy industry. It is working in partnership with and supported by businesses and organisations with an interest in ensuring the future of Somerset’s dairy industry.

For more information, contact Laura Milverton, project coordinator at laura@ somersetrcc.org.uk or on 01823 331222 or 07980 224351.

For further details, visit www.somersetdairycareers.co. uk. The project can also be found at www.facebook/ somerset dairycareers and on Twitter @somersetrcc.

Somerset’s Dairy Careers Project is a 21-month project, started in July 2012. It has been reported that 21 per cent of dairy sector employers have a workforce skill gap. The project provides dairy sector resource packs for young people aged 14+ focusing on careers in the dairy sector. The project has produced a promotional careers film, website and more. Within 21 months 30 young people will have benefited from specialist courses within the dairy industry in Somerset, with a further 15 being employed or in training within the dairy sector.

A bumblebee reintroduced in the UK after being driven to extinction has nested for the first time in a quarter of a century.

The short-haired bumblebee vanished from the UK in the 1980s, having suffered declines over the previous 60 years as its wildflower-rich grassland habitat was lost, and was officially declared extinct in 2000.

A reintroduction project has brought queen bumblebees over from Sweden and after two releases of queens at the RSPB’s Dungeness reserve in Kent, the first offspring worker bees have been recorded.

Nikki Gammans, who leads the project, said: “This is a milestone for the project and a real victory for conservation.

We now have proof that this bumblebee has nested and hatched young, and we hope it is on the way to become a selfsupporting wild species in the UK. It’s been a long journey to get here, from creating the right habitat for them, collecting queens in the Swedish countryside, scanning them for diseases and then eventually releasing them at Dungeness. Seeing worker bees for the first time is a fantastic reward for all that hard work but we still have a long way to go to ensure this population is safe and viable.”

The reintroduction project has involved work with farmers to create flower-rich meadows and field margins in Dungeness and Romney Marsh.

Further releases are planned to help build the population.

6 FARMING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS

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Celebrating women’s role in farming Simon Butler, author of new book The Farmer’s Wife, looks at the role of women in farming and recalls his own connection to West Country farming I grew up on a small Cornish farm in the 1950s and 60s. A small herd of Friesians was milked by hand and an ancient Fordson thumped its way around the fields in the margins of which, not long abandoned, lay the rusting skeletons of horse-drawn binders and seed drills.

Here, and on neighbouring farms, haymaking and harvest called upon every available pair of hands, and “crib” for the hungry workers was brought out to the fields by the far mer’s wife.

I can still see men and boys fishing pasties out of a wicker basket and having cold sweet tea poured into tin mugs. I was witness to the last vestiges of the “old way”.

Times change, and in an age of equality the term “far mer’s wife” is to be used with caution. But in my recently pub-

‘I was witness to the last vestiges of the old way’ Simon Butler lished book, The Farmer’s Wife, the title was deliberately chosen; although the book’s subtitle The Life and Work of Women on the Land more accurately describes the its contents.

What I was intent upon discovering were some of the reasons why the role of the woman in farming had for so long been overlooked by history, to look at the work traditionally undertaken by them, and to follow the changes brought about by mechanisation, social change, and in particular the effects of the First World War. If the book errs on the side of farming in the West Country it is simply that this is were I grew up and still live today.

History is the domain of men. Brute strength, culture, religion and the law have determined it so for centuries.

Certainly in the earliest written records it is rare to find specific references to women in farming. While the place of the farmer is assured, the part played by the farmer’s wife, her daughters, and women working on the land in general is a story largely untold.

The journey begins in prehistory but it is not until the Norman Conquest that the absence of women from the written farming record becomes apparent.

Of the thousand personal names recorded in the Domesday Book, only a handful are female. Through the centuries following it is the farmer and his sons who remain the potent figures, with wives and daughters often being merely footnotes.

Of course there is no single story to tell for each “far ming wife” will have a different tale.

What, if anything, binds them collectively is the work that women on the land traditionally undertook and this is the theme followed in the book, aided by the inclusion of more than 200 illustrations and photographs. These superb historical images help provide a clearer picture of the world of women who farmed and worked the land.

To them fell the daily chores of nursing babies, heating the home, preparing meals, churning butter, feeding the fowl, nurturing young and sick animals, salting meat and bottling fruit, and so on.

Poverty and sickness would be a common factor in their lives; long days of dull labour in a world confined by how far one might walk in a day, forever at the mercy of the weather, where a poor summer might determine life or death.

Yet it is from this harsh existence that springs the defining characteristic of countrywomen through the centuries – resourcefulness. Those who listened most carefully at their parents’ knee absorbed the priceless knowledge that, in their turn, gave them self-reliance. That a woman’s family prospered, indeed survived, rested on a compendium of learning as deep-rooted as any desert-dweller’s.

It survives today in some – in those who through generations of farming have forged an unbroken line of wisdom. For others it plays no part in their lives; and in any case today’s farming wife needs to know different things, also vital. I’ve included stories from farming women some whose memories go back to the “old days”, and I have made use of diaries and published reminiscences to throw light on past times.

Nowhere is the resourcefulness of these women better demonstrated than in those who were forced by poverty and the slump in agriculture during Victoria’s reign to emigrate to new lands, especially to the United States and Australia.

It is here against a background of a truly alien world that all their patience, determination and wisdom is called upon in setting up a new home in a strange land.

It was to be the First World War that formed the watershed for women in farming, just as it had for their emancipation in society as a whole.

Simon Butler believes stoic country women have evolved through generations of hardship

The Farmer’s Wife by Simon Butler is published by Halsgrove at £19.99

In both the First World War and the Second World War women played a vital role on farms While many in farming were exempt from enlistment tens of thousands chose to leave the land in order to fight and women were brought in to fill those vacancies in farm and factory.

On the land the first priority was to maintain food supplies both for the fighting men and for the home population and in 1917 a single entity, the Women’s Land Army, was established and by this date there were more than a quarter of a million women

working as farm labourers.

These war years and the decade following also coincided with the greatest development in mechanical transport the world had seen.

Tractors, many imported from the United States during the war years, were now being built in their thousands in British factories.

By the time all the men had returned from war, thousands of women had proved themselves not only capable of working with these machines,

but also of maintaining and servicing them.

Within months of the war’s end in 1918 the Representation of the People Act enfranchised women over the age of 30 and in 1928 women received the vote on the same terms as men.

At the outbreak of the Second World War a new and confident generation of farming women were again called upon.

Farming was never to be the same again.

We have five copies of The Farmer's Wife to give away. To be in with a chance of winning one, just answer this simple question: In what year was the Women's Land Army established? To be in with a chance of winning a copy, send your answer on a postcard, together with your name, address and telephone number, and an email address if you have one, to: The Farmer's Wife Competition, Andy Vallis, Western Daily Press, 1 Temple Way, Bristol BS99 7HD, or email your answer and full contact details to andy.vallis@bnm.co.uk. The closing date is noon on November 15. The winners will be selected at random after this date. The normal Western Daily Press terms and conditions apply.

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WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6 2013 FARMING 7

Chris Rundle

Chris is a regular jam-maker, who knows a thing or two about using the correct amount of sugar to pour into the mix

Tessa gets all jammed up It’s not often that Wells MP Tessa Munt does anything worthy of note, let alone of congratulation but her intervention in the Great Jam Debate is deserving of a small round of applause.

She has launched an attack on ministers who have called for the sugar content of jam to be reduced from 60 to 50 per cent as part of a health drive, pointing out that such a move will leave us eating “coloured mud”.

British jam, she declares, will be reduced to the status of the kind of inferior jam they enjoy in France, Germany and America: sloppy, and with a much-reduced life once opened because the relative absence of sugar tends to make them more susceptible to mould.

Now steady on, here Tessa: French jam is not only excellent, much of it is superior to

It’s not often that Wells MP Tessa Munt does anything worthy of note many of the commercial British varieties, as a little judicious sampling will readily demonstrate.

On the other hand this measure demonstrates quite what a know-nothing bunch we have dictating food policy in this country and what elevated levels of ignorance are to be found among those responsible for drawing it up.

As any jam-maker will testify (and I speak as one whose preserving pan rarely gets a

week off from one year to the next) unless you put the appropriate, carefully measured proportion of sugar to the fruit the jam will not set.

But since British shoppers will still expect to find a suitably sweet, well-set product when they open a jar of jam they have bought from the shop, the manufacturers are going to be driven to adding artificial sweeteners and assorted gelling agents in order to achieve the desired consistency. So how healthy is that?

Better, surely, to concentrate on persuading consumers to spread proper jam a little more thinly.

Store wars strikes back The prospect of an upcoming court battle featuring in the blue corner Tesco and in the red (or perhaps orange) corner Sainsbury’s is an intriguing one indeed.

Sainsbury’s has asked for a judicial review after the Advertising Standards Authority rejected its complaint about Tesco’s Price Promise campaign which, it is being alleged, uses unfair comparisons to persuade shoppers they’re really better off spending their housekeeping at Tesco rather than in the aisles of its rival.

Tesco, on the other hand, says it is offering “the kind of help customers want”.

This, of course, is about far more than the nitty-gritty of a price war between two retail giants and the minutiae of whether own-brand washing powder should be price-compared with mainstream product. It is, on the other hand, all about trying to prove

to the consumer which of the two has the cleaner pair of hands.

Which of the twain, in other words, the innocent shopper can trust more to deliver a bargain like what it says on the label rather than to rip them off.

In which contest Tesco is very much the underdog, given its reputation and a string of unfortunate occurrences such as the small matter of the horse-meat burgers and the Scandinavian pork chop inadvertently sold as British under the proud emblem of the distinctly British Red Tractor label.

Not that this last episode should have come as any great surprise to the nerds among us who take an almost unnatural interest in examining the small print of labels, one of which a year or so ago informed me that the packet of pork chops being offered came from pigs reared abroad but to exactly the same welfare standards as Tesco demands of its British farmers. Of course.

And I bet someone pops across every day just to check.

Meanwhile Tesco is attempting to prove to us all that it is far more than an operation based on the business model of founder Jack Cohen’s fruit and veg market stall by expanding and relaunching its “Finest” range, all fancy packaging bearing the kind of gushing descriptions M&S tried to kid us with when they brought in that actress with the husky voice to assure us that they were selling us more than “just” foodstuffs.

Thus a pack of “Imperator carrots” informs me the contents are not only “deliciously sweet” but “expertly picked” and have been “carefully selected when they’re lovely and

crunchy, with a delicate smooth skin”. Not just dug up when they’re ready, then, clearly.

I detect the presence of smoke and mirrors here: they are just carrots, after all, and in fact did not taste one iota better than the bog-standard, bulk-sold ones I had bought the week before. However I was pleased to see that my favourite crème fraiche produced in Normandy was back on sale after an absence of a week or so but had been newly clothed in the livery of the “Finest” range.

It was surely, however, only a trick of the mind which suggested that in the process of transforming the packaging the price had also risen.

Should have gone to Sainsbury’s.

Victoire pour les français

Tessa Munt MP has been getting worked up about the sugar content of jam and whether European Union regulations will change the very fabric of the jam we spread on our West Country cream teas

An example of what effective, determined demonstrating can achieve is offered by events in Brittany where farmers have secured the kind of victory they could only have dreamed of in their battle against the new eco-tax.

This, you may recall, is going to be applied to all HGVs travelling the French roads from January, ostensibly to reduce the use of diesel and thus the pollution caused by the particulates that are released when it is used as fuel.

Since there are currently not that many alternatives available, however, Breton farmers have denounced it as another fiscal racket by Francois Hollande’s government which is gradually racing up the tax burden on all its citizens, and one which would hit them with

hugely increased transport costs for getting their produce out of the region and into central markets.

Despite some early concessions – such as exemptions for bulk milk tankers – demonstrations have been fierce and violent.

Gantries carrying cameras and other equipment to register HGV movements and calculate the tax have been demolished while farmers have blockaded roads with tons of vegetables and stacks of burning tyres and have been met with a hail of rubber bullets and tear gas grenades from riot police for their trouble.

But after a particularly nasty protest near Brest the government has capitulated.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has announced the tax will not be implemented, as anticipated, on January 1 and meanwhile the government would set to work on a scheme for tapering the rate according to geographical location so that the remotest parts of the country are not disadvantaged.

Moreover Brittany will become the first candidate for these special measures.

In all its years of campaigning and demonstrating Britain’s Farmers For Action has never come close to scoring anything like this kind of success, as chairman David Handley will ruefully reflect.

The difference in Brittany was that not only had 74 per cent of the population shown its disapproval of the new ecotax, the public turned out in their hundreds to support the demonstrating farmers, dodge the rubber bullets and suffer streaming eyes from the CS gas.

Ever picture that happening here?

8 WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS

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Farmers’ bulletin board Market reports FROME Wednesday, October 30 BEEF CATTLE (104) 63 Under Thirty Month Fat Cattle: 41 Over Thirty Month Fat Cattle A large entry but of very mixed quality met a brisk competitive trade. The handful of smart cattle at a premium and more could have been sold. All other grades were a few pence less than last week.

UTM Steers (38) The best bred steers in short supply and dear with a cracking Charolais from FE Smith toping the day at 217.5p/kg whose six steers averaged 212.53p/kg. A Blonde from AL Gwyther & Sons realised £1629. Other cross bred Continentals were in demand selling from 190p/kg. Hereford steers to 198p/kg and £1335 from Louch & Ferrari whose five averaged 195.10p/ kg. Angus steers sold to 197p/kg and £1341 from the same home. Shorthorn steers to 187.5p/kg and £1249 from SL & MV Mitchell. Friesians to 169.5p/kg from Norridge Farms.

UTM Heifers (24) No best heifers forward to really test the trade hence today’s top price of 189.5p/kg from AG Knight for a Blonde. Herefords to 188.5p/kg from JR & RH Williams.

Angus to 181.5p/k from J Keedwell and £1106 from CA AC SG Alvis. Friesian heifers to 163.5p/kg from GP & KL Wilkinson. A few of the better heifers would have benefitted from being farm assured.

Overage Beef (41) Despite no best quality overage cattle on offer trade was firm throughout. Limousin steers to 180.5p/kg from J Keedwell and Hereford steers to £1318. Simmental heifers to 185p/kg from BG & TW Randall.

Other grades a little easier with buyers more selective.

BARREN COWS & BULLS (163) A large entry met a slightly improved trade with all grades gaining 5p/kg on average despite the many plain and poor cows on offer.

Dairy Cows (109) The best heavy meat cows scarce and selling to 153.5p/kg for a young Friesian from PW & ASL Hunt.

British Friesians to 133.5p/kg from FN Millington & Son and Holstein Friesians to £1087 from BJ & EM Yandle and £1066 from DW Pickford & Son Ltd. A good percentage of other quality meat cows selling from 115p/kg and wanted. The manufacturing sorts sold from 100p/kg and the many plain poorer cows a little firmer and generally between 60p/kg to 75p/kg. The very plain still a modest trade from 31.5p/kg.

Beef Cows (47) A cracking Blue x cow topped the day at 168.5p/kg from P & S Watts & Partners. Limousins to 146.5p/ kg from the same vendor. Angus to 124p/kg from JE & AC Messenger. Simmentals to 126.5p/kg from FC Cottle & Son. Herefords to 119.5p/kg from Ringstead Farm Partners. Other grades met a variable trade with buyers selective.

Bulls (7) A mixed trade for the handful forward with Limousins to 142p/kg from MJ Squire. Angus to 138.5p/kg from JE & AC Messenger. Friesians to 110.5p/kg from Adairs. Simmentals to 126.5p/kg from Manor Farm Partnership.

SHEEP (999) Prime Lambs (546) SQQ 173.09p/kg Max 189p/kg £82/head A larger entry sold to a very strong demand and at higher levels than expected as many centres report a more difficult trade this week. Lighter and handy weight lambs were a flying trade and more would have sold to advantage. Heavy weight lambs trading at slightly lower levels. The best Suffolk x lambs to 187p/ kg from J & E Nuttall whose 45 averaged 182.5p/kg. A pen of 16 smart Texel x lambs from BA & CM Godwin averaged 178p/kg and £80.50. A further 26 from GE Gardner & Son averaged 177p/kg and £77.76. A run of 50 heavier weights from JJA Sprake & Partners averaged 47kg and £77.82. Many other quality entries forward traded at similar levels.

Cull Ewes & Rams (71) Average £46.62 Max £70 A similar trade with the better fleshed Suffolk x ewes to £70 from BL Taylor & Partners. Medium ewes trading around the £55 mark with the small and very lean ewes trading either side of £30.

Breeding Ewes Just a small entry with older Poll Dorset ewes to £77.50 from Mrs C Oliver.

Store Lambs (358) Average £61.03 Max £68.50 A cracking entry met fierce demand with a large show of buyers forward meaning many more would have sold to advantage. A fantastic

entry of 107 Rougé x lambs from Edward Tabor topped at £68.50 and averaged £67.53. A useful entry of 201 medium Suffolk x and Charolais x lambs from Holt Farm topped at £61 and averaged £59.51. Other good Continental x lambs to £68 from Will Glover.

DAIRY (15) Calved Heifers to £1910 Calved Cows to £1160 Definitely more life in this section and buyers much keener throughout the sale. Excellent calved Holstein heifers from regular vendor David Green sold to £1910, £1830 and £1700. Quality home bred Holsteins from Les Bennett easily to £1710.

Buyers still tending to favour cubicle trained cattle although good loose housed sorts presented by Austin Smith sold to £1580. Cross bred leaner freshly calved cows and heifers from the Isle of Wight sold to £1080. A shortage of 2nd and 3rd lactation cows this week which could have been well sold.

CALVES (246) NON EXPORT CALVES Better numbers forward but first quality calves were few and far between. Plenty of support ensured a fast trade for all on offer.

Continental Bulls Mainly medium calves forward today but a firm demand for all saw strong prices. The best Blues to £452 from SC Daniell & Son. Limousins sold well to top at £390 from FC Cottle & Son. Simmentals to £345 from FJ & GT Hannam. Blondes to £225 from MS Shears.

Continental Heifers A good trade for all heifers with plenty of buyers keen to purchase however there were few 1st quality sorts forward. The best Limousins to £296 from FC Cottle & Son. Blues to £228 from JJA Sprake & Partners Ltd. Simmentals to £252 from MJ Trowbridge & Son. British A good entry with a range of sorts to suit a strong contingent of buyers. The best continue to sell well with a super Angus bull to £420 from R & R Collis. Angus heifers to £267 from the same vendor. Herefords in very short supply with bulls to £318 from W Rossiter and heifers to £100 from FJ & GT Hannam.

Friesians A good firm trade for all sorts with a touch more life at the lower end! The best over £100 to a top of £145 from PD & EM Stockley. Plenty at £80+ with medium sorts from £40 to £80.

Friday, November 1 STORE CATTLE (1073) ORGANIC CATTLE (202) Frome Market is definitely a recognised centre for Organic Cattle with over 200 head on offer. Buyers travelled from far and wide to produce one of the liveliest trades seen in recent years.

Many more would have sold well. Generally £50-£100 premium was paid this week over conventional prices. Smaller hard Angus Steers 7mo to £600 and Charolais x Steers 7mo to £828 from the Garrett family. Super 7mo Charolais Steers & Heifers from Martin and Rose Brown to £860 and £768 respectively.

Outstanding Hereford x South Devon Steers 13-14mo from the King Brain family produced excellent prices at £960 and £900. Heifers just 12mo from the same home to £892! Best Charolais x Heifers 13mo out of Dairy Dams from Daniel & Hole settled at £900. 16mo Heifers from young Master Hole saw incredible bidding to £1080. A super run of 25 Angus x Friesians from RJ House and Son created amazing prices.

Their 19-20mo Heifers for breeding and finishing were wanted by all and bunches sold to £1055 and £998. Younger Heifers 14mo to £795. Traditional North Devon Steers 11mo were very dear at £700.18mo Heifers for breeding to £855.

COMMERCIAL CATTLE Suckler Cows & Calves Good types on offer this week and all were wanted.

Top Angus x Cows with Steer Calf at foot from Frank and Martin Edwards peaked at £1350. Grand Charolais with Bull Calf presented by Jane Haw sold to a strong £1560.

Feeding Bulls Trade similar to previous weeks with Charolais 13mo to £765. Lesser quality Herefords and Friesians ranged £250-£420.

Young Continentals The large runs of suckler Cattle are easing but those presented today were wanted and continued to see excellent prices. Quality Limousin , Charolais and British Blues were all over £850. Heifers very much in demand throughout with most of the better types over £600. Special Limousins from M/S Banewll to a strong £765. More would have sold well on this wonderful trade.

Forward Continentals Another excellent show of cattle me a continuing tremendous trade. Strong bidding from a large company of buyers from all corners of the country. Forward Steers sold extremely well and many more wanted. Simmentals to £1300 from Betty Chiswell, £1208 from Clyffe Farms and £1205 from WFB Palmer.

COMMERCIAL CATTLE Suckler Cows & Calves Good types on offer this week and all were wanted.

Top Angus x Cows with Steer Calf at foot from Frank and Martin Edwards peaked at £1350. Grand Charolais with Bull Calf presented by Jane Haw sold to a strong £1560.

Feeding Bulls Trade similar to previous weeks with Charolais 13mo to £765. Lesser quality Herefords and Friesians ranged £250-£420.

Young Continentals The large runs of suckler Cattle are easing but those presented today were wanted and continued to see excellent prices. Quality Limousin, Charolais and British Blues were all over £850. Heifers very much in demand throughout with most of the better types over £600. Special Limousins from M/S Banewll to a strong £765. More would have sold well on this wonderful trade.

Forward Continentals Another excellent show of cattle met a continuing tremendous trade. Strong bidding from a large company of buyers from all corners of the country. Forward Steers sold extremely well and many more wanted. Simmentals to £1300 from Betty Chiswell, £1208 from Clyffe Farms and £1205 from WFB Palmer.

Stronger Blondes also sold well with the excellent consignment of 75 from Clyffe Farms selling from £1212 to £1322. Younger Charolais wanted to £1200 from GE Gardner & Son. Heifers equally sought with the best over £1000 again. Simmental Heifers met a strong demand from £1102 from Andy Williams to £1195 from Tony Sage. Limousin Heifers to £1202 from Ian Hale.

British Blue Heifers to £1118 from Peter Potter with his Blondes to £1000.

Heifers with Bulling potential wanted from £745 to £850.

Hereford (136) Mainly medium to forward Steers on offer with Farm Assured and Named Sires selling at a premium. Younger Steers wanted from £730 to £805 from Tom Bamlet. Framed Steers with potential from £900 to £970.

Fleshed forward Steers in advance of £1000, selling from £1015 from Michael and Simon Bendall, £1065 from CG Capon Isle of Wight, £1090 from BR & Y Symes to £1195 from PR & SE Lawson.

Young Heifers from £310 to £375 medium Heifers met a faster trade from £495 to £560. Heifers with bulling potential from £660 to £790. Fleshed Heifers found a larger range from £818 to £1000 from David Foot Ltd. The best Heifers from £1040 to £1052 from PR & SE Lawson.

Angus (280) A good selection forward.

Young Steers selling well to £665 from Andrew Taylor and HPJ Flux Isle of Wight. Young medium Steers to £740 to £785. Framed Steers with potential from £920 to £995. All forward Steers over £1000 with fleshed types from £1130 from Simon Candy, £1200 from JJ & C Simper to £1260 from Frank & Marion Edwards. Heifers in good supply with younger Dairy x from £550 to £602. Bullers from £752 from Tony Rich to £875 from Dave Deacon and Filer and Miller. Forward Heifers sold well from £925 from JJ & C Simper, £940 from Frank & Marion Edwards and £950 from Simon Candy. Vendors were rewarded overall for being Farm Assured and selling with Named Sires.

Friesians (137) Steers seeing the greatest fluctuation in trade of any section. Buyers extremely selective and any Holstein lean types were more difficult to sell. Few British Friesians under 18mo with most 12-16mo £350£500. Older Steers with better conformation generally produced keener bidding with more over £800 than of late.

The very best Steers were in short supply and some strong types from Clyffe Farms and Palmer and Son sold to £1030 and £1020.

SEDGEMOOR Tuesday, October 29 236 BARREN COWS, BULLS, OTM & UFM PRIME A larger entry of 236 Cull Cattle met a wide ranging trade, reflecting the wide range of quality on offer. Generally well fleshed cows were in very short supply. Many cows presented straight out the parlour and short of condition. Top was 187.5ppk for a young Simmental cow from

The last of the maize being harvested at Manor Farm, Lower Stone, Gloucestershire Messrs S & C Fry. Native cows peaked at 160ppk for a younger Hereford from Messrs CG & C Vigar. A Blonde from Mr RA Plowright rose to 154.5ppk and another Hereford from Mr JB Davis to 149.5ppk. Generally better cows in the 130’s. SUCKLERS sold to £1,096.88 for the Simmental from Messrs S & C Fry. Better sucklers £900 plus. BLACK and WHITES peaked at 134.5ppk for a young Friesian from Mr NC Taylor. A well fleshed British Friesian from Messrs PJ Wickham & Son hit 130ppk.

Better meat dairy bred cows were 120ppk plus. Good types around 113 to 118ppk. Plain cows 95 to 105ppk. Many very plain types at lower levels. Dairy bred cows sold to £999.74 for a well fleshed British Friesian from Messrs PG & JE Baker. Best fleshed cows £900 plus. All cows averaged £590.87 including some very lightweight types. CULL BULLS sold to £1,097.10 for an Angus from Messrs LF & JM Heywood. OTM STEERS rose to the day’s top of £1,132.04 for a South Devon from Mrs L Kent-Smith & Sons. OTM HEIFERS peaked at £1,007.34 for an Angus from Messrs A & V Strawbridge.

288 PRIME LAMBS & HOGGS A similar number entry of 288 Lambs sold to a more difficult trade for all presented, not helped by an overall lack of quality offered. The best handyweights sold to 175ppk from Messrs Lane Bros. Others 174 and 172ppk from Messrs EJW, AJ & MJ Land and 172ppk from Mr RB Hebditch. Heavier lambs sold to £79 and £76.50 from Messrs EJW, AJ & MJ Land; £77.50 from Mr RB Hebditch and £76.50 from Miss T Lockyer. Overall average £70.36.

167 CULL EWES & RAMS A similar entry of 167 Cull Ewes and Rams sold to a slightly easier trade for all presented.

The small proportion of strongest ewes sold to £95 and £82.50 from Mr R Hagar and £88.50 from Messrs GE & EJ Nicholls. Overall average £58.54.

Saturday, November 2 111 DAIRY CATTLE A much larger entry of 111 Dairy Cattle to include 81 milkers saw a marked improvement in the quality of entry, which in turn stimulated a better trade for in par-

ticular the middle range heifers. The best quality were no dearer than of late.

A shortage of cows on offer resulted in our top price being a non pedigree 2nd calver at £1980 for John & Heather Snook who had others to £1800. 4th calvers to £1550. £1480 for Messrs A & W Vigus. The Snooks also led the way with what was the best show of heifers from all of our Vendors here at Sedgemoor for some time at £1960, £1950 and £1860. Others to £1950 from Mr FE Luff (1st in the ring); £1940 Witcombe Farm Partners; £1920 Mr KR Hawkins (the last heifer in the ring); £1910 Andy Neill Farm Services; £1900 Mr N Heywood and Messrs WJ & P Puddy and 2 well bred Ayrshire heifers from Hannah Bowditch sold to £1500 and £1160. Incalf heifers to £1280 Messrs PJ Searle & Son. Strong bulling heifers to £920 x 2 Mr FAW Baker. Younger types to £830 for Messrs RGB & SE Hawker.

685 STORE CATTLE & GRAZING COWS A similar sized entry at 1029 Store Cattle and Stirks, with 685 strong stores but quality generally better.

Many buyers in attendance all very keen to secure cattle as the “Autumn” flush fails to materialise and numbers may have peaked. Consequently trade very brisk. Any Vendors who may have been waiting for an upturn in the trade may now come forward with confidence. Top was £1370 for two tremendous Charolais heifers (31m) from Mr & Mrs A Stratton, Combe Raleigh, who sold another (29m) at £1335. Other well fleshed continental heifers at £1130 (25m) for a Charolais from Mr BC Knapp, Pilning; £1085 for Blues (27/28m & FA) Messrs RC Rowe & Son, Upottery; £1075 for Limousins (25m) Mr GC Hutchings, Combe Martin and £1070 (24m & FA) Messrs Wakely & Brunt, Shepton Beauchamp.

NATIVE HEIFERS topped at £1005 for an overage Shorthorn from Mr GT Heywood, Chilton Polden. Angus heifers to £945 (25m with sire) from Messrs EF & MA Cottle, Bruton.

STEERS peaked at £1350 for a strong Blue (25m & FA) from Messrs Wakely & Brunt (well done Laura & Charlotte). A 26m Charolais from Messrs CJ Lancelles & Son, Poughill rose to £1240.

Other best continentals at £1230, Lim-

ousin (30m) Mr GT Heyward again and £1210, Simmentals (15/17m) Messrs W & SM Kendall, Truro.

NATIVE STEERS rose to £1140 for Angus (25m with sire) Messrs EF & MA Cottle again. Young South Devon steers (17m) from Messrs W & SM Kendall, Truro rose to £1080. Dairy steers in keener demand also to £985 (overage & FA) from Messrs AS Poultney & Sons, Bleadney. Others to £950 (30m & FA) Messrs C & LE Norton, Sturminster Newton. Other young stores 14/15/16m Simmentals from Messrs W & SM Kendall, Truro again realised £1100. £1135 was bid for a top drawer 12m Limousin steer from Mr J Dando, Westbury Sub Mendip, who also sold 15m Blue steer at £1100. 14m Charolais steer (FA) from Messrs CG, CR & MS Spiller, Upottery at £1025. A good show of organic stores to start met excellent demand to £950 for an 18m Hereford (FA) from Messrs MA & EJ Bennett, Broadhembury, who also sold Blue steers (16/19m & FA) at £910. A cracking trade from start to finish.

6 SUCKLER COWS, CALVES & STOCK BULLS Small entry when an Angus cow (04/10) and her Angus bull calf (16.04.13) sold to £960 from Frogwell Farms Ltd. 338 STIRKS & BUSK CALVES A good entry for early November of 338 Stirks when some excellent stirks were forward sold to another strong trade.

Quality continues to be well rewarded by the large company of buyers. Top price of £970 (7/8m) for quality British Blues from Melanie Forward, who also sold another at £810 (7m). Very well done indeed. Other Blues to £705 (10/ 11m) from Messrs Milton & Thorne and £695 (12m) from Messrs J & J Feltham.

Limousins to £845 (13m) from Mr GJ Painter, who also sold another at £675 (5m). Others to £750 (7/8m) from Messrs EFB Hill & Son who had others at £670 (5/8m). £695 (4m) from Messrs RD & JC Persey and £680 (6/7m) from Mrs IJ Williams. Charolais to £830 (6m) from Messrs NJ & WE Symons, when others sold at £790 (6m) from Mr PH Taylor and £700 (7m) from Mr WG Evans. Simmentals to £680 (8/12m) from Mr GTJ Boundy who also sold others at £625 and £620 (7/12m). Few

WDP-E01-S3

WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6 2013 FARMING 9

Diary dates

Rural life is well covered in the Western Daily Press, with forthright farming opinions from Ian Liddell-Grainger and Derek Mead, and a round-up of news from the dressage arenas and cross-country courses across the South West – every Saturday

Store Pigs (117) Better entry when more quality pens met good interest.

Best 11 w/o Whites £49 from Mr D Hutchings. 10 w/o £35. 8 w/o £26. Best types from Mr M Ogborne, Mr P Stone, Messrs C & S Court and Messrs A & M Farms. Breeders (3+16) Small entry and limited demand. Sow + 8 £175 from Mr T Cambridge. Saddleback sow £92 from Messrs D & R Matravers.

Fat Pigs (66) Smaller entry and quality more mixed. Best pigs still a good trade. Lights £110, mediums £140 and heavies £162. Best types from Messrs P & T Reakes, Mr M Olof, Mr B Whitrow, Mr D Hutchings, Mr J Bament, Messrs LE Miller & Son, Mr P Stone and Mr M Hayman.

Cull Sows (16) Average entry and a better than expected trade. Top £224 and £200 from Messrs LE Miller & Son. Other £196 from Mr M Hayman.

Boars (7) Sold to £190 from Mr N Richards.

PICTURE: BOB HARGRAVE bulls forward but a top of £800 (13m) for a Limousin from Melanie Forward.

Simmentals to £765 (13m) from Mr RN Darch. Melanie Forward’s British Blue heifers ensured a clean sweep topping each section and these rose to £778 (7/ 8m) when others sold at £742 (7m).

Other British Blues to £652 (6m) from Mr D Northey and £600 (11/12m) from Messrs Milton & Thorne. Limousins from Messrs EFB Hill & Son saw prices of £700 (7m) and £655 (7/8m). Others at £665 (6/7m) from Mrs IJ Williams; £658 (6m) £580 and £565 (5/6m) from Mr GJ Painter and £580 (5/7m) from Mr GRA Miller. Simmentals to £660 (6m) from Messrs NJ & WE Symonds and £605 (12/13m) from Messrs J & J Feltham.

South Devons to £620 from Potticks Pigs Ltd. Charolais to £570 (5m) from Mr WG Evans.

450 NON-EXPORT CALVES (328) Beef Breeds – not able to be exported from market A strong call for continental calves at the top end in particular, more selective in the middle and lower ranges. Best bulls very keen to £465, £455 and £448 for Limousin bulls from Mr N George. Blues to £438 and £428. Charolais at £425 Mr MC Powell and Simmental bulls also £425 from Messrs AW Ponting & Son. Other Blues £408 from Messrs AJ Bond & Son; £392 Messrs DJ & SL Kittow; £390 Mr SA Taylor and £388 Messrs Short Bros, Axminster. Plenty of bulls £320-£360.

Medium Blues £240-£280. Smaller bulls £180 plus. The smartest heifers were in short supply at £368 for 2 Blues Mr N George. Others £340 Messrs TE Pocock & Co and £335 Messrs DJ & SE Bristol.

Cracking Simmental heifers to £335 Messrs Gribble. Other good heifers £320, £318 and £315. Medium heifers from £220, Blues mainly £200-£260.

Small heifers harder to place. Steady trade for native breeds saw Angus bulls to £290 both from Mr BJ Phelps and Messrs Gribble. Others £288, £280 and heifers £175, £162 and £150. Herefords firm when bulls sold at £318, £307, £305 House & Sons and heifers £178 Williams PFA. (122) Friesians – not able to be exported from market Slightly sharper trade for the rearing Friesians when young types topped at £140 Messrs TA

Hole & Sons. Others £134, £130, £129.

More in the £100-£120 range and better types generally £60-£100. A lot of plain calves forward at £20-£40 on size. Older Friesians to £178, £162 for well reared bunches from Mr K Godwin of Chippenham. Swedish Reds to £62.

4003 SHEEP Store Lambs (2666) Another large entry of 2666 Store Lambs sold to another very fast trade for all presented, however a higher proportion of small hill types pegged the averages slightly.

The best sold to £89.50 and £80 from Mr EJ Gwyn. Others £87 from Mr C Peach; £84 from Mr IJ Ball; £79.50 from Messrs A & R Jones; £78.50 and £75.50 from Messrs NF Clothier & Sons; £74.50 from Messrs House & Sons; £74.50 from Messrs C & A Williams and £74 from Messrs LC & AD Hoare, Messrs S & J Willis and Mr G Puddy. Mediums ranged £58-£70. Very small nearly all £30 plus. Overall average £59.35.

Grazing Ewes & Rams (1218) Another large entry of 1218 Grazing Ewes and Rams sold to a very similar trade.

The best were £90 plus and sold to £109, £102, £100.50, £100 and £94 for a very strong run from Mr M Hughes. Others £108 from Messrs RC Burrough & Sons; £99 from Mr JE Pearse; £97 from Mr R Wall; £95 from Mr G Puddy; £94 from Messrs D Clothier & Sons; £93 from Messrs J Sprake & Partners; £92.50 from Messrs A & R Jones and £91.50 from Mr AJ Willcox. Mediums ranged £50-£75. Plain £35- £50. Boners nearly all £19 plus. Overall average £51.45.

Breeding Ewes (70) Numbers remain tight when 70 Breeding Ewes were forward and sold to £110 and £102 for Suffolk Mule shearlings from Mr NP Tabrett. Texel Mule shearlings to £96 from Mr AJ Willcox.

Stock Rams (32) Another good entry of 32 Stock Rams sold to a similar trade.

Charollais to £270 from Mr A England.

Suffolks to £265 from Mr L Haskell.

Texels to £230 and £205 from Messrs RC Burrough & Sons. Older rams to £140 for Texels from Messrs J & B Bright.

Goats (17) Goats sold to £80 from Mr C Beach and £62 from Mr J Greenslade to average £52.29.

225 PIGS

Monday, November 4 140 PRIME CATTLE (119) UTM & (21) OTM Prime Cattle It happens every year and as forecast on this report for the last month, Bonfire Night brings a resurgence in the trade as slaughterers buy forward for Christmas. Trade generally 7 to 9ppk up on the week. Best cattle improved but many cold, storey types sold exceptionally well. Top was 233ppk for a shapely barley Blue heifer from Mr SER Hunt, who sold another at 222.5ppk. 231.5ppk was bid for a superb overage red Limousin heifer from Messrs ER Dascombe & Son, who sold a similar underage red Limousin heifer at 220.5ppk. 226ppk was bid for a lean, clean type red Limousin heifer from Mr R Wall. STEERS sold to 222.5ppk for a better type red Limousin from Messrs ER Dascombe & Son again. Others to 218ppk for a similar Blue steer from Messrs MD & GJ Curtis. Better type steers and heifers around 215ppk. Good types 208/ 210ppk. Commercial steers over 200ppk and heifers mid 190’s. STEERS sold to £1,637.18 for a strong 751kg Blue from Messrs MD & GJ Curtis.

HEIFERS sold to £1,455.30 for a red Limousin from Messrs ER Dascombe & Son. 799 FINISHED LAMBS & HOGGS A slightly larger entry of 799 Lambs sold to a similarly strong trade for all presented. The best handyweights sold to 193 and 192ppk from Messrs VJ & MJ Headon and 193ppk from Messrs GB & AE Pearce. Others 191 and 190ppk from Mr OAG Stephens; 189ppk from Mr A Wills and 188ppk from Messrs AA, RH & EJ White, Messrs DW & VR Blackmore and Messrs JPT & BM Scott. Fewer heavier lambs forward sold to £88.50 and £83.50 from Messrs MP & DM Hine. Others £84.50 from Messrs VJ & MJ Headon; £84 from Mr RB Hebditch; £84 and £83 from Milborne Wick Farms Ltd and £82.50 from Mrs S Meredith. Overall average £74.66.

NEWTON ABBOT The monthly sale of TB-restricted cattle attracted a good entry of 86. With many cattle needing more finishing, averages were held back. Cows averaged 104.62ppk. Store cattle were a very useful trade, especially for the stronger sorts, with a top of £1,140 for a bunch of six Limousin steers from N L Warne & Son. Prime cattle to £1,056 and 176ppk for 600kg from C J Savery .

Cows to £932.40 for a 740kg from Beardon Farm who also had the top- priced cow at 129ppk. In the store cattle sales Limousin steers sold to £1,140 from N L Warne, heifers to £565, Charolais steers £888, heifers £565, South Devon steers £1,055, Simmental heifers £260, Friesian heifers £340, Aberdeen Angus heifers £348. Prime lambs were a better trade with a top of £82.50 for heavies from E G Wilton. Mediums to £74 for J S Camp. The winner of the Show and Sale of Prime Lambs was Roger Coysh of Sigford.

SOUTH MOLTON Stags report a slightly smaller entry of lambs met a similar trade except for the heavier types with four pens exceeding the £90 mark. Heavy Texel types from Messrs Stacey, Withleigh and A J Pickard, Twitchen at £90.80 and £90.50 and two pens of heavier Suffolk types for Messrs Woollacott, Yarnscombe at £90.40 and B J Tapp, South Molton at £90. Premium of

NOVEMBER

185ppk for medium Charollais from Messrs Green, Witheridge. A smaller entry of cull sheep met a more selective trade with meat ewes meeting reasonable returns. Best at £100 for a Charollais ram from G W Jones & Sons, South Molton. Two British Blue heifers from Messrs Lake, South Molton, both realised 194ppk (£1,222.20).

HOLSWORTHY Kivells report another really good market with over 1,700 lots sold. Top call was £1,436 for the pick of the 58 prime cattle with others at £1,412 from Messrs Coles. Premium was 218ppk going to Derek Blight, Upcott. The 161 store cattle saw plenty of buyers ready to spend with the best at £1,200 for Miss James, Higher Solden with Messrs Yelland, Honeycroft not far behind a £1,100. The 65 OTM/cull cows saw Peter Tucker, High Bickington top at £1,113 with Mark Vickery of Kilkhampton topping the older cows £927. The 129 calves met a massive trade with the best from Messrs Webber, Barnstaple at £425. Just over 1,000 sheep forward with the best from Messrs White, Crediton at £250 for the pick of his stock rams. The 171 ewe lambs sold to £79.50 for Messrs Wood, Burscott who also topped the store lambs at £69. Prime lambs told to 183ppk for Bowden & Son. Best value was £86.20 from three vendors.

TRURO Lodge & Thomas report an entry of 39 UTM and OTM prime cattle, 87 cull cows, 291 store cattle including six dairy cattle and 20 suckler cows and calves, 185 rearing calves and stirks and 482 finished store and breeding sheep. A reduced entry of prime cattle included a proportion of under-finished and lighter-weight cattle.

Demand for quality meant the best cattle sold extremely well. Premium was 238ppk for a Limousin for W T Bryant & Sons, Mawgan purchased by Ralph Michell of Calenick Farm Butchery, Kea who also purchased the top price of the day, a Limousin steer at £1,656 again from Messrs Bryant. Only a handful of heifers forward topped by a Limousin at £1,540 and 235ppk, also purchased by Ralph Michell. Premium steers averaged 220.5ppk. Prime steers to 205ppk (195.25). All steers averaged 197.03ppk. Premium heifers to 235ppk (225). All heifers averaged 196.31ppk. In the sale of OTM prime cattle top price of 190ppk for a Hereford steer from Messrs Rowe, Ruan Minor. Steers averaged 168.21ppk. Heifers to 156ppk (151). Continued good numbers of cull cows forward both resulted in an easing of prices. Top price and value was £1,015 and 138ppk for Messrs Baker, Newquay purchased by West Devon Meat, Hatherleigh. Dairy cows to 94ppk (71.32). Stores met brisk trade for well-grown and more forward cattle. Top-price steers were Limousins at £1,125 from R T Lobb, St Ewe. Top price heifers were Limousins at £1,020 from W Martin, Coombe. Saler steers £1,110, British Blue steers £1,100, heifers £730, Simmental steers £1,030, heifers £850, Aberdeen Angus steers £1,005, South Devon heifers £935, Charolais steers £930, heifers £740, Hereford steers £825, overyear Friesians £570.

Yearlings: Charolais steers £780, heifers £638, Limousin steers £780, Simmental steers £720, Aberdeen Angus steers £645. A small entry of incalf diary heifers and bulling heifers sold to £1,000 for a Friesian in-calf heifer from Messrs Eddy, St Erth. An entry of mainly Welsh Black cows and calves for Miss C Parker, Luxulyan sold to a top price of £715 (£692). An entry of Devon in-calf cows sold to £810 (£730) for R B Nicholls, St Buryan. An entry of pedigree South Devon heifers sold to £995 for Roy Withers, Probus with three other good South Devon heifers for Roger Clemens, St Ervan reaching £980 (£925). Top price bull calf was £490 for a Limousin from N Monies, Zennor. Limousin bulls averaged £205, heifers to £230 (£99), British Blue bulls £265 (£175), heifers £230 (£99), Simmental bulls £210 (£170), Hereford bulls £200 (£166), heifers £180 (£98), Aberdeen Angus bulls £148 (£92), Welsh Black bulls £132, Friesian bulls £112 (£85), heifers £50 (£34), Friesian bobby calves £42 (£27). British Blue male stirks £485, heifers £345, Friesian male stirks £290 (£255). In the sheep pens and improved entry of 237 lambs met a very keen trade, especially for the heavier, wellfleshed sorts with two pens selling for

over £90. Top price was achieved by Messrs Osborne, St Eval for overweight Texel-crosses selling for £94.50 to Robert Trevarthen, Roskrow. This was closely followed by heavy Charollais lambs from J R Julyan, Tresillian selling for £90.50 and purchased by Carnon Downs Butchery, near Truro.

Top average was 189ppk for medium continental crosses from P J Grylls & Son, Kenwyn. SQQ average 171ppk.

The 96 cull ewes met a more difficult trade. A top price of £76 for C H P Powell & Sons, St Ervan. A pair of good cull rams, both selling at £64. Best ewes averaged £74. Half-meat ewes to £63.50 (£57). The 149 store lambs met a lively trade for all. Small and medium size lambs were particularly sought after. A top price of £67 for Messrs Harris, Ruan High Lanes. Strong stores averaged £65. Medium stores to £61.50 (£56).

Smaller stores to £54.

HALLWORTHY A smaller entry of draft ewes with nearly all plain and half meat. Top was £70 for a pen of Mules from K Hawkey, Higher Tregolls. The largest entry of prime lambs for a long time met a very strong trade for all weights. Several pens over 178ppk to a top of 188ppk for two pens of mediums from Messrs Breyley, Jacobstow. Three pens realised £83 and sold to £83.50 for a pen of heavies from E C Cowling, St Gennys.

Store lambs were a flying trade for all with pen after pen over £67 to a top of £69.50 for C Dalley, Newquay. A smaller entry of breeding ewes met a firm trade. L S Higgins & Son, St Neot had 2T ewes which sold to £110. Highest price seen for many years for a Scotch Black single couple from P H Cornelius, Otterham which realised £95. Stock rams meta firm trade. Top was £195 for a Texel 2T from Messrs Bennett, Truro.

One of the biggest organic suckler-cow sales at Hallworthy. R Statton and his son, Lewis, dispersed their herd of South Devons and Aberdeen Angus cows, which saw a total of 59 head going through the ring. Top call was for a superb South Devon cow, in-calf five months to a Stabiliser, which sold for £1,290 to Messrs Bickle, Bridestowe.

Fierce bidding saw the second top price at £1,250 for an in-calf Limousin, sold to Messrs Berryman, Fowey. Conventional cows and calves were topped by C Baker, St Columb with a young Saler cow with her Shorthorn calf at foot which realised £1,120. A large run of quality store cattle saw a ring packed full of buyers with a brisk trade from start to finish. The day was headed by Messrs Gregory with a run of superbly fleshed Simmental cattle which realised £1,335. L R Pengelly saw his run of 22-month Charolais suckler steers achieve £1,110. Again in the top run was a single British Blue steer from Messrs Ellis, which also realised £1,110. Friesians were topped by a pair of freemartin heifers from Messrs Hawken at £820. A large entry for the monthly Dairy Show & Sale saw 10 heifers sell over £2,000 with a firstquality average of £2,021. Top was £2,350 for the first-prize heifer and overall Champion Mearfield Botercura 307 by Morningview Ashlar from Ivor and Pauline Stephens, Chilsworthy who also sold Penzer Daisy 102 by Alliance at £2,300. The second-prize heifer and reserve champion from Gordon Davis, Tiverton sold at £2,200 for a non-pedigree heifer by Hayden.

The same vendor sold another nonpedigree heifer by Bluesky close behind at £2,150. John Uglow, Holsworthy sold a milky heifer from his Maxworthy Herd at £2,100. Matt and Becky Jenkin, Helston sold a decent run of milky heifers from their Mabec Herd and topped at £2,080 twice. T N & M Morrow & Partners, Truro sold the best of their heifers at £2,050. Ivor & Anthony Rowe, Launceston sold their best heifers to £1,900. Best cows sold to £1,680 for a fifth-calver from Messrs White, Looe. The dispersed the pedigree St Lawrence Herd for D B Brown, Bodmin saw a cracking trade topping at £1,950 for a freshly calved heifer by Overside Dragon. Other heifers sold to £1,850 for a fresh heifer by Lakemead Rancher. Cows from this dispersal sold to £1,780 for a Moet Brinstar Sirius daughter and £1,750 for a Lakemead Rancher daughter. In-calf heifers sold to £1,580 for Tom Laity, Falmouth.

Bulling heifers sold to £1,020 for Messrs Parsons, Camelford and £980 for three smart British Friesian heifers by Newfailand Mister Frosty from D H Daw & Son, Saltash. Heifer calves to £340 for Messrs Parsons.

Today NWF Agriculture and Shepton Veterinary Group Cornwall Dairy Farmers’ Meeting, Carvannel Farm, North Cliffs, near Camborne, 11am.

Details: 01749 341761 Today United Kingdom Grain, East of England Showground, Alwalton, Peterborough. Details: 0845 4900 142 7 National Farmers’ Union Tenant Farmers’ Conference 2013, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, 9.30am 12 Farm Safety Event, Kimber’s Farm Shop, Wincanton, 10.30am. Details: 01872 277151 13 NWF Agriculture and Shepton Veterinary Group Devon Dairy Farmers’ Meeting, Meadwell Farm, Kelly, near Lifton, 11am. Details: 01749 341761 14 Healthy Livestock Conference, Padbrook Park, Cullompton. Details: 0845 458 7485

Quota Milk Average wholesale price (4.00% butterfat, for 2013/2014 quota): clean 0.20ppl, used 0.20ppl.

Entitlements 2014 season price: Non-SDA £280-£300 per hectare. 2013 season average price: Non-SDA £213 per hectare; SDA £190 per hectare, moorland £39.60 per hectare Naked Acres 2013 hosting and letting season-average price: Non-SDA £49 per acre; SDA £35 per acre; Moorland £7 per acre Townsend Chartered Surveyors, Exeter, (01392 823935) and townsendcharteredsurveyors.co.uk

Useful numbers Defra general inquiries 08459 335577 Met Office 01392 885680 NFU South West 01392 440700 south.west@nfu.org.uk EBLEX South West 0870 608 6610 0871 504 3581 Rural Payments Agency 0845 6037777 Farm Crisis Network 0845 3679990 7am–11pm RABI helpline, financial help 01865 727888 ARC Addington Fund 01926 620135 office hours The Samaritans 08457 909090 24 hours a day Sole Occupancy Authorisation for multiple movements between groups of premises under the same occupation and management issued by local Divisional Veterinary Manager Devon 01392352825; Cornwall 01872 265500; Somerset 01823 337922

Contact us Western Daily Press Telephone 0117 934 3223 E-mail wdnews@bepp.co.uk Fax 01752 765535 Online www.westerndailypress.co.uk/ farming

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News digest FARMING CO-OPERATIVE

LEGAL CLARIFICATION

Arla Foods said the number of UK farmers who had signed up to be part of the newly formed cooperative was “ahead of targets”.

Next Friday is the deadline for current Arla Foods Milk Partnership (AFMP) members and direct suppliers to sign up to the scheme.

The Farmers’ Guardian this week reported that some farmers are yet to make a decision on cooperative membership – and the 7.5ppl investment it will require – even with the looming deadline.

But Arla said contracts from farmers who wanted to be part of the cooperative were “flooding in”, leaving the company “ahead of targets”.

Once the November 15 deadline has passed, the offer will then be thrown open to farmers who do not currently supply the firm as it seeks to guarantee volume as the year draws to a close.

Farmers can now use red diesel in certain vehicles if they are gritting roads this winter.

From November 1, the rules on the use of red diesel changed, allowing users of agricultural tractors, light agricultural vehicles and agricultural material handlers to use red diesel in their vehicles when gritting public roads.

Previously, only vehicles constructed or adapted solely for gritting roads were allowed to use red diesel for gritting purposes.

This restriction prevented farmers from using their tractors and other agricultural vehicles that are ordinarily fuelled with red diesel to respond quickly to adverse weather conditions.

Hedvig Ljungerud, HMRC’s deputy director for transport taxes, said: “These changes show that HMRC recognises and responds to the needs of rural communities.”

PORCINE POD

WATER SECURITY

A pig sty fit for the 21st century has been unveiled. The new “service pod”, specially designed for outdoor pig units, is being trialled in East Anglia.

It has been developed jointly by the British Pig Executive, Easy Pigs and Rattlerow Farms as part of a field trial.

The aim of the revolutionary new porcine pod is to provide the right environment for the sow during heat detection and insemination, as well as improving labour efficiency.

Many producers believe a well-designed service area will help improve litter size and farrowing rate in outdoor systems, where breeding-herd performance continues to progress at a slower pace than in indoor herds.

The gestation period of a pig is roughly 112 to 115 days. Ultrasonography is the mode used for pregnancy detection with best results at 25 to 70 days post mating. False positives results can be caused by pyometra.

Farmers are being urged to make use of the expected heavy rainfall and capture rainwater to use in the drier months.

Speaking at Westminster Forum’s seminar on delivering the National Adaptation Programme, NFU climate change adviser Dr Ceris Jones said the industry could not keep going “from peak to trough where water is concerned”.

Dr Jones called for better Government policy to allow farmers and growers to capture water more efficiently during times of plenty.

“With the risk of flooding at the forefront of many farmers minds after the rainfall of the last few weeks it might seem strange to talk about water security, but they are two sides of the same coin,” she said.

“If agriculture in the UK is to realise its potential as the climate changes we need to give farmers the tools and the confidence to invest in the face of an uncertain future climate.”

Time running out to join

Red diesel to fuel gritting

Don’t forget to use rainwater

Maternity wing fit for piggies

Cereal producers will be able to take part in a scheme to find industry best practice as the Home Grown Cereals Association is seeking to recruit eight growers to host ‘monitor farm’”, as it rolls out a concept that has proved successful in Scotland CEREAL MONITOR

Farmers will contribute to best practice project The hunt is on for forwardthinking cereal and oilseed growers who are seeking ways to boost the performance of their business.

The Home Grown Cereals Association is seeking to recruit eight growers to host “monitor farms”, as it rolls out a concept that has proved successful in Scotland, where four HGCA monitor farms are already established.

The essence of an HGCA Monitor Farm is that it is farmer-led, dealing with real on-farm issues to promote improvements in technical performance, bottom-line profitability and long-term sustainability.

Host farms are supported by an HGCA facilitator offering advice and guidance, as well as an arable business group made up of growers from the sur-

rounding area, providing a forum for discussion and an opportunity for members to benchmark their businesses.

Through open days, specialist talks and updates on the HGCA website, the monitor farms reach out to growers in the local community and beyond, helping to build sector resilience.

Richard Laverick, of HGCA, said: “The Monitor Farms

have proved very popular with producers because they offer real support, pragmatic decision-making and the chance to examine the impacts of those decisions down the line.

“We are now offering eight more growers the opportunity to become HGCA monitor farmers – not only making their own businesses more profitable, but also sharing best practice.”

NEW TECHNOLOGY

POULTRY OFFERING

Landscape contractors will be able to purchase a new piece of John Deere equipment with a dealer-installed propane kit.

The kit is designed and manufactured by EnviroGard, and is available for John Deere ZTrak zero-turn mowers, QuikTrakstand-on mowers, and commercial walk-behind mowers.

“Propane has emerged as a leading alternative fuel, and many of our customers are very interested in exploring it for their businesses,” said Steve Wilhelmi, John Deere tactical marketing manager.

“By working with EnviroGard, John Deere can provide our customers with an economical fuel solution that will reduce their carbon footprint and keep them up and running on the jobsite.”

The poultry industry has huge potential for the future with a number of exciting opportunities facing the sector, NFU president Peter Kendall said.

Mr Kendall was speaking at the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference in Warwickshire.

“Poultry represents the biggest meat sector in the UK and must continue to demonstrate why it should be seen as an exciting, innovative industry that is increasingly competitive while at the same time building capacity to feed a growing UK population.

“Let’s create an environment which really means poultry businesses have the confidence and opportunity to invest. Let’s address market failure and iron-out volatility to enable the entire food supply chain to grow.

“The horse-meat scandal earlier this year also presented

John Deere lets you go propane

Industry looks set to take off

Western Daily Press contributor David Hargrave, of Salisbury, Wiltshire, took this picture of farmer Tom Parsons using a tractor and topper to tidy up a penning area near Silk Hill

a fantastic opportunity as supermarkets look to shorten their supply chains and stock more British produce. Consumers are increasingly showing their support for British farming so we need to continue to promote British poultry as an affordable, healthy, versatile protein food.

“There will be difficulties to overcome in delivering this exciting future – a fair and better functioning supply chain will be key to getting transparency and putting more British food on more British plates, overcoming planning issues to create high welfare sheds, we need to access competitively priced feed, but most of all we must be able to attract young people to this technological sector.

“I’m really optimistic that the poultry industry can embrace these challenges and has a bright future,” he added,