Farm Guide

Welcome to the information pages for Writtle College's Farm. These pages are designed to give you a flavour of our working estate and some information about each of our farmed units.

Sturgeons Farm, situated just a mile from the main College buildings, hosts the arable, beef, sheep, pig and turkey units. During the 2009/10 academic year some quite considerable changes were made to our farming practices in order to ensure that everything we do is reflective of modern, commercial practice in south east England and suitable for use as a teaching facility for our range of agriculture, countryside, conservation and animal science courses. As one of the first entrants into the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme the College farm has also been influenced by the need to balance these modern farming practices with a responsibility for the environment.

Students are fully exposed to the physical and financial performance data of each unit and consequently learn from our responses to the real challenges of mixed farming. Everyone is encouraged to take part in our on-line farm forum and attend monthly farm club meetings where farm staff defend their decision-making process to the enthusiastic questioning of students.

Our farm is a busy, thriving, popular part of the Writtle campus and we endeavour to involve students as much as possible in what is happening throughout the year. Classes are scheduled at the farm for all levels of student, but we also encourage students to volunteer to help outside their normal class times if they wish to do so. We have a relatively small team of staff who contribute to the success of the farm; there is a tangible level of enthusiasm for their work and an esprit de corps that perhaps is one of our most unique and precious commodities.

In addition to students, we host a range of visitors throughout the year; farmers, industry representatives, school children and special educational needs children all regularly benefit from our facilities. We also work closely with various industrial partners; some of these companies have generously sponsored this publication for which we offer our sincere thanks.

What follows in this guide is merely the outline detail of what happens on each of our farmed units. Necessarily only a certain level of information can make it into these pages; please do feel free to contact us should you require more detail, we would be delighted and proud to show you around.

• Crops
• Machinery
• Pigs
• Dairy
• Beef
• Sheep
• Turkeys
• Conservation
• Soils

• Map of Estates

Crops

• 1800 hectares available for teaching
• Rotation includes Winter Wheat, Oilseed Rape and break crop
• Complies with principles of Integrated Crop Management

Arable cropping at the College is based on the dual principles of maximising profitability and demonstrating modern sustainable farming practices. Wheat and Oilseed Rape are at the centre of the rotation in common with most farms in the area and across the region. Peas and beans are also grown within the commercial part of the farm while demonstration areas of sugar beet, potatoes and field vegetables are grown for the benefit of students

The husbandry of the crops complies fully with the principles of Integrated Crop Management. This concept encourages and supports profitably, safe farming practices while conserving and enhancing the environment. This is achieved through the use of crop rotations, appropriate cultivation techniques, careful choice of seed varieties, minimum and if necessary targeted use of pesticide, suitable and justified use of mineral fertiliser and the maintenance and enhancement of the landscape and wildlife habitats.

Wheat is the most profitable of the arable crops grown on the farm. Group One high quality bread making varieties are grown. The farm achieves good consistent yields above the national average but similar to those of other farms in the area. Key issues in the husbandry of the crop are evaluated such as optimum establishment methods, the control and treatment of blackgrass and the timing of fungicide programmes. These are assessed against the background of volatile market prices, the reduction in the number of pesticides available and the challenges of the British climate.

Similar issues are considered in the husbandry and management of the Oil Seed Rape. This crop yields again above the national average and provides the opportunity to tackle weeds with different chemistry from the wheat, while offering a disease and pest break. Challenges include the threat from pests such as slugs and pigeons and the diseases Sclerotinia and Alternaria.

The remainder of the arable rotation currently is taken up with beans which unlike Rape and Wheat are a relatively low cost crop to grow requiring the minimum amount of inputs while fixing Nitrogen into the soil for the subsequent wheat.

The College is fortunate to have established a partnership with Essex Farms who carry out all the arable operations on the farm. This is a large farming company who are responsible for over a thousand hectares across the county. This has two advantages for the College and students. Operations are carried out with timeliness and expertise utilising large scale machinery and access is provided to the remainder of the Essex Farms business including cropping practices and financial returns

The College farm is integral to the teaching of crop husbandry and management. Farm walks are included within the lecture programme. Assignments in each of the three years of the undergraduate programme are centred on the farm and decisions that need to be taken in order to manage the growing crop. Dissertations are undertaken using College fields and these will be the centre of the newly launched Masters in Arable Crop Management.

The College has good contacts with both local farmers and commercial companies. The Essex Agricultural Society holds regular meetings at the College. Syngenta has initiated a series of trials and demonstration plots for the benefit of both students and local farmers. Other recent trials undertaken by staff and students include:

• An investigation into the development of winter wheat when grown under a range of elevated winter temperatures
• The effect of seed burial depth on the germination and control of blackgrass
• A comparison of winter oilseed rape establishment methods
• The economic advantages of minimum tillage and its affect on weed pressure compared to conventional ploughing cultivation methods

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Machinery

Crop establishment methods will vary according to the rotation, weather, disease and pest pressures. As an example, Oilseed rape is established using a subsoiler with a seeder unit, the land is then pressed using a Simba cultipress to consolidate the seedbed.

Winter wheat is established in a variety of ways. First wheats may be drilled after a minimum tillage, whilst second wheats go in after the 6 furrow reversible Kverneland plough and an 8 metre Vaderstad Rexius press pulled by a Claas Challenger 75. This is however not set in stone; due to relatively small fields and farm yard manure being spread on the stubbles, winter wheat land (first or second) could be ploughed. The wheat is then drilled using a 2008 Vaderstad Rapid drill which is pulled using a John Deere 8520 on stock tracks. The seedbed is then consolidated using a set of Cousins rolls.

Spring bean land is autumn-ploughed using 6 furrow Kverneland plough being pulled by a Claas Axion 810 tractor (owned). Beans are then drilled using a Horsch CO4 drill.

All spraying is carried out using a Bateman RB25 32 metre self propelled sprayer.

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Pigs

• 84 sow herd
• New electronic sow feeders
• Batch farrowing system

The Pig Unit at Sturgeons Farm was depopulated in July 2009 and the decision to restock resulted in 48 new gilts and two boars arriving in March 2010, followed by a second delivery in May, giving us a herd size of 84 sows. The first of seven batches were served in late May, and we now have a farrowing house full of piglets!

We are aiming to establish a commercial unit demonstrating best modern practice, producing finished bacon pigs of about 100 kg liveweight. Most of our pigs will be marketed at this weight, though we plan to sell pork, sausages and bacon through the College from a proportion of lighter animals.

As well as being a commercial farm, the pig unit aims are to provide a teaching and research resource. Students from schools groups to PhD are able to work on the unit and our batch farrowing system allows large groups of pigs to be used for student projects and dissertations as well as commercial research. Due to the nature of the pigs’ life cycle there is always a ready supply of animals at all stages of growth for students to learn from. Some examples of recent student projects include:

• A study into the effect of birth weight, piglet body conformation, birth order and colostrum immunoglobulin G content on piglet survival up to five days post partum
• The affects of weaning weight on a piglet’s growth performance
• An investigation into the energy demands on a sow during lactation
• The relationship between the behaviour of sows and their histories of piglet crushing
• Reducing the psychological stress of slaughter-weight pigs at loading through targeted enrichment

The College has invested in a new dry sow house – comprehensively refurbishing and then refitting the existing building with an Electronic Sow Feeding system. With a transponder in her ear, every dry sow can be fed individually and enjoy the welfare benefits of group housing in a large straw yard.

To facilitate research and enhance productivity, as well as demonstrating pig industry best practice, the College has tightened biosecurity at the pig unit. Everyone entering the Unit has to dip their boots and wear specific Pig Unit PPE. No visitor can have had contact with any other pigs during the previous four days.

Twenty-five days after service, sows and gilts are pregnancy tested to ensure that they have held to service; four days before farrowing they are moved into farrowing crates. Piglets are weaned every third Thursday, at 3 - 4 weeks of age, and are then moved into a climate controlled rearing house. Sows are weaned into our service accommodation, where we use artificial insemination before moving them into the straw-bedded group housing and electronic feeders in the new dry sow house.

Weaned pigs stay in the rearing accommodation until 10 - 12 weeks or 30 to 40kg when they are transferred into one of the finishing houses, which are straw bedded.

The feeding herd are fed ad-lib purchased compounds from weaning to slaughter at about 22 weeks of age. A specialist pig starter feed is fed to the piglets for 2 to 3 weeks after weaning, the piglets having been introduced to this highly palatable diet from about ten days of age. A grower diet is fed until pigs reach 40 kg, followed by a finisher diet until pigs are ready for slaughter. Lactating and dry sows are fed measured quantities of two different diets to allow for their different nutritional requirements.

Early results from the first batch of gilts to farrow indicate that the stock that we have purchased are the prolific, milky, docile animals that they claim to be – frequent weighing, good record keeping and a research based culture will enable us to monitor and confirm performance as our new enterprise develops. Annual audits by Farm Assurance officers mean that our pigs are reared to high welfare standards, and we are able to market our meat as meeting the strict quality standards associated with the ‘Red Tractor’ mark found on the best British agricultural products.

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Dairy

• 500 cow milking herd
• High performance cows
• Modern facilities

Writtle College has links with a local 500 cow dairy unit. This gives students access to a high production, modern unit for their studies.

The herd average yield is around 11,700 litres per lactation. Cows are housed in sawdust bedded cubicles with mattresses. The cows are milked twice daily through a 30:30 rapid exit Bou-matic Xpress Way parlour.

Cows are fed a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) which consists of grass silage, maize silage, whole crop silage, sugar beet pulp pellets, brewer’s grains ensiled with dried citrus pulp, chopped straw, caustic wheat and maize grain. A premix which consists of rape meal, soya meal, bean meal, maize grain, molasses, minerals, limestone, Bergafat T300, Ultrasorb and Acid Buff is also added to the TMR. Diets are managed under the guidance of a commercial nutritionist and are monitored regularly. Dry cows are managed on a transition diet for 3 weeks before calving; this diet consists of some of the milking ration and follows the DCAD principles to avoid milk fever. The forage to concentrate ratio in the ration is approximately 50:50.

The dairy heifers (followers) at Terling Hall Farm are reared on a computerised feeding system. Calves are placed on to the feeder in small groups and given calf milk replacer specific for dairy heifers which has high levels of protein and oil. Calves are gradually stepped up to 6 litres milk/ day before stepping down in the week before weaning.

Students regularly visit Terling as part of a number of courses; in addition several students have undertaken research projects at the farm, some of which are detailed below:

• Responses of positively handled calves to human interactions and disbudding
• Factors affecting Holstein dairy cow colostrum immunoglobulin quality
• Factors that affect pregnancy rates in dairy cattle
• The effect season has on the concentration of milk progesterone in dairy cattle, and its effects on fertility
• Cows behaviour as a response to rubber mats in parlour stalls
• The effect of season on the measures of fertility in dairy cows
• Metritis and cow activity
• Lying behaviour and gait of dairy cattle related to lameness
• The effects of clinical lameness in dairy cows on milk production levels and welfare
• A retrospective study on risk factors for postpartum uterine infections in to dairy herds in England

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Beef

• 50 head of cattle for finishing
• 18-24 month finishing system
• Forage & concentrate

The College’s beef unit has recently been subjected to a complete re-think in terms of its aims and objectives. The previous small herd of Red Poll cattle was sold during 2010 and replaced with 50 head of commercial beef animals. 25 Belgium Blue heifers were purchased early in 2010 and a further 25 weaned calves (6 months old) completed the new unit during the autumn of 2010. A range of different beef finishing systems are used according to the requirement for trial work and to demonstrate a range of farming practices.

The move towards a more common commercial breed enables us to source numbers of cattle of the same age and breed that then facilitates the research work carried out by both staff and students. Examples of this research include:

• Comparisons of complimentary growth curves in Belgium Blue heifers on four different winter and summer feeding regimes
• Growth rates of beef cattle on intensive and conservation grazing systems
• A comparison of morphometric characteristics in cattle fed concentrate-based and silage-only diets.
• Animal welfare and sustainability in beef production systems
• Evaluation of the ACAD8 gene as a genetic-marker candidate to assess productivity traits in a double-muscled breed of cattle.

The aim of the research is to maximise data collection opportunities using the 50 head of cattle, the purpose-built cattle shed and the available grazing and labour. This includes the use of pedometers, ultra-sound backfat scanning and bite meters.

50 head of cattle now maximises the use of our purpose-built cattle shed, the available grazing and labour. The system is representative of a commercial unit found anywhere in the UK and consequently the use of the unit as an example for lectures and for commercial trial work is now appropriate. Further Education students will select individual animals for halter-training and showing in commercial cattle classes at local agricultural shows.

Two batches of 25 cattle will then follow one another on a repetitive cycle indefinitely. The animals will reach a liveweight of approximately 575-625kg (breed and sex dependent) before being sold. Depending on the feed trials that they have been subjected to, this would ordinarily mean they will be approximately 18 months old, having been fed/stored for their first winter and then finished inside during the subsequent winter period.

Students handle cattle regularly, as the feed trials that are undertaken mean that they have to be weighed weekly. A new handling system for the 2010-11 academic year will make this particular task significantly easier than in previous years. Other routine tasks, such as worming and clipping the backs of housed cattle, are also undertaken by supervised students. Once nearing their finished weight, students also contribute to the selection process, assessing each live animal for their carcase traits and comparing their assessment to the data received from the slaughterhouse.

Feeding is based on a forage diet (to minimise cost); cattle graze through the summer months (some on permanent pasture, some on the higher-level stewardship grass) and are fed concentrates as required (or dictated by the trial work) when housed through the winter. The farm makes its own silage and forage from the estate; this is wrapped into big bales to ease provision of the forage to the housed animals.

The intention is to maintain this rolling 25 + 25 system over several years which will help us to build up significant year-on-year data as a result of the trials. The cattle will be marketed as appropriate, either as high-value branded freezer packs, or direct to the slaughterhouse.

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Sheep

• 100 ewes with replacements of brought in Suffolk x North Country Mules
• March lambing
• Texel rams used
• Lambs sold through local abattoir or direct to customers

Writtle College’s sheep unit is fairly small, but nevertheless a useful and very active resource for students and staff. The ewe flock consists of roughly 100 mixed breed commercial ewes at the moment, that we are gradually in the process of upgrading to a uniform flock of Suffolk x North Country Mules. These ewes are then crossed with high quality Texel rams to produce lambs that are sold off grass during the summer months.

The ewes are all treated with progestagen (synthetic progesterone) sponges during the autumn, to enable us to synchronise lambing. Following tupping during October, the ewes remain outside until 6 to 8 weeks before lambing commences, at which point they are housed in a purpose-built shed at Sturgeons Farm. They lamb usually during early March (depending on the timing of Easter). Following lambing, weather dependent, the ewes and lambs are then turned out to graze.

Some lambs are sold off their mothers at approximately 12-14 weeks of age. Those that are not are then weaned at approximately four months and finished off grass in late summer/autumn, with concentrates only used if the summer grass is poor. At weaning the ewes are checked for reproductive health (udders & teeth) and any culls identified and sold. The aim for the finished lamb is to reach approximately 38-40kg liveweight (breed & sex dependent) to achieve a 20kg carcase at a fat class of 3L.

Upgrading the ewes to a single breed, and lambing in a very tight pattern, enables us to utilise the lambs for trial work. Students and staff have undertaken a variety of work over recent years, some examples of which are listed below.

• The effects of two different feeding regimes on ewe body condition, colostrum quality, lamb birth weight and lamb growth.
• A three breed comparison of dystocia and lamb vitality in lowland ewes on different feeding regimes
• Do feeding regime and ewe characteristics influence the immunoglobulin and protein content of colostrums and subsequent lamb survival?

The unit is reflective of typical commercial practice in lowland Britain and as such enables students to learn about and participate in the management of the flock. All routine tasks, such as worming and foot-trimming are carried out by (supervised) students. Shearing is undertaken by a contractor (& normally happens outside term time) but keen students are welcome to learn.

There is an opportunity for students to get involved with less routine tasks such as sponging the ewes, watching them being scanned for pregnancy and most importantly to actually get involved in the lambing season. Students are permitted to sit-up with the ewes and all students undertake a simulated lambing exercise beforehand to enable them to do so effectively.

Plans for the future include expanding the flock numbers slightly and undertaking more focused research for commercial companies including vitamin supplement and anthelmintic resistance trials. The lamb will also be marketed as high-value, branded freezer packs where possible.

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Turkeys

• 150 free-range birds with plans to increase
• Part of the Kelly Turkeys franchise
• Customers collect birds from the farm in time for Christmas

The partnership with Kelly Turkeys is a new enterprise for Christmas 2010, starting with a modest 150 birds with plans to increase this in the future. Kelly's supply the birds and feed and do all processing as well as providing advertising and signage. We deal with bird rearing, orders and sales. The turkeys are housed in the farm lambing shed, allowing an extra use from a building which used to stand empty for long periods.

Working with a successful company such as Kelly's raises the profile of the College and allows our students insight into how the business is run. For example, it is hoped hatchery tours and projects investigating how the franchise works will be carried out. The birds also show a specialised area of the farming industry which provides a useful income for many businesses, often making use of existing buildings and small areas of land.

Birds are sold at prices set by Kelly's with some orders taken via their website and others over the phone. They are high value birds being free range and reared to Kelly's high standards.

In the second year of the scheme, birds will be supplied as day old chicks allowing students to see the bird’s progress right through to a fully grown carcase.

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Conservation

• Over 1.5 km of hedgerows reinstated since 1990
• Reporting to national wildlife recording schemes since 1996
• Higher Level Stewardship farm since 2006

The need to balance efficient food production with the protection of our natural environment has never been higher on the national agenda. With this in mind, Writtle College is increasingly active in balancing farming with conservation.

The College estate has a wide range of habitat types all of which require careful management. The College has entered into a ‘Higher Level Stewardship’ agreement with Natural England under which key habitats are maintained so as to ensure the maximum benefit for wildlife. New interventions include flower-rich areas to provide nectar for insects and field corners planted with crops to produce seeds for wintering birds. The establishment of these wildlife-friendly options will also provide opportunities in the future for research into their effectiveness.

As part of the College’s ongoing commitment to conservation, the general state of wildlife on the estate is assessed every year through a wide-ranging programme of surveys undertaken by both staff and students. Insect populations have been monitored every year since 1996 and more recently introduced surveys include those for bats and birds. This information usually feeds into local or national monitoring schemes, making Writtle College an important contributor to our broader understanding of the environment. Using this data, the value of the farmed areas to wildlife can also be assessed over time.

The estate provides opportunities to demonstrate how agriculture and conservation can be practised alongside each other. Research has considered the effect of margins on butterfly populations, the diversity of dragonfly species and the use of field edges by small mammals. A number of papers have been published as a result. In terms of research, the College also partners the commercial sector and an ongoing project with a large commercial producer is assessing the value to birds of various winter seed crops.

Some recent examples of conservation research relevant to the farming sector include:

• Summer use of game cover crops by farmland birds: a study of crop type and adjacent habitat on abundance and diversity
• The role of field margins in the future of farming
• A study of butterflies on farmland
• The British farmer...wildlands greatest opponent or its future manager?
• A behavioural study of the Meadow Brown butterfly Maniola jurtina conducted on arable field margins
• Effects of climate change on the macro-moth populations at the Writtle College estate
• What affects the uptake of farmers into agri-environmental schemes in the Essex/Cambridge area?

A new reservoir was created on the College estate in 2008 and this has complemented the other habitat types present on the estate with new bird species being reccorded. Staff and students are actively involved in the design and maintenance of new features around the new reservoir.

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Soils

The resilience of soil is a function of soil type, structure, climate and use. Soil determines a number of factors on the farm: types of machinery used and timing of cultivations, suitability of the crop grown and the movement of farm livestock. The soils on the Writtle Estate vary in terms of moisture retention and drainage, workability and land use capability, with textures that consist largely of loams, clays and gravels, characteristic of north-west Essex.

The Loams
A number of fields have a silt loam topsoil over a silty clay loam subsoil (Hamble Series). These soils are well drained and have a large available water capacity meaning that the soils are suited to growing arable crops.

The Clays
These soils fit into either the chalky boulder clays (Hanslope and Stretham Series) or the non-chalky boulder clays (Oak and Hornbeam Series). Both types have a moderate available water capacity, but they vary from moderately well drained to imperfectly drained, where waterlogging may occur. These soils can restrict the choice of crops grown.

The Gravels Fields containing gravel soils have variable texture and are generally well drained. They have a limited available water capacity and although easily worked, they are droughty areas and may require additional irrigation or crops may suffer.

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Map of Estates