Whether you are a large scale farmer, a small-holder with a few sheep or a young farmer looking for a way into the industry, Daventry Farmers' meetings offer you an interesting and informative night out. Bringing agriculture's most influential and interesting figures onto a local stage and giving farmers, and others in the sector, the chance to ask questions. The club was set up in 1946 with the intention of advancing understanding of the latest developments in agriculture and still holds this aim today.
Meetings are held once a month from October through to March at The Saracens Head , Little Brington at 8pm. Before each meeting you may like to join us for an excellent 3 course meal starting at 7pm which offers members the chance to catch up and share the latest news before sitting down to a presentation from the speaker. See the "contact us" page for further details and if you wish to join us for the meal please use the form to email our secretary, Nigel, to confirm your place.
Annual membership is £20 and new members are welcome to attend their first meeting before joining.
Every year the club holds two additional events. In June a day trip is organised for members to a venue of industry importance and in October the club holds its annual dinner and dance with the profits going to charity.
Wednesday 16th November
The November meeting features David Purdey from John Deere who will be talking to us about the history of the company, the products currently on the market and the challanges facing the organisation as they move forward.
The meeting starts as usual at 8pm, a 3 course dinner (£18) will be served at 7pm. To reserve a seat at the dinner please contact Nigel.
David Watson - Co-op Farms
David will guide us through the history of this integrated farming business with 50,000 acres of fruit, vegetable, grain and livestock enterprises. We will also look at the opportunities and challenges the business faces in 2012 onward.
Lord Tim Boswell, former MP and farmer.
Tim Boswell gives us a candid talk on a lifetime of experiences in farming, high profile politics, influences and his current life in the House of Lords.
David Purdey - John Deere
David will give an overview of this massive worldwide business and the latest technological innovations and future direction. Exciting times are ahead for this 175 year old business so come along to learn where they see the future for farm machinery.
Dr Liz Geniver - Improving Grassland Management
Liz Genever a highly regarded speaker and practical technician who will talk to us about improving this years grassland management to reduce winter feed costs.
John Jones - SmartWater
John will discuss farm security and the recent advances made in securing property. We will also have local Wildlife Officer PC
Claire Salmon from the Farm Watch Scheme at the meeting who will update us on the progress being made by police tackling rural crime.
John Haynes - Master Baker
John Haynes is an entertaining ‘Master Baker’
who will talk about the Milling/Malting industry for bread, biscuit and breakfast cereal with
practical demonstrations. Working with breeders John has a lifetime of knowledge and is a true
enthusiast.
Michael Horsch - Horcsh Drills
Michael Horsch will be talking about the development of his drills and the need for new innovations in a challenging agricultural environment. We are honoured to have the man behind the name as our first speaker of 2011.
Chris Moody - Principal of Moulton College
Chris will be talking about agricultural education including opportunities for school leavers, the different skill levels associated with different qualifications and the challenges of running a modern ag college!
Justin Canning - British Eco
Justin Canning has kindly agreed to step in at very short notice due to the ill health of Oliver Walston. He will be talking about the opportunities presented by the Feed In Tariff and which renewable technologies provide the best returns for farmers.
Ian Williamson - WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme)
Ian will be advising us on how farmers can benifit from recycling as well as discussing the potential issues facing the industry in the future.
Charlie Baker - Farm Contractor of the Year 2009
Charlie will be talking about the role modern contracting businesses can play in bringing economies of scale and specialist equipment to farmers.
The Wiggly Worm Foundation
The Wiggly Worm is a charity that exists to improve health, well-being and self-esteem amongst the vulnerable, disadvantaged or seldom heard. It uses food from Farm to Fork to engage with it's target audience and will be demonstrating simple ways to promote our industry to others.
In addition to the meeting schedule the club also organises a day trip in June each year. We aim to visit a venue which will provide club members with an insight into new industry ideas and alternative sources of income, hopefully allowing some of these to be applied back home.
The 2011 trip will be held on Wednesday June 1st, departing from The Saracens Head Little Brington at 9am. This year we will be visiting the Biogen Greenfinch bio-digester plant at Rushden in the morning and Boughton House in the afternoon. Lunch will be available at the Boughton House restaurant and you are welcome to join us for a meal at The Saracens upon our return.
The Biogen plant offers the chance to visit and understand the processes involved with bio-digestion and the uses that the finished product can be put to within our industry. Biogen Greenfinch take food from local authorities and private businesses which in the past would have been destined for landfill. The plant converts most of the organic material in food waste into renewable energy – electricity and heat. The remaining material is a liquid biofertiliser containing nitrogen, phosphate and potash and other trace elements which can be spread to farmland, significantly reducing the need for purchased fertiliser. Anaerobic digestion plants can also process energy crops, farm slurries, crop waste and other organic materials. The company we are visiting are looking to expand their operations into other areas and some of our members may be interested in the development potential such a plant could bring to their farm.
Boughton House , known as "The English Versailles", is a stunning Northamptonshire stately home and should prove to be a very interesting afternoon visit. We will be having a guided tour of both the house and gardens and will see the extensive landscaping work which aims to recreate both the C17th design features along with the modern additions to the grounds such as Orpheus , a unique piece of landscape architecture which was completed in 2009. To book a place on the 2011 discussion club trip please contact Nigel using the contact form on the contact us page.
We are always looking for interesting venues for our next outing, if you have any suggestions please let us know using the form on the contact us page. The venue must be related to agriculture, within bus travel distance of Northamptonshire and preferably provide members with new ideas, diversification opportunities or demonstrate new equipment entering the industry. All suggestions will be put forward to the club committee who will then endeavour to make arrangements for the summer outing.
This year the Daventry Farmers Discussion Club annual dinner and dance has moved to a new venue and also offers a new band for the evening entertainment which we hope will provide members and guests alike with an evening to remember!
Venue: Barcelo Hotel , Sedgemoor Way, Daventry. NN11 0SG
Band: Pure Genius
Ticket price: £35 - There will be no tickets available on the night so please ensure you get yours booked soon!
Doors open at 7:30 with the evening entertainment running through to 1am. A three course meal will be served at 8pm and the club will be holding the annual fund raising raffle after the meal. As usual tables are being organised by committee members so please book your ticket through one of them, or alternatively contact Nigel via the contact us page.
If you wish to list your business or service within our members section you need to have paid your annual subscription. You do not need to be a member to make use of any of the contact details listed within these pages.
President: Jim Jelley
Chairman: John Stanley
Vice Chairman: ~
Hon Secretary: Nigel Berriman
Hon Treasurer: Jim Jelley
Ian Brodie, Tom Jefferies, Gordon Emery, Brian Hart, Richard Jackson, Mark Jelley, David Lloyd, Robert Spencer, Jenny Spencer, Gordon Treharne.
Committee meetings are held the Wednesday before club meetings at Long Buckby Rugby Club, if you wish to have any matters raised at the meeting please contact Nigel Berriman using the contact form on the website.The next club AGM will take place on March 16th 2011.
Contact the club
Please use the form below to contact the club. Your message will be sent to the club secretary Nigel Berriman
Meetings are held once a month at The Saracens Head, Little Brington. An optional 3 course meal is available starting at 7pm with the meeting starting at 8pm in the meeting room.
Since Chris Moody has been Principal, Moulton College has increased more than ten times in size and capacity and spread county-wide. It now has over 2800 full-time students, more than 5500 part-time students and employs over 750 staff. Since independence in 1992 over £45 million has been invested in buildings and teaching resources, ensuring the best possible learning environment for students.
The main campus extends to 500 hectares and comprises college buildings, gardens and associated facilities, together with commercial enterprises including the farm, equestrian unit, garden centre and nursery, sports complex, small animal and equestrian therapy units and veterinary practices. In addition the College rents a further 170 hectares of farmland to allow its enterprises to operate on a fully commercial scale. The college farm includes 350 high-yielding dairy cows plus followers, 1000 breeding ewes, a demonstration beef unit and a range of arable crops. All enterprises operate to commercial standards and provide a wide range of teaching and learning opportunities.
Chris will be talking to us about the challenges of running such a fast growing college, give us an overview of the skills gained by his students as they achieve different qualifications and talk about the prospects for young entrants into the industry. The meeting will be an ideal opportunity to pose any questions you may have about agricultural education and also find out about qualifications in related rural industries.
telephone: 01604 491131
website: www.moulton.ac.uk
email: enquiries_moulton.ac.uk
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Due to a sudden illness our speaker for November, Oliver Walston, we have had to arrange a new speaker at short notice. We are therefore very grateful to Justin Canning of British Eco for stepping in and in doing so providing a very topical discussion. Justin will be talking about the range of opportunities available to farmers to save energy and also generate significant additional income from renewable technologies.
British Eco are a nationwide company offering a comprehensive range of services ranging from small scale domestic water recycling systems up to the supply and installation of wind turbines and solar panel systems.
The launch of the Government backed Feed In Tariff has created a renewables sector that farmers are ideally placed to benifit from. Justin will be taking us through the options available, giving us some illustrations of the costs involved, returns that could be expected and also the pitfalls that need to be avoided if a project is to be a success.
The prospect of an index linked, non-agricultural income, guaranteed for 25 years with the potential of an interest free loan to help with the installation is obviously very interesting, come along and see what option may suit you!
We wish Oliver a speedy recovery and will endevour to arrange another meeting next year.
website: www.britisheco.com
Charlie Baker is the head of family run contracting business R C Baker Ltd based near Banbury. The business has grown rapidly over the last 30 years and last year won the Farmers Weekly Contractor of the Year 2009. The business has built up a 200 strong customer base, cuts more than 2000ha of silage a year and also runs 1200ha of arable land on stubble to stubble agreements. Recently it has also started to diversify into enviromental services, carrying out operations such as watercourse management using a high capacity rotary ditcher. The company has recently won the contract to spread waste digestate from a new anerobic digestion plant near Oxford and also offers a full waste handling and recycling service to their customers.
Charlie and his two sons Christopher and Steven believe that offering large scale specialist equipment alongside highly skilled operators provides their customers with a level of service which extends beyond that normally associated with contract operations. Often the contract costs compare favourably with those associated with "doing it yourself" whilst the larger equipment available results in the job being completed in a more timely manner. This of course also results in the farmer having more time available for other jobs and the family as well as freeing up capital which would otherwise be needed to finance smaller scale equipment.
Charlie will be talking to us about the day to day running of his busy business, the importance of retaining high quality staff and his visions for the future, including the increasing importance he sees contract operations playing on many family farms as the agricultural workforce continues to contract.
telephone: 01869 338307
website: www.rcbagricontractors.co.uk
email: mail_rcbagricontractors.co.uk
Michael Horsch is the owner and a director of HORSCH Maschinen GmbH, a German company manufacturing tillage and sowing equipment for the UK and European markets. The company was formed by Michael in 1981 after he started modifying agricultural equipment in the garage at his parents farm. Since then it has grown into a multi-national company which achieved a turnover of more than 200 million euros in 2008. The expertise gained over 30 years of innovation and development has resulted in some of the most efficient seeding systems ever built. This was demonstrated in 2003 when an 18m airseeder built by Horsch set a world record in "combiseeding." In 24 hours the airseeder cultivated 571ha whilst at the same time drilled 130kg/ha of barley and 370kg/ha of NPK fertiliser!
For the last few years Horsch products have been marketed in the UK by Simba, however since the sale of Simba to Great Plains this marketing arrangement has ended. As a result 2011 sees the launch of Horsch UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Horsch GmbH, which will bring a full product range to the UK for the first time.
We are honoured to be able to offer one of the founders of such a high profile company as a speaker and expect the meeting to be a very interesting evening. Michael is in an unusual position of not only running the company but also having an in depth technical knowledge of all of the machines and the conditions they are expected to work in. If you have any questions regarding tillage or establishment this is the man to ask!
telephone: 01529 304654 (simba UK)
website: www.horsch.com
email: info_horsch.com
Ian works for the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) which was founded in 2000 with the aims of highlighting and improving the resource efficiency of industries across the UK. In the first 8 years of operation to 2008 achievements included an increase of 5.8 million tonnes of processing capacity for recycling industries, £182 million of new investment in the recycling sector from commercial sources and £1.3 billion annual turnover in the UK recycling sector, double the value when WRAP started work.
These are all very big numbers and you would be forgiven for wondering how they relate to a small group of Daventry farmers, however agriculture is in a unique position to benefit in a number of ways.The improved spray container design and better chemical composition to reduce contaminated packaging is a small example of the types of success that WRAP is aiming for but probably the biggest opportunity for farmers lies in compost. One of the major contributors to landfill in the past has been food and garden waste and efforts to divert this present an interesting opportunity. The use of compost on arable land has been shown to boost cereal yields by up to 7% whilst lowering overall nutrient costs, soil structure improvements have been recorded for 5 years following application and importantly cost savings have been demonstrated for all types of cropping. As input costs continue to rise use of compost may offer an interesting alternative way to manage our soils.
Ian will be talking us through WRAP's aims and how we can all benefit from the push to be greener, along with the possible uses of recycled materials within agriculture in the future.
telephone: 0808 100 2040
website: www.wrap.org.uk
email: info_wrap.org.uk
Rob Rees MBE is perhaps best known as The Cotswold Chef™ who has established himself as a highly skilled chef with over 25 years experience of food and cooking around the globe. His former restaurant, The Country Elephant, won AA, Good Food Guide and Michelin status. He has a passion for indulging everyone in the revolution of British Food and Farming.
Complementing his work as The Cotswold Chef™, Rob Rees founded The Wiggly Worm charity to improve health, well-being and self-esteem amongst the vulnerable, disadvantaged or seldom heard. Through the medium of food from Farm to Fork; on farm livestock, to slaughterhouse, processing and preparation to consumption. In a practical hands on approach delivering physical and mental health benefits. Creating life chances for those in society, who are vulnerable, disadvantaged or seldom heard. The charity was the recipient of the funds raised from the Daventry Farmers Discussion Club 2009 Annual Dinner Dance.
Food is a great leveller and the charitys work delivers practical results to individuals, communities and organisations. Their courses and events motivate people to make choices about who they are, what they can be and who they can trust. Instilling in people a reminder of their true worth in society.
Rob Rees will be talking about The Wiggly Worms work and giving us practical tips and ideas on how we can use our own farming enterprises to educate others.
telephone: 01453 840885
website: www.thewigglyworm.org.uk
email: robrees_thewigglyworm.org.uk
The next meeting is on the 16th of November 2012 at The Saracens Head, Little Brington
