Innovations at Turriff
Transcription
Innovations at Turriff
2014 FEBRUARY FARMING MATTERS Innovations at Turriff A number of new initiatives and programmes of investment have taken place at Woodheads’ Scottish abattoir in Turriff. The system was developed by QMS and Scot EID and is designed to help sheep farmers improve their breeding decisions and profitability in the future. Lamb suppliers are now able to access animal-specific carcass data via the Woodheads website. The system is believed to be the first of its kind anywhere in the world and uses the EID ear tag, which is now compulsory for slaughter lambs in Scotland, to match the weight and grade of each lamb to the individual tag number. Some £1.3million has recently been invested in the site as part of a package to boost capacity. Improvements include new equipment in the boning hall, new packaging facilities and improved washdown facilities. Continued on page 2 INSIDE: • BBC Lambing Live • Morrisons online • Contact details • Farm open day START SAVING TODAY THROUGH AF see page 6 Innovati Welcome to Farming Matters Joe Mannion, Head of Livestock Procurement, introduces Farming Matters. W elcome to our first newsletter of 2014. We have had a busy few months since our last edition in October, with livestock events taking place at Dumfries House, the Beef Expo in Carlisle and the East of England Smithfield Festival at Peterborough. This year, we have plans to attend shows across the UK and will keep you informed via our new website at www.morrisonsfarming.com. Our Christmas meat sales were on plan, with lamb selling particularly well. Meat sales continue to be good, however the mild weather has affected our mince and stewing volumes. Affordability remains a concern and something we will need to be mindful of throughout 2014. Cattle prices started to reduce in December and continued into January, which is unusual and appears to be driven by a combination of consumer price resistance and cheaper imports coming into the UK. Pork and lamb prices remain robust, however pig prices are now starting to reduce slightly. Our new pig abattoir at Colne is now up to full capacity and will allow us to process an additional 300,000 pigs this year. Looking forward into 2014, we will double our convenience stores from 100 to 200 and our new online food website will be rolled out across the UK. In turn, Woodheads plan to increase the number of livestock processed across all our sites this year. I hope you enjoy reading this edition of Farming Matters. Joe Mannion Fans of BBC’s Lambing Live may recognise a few familiar faces in the new series, which will be screened in March. Hamish and Susie Dykes of West Linton, Peebleshire, who supply the Woodheads abattoir in Turriff, are the focus of the upcoming series, much of which has been filmed on their farm. The film crew also visited the Turriff site, where livestock buyer Richard Henderson helped presenter Kate Humble get up to speed with lamb grading. 2 Morrisons FARMING MATTERS FEBRUARY 2014 Continued from page 1 Beef breeders and finishers who supply Woodheads are also benefiting from a new suckler cow supply chain group which has been operating since September. The group, co-hosted with SAC, has concentrated on herd performance benchmarking and managing cow fertility. Topics covered by the group are agreed by all members and reflect the business priorities of members, with expertise supplied by Morrisons, SAC and external speakers. The group currently has ten members with an average of over 200 cows. Any Turriff supplier with breeding cows is able to join the group and should contact the livestock office to register interest. Woodheads Turriff lies deep in rural Aberdeenshire, about an hour north of Aberdeen. The site employs 330 people and processes up to 11,000 lambs and about 750 cattle each week. Some 600 tonnes of beef and lamb is processed each week for frozen burgers, free flow mince and diced products. The abattoir is supplied by 1,100 Scottish farmers. For contact details for the site’s livestock buyers – Michael Wilson and Richard Henderson – see page 5. BBC filming at Morrisons ions at Turriff Commitment to British farming underlined at Farm Open Day T he Morrisons Farm at Dumfries House in Ayrshire threw open its doors to more than 250 farmer suppliers and invited industry representatives on 22 October. This major event included a tour of Morrisons’ 1,000 acre beef and sheep unit, and briefings from senior figures in the company. HRH The Prince of Wales lent his support and met a selection of farmers from across the UK, including Morrisons dairy farmers from Pembrokeshire, chicken farmers from the Midlands, egg suppliers from Yorkshire and beef and lamb suppliers from across Scotland and the north of England. and Sonia Whitely-Guest, Morrisons’ Brand Development Director, on the latest consumer trends and how they will affect farmers. Sonia emphasised Morrisons’ commitment to British farming but also explained how farm gate prices for meat had grown much faster than consumer prices in recent years, at the expense of retailer margins. The challenge in the future will be to increase efficiency throughout the supply chain, including on farm, to help ensure British farm produce remains competitive in the future. The farm is home to about 200 breeding female Beef Shorthorn cattle and 800 breeding ewes. The farm tour looked at our work with the Beef Improvement Group to promote feed conversion efficiency in beef cattle and the Scottish Sheep Strategy, which examines the financial gains from rams selected for high Estimated Breeding Values (EBV). The Morrisons Farm recorded an income difference of £1.90 per ewe per year in favour of the high EBV ram, or £1,520/year over the 800 ewe flock. Delegates also heard from Sion Roberts of European Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP) on the challenges of increasing volatility in agricultural commodity markets 3 Busy winter of Morrisons and Woodheads sponsored and attended a number of events over the winter. About 250 people visited the Morrisons stand at the East of England Smithfield Festival. Woodheads Spalding sponsored the festival’s beef ribs competition – the results of which were as follows: Class 37 Steer or heifer, sired by any British native breed 1st H C Russell & Son, South Devon. Steer, b. 26/04/2011; w.465.7kgs 2ndJ L Griffin & Son, South Devon. Steer, b. 14/05/2011; w. 439.4kgs 3rd Michael Read, Lincoln Red. Heifer, b. 12/10/2011; w. 344.0kgs Not a Morrisons near you? The Our www.morrisons.com online webshop is now taking orders from customers in the Midlands, West and South Yorkshire. Morrisons has begun making its first online food deliveries. Our distinctive yellow vans began delivering groceries to homes across the Midlands from 6am on Friday 10 January. Interest has been strong, with many thousands registering their interest on the first day. Customers have also been importing their shopping lists from all the major grocers. The Morrisons.com offer replicates many in-store services provided by the company’s Market Street butchers, bakers and fishmongers. For example, a virtual butcher enables customers to choose how thickly their steak is cut. Orders will then be expertly prepared by Academy-trained butchers in our manufacturing sites. 4 Morrisons FARMING MATTERS FEBRUARY 2014 Other features of Morrisons.com will deal with customer concerns about the freshness of the food bought online, the variability of delivery charges and convenience of online food deliveries. • Delivery charges will be £1, £3 or £5 depending on whether it’s peak, off-peak or standard times. Unlike rival services, Morrisons.com will have a predictable charge that does not vary if demand changes. • Customers will receive a one hour time slot in response to feedback that two hours is too long to wait. • The expert review is a rosette rating system that gives customers an honest assessment of the quality and seasonality of every item of produce. • The doorstep check allows customers to check the freshness of the products before they accept them. events Class 38 Steer or heifer, sired by any continental breed 1st R E Needham & Son. British Blue X. Heifer, b. 18/03/2012; w. 324.8kgs 2ndMichael Read, Limousin X. Steer, b. 22/11/2011; w. 324.2kgs 3rd Mr Johnson, Limousin. Heifer, b. 08/04/2012; w. 372.0kgs Class 39 Champion beef ribs Champion R E Needham & Son, British Blue X. Heifer, b. 18/03/2012; w. 324.8kgs Reserve Michael Read, Limousin X. Steer, b. 22/11/2011; w. 324.2kgs Morrisons was a mainline sponsor for the Borderway Agri-Expo 2013, which was held at Harrison and Hetherington auctioneers in Carlisle. Cattle buyer Michael Winchester (pictured far left) presented a prize to the show champion. Live to Dead events update A series of events are being held with EBLEX and MLC Services Ltd at Woodheads’ Colne and Spalding abattoirs to give suppliers an opportunity to handle a group of live animals, assess them for fat cover and confirmation and grade them. Two beef events have already been held at Colne and one at Spalding. The next event takes place at Spalding on Tuesday 4 March from 9am to 2pm. The events, funded by AHDB levies, allow farmers to compare their classification in the live assessment to that applied in the abattoir. Topics covered on the day include current consumer demand, breed characteristics, requirements of abattoirs and livestock markets and farm and abattoir hygiene requirements. Feedback from suppliers who have attended has been very positive, with all feeling they have a better understanding of the EUROP grid, handling points and livestock marketing. Anyone interested in attending the next event can contact Caroline Gooch on 07581482561 or caroline. [email protected] or Stephen Zealand on 07891812706 or [email protected] re soon will be… It is expected that 50% of the country will be covered by the beginning of 2015. How to check if you are in the delivery zone: • Click on www.morrisons.com. • Enter your email address and postcode. Postcodes within the delivery range will be taken to the site to create a customer account. • Our coverage is expanding every week- please use our handy postcode checker to see if we can deliver to you yet. Shop on the go - Download the Morrisons Groceries App: • The Morrisons Groceries App is now available for Apple and Android mobile devices. • Go to your App Store, search for ‘Morrisons Groceries’, and download it. Woodheads contact details Michael Winchester (Senior Livestock Buyer) Caroline Gooch (Cattle and Lambs) Jim Holden (Cattle and Lambs) Ray Platts (Cattle and Lambs) Richard Sharratt (Cattle and Pigs) Katrina Donaldson (Cattle and Pigs) Stephen Zealand (Cattle – Southern England) Michael Wilson (Cattle and Lambs – Scotland) Richard Henderson (Cattle and Lambs – Scotland) Richard White (Transport Manager) 07801100092 07581482561 07831555076 07801595327 07788184300 07583192991 07891812706 07581412433 07885110762 07801595329 Enquiries for all sites can also be made to the livestock office at Colne The Abattoir, Junction Street, Whitewalls Industrial Estate, Colne, Lancs. BB8 8LH Tel: 01282 729117 Fax: 01282 866153 Email: [email protected] 5 Member only offers SAVE THROUGH AF Morrisons Farming Programme AF members save with great prices on a wide range of livestock equipment and animal health products but you must be a member to benefit Fasimec Duo S A broad spectrum parasiticide for sheep over three months of age for the treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes, liver fluke, lungworms and nasal bots and the associated diseases. Flectron fly tags Cypermethrin ear tags for season long control of nuisance and biting flies in cattle. Save on inputs and business essentials The Morrisons Farming Programme AF membership allows you to save on a wide range of products through AF, the UK’s largest agricultural purchasing group. Members benefit from significant savings on a range of farm inputs, livestock equipment, animal health products, electricity, vehicles and building materials. AF has excellent terms in place with suppliers nationwide, allowing the group’s specialist buyers to act as an extension of the farm office, reducing the time spent on purchasing and dealing with suppliers and giving you more time to spend on farm. Some examples of potential savings which members can make through the group are shown below. Savings through AF are only available to members, and joining is easy. There are straightforward membership forms to complete, which are taken to a monthly membership executive meeting. AF is funded by an annual membership fee and a levy charge, which enables you to see exactly what you paid for your goods and services. To find out more, contact David Taylor, AF’s dedicated Morrisons Farming Programme AF membership account manager, on 07775 036107 or email [email protected] Typical savings on a wide range of products Electric fencing Save on a wide range of electric fencing equipment to keep your stock safe. Livestock equipment Save up to 20% Farm, estate and vehicle insurance Save up to 15% E SAV 15% H OUG THR F A Feed Save up to 10% Animal health products Save up to 10-20% Lambing products Save up to 10- 20% Ear tags Members can save on a wide range of ear tags, including Dalton and AgriFlex. 6 Electricity Save up to 20% Mobile phones Save up to 30% on calls and handsets Fuel Save up to 5 -10% Member only offers SAVE THROUGH AF Members save on livestock products and equipment through the Morrisons Farming Programme AF membership Tyres Save on all types of agricultural, car and commercial tyres, supplied on a national basis and can be fitted if required. SAVE £££s AF in focus: Supporting your building and maintenance projects AF’s dedicated building team can source all the materials, fixtures and fittings which are required for any project of any size. Thanks to AF’s excellent terms and working relationships with national builder’s merchants, as well as smaller independent suppliers, members regularly benefit from savings of 30-72% on materials. The specialist team helps building projects run more smoothly, saving time by accurately scheduling the delivery of materials and taking responsibility for resolving any issues that may occur with materials quickly and directly with suppliers. Members can also often benefit from improved terms with suppliers, such as increased credit limits and extended payment periods. Members carrying out building and maintenance projects can also make great savings on: LPG Fuel and gas is one of the largest product groups within AF, representing an annual turnover in excess of £55 million. Household appliances – from washing machines and fridges to laptops and televisions Fencing and gates – members typically save 15%-20% on a wide range, including posts and rails, palisade panels, equine electric fences, machine turned stakes and wire netting. Horticultural supplies – significant savings are available on hedging plants and trees, spiral and tree guards, bamboo canes, tree bark, pots and containers. Don’t forget that you must be a member to benefit from products and services through AF. To find out about joining, and the benefits of membership, contact AF’s dedicated Morrisons Farming Programme AF membership account manager David Taylor on 07775 036 107 or email [email protected] Farming Matters is published by Anglia Farmers Limited, Honingham Thorpe, Colton, Norwich, NR9 5BZ. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information published, Anglia Farmers cannot accept any responsibility for errors, omissions or claims made in either editorial or advertising. Electricity AF manages more than 5,000 electricity meters on behalf of members and is therefore able to negotiate extremely competitive prices. AF also provides a fully serviced package, overseeing the process from SAVE installation to renewal. UP 20% TO THRO UGH AF 7
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