AN OVERVIEW OF FARMERS WEEK
(Part 1)
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
Rural Business Association meeting at 1330 in the Chamber of Commerce Conference Room was the first order of business for Farmers’ Week, an annual event held in
Business out of the way, an Annual General Meeting was held between 1400 and 1500 on Monday. A Question and Answer Session followed the AGM that dealt with medical issues, such as the new “user pays” system initiated as a budget measure following the failure of the Illex season. Director of Health and Medical Services, Mr. Norman McGregor-Edwards attended to explain the changes to medical services charges.
The important issue of safely handling electrical systems in Camp was presented by Terrance McPhee of Kingsford Valley Farm and, the last presentation was from Roger Spink of the FIC, resolved a number of issues relating to the wool warehouse, insurance and shipping.
Mr. Ian Wilkinson started things off on Tuesday morning with a brief overview of Island Shipping and a progress report on how the business was doing. This session took place in the Chamber of Commerce Conference Room. At this meeting, there was a thorough question and answer session where Mr. Wilkinson explained some of the difficulties facing his company and how they had been solved or were being rectified.
Following the Island Shipping session, there was a private meeting with Councillors and an address from the Governor, Howard Pearce. In his speech he mirrored the comments about relations with
The Head of Agriculture and Mineral Resources, Mrs. Phyl Rendell, chaired the next session of Farmers’ Week meetings at the
First on the agenda was the National Beef herd, brainchild of former Agriculture Director, Dr. Bob Reid. It’s to be located at Port Howard Farm for the next 10 years, according to Department Director, Mrs Phyl Rendell. She made the announcement at Wednesday’s Rural Business Association Meeting. Along with that announcement, she stated that the Reindeer herd would be split between West Lagoons and Albermale Farms. A benefit of keeping the stud flocks is that any fawns produced become the property of the farms.
Castrated Reindeer had all now found new homes, including three who are destined for the shelves at Freshcos. To conclude, Mrs. Rendell thanked farmers who had tendered for the castrated Reindeer herd.
Farmers in attendance were told that the Department about operating budget this year of £1,150,910.00 this is considered a minor miracle, considering the affects of the poor Illex season. Thanks were heaped on Councillors, who represented Agriculture and put up a fight for good solid funding for this year. “It will be a battle in future years if the Illex doesn’t come back,” Mrs. Rendell said. She went on to say that the department’s funding for the year included using Foreign Office grant to bring in a consultant from Australia or New Zealand to carry out a full review of customs procedures and to make sure the Falklands kept its disease-free status.
On Tuesday afternoon, Falkland Islands Meat Company Board Member, Tony Blake, told farmers that Company’s main priority was stemming financial losses incurred during the non-export season. The Company struggles to compensate for the £178,000.00 loss generated in this year’s off-season. Dealing with it and turning the steady drain into profit would need to be addressed. This is an improvement in respect of last season, when £213,000.00 was lost during the non-export season.
Farmers were encouraged to bring more sheep to the Abattoir; Mr. Blake said that that killing more sheep would help to make the Company break even financially. “Then it will be in a totally different ball game as the pricing structures will change and price per head of sheep will change,” Mr. Blake said.
The Abattoir’s budget and bottom line was explained by John Ferguson, explained them to farmers. Those figures for the past year showed that the loss per head during the season, had narrowed to around £4.00 per sheep, compared to £14.00 last year.
Farmers participating in the programme receive an average of £3900.00 each. Break-even point is the supply of 400 sheep a day for processing. To date this season, 286 sheep a day went through the Abattoir, 416 on the best day. One factor encountered in trying to increase the number of sheep processed, was the limited waste disposal capacity. “The incinerator is already reaching its peak and we are now looking at other options, such as sea disposal,” Mr. Ferguson added.
Mr. Ferguson then pinpointed one of the biggest problems in product quality – that of boils, which affected 2075 animals – that’s 13%. Out of those affected, 60 sheep were completely rejected. He went on to discuss another seasonal problem and that, the failure of the blast freezer. “The suppliers admitted that they got it wrong and that they were still working on the problem, “he said.
Eileen Davis, head of the Training Department, chatted with farmers about training opportunities available for farmers and those interested in becoming farmers. Amara Doyle completed the daily proceedings by explaining about Phoenix training and how it would improve the business of farming.
On Wednesday afternoon, Neil Judd, the DOA's Senior Agricultural Advisor, went through key factors of making better feed for sheep and discussed issues that have come up just over half way through the programme. One issue was the cost of calcified seaweed, in that farmers thought the cost of locally produced fertiliser was far more expensive than it should be. Mr. Judd concluded by saying that there was a grant scheme available for pasture improvement but that farmers must present their improvement plans to him by the end of September to be eligible for funding.
Steve Pointing and Sue Harvey provided a seasonal review on animal health issues at the Abattoir plus Vet services activity.
Damian O’Sullivan the Wool and Reproduction Officer, followed on at 0930 on making use of weather statistics and past and future use.
Neil Judd took over with a Sheep Industry over-view and why sheep meat is of critical importance to Farmers in the Islands.
Reports on Thursday’s activities and other items, such as the social events, will be included in Part 2.
