BV Dairy, looking after the cows

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22 August 2022

The best quality milk comes from local, healthy and happy cows, believes the third generation dairy in Shaftesbury

BV Dairy was established in 1958 and is now run by the third generation of the Highnam family. Both the business and the range of specialty products has grown and developed to form one of the most respected and successful independent dairies in the South West.
BV Dairy started in the family home at Kington Magna, selling liquid cream. The business moved to its current site in Shaftesbury in the mid-1980s, and with the extra space the product range was extended to cultured milk products like yoghurts, sour cream and crème fraîche – anything from nought per cent fat soft cheese (quark) up to a 45% fat soft cheese (cream cheese).
Our UF Plant, a world-class facility for manufacturing, was commissioned in May 2004. It uses Ultra Filtration (UF) Technology that, at the time, was a recent manufacturing process and uncommon in the UK. The plant offers total flexibility in the manufacturing of a range of different products, and has enhanced our position as an innovative manufacturer of specialist dairy product for our customers. Our active New Product Development department works constantly on new concepts and also with customers (and potential customers) whenever possible.
October 2016 saw the commissioning of a new chill store facility; housing 1,000 pallet spaces and incorporating new office space and storage. The design ethos is based on lean principles, efficient running and full IT integration. We utilise VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) Fork Trucks running on guidance systems; and solar panels which generate 3,500kWh of electricity each day.

Back to the farm
Hailing from a farming background originally, BV Dairy understands all aspects of the dairy industry and is proud of its strong relationship with the local farming community. We understand the importance of restricting food miles; our milk is sourced directly from within the local community, from dairy farms within a 30-mile radius of the production facility in Shaftesbury.
These farms are regularly inspected as part of the Red Tractor Farm Assured Scheme and are required to comply with this standard. In addition, BV Dairy’s own Farm Liaison Team work closely with our farmers in applying modern best-practice principles and helping them maintain herds of healthy, happy cows that supply high quality, rich, tasty and nutritious milk. When collected from the farm all milk joins a schedule of testing – not only to maintain quality but also to form the basis of an agreed payment scheme for the farmer. In addition, BV Dairy host regular forums attended by their farmers and other invited dairy professionals where issues can be discussed and ideas exchanged to help ensure a continuing good working partnership.

The BV Dairy cows
Our typical dairy farm supplier has a long heritage of dairy farming, and a long relationship with the Dairy. They vary in size from smaller, family farms with around 80 cows up to larger concerns with 400 cows. The systems used are dependent on the individual farm but ALL cows will go out on grass for a period of the year, and spend their winter in a cubicle house or barn.
The breed of cow is also varied, with some farms having pedigree Holstein Friesians and others having crossbred stock – such as Jersey crossed with Friesian. There are also Guernsey’s, Brown Swiss and Montbeliarde.
A nutritious diet is essential and in summer months this is mainly grass. In the winter when grass does not grow well cattle are fed mainly silage (preserved grass or maize) with a mixture of cereals and protein feeds to ensure that they maintain their health.
BV Dairy support varied calving patterns as this helps achieve a consistent volume of milk arriving at the Dairy. Calving timetables are tailored by the farmer to suit his farm, workforce and the space and land available – there could also be other farming enterprises such as arable, beef cattle or sheep to consider. Some farms have the facilities to calve year-round whilst others calve in blocks; spring or autumn, or sometimes both!!
BV Dairy is committed to its farmers whatever size their farm and our aim is to help them support healthy, happy cows

Gym Instructors Required | Sturfit/Sturminster Newton Leisure Centre

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22 August 2022

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Permanent part-time Gym Instructor

18-20 hours per week on a three week rota basis working one weekend in three.
Shifts are 07:00-13:00 and 16:30-20:30 Monday to Friday and 08:00-12:00 weekends and Bank Holidays

The Role will include (but not limited to):

Meeting and greeting customers
Handling cash and card payments
Taking and maintaining bookings in person or via telephone and email
Carrying out gym inductions
Advising, guiding, and interacting with customers
Maintaining gym/centre hygiene and cleanliness
Opening and securing centre

Applicant must:

Hold current Gym Instructor Level 2 Fitness Qualification
Be, or register as, self-employed
Have own fitness and personal liability insurance
Have a willingness and ability to take on additional shifts for holiday cover

Gym Instructor – casual/holiday cover

Role and applicant requirements as above but with no hours guaranteed. Shifts would be offered as and when they become available.

For more information please email Roger on [email protected] or call the centre on 01258 471774

Laboritory Technician | Hall & Woodhouse

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Editorial team

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22 August 2022

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Do you have a passion for beer and a keen interest in science? If so, we would love to hear from you!

Hall & Woodhouse are looking for a motivated Laboratory Technician to join the team at our state of the art Brewery in Blandford, Dorset.

Owned and run by the seventh generation of the Woodhouse family, with Mark Woodhouse and Anthony Woodhouse as the current stewards, we’re proud to be a leading independent regional brewer with an established pub estate of beautiful pubs in great locations across the South of England.

We continue to invest and innovate in beer and pubs, ensuring we remain a fiercely independent family company at the forefront of British brewing and hospitality.

This role will include:

• Working closely with the production team members to achieve quality, cost and morale targets

• Be responsible for training on test procedures and advising on any remedial action required

• Championing and continually driving forward the quality of our beers, ensuring that analytical, microbiological, and sensory tests are carried out using the correct methodology.

About you:

• Minimum GCSE English, Maths and Science, or similar related qualification

• Enthusiastic, willingness to learn new skills and progress

• Excellent time management and the ability to use initiative and plan their workload

• Good IT Skills and the ability to work alone or within a team and communicate with other team members confidently and professionally

• Basic knowledge of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points

• Knowledge of a working laboratory would be an advantage, but not essential

• A passion for beer and brewing is desirable

Our values of Ambition, Dedication, Integrity, Kindness and Teamwork are key to our success, and we would like you to be able to demonstrate how you meet these as part of the selection process.

The role is available immediately on an annualised hours agreement, with core hours being worked between Mon-Fri.

Benefits include:

• A competitive salary

• Inclusion in company profit share scheme

• Pension scheme

• 30 days including bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 3 years service

• Day off for birthday

• Westfield cash back health plan and Hospital treatment insurance

• Annual Health Assessment

• Life Assurance cover

• Annual drinks allowance

• 25% discount off food and drink in our managed houses

To find out more and to apply click the following link – https://bit.ly/HandwBVLab

The science of diet, and prepping for Hurdles

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Editorial team

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21 August 2022

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Feeding different diets to a range of growing foals and mares living in the same field is an art form which Lucy Procter has mastered

Someone wants to know where her hard feed is please.
All images: Lucy Procter

It’s relatively quiet on the stud, with the mares and foals out grazing all day and night. Despite the lack of rain, we still have just enough grass for them to get the majority of their feed through grazing, but we are supplementing with what is termed ‘hard feed’ – energy rich grains and pulses with carefully balanced vitamins and minerals.
Traditionally, hard feed would have consisted of ‘straights’ – rolled oats and barley with no additives. But modern feed companies now manufacture balanced all-in feeds. They come as a muesli-type mix, or an extruded cube. In recent years ‘balancers’ have been introduced, which are a popular way of feeding horses which are in light work and would get too fat on the recommended amount of hard feed. Feeding a balancer provides concentrated nutrition without unwanted calories, and ‘balances’ a forage-based – grass or hay – diet.

No mares allowed
The mares without foals at foot, or mares with older foals, are all now on a daily cup of balancer. The mares with younger foals, who are still drinking a significant amount of milk each day, are being fed a calorie-rich stud nut, in much greater quantity than the balancer feed, to ensure an adequate milk supply for their young foals’ needs.
As the foals get older, their feed requirement comes increasingly from grass and hard feed more than it does from their dam’s milk, leading to the point at which they will be weaned, between five and six months old. All the foals are being fed hard feed in a creep feeder, which means that we can provide calorie rich hard feed to the growing foals, whilst their dams are fed a balancer. The creep feeder is too low for the mares to enter, but the foals happily duck under the rails to get their breakfast.

Prep work for Hurdles
Work-wise, we’ve been concentrating this month on backing and bringing on four two-year-olds and two three-year-olds. One of the three-year-olds, a Montmartre gelding, is being aimed at the new Junior National Hunt Development Hurdle Races, which start in October. The second gelding by Black Sam Bellamy, being bigger and what we would term more ‘backward’ will shortly be turned out in a field for the summer to mature, and will come back into work in the autumn with the aim of getting him ready to race in the spring.
The two-year-olds are having eight weeks of walkering (exercise on a mechanical horse walker), lunging and long reining with the aim of getting them well-handled and partially backed before being turned away again until next spring, when they, in turn, will also be fully backed and ridden away in preparation for the Junior National Hunt Development Hurdle Races, autumn 2023.

Taking on the French
This new programme of Hurdle races, designed to help the development of Jump horses in Great Britain, was announced last November. Entitled Junior National Hunt Development Hurdle races and open exclusively to three-year-olds from October to December and four-year-olds from January to April, the races will be run from early-October 2022 to the end of the 2022/23 Jump season. They will be open to horses that have not previously competed in a Flat race, or a Jump race (except for a National Hunt (NH) Flat or Junior NH Development Hurdle Race). Each racehorse will be restricted to a maximum of four starts in the series.
Richard Wayman, Chief Operating Officer of the British Horseracing Authority said at the programme’s launch: ‘By adding these races to next year’s programme, we’ll be able to gain a much better understanding of the impact of providing young jumping horses with the opportunity to start their careers at an earlier stage. Such an approach is already well established in France and to some extent as part of a vibrant point-to-point scene in Ireland. We hope that owners and trainers …[will] view them as an ideal opportunity for the right sort of jumping horse.”
Bryan Mayoh, Chairman of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association National Hunt Committee, said: “We have long believed that differences in upbringing, rather than in breeding or environment, is the principal reason why French-bred Jump horses have outperformed those produced in Britain and Ireland. The impact that Irish four-year-old Point-to-Points are now having on the successes of Irish-trained horses, supports the hypothesis that Jump horses need to be backed and taught to jump earlier than has been traditional in Britain.”
So, we will pre-train our Montmartre for another few weeks, before he will be sent to our trainer, Kieran Burke, in Dorchester, to do the final fittening and race preparation work, aiming for a run mid-October at Newton Abbot.
Horses being horses, we just have to keep our fingers crossed that all goes well in the next few months – just getting a racehorse to a racecourse is an achievement in itself, running well is the bonus we are always dreaming of.

The foals happily slip under the rails while the mare is left eating the balancer

Wassailing the mares
It’s not been all work this month, however. We joined in with Racing Staff Week, held nationally to celebrate the role of all stud and racing staff who work tirelessly in all weathers, by hosting a staff barbeque. After we had eaten, we loaded the truck up with staff and bottles of Monopole to raise a glass to the mares, who are the source of everything The Glanvilles Stud does – our take on the local tradition of ‘wassailing’, but with champagne and thoroughbreds!

When ewe go in for a trim

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Editorial team

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21 August 2022

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Matt Cradock, local sheep farmer and chairman of the G&S Show’s sheep section, discusses the sheep of things to come with Andrew Livingston

For the second year running, sheep shearing demonstrations are back at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show. Organisers say that it was the public interest at last year’s display which means that it’s bigger and better than before.
Matt Cradock, chairman of the sheep section, is excited about this year’s ‘Wool Village.’ He says: “[Last year] there were so many people asking what the price of it was, what the procedure was … there were so many questions that we just couldn’t get enough information out to everyone who was interested.
‘This year we’re doing the shearing and then we can see the fleece-judging classes of people who are exhibiting their pedigree stock at the show.
We also have a couple of spinners – the process of getting the wool into yarn – and then we have a representative from the British Wool Board who is coming to talk about everything else in between. This way, the public is getting the whole picture.’
Twenty-nine-year-old Matt, who keeps more than 1,700 sheep on 300 acres around North Dorset, was brought up on his family’s dairy farm. They diversified into sheep to keep their business running.
Matt, who bought his first sheep at the age of 16, is the perfect expert to guide the public through the shearing demonstrations, so he will once again be commentating on the shearing.
‘It’s a time when livestock farming is getting hammered left, right and centre from those who are opposed to it.
Shearing can be a big thing. The public need to see it for themselves to make up their own mind on it. I did the commentary on the shearing last year and the public loved it. We could have spieled and spieled and sheared and sheared, but the public response was what really made it.’

No one likes a Poll Dorset
Originally farmers sheared their sheep because the wool itself was the product … and a big income for sheep farmers. Today, however, a sheep’s wool – which weighs around two kilograms – will only be worth about 70p, with the average shearer costing double that just to remove the wool.
‘Shearing is mainly for welfare reasons now. It helps prevent fly strike, reduces the risk of the sheep getting stuck on their backs. Sheep left unsheared are at risk of rain scald, which is a skin disease.’
Once again, Henry Mayo and Ben Doggrell will be aiming to shear 180 to 200 of Matt’s sheep for the show demonstration –around 30 each an hour. That’s just two minutes per sheep.
In 2019, 20-year-old Henry, from Hermitage in Dorset, became the first English farmer to win the top shearing competition in New Zealand for 30 years.
Matt, who usually shears his own sheep, describes the pair as the best. ‘Put it this way, I’m really particular about what happens with my sheep and I’d be happy for them to come in and shear my own flock. If I didn’t think they were the best, I simply wouldn’t ask them to be at the show.’
Suffolk, Charollais, Poll Dorsets and Llyns are just some of the breeds that will be sheared at the G&S Show.
‘Everything being shorn at the 2022 show is called a shearling – a young sheep which has never been shorn before. They are going to be a challenge, the Poll Dorsets being the worst. I’ve never met a shearer who likes shearing them!’

Judging Texel and Poll Dorset sheep at the 2015 Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show.

Accompanying the shearing is the showing of sheep, with competition classes and prizes for all the pedigree breeds. Matt explains why having a rosette-winning animal is big business.
‘It’s advertising your breeding. You get to compare your breeding with another breeder of the same or similar breed.
‘Exhibitors do go to a lot of effort – there’s a lot of preparation work. To achieve a prize winner, they’re obviously breeding the right animal, and that’s what’s key to them. They enjoy the day. They get to go to the show, but their animals – they sell themselves.’
Next year, Matt’s vision for the sheep section at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show is once again bigger and better. ‘Why keep something the same? It’s worked one year, so let’s build it up to encourage people.
‘The idea is (we’re always full of ideas, whether they actually work or not is another matter!) we will have had two years’ worth of shearing demonstrations, so we’ll go for a competition shear next year. That way people will understand what the competition is, because they’ve listened to it being explained for the last couple of years. Then they can see what it REALLY means to be a professional shearer.’

What not to miss this year

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Editorial team

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21 August 2022

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The 2022 G&S Show is bigger than ever – and alongside some exciting new attractions, there’s a return of a much-missed old favourite

The Grand Parade of Livestock returns to the Main Ring!
Agriculture has always been the heart of the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, and we are proud to announce that for the first time in over 15 years the Grand Parade of Livestock, sponsored by Woolley & Wallis, will return to the Gritchie Brewing Company Main Ring.
At 15:00 watch as all of the days champions and prize-winning livestock parade around the ring – we promise it is a spectacle not to be missed.

The FUEL10K IMPS Motorcyle Display Team
The world-famous motorcycle spectacular! The IMPS Motorcycle Display Team, sponsored by Fuel10k, will be performing their breathtaking dynamic display of skills in the Gritchie Brewing Company Main Ring at the 2022 Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show on Wednesday 17th August!
From the sound of revving engines to the awe of a billowing fire jump and the suspense of a multiple motorcycle combination ‘cross-over’ routine, The Imps will have you mesmerised by an unmissable display of discipline and skill. Furthermore, you will be stunned to learn that the youngest performer in the youth motorcycle display team is only five years old!
Display times – 11:50 and 15:40

NEW: The Lightning Bolts Army Parachute Display Team
One of the world’s most experienced operational deployment teams – the Lightning Bolt Army Parachute Display Team, sponsored by Gavin Dixon Financial Solutions – will be jumping into the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show for the first time!
They are a dynamic military freefall team – watch them fly into the ring with smoke and flags!
Time: Look up at 12:30!

NEW: The Wool Village
Last year we introduced sheep shearing demonstrations – and this year we step it up a bit and have an entire Wool Village, sponsored by Friars Moor Livestock Vets!
“Wool is one of the oldest fibres known to mankind, and also one of the most beneficial.” (His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales).
Wool is not only natural, it is renewable, biodegradable and lasts longer than artificial fibres.
In the Wool Village you can watch sheep being shorn on a raised stage, learn all about wool itself, feel the wool’s texture and see the winners of the Fleece Competitions.
The majority of sheep are shorn in the summer; this does not hurt the sheep and is required for their welfare – no one wants a woolly jumper in hot weather! The sheep are shorn by a ‘shearer’. A professional shearer is skilled and careful – one shearer can shear a sheep in less than 2 minutes!
Read all about sheep shearing and the Wool Village in our interview with Matt Cradock, the local sheep farmer who is chairman of the sheep section at the show.

NEW: Bees & Honey Marquee
We all now know that bees are essential to life on earth. The new Bees & Honey Marquee is in association with the North Dorset Beekeepers Association and will be filled with exciting demonstrations, hands-on activities and even a bee hive! The marquee also features competitions in all bee & honey related cookery and treats.

Caskie Trio – The Cranborne Chase Chamber Music Festival

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21 August 2022

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9th September 2022
St. Nicholas Church, Ashmore – 7pm
Standard Tickets – £10 | Under 18s – £5
Book via website or QR code
@caskietrio
www.mayacaskie.com/caskietrio

The Cranborne Chase Chmaber Music Festival

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21 August 2022

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9TH SEPT – ST NICHOLAS CHURCH, ASHMORE
10TH SEPT – ST ANDREW’S CHURCH, FONTMELL MAGNA
STANDARD TICKETS – £10 | UNDER 18S – £5
BOOK VIA WEBSITE, QR CODE OR BUY TICKETS FROM
FONTMELL MAGNA POST OFFICE
WWW.THEDEKOONINGENSEMBLE.CO.UK
@THEDEKOONINGENSEMBLE

Mama mare, here you go again

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20 August 2022

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Breeding from your mare is a step many owners consider – Sara Greenwood shares the pitfalls and her experienced tips to make it work

Poddy as a foal with her mum
All images: Sara Greenwood

Your children have finally left home, and you are left with the lovely mare the whole family has enjoyed riding or competing. What do you do with her? For many, the first answer is ‘let’s breed from her!’
But this isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a snap decision and there’s a lot you need to think about. Consider why you are breeding from her – is it just because you don’t know what else to do with her? Or you want something to sell? Or perhaps you want something for the future? Also think about the practicalities –
have you got the land and stabling required for more horses? Will you be foaling her or will you be sending her away to stud to foal?
Finally, and perhaps this is the most important, consider her temperament. Her conformation. How is she put together, how sound is she? Will any of her bad points come through to the foal? Can you even tell when she is in season?

Lucy on Poddy, Simon on Poddy’s first foal and Sara on her second foal.

No doubt one of the reasons you ever considered breeding from your mare was that you watched a stallion parade and saw a beautiful one. But just like the mare you need to consider his temperament and conformation too. Have you seen any of his progeny? What has he done in his life?

Poddy’s last foal and Sara’s ‘superstar’ Aussi, ridden by Lucy Greenwood

Now – are you going to send her to the stud for natural covering, or will your mare stay at home for artificial insemination? Or perhaps you might consider embryo transfer. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and all need to be researched and considered to work out which is the best option for you and your mare.

The family dynasty
Having read all that, you may be thinking HELP! So many questions to be answered.
I started breeding horses about 40 years ago using a friend’s Thoroughbred mare – who had already had a few foals. I took her to Skippy (a well-known Irish Draught), but before he was famous! All went well and lovely Poddy was the result. I loved the foal so much that my mare went back to Skippy. Sadly, this was without a happy ending – we had a dead foal.
However, Poddy was the start of a dynasty. As a four-year-old she had a foal by National Trust (a Thoroughbred) while I was pregnant. Some years later, having been a wonderful hunter, competition horse and great for leading the children’s ponies from, she had two more foals.They weren’t all successful but the last one, from Relief Pitcher, was my superstar, who took both daughters to BE Intermediate and retired as the family’s hunter.

Sara’s second breeding mare Bally Too with Lucy Greenwood

Since then I have bred five foals with another mare. We lost one to a lightning strike, one was beautiful and enjoyed dressage so I sold him, one is utterly non-competitive but moves beautifully and is a lovely hack, another is tricky but talented and my last one, by a Connemara, is a star – anyone can ride her.

Bally Too’s (and Sara’s )last foal, Tinka

Choosing the match
Having started with Skippy the Irish Draught, I put his offspring Poddy to three Thoroughbred stallions – National Trust, Past Glories and Relief Pitcher.
With the second mare I bred from I deliberately went for the power and movement of the Warmblood, which is what the mare lacked. This was not such a success due to their temperaments – although we still love them, we have to find the right job for them.
Lastly we opted for the Connemara, which definitely produced the best all-rounder. I would have loved to have used Relief Pitcher again, but he had just died and Thoroughbreds only used natural covering then.
This year we are trying to get one of the Warmblood mares in foal to an Irish Draught but sadly it’s not currently happening (watch this space for future breeding programme!).
My conclusion? Breeding is not all happy and easy, but we have so many happy memories. It can be very expensive unless you do everything yourself, and a good vet is the most important thing.