Farm diary - Feb 17

The cold wind is certainly taking moisture out of the land, and it would be drying up nicely if it wasn't for the wet days, which slow the process down.

Our bio-digester is now going very nicely, with the engine running over 12 hours a day, which puts more heat into the towers.

In fact, we have reached the target temperature in the first tower, as it is now over 39 degrees Celsius.

This magic figure boosts gas production, and we can now turn our attention to heating up the second tower.

The next big step will be to run on half power 24 hours a day which will hopefully be achieved in about two to three weeks, and then we can look forward to increasing output as we bring the second tower into play.

It will take a few months to get to full power 24 hours a day, but we are on the way now and having successfully balanced the tricky position last week of increasing heat and the gas production from the first tower, we are pretty confident.

The Germans still have some work to do.

The gas monitoring system for the engine is not working correctly, and starting the engine is not as easy as it should be and rather than just pressing the button, we have to go through a complex procedure, listening to the sound as it cranks and adjusting accordingly.

This is very frustrating, but James is getting to know the old girl quite well now, and has mastered the art of getting her fired up.

It is a real shame that such excellent equipment and first class installation is marred by such arrogance at the head offices in Germany.

I had a real shouting match down the phone last week with one of the bosses, who was lecturing me whilst it seemed that he knew very little about the state of play on the site, or as it turned out, not too much about his own equipment either.

The engineers on the ground are very good, and I can't see them staying with the company if things carry on as they are.

n Our preparations on the maize ground are going well, with over 300 acres ploughed and sub-soiled.

We are now waiting for muckspreading operations to take place later this month before we can do any more.

Fertilizer is being delivered this week, and a light dressing on the grass at Tillington could be on the cards within a fortnight to get things going on the early ground there.

n As a member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council, an independent body that advises the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn on animal welfare matters, I was a member of a group visiting a very large abattoir supplying one of the leading retailers with lamb.

It was a very large operation, killing more than 5000 lambs a day, with 600 an hour going through the line when we were there.

The standards of welfare, hygiene and cleanliness were exemplary, and quite frankly many hospitals could learn from the number of times we had to wash our hands and put our feet in auto-scrubbers, each time we went through a door from one part of the plant to the next.

Donned in special clothing, footwear and head gear, topped with a hard hat, we were led through each process as we made our way through the plant, starting at the packing plant and working our way back (starting at the cleanest end).

Several things struck me on this visit.

The sheer volume going through the plant of course, and how hard everyone worked; demanding physically, and the speed and dexterity shown by highly skilled people.

The co-ordination needed to bring in trucks from all over the country, keeping in touch as they all travelled the motorways, each one arriving in their allocated time slot.

The massive cost of running such a plant, especially the water treatment system, which deals with all the effluent and wash-down water; returning it to standards that enabled it to be returned to the river and the financial pressure of the operation, and how their margin was achieved.

Each lamb was killed at a loss, such is the pressure from major retailers for efficiency and keeping costs down.

We were told that long gone are the days when the margins made by abattoirs covered the cost of slaughter, and these days the money has to made from the 'fifth quarter'; offal.

Unlike say the French, we don't eat much offal in this country, and it was fascinating to see how it was all sorted, trimmed, packed and exported.

The majority of the hearts, lungs and livers were sent to France, testicles were exported to Vietnam, the tails, pizzles and trachea were exported to China (as were the pelts), with the small intestines sent to Egypt for cleaning, testing and grading, before returning to this country for the sausage makers.

Kidneys were packed for retail trade in this country, and every one trimmed and carefully inspected. All livers and hearts were inspected on the line, and any excess fat trimmed from the carcass.

Each carcass was weighed, graded and stamped by the Meat and Livestock Commission on the line, and labeled.

Every joint thereafter could be traced back to the lamb and the farm of origin.

Vast fridges cooled the meat, and it was then cut and packed for the retailer, with extra hanging time for the more expensive lines. New Zealand lamb was processed in the quiet times of the year, again, without which the plant would operate at a loss.

The animals were treated with great care, well looked after, and the system was designed in a very clever and sophisticated way which had the highest welfare standards, and the lambs really had no idea of their ultimate fate.

Handling of the animals was quiet and relaxed, and the complex ventilation system kept the air fresh, and directed air away from the lambs.

A fascinating visit and it was a demonstration of how high standards are these days, and how good the welfare can be.