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The Peter Pan of the animal-feed world

4th February 1984
Page 30
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Page 30, 4th February 1984 — The Peter Pan of the animal-feed world
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IF J. M. Barrie was alive today he might be surprised by the grain vehicles that trundle around Kirriemuir in Angus. It's the town where he wrote about Peter Pan, and the elf-like character is used by Hamlyn Milling as a brand name for its range of animal feeds and as a symbol on the sides of its vehicles.

Animal feed manufacturing has grown considerably in the past decade and with it a closer trading relationship with the stock farming fraternity.

Like all flourishing provender businesses Hamlyn Milling has achieved its trading position by keeping pace with computerised manufacturing methods, mod ern transport and bulk handling techniques.

The company, which belongs to the Hanson Trust, sprang from the merger in 1977 between Angus Milling and Hamlyn and controls three separate milling operations.

Its plant in Kirriemuir links up with two others in lnverurie, Aberdeenshire and Scone near Perth. Together they provide animal feed for a widespread dairy and arable farming community over a large area north of the River Forth.

In addition to animal feeds, the mill also processes the company's own range of grass, clover and cereal seeds as well as large tonnages of malting barley and feed grains.

Most of commodities are bought direct from the farmers with whom it deals.

Hamlyn Milling also supplies to farmers a number of minerals and vitamin blocks from BP, Carnation and Coburn. And its business relationship with the farmers is further strengthened by factoring leading brands of fertilisers and agrochemicals.

The company's business is so diverse that its fleet of 25 bulkcarrying vehicles can't cope with the tonnages being handled. Yet rather than expand its own transport fleet it prefers to hire vehicles in from local contractors, particularly those with blower equipment, Hamlyn's fleet is predominantly Daf although it does have a number of older AECs and Seddon Atkinsons. Both have given sterling service in the past but the company, which has tried Volvo too, is more impressed with the Dafs' reliability and more reasonably priced and accessible spare parts.

Hamlyn's trading position and the high transport costs dictate that its vehicles should be able to carry animal feedstuff, grain or bagged loads. Consequently most of its own vehicles and those that are hired-in are fitted with blower equipment, some with fold-down sides.

In the words of its director Colin Mitchell, "the name of the game is return loads", and by using dual-purpose bodied trucks he tries to ensure that, where possible, grain purchases coincide with the deliveries of animal feed or bagged fertilisers.

One of Hamlyn's latest vehicles is a particularly versatile semi-trailer supplied and equipped by Bulkmobile of Peterborough.

Redment Engineering of Braintree in Essex built the 10m (33ft) body on a tandem-axled Haynor trailer chassis. It is a selfcontained 35cum (1,248cuft) capacity bulk body with tipping facility.

A Perkins 4236 Series watercooled four-cylinder diesel engine provides the power take-off to drive the auger situated in the floor and the blower equipment. This is a Wade VR 142/14 positive displacement roots type blower, which is capable of operating against pressure up to 960mbar (14psi).

The auxiliary engine's pt-o also provides hydraulic power for the Hyva tipping gear mounted at the front of the semitrailer, which allows the vehicle to be used as a conventional tipper.

Where this bulk mobile body really excels is by having a three-compartment body, each section of which has sides that fold inwards. Once the top section has been folded under, the compartments lie flush with the body floor to provide a strong platform on which palletised loads can be stacked. For tipping, the two partitions hinge backwards when the airoperated locks are released.

By dividing the body up this way, the operator can carry mixed loads of different grades of animal feedstuffs or grain. Part loads of bagged commodities can be collected without disturbing sections of palleted feed.

When the company refurbished Balgarvie Mill in 1979 (at

a cost of over f1/2m) it computerised the entire milling operation to make it one of the most modern and efficient in the country. There is a store of 75 different recipes or feed mixes, all scientifically formulated and ranging from calf pellets to breakfast oats for the table.

Indeed, one of the mixes has earned Hamlyn Milling a Royal warrant to manufacture feed for the Queen's deer herds at Balmoral and the company proudly displays the award at the plant.

In the Balgarvie mill's control room the taped recipes are fed into the computer, which controls the entire milling operation.

An illuminated progress board is linked to the computer and indicates through lights the various stages of milling. These begin at the feeding of the various ingredients in precise quantities into the mixers. A digital readout registers the measures in kilogrammes. After the mixing process, the compound is converted into pellets, cubes or meal, and then allowed to cool before being bagged ready for delivery to the customer.

Balgarvie Mill, Scone is in the heart of some of Scotland's finest farmland. It is also close to some fairly good trunk routes that run in all directions and it has the added bonus of Perth's harbour, which is only a couple of miles away, down on the Tay. It's from here that Hamlyn collects some of its fertilisers, ag rochemicals, gluten and maze.

Mr Mitchell was reluctant to disclose the mills' output, saying only that since the modernisation nearly four years ago the company has enjoyed a rapid increase in demand for its animal feeds.

"Our trade has weathered the recession" he said "and because the mill has exceeded its targets we shall increase the mill's capacity still further".

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Organisations: US Federal Reserve
Locations: Perth

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