Ruminant
Farming in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and the south west? Our team of animal feed specialists advise on cattle, sheep and poultry feed, manufactured and distributed throughout Devon and the west country.
Our specially developed range of animal feeds are nutritionally balanced to provide all the animal nutrition benefits necessary to keep your stock healthy and productive.
Feed Production
Our mill manufactures any diet within reason. Our mill produces feed for small or larger businesses.
Cow Management
Our focus team are all members of the Register of Mobility Scorers, available to score your herd regularly.
Ancillary Products
Milk powders, Silage inoculants, Fertilisers and soil conditioners, Grass Seeds and other products.
Nutrition
Progressive nutritional approach
At CMC our nutritionists continue to progress, utilising the latest nutritional software, combined with a proactive and innovative approach to all farms.
Practical backgrounds
Our nutritionists and feed specialists are from hands on farming backgrounds, either ownership or management. We pride ourselves in the ability to deliver advance practical solutions, relative to every farmers requirements.
A team of individuals
Every customer needs’ are specific and specialised, very similar to our teams background and knowledge that they can provide on the ground or over the phone. We can provide you with solutions to fit each individual scenario.
Feed Production
State of the art mill
Our state of the art mill is based in Crediton in heart the Devon. The facility which has been recently rebuilt is currently the most modern animal feed production facility in the UK. This enables high output levels, combined with quality production. We can produce rolls, nuts, pellets, meal and blends.
Bespoke diets
We understand that you as a customer have different requirements for your feeds. We are in the very fortunate position that we can manufacture any diet for any customer within reason. The way our mill has been built ensures that we are able to produce feed for both small businesses and larger multi unit sites. All our feeds are fixed formulation and have been since 1964.
Mill History
There has been the mill on the site at Crediton since the 1700s. In 1964 Crediton Milling Company was founded to supply animal feed to local farmers. Since then it has continued to grow under the stewardship of the Gulley family, with the 4th generation now working in the mill. The founding principles which still apply today are:
- Better rations
- More value for money
- A higher degree of service
Modern delivery fleet
Getting your feed on farm, on time, whatever the weather is imperative. We have a large modern fleet which combines many lorry sizes to ensure that we can meet your requirements. With 3T minimum drop sizes on bulk feeds we can provide you with the service you need. We also deliver bags via our smaller curtain side lorries and trucks.
Cow Management
Locomotion/Mobility scoring
Our focus team are all members of the Register of Mobility Scorers and are available to score your herd on a regular basis. These results can be used to improve lameness and productivity, but also used for your milk buyer as part of their quality assurance scheme. We provide results in graphical form and also provide individual cow lists for your foot trimmer, as well as tailor made advice on how to improve your lameness on farm.
Condition scoring
Our trained team will body condition score your cows, usually at the same time as mobility scoring. This enables both you and your CMC nutritionist to assess dietary effectiveness, also highlighting areas of improvement or potential future problems to ensure proactive intervention.
Costings
Costings are provided via a third party in this case Kingshay. Monthly costings are provided free of charge for customers with the option of discounted upgrades enabling access to forage costings, herd health monitoring and full farm costings.
Fertility reviews
Fertility reviews are carried out using Dairy Comp 305. This provides useful insights into fertility performance. In conjunction with your vet a fertility plan will be provided to help improve herd performance and profitability. This service also allows you to get more out of your milk recording data and get a real handle on your dry cow management.
Cow signals
Our team are all Cow Signal trained and we have 2 CowSignals® Masters. Our years of practical experience is also supported by academic qualifications. The team can help you understand the reasons behind what you are seeing on farm, letting your cows tell us what the pinch point on farm is.
Performance review
This is a combination of all the above services, providing you with a report that covers not only the financial but physical performance of your unit. It highlights key areas of improvement, thus enabling you to prioritise and target your investments to ensure the biggest return.
CMC fully acknowledge the dramatic changes British agriculture has undergone in recent years.
Technological advancements have made a significant impact but there still never seems to be enough hours in the day.
You will be pleased to hear that help is at hand.
Kyrin Wiggins and Sarah Cann are the integral part of our Ruminant Focus Team which provides high quality support to our team by carrying out a diverse range of technical services on farm.
Their efforts are targeted to improving herd health and performance by measuring and monitoring, assisting with statutory recording and providing support to our valued customers.
We are constantly being told about the importance of attention to detail on farm and Kyrin and Sarah provide a calm, subjective, consistent approach to the time-consuming jobs that are all too often delayed for another time in place of something more pressing.
Kyrin and Sarah both come from working family dairy farms and are competent stockwomen sharing a real passion for cows.
They are trained to come on to farm and carry out the following services:
- Body Condition Scoring
- Locomotion Scoring (trained to accommodate various scoring systems)
- Dairy Costings
- Interherd reports
- Calf Weighing
Kyrin Wiggins.
Kyrin Wiggins.An early start this morning as I take my dog pack out for a quick walk before heading off to my first farm of the day. I arrived at Farm One at 5:30am, in time for the start of morning milking. I am there until 10:30am so that I can locomotion and body condition score the cows during milking time or as the cows go out to grass.
Then off to Farm Two. I tend to group farms together on their location so that I avoid travelling from Cornwall to Somerset in the same day. Occasionally on Farm Two I walk amongst the cows whilst they’re grazing and score them outside, however, it isn’t the greatest job (or particularly easy) when it’s raining – typical British weather!
Then onto Farm Three. I try and see a robot farm third as the cows are normally housed and if I’m behind or ahead of my appointments for that day, robot farms are typically a bit more flexible. I walk quietly amongst the robot herd, scoring each cow.
I do also score some farms during their afternoon milking or as the cows come in for milking from grazing.
Then it’s the journey home.
However, work isn’t finished as the scores I’ve taken for the day need to be typed up into reports and emailed back to the farmers and the CMC Feed Specialist responsible for that farm. There are usually plenty of jobs to do on the home farm and the dogs eagerly await their evening walk – there is no rest for the wicked!
If you would like to utilise any of the services mentioned in this article, please contact the CMC Office on: 01363 772212 or contact your CMC Sales Representative
Forage
Soil sampling and Soil Fertility Review
We have a dedicated team of forage specialists; they are there to help you get the most out of your grassland and cropping. Soil samples are the basis of understanding what is going on in your soil. These range from standard soil samples to in-depth analysis looking at the physical, biological and chemical aspects of your soil.
Soil samples should be carried out every four years as part of a programme. The soil fertility review looks at individual fields. Our experts will dig some soil pits and produce a report guiding you as to which remedial action is required.
Fertiliser Plans
Our BASIS and FACTS qualified advisers will assess your farm and produce a fertiliser plan. As a result, this will maximise the use of your organic manures and target the use of inorganic fertilisers. We work closely with each farmer to ensure compliance. Tailored plans will recognise crops that are grown for feedstuffs and highlight any trace or macro elements.
NVZ reports
For those of you who are within an NVZ, we offer reports that will ensure you are compliant with the regulations.
Forage Budgets and monitoring
Growing enough quality forage to ensure your cows reach performance aspirations is vital. Putting together a forage budget allows you to see any potential shortfalls and think about alternative cropping. Our team will monitor this cut by cut, helping you with your decision-making process throughout the season. We work with you through the grazing season. We provide a bespoke grazing wedge programme or satellite monitoring, to guide you through the tricky balance of maximising storage performance and maintaining overall milk yields and quality.
Sward Assessment and Reseeding Plans
Knowing which fields to reseed, which fields to overseed and to leave is not an easy task. We will walk your farm with you to help asses which fields we can prioritise. This will ensure you maximum return on your spend. We can also recommend seed mixtures and alternative cropping to maximise dry matter yield on your farm.
Ancillary Products
Milk Powders
For over 25 years, Britmilk has specialised in calf, lamb and kid milk replacers. With our extensive range of Milk Replacers including Skim based and Whey based products we have a product suitable for all systems and budgets.
Britmilk milk replacers are the result of many years expertise and experience coupled with the constant aim of producing the finest milk products to feed to young calves and lambs.
Rearing calves successfully is probably the most difficult enterprise on any dairy farm or specialist calf rearing unit.
Britmilk Calf milk replacers are formulated to produce low osmolarity powders. Quality oils/fats are fully homogenised, this is when liquid fats/oils are mixed with skim or whey to create fat molecules of less than 2 microns in diameter which are then encapsulated in milk solids and spray dried at low temperature. This process results in less free fat in calf milk and leads to greater digestibility.
All Britmilk calf milk powders contain the health package Bio-Start which contains probiotics to seed the gut with beneficial bacteria. prebiotics in the form of mannan sugars derived from yeasts to mop up pathogenic bacteria and viruses and absorb mycotoxins. Specific proteins are present which help to prevent bad bacteria and viruses from attaching to the gut lining and thus reducing damage and leading to improved feed efficiency. Calcium butyrate is added to stimulate gut health.
Many of our calf milk powders contain Biocox as standard and with some it is a option. Biocox is a blend of essential oils and plant extracts with its primary role to control the growth of undesirable organism and also enhance the immune system.
Additionally many of our milks contain Nature-Boost as standard. Nature-Boost is a complex combination of natural products to stimulate the immune system to help fight disease. It helps to open the airways for removal of harmful bacteria from the lungs. It also increases the inhibition of harmful bacteria within the gut and airways.
Silage inoculants
https://www.chr-hansen.com/en/animal-health/cards/product-cards/silosolve-fc-eu
Fertilisers and soil conditioners
https://www.Openfield.co.uk/members/fertiliser
Grass Seeds
https://www.germinal.co.uk/products/agricultural-grass-mixtures/
Other Products
https://cawoodscientific.uk.com/nrm/services/agriculture
https://lallemandanimalnutrition.com/en/united-kingdom-ireland/our-products/species/forage
Bespoke blends and precision TMR meals
In addition to our compound feeds we also manufacture bespoke blends and precision TMR meals to fit all farm requirements.
We also supply minerals and milk powders chosen by our specialist team in association with carefully selected suppliers.
Our ethos ensures the service and support behind those products is to the highest standard.