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Jilly Greed's Blog

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Jilly and her husband Edwin are quality beef producers, farming over 500 acres in the Exe Valley, seven miles north of Exeter.  Based in the flood plains of the Exe and Culm, lush green river meadow covers large areas of the farm.  These meadows have defined their system of suckled beef production using the native South Devon and continental Blonde to produce high quality beef in the most natural way, happy and contented.  They are also introducing Angus breeding into the South Devon x Blonde Commercial herd. 

They have around 250 head of cattle and run a closed herd system, breeding their own replacement stock and running stock bulls with good growth rates, extra length through the rib and width on the loin.  Although Jilly and Edwin farm in a conventional way, they try to do this with balance and harmony for the wildlife and landscape in a Countryside Stewardship agreement on parts of the farm to increase the populations of cirl bunting, grey legged partridge and sky lark.  Jilly is a co founder of Ladies in Beef, for more information visit www.ladiesinbeef.org.uk.

An archive of Jilly's articles is available.

Read on for her latest news...

Welcome to Mole Valley Farmers Brand New Blog!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

July 2011

Toys for the Boys!

 

Jilly Greed Blog | Silage Wrapped Bales










There's nothing like a new bit of kit - and with the focus on forage and increasing the productivity of our river meadows and arable fields, we invested in a Kuhn baler and harvested our first cut hay last week - sunny side up and stress free.

It's like a toy for the boys - but I can't help catching the wave of enthusiasm, seeing it in action, despite the first bale minus the Mole Valley Farmers wrap!    With surplus grass looking in short supply,  we'll be rape, bean, barley, oat and wheat straw baling.  With somewhere approaching 2500 bales, I can see instigator son George who did all the sums, a bit baled out  - but that's his job to justify the investment!

We've just come back from an extended three week break in Ireland where I can safely say it rained every day.    But we loved it.  This trip was an eye opener, seeing a country near busted but with a dairy sector gearing up for global market opportunities post end of quota in 2015.

Whether the farming industry can truly deliver is another question.  Ambitious Government targets for Ireland's beef sector (a 40% increase by 2020) appear out of kilter with farmers on the ground.  The former 'Celtic Tiger' has seen a huge slaughter of suckler cows in the last 12 months - and while the environmental story of grass fed beef resonates with consumers, stocking rates, quality of conformation and finish are an issue.

I came away with a real sense of competitive advantage for South West beef producers  - and if we could only capture the very same spirit of consumer and supermarket support for home produced beef and dairy products, and at the same time increase our export trade,  we would be on an incredible roll.

As it happens Irish beef is short, more expensive than UK produced and we're starting to see real wins.  Perhaps  the beginning of a British bonanza in the suckler beef sector!
 

Words and Photographs by Jilly Greed

 


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