Clarence Calderwood appointed General Manager of United Feeds

Clarence will be responsible for leading the business, which is part of Dale Farm, the largest UK farmer-owned dairy cooperative.

With production facilities in Belfast and Dungannon, United Feeds manufactures blended and compound feeds for the ruminant sector, as well as selling fertiliser, calf milk replacers, silage inoculants and oxygen barriers.

Clarence previously held the roles of Sales Representative and Sales Team Leader for east of Northern Ireland within the business, before taking up the role of Sales Manager in 2013.

Welcoming Clarence’s appointment, Keith Agnew, Managing Director, Agri Division at Dale Farm said: “Clarence has a wealth of experience having worked in the industry since 1994 and is well known by producers across Northern Ireland. As the business continues to grow, Clarence will play a key role in developing the team and building on the strong reputation United Feeds has for high nutritional standards and excellent customer service.”

Clarence Calderwood, General Manager, United Feeds added: “It is an exciting time for me to take up this new role within the business. Recent investments have enabled us to expand the business, and I look forward to continuing that growth. With unusual weather events, global market volatility and of course sustainability concerns, these are challenging times for producers. Working directly with farmers, our team has solutions that are delivering both improved production efficiency and sustainability gains.”

Profile feature – Clarence Calderwood, General Manager, United Feeds

Following his appointment as the new General Manager at United Feeds, we caught up with Clarence Calderwood to discuss some of the key challenges facing the feeds sector, the role the sector has to play in reducing carbon emissions on-farm, and his ambition for the company going forward.

United Feeds employs some 70 people and is part of Dale Farm, the largest UK farmer-owned dairy cooperative. With production facilities in Belfast and Dungannon, United Feeds manufactures blended and compound feeds for the ruminant sector, as well as selling fertiliser, calf milk replacers, silage inoculants and oxygen barriers.

“First and foremost though, we provide a comprehensive back up service to our customers with a particular focus on ensuring the nutritional needs of the animals and soil are fully met,” Clarence says.

Clarence has over 30 years of experience in the feeds industry, starting out as a Sales Representative with William Craig (NI) Ltd in Kilrea after finishing his studies at Greenmount Agricultural College in 1994. United Feeds was formed in 2001 as part of a Joint Venture with Andrews Holdings and United Dairy Farmers, with United Dairy Farmers taking full ownership of the business in 2009.

Before being appointed General Manager earlier this year, Clarence held roles within the business as Sales Representative, Team Leader for the East of Northern Ireland and Sales Manager.

Having seen the business grow in that period, Clarence reflects that the same principles of excellent customer service and quality production standards are key to the company’s

success. “As a Sales Representative I got to spend a lot of time with beef, dairy and sheep farmers across Northern Ireland, identifying the solutions that are best suited to their farm businesses and ensuring the nutritional needs of their livestock are met. That cooperative ethos of working directly with producers is key for us at United Feeds and we work with all customers on a very personalised basis. We get to know our customers, and what works for them.

“It’s an exciting time for me to take up this new role within the business. Recent investments have enabled us to expand, and I look forward to continuing further on that journey. We have a great team of people here at United Feeds. Looking ahead we want to build on our strong reputation for both personal customer service and high nutritional standards as we take the business forward.

“It remains a challenging time for producers and across all sectors farmers have felt the effects of volatile global markets and unusual weather events. One of the major long term challenges facing livestock farming is also of course sustainability and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There is an expectation from government, customers and consumers that as an industry we play our part.

“United Feeds is already well ahead not only in making our production and sourcing more sustainable, but also in providing solutions for producers to lower their carbon footprint at farm level. We were the first to introduce protected urea fertiliser in Northern Ireland which is delivering reductions in greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, while maintaining production efficiency. Our reduced protein diet solutions are improving fertility and bringing environmental gains while at the same time not impacting overall yield. It is a challenging journey for the industry, but we are working to help farmers on this path, making their farm businesses more efficient and more sustainable.”