Inside this issue

• 8% more milk with ACTIV 8

• Fane Valley Feeds visit C.R.E.A.M.

• A Taste of Gold for Whites

• Parasite Control at Housing

• New Websites for Fane Valley

• Fane Valley Feeds customer wins “Tidy Farm of the Year” award

• Managing Freshly Calved Cows

• Fane Valley Butter Close to Perfect

• Practical Experiences to Improve Suckler Herd Fertility

Autumn 2011

ACTIV 8 is designed to enhance rumen health

and performance from your dairy cattle. Silage

analyses to date have shown a large degree of

variation both between farms and within silage

pits. While some grass silages are analysing

well, some are exceptionally dry and others

particularly wet. Changes in silage within one

pit are also apparent, making it very difficult

to balance correctly with concentrate.

The result is frequent changes to the rumen

pH and suboptimal rumen performance. High

rates of concentrate feeding, characteristic of

intensive winter feeding strategies and high

yield systems can also create acid loading

within the rumen, making it more difficult

to maintain rumen stability.

The addition of ACTIV 8 to Fane Valley Feeds

new Platinum Range of dairy nuts allows the

rumen to maintain its function by buffering

the rumen, averting changes in pH and

therefore the problems associated with

acidosis or acid loading.

ACTIV 8 stimulates rumen bacteria, improving

digestion and providing you with more milk,

better milk components and healthier cows.

Put simply it can produce up to 8% more

milk from the same amount of feed and can

significantly increase your margin over

feed this winter.

For futher infofmation on ACTIV 8 contact

Hazel Gilmore on 07714950584

8% more milk with ACTIV 8

ACTIV 8 is an exciting new innovation developed by Fane Valley Feeds, and is now available in our Platinum range of Dairy feeds which have been launched for the 2011/12 season.

www.fanevalley.com

A Taste of Gold for Whites

Old Fashioned and Steel Cut Oats, which were developed specifically for the

US market struck gold at this year’s Great Taste Awards, winning a double

gold best in class. Acting as the acknowledged benchmark for speciality

food and drink, the awards recognise companies’ commitment for providing

great tasting quality products. This prestigious accolade follows news of a

major retailer listing which will see the Irish Oatmeal range marketed in over

2,000 outlets across the US. This is a tremendous achievement for White’s

which has spent the past two years researching this market and developing

products which meet and exceed American consumer’s expectations.

Speaking at a recent reception for over 40 local food and drink companies,

Minister Arlene Foster congratulated the Whites team on both successes.

There were other notable wins for the White’s portfolio. Only Oats, Organic

Jumbo Oats, Real Fruit Porridge and Toasted Oats Strawberry & Banana also

picked up gold stars in the awards taking Whites tally to 14 stars over

the past three years.

Parasite Control at Housing

Not only will parasites reduce thrive but they also have the ability to suppress the

animal’s natural immune system that will in turn increase an animal’s susceptibility

to disease. With this in mind all livestock producers should have an effective parasite

control programme in place for their farm. This will differ from farm to farm

depending on farming enterprise, stocking densities, soil type and weather conditions.

Worm burdens in cattle are usually at their highest in cattle at the end of the grazing

season and in recent years with the wetter summers liver fluke has become much

more prevalent on Northern Ireland farms.

At Fane Valley Stores we have the vast range of products available to control the

parasite problems in cattle and many combination endectocides that will control

worms, liver fluke and lice in one application.

Fane Valley Stores have recently acquired exclusive distribution of a new injectable

product, Alverin Plus, from Pfizer Animal Health that will treat worms, liver fluke

and external parasites with one treatment at the rate of 1ml per 50kg body weight.

Alverin Plus is available in 50ml, 250ml and 500ml packs and as an introductory

offer we are giving a 50ml free with every 500ml and also an injection applicator

with every 2 x 500ml packs purchased. Alverin Plus is very competitively priced

and offers the cattle farmer an excellent alternative choice that gives real savings

and value for money.

Recent success at the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards comes hot on the heels of a major contract win in the United States for White’s Irish Oatmeal range.

Livestock producers should never underestimate the effect that worms, fluke, lice and mange can have on the performance of cattle.

L-R Arlene Foster Minister of Enterprise, Alastair Hamilton CEO of Invest NI, Esther Jackson and Danielle McBride of Whites

Fane Valley Feeds visit C.R.E.A.M. By Faith Cromie, Ian Vance and Marc Young (Finance and Promotion Team)

At the start of the academic semester the students participating in the C.R.E.A.M. project hosted a visit of representatives from Fane Valley Feeds. C.R.E.A.M. is one of several student-led enterprise management projects, at CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus, providing Higher Education students with the unique opportunity to manage a high genetic merit Holstein herd.

The Farmrite business has been integrated

into the Fane Valley business and will now

trade as Fane Valley Stores. Speaking

of the integration Fane Valley Stores

General Manger Dessie Ferguson said “The

integration of the Farmrite business will

improve efficiencies within the Fane Valley

Stores Business. Customers will now only

have one account with the stores division.

All purchases from the Portadown store will

now qualify for shareholder dividends.”

Dessie concluded “The completion of the

intergration will also lead to trading and

accounting efficiencies resulting in overall

cost savings to the stores network.”

Farmrite Integration Complete

CREAM students Adam Black (Ballyward, Co Down) and Marcus Graham (Ederney, Co Fermanagh) assess the ingredients of the TMR with past CAFRE graduate and exCREAM student Dr Hazel Gilmore (Fane Valley)

and Fane Valley field staff Sam Ritchie, Herbie Bell and John McConnell.

The herd is milked three times a day,

with students carrying out the routine tasks

including milking, feeding and

breeding decisions.

The students presented recent rolling herd

average figures to the visitors and provided an

update on the current winter feeding regime.

The C.R.E.A.M. herd is currently yielding

9,743 litres at 4.05% butterfat, 3.09% protein,

somatic cell count of 55,000 and bactoscan of

25,000. The students informed the visitors of

their ongoing aim to improve feed efficiency.

With the current milk from forage currently

averaging 2,517 litres and concentrate

consumption at 3.2 tonnes the students are

pleased with the progress that they have

made to date, feeding 0.33kg concentrate for

each litre of milk produced. They attributed

this progress to feeding top quality silage and

making the most of grazed grass during the

summer period. Housed full time from mid

September the cows are currently receiving

a ration consisting of grass silage, whole crop

wheat, dairy blend, protected fat and straw.

Overall ration analysis is 12.1MJ ME/kgDM,

43% dry matter and 17.3% crude protein.

The students’ final message for the visitors was

very positive. With the gross margin per cow

for the 2010/2011 year increasing by over

£100/cow from the previous year to £988/

cow, the students hope to continue this trend

into the current academic year!The Fane Valley Team visit the C.R.E.A.M herd

Speaking on the launch of the new websites

Glenn Speer Project Development Manager

at Fane Valley says. “The new corporate

website will provide up to date information

on the Fane Valley group and its subsidiary

companies, with the latest news from the

businesses across the group”.

“Following the acquisition of Farmrite in

2007, Fane Valley has become one of the

leading suppliers of on-line farm supplies

and requisites across the United Kingdom.

The original Farmrite website has now been

rebranded and integrated into the Fane Valley

Stores business”. Login to our website

www.fanevalleystores.com, to check out our

large range of agricultural supplies and special

offers available on-line.

Glenn continued “Over the coming months

we will be launching websites for Fane Valley

Feeds and Fane Valley Dairies. The Fane Valley

Feeds website will provide customers with up

to date information on rations for all species,

with the development of online ordering

to improve the customer experience and

improve ordering efficiency.

New Websites for Fane Valley

As part of the on-going rebranding of the Fane Valley Group a new company website www.fanevalley.com and a new Fane Valley Stores website www.fanevalleystores.com have been launched.

Fane Valley is now on Facebook Check out www.facebook.com/fanevalley

were you will be able to stay in touch

with the latest news and updates for

the Fane Valley group.

Busy farmers often tend to overlook

the appearance of their farmyards

but the opposite appears to be the

case for the Kee family from Trillick.

They have just triumphed in this

year’s FBD National Awards for 2011

following on from the success of

winning the Ulster regional title

two years ago.

Father and son, Norman and Gareth

Kee run a herd of 120 cows on their

farm, Castlemervyn Demesne,

63 Castlehill Road, Trillick.

Norman and Gareth work endlessly at

Castlemervyn Demesne to maintain

a tidy and safe farmyard and all

their work work has paid off having

received the high recognition of the

All Ireland dairy winner.

This year’s format of the competition,

run in conjunction with the Irish

Farmers’ Journal was amended and

the awards were not run on the basis

of geographical location, but on the

basis of farm type.

The judges praised the high standard

of cleanliness and tidiness in the

farmyard and in their importance of

a safe working environment for both

animals and staff.

Fane Valley Feeds customer wins “Tidy Farm of the Year” award

L-R Keeping the farmyard tidy at the Kee’s farm near Trillick are Norman, Gareth, Sharon,

eight-month-old Harrison and May.

Managing Freshly Calved Cows

Everywhere you look over the last few months, someone, somewhere is talking about how to manage freshly calved cows. Asking questions such as how can I improve fertility? Or how to improve cow health? Or how to maximise milk production?

www.fanevalley.com

“Close to perfect” is how the judges

of the Great Taste Awards described

“Fane Valley’s Easy to Spread

Salted Butter”.

Ivan Frazer, Dairy Sales Manager, was

presented with the Gold Star award

in September by Arlene Foster, MLA

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and

Investment on behalf of the Guild

of Fine Food at a special ceremony

in Belfast.

The Great Taste Awards are the

independent benchmark for speciality

food and drink. All foods are blind

tasted by a panel of independent

judges with gold awards going to

those products considered superior.

The coveted black & gold-star GREAT

TASTE stickers adorn speciality foods

stocked on shelves and counters in

stores throughout the UK. GREAT

TASTE is to speciality food and drink

what MICHELIN is to fine dining.

“Our loyal customers have always

known that Fane Valley’s Butter is a

truly first class product however it’s

really rewarding to receive recognition

by such an esteemed body as the

Guild of Fine Food” said Ivan Frazer

after receiving the award.

Fane Valley Butter Close to Perfect

One of the hot topics ticking all those boxes is that of the Fresh Cow Concept. The basis of this

theory is that we aim to realign the timing of peak milk production and peak feed intake to

minimise or eliminate negative energy balance in early lactation which has detrimental effects

on fertility and is the main cause of the poor reproductive performance experienced by many

cows in the industry today.

The Fresh Cow Concept tries to maximise forage intake in the first 4 – 6 weeks after calving so

the cow is less dependent on concentrate intake. Cows are offered very little concentrate in the

parlour after calving and therefore must satisfy their appetite through forage intake, reducing

the likelihood of displaced abomasums and other feed intake or nutrition associated problems

in early lactation. Because of a lower protein intake, the cows peak milk production will be

delayed slightly, but her peak feed intake will have been advanced, allowing the two milestones

to occur simultaneously.

The benefits of the Fresh Cow Concept are healthier cows, increased milk from forage, increased

efficiency and the potential for improved reproductive performance. Fane Valley Feeds are

encouraging farmers to apply this concept in their own herds and have a specific range of rations

available for this approach. These Fresh Cow Rations are designed specifically for use in the Fresh

Cow Concept. If you are interested in finding out more information on the Fresh Cow Concept,

please contact Hazel Gilmore on 07714950584 or your local sales representative.

L-R Arlene Foster Enterprise Minister, Alastair Hamilton CEO of invest NI

& Ivan Frazer of Fane Valley

Shop online at www.fanevalleystore.com

Fane Valley Co-operative Society Ltd

Alexander Road, Armagh BT61 7JJ

T: 028 3752 2344

F: 028 3752 7876

E: info@fanevalley.com

Omagh T: 028 8224 3221

Newry T: 028 3026 2305

Armagh T: 028 3752 0229

Altnamachin T: 028 3087 8402

Augher T: 028 8554 9330

Banbridge T: 028 4062 8778

Lisbane T: 028 9754 1087

Lane Ends T: 028 3755 1223

Omagh T: 028 8225 5350

Portadown T: 028 3839 4900

Banbridge T: 028 4066 2742

www.fanevalley.com

Ralph Lyons from Eskra has a 60 cow Suckler herd with an average Calving index of 377 days compared to the NI average of 400 days. I asked Ralph what was his secret to getting herd fertility right year on year.

Practical Experiences to Improve Suckler Herd FertilityBy William Johnston CAFRE Beef and Sheep Development Adviser

His answer included –

Using an easy calving bull – The BLUP data

for the Charolais stock bull indicates that

calving difficulty should not be a problem

and this has been Ralph’s experience. Difficult

calving’s can result in womb infections,

slower return to cycling, depressed intake

in the cow, dead calves and destroyed cows.

Maintaining Cow Condition Post calving -

Concentrates are fed to early spring calved

cows prior to turnout. This is an additional

cost but the benefits in terms of improved

fertility justify the expense. Silage only diets

will not supply enough energy no matter how

much is offered.

Cows whose condition score has dropped

to under 2 will be very difficult to put back

in calf and it can be difficult to improve the

condition of milking cows.

Controlling Diseases which affect Herd

Fertility – Ralph vaccinates his cows,

prior to the breeding period, for BVD

and Leptospirosis. Both diseases affect

reproductive efficiency and can cause

foetal death and abortion.

Monitoring Reproductive Performance –

A breeding diary is used to record calving

dates, service dates and pregnancy diagnoses.

Although all cows are bred by natural service

the bull does not run with the cows in the

shed. Good records allow Ralph to review

breeding activity and take action where

necessary. The breeding period starts on the

12th March and the first scanning usually

takes place towards the end of April. This

ensures that only pregnant cows are put to

land further away from the yard.

Paying Attention to Detail – Ralph also listed

other practices such as feeding pre and post

calving minerals, having repeat breeders and

any cows with white discharges checked by

the vet and using gloves when examining

cows at calving.

Achieving good reproductive performance

in a suckler herd isn’t easy. However by

identifying the main factors listed above and

adjusting herd management accordingly

should lead, to a lower Calving Index and

improved herd profitability.

For further information on feeding suckler

cows to maximise performance contact your

local Fane Valley Feeds representative.

L-R William Johnston, CAFRE Beef and Sheep Development Adviser discussing this year’s breeding season with Ralph Lyons, Eskra

Whites charity walk for Home Start