Dairy Farmer articles from December 2008

Dairy Farmer archives from December 2008

COMMENT: Growing pressure.(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... When we get pleas from the likes of United's chief executive David Dobbin, we have to sit up and take notice. With his latest spot price of only 17.3ppl, he says "this auction provides further proof, if it were needed, that markets are in a...

Dairy Crest attacked for organic price drop.
December 19, 2008... The NFU reacted angrily to Dairy Crest's announcement of a massive 4ppl drop in the producer price for organic milk, owing to over-production in the Dairy Crest pool. The move was regarded as highly significant as prices are balanced...

ASDA launches bull calf scheme.
December 19, 2008... Asda launched a new initiative this week, giving some of its farmers chance to receive around #30 a dairy bull calf from a calf rearer in Wales, who will then grow the calves to around 180 kg deadweight in around 10 to 11 months. They will...

Wiseman and Dairy Crest feel the economic strain.
December 19, 2008... As conditions harden, Dairy Crest and Wiseman have posted dismal profit figures for the last six months. Dairy Crest saw profits before tax to the end of September, down 4% on last year to #38.5m on first half-year revenues of...

Changes to BSE testing on cards.
December 19, 2008... The minimum age for BSE testing cattle slaughtered for human consumption and fallen dairy cattle is likely to rise to 48 months in December, provided the Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee (SEAC) agrees to EU proposals, and the...

OBITUARY: Gordon Newman.(death of Gordon Newman )(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... Last month Gordon Newman passed away peacefully at home with his family after a short illness. Gordon was a great enthusiast of livestock farming and had a major influence on the industry in the 80s & 90s. He brought a wealth of nutritional...

Arla loses high profile court case over breach of contract.
December 19, 2008... Only weeks after the Office of Fair Trading embarrassed Arla Foods by dismissing its investigation into the Scottish middle ground market, the company has come off worse yet again in another high profile legal battle. This case, against...

Dairy UK reorganises Farmers Forum.
December 19, 2008... Following the high profile withdrawal by the NFU from Dairy UK in September, Shropshire farmer and Dairy Farmer columnist Roger Evans has been appointed as the new chairman of the organisation's Farmers Forum. Rex Ward, Cornish dairy farmer and...

DFB restructures and cuts price by 2p.(Dairy Farmers of Britain)(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... Following the exit of chairman Rob Knight after the cancellation of promised interest payments last month, acting Dairy Farmers of Britain chairman John Grantchester and CEO Andrew Cooksey have acted to significantly restructure the business....

Prices at United's auction nose-dive.
December 19, 2008... Prices at United's Oct'08 auction took a severe turn for the worse, reflecting the weaker dairy commodity market, with 48mltrs averaging just 18.03ppl, 14.36ppl down on last year. Of the total volume, 33mltrs on three month contracts (Nov to...

Will dock eradication programme have hidden repercussions elsewhere?
December 19, 2008... Apart from worrying over TB and milk prices, our south-west correspondent John Trunch has been thinking about the impact his dock control programme could have elsewhere. A happy and holy Christmass (sic) to all our readers. In case this...

Why Benn needed to get his so-called partners on board.
December 19, 2008... Despite the reforming of the industry's badger group, little seems to have changed in the sense of a strategy for progress, as our south-west correspondent Pat Bird tells us. Where has the past year gone? It doesn't seem five minutes since...

Maybe Potter is right - less does sometimes mean more.
December 19, 2008... As the cows come in to winter quarters, our Scottish correspondent Donald McColm has had a clear-out among the herd and seen cell counts come plummeting down. The milking cows have been housed at night for some time now and are let out for...

Legal judgment could open up whole raft of challenges to testing.
December 19, 2008... This month it's one in the eye for Goliath as Arla giant is brought to book not only over contractual terms but just as importantly the validity of its milk tests. Ian Potter gives us the exclusive inside story. Back in early November 2007...

EU NEWS: Health check - bit more than a simple cough and splutter!(European Union)
December 19, 2008... Last week's Health Check brought few surprises - not least because EU farm commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, set her sights fairly low. Unlike previous commissioners, she resisted the temptation to turn the review of the policy into a reform...

BREEDING: Withdrawn NZ sires will be arriving in UK next spring.
December 19, 2008... Last month's report in Dairy Farmer on the forthcoming importation of genomically selected New Zealand genetics has taken a new twist following the withdrawal of all Holstein bulls in this group from New Zealand's home market. This is said...

BREEDING: National data on ease of calving.
December 19, 2008... National genetic evaluations for calving ease will soon be available, now that a research project led by SAC is under way. The LINK project funded by Defra, Scottish government and industry will use calving ease data, which has been routinely...

Calbrett son.
December 19, 2008... The latest offering from Dairy Daughters is said to be the son of a breeder's bull at a commercial price. Crockett Chicago is one of the earliest Calbrett Champion sons and his PLI of #138 places him well within the top 100 sires. He combines...

Russian government backs genetics move.
December 19, 2008... With the aim of lifting the genetic quality of the Russian herd, a partnership has been struck between the international breeding organisation CRV and the Russian AI organisation Moskovskoye (Moscow). Dairy farmers in the Russian federation...

WINTER FEEDING: Latest mixer wagons don't even need driver on board!
December 19, 2008... There's a whole host of mixer wagon developments just beginning to filter through onto the UK market following launches at the German Eurotier and Italian EIMA machinery shows. Steven Vale gives us an insight. A TOUR of both shows reveals...

WINTER FEEDING: SCHUITEMAKER.(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... DUTCH-firm Schuitemaker stunned Eurotier visitors this year with the prototype of a driverless self-propelled mixer wagon! Called the Innovado, the Gold Medal-winning machine currently operates by remote control but from April next year, it...

WINTER FEEDING: STORTI.
December 19, 2008... IN ADDITION to a new range-topping 28cu m Doberman self-propelled machine, Storti have premiered a new mid-range twin-vertical auger Terrier mixer (14 and 16cu m). Also the trailed Labrador horizontal-auger machines have been replaced by...

WINTER FEEDING: BvL.(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... GERMAN-firm BvL van Lengerich revealed a prototype of a brand-new self- propelled mixer wagon exactly a year ago at Agritechnica. The machine was back again at Eurotier but this time as a commercial version, destined initially only for the...

WINTER FEEDING: STRAUTMANN.(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... STRAUTMANN has offered a mixer wagon/rear straw chopper and blower for the past 5 years but the company used the German show to reveal a front- mounted chopper option. Available on Verti-Mix machines from 7.5 to 28cu m capacity, the company...

WINTER FEEDING: TRIOLIET.
December 19, 2008... THE mid-range Trioliet mixer wagons, from the Solomix 1-1400 to the Solomix 2-2400 T, are equipped with an extra reduction in the planetary gear, helping to reduce start up torque by 7-8%. The company claims that a lower power tractor can...

WINTER FEEDING: HARRY WEST.
December 19, 2008... HARRY West now offers a12cu m mixer wagon tosupport the larger 16cu m machine. Although it features the same mechanical transmission, with a height of less than 2.9m and a width of 2.58m, this latest version is ideally suited to accessing...

WINTER FEEDING: SGAROBOLDI.
December 19, 2008... SOLD in the UK by Lely, Sgaroboldi is moving towards using just two chassis in the future - one for machines up to 17cu m and one for machines up to 26cu m. The first result of this, a model from the new 5000 series of machines, was on...

WINTER FEEDING: FARESIN.
December 19, 2008... FARESIN now offers a 40kph option on its self-propelled Pioneer mixer wagons. Adding around E20,000 to the price, the option includes both front and rear axle suspension. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

WINTER FEEDING: KUHN.(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... KUHN is the latest company to offer a mixer wagon that also doubles as a straw blower. Called the Euromix Plus 70 Series, there are five models starting with the single vertical auger 11cu m 1170 and 13cu m 1370, through to the twin auger...

WINTER FEEDING: RMH MIXERS.
December 19, 2008... RS Agribusiness has revealed its new range of RMH Mixell mixer wagons. The vertical mixer range features a redesigned auger with a two-stage lifting plate to reduce power requirement. The two and three-auger machines also have overlapping...

WINTER FEEDING: SHELBOURNE.
December 19, 2008... ONE of the issues facing most dairy managers in the UK today is trying to quickly and efficiently feed large numbers of cattle spread through numerous older buildings, many of which have narrow access or inaccessible areas that have to be...

WINTER FEEDING: KEENAN.(Brief article)
December 19, 2008... KEENAN is currently in the process of updating and rebranding its mixer wagon range. Part of a move to develop physically smaller machines and yet with the same capacities, the new models are known as the Mech Fibre 300 series. The...

WINTER FEEDING: MAYER.
December 19, 2008... GERMAN mixer wagon maker Mayer is another company that has developed a version that doubles as a straw chopper/blower. Available on the Siloking Duo models, it features a mechanical drive and an integrated stone trap. With a fan...

WINTER FEEDING: MAYER.
December 19, 2008... THE list of Mayer mixer wagons sold in the UK by Kverneland could soon include a new top-of-the-range three-wheeled Siloking self-propelled version. Fitted with twin vertical augers, and offering a capacity of 22cu m, the higher operating...

WINTER FEEDING: Can you increase output from your forage acres?
December 19, 2008... While home-grown forages are generally regarded as the cheapest source of feedstuffs, it is perhaps worth checking how they stack up against each other and whether you are making the most of available land. Jennifer Mackenzie reports. ...

WINTER FEEDING: Keeping your cows on even keel with more balanced diet.
December 19, 2008... According to a survey conducted by Volac at the Dairy Event and Livestock Show, more than half of dairy farmers planned to increase yields this winter, while 17% aimed to increase milk fat percent and 10% were targeting increased milk protein...

WINTER FEEDING: Analysis showing quality of maize silage may fall short.
December 19, 2008... High starch maize can usually be relied on to give yields a boost and generally get cows performing better but according to Dr John Allen, technical director with Frank Wright Trouw, this is unlikely to be the case this year. Milk...

Dairy Crest lifts standard price by 0.5p from Nov'08.
December 19, 2008... Following on from the announcements by all the other major liquid milk purchasers of increases varying from 0.75ppl to 1ppl from Oct/Nov'08, Dairy Crest has increased its milk price paid on its standard liquid milk contract by 0.5ppl from...

RWD staggers its increase.
December 19, 2008... Robert Wiseman has confirmed it will increase 0.4ppl of its Nov'08 1ppl increase from Oct'08 to all producers on standard supply. The company says the reason for the staggered increase is due to different customer contract terms and prices...

Paynes Dairies makes change.
December 19, 2008... Of the few milk price increases we've not reported to date, Paynes Dairies is increasing its producer milk price by 1ppl from Nov'08 taking our `flagship' standard litre price to 27.2ppl, putting them back on a competitive footing with the...

Modify cubicles to provide comfortable lying for your cows.
December 19, 2008... Cubicle design has changed over the years and what may have been fine 30 years ago may need some attention now. As Eddie Kirk told me when I visited his Leicestershire farm, "we're using cow facilities that are 30 years old". He's...

Best to investigate in case dog has someone cornered out in the yard!
December 19, 2008... As we get into the winter housing period, Roger Evans has been easing himself back into the scraping out routine and preparing to take on all challengers. The closest friend I have, possibly the closest ever, is the Border Collie I...