Page 2. Farming Express
Farming Express
Demand for poultry apprenticeships grows Another 5 Solar Farms developed by Orta
Demand for poultry training is on the rise,
according to the British Poultry Council
(BPC), which estimated there are some
250 apprentices on industry training
schemes.
According to data from the BPC, there are
up to 20 applicants for each apprenticeship
advertised.
Improve, the skills body for food
manufacturing, has also revealed that a
target of recruiting 50,000 apprentices
across food manufacture and agriculture
has been surpassed.
The apprenticeship drive across all parts
of the food chain was part of a response
to common challenges, according to
Improve's chief executive, Justine Fosh;
an ageing workforce, and the skills
required to operate new technologies.
The data was released during National
Apprenticeship Week, which Peter
Bradnock, chief executive of the BPC said
"pays tribute to sectors such as the poultry
industry, which is investing in talented
young people".
Why a poultry apprenticeship?
The BPC believes that there are
compelling reasons to become a poultry
apprentice:
Currently 250 apprentices on programme
Flexible, on-the-job training
Good salary - farm managers earn
upwards of £30,000 a year
Apprentices are paid up to £241 a week
depending on age
Perks often include a house or a company
car
"There are a huge number of opportunities
available to become an apprentice in the
poultry industry, on farms, in hatcheries or
in processing plants," he added.
Nathan Raines, academy manager at
Poultec Training said the news was
encouraging, given traditional difficulties
filling agricultural apprenticeship places.
"The industry is well paid, it attracts
people who like to work with animals and
is crying out for qualified and enthusiastic
young people."
Those considering a poultry
apprenticeship can contact an employer
directly,Poultec, or via the National
Apprenticeship Service.
Maximising milk yields from grass
High-energy diets will be key to
getting milk yield back on track at
turnout, experts are advising.
Grazed grass is typically only capable
of supporting 15 litres a cow a day,
so high-energy buffer feeds may be
required, says KW nutritionist Dave
Collett. "Cows are still generally in
lower condition than they need to be,
and forage stocks for buffer feeding
are both low in quality and running
out fast. Good-quality grazing could
be the springboard to better yields,
but only when properly supported and
balanced."
Mr Collett says farmers should make
cows in the first 100 days of lactation
the top priority. "Use molasses or
distillery syrup-based liquid feeds
to improve energy supply and
palatability if feeding lower-quality
forages or straw, and include rumenprotected fats to keep the overall diet
above 12 MJ ME/kg DM.
He adds: "The 100% fats offer
better value and performance, and if
butterfats are in danger of dropping
below contract minimums, consider
a high C-16 fat to support milk fat
production."
Orta Solar (http://www.ortasolar.com), the
team that have developed one of the UK’s
largest Solar Farm portfolios to date, has
today announced that it has been awarded
planning on another 5 Solar Farms in the
South of the UK. “I’m thrilled for our team
who have worked so hard for this success.
It represents another 40MWp of UK Solar
Farming in sensitively chosen locations
working closely with our terrifically
enthusiastic farmer partners”, declared Nick
Pascoe, the business’s Managing Director.
Orta’s five most recent planning awards now
brings the total that the team’s members
have won positive planning on to over
20 successfully planned UK Solar Farms
representing nearly 150MWp, as many as
any other team in the UK. Four are being
commissioned now in South Devon, Wiltshire
and the two Solar Farms in the Test Valley.
The 5th is also in Wiltshire, the 14MWp
Marsh Farm project due to be constructed
later in 2013. “We’re aiming to develop
approximately 100MWp or 12 Solar Farms
in ‘13 / ’14 and similar the following year”,
stated Mr Pascoe. “However, unlike some
of the more ambitious UK Solar Farm
developers we do not build a pipeline of
potential Solar Farms with farmers tied into
multiple year exclusivity contracts, often
finding that their project is ‘land-banked’ in a
static queue whilst the developer seeks money
or other resource to cover the development
costs. Every project that we take on we sign a
12month exclusivity contract with, no longer,
and we get straight on with developing it. If it
takes us any longer, we’re not doing our job
correctly”, he went on.
The team at Orta believe that switching a
large field sized parcel of poor grade and
discretely located farmland from farming the
sun’s rays to photosynthesise plants (many
of which are crops like Rape often grown
for energy purposes) to farming the sun’s
rays to create photovoltaic electricity, can
integrate well into many farming businesses.
Alongside an absolutely certain financial
profit it can bring to a Farmer’s business,
the land chosen ‘has a rest’ from intensive
agricultural practices, effectively setting it
aside which has been widely demonstrated
to bring multiple ecological benefits to local
flora, bird and insect life. Key to successfully
integrating Solar Farming into an agricultural
business, beside the various technical aspects
involved, is sensitive & discrete site selection
recognising that visually a Solar Farmed field
does bring visual change, monstrous to some,
beautiful to others.
As regards the financial benefit for the
farmer, the Solar Farm will effectively rent
the Farmer’s land for a 25year period, the
Solar Farm’s revenues covering its quarterly
rental payments. Farmers (plus their land &
financial advisors) should recognise that the
Govt’s strategy is to quickly reduce the start
point subsidy for Solar Electricity (the ‘ROC’
subsidy that the Solar Farm will get for the
next 20 yrs is fixed on the date it is switched
on) paid to Solar Farms and as a consequence,
finances are increasingly tight. Rental values
for parks to be constructed in ‘13/’14 are not
what could have been achieved in ‘12/’13 and
‘14/’15 onwards will be lower still. Having
said that, for a site comfortably south of the
M4 with 33kV power lines within 500m
and in the same land ownership (to keep
connection costs reasonable) should achieve
approx £1,000/acre (for 25yrs linked to RPI)
if the Solar Farm is constructed prior to
March ’14, or £850/acre if constructed prior
to March’15. More midlands based Farmers
should anticipate £800/acre & £650/acre
rental sums. Farmers should be very wary of
any Solar developer asking for exclusivity
over 12months, rent offers much beyond
these figures or offering large lump sums on
commissioning as their offers are very likely
to be unfinanciable for construction (which
typically the farmer will not be advised of
until late in the process). In Orta’s view,
the best developer deals offer realistically
deliverable & competitive terms but are tied
to absolute certainty that the developer will
deliver the project (and has a demonstrable
track record of doing so).
There’s no doubt that Renewable Energy is
now an established part of the UK farming
mix and farming sunshine by solar panels
rather than by photosynthesis does fit happily
with very many farmers. Landowners with
a discrete parcel of low grade land that fits
the criteria listed above really did ought to
evaluate how solar farming could fit into
their business. The UK Govt has a target of
approx 20GigaWatts of Solar capacity in
the UK by 2020 about half of which will be
land based, or approximately 50,000 acres of
Solar Farms spread across the UK (compares
with 1,900,000 acres of Oil seed rape in
2012). Those farmers & landowners that act
promptly and partner with an experienced,
proven Solar Farm developer that will
commit to developing their project in a
rapid timescale allowing their Solar Farms
to be switched on prior to March 2015 will
undoubtedly benefit the most.