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Tuesday, June 18, 2019

12 - 8:00 p.m.

What to expect on the day:

• Exclusive Open Day offers on the full range of new and used KEENAN diet feeders. Attendees will have the opportunity to view KEENAN’s complete range of diet feeders and speak with a member of the sales team on the day about KEENAN's new service contracts. 

In 1991, Andy Fussell of Frome in Somerset, was a 25-year-old third generation farmer taking on 275 acres of arable land and a few redundant cow sheds. 32 years on, Fussell has built a diversified farm business empire.

Andy Fussell has seen Fussell Farms grow and diversify into a multi-faceted enterprise, navigating a myriad of challenges to create an interconnected business model that can be handed down to future generations.

Andy’s story is a pretty unique one. He harnessed his own bravery, creativity and determination to build up an impressive portfolio of agricultural and commercial businesses, facing a magnitude of highs and lows along the way.

Listing out the several plates he’s spinning at any one time, Andy is a clear believer in the concept of diversification and even considers it vital to profitable and sustainable modern-day farming.

Andy gives us a timeline on his diversification expansion that all goes hand-in-hand.

“First and foremost, I am a farmer. I took the farm on in 1991, starting with a relatively poor yard with some old livestock buildings, an old milking parlour and no infrastructure to really speak about.”

“We expanded the farmland through renting, share farming and contract farming agreements to create more land area. We are agricultural contractors as well, so we do a lot of contract baling, combining and grain storage. The farm has got many different parcels of land, so rotation is quite easy. A day in a tractor is a bit of a luxury nowadays, but I still head up the harvest team and do all the harvesting.”  

“I had a store, a yard and a farm. I’ve just used my common sense to build up enterprises that all fit together and utilise these resources,” says Andy.

1994 – Transportation

“My first diversification project was Fussell Farms Bulk Haulage. This ‘morphed’ into Rode Haulage Ltd in 1996, following a meeting with co-director Richard Cousins. We began running dry bulk tipper lorries, which we started out on the original farmyard. We started hauling sand from the south coast and today operate anywhere between 20-25 lorries carrying stone, grain, animal feed, plus all the raw materials that comes into our blending plants situated here in my main yard. We then make the animal feeds and transport it back out to the end-user or farmer,” says Andy.

1996 – Building Supplies

“Once the transport was established and functioning well, I got into building supplies with my co-director, Richard Cousins. This business expanded massively when I built my new facility where we are now. To facilitate this happening, I persuaded Peter Caddywould, whom I got to know through coaching his children cricket, to come over from the builders merchant giant Travis +6 Perkins! We now have three building merchant branches in the Frome area, hence the name Frome Area Building Supplies (FABS). We’ve leveraged this enterprise for our development,” adds Andy.

2006 – Food Production

Fussell Fine Foods Ltd. produces an array of culinary goods for farmers’ markets, delicatessens, health food shops, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels. The enterprise started with crushing and processing oilseed rape seed, grown on our farm and vital to our crop rotation, to produce cold pressed extra virgin rape seed oil. This opportunity came about as a direct result in rapeseed crop prices. We do demonstrations and tours for groups, showing them the fields it’s grown in and talking through how we grow and crush it. People don’t always understand farming, but I feel there is actually a great love of it,” proclaims Andy.

2015 – Animal Feed Milling and Blending

“Leading up to this point, we outgrew the old yard and began to build a new one. The planning took 7 years - let’s just say I can definitely identify with Clarkson's Farm on this matter! However in short, we now have a lovely 9-acre site where all the businesses are located.”

“Alongside our rolling and grinding of cereals, we now produce dry blends and soda wheat for AB Agri which is something we had been striving to achieve for some time. With the capacity to store 15-17,000 tonnes of cereals, we now produce animal feed for local livestock producers and farmers all the way to Aylesford, Buckingham, Oxford, Hampshire, Wales and Gloucester. We grow the wheat on our fields and transport the end product with our own lorries,” says Andy.

2021 – Fishing & Woodland

"As if I wasn’t busy enough, I decided to create Rode Hill Fishery on some predominantly heavy clay land that was either a dust bowl when dry, or if we had a wet time, it got too wet to plant in. Every time we had lots of rain, despite draining the land, water just wouldn’t go away so I had the idea to make a pond out of it. The lake has been fished for carp for around 7 years, and we are in the process of building another lake along with 3-4 fishing lodges. We also have some willow trees planted for cricket bats and are looking at solar panels. Everything complements each other,” says Andy.  

KEENAN’s part in production

As of September 2023, Fussell Farms took delivery of a static KEENAN ProMix+ which has now already processed 16,000 tonnes of dry feeds for AB Agri.

“KW Feeds commissioned the KEENAN under my guidance. We’ve been blending for 25 years, so I have a fair understanding of the practicalities. KEENAN has a great name for building mixer wagons for the agricultural industry, but also has great experience building static machinery for the commercial sector. Also vital, is the way the KEENAN works – the horizontal paddle mixing mechanism is a must for effectively mixing dry ingredients. We trialled a couple of mixers but saw the KEENAN at another mill and knew it was the only option.”

“The reliability of the machine is also a huge factor. The back-up is unbelievably good. Michael and Nigel from KEENAN have been involved personally, in fact, they’ve been pretty insistent they know what is going on! The attention to detail is marvellous. We’ve had no issues so far and have no complaints.”

“The technical stuff that you get with the KEENAN allows us to operate it from the cab of the loading shovel on an iPad. The blend formulation can be downloaded directly from the box onto the mixer and then downloaded onto the iPad in the cab of the loading shovel, to ensure right percentages,” says Andy.

Andy wraps up with some key ‘take homes and insights’ into his business mind.

“Because of everything I’ve done, I get called an entrepreneur, but actually I think of it as just common sense and having a great trustworthy team around me. I have approx. 43 full-time members of staff plus 5 seasonal staff, some of which I take on as apprentices. I have a fantastic management team who manage the day to day operations so I can focus on expansion.”

“I really have no idea what keeps me going, I just can’t stop! Currently, I am playing with an idea for a farming board game! I just can’t sit still and I definitely try not to miss an opportunity. I see something and immediately I think, I could do that! It’s there to be done! Fundamentally though, I have a deep-down passion for agriculture. I love the smell of soil being worked and the hot back axle oil of a tractor, there’s just something about it. It comes from childhood. I was on the farm when I was 8 and shooting pigeons when I was 6, but I could see that I was never going to be content to remain with the same business model of me, my tractor and I," concludes Andy.

Feeding experts at KEENAN are investigating the current health status of UK dairy farms to determine whether there is any real opportunity to improve production, profitability, welfare and total carbon footprint — all paramount to the future of farming livelihoods.

Market fluctuation is something the dairy sector has had to contend with for decades. To cope with this reality, we “make hay when the sun shines”. When margins are good, we try to push on. But when margins are poor to absent, we try to rein back production. And this circle of production continues.

But in any market situation and on every farm, good herd health is crucial to productivity, efficiency, profitability, animal welfare, and total carbon footprint. No longer is suboptimal care acceptable or even feasible. Each individual animal and the entire herd must be looked after impeccably for farms to have a place in the future. 

We’re not talking healthy; we’re talking extremely healthy. And we’re not just talking about the clinical cases; we’re also talking about the underlying or less obvious cases.

KEENAN is on a mission to help cows and farmers thrive and to put a stop to the exiting of farmers from the industry. To do this, we want to help make the highest of health standards accomplishable. We believe that cow health has always been, and should always be, the centre stage of all successful farming operations.

We will focus on:

• The current health status (and costs) on UK dairy farms

• Understanding how nutrition impacts on cow health

• Our three nutritional focus areas for better cow health

• Why choose KEENAN for cow health and performance?· 

The current health status (and costs) on UK dairy farms

According to NMR’s 2023 study, many aspects of UK dairy herd health have progressed significantly over the past couple of decades. But does that mean that the sector now has cow health (and fertility) ‘nailed’? Or is there still opportunity for improvement? That’s the question KEENAN has sought to answer by combining average performance data with recent average costs to help identify the top opportunities.

Key take-homes

• Retained foetal membranes are the costliest health challenge to treat.

• Lameness and mastitis are the most prevalent clinical health challenges.

• Whilst the incidence rate and direct costs associated with milk fever are relatively low, the condition is associated with a higher risk of difficult calving, retained placenta, mastitis, and displaced abomasum.

Important to consider

While you might benchmark yourself against this data and think you’re doing well, it is essential to contemplate what impacts are available from even just incremental improvements. If you were to reduce the number of cases of retained foetal membranes by just two, for instance, that could amount to thousands of pounds a year.

Understanding how nutrition impacts on cow health

Metabolism is the collection of chemical reactions in the body responsible for the conversion of food into energy for maintenance, growth, and reproduction. Metabolism is also fundamentally required by the immune system, a function known as immunometabolism. Whether invasive pathogenic bacteria go on to cause conditions such as metritis, for example, is most likely determined by how efficiently the immune system (largely stemming from within the gut) responds to them.

Immunometabolism is most significant during the transition period from late pregnancy to early postpartum, with vast changes in metabolism and immune function occurring at the onset of lactation. Metabolic disorders such as ketosis, milk fever, grass tetany and downer cow syndrome, all commonly encountered during this period, tend to be precursors for many other diseases and conditions. For example, if a cow gets milk fever, she is considerably more predisposed to conditions like mastitis and infertility.

Lameness is also influenced by nutrition and metabolism. Studies have shown that high-concentrate diets, acidosis, and exposure to mycotoxins can increase the prevalence of ulcers, digital dermatitis, and white line disease.

Optimising gut health and reducing the risk of metabolic diseases comes down to three key nutrition and housing factors.

Our three nutritional focus areas for better cow health

One of the major contributors to metabolic issues is inflammation over the transition period. First-calving heifers that are perhaps more shy, over-conditioned cows eating less pre-calving, and cows that have had difficult calvings have the highest inflammation and stress around calving and the greatest incidence of disease afterward. This makes the transition period the most vital to get right.

1. RUMEN HEALTH

Rumen health is the basis of gut health and immunity. It is largely dependent on the physical presentation of the feed, i.e., ease of sorting and fibre damage. This impacts on dry matter intakes and rumen fill scores, which are linked to acidosis/SARA in the milking herd and negative energy balance in transition cows.

Here are some feed processing targets to work to:

1. First and foremost, start with a good-quality forage which is full of valuable nutrition and appealing to eat. This is the foundation to an effective ration.

2. Balance this forage with other feed ingredients to ensure that the cow has access to adequate levels of energy, protein, starch, and other vital macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients.

3. Present this carefully balanced diet in an evenly mixed ration that cannot be sorted, ensuring forage fibres are chopped to a precise length for stimulating saliva production, increasing rumination, and optimising rumen pH.

2. COW COMFORT

Rumination is vital for breaking down roughage before it reaches the small intestine, and cows will typically ruminate for seven to eight hours of the day. Rumination will drop on average 12 to 24 hours before there are visual signs of a health issue, so it’s a vital indicator of health issues.  

Ensuring cow comfort and ease of access to feed at all times is vital for adequate rumination to take place.Here are some milking-cow comfort targets to work to:

• Lying time: 14 hours per day*

• Feed access: 65 cm per cow, with frequent push-ups

• Water access: 10 cm per cow of clean, fresh water

• Lighting: >160 lux for 16–18 hours/day*

• Ventilation: 30 breaths per minute 

*Note that dry cows require different targets, such as lower light levels and more lying time.

3. MACRO- AND MICRO-NUTRITION

Vitamins, minerals, trace elements and feed additives play a vital role in many functions. Any deficiency will compromise enzyme activity and cellular function, so having access to the right supplementation in the right amounts is crucial.

Top tip: Consider the bioavailability of the mineral; chelated options have proved to be more available to the animal.

Top tips:

• Dead (or “stabilised”) yeast does not have the ability to use up oxygen in the same way live yeast does.

• Be aware that there are more than 300 types of toxins, and some solutions don’t bind to every type, with penicillium being a common culprit for “evading” binders.

Why choose KEENAN for cow health and performance?

When investing in a diet feeder, all farmers are seeking the same thing: a durable machine that will quickly produce a great, consistent feed mix day after day.

The KEENAN system delivers on this and more. With over 40 years of nutrition-based engineering and huge investments into feeding technology, KEENAN is the nation’s number-one diet feeding system. Best known for its flagship MechFiber machine and the patented ‘mechanical fibre’ TMR produced from it, the KEENAN system was built on the need to optimise cow health and productivity.

The KEENAN system is uniquely and independently certified by the Carbon Trust to increase feed conversion efficiency, improve herd performance and reduce methane production per litre of milk. By delivering a feed that is more easily digestible, the KEENAN system improves rumen efficiency, meaning less energy is wasted into the environment.

*University of Illinois, 2008; University of Reading, 2008; Colman et al., 2011; Professional Animal Scientist, 27, 505-17

** Subtle changes in rumen conditions had major effects on feed efficiency

KEENAN MechFiber+ offers even better performance

KEENAN customers with healthy herds

To challenge your health status, start by putting your feed to the test!

If you are in pursuit of better cow health and want to make more of your feed and nutrition, put your system to the test with an Alltech^® Navigate^™ feed appraisal.

The Alltech Navigate programme utilises a series of analytical tools, including CowSignals^® and dung sieving, to gather data, then combines the data with algorithms developed to establish opportunities to decrease waste and optimise cow health. It then generates a report with prioritised action points for enhancing health, fertility and feed efficiency. You can then work through the action plan and see the benefits unfold!

For more information email keenaninfo@alltech.com

Dr. Jose Soto of Alltech and Dr. Andrew Bents of Hubbard Feeds join us from World Pork Expo to talk about Levelset, a new gut health product being rolled out to the pork industry.

Click here for full interview. 

Joining us from World Pork Expo in Des Moines are Andy Rash, general manager, and Mark Hulsebus, sales and portfolio director of Alltech’s Pork Business team. We find out what's new within the Alltech Pork business and get the scoop on the business seminar that Alltech is hosting here on Thursday at 10 am. Titled, “Challenging health and productivity: How does the U.S. lead the world in sustainable, profitable pork production?” the seminar will include leaders in the agriculture industry as they discuss the U.S.

Mycotoxins are common contaminants in swine feeds worldwide. The consumption of mycotoxins by pigs can result in a number of effects. Higher concentrations of mycotoxins are expected to negatively impact the health and/or performance of pigs, and a growing body of literature is showing that lower or chronic levels of mycotoxins can also have a negative effect.

Click for full article. 

Alltech’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond mere emissions reduction. It’s part of Alltech’s vision of a Planet of Plenty, in which natural resources are preserved and agricultural practices nourish both people and the planet, addressing such crucial issues as climate change mitigation and food security for a growing global population.

Click for full article. 

Agricultural traders and suppliers RD Chesters Ltd. are on a mission to facilitate increased demand for locally sourced animal feeds and KEENAN are playing an important role. 

RD Chesters has been supplying beef, sheep and dairy farms in Herefordshire and surrounding counties with feeds, seeds, fertilisers and harvest products for over two decades. Managing Director, Owen Thomas, talks through his business plan for expansion.

“I bought RD Chesters back in 2002 from David Chesters. Dave had a successful career locally and was a well-known name. We’ve expanded RD Chesters down the line of buying and selling on the merchant side of the business. In 2011, we decided to make use of the old farm buildings and put in a new farmyard for rearing calves from 2-6 weeks right the way through to finished bulls”.

“We’ve always made blends for ourselves on the back of growing our own cereals. As time went on, predominantly local farmers started asking us to do blends for them. We saw this as an opportunity to grow the business to sell blends from arctic-size delivered loads right the way through to totes. As our cattle numbers have increased to 1,300 and the potential for selling blends to customers has grown also, we saw the need for a more substantial mixer”, says Owen.

Owen explains the rearing and finishing system, which is also used as a way to refine the feed blend process.

“Chris Thorpe, an independent nutritionist, oversees the nutrition for our cattle and the blends we supply too. We start them off on our own Chesters Golden Maverick milk powder, which is 23% protein and 20% oil, along with a calf starter pellet. After about 2 weeks, we start graduating them onto our 16% grower blend. They stay on our 16% grower blend adlib until they reach 350 kilos.  Then we transfer them onto the finisher ration over a couple of weeks which they stay on until they are slaughtered at 12.5 to 14 months. They are all fed with adlib straw and rock salt,” explains Owen.

“Based on what we look for with our own farming system, we want to offer a really practical performance-based ration with excellent local service”, says Owen. “For example, we will be able to do tote bags that can hold 1.2 tonnes of feed. 2.4 tonne is about the maximum of what you can tow on a truck and trailer, making it practical for people to collect. We want to offer little practicalities like that all the time.”

“Our customers also like the fact that we source our cereals and ingredients locally, and because we are mixing regularly, our mix is always fresh. This is all proven by our cattle which are here to see to give them a bit of confidence in what they’re buying,” says Owen.

Investment shows immediate pay-off

RD Chesters has made a bold investment to facilitate their continuing growth.

“To make us more efficient and to give us the opportunity to produce blends for the local market, we’ve recently invested in a new blending plant and the KEENAN ProMix machine.”

“Before this, we had a trailed High Spec wagon on a tractor. We liked the machine – it was simple and mixed well. On that basis, and given that I could see we were going to get a good service, we made the switch to KEENAN. The brand is well known, so I didn’t really need to be sold on the product,” explains Owen. “We have only just got it going, but so far so good. The whole side opens up and dumps the ration into a pit in less than half a minute which allows us to continually mix.”

“We need to get a few things refined, and we need to learn more than anything. Will Brocklehurst from InTouch is going to come out to us for another day to fine-tune our knowledge on the KEENAN. Our local service agent, Keith Evans, is really practical. He’s already suggested a couple of improvements to the set-up”.

KEENAN ProMix machine specification

Owen Thomas, Managing Director, RD Chesters Ltd.

If you have a project in mind or would like more info please email: keenaninfo@alltech.com