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Livestock Trading since 1975
The Standard | Summer 2014
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Contents
Cattle - Page 2
Jones Bros Calf Rearers
The new White Tag health
reassurance scheme
Sheep - Page 4
A visit to Kilby Grange
Organic Conference 2014
Congratulations Robin
Pigs - Page 3
Introducing Ryan Noble
National Pig Awards
Safeguarding your future
White Icons are here
White Icons are here
Photo courtesy of The Hereford Cattle Society
Company Update
F
OLLOWING the sad loss of our long
standing Chairman last summer, Vice
Chairman, Mike Sheldon was appointed
Chairman at the September AGM. We will
be looking to recruiting additional farmer
Directors onto the Board shortly. More details at
September 23rd AGM.
The 2013 summer also bought further bad
news with the failure of several long established
abattoir businesses. We were directly affected
by two plant failures which we have supported
over many years, Seddons and Preston Meats;
and incurred debts in excess of their insured
limits. This will result in an overall trading loss
for the year, although the ‘day to day trading’
was profitable and the company retains a strong
balance sheet. It is also pertinent to say, that in
almost 40 years of livestock trading and the inevitable knocks that occur with meat businesses, every
MQ producer has been paid 100% of their stock value, 100% of the time! As they were in these cases.
Lynda Porter, our Finance Director of many years, left the company last summer and Mike took on
direct responsibility for the financial affairs of the company, with the support of a contract Finance
Director for a limited number of days.
Autumn 2013 saw the appointment of Simon Davies onto the Board as Commercial Director,
responsible for managing our Pig Division. Simon had been running the Pig Division successfully
for some time, and earned his elevation, thanks to some excellent results. Later in the autumn, Greg
Mowbray changed his role to that of Trading Director, taking a more hands –on responsibility for our
whole Ruminant Division, made up of our cattle, calf and sheep operations. This division offers us a
great opportunity for growth and warrants the extra focus and experience that Greg can bring.
Mike Sheldon has taken on further day to day responsibilities as Executive Chairman, with a
direction from the Board to support and implement our growth strategy and modernise our central
infra-structure.
Thanks to the brilliant efforts of the company’s highly committed and skilled staff, and thanks to
the continuing commitment of our members, suppliers and customers, this programme of change is
well underway and we have made a very encouraging start to 2014.
Mike Sheldon, Executive Chairman
Meadow Quality Limited 01789 734 100 www.meadowq.co.uk
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The Standard Summer 2014
Jones Bros – Calf rearers for Meadow Quality
W
E visited Arfon and Gerallt Jones at their farm high up in the mountains behind
Colwyn Bay on a beautiful early spring day to see how they rear calves for
Meadow Quality.
The Jones family have been farming at Llindir since the 1930’s. The farm is situated at
1,000 feet above sea level and enjoys stunning views across the mountains and down to
the coast below.
Brothers Arfon and Gerallt started
rearing calves a couple of years ago and
usually have a total of about 280 calves
in rear at any one time. They are keen to
expand the rearing operation further and
are planning to put up another shed to
facilitate this.
Calves arrive in batches every fortnight
and on arrival are fitted with collars
and deep bedded in straw and shown
where the milk feeder is. All feeding is
computerised via a Holm and Laue system,
which recognises each calf via the chip in its collar and can then provide information
as to when and how much milk each calf has drunk each day. Once a calf has drunk its
predetermined amount of milk in each 24 hour period, the computer does not allow it to
drink more. The environment in the rearing sheds is also controlled via a computerised
ventilation system which automatically
circulates air every 10 minutes.
Each batch of calves stays on the farm for
about 90 days and, following TB testing, is
then moved on to the finisher, allowing the
pens to be fully cleaned and disinfected
ready for the arrival of the next batch.
In addition to calf rearing, the Jones
brothers run 600 ewe lambs, mainly Suffolk
X mules and Texel X mules, which they buy
in, keep for 12 months and then sell on as
breeding ewes. They also grow 20 acres
Brothers Arfon and Gerallt
of swedes for the sheep and the following
year plough up and under sow grass to
whole crop barley, rotated around the farm acreage to keep the grass growing young.
Arfon Jones says “Rearing for Meadow Quality gives us confidence in our calf enterprise,
as they have already marketed the calves, which means we are never stuck with unsold
calves. We get a consistent supply of healthy calves which haven’t spent all day at
market. Robin Bebb, our Meadow Quality fieldsman, is always on hand with his extensive
knowledge and experience if we have any
problems, and regularly visits us on farm”.
Recently arrived British Blues.
For more information on becoming a
contract calf rearer for Meadow Quality
or having your calves professionally
reared for you by Meadow Quality, please
contact Simon Fryar on 07703 563 787.
And, in order to meet the growing
demand for our services in North Wales,
we have recently appointed agent
Catrin Edwards to handle calf sales and
enquiries. Please contact her on
07785 972 923.
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The White Tag Health Scheme
J
AMES Allcock of Lambert Leonard & May,
the veterinary practice which provides the
Meadow Quality Calf Rearers Health Plan
has some exciting news!
After a successful pilot exercise late last
year, we are really pleased to announce that
Meadow Quality is now able to roll out a
fantastic and innovative service that can bring
added value to everyone.
Calves can now be sampled and tested for
BVD virus during the few hours they spend
in our accredited centres at Carmarthen,
Chippenham and Ash. They are then left with
a shiny white tag which gives a clear indication
that the animal has been sampled and tested
with a negative result for BVD.
What does this mean to you?
The CheckTAG BVD service can add value to
everyone in the supply chain.
Rearers and growers can be assured that
calves leaving the collection centre have
tested negative for BVD themselves or, just as
importantly, have not travelled in close contact
with an infected calf. This means that calves
in the group are considerably less likely to
become immuno-suppressed and susceptible
to infectious causes of pneumonia after they
arrive on your holding. The risk of pneumonia
outbreak occurring will be reduced and when
cases do occur, they should have less severe
consequences.
For dairy farmers that choose to bring calves
to our collection centres, testing calves reveals
two valuable pieces of information. Freedom
of infection in the calves sold through Meadow
Quality means that BVD is unlikely to be active
on your farm. It also means that the mother
of the calf must be non-infected and free of
BVD. Conversely, when we find the occasional
calf – typically just over one in every hundred is
persistently infected – then it’s a strong signal
that the calf’s mother might be a source of
infection in your breeding herd.
Meadow Quality can carry out the white tag
application for all calf orders, whether they
are our contract reared calves, or a baby
calf order, at a cost of £8 per head. For more
information, please call your fieldsman today.
Meadow Quality Limited www.meadowq.co.uk
The Standard Summer 2014
Introducing Ryan Noble
A
WARM welcome to Ryan Noble
who joined the Meadow Quality Pig
Marketing Team at the beginning of
March. Ryan will be looking after our pig
producers in the North East and Scotland.
Ryan tells us that his passion for pigs started
at a very young age when he went out to work
with his father at weekends on the grow-out
unit which his father ran. As a teenager, Ryan
got his own part time job working on a pig unit
and then went on to study at Oatridge College
where he gained a SVQ3 in Pig Production.
Since that time, he has worked his way up
through the ranks from Stockman to Unit
Manager and, most recently, Production
Manager of a major multi-site pig farming
business.
Ryan says that he is looking forward to
the further progression of his career and to
bringing the knowledge and experience that
he has gained from both indoor and outdoor
pig production to Meadow Quality and its
customers. Contact Ryan on 07736 056 713.
Simon Davies, Commercial Director, says
having Ryan join the Pig Team will further
strengthen the Meadow Quality business.
Safeguarding your future
T
O ensure we continue to offer detailed, clear and relevant information to your
business in as timely a manner as possible, we are investing in and introducing
the Hellenics System software at Meadow Quality to improve data reporting to
you, our pig customers. Hellenics has theWhite
capacity
pig returns between
Icons to
arecompare
here
several plants to highlight the best returns. Crucially, it will also enable us to deliver the
after-slaughter information required by BPEX for a robust, independent price reporting
mechanism after the demise of the “DAPP”, continuing our tradition of protecting
producer interests within the wider market place.
The Hellenic system will provide advanced functionality to manage, analyse and
report animal data and is used by most large processors within the meat industry.
Taking input from the Farm and Abattoir, this is combined to provide grade, health and
price analysis over selected time periods.
Some of the benefits:
• Web based for local and remote access
with analysis tools for graphing
• Customer emailing of stats & grade data
• Producer analysis reporting
• Stats summaries
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Multiple “What if?” pricing comparisons
Web based for local and remote access
Trends and scatter analysis
Grading Analysis reporting
Historical analysis for multiple abattoirs
Terry Carter, Managing Director of Hellenic Systems comments “We are very proud
to be working with Meadow Quality in providing advanced data management
tools built on top of our existing technologies. We see this synergy as a progressive
evolution of the abattoir, farm and agent relationship.”
Nuturing the talent
M
Ryan Noble, our new Pig Marketing Specialist
National Pig Awards
T
HIS is a new industry initiative to
reward and recognise best practice and
production in the British Pig industry
which we are pleased to support. Meadow
Quality will be represented at the awards
which are to be held in London on Tuesday 4th
November 2014.
Winners will be announced across a wide
range of categories designed to cover the
entire market, from Trainee of the Year and
Green Pig Farmer of the Year, to Producer and
Retailer of the Year.Pig World’s Simon Lewis
and his team have worked hard in putting
this event together and Meadow Quality
supports the recognition
of those individuals and
businesses whose efforts will
be rewarded.
Meadow Quality Limited 01789 734 100
EADOW Quality recently organised a trip for students and staff from Reaseheath
Agricultural College, Cheshire to Tulip’s Ashton site, near Manchester. The students
were accompanied by Tulip UK’s Jen Waters and Meadow Quality’s new pig
marketing specialist, Ryan Noble. Meadow Quality is delighted to be involved with
Reaseheath College as it is one of the longest established Agricultural Education facilities in
England, dating back to the late 1800’s. There are 200 students currently studying agriculture
on full or part -time courses. This is the first of three planned visits.
The College has its own pig unit consisting of 130 sows through to bacon, which are all
Freedom Foods Accredited. The purpose of the visit to Ashton was to complement the studies
already undertaken, giving the students a greater understanding of the process from‘Farm to Fork’.
Ryan Noble comments on a successful day. “We had a comprehensive tour of the plant,
seeing pigs arrive in the lairage following through to the butchery department and the
different cuts of meat, observing how each carcass is utilised.’’ After the tour, Jen Waters gave
a presentation on the Tulip business as a whole which was very informative. Tulip has invested
considerable amounts of money into its sites and intends to grow its UK volumes further.
Meadow Quality would like to wish the students good luck in their chosen career path, as
they are a key part of the future of British Agriculture. We look forward to continuing to work
with Reaseheath College and Tulip. Our thanks go to Jen Waters for helping make this an
interesting and productive day.
Ryan Noble (centre back) with staff and students
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The Standard Summer 2014
A visit to Kilby Grange
Organic Conference 2014
S
HEEP farmer Bob Adams runs a flock of 550 ewes plus 100 ewe lambs on his 140 acre
farm at Kilby in Leicestershire and also runs Meadow Quality’s busy sheep collection
centre with Gordon McWhirter between June and December each year.
Bob has been farming at Kilby Grange for over 29 years and has been a valued customer of
White Icons are here
Meadow Quality and our “sheep guru”, Gordon McWhirter, since 1991.
Since 2003, Bob has been accompanying
Gordon on his annual two day trip to the
north of England to buy ewe lambs for
himself and to fulfil regular orders from
Meadow Quality customers. Over the two
days, Gordon and Bob will visit 8 to 9 farms in
the Sinderhope and Allendale area, located
between 1,000 and 2,000 feet up in the
fells – this means that the lambs will do very
well once they get down to the lower levels
Bob and Gordon
of the Midlands. They buy mainly North
Country Mules, mostly running lambs which
won’t be tupped. Lambs are organised into batches of 100-250 to meet particular orders
with the benefit of a single supply source reducing the risk of disease transmission and
more consistency of breed type.
Local agent Paul Ferris and local farmer Geoff Wilkinson help prepare the viewing
farms to ensure the maximum amount of time is saved for stock selection and their
excellent hospitality over the years is much
appreciated by “the lads from the south”!
During this trip, Bob buys Northumberland
blackies that have been born that spring
for Kilby Grange – usually tupping lambs
averaging 45kg. Once they arrive at Bob’s
farm in Leicestershire they have a chance
to settle in and are then introduced to the
Charollais and Lleyn tups on 5th November.
Their lambs start to arrive in early April.
Meadow Quality Collection centre
Stuart Vile 07802 379 126
Congrats Robin - 50 not out!
Bob is kind enough to allow Meadow Quality to run a busy Collection Centre from Kilby
Grange which starts operating towards end of June each year and runs until Christmas.
Local farmers can bring their lambs to the centre so they can be batched up and sent to
the processor in artic loads, thus making
significant savings in transport costs. Lambs
are booked in as soon as possible after
weighing on a Monday or Tuesday, with
the collection taking place on a Thursday.
Capacity in the centre can be increased if
local demand for the service required. All
lambs from the collection centre go to the
state of the art Dunbia processing plant in
Llanybydder.
If you would like to use the Kilby Grange centre, or would like to set up a similar centre
in your own locality, come and chat to Bob or Gordon at the NSA Sheep Show on
Wednesday 30th July at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, Worcestershire
or contact Gordon on 07703 563 788.
@meadowquality
T
HE 8th Organic Producers’ Conference
started in glorious sunshine (last year we
had snow on the ground!) which helped
many Organic producers and advisers come
together to discuss ‘ways forward for organic
farming’.
The opening session saw heated discussions
on whether there was a need for organic
producers as the world could rely on ‘artificial
fertilizers’ to get out of trouble. However, it
soon became clear that food could only be
produced by taking care of the land - a subject
which may turn out to be as important as
learning to read and write!
A group discussion followed on the role of
sustainable farming and how it affected our
daily businesses. The session concluded that
the Organic Industry has to educate the public,
showing the role that organic farming plays in
our society and the benefits it can deliver.
On day two, I presented a paper on “effective
marketing of organic livestock.” The Public
want an Organic industry - that was clear from
a session showing sales UP 2.5% on 2012 - but
the producers need confidence and direction
which currently is lacking.
My thanks go to Nic Lampkin’s Team from
The Organic Research Centre for putting on an
excellent Conference. Find out more about the
event at www.organicresearchcentre.com.
Meadow Quality Ltd
C
ONGRATULATIONS to our fieldsman,
Robin Bebb, based at our Ash, Whitchurch
Collection Centre who recently reached
his half century and celebrated by climbing
Ben Nevis. Here he is clinching a deal at the
summit for Meadow Quality!
The information contained within the Meadow Quality Standard is taken
from sources we believe are reliable, but it does not guarantee that it is
accurate and should be used for information purposes only.
E&OE. © Meadow Quality 2014
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Meadow Quality Limited 01789 734 100 www.meadowq.co.uk