Farming wdp 20nov13

BY JEFF WELLS wdnews@b-nm.co.uk George Osborne has been urged to create the conditions under which farmers can confidently invest in agricultural plant.

Ahead of the Autumn Statement next month, the National Far mers’ Union has written to the Chancellor urging him to consider farming in his financial plans for the year ahead.

The NFU said it has submitted proposals making the case that agriculture is en-

George Osborne is being lobbied by the NFU to help farmers

Daily business e-briefing www.southwestbusiness.co.uk is the home of business news for the region. Visit today and enjoy a free daily e-briefing BUSINESS SPECIAL THURSDAY tering a period of very significant opportunity – for growth, new services and rural employment.

In a statement it said: “We have weathered the recession, shown resilience and strength and are now looking to the Government to create the fiscal framework in which family farm business partner-

ships, along with other rural businesses, can contribute to the investments needed to boost the UK’s productivity and profitability.”

In its submission it outlined three critical areas to promote investment and growth.

■ An appropriate and consistent Annual Investment Allowance for farming ■ Farm infrastructure allowances ■ Taxation tools to improve farm business management of volatility Outgoing NFU president Peter Kendall wrote the personal letter to Mr Osborne.

He said: “Agricultural businesses have previously seen both the Annual Investment Allowance drastically reduced and Agricultural Building Allowances abolished.

“These measures have discouraged investment and while large companies have benefited from considerable corporation tax reductions, unincorporated businesses have seen their income tax liabilities increase.

“This limits their ability to invest, expand and grow.”

He went on to highlight how the farming industry’s biggest opportunity for growth was to reduce the dangerous reliance on imported foodstuffs.

He said: “The UK imports 500,000 tonnes of poultry, equivalent to one third of our domestic production. We are even more dependent on overseas farmers and meat processors for pork, where the 800,000 tonnes imported overshadows our own UK production base.” The Autumn Statement is on December 5.

A West Country firm is in Shanghai at the moment attempting to sell – tea to the Chinese.

It is there as part of a visit with Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson that is aiming to fly the flag for British food.

Some 35 British food and drinks businesses are hoping to tap into the Chinese market at the Food and Hotel China exhibition in Shanghai.

Pukka Herbs, which has operations in Bristol and Gloucestershire, is among the firms with Mr Paterson.

It was established in 2001 and is the number one organic fruit and herbal tea brand in the UK and is growing at 66 per cent year on year. Globally,

Sebastian Pole and Tim Westwell of Pukka Herbs, which is selling tea to China

The West Country is full of farmers who deserve praise – but Anthony Gibson has singled out Neil and Sally Gribbs, who farm in East Devon, for special praise. Find out why on PAGE 4

Carter Jonas has the expertise to advise you on how best to manage your rural business and land assets. Contact us to discuss your business needs: Bath 01225 747270 bath@carterjonas.co.uk carterjonas.co.uk

Wells 01749 677667 wells@carterjonas.co.uk

The Property People

it sells tea to over 40 countries and international sales represent over 50 per cent of its total business.

Mr Paterson said: “With Britain’s global reputation for quality and China’s increasing demand for Western-style food and drink, there is no better time to tap into the Asian market. I will be doing all I can to promote our products and make it easier for aspiring British entrepreneurs to strike new export deals with China.”

The food and drink industry contributed £96.1 billion to the UK economy last year, employing nearly four million people.

It’s the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, creating more than 8,500 new products a year.

Food and drink exports have increased by nearly 50 per cent in the past decade, to the value of £18.2 billion.

WDP-E01-S3

NFU appeals for certainty of investment

Selling tea to China in food export drive

1

Farming

2 FARMING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS

WDP-E01-S3

College helps bridge gap in poultry skills

BY JEFF WELLS wdnews@b-nm.co.uk The poultry industry is to be given a helping hand in tackling its skills shortage, with the launch of the South West Poultry Academy.

Based at Colliton, near Cullompton, Devon, the academy has been led by Duchy College, with the support of the West Country Layers’ Association, the South West Chicken Association, the NFU and Hook2Sisters Ltd. Apprencticeships will be offered to employees aged 16 and over in layer and broiler sectors. The college will help employers with recruitment to jobs advertised on the National Apprenticeships web-

There may be a skills shortage but poultry figures are rising FREE TO RANGE westerndailypress.co.uk

A Bristol academic has said it was wrong to make shoppers feel guilty for buying eggs from caged hens. Online at www.westerndailypress.co.uk site and successful candidates will then be enrolled on the academy programme.

Training over the 18 months will be mainly spent on-farm, with one day a week at the training centre with the course manager John Moore and invited specialists.

Apprentices will be assessed and supported, on-farm, by their employer and the course manager, leading to the award of a NPTC Diploma in workbased agriculture (poultry).

At the launch event, both Chris Shepherd, the manager of Duchy College training

agency, and Jackie Newman, human resources manager for Hook2Sisters Ltd, said the course was well suited to getting well-informed staff into the industry, helping to address the skills shortage.

Andrew Counsell, principal of Duchy College, said: “It is great to be a part of this academy with support from such high-profiled and influential organisations. Over the next few years, through the academy we hope to start bridging this skills shortage in industry that will not only benefit individuals and make them more employable.”

While skills in the sector may be lacking, figures show its health improving after a year in which the national flock shrunk following the introduction of legislation demanding enriched cages.

After a 3.7 per cent drop in packing station egg throughput last year, figures from Defra for the third quarter of this year show 6,713 thousand cases of eggs packed, a yearon-year increase of 3.3 per cent.

Of this, free-range accounted for 44 per cent of all eggs packed, the same as quarter three 2012. Enriched cage accounted for 50 per cent, compared to 49 per cent a year ago.

Barn and organic eggs together accounted for 5 per cent.

The average price paid by packers to producers for all eggs packed during quarter three 2013 was 89.2 pence per dozen, compared with 87.4 pence per dozen during quarter three 2012.

Broken down by type, eggs from enriched cages accounted for 50 per cent of the total throughput while free range accounted for 44 per cent.

The latest trade data from HMRC shows a 16 per cent decrease in imports on the same period last year to 150,000 cases and the export figures for August show a fall of 27 per cent to 23,000 cases.

Good harvest results in rise in wheat drills The area of wheat drilled in the West Country for a 2014 harvest has increased after a much-improved harvest.

Sharp rises are also noted for winter and spring barley compared to last year, after confidence – and crops – took a hammering in the floods that devastated farmland in the region.

The Home Grown Cereals Authority’s Early Bird Survey of farmers’ planting intentions across Great Britain forecast that the total wheat area, including spring wheat, will increase by 22 per cent to 1.98 million hectares.

The annual autumn survey takes cropping changes on individual farms covering 280,000 hectares as representation of national changes.

Jack Watts, the HGCA’s lead analyst, said: “We’ve had good drilling conditions across the nation and, as a consequence, we are looking at a return to a more normal cropping mix for 2014, following a large shift to spring cropping in 2013.

“The return of a more normal national wheat area is the first step to the country returning to the export market, although yields and quality remain weather dependent.”

Winter barley is due to increase 55 per cent to 484,000 hectares compared with 2013, and is the highest UK winter barley area seen in a decade.

Additionally, the survey predicts the second highest oilseed rape area ever cropped, behind 2012, at 740,000 hectares, an increase of 3 per cent against the estimated harvest area of 2013.

Mr Watts added: “The conditions in 2012/2013 led many farmers to change their usual crop rotations, and some farmers will still be dealing with the consequences.”

SUMMARY RESULTS

A Ruby Red Devon on a farm in Cornwall home to award-winning farming writer Anna-Marie Julyan. Read the essay that won her the Carol Trewin Award at westerndailypress.co.uk/farming PICTURE: EMILY WHITFIELD-WICKS

Crop All wheat Winter barley Oilseed rape Spring barley Oats Pulses Other oilseed Other cereals Arable fallow

Area (ha) Change 1.98m +22% 484,000 +55% 740,000 +3% 534,000 +40% 130,000 -26% 145,000 -2% 14,000 -62% 13,000 -51% 164,000 -36%

When is a bargain not a bargain? When the supermarkets tell you it is Supermarkets are duping customers into paying more for groceries which are supposed to be on special offer, a new campaign suggests.

Consumer group Which? cites its own research which it says shows that supermarkets have been selling products in offers that do not give shoppers a real deal.

Which? analysed more than 70,000 grocery prices and found examples of misleading multibuys which end up costing consumers more and dodgy discounts, in which the offer ran for much longer than the item was sold at the higher

price. For instance, it found a Sainsbury’s special offer for Carex Aloe Vera & Eucalyptus Moisturising Antibacterial Handwash, where the item was priced at £1.80 for seven days, then was on offer at “was £1.80, now 90p” for 84 days.

Ocado sold a 12-pack of Beck’s beer as “was £12.19, now £9” for almost a month but had only sold the item at the higher price for three days.

Asda increased the regular price of Muller Light Greek Style Yoghurt from £1.50 to £2.18 before it went on a “two for £4” offer, costing shoppers £1 more. It also increased the

Special offers by Sainsbury’s and Asda are among those listed by Which? as it launches its latest consumer campaign

price of Uncle Ben’s Express Basmati Rice from £1 to £1.58 before offering for “two for £3” and then returning the rice to £1 when the offer ended.

Which?, through its Make Special Offers Special campaign, wants supermarkets to put an end to misleading offers. It has also called on the Government to make rules for special offers simpler, clearer and stricter and enforce tougher penalties for rule-breaking super markets.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said the findings come at a bad time for consumers, with pressures on

household budgets unseen in recent years.

Four in ten consumers are likely to cut back spending on food in the next few months, while eight in ten are looking out for deals in supermarkets to save them money, he said.

“We’ve found dodgy discounts across the aisles, and with rising food prices hitting shoppers’ budgets hard we think supermarkets are not playing fair,” Mr Lloyd said.

“The stores have had long enough to sort their act out, so we’re saying enough is enough, it’s time to Make Special Offers Special.”

WDP-E01-S3

WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2013 FARMING 3

Chris Rundle Only the 20 years late So the Prince of Wales has woken up to the fact that farmers are being ripped off by supermarkets. Well, there’s a thing. What, indeed, are we to make of it?

After all, it’s only well over a decade since Tony Blair spoke of the “ar mlock” super markets were applying to suppliers – then decided to do nothing about it once he was reminded of the political contributions.

It’s only seven years since Andrew Simms exposed all manner of sharp practice in his admirable book Tescopoly – and there have been other books by other authors since.

Yet here’s HRH suddenly coming too after a pre-lunch doze in the armchair and exclaiming: “Good Lord! D’you know, farmers really are being taken to the cleaners by the super markets!” It’s the sort of reaction you would have expected had you told him poor people can’t afford butlers.

I don’t know exactly what he thinks he can do about it. He’ll probably write another letter to Cameron whose staff will raise their eyebrows, sigh and consign it to the basket marked ‘Waiting – too difficult”, because politicians know only too well the value of the donations which arrive helpfully as soon as an election is called.

Sadly, turning 65 has hardly improved Charles’s image. He is now perceived to be well on the road to bufferdom but still displays this appalling penchant for trying to get involved in running the country, when he should realise that he has no mandate to do so and even when he accedes to the throne his only role will be to sign on the dotted line.

It is, of course, monumentally difficult to get him to understand the real world. I had a go once at a reception at Highgrove when he was doing the rounds of the guests and we got to talking about his appearance (via a video) at the Soil Association’s conference the previous week.

Well of course, he said, organic food was the answer to everything. If we all ate organic how much better our lives would be. I tried to point out that if you are living on benefits in social housing with three children to feed then organics certainly are not an option because two organic meals would probably consume half the week’s food budget.

But his aides could sense a confrontation coming and HRH was firmly ushered off to press the flesh elsewhere.

As to what effect his voiced concerns about the ethics (or lack of them) of supermarkets’ dealings will have; they will make no more impact, of course, than the sound of a moth fretting at a garment, as the Bible so succinctly puts it.

Hot on the heels of Sainsbury’s announcing a nine per cent pre-tax rise in half-year

cousin is a case in point. She owns three horses which she can only afford to feed and fit out by cutting all household costs down to the bone.

The woman, as has been pointed out to her many, many times, can only ride one horse at a time but suggest to her that she may care to divest herself of the other two and she goes all catatonic. The very thought of having to admit that she cannot afford to run any of the nags, let along her brokenwinded horsebox, almost makes her faint at the shame it would bring on her.

By far the best outcome would be for the tack and horse box to be sold and the animals to be turned into several years’ supply of burgers – a suggestion I regularly make to my newsagent when the “racehorse” of which he owns the offside hind leg comes in 17th.

Though without much of a favourable response.

profits came Asda’s week-end declaration that it would be slashing £1 billion from prices over the next five years – most of which will be achieved by levying even bigger “contributions” from suppliers.

Of course, the P of W is not a total stranger to the world of supermarkets, so he cannot be accused of speaking without some knowledge of his subject.

You may recall his “Duchy Originals” project, in which the royal seal of approval was available for selected foodstuffs in return for a slice of the sale price going to a charitable foundation set up by the Prince with the modest stated aim of making the world a better place.

It ran into the financial mire and had to be rescued – by Waitrose.

Well, of course it’s horse His sister is a far more downto-earth, no-nonsense figure who, commendably, has broken a taboo in spectacular fashion by suggesting that we should all start to eat horse.

Many of us already have, of course – but what do you expect if you trust ready meals?

But, says the Princess Royal, we should get over our hangups, accept the fact that horsemeat is a nourishing and tasty source of protein and accord it a proper place in the national diet, thus falling in line with most of the rest of Europe.

Rarely has a member of the House of Windsor come out with so much good sense, but there is a massive image problem. You have to go back to the days of Round the Horne and its references to the horse-meat butcher’s in the Balls Pond Road for the last time when the topic of equine flesh was even capable of raising a laugh.

Since then we have so distanced themselves from the concept that it is no longer a subject which can be tackled with any degree of humour.

No-one was laughing at the time of Horsegate, though that was probably the result of the collective outrage at discovering the scale of the massive swindle.

Horse – and I have, I can assure you, eaten considerable amounts without ill effects – will provide a new and interesting ingredient. But there is, the Princess also points out, the welfare aspect too, in that nags might well be better looked after were they to have a net value at the abattoir. An awful lot of horses are ill caredfor, it is true, largely because they are owned by people who should not be keeping horses, since they simply cannot afford them.

But that is one of the neartragic facets of the horsey classes: no-one wants to admit they are hard up. No-one wants to lose face by taking Merrylegs to the knacker’s yard. Pretence has to be maintained.

An acquaintance of my

A gluten intolerant

The Prince of Wales in a Waitrose in Belgravia in 2009. His recent pronouncements on the armlock in which supermarkets hold producers comes too late - and will make little difference anyway, writes Chris Rundle

I hope the birthday cake which was served up to Prince Charles last week was entirely organic, or the royal digestive system might well have gone into spasm.

But as all the claims for the benefits of organic foodstuffs are whittled away – the only remaining ones relating to the fact that they may be better for the environment – a new fad is gripping the nation.

Everything must now be gluten-free. We are terrified of gluten, which is wrecking our bodies. We react like a vampire when offered a bowl of garlic soup. It is one step down from the Black Death.

The fact is, however, that many people who have experienced what they believe to be gluten-related digestive problems are suffering instead from the effects of eating modern, pappy, industrial bread, produced by the Chorleywood process, which telescopes the entire breadmaking procedure so that natural fermentation of the yeast is curtailed. As to the “healthy” alternatives, examination of the labels will reveal that many are significantly higher in fat.

But it never does to overestimate the national intelligence when there’s a food scare in the air. I can see schools coming under pressure to provide gluten-free meals because mothers will claim the gluten is definitely to blame for the disruptive and violent behaviour of the clutch of budding delinquents they are busy stocking the world with – when the addition of more than 20 additives to a standard white loaf may be playing a far large role than anyone suspects.

Just don’t say you weren’t warned. A few years ago I spotted the first tins of organic cat food. This week I followed a van owned by a supplier of gluten-free pet food. Dear God.

4 FARMING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS

WDP-E01-S3

Enterprising pair making cattle count Anthony Gibson I spoke at a meeting of the Devon Farm Management Association a few weeks back and came away thoroughly enthused by the enterprise and drive of the farmers I met there.

None more so than the chairman, Neil Grigg, a Cornishman by birth but now renting, with his wife Sally, a 350-acre National Trust farm on the Killerton Estate at Broadclyst, Devon.

Since taking on the farm in 2007, they have built up a herd of 25 Red Ruby Devon sucklers and, together with bought-in Devon stores, now run more than 100 head of cattle in their beef enterprise.

Neil and Sally decided at the outset to sell as much of their beef as possible direct, to maximise returns.

Neil had been working as an accountant, Sally as a rural surveyor, so there was no shortage of professional expertise.

But the business plan had a flaw, in that they had no control over the butchery link in the chain, which was cutting into potential margins.

So they decided to invest in their own butcher’s shops, one in Cowick Street in Exeter, where they now trade as Burrow Farm at Courtneys and one at Taverner’s Farm, home of the Orange Elephant ice cream, at Kennford. So far, so enterprising. But that’s not even the half of it.

What I found really exciting was the dairy enterprise which Neil and his great friend and business partner, Tom Foot, have set up on the

Neil Grigg and his wife Sally on their National Trust farm on the Killerton Estate in Devon. Above, one of the butcher’s shops they set up, in Cowick Street, Exeter

Dorset Downs to the west of Dorchester. This is no ordinary dairy farm.

There is no fixed milking parlour, only a few buildings – and the 900 acres is held on a five-year farm business tenancy.

The 700 New Zealand Friesian-cross-Jersey cows (which will be building up to 800 next year) are kept outside all year and are milked with a portable parlour, designed and built by Tom around an old parlour frame that he found abandoned in a hedge.

Those of you who have read AG Street’s classic Farmer’s Glory (and if you haven’t read it, you should do) will be familiar with the system.

It was what Street switched to on the Wiltshire Downs in the late 1920s, when wheat prices collapsed and the thenrevolutionary Hosier milking bail made large-scale, lowlabour dairying possible.

And while there has been growing interest in what are now described as “New Zealand-style” low-cost, pasturebased dairying systems, I can’t say that I ever imagined the Hosier milking bail making a comeback.

But, after the most difficult start imaginable in 2012, when there was no grass until May and no silage in reserve, it seems to be working.

Starting with a herd of heifers proved a challenge, but they have settled down now to their unconventional milking arrangements.

The cows are milked just once a day, and the herd average is a modest 3,000 litres.

But at 6 per cent butterfat and 4.5 per cent protein, the milk is worth around 40ppl for cheesemaking, and the cows should live for ever and a day, with minimal problems from mastitis or bad feet.

With start-up costs still having to be absorbed, margins aren’t yet where they should be, but milk output is on target and Neil is happy to confirm that the business is in profit.

It is often, and correctly, said that there is no one right way to produce milk. It’s a question of horses for courses.

But what is there not to like about this system? It plays to our greatest competitive strength – grazed grass – by applying the fundamentals of good farming on a modern scale to produce a top-quality product at a healthy profit.

AG Street would certainly have approved and so, most emphatically, do I. Anthony Gibson is a freelance writer and may be contacted at anthony.gbsn@googlemail.com

Holstein bullocks off to pastures new at Puxton, near Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset yesterday.

How your leftovers are keeping the region’s floral borders beautiful

Mark Bennion at the industrial composting plant at Rosehill Farm, in Dymock, Gloucestershire, where food waste is taken to be turned into compost

Kerbside collection of food waste has been established for a number of years across Gloucestershire.

On our allotted day, most of us dutifully put out a caddy or bin full of eggshells and bones from the Sunday roast – and then promptly forget about it, perhaps after a cursory thought for those who have one of the most essential yet unenviable jobs in modern society.

But how does the mixture of discarded food, some of which could carry dangerous pathogens such as salmonella, become brown, crumbly fertiliser for spreading on our parks and gardens?

Mark Bennion runs the industrial composting plant at

Rosehill Farm, in Dymock, Gloucestershire, which takes the food waste collected across the county.

He explained: “Once Ubico collect it from your doorstep, it all gets collected into bigger trucks and brought here.

“It’s slightly different because Cheltenham collections take food waste and garden waste separately, while in the Cotswolds they collect them together.

“It all comes here and it’s fine that the garden waste is mixed in. You need a mixture.

The woody stuff is more open and that allows you to introduce air into the mixture. If there wasn’t a mixture then the food waste would just be a sludge.”

The new material arriving is dumped into one of four huge concrete tunnels which can hold 300 tonnes of waste each.

Ten temperature probes are inserted into the pile and it is left until its own action heats it all up to 60C. No heat is added to the mixture but air is pumped into the

WDP-E01-S3

WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2013 FARMING 5

Farming brothers get stock ban over neglect Two Cheddar Valley farmers have pleaded guilty to four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to two sheep and two cows. Derek Oatley, 71, and his 68-year-old brother Terrance, both of Moor Lane Farm, Draycott, appeared at Yeovil Magistrates Court following an investigation led by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards after complaints about welfare and animal carcasses being found on farmland. After being banned from keeping or owning livestock for five years, the pair have six weeks to remove 350 head from the farm. They were each fined £440 and had to pay costs of £3,170.

Poacher warning as salmon rivers rise Recent heavy rains have brought rivers up to levels at which salmon can reach spawning grounds in the River Exe and its tributaries, prompting calls for the public to keep an eye out for poachers. Included in the list of suspicious behaviour is lights being shone on rivers after dark in an attempt to attract salmon to a waiting gaff. River Exe and Tributaries Association chairman Henry Llewellyn said: “We have spent huge amounts of time helping this species re-establish itself and to have them ripped from the river, just when they have completed their epic journey from the Arctic, is unthinkable.”

Pungent harvest ready for Christmas gifts

PICTURE: FRAN STOTHARD

tunnels to get oxygen into the fer mentation.

Mr Bennion said: “It stays in the tunnels for about ten days until it’s been at 60C for two days. It has to get up to that temperature because of the animal by-products.”

The piles are then transferred to secondary tunnels, the same size, where they are left for five to seven days, again to reach a temperature of 60C. Once a month, the samples are sent off for testing to make sure that bugs are being killed off by the heat.

After the tunnels, the rapidly decomposing waste is laid out in large open piles – windrows – for six weeks. They are turned regularly to keep air circulating.

Mr Bennion said: “We then screen it; 40mm for material sent to farms and 20mm for garden material. Anything larger is put back for another six weeks.”

The compost is bagged to be sold, with a lot being used at Rosehill itself.

“On our farm we grow

arable crops and apple orchards and we use a lot of the material, and so do neighbouring farms,” says Mr Bennion.

“It means we’re increasing the organic material in our soil and also we’re not using phosphates which we would do otherwise.”

Next time you see a farmer or perhaps council gardeners in the region spreading compost on municipal flowerbeds, it could, merely ten weeks ago, have been your dinner.

Alan Down’s garden hints Nursery owner Alan Down shares his wealth of experience, answers your questions, and sets you up with jobs for the week ahead EVERY SATURDAY

After a good warm summer, the lavender harvest is in, with a heavy dose of sunshine making it particularly fragrant. Based in the village of Faulkland, near Frome, Somerset Lavender is busy preparing for Christmas, when it is at its busiest, and is hoping to capitalise on the plant’s use in cakes made by Great British Bake-Off winner Frances Quinn. Cakes, as well as lavender for cooking, are stocked alongside the usual floral accoutrements.

Somerset Lavender is open until Sunday, December 22, from Wednesdays to Sundays – as well as a stall at Bath Christmas market, which begins on November 28.

Annual fair offers the best of the region The best livestock and produce in the region – and the country – will be offered for sale at the South West Winter Fair, at Sedgemoor Auction Centre near Bridgwater on November 25.

As well as the annual Christmas show and sale of livestock, lamb carcasses and dressed poultry, indulge in the traditional delights of the sausage and cider contests.

For further information, call on 01278 410278.

The Southern England Calf Show was another success, attracting 60 entries, but even more so for the West Country, with the overall championship, male, reserve male and female champions coming from the area. Judged by the respected Colin Hutchings of Dulverton, Somerset, after the original judge fell ill, the top spot went to Rull Eon N150 from Ed and Claire Jones, of Cullompton, Devon, described by the judge as a well balanced, stylish animal which attracts attention in the ring. He is pictured with Ian Dowlman. Reserve champion honours went to the female champion Temple Neonia N555 from Andrew and Judith Denning, Bridgwater. The reserve male championship went to Park Wall Jethro Eric N564, a young bull calf from Andrew and Judith’s daughter Jess

‘We will take cull cost from the taxpayers’

BY JEFF WELLS wdnews@b-nm.co.uk Farmers are calling for an extension of the badger cull to include the whole of Devon and Cornwall, where they claim there is huge support for an operation which could see tens of thousands of the animals trapped and shot.

And, they claim, it could be carried out at minimal cost to the taxpayer.

The Government is currently considering its next move in the war against bovine TB, while assessing results of the free shooting trials in West Somerset and West Gloucestershire.

The pilots have come under increasing pressure of late, with leading figures in science, nature and conservation criticising, if not the cull itself, the process by which it has been carried out.

Yesterday, less than a fortnight before a protest billed as the “biggest yet” takes place in Bristol, the Western Daily Press reported that fewer than half the farms in Gloucestershire taking part in the cull had cattle on them, the figure rising to 60 per cent in Somerset and 70 per cent in Dorset, widely expected to be the next location.

And Devon farmer Richard Haddock today said there was clearly a need for the cull to be stepped up and extended over a much wider area. He said much of the expense incurred in the two pilot zones related to the cost of bringing in contractors to do the shooting.

But, he said, if trapping were used, farmers could easily carry out the Devon and Cornwall operation themselves.

Livestock farmer Mr Haddock, who owns Churston Farm Shop, near Brixham, said there was ample time to get the culling organised to run over six months starting on March 1.

“Farmers would be quite prepared to rent the traps from the Government and it would only need a couple of hours to train them to use them,” he said.

“They would also be prepared to buy the bait and, as soon as the badgers are killed, they would also cover the cost of having them taken away and incinerated.

“March, April and May are the quietest months for livestock farmers and it would be a simple matter for them to check their traps each morning as they go round checking on their animals.”

Mr Haddock said the overwhelming majority of farmers attending a recent NFU open meeting in Devon had backed the idea.

“Unfortunately, it seems the NFU leadership is strongly opposed to it, for reasons best known to itself,” he said.

“But this is only what one has come to expect from a union which has long since ceased listening to or acting on the wishes of its grassroots members.

“Until such time as gassing becomes available, trapping and shooting is the safest, least disruptive, most effective and

cheapest means of culling badgers – and culled they must be for the sake of the rest of the country,” he said.

The latest figures on TB incidence from Defra show a fall in the number of herds having TB-free status removed, down from 4.5 per cent in January to August 2012 to 4.3 per cent in the same period this year. Traditional spikes in numbers in late summer are also lower.

Nationally, the number of herd tests in the period fell by around 2,500 to 47,270, while the number of new herd incidents fell to 3,204 from 3,398.

In the Western region, 3,184 herds remained under restriction in August, a rise from 2,821 at the same point last year.

Between January and August this year, the figures show, 12,128 cattle were slaughtered after being identified as reactors.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) defended the cull, saying it was crucial for controlling the disease.

The spokesman said: “West Gloucestershire was chosen as one of the two pilots for a number of reasons, including the severity of the disease in the area. The importance of this situation for cattle farmers, their families and their communities cannot be overstated.”

As temperatures are expected to drop closer to freezing this week, the Badger Trust has renewed calls for badgers not to be cage trapped and left to die in the cold.

A Defra spokesman said that the animals would not be caged from December 1 and marksmen will be left to assess if traps should be set from now until December.

Ian Liddell-Grainger and Derek Mead offer no-holds barred opinions on rural issues

EVERY SATURDAY

6 FARMING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS

WDP-E01-S3

Agriculture Private 08444 060262 | Trade 0117 934 3626

Cattle

Farmers Markets

Farmers Markets

LANGFORD ABATTOIR Welfare quality and education Slaughtering service on site • Butchery available Steers, heifers and young bulls under 30 months Steers and heifers over 30 months to 48 months Also pigs, sheep and goats

Farm Produce

Hay, Wheat & Barley Straw

Please contact: Colin Walters Tel: 0117 928 9202

Bought and Sold

Langford Abattoir School of Veterinary Sciences Langford North Somerset BS40 5DU bristol.ac.uk/vetscience/abattoir

Immediate Delivery

Call Ian Webber 01823 698570 07831364644

©LW

KING FARM WASTE Tel: 01761 221246 Mob: 07850 838046 No Annual fees, just pay for what we take away!

Bale Wrap/Poly Sheets/Fert Bags/Paper Cardboard/String/Net/ Cans/Tyres

Bagged, baled or loose

WE SUPPORT RECYCLING

Soil association registered

serving all the local community

It works Advertising at the click of a mouse...

From making that special announcement to selling your motor, it’s never been easier to book a tailor made advert online. Simply visit www.thisisads.co.uk, follow the simple steps below and advertise from the comfort of your own home - with a few simple clicks of the mouse!

STEP ONE

AGRI LIME

STEP TWO

GYPSUM SUPERSLAG

Choose your publication.

King Contracting

Classify your advert.

East Harptree, Bristol

Tel - 01761 221246 M - 07850 838046

ABBOTT & CO LTD

STEP THREE Select your design and package.

STEP FIVE

STEP FOUR Input your details and chosen dates.

Preview your advert and pay online.

BEEF FARMERS!

For good level bunches of weaned calves, call: Chris Jones on 07764 810 313 for Somerset Stuart Vile on 07802 379 126 for Dorset & Devon

First time visitors will need to register their details.

Book your tailormade advert at www.thisisads.co.uk co.uk

www.meadowq.co.uk

It’s free to sell your bike accessories under £100 CLASSIFIED

Visit www.thisisads.co.uk

Classified 0844 406 0262 www.thisisads.co.uk

are buyers and sellers HAY AND STRAW also Bedmax, Bedrap, shavings & haylage

tel 01934 822177 or 01458 447833

WESTERN DAILY PRESS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2013 FARMING 7

WDP-E01-S3

Agriculture Private 08444 060262 | Trade 0117 934 3626

Farmers Markets

Farmers Markets

Farmers Markets

JOHN BOLTON

Steel framed buildings made to your requirements. Kit or erected

F.J. REAKES & SON

BROMHAM POLL HEREFORDS

All areas covered 7 days a week

60x30x12 £2650 60x40x12 £3480 plus cost of roof and vat.

Also concrete wall panels supplied and fitted 2nd hand buildings bought and sold Tel 01761 233588 Fax 01761 233578 Mobile 07836 759723 and 07966 236575

Same Day Payment For barren cows, bulls, over age cattle, fat and lean Also Registered collector of fallen stock. Cattle, horses, calves, sheep, e.t.c.

Parbrook, Glastonbury BA6 8PB

Tel. 01458 850230 Mob. 07860 269462 07788153419

©NM

Marstons 8 tonne double drop side trailer, twin axle, GC £3250ono; Warwick 6 tonne drop side trailer, single axle, £2250 ono; Abbey 1600 gallon tanker, GWO, £1350 ono, ALL PLUS VAT , (Keynsham) 07767 204918/ 0117 986 2991

Well grown Pedigree bulls, 18-20 months good colour and conformation, FABBL, eligible for Waitrose scheme,

Call Pike 01380 850412 (Wilts)

Wholesale Butchers

Return to owner slaughtering Return to owner slaughtering services • Cattle, Pigs, Sheep and Goats slaughtered and butchered to your requirements.

• All carcasses can be hung before being cut.

• Packed ready for home freezing.

• Sausages and burgers made on request.

Please contact us for booking and more details.

Retail and wholesale butchers also supplied.

www.hfstiles.co.uk

Sloperton Farm, Westbrook, Bromham, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 2ED Tel: 01380 850153

Agricultral Advertising?

“From one small advert I got a contract which will keep me in work for over 3 months. I will keep advertising in this brilliant local marketplace!”(Kevin, Wiltshire)

Tel 07971 823910 (previously 07800 777275)

HAY AND STRAW

Tel 07974 952552 (Badminton area)

HEDGE TRIMMING . Competitive rates on Hedge Trimming All areas covered

T: 0117 934 3183, E: auctions@bepp.co.uk W: www.westerndailypress.co.uk

MINI DIGGER & DUMPER HIRE Competitive prices, with or without driver, all areas covered

Tel 07947 565911

OATS FOR SALE Good quality, 80 tonnes, can deliver, minimum qty 10 tonnes, £125 per tonne, ALSO Wheat for sale, £150 per tonne,

Tel 01934 838385

Pedigree Red Ruby Devons 2 heifers for sale, with calves, quiet

07976 608451(Somerset area)

CHRISTMAS TREES Norway Spruce, locally grown and freshly cut in Gloucestershire, Wholesale orders, minimum 10,

Farming? You’ve come to the right place!

Advertise in the farmers market every Saturday and we will give you the Wednesday FREE. Reach over 83,000 readers every day based in and around the farming community.

“Had such a good response over the weekend, I had to remove the advert to stop the calls!” (Mr March, Bridgewater)

0117 934 3183 e:auctions@bepp. co.uk, westerndailypress.co.uk

Call Shaun 07808 865568

STRAW FOR SALE Small and large bale straw for sale, delivery available

Tel 07778 902859 or 07515 850595

FOR SALE GRASS KEEP FOR CATTLE SHEEP

17 acres 07979 188874

FOR SALE

WANTED Farm land required for 2014, rent/FBT/or share cropping considered, Mendip/ surrounding Areas, refs available.

Colin 07860 281755 / Even 01749 840396

Hay for sale

Tel: 07456 323732

WANTED Winter Grass Keep for sheep Somerset / Gloucester area

It works

Your official supplier for

KUBOTA COMPACT TRACTORS

BOOK YOUR

FREE

DEMO TODAY

Classified

Tel 07776 218133 / 01275 855257

L4100 SERIES

Turn your clutter into cash

0844 406 0262 www.

07947 565911

Contact

Tel 07860 669489

Sales with Service

Vaccinated £8.00 each Can deliver,

This is the place!

REACH A READERSHIP OF OVER 83,000 EVERY DAY IN THE LOCAL FARMING COMMUNITY.

Tractors & Farm Machinery

Steel Bunded Tank 2500lts, 12v pump with pump meter, with delivery hose and gun, locking doors, £1800

Gold Line Pullets

Top quality hay and straw for sale, all in small bales, competitive prices, delivery available

H. F. STILES & SON LTD.

Farmers Markets

thisisads .co.uk

Bristol 01454 415 428 Redhill Farm, Elberton, Bristol, Nr. Thornbury, BS35 4AG

Demo & Sales hotline 07831 127 258 www.listerwilder.co.uk

It’s free to sell your bike accessories under £100 CLASSIFIED

Visit www.thisisads.co.uk

8 FARMING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2013 WESTERN DAILY PRESS

WDP-E01-S3

Farmers’ bulletin board

Diary dates NOVEMBER

Market reports SEDGEMOOR Tuesday, November 12 147 BARREN COWS, BULLS, OTM & UFM PRIME A slightly increased entry at 147 Cull Cattle and again a tremendous variation on offer. Good, meat cows scarce and wanted to 136.5ppk for a smart red Limousin from Mr MJC Ellicott.

Native sucklers sold to 132ppk for a Devon from Dr J Prideaux. SUCKLERS sold to £1,172.79 for a grand South Devon from Messrs JA & YJ Hopkins. £1092 for the Limousin from Mr MJC Ellicott. DAIRY breeds rose to 117.5ppk for a HF from Mr J & Mrs EM & Mr NJ Phillips & Sons. No best black and whites. Better steakers to 112.5ppk, HF, Messrs J Morris & Partners. DAIRY breeds sold to £907.10 from Mr J, Mrs EM & Mr NJ Phillips & Sons. Others £885.60, HF, Mr ERE & Mrs J Down. All cows averaged £590.93 reflecting the lack of flesh on offer.

298 PRIME LAMBS & HOGGS A few less forward sold to a similar trade on the week. The best handyweights sold to 184ppk from Mr M Burke. Others 179 and 174ppk from Messrs KH & PA Govier and 174ppk from Mr D Knight. Heavier lambs sold to £89.50 and £85 from Mr DW Hewlett; £88 and £86 from Messrs PT & L Price; £84.50 from Mrs J Peaster and Messrs EJ & ACM Lockyer and £84 from Messrs KH & PA Govier and Messrs Adams Bros. Overall average £73.60.

261 CULL EWES & RAMS A much larger entry of 261 Cull Ewes and Rams and much improved overall quality sold to a firmer trade for all presented. The best sold to £102, £89.50 and £87.50 from HG Tincknell Ltd. Others £99.50 from Hopcraft Ltd; £97.50 and £89.50 from Messrs AC & DM Dyer; £89.50 from Messrs R Burrough & Son and £84.50 from Mr RJ Smith. Overall average £54.91.

Saturday, November 16 49 DAIRY CATTLE The smallest entry for some months of good quality stock, which generated a significantly improved trade when 7 heifers sold to average £2000 to a top of £2180 for a pedigree heifer from Mr NC Taylor. Others to £2150 for Messrs RL & ME Trott when 3 heifers from Messrs HM Heywood & Sons sold for £2100, £2080 and £2050; Mr RH Webb £2050 and Mr FE Luff £2000. Quality cows were in short supply when the best on the day sold for £1700 for a 2nd calver from Messrs DA, CMJ & L Tottle. Heifer calves sold to £270 for Messrs M & S Powell.

704 STORE CATTLE & GRAZING COWS A slightly increased entry met another good trade. Top was £1440 for a grand 27m and FA Limousin steer from Mr TP Newton, Othery. A strong feeding Charolais (28m & FA) from Mr NH Hasell & Son rose to £1260. Superb, tremendously well shaped steers from Mr BE & Mrs SA Tippetts, East Huntspill sold well to £1290 for a 14m Limousin and £1225 for 18 and 20m Blondes. The best of a well fleshed run from Mr BC Knapp, Pilning peaked at £1290 (25m) Blonde, when others achieved £1170 being 24/26m Limousins. Strong Limousins (19/25m & FA) at £1250 from Mr KJ & Mrs LC Popham, Fiddington.

Other better continentals £1205, Blue (29m) Kent Agriculture Ltd, Yatton; £1200 twice for a Limousin (27m & FA) and a Simmental (29m & FA) both from Mr TP Newton, Othery again and £1200 again for 19/20m and FA Charolais from Mr PJ Betty, Othery. NATIVE STEERS sold to £1295 for 21/22m and FA Angus from Messrs AR Copp & Partners. Other best Angus steers £1270 (22m & FA) Mr KJ & Mrs LC Popham, Fiddington and £1160 (22m & FA) Mr PJ Betty again. Hereford steers rose to £1250 (26m) from Messrs WR & NA Rich, Northleigh. Others to £1185 (20m) from Mr E Hawkins, Trull, who also sold some smart South Devons (17/ 20m) at £1185 and £1150 (18m). DAIRY BRED STEERS rose to £940 for 26/27m Frieisians from Mr B Julian, St Austell, who sold others 25/26m at £880. Other stronger steers £875 (overage) Mr CRG Wall, East Huntspill; £870 (overage) Messrs BM Heal & Son, West Pennard and £865 (26/27m x 10) Messrs Keedwell Bros, Winscombe. HEIFERS in great demand as meat types were generally dearer. Top was £1260 for a well fleshed Charolais (28m & FA) from Mr NH Hasell & Son, Holcombe Rogus again. A 20m Limousin (FA) from Mr C & Mrs A Williams achieved £1215, when another from the same farm (20m & FA) rose to £1150 and Blues (21/22m & FA) to £1100.

Messrs AR Copp & Partners also scored with heifers at £1195 for a 24m and FA Limousin, £1150 for (20/28m and FA) Charolais and £1110 for (21/25m & FA) Angus heifers. South Devon heifer (17m) at £1165, Mr E Hawkins again, when another returned at £1150 (18m) from the same farm. Mr R Wall, West

Huntspiill sold a 24m Limousin at £1155. Other better heifers at £1130 for a top drawer Limousin cross Blue (19m & FA) from Mr DJ Cheacker, Pilning; £1115 (25/26m & FA) from Messrs Hutter and Marchent, Chilton Trinity and £1105 for a 16m Hereford from Mr DA Miller, Stockland. Young stores to £1090, Blue (16m) and £1030 Limousins (12/16m) for very shapely steers from Mr SJ Cheacker, Pilning.

24 SUCKLER COWS, CALVES & STOCK BULLS Small entry when in calf Longhorn heifers x3 (June/July 2011) sold to £940 from Mr JAJ Pearce.

314 STIRKS & BUSK CALVES Top price of £870 (11/12m) for Charolais steers from Mr P Holland, who also sold others at £760 (9/10m). Others at £805 (12m) and £675 (9/12m) from Mr EG Holland and £635 (6m) from Mrs JD Lock. Limousins to £855 (11m) from Messrs A & P Bradford, when others sold at £690 (5/6m) and £670 (6m) from Messrs RJ & SR Bunn; £665 (8m) from Messrs M Harrison Partners and £650 (6m) from Messrs D & P Pengelly. Simmentals to £810 (7/10m) from Messrs R & J Cook, when others sold at £800 (9m) from Messrs P & L Stafford. British Blues to £795 (8m) from Mr K Payne, when others sold at £655 (7m) from Messrs D & P Pengelly. Blondes to £740, £670 and £650 (6m) from Messrs D & P Pengelly. Few bulls forward which rose to £700 (5m) from Messrs MA & M Collins for a British Blue. Heifers to £725 (11m) £715 (11m) and £690 (12m) for Limousins from Messrs A & P Bradford, when others sold at £680 (6m) £675 (6m) £595 (5m) £570 (5/6m) and £540 from Messrs RJ & SR Bunn and £665 (11m) and £500 from Mr SR Dallyn & Sons. Blondes to £685 (7m) from Messrs D & P Pengelly, when others sold at £558 (12m) from Mr P Webber. British Blues to £680 (7m) from Mr K Payne, when others sold at £600 from Messrs BC & PK Matthews. Charollais to £570 (8m) from Messrs D & P Pengelly, when others sold at £550 (10/12m) from Mr P Holland and £530 (9/12m) from Mr EG Holland.

480 NON-EXPORT CALVES (363) Beef Breeds – not able to be exported from market Strong competition at the top end with around 40 calves at £400 or above, with some reared consignments giving buyers excellent choice. A run of Blues from Messrs TE Pocock & Co led the way at £482 (x3) £476, £468 and £462, all 10-12 weeks. Cracking Charolais bulls at £440 and £425 from Messrs SM & DM Turner and Simmentals £435 and £414 Mr GR Davis, also £415 Mr DR Clapp.

Limousins to £470 again Messrs Pocock. Most of the best types £330£380, medium bulls from £250 and smaller types £180 plus. Heifers look good value with only the best over £300, when a Blue sold at £412 for Messrs WTR Ash & Sons but the top rearers generally £250-£300, mediums from £170 plus. Bright demand for native breeds. A superb Hereford from Messrs Phillips, Honiton sold to £458, younger types to £262 Messrs WJ & CJ Mock, also £258 and £254. Angus to £315 Messrs AA Witcombe & Sons, also £300, £296 and £295 including a good run from Mr NH Bacon again. Hereford heifers mainly £120 - £180 and Angus £130 plus.

(117) Friesians – not able to be exported from market Not so many Friesians forward at 117 and a sharper trade when British Friesians averaged just under £100 and Holsteins around £60. Two strong British Frieisans from Messrs CJ Child & Son sold to £216.

Others to £190 from Messrs WJ Weeks & Son; £170 Messrs J & NG Smyth & Son; £150 Messrs FS Cross & Son also £136, £130, £122 and £120. Holstein Friesians £132 Messrs AF & AH Powell, £118, £104. Good black and whites generally £70-£120 with mediums £50-£80.

Small calves sharper, not much under £30.

4500 SHEEP Store Lambs (3739) A huge entry of 3739 Lambs sold to an overall slightly easier trade but the averages were pegged further by a large proportion of very small types.

The best sold to £90.50 and £88 from Mr A Hassed. Others £80 from Messrs PH & ME Buckingham & Sons; £79.50 from Mr TJ Lindsay-Clark; £77 from Mr R Lovell; £76.50 from Mr EG Pocock and Messrs EM, JM & CM Wallbridge; £76.50 from Messrs RC Rowe & Son and £74 from Mr SG Yates and Scimitar Services. Mediums ranged £50-£65.

Very small £20 plus. Overall average £56.03. Grazing Ewes & Rams (747) A smaller entry of 747 Grazing Ewes and Rams sold to a generally more difficult trade for all presented. The best were however easily £80 plus and sold to £99 from Messrs PG & K Smith. Others £95 from Messrs G Dart & Son; £94.50 from Mr N Flower; £90 from Mr TW Jarvis and Messrs EM, JM & C Wallbridge; £88 from Mr BJ Blackmore and Mr SJ

Govier; £87 from Milborne Wick Farms Ltd and £84 from Messrs R & L Anthony and Mr TJ Lindsay-Clark. Mediums ranged £48- £70, plain £30-£48. Boners nearly all £15 plus. Overall average £50.10. Stock Rams (14) A much reduced entry of 14 Stock Rams sold to limited interest as the season draws to a close. Suffolks to £200, £195 and £190 from Mr A England. Poll Dorsets to £111 from Mr T Trescher.

250 PIGS Store Pigs (107) Not too many pens of quality when many more traditional breeds were forward. Best Whites 12 w/ o to £57, 11 w/o £49 and 8 w/o Saddlebacks £27. Best Types from Mr B Gibbins and Messrs A & P Rose.

Fat Pigs (81) Smaller entry of 81 Fat Pigs with a very mixed quality and generally lighter pigs. Best types still a solid trade. Lights to £104, mediums to £132, heavies to £147. Best types from Messrs LE Miller & Son, Mr T Stockwell, Mr M Ogborne, Mr H Attwell, Mr P Scriven and Messrs A & P Rose.

Breeders (3+8) Small entry and limited demand. Young Gloucester Old Spot gilts to £86 from Mrs MG James.

Saddleback sow and 8 to £150 from Mr A Taylor. Cull Sows (31) Larger entry of 31 Cull Sows of very mixed quality, but best sows still a good trade and sold to £230 and £229 from Mr F Price. £227 Messs RJ Compton & Son. Boars (4) Sold to £205 from Mr NW Palmer.

Monday, November 18 207 PRIME CATTLE (187) UTM & (20) OTM Prime Cattle An increased entry of Prime Cattle at 207 head and a much improved show in terms of quality. The best were well fed, of excellent confirmation, tight and clean in the belly, farm assured and attracted keen bidding to 236.5ppk for a Blonde heifer from Mr RH Webb of Henley. 235ppk was bid for a Limousin steer from Mr EJ Westaway of Barnstaple, who also sold a Blonde steer at 234ppk. Many best steers and heifers in the 220 to 229.5ppk bracket from Messrs AJ Hepper & Son, Minehead; Mr JE Reason, Highbridge; Mr JEF & Mrs KF Stephens, Crediton; Mr MJ Chilcott, Catcott; Mr PA Strawbridge, Honiton and Mr SER Hunt, Kilve. Better types 210ppk plus. Good types 198 to 209.5ppk.

Commercial cattle around 190ppk.

Many not displaying the qualities of the best at lower monies. STEERS sold to £1,722.98 for a grand 794kg, quality Charolais from Mr RG Speed of Axminster. Other stronger steers over £1500 from Mr AJ Paulley, Bridport; Mr MJ Chilcott again; Messrs AJ Hepper & Son again; Messrs FJ Webber & Son, Bridgwater; Mr EJ Westaway again; Messrs NJ Paulley & Son, Bridport and Mr GR & Mrs MA Cox, Witheridge.

HEIFERS sold to £1,454.48 for the Blonde from Mr RH Webb. A Blue achieved £1,415.68 from Mr MJ Chilcott again. Others over £1300 from Messrs FR & MJ Morrish, Barnstaple; Messrs SJ & EH Coles, Lympsham; Mr MJ Chilcott again; Mr JEF & Mrs KF Stephens again, Mr PA Strawbridge again; Messrs AJV Welch & Sons, Ashill and Mr GR & MA Cox again.

776 FINISHED LAMBS & HOGGS A comparable entry in terms of quantity at 776 Lambs, which sold to a similar strong trade for the better quality lambs but generally more difficult for the plain stale types. The best sold to 188 and 179ppk from Messrs CJ & JLM Hutchings and Messrs SG & ME Stacey.

Others 185ppk from Messrs DM & DM Ginger; 183ppk from Messrs FG, NK & AJ Gammon and 178ppk from Mrs LW Dibble. Heavier lambs sold to £85 from Mr GR Davis. Others £82.50 from Mr D Small; £81.50 and £81 from Messrs Habberfield & Priscott; £81.50 from Mr RT Harding and £81 from Milborne Wick Farms Ltd. Overall average £71.96.

FROME Wednesday, November 13 Beef Cattle (116) 75 UTM fat cattle ~ 41 OTM Fat Cattle A large entry with the best quality bred cattle in strong demand and keenly wanted. Other grades generally a similar trade at late rates. However the over-fat and over-full cattle with poorer conformation were more difficult.

UTM Steers (45) A mixed entry with quality Continental x steers a good trade to 206.5p/kg from RE & AM Hicks with others from 195p/kg. No pure breds forward this week and the lesser grades on the whole were easier due to an oversupply in the meat chain. Cattle with time remaining wanted for further feeding. Herefords met a brisk trade to 205.5p/kg and £1402 from Smiths Farms with others to 198.5p/kg from Louch and Ferrari. Angus steers in less demand to top at 202.5p/kg from ME Bennett and £1266 from Louch and Ferrari. UTM Heifers (30) The best bred and fed heifers met a cracking

trade and keenly wanted to 228.5p/kg from Lee & Son. Others to 225p/kg, 221p/kg, 219p/kg and 213.5p/kg and more could have been sold. The remaining grades met a more selective trade. OTM Beef (41) Buyers are still keen to buy the real quality sorts at price levels close to those of UTM cattle. However all grades were in less demand and easier as supplies continue to grow. Steers to 179.5p/kg from F Winter & Son. Friesian steers to 164p/kg from RC Few & Sons. Herefords to 172.5p/kg from S Powell and Devons to 157.5p/kg from The National Trust. A smart Limousin heifer sold to 212p/kg from Lee & Son. Simmental heifers to 181p/kg from GW & M Pike & Son and Blondes to 209.5p/kg from GJ Straker. Friesians to 135.5p/kg from JH & ACC Williams.

Barren Cows & Bulls (173) Numbers are high nationally and trade has eased throughout. Farm assured cattle are still realising a premium over those that are sold non assured.

Dairy Cows (126) The best quality Friesians whilst in very short supply were easier topping at 116.5p/kg from DO Webb and £929 from Applewick Dairy Ltd with others from 100p/kg.

Heavy meat cows with waste discounted from 85p/kg. Good manufacturing sorts a good trade but the plain cows straight out of the dairy were heavily discounted. The very plain which were plentiful sold up to 50p/kg. Beef Cows (42) The few quality meat types selling well on the trade. A Limousin from GW & M Pike & Son topped at 141p/kg and £1211 with others from 110p/kg. Good cows generally from 90p/kg with the poor conformation sorts discounted.

The very plain easier. Bulls (5) All met a firm trade with Blondes to 124p/kg from RJ Sulley & Son. Limousins to 124p/kg from GW & M Pike & Son. Simmentals to 121p/kg from Grove Farm Partners. Herefords to 116p/kg from JJ & RM Farthing and Charolais to 101p/kg from JE Everett.

Sheep (770) A larger entry sold to a competitive and slightly firmer trade than last week which is in advance of many other centres. The lighter and handy weight lambs were keenly contested with smart Charollais x sorts from GE Case, Isle of Wight, topping the day at 189p/ kg with an average of 183p/kg. A pen of 16 from J & S Ward averaged 177p/kg and £77.13. A run of 11 lambs from DW Doggrell averaged 173.81p/kg and 108 lambs from Dineley Farming averaged £68.57. Heavy lambs slightly more difficult compared to the lighter weights but the better bred sorts still sold well.

A run of 61 lambs from JJA Sprake & Partners averaged £80.25 and 19 from Mr R Cima averaged £79.66. The native breeds and over-fat lambs were at slightly lower levels. Cull Ewes & Rams (173) Av. £41.01 Max. £65 An increased entry sold to a slightly easier trade as buyers report larger numbers nationally but a lack of sales. The better types to £65 from I Hamilton, £62 from C & R Farming and £60 from JE Adlam. Smaller very lean or over-fat ewes were far more difficult to sell. Store Lambs (156) Av. £57.90 Max. £73 A good quality entry met a fantastic trade throughout.

Stronger Suffolk x lambs from RJ Coward topped the section at £73 and £71. Smart medium Charollais x types to £62.50 from P & MS Osborne and £62 from GE Case. Shapely medium Texel x lambs to £61 from JE Adlam. Many more wanted weekly please.

Dairy (35) Calved heifers to £1900 ~ calved cows to £1540. More calved heifers and cows were wanted this week as entries were lighter than recent weeks. Demand stronger following last week’s firmer prices, with more purchasers coming forward. Best calved Holstein heifers easily over £1800 with well presented types to £1900 from Austin Smith and £1880 from George James. Very freshly calved Holsteins from regular vendors David and Simon Cheacker topped at £1700. A freshly calved pedigree British Friesian heifer from the Eastment family sold well to £1550. In-calf heifers seeing plenty of interest with strong home bred Holstein Friesian from Dennis and Norman Perkins selling to £1510. Bulling heifers from the House family found demand steady with buyers hesitant as winter approaches.

These home bred Prestwick, Oscar and Landmark sired heifers topped at £760.

Heifer calves (26 days old) saw keen bidding to £185.

Calves (233) Non-Export A good number forward with trade remaining buoyant for the quality sorts. The medium and plainer calves easier than previous weeks. Continental Bulls The best still commanding a premium with the best over £400. The medium and plain calves were easier this week. Blues to £472 from DW & MA Brunt with others to £430 from Stavordale Farm. Simmentals to £272 from FJ & GT Hannam & Sons. Limousins to £260 from PHG Turner. Continental

Heifers Very few forward with first quality sorts in short supply. Medium and plainer calves again easier. Limousins to £230 from C Bolton. Blondes to £220 from MS Shears. Blues to £208 from AJ & CN Morton. Simmentals to £205 from FJ & GT Hannam & Sons.

British Plenty of calves on offer with Angus making up over 95% of the today’s entry in the British bred section. The best were in short supply with the medium and plainer sorts selling strongly. The best Angus bulls to £395 and heifers to £365 both from K Cass. Hereford bulls to £278 from Mitchell Bros with the only heifer forward selling to £88 from Garrett Bros.

Friesians Trade easier for the plain and medium calves with the best still over £100. British Friesians to £170 from RL & CJ Curtis and Holstein Friesians to £128 from Hoskins Partners. Medium sorts from £70 to £100 with the smaller from £30.

Friday, November 15 Store Cattle (742) Steers to £1270 ~ heifers to £1112. Suckler cows & calves. Trade was firm for the types on offer with British White cows with calves (2mo) at foot to £920.

Plainer outfits to £660. Feeding bulls Trade very strong for the Continental feeding bulls with quality suckled sorts from £600 to £700. The plainer Friesians met a more difficult trade.

Young Continentals Trade was superb today for the suckled Continentals.

Many buyers, both local and national, were all very keen to purchase and more could have sold to advantage.

Plenty of quality steers (8-12mo) ranged from £750 to £850. Some amazing Simmental steers from Tom Bartlett & Son, Portesham, topped at £938.

More heifer buyers forward today and all were after the good suckled sorts.

Most heifers (8-10mo) sold in excess of £600 with a grand Simmental from Brian and Charlie Miflin topping at £700. All Continentals were dearer with the Dairy cross bred cattle seeing improved prices throughout. Forward continentals A larger range of cattle presented this week brought with it more interest encouraging a faster trade. Lightening bidding forced prices beyond expectations with the best cattle over £1200 again. Steers: Simmentals were the highlight at £1200 from Roy Symes to £1230 from Richard Mckie. Good feeding Charolais ranged from £1148 to £1195 from Manor Farm Partnership. Several younger feeding cattle were on offer and sold well from £900 to £1015. Heifers: All were wanted and quality always in demand. Simmentals to £1098 from RP Loxton and Blondes to £1020 from C & RL Gapper.

The quality consignment of Charolais heifers from Longclose Farm sold well from £875 to £980. Overage Limousin heifers to £990 from Paul Hurd. Younger feeding heifers generally from £700 to £850 with bullers to £952. Hereford (147) Demand for the traditional breeds still as strong as ever with buyers prepared to pay for the good conformation cattle. A wonderful run of single suckled Herefords (8mo) from Paul Britten produced fantastic bidding with steers (8mo) topping at £720. Well presented heifers (10mo) from Tony Sage sold well to £585. Other Herefords steers (15-18mo) many times over £850 with heifers of a comparable age from £650 to £750. Forward Herefords were very dear with tremendous types over £1100. Wonderful steers presented by Manor Farm Partnership topped at £1270. The best heifers again over £1100 with deep bodies sorts realising a top price of £1112 from Messrs Mckie.

Angus (185) Vendors were rewarded for offering named sire farm assured cattle. Younger cattle held a tremendous demand with steers (11mo) to £800 from JB Carter, Isle of Wight. Similar heifers to £632 from Mile Elm Farming.

Medium steers met a good trade selling to the north of England and generally from £840 to £942 from D Darnell & Sons to a top of £1050 from Tom and Anne Rossiter. Forward steers met another fast trade from £1070 from N Webb, £1155 from RP Loxton, £1180 from GA Green & Son Ltd to top at £1190 from Paul Jennings. Medium heifers were wanted from £838 from Tom and Anne Rossiter to £840 from Robert Cowling.

Forward heifers met a massive trade from £968 from RP Loxton to £990 from Paul Jenning and £992 from RA & PM Poore. Friesian (91) Younger Friesians still harder to sell but the medium and forward types met tremendous bidding. Younger Friesians generally from £370 to £400 and they would benefit from being kept until the New Year. Medium framed types wanted and sold well from £595 to £712 from LW & RJ Wyatt. Deeper bodied forward cattle similarly wanted and held a strong trade with feeders from £718 from Dave Merrett to £792 from Brian Kingston. Stronger types from £832 from N Webb to £968 from Richard Mckie. More forward cattle wanted to satisfy this pre Christmas trade.

21 National Beef Association Primestock Show, Hatherleigh Market, 5pm. Details: 01049 271510 21 Maize-Growers’ Association farm walk and discussion, Landscove Village Hall, Landscove, near Ashburton, 10am. Details: 01363 775040 25 Wadebridge Primestock Show, Royal Cornwall Showground, 10am.

Details: 01208 815562 27 North Devon Plus Exmoor Conference for younger farmers, Ralegh’s Cross Inn. Details: 01643 841455 28-29 Farm Business Innovation 2013, Olympia, London. Details: 0117 930 4927

DECEMBER 3 Farm Safety Event, Griggs Country Store, Lower Sticker, St Austell, 10.30am. Details: 01872 277151 4 Truro Christmas Primestock Show, Lemon Quay, Truro. Details: 01872 520673

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

Entitlements 2014 season price: Non-SDA £300-£310 per hectare. 2013 season average price: Non-SDA £213 per hectare; SDA £190 per hectare, moorland £39.60 per hectare Townsend Chartered Surveyors, Exeter, (01392 823935) and www.townsendchartered surveyors.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