Rings receive EUboost

30 July 1999




Winning sheep showers solution to dip disposal

Key events at this years

Royal Welsh event included

the shows annual New

Ideas competition.

Robert Davies reports

APPROPRIATELY in a country with 12m breeding sheep, the award for a machine likely to be of most benefit to Welsh farming went to a sheep shower.

It was fitting too that the Dr Alban Davies trophy was won by a Welsh manufacturer for a piece of equipment that is already in such demand that customers have to join a waiting list.

Glyn Thomas, managing director of David W Thomas, Newtown, Powys, concedes that there is nothing new in the principle of using a shower to control sheep ectoparasites; his father marketed one several decades ago.

But, because it must comply with changed health and safety and dip chemical disposal regulations, the recently updated prize winning 1999 version is very different from its predecessors.

The soaking system is unchanged. Sheep are held in an enclosed area until saturated, rather than walking through a spray race, as happens with other machines.

"We have made modifications that further minimise the risk of contact between the operator and dangerous chemicals," Mr Thomas says. "The old shower also required a tank full of chemical to operate, but this model can deliver the correct amount of chemical with little more than the volume contained in the plumbing."

This means that the operator is left with only 45 litres of spent dip chemical to dispose of – rather than the more usual 1000 litres or more.

He adds that the shower is also truly mobile and can be operational within minutes of arriving on a site.

Users include contractors, individual farmers and groups. The basic model costs £4950. &#42

Over-50s at more risk of accidents

AGRICULTURAL accident fatalities in Wales increased from five to eight in the last year and all the victims were aged over 50. Many older experienced people were also injured, possibly as a result of familiarity and complacency, or over confidence.

David Mattey, the HSEs chief agricultural inspector, told a Royal Welsh Show press conference that under some circumstances the risks to granddads could be higher than to children.

"Many deaths and injuries were the result of taking avoidable risks, perhaps through lack of planning, rushing to do jobs, or using the wrong equipment," he says. Mr Mattey is also worried about the consequences of poor vehicle handling on steep Welsh hill land.

"The predominance of family run farms in Wales, where everyone from children to those who were over retirement age might be expected to help out, could mean higher risk levels," he says.

The HSE has now planned a campaign to make farmers wives more aware of dangers faced by other members of their families.

Welsh versions of HSE safe driving on slopes advice and training pack will be made available, and the campaign is be taken to colleges and farming organisations.

Terry Rose, HSE regional director for Wales and the Southwest, says the development of partnerships within the industry and awareness raising initiatives were part of a broad campaign of education, formal inspection and enforcement. &#42

Rings receive EUboost

WALESS three booming machinery rings have obtained £320,000 of EU funding to improve the service they provide for farmers.

The cash, which is being match funded by the Welsh Office and Welsh Development Agency, will be used to employ more field officers and to upgrade and integrate the computer hardware and software used by the rings.

When the award was announced at the Royal Welsh Show Graham Perkins, manager of the Machinery Ring of West Wales, the first to be formed in Wales, said the money could not have come at a more appropriate time.

"Machinery sales figures show how just how tough it is for individual farmers to replace the equipment they need to farm as efficiently as possible," he says. "In the past, machinery syndicates allowed people to share capital costs but the formality of the agreements caused problems.

"Rings avoid these by not owning machines and using a manager and database to match a user who needs a machine but cannot justify the cost of buying it, with a supplier who has the tackle and wants to recoup some of the investment.

"Interest at the show has been phenomenal. Farmers have taken away our literature, read it, and returned to pay their £50 annual subscription. Manufacturers and contractors also see that they can benefit from supplying machines and services to rings."

They are not telling farmers not to buy equipment but just helping them to get a return for the money they spent.

The value of Welsh machinery rings as non-profit making service providers would be enhanced by co-operation. &#42

Highly commended in the Royal Welsh New Ideas competition was this automatic electric fencer unit from Reel Rider.


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