Wales Farmer July 2012 NEWS


First cut is weakest due to wet spring


■ Rain means problems in


the clamp By Farmer reporter


SILAGE makers need to be aware of the impact the unsettled weather, the cold wet April, and subse- quent poor ground condi- tions are likely to have on first-cut silage quality, says Dr David Davies of


Silage Solutions Ltd. He said: “With lodged grass


crops and moist conditions the numbers of silage spoilage organ- isms,enterobacteria, clostridia, yeasts and moulds on the crop will be possibly morechallenging


than forseveralyears,and it will also takesome time forsugars to reach good levels,eveniftemper- atures rise and the grass sees some sunshine.” AndyStrzelecki, technical


director at Kelvin Cave Ltd, added: “The problem facing farmers is thatthe ‘D’ value of grass will start to decline very rapidlyonce stressed crops start to head, so the temptation will be to cut, evenifground conditions arefar from ideal, leading to even higher risk of spoilage organisms from soil contamination. “This,together with the likeli-


hood of lowerdry matter levels from poor wilting conditions,will increase the risk of secondary, butyric fermentations,leading to high nutrient losses in the clamp.” “Even if reasonabledry mat-


ters areachieved, yeasts and moulds will be on the crop and in the clamp or bale in very high


Keeping the bugs down


ANDY Strzelecki says the most reliable solution is to take action to reduce the ‘bad’ bug population to the absolute minimum. First, make sure that grass is spread as soon as possible after cutting, ensuring that spreading machinery tines are set to clear the ground to avoid any unnecessary soil contamination. Spreading allows the heat and moisture of plant cell respiration to dissipate quickly, resulting in aless favourable environment


numbers,soaerobic instability will be abig problem, resulting in heating and further expensive feed-value losses.” Dr Davies added: “Although therewill be anatural population


for the further multiplication of harmful bacteria. Then, to ensure that the harmful bacteria, yeasts and moulds that remain are reduced to the minimum possible, treat the crop as it is harvested with aproven blend of food-grade preservatives like Safesil. This will kill the harmful organisms without affecting the useful lactic acid bacteria, which can then convert sugar and lower the pH of the silage quickly.


of good, lactic acid bacteria on the crop as well, they cannot be relied on to out-compete the very high populations of ‘bad’ bugs thatwill be present. “In reasonablesilage making


conditions,agood inoculant can help ‘steer’ the fermentation the right way, buteventhe best inoc- ulants will be facing avery tough challenge under some of the con- ditions encountered this year.”


Olympic role for super sniffer dogs


SUPER sniffer dogs from Pembrokeshireare preparing to showoff their skills at the London 2012 Olympics.


Former Ministry of Defence


doghandler Stuart Phillips now runs his ownspecialist search dogbusiness,BWY Canine, based in Llandissilio.


He has been asked to work


with his explosive detection dog teams on the site of the London Olympics,beforeduring and after the games.


Stuart said: “It’sreallyexcit-


ing being asked to work at the site of the Olympics,I’ll be working alongside the police and other agencies at various locations in London, and will be therefull-time during the games,the paralympics and for awhile afterwards.”


Stuart started his career


working with the MoD in Brawdy,wherehespent more than adecade dogtraining and handling, butleft the forces two


EAGER FOR ACTION: Stuart Phillips with his highly-trained dog team.


Fatter lambs keep figures on even keel


WELSH lamb production dur- ing the first quarter of 2012 remains stableasaresult of improved carcase weights, according to redmeatpromotion agency HybuCig Cymru. “Although at 659,000 head the


number of lambs passing through processing plants was 5% lowerbetween January and


March this year compared with the same period in 2011, produc- tion remained stableat12,400 tonnes,” said HCC’sindustry information


officer John


Richards. “This is due to heavier individ-


ual carcase weights.” The latest figures showedthat lamb carcase weights in Wales


andEngland averaged 19.9kg, which was0.6kg heavier than the corresponding period in 2011, and wasthe highest averagesince April 2007. Adult sheep weights also rose


by asimilar amount to average 26.2kg.


Meanwhile the number of cat- tle passing through Welsh pro-


cessing plants in the first quarter of 2012 was38,900 –down3% on the same period in 2011. Production of Welsh Beef stood at 11,000 tonnes between January and March 2012 com- pared with 11,500 in 2011. HCC’smonthlybulletin


report can be viewedat www.hccmpw.org.uk.


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk


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years agotoset up his ownbusi- ness.


He nowhas severalsearch


dogs trained to seek out any- thing from explosivestoillegal immigrants,and has worked with anumber of police forces at crime scenes,and assisted with the detection of drugs, cash and people.


His work has taken him all


over the UK and Europe.He supplies trained dogs to he police,trains handlers,and vis- its schools and youth groups to offer drug education.


Stuart also visits local animal


rescue centres looking fordogs with the potential fordetection work.


He said: “We’re very busy at


the moment which is great, I love it. Every dayisdifferent, it reallyinteresting, and with dogs anything is possible.”


Formoreinformation on


Stuart’sdogsvisit www. bwycanine.co.uk.


21


Festival invite for food produce


WALES YFC is calling on all food producers thatare members of the organisation to contact the Wales YFC centrefor further information regarding the Food on the WyeFestivaltobeheld at the Smithfield, Rhayader on September 22nd and 23rd. The opening hours will be on


Saturdayfrom10am to 4.30pm and Sundayfrom10am to 4pm. YFC and associate YFC mem-


bers wishing to bring astall to the event will be eligible foradis- count of £10 per booking. The deadline forreceipt of application formsand payment is July 16th. The Food Festivalisbeing held


with support from Rhayader 2000 and promises to be afamilyevent with cookery demonstrations,fun activities forchildren and musical performances. KayLewis,Wales YFC rural


development officer,said: “This festivalisall about giving produc- ers an opportunity to sell their produce and promote their brand to local people and visitors in the area.


“Wehope to attract awide


range of producers from meatto seasonal produce,tocheeses, wine,cakes and chocolates so that visitors areabletoexperience the sensational tastes thatare pro- duced in Wales. “This is an event which is being


organised by young people forthe benefit of the local community and beyond, and it is hoped that the event can be developed upon year by year.” Booking formsfor the festival


areavailableonthe Wales YFC website or contact KayLewis on 01982 553 502 or email kay.lewis@yfc-wales.org.uk.


Collie sale at show


THE cream of the sheep sector’s working dogs will featureamong the outdoor activities lined up at NSA Sheep 2012 at the Three Counties


ShowGround,


Malvern, on July 4th. The event will also host the


14th biennial sale of working sheep dogs with morethan 40 border collie entries expected from novice to trialdogs, includ- ing those registered with the International Sheep DogSociety. Prior to coming under the ham- mer,each dogwill be put through its working paces on the sale site.


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