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Committed to UK agriculture

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Mole Valley Farmers takes on dedicated organic mill

We’ve strengthened our commitment to the organic ruminant sector by taking on the lease of ABN’s feed mill at Uffculme, Devon.

The mill will operate as a dedicated organic facility, enabling us to better service our organic customers, whilst driving greater efficiencies and cost savings across the supply chain.

Mole Valley Farmers’ CEO, Jack Cordery says: “Bringing Uffculme into our portfolio will enable us to move organic production out of our Huntworth Mill in Somerset, into a dedicated facility. This will drive significant efficiencies through Huntworth, promoting better use of energy and tighter cost control, whilst removing the complexities of running a single mill that produces both conventional and organic rations.

“Our commitment remains to all of our existing feed mills. The additional mill will ensure we are well placed for the years ahead, helping us to deliver our core purpose of supporting our farmer shareholders to improve productivity, profitability and sustainability.”

Bespoke Animal Feeding & Nutrition Specialists

As a British farmer-owned cooperative, everything we do is focused around helping farmers build profitable, sustainable businesses. It’s something we’ve been passionate about for over 60 years.

Our team of ruminant nutritionists can provide tailor-made rations, underpinned by the latest research and development to deliver on your farm specific goals.

As a Farmer Shareholder, when you purchase essential agricultural inputs you benefit from a loyalty bonus.

For products such as compound feeds, blended feeds, minerals and fertiliser you will automatically receive a loyalty bonus, paid in vouchers, each year in November. This has been designed to support and benefit farmers who continue to support their farmer owned cooperative.

Did you know?

Modelling work carried out by Mole Valley Farmers shows that calving at 24 months versus 30 months requires 13 less heifers to be carried on farm per 100 cows. It also reduces the feeding period from three months until calving by 180 days.

Our Mills

We have four ruminant feed mills at Lifton, Huntworth, Dorchester and Coylton, which are strategically located to service the main livestock producing areas of the country. We also have two feed blending facilities at Risdon and Heals and a minerals plant in Bridgwater. This, together with strategic partnerships with compound feed manufacturers, means we can provide a national service.

“Nutrition with integrity” underpins everything we do. All of our mills are Universal Feed Assurance Scheme (UFAS) registered. Our aim is to deliver a reliable, “on time and in full” service that’s focused on the customer experience and is second-to-none.

We’ve invested in state-of-the-art milling equipment to enable us to adopt modern techniques and harness energy savings and we work hard to produce consistently high quality feeds; both in terms
of physical and nutritional quality.

Did you know?

  • Our Dorchester feed mill is the only ruminant feed mill in the UK that’s driven by renewable energy. 95% of its energy needs are met by energy produced by an anaerobic digester powered by domestic and catering food waste.
  • We will spend £3.5m at the Lifton feed mill in 2021-22 to allow us to handle the raw materials of the future, including by-products.
  • We’ve upgraded the Huntworth mill to improve efficiency, product throughput and capacity. It means the mill is now operational seven days a week.
  • Our modern mill in Coylton, Ayrshire is very efficient and capable of manufacturing 700 tonnes of feed a day. It’s ideally located to service the majority of Scotland and northern England.
  • Our mills are closely monitored and our products are continuously cross-checked to ensure what we produce is exactly what we’ve formulated.
  • The Risdon and Heals blending facilities have large capacity mixers which help to improve vehicle turnaround time and production efficiencies.
  • Our dedicated mineral and supplements plant in Bridgwater is very versatile and can produce customer specific formulations. We can service all of the UK.

Let your cows talk to us

The cow is at the heart of everything we do. Some of our team are certified CowSignals® trainers.

We will look at what your cows and youngstock are telling us in their behaviour and act accordingly; whether that’s tweaking the diet or suggesting changes in cubicle or feed fence setup. For example, we look at:

  • Signs of neck rubs and how cows are standing at the feed trough
  • Body condition
  • Rumen fill
  • Dung scores
  • Ration makeup – using sieves to determine the balance of physical fibre in the ration.

Kingshay Dairy Costings

As part of our on farm nutritional advice, we offer a free Kingshay Dairy Costings service to all of our dairy feed customers.

Recording and benchmarking your individual farm’s performance means we can:

  • Benchmark your herd against similar production systems and identify areas for improvement
  • Help boost your margin over purchased feed (MOPF)
  • Identify how you can improve milk constituents and better fulfil milk contract requirements
  • Put a plan in place to raise yields and kilos of solids, depending on farm targets.
  • And much more…

Contact the Feed & Nutritionists Line for more information.

Call 01278 444829 or email feeds@molevalleyfarmers.com

Did you know?

Mole Valley Farmers’ dairy customers have a margin over purchased feed per cow, £36 higher than the average for Kingshay’s costed herds (12 months to Apr 21).

Feed Purchasing Advice

We have a market leading feed purchase risk management system to help you buy feed at the optimum time, for the best price, coupled with excellent customer service, production and logistics teams.

Our 12 traders have over 200 years’ of experience between them and have extensive knowledge of the feed markets. Combined with Mole Valley Farmers’ buying power, this means we can offer the very best advice and price on a wide variety of straights to suit specific farm requirements.

The Alternative Feeds team are on hand to offer their thoughts on the feed markets and when to make buying decisions.

Silage Analysis

With forage making up over 50% of most diets, knowing its nutritional value is essential.

Our nutritionists will routinely analyse your farm’s silage stocks and use the results to balance diets accordingly. Depending on quality results, this could enable substantial savings in bought-in feed costs. Ultimately, it’s about making the most of what you can produce on farm and maximising production from forage. Our team can also identify pinch points on farm and advise on how to improve silage quality.

Soil Testing

Soils are the foundation to success when it comes to producing quality homegrown forage. Our team can analyse your soils for phosphate, potash and pH, and provide advice on how to address any imbalances. They’re supported by our forage team who can advise on an appropriate nutrient management plan using on-farm manures and bought-in fertilisers.

For more about our forage services call Fertiliser and Forage on
01769 576405 or email fertiliser@molevalleyfarmers.com

Webinars and podcasts

We run technical advice webinars and podcasts throughout the year, hosted by experts from around the globe. Topics vary from feed market trends to youngstock health and herd fertility. Visit our webinars and podcasts page for more information.

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FEEDING YOUR FARM’S FUTURE

As a British farmer-owned cooperative, everything Mole Valley Farmers does is focused on helping farmers build profitable, sustainable businesses. It’s something we’ve been passionate about for over 60 years.