Email or call us 01621 773883
Email or call us 01621 773883
Dengie is a farmer-owned co-operative based in Essex
Founded in 1968 as a farmer’s cooperative, Dengie Crops Ltd is still run today with the same ethos of supporting the local farming community. We grow our own lucerne as well as sourcing from other local suppliers, helping to keep our ‘feed miles’ low and providing the best traceability possible – every bale of our lucerne can be traced back to the field it was grown in.
Dengie pioneered the use of precision drying techniques in the UK to conserve the nutritional quality of lucerne. This drying process – unlike traditional sun-drying techniques used to make hay – allows our lucerne to be harvested much earlier, making it more digestible and higher in energy and natural nutrients. This means our lucerne is consistently clean with very low levels of dust and mould, making it ideal for the modern, high-performance dairy goats, dairy or beef cows, and finishing cattle.
Why Feed Lucerne to Ruminants?Lucerne is a natural source of protein and has been part of animal rations for millennia. Now, with modern species, dehydration and homogenization, lucerne, whether baled or pelleted, is an essential addition to any diet.
Fibre is vital for the health of the ruminants’ digestive systems, and we believe that everyone should “think fibre first” with their ruminant’s diets. Not only is fibre an important source of energy for the ruminant, it also makes the stomach work more efficiently and keeps it in the correct acidic range. Lucerne provides high levels of digestible fibre and is an excellent source of slow-release energy, plus contains naturally occurring vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
As a source of quality fibre, you can feed lucerne to ruminants without diluting the diet like some other sources of fibre, such as straw. Lucerne is a natural buffer and is the smart choice when feeding large quantities of cereals, maize silage and, especially, wet or acidic silages.
The Dengie philosophy is to create the best and healthiest feeds we can. Dengie employs qualified nutritionists to work with farmers to get the best from their stock. We also work with agronomists to develop our crops, so they are even more nutritious for your animals – we are in the enviable position of being able to influence our feed right from the seed!
Our commitment to the nutritional care and well-being of animals will always be the main reason you can rely on Dengie.
At Dengie we are proud of our connection with the land and we are always mindful that we need to grow our crops as sympathetically as possible both for the benefit of our customers and to ensure the future sustainability of what we do. There are a number of organisations that Dengie are accredited with as part of our commitment to quality.
We are proud to be working with the following charities to help conserve and protect not just the British countryside, but also the Earth’s rainforest communities.
