December 2009

Richard Phelps MD of Blade Farming wins prestigious McDonald's award

At the McDonald's UK technical supplier conference in November Richard Phelps collected the award for outstanding contribution to the sustainable beef supply chain project for all of the work and effort put in by the Blade Farming team.

The project involves carbon footprint measurements of the Blade beef units and utilizing unwanted Holstein bull calves from the dairy herd. While accepting the award Joy Clachan, Agriculture representative from McDonald's said "Richard and his team have achieved a great deal in 2009 and the Blade operation is key to our business in helping McDonald's delivering on future key objectives. So far this year Richard has engaged with stakeholders at agriculture events, identified good beef producers and generated some great case studies to show best practice, spread the McDonald's message and maximized opportunities for McDonald's through the media, supported McDonald's through the Compassion In World Farming beyond calf exports forum and lead changes within the supply chain."

"I am absolutely thrilled that Blade has won this award" explains Richard "Blade was a concept 10 years ago and now we are the leading light in UK beef production. The business is built around understanding our customers and where their businesses are going and converting this into best practice in beef production. Blade has come a long way since 1999 and we are going to continue our growth plan for 50,000 head in 2015. This award is a credit to the team behind Blade Farming."

October 2009

Business Opportunities for Dairy Farmers

This guide outlines the unique opportunities and benefits that Blade Farming SW can offer today's commercial dairy farmer.

Download Here [PDF - 580Kb]

August 2009

Aberdeen Angus Management guide

A detailed guide to producing young Aberdeen Angus cattle for the Blade scheme.

Download Here [PDF - 4Mb]

May 2009

Blade Star Sires

Blade Farming unveils scheme to boost dairy farmer incomes and to prevent the shooting of male calves at birth.

Read Full Story [PDF - 578Kb]

December 2008

Partners in Production

Read the latest edition of Southern Counties Fresh Foods Newsletter.

Download Here [PDF - 500Kb]

September 2008

Linden Foods joins Blade Farming

The Blade Farming production model is now being expanded into Northern Ireland with the
launch of Linden Livestock, as a part of Linden Foods.

Read Full Story [PDF - 1Mb]

July 2008

Read the latest edition of Blade News

Download Here [PDF - 1.8Mb]

June 2008

Competitive finished price contracts announced

New forward price contracts for all types of finished cattle have been announced by Blade Farming (SW) Ltd.

Read Full Story [PDF - 300Kb]

May 2008

Nigel and David Maidment, South West Calf Rearers

Father and Son team in Wiltshire expand their calf rearing enterprise as part of the Defra funded South West Calf Rearers group.

Read Full Story [PDF - 1.5Mb]

May 2008

Aberdeen Angus Scheme Update

The Blade Farming Aberdeen Angus scheme is gaining momentum. Read on to find out how you can be part of this unique scheme.

Read Full Story [PDF - 776Kb]

December 2007

Partners in Production - SCFF and Blade Farming Newsletter

Read the latest information about Blade Farming and Southern Counties FF in their December newsletter. Informative articles from other Business partners are also included.

Read Newsletter [PDF - 1.3Mb]

 

October 2007

Aberdeen Angus cross calves in demand for a unique finished price contract

Young calves wanted urgently! To fulfil the demands of our customers we need to buy more Aberdeen Angus calves.
 

Finishing contract

A limited number of places are available for this unique contract based on the meat quality Aberdeen Angus cattle. Cattle must be contracted by ear number, and must have at least one grazing period in their lifetime. 14 to 18 month old, 'R' grade cattle between 245 and 280 kgs dwt. can be sold finished on a fixed forward price contract of £2.25 / kg dwt.

Finishing places are limited, so please Contact Us if you are interested.

October 2007

South West Calf Rearers

Blade Farming SW has secured a Defra Farm Health Planning grant and it is being used to improve the standard of calf rearing in the South West. The 14 professional calf rearers who have the capacity to rear over 16,000 calves a year have joined together to form the South West Calf rearers. The group meet regularly to discuss issues with calf rearing on the units, and also invite specialists from within the industry to come to group meetings and share knowledge.

Read a testimonial from a Blade Farming Contract Calf Rearer. [PDF - 170Kb]
 

August 2007

Blade expands its calf rearing business

Our existing network of professional calf rearers are expanding their enterprises. Ben Moody is one our rearers in Devon and Cornwall who has put up two new sheds each to accommodate batches of 120 calves at a time. Two other rearers have undertaken similar developments with purpose built calf units and others too have plans to develop their sites. Throughput of calves this year should top 16000 as these new units come on stream.

At the same time we are working with our various partners in the supply business to continue to improve calf performance with attention to every detail. The dramatic expansion of the Blade calf rearing business has been facilitated by the quality of the calf rearers, the success of the Blade franchise finishing agreements and the unique funding package that Blade Farming provides for its Calf rearers.