Farmers Guardian articles from April 2003

Farmers Guardian archives from April 2003

Merger to speed beef payments.
April 4, 2003... DEFRA MINISTERS have taken steps to avoid future embarrassments over late beef subsidy payments by merging the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The move, welcomed by the industry, comes as the...

Brassica Uzbekistan.
April 4, 2003... Mahrabo Yatgarova and Ayniso Achilova, visitors from Uzbekistan who have come to England to learn about rural diversity, discover the delights of cabbage with farmer Neville Gwillam on his Worcestershire farm. The visit, sponsored by...

French hammered by record EC fine.
April 4, 2003... FRANCE'S reputation for flouting EU competition rules ended this week, when its farm unions became the first in Europe to be fined by the European Commission. The 16 million euro (#11 million) punishment was imposed for a scheme masterminded by...

Weight error: pig farmers to receive compensation.
April 4, 2003... COMPENSATION of up to #22,000 is being paid to about 100 UK pig farmers following the discovery of what has been termed a `slip-up' in the marketing department of Cranswick Country Foods. The company is a prime pork processor and...

French farm unions are fined for illegal beef ban.
April 4, 2003... FRANCE'S reputation for flouting EU competition rules ended this week when its farm unions became the first in Europe to be fined by the European Commission. The fine of E16 million (#11 million) was imposed for a scheme masterminded by...

Talks bring fallen stock scheme closer.
April 4, 2003... VITAL talks are scheduled for next week that could bring a national fallen stock collection scheme a step closer. With the ban on burying fallen stock now less than a month away, there at last appears to be a glimmer of hope that a carcase...

Pesticides plans due to be launched.
April 4, 2003... FOOD and Farming Minister Lord Whitty was due to launch the new Crop Protection Management Plans at NFU headquarters yesterday. The management plans are a key part of the Voluntary Initiative being developed by the industry as an...

Miscanthus harvest opens new production line.
April 4, 2003... A SUFFOLK farmer's harvest of miscanthus opened a new production line on Monday - with the help of funding from DEFRA. Brian Rutterford, of Eldon Farm in Mildenhall, has received Rural Enterprise Scheme funding of #159,000 towards a storage...

Deal makes Grainfarmers UK's leader.
April 4, 2003... THE UK grain-marketing arm of Dalgety Arable is to be bought by Grainfarmers, in a deal which will make Grainfarmers the largest UK grain marketing business. Effective from April 30, the deal sees Dalgety entering into an ex-farm...

WTO talks: EU ready to stand up to States.
April 4, 2003... THERE was quiet satisfaction in Brussels over the failure of this week's World Trade Organisation talks in Geneva. The EU believes it has shown that it is ready to stand up to the United States, and is insisting that missing the March 31...

Merger means better farm gate prices and investment openings.(Express Dairies and Arla Foods )
April 4, 2003... BETTER farm gate prices and more investment opportunities for the co- ops should ultimately follow last week's announcement that Express Dairies and Arla Foods are to merge. NFU milk chairman Terrig Morgan said: "We have been saying for...

FFA slams move as a sickening betrayal.(Arla and Express merger)
April 4, 2003... Farmers For Action slammed the Arla/Express merger as a betrayal of British dairy farmers and warned that producers would now be heading back to the days of being price takers and not price makers as a direct result. "We are deeply...

Deal will be stabilising factor and benefit all - Davidson.(Express and Arla)
April 4, 2003... THIS is the deal the industry has been waiting for and if it is allowed to go through it will be a big stabilising factor in the market of benefit to all parties, according to Express Dairies chief executive Neil Davidson. Attributing the...

City greets dairies merger `positively'.(Arla and Express)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... THE proposed merger between Arla and Express was greeted positively in the City last week with an immediate uplift in Dairy Crest and Wiseman's share prices during the morning of the announcement. Dairy Crest's shares went up 5 per cent and...

Testing time for DEFRA over rule changes.(over thirty month rule)
April 4, 2003... DEFRA will have to demonstrate that it is capable of testing hundreds of thousands of extra animals for BSE each year before any major changes to the Over Thirty Months (OTM) Rule are made, the Food Standards Agency has indicated. The...

Calls to minimise market disruption.(changes to the over thirty month rule)
April 4, 2003... THE red meat industry is urging DEFRA to ensure that any changes made to the OTM rule do not cause undue disruption to the beef market. The FSA will make its recommendations to Ministers in July and it is then up to DEFRA to make the final...

Hoof and hook.(new prize at Royal Show)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A new `hoof and hook' commercial beef class is being introduced at this year's Royal Show. The new class, which has prize money of #6,500 from Anglo Beef Processors (ABP) and Sainsbury's, will combine live and carcase judging. Prizes are on...

DEFRA comes under fire for `unbalanced' TB control policy.
April 4, 2003... DEFRA has again been accused of taking too narrow an approach in the fight against bovine tuberculosis after it announced that affected farmers face further movement restrictions this autumn. From September 30, all herds with an overdue TB...

Corporate post.(National Farmers Union appointment)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The former chairman of United Milk, Richard Ashworth has been elected as the new chairman of NFU Corporate, to succeed Robin Pooley, chairman of English Apples and Pears. Mr Ashworth has more than 30 years farming experience, and for the past...

Wind inquiry.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A public inquiry has been ordered into an application by United Utilities for an offshore windfarm in South Wales. More than 3,100 objections have been made to the Welsh Assembly against what would be 30 wind turbines off the coast to the west...

TB toleration is an unacceptable risk.(bovine tuberculosis)
April 4, 2003... TUBERCULOSIS could be the next farm-based food scare waiting in the wings, said Richard Sibley, chairman of the British Cattle Veterinary Association. Incidence of the bovine form of the disease, which is potentially transmissible to...

EBLEX on line.(English Beef and Lamb Executive)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A NEW permanent website with more information about the newly formed English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) will be on line from next Monday (April 7).The site - at www.eblex.org.uk - will contain regularly updated market prices as well as...

`Shopping list' to beat disease.(bovine tuberculosis)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... DEFRA will shortly be presented with a major `shopping list' of measures the industry sees as essential for the control and eventual eradication of bovine eradication. This stems from last week's pan-industry conference on the need for an...

MTR talks: Finnie pledges to fight Scotland's corner.(mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy)
April 4, 2003... THE Scottish Parliament may have been dissolved, pending the election on May 1, but ministers still retain their respective responsibilities. Ross Finnie, the rural development minister, in his last media briefing made it clear that he...

Countryside event set for launch.(Calendar)
April 4, 2003... PLANS are well under way for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society's new autumn event - Countryside Live! Held in the Yorkshire Event Centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground, it is aimed at both farming and general visitors and takes place...

A forestry milestone.(National Forest )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A MILESTONE in the progress of The National Forest was achieved with the planting of the Forest's five millionth tree. The National Forest Company's chairman Viv Astling planted an oak tree donated by the Highways Agency on the forest boundary...

Debate on core reforms will end `phoney war'.
April 4, 2003... RICHARD WRIGHT'S VIEW FROM BRUSSELS EU Agriculture Ministers meet in Luxembourg next week, when they are finally due to debate the core issues of the Fischler CAP reform proposals - decoupling and modulation. To date the Commission has...

OPINION: Leader of the gang.(migrant labour)
April 4, 2003... The Parliamentary inquiry into the role of Gangmasters threatens to reveal a shady world which most reputable agriculturalists would rather not think about - a nether region of occasional employment, low pay and, suggest the unions, all the...

Action plan to curb illegal meat imports.
April 4, 2003... From next Friday (April 11), HM Customs and Excise will take responsibility for anti-smuggling controls on illegal imports of meat imported directly from outside the EU. A new action plan is being introduced that will include a new...

Letter: `Horsey-culturists' are root of the problem.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2003... After perusing the article in the Equestrian Section on ragwort with much interest (FG March 14) I cannot help overlooking the comments by the BHS with a tongue in cheek attitude. It has been seen that here on the Isle of Anglesey the...

Letter: Wind power well worth challenge.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2003... WOULD Charlotte Eddington (FG March 14) be so enthusiastic about wind turbines if these monstrosities were put anywhere near her home? There are very few wind turbines in England, south of Lancashire, east of Cornwall. A vast tract of...

Letter: False `green' image.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2003... WHY destroy our landscape for a false 'green' image? Various advocates of wind turbines, such as Charlotte Eddington (FG March 14), keep offering us opinions on wind energy, yet none of them ever offer us facts. The facts are that we in...

Letter: Supermarket code of practice.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2003... FARMERS and growers say that the supermarket code of practice, introduced about a year ago, has not improved the way supermarkets do business with them. Most are afraid to complain in case contracts are cancelled. Apparently many are not even...

Letter: Countryside in decline.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2003... SEAN Rickard regularly emerges from his burrow of career-time security to attack the rural community, which includes we farming folk (FG March 14). It is tragic to see the 'countryside' in decline, particularly its maintenance, some of...

Letter: Dairy farmers all go.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2003... HAVING lived in Brooks most of my life since 1943, I have seen the dairy farmers all go. As children we took fresh milk in a large tin can to school early morning. The milk had only been cooled. The cows tested for TB. I do not remember...

Dairy farmers `biggest losers' on farm incomes.
April 4, 2003... With negotiations on CAP and WTO reform reaching crucial new stages, the Agra Europe conference in London on Monday heard topical speeches from EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler, and three Agriculture Ministers, including Margaret...

Iraq war `no excuse' for delay - Beckett.
April 4, 2003... DEFRA secretary Margaret Beckett warned Member States opposed to CAP reform, such as France, not use the war in Iraq as an excuse to delay progress on the talks. Mrs Beckett will meet other Agriculture Ministers to discuss the reforms in...

Bid to allay fears on modulation levels.(Franz Fischler's reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy)
April 4, 2003... EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler has attempted to allay fears that key elements of the UK's strategy for sustainable farming could be jeopardised by his plans to reform the Common Agricultural Policy. Speaking in London on...

`CAP: not a bargaining chip' in talks.(Joe Walsh on the Common Agricultural policy)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... THERE should be no reform of the Common Agricultural policy until September's on-going World Trade Organisation negotiations are complete, argued Irish Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh. Ireland is one of the leading opponents of the European...

Fischler hits out over WTO deadline failure.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... FRANZ Fischler hit out at the US in the wake of the failure to reach agreement on World Trade Organisation talks ahead of a major deadline. Dr Fischler said he regretted the failure to meet the March 31 deadline to agree on the...

YFC outrage over Beckett absence.(young farmers meetings in Rome)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... UK young farmers in Rome expressed their total outrage as UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Margaret Beckett failed to turn up at a key meeting held there. Julie Jones, chairman of Wales YFC's Rural Affairs...

Battleground: cash impact of CAP and WTO talks.
April 4, 2003... FARM leaders from the UK and Ireland have agreed to put aside their differences over decoupling and will instead focus on battling the Commission over the impact on farm incomes of CAP reform and the World Trade Organisation talks. The...

Chance for young entrants.(special provisions from the European Union)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... AGRICULTURE Commissioner Franz Fischler has told European young farmers he is prepared to make special provision for them in the mid term review CAP reform proposals - but only if he is certain that a majority of agriculture ministers will...

Welsh economy warning.(family farms)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... THE effects that European farm reform would have on agriculture was driven home in Wales this week at a series of Farmers' Union of Wales meetings with representatives of political parties contesting next month's Welsh Assembly elections. ...

Economy award.(LANCASHIRE County Council )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... LANCASHIRE County Council has been awarded the coveted Beacon Status in recognition of its work in Supporting the Rural Economy. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Show plea: isolation rather than 6-day rule.(animal movement restrictions)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... PLAID Cymru's Ceredigion MP, Simon Thomas, has tabled a House of Commons Early Day Motion calling on the Government to reduce animal movement restrictions to and from local agricultural shows. He wants the re-introduction of isolation as an...

QMS aim is to harness the expertise of the Scottish red meat sector.(Quality Meat Scotland )
April 4, 2003... Almost two years after it was established, during which time many in the livestock industry have questioned its merits, Quality Meat Scotland this week at last mapped out its strategic objectives at a conference in Carnoustie, Angus. It is...

Signing up to a #25m deal for Welsh lamb and beef.(VEN Group and St Merryn Foods)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... AN export deal for the supply of branded Welsh lamb and beef estimated to be worth over #25m has been signed in Amsterdam between the VEN Group and St Merryn Foods. The five-year contract, brokered by producer co-operative Welsh Lamb and...

Guide to `making the most' of diversification ideas.(Making the Most of Your Farm in Yorkshire: Ideas, Inspiration and Practical Tips' )
April 4, 2003... As part of a new initiative from the CLA in Yorkshire a new guide to diversification is now available for the Yorkshire and the Humber region. Entitled `Making the Most of Your Farm in Yorkshire: Ideas, Inspiration and Practical Tips' the...

Marketing initiative to boost farm tourism in Cumbria.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A group of farmer's wives has launched a new marketing initiative to boost farm tourism in North West Cumbria. The West Lakeland Holiday group, who pride themselves on providing excellent, traditional Cumbrian farmhouse accommodation on...

Sick of pay delays.(Welsh farmers)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... THE Farmers Union of Wales has reacted angrily to news that part of another vital payment to farmers will be delayed. "The situation has gone well beyond a farce," said Derek Morgan, chairman of the union's hill farming committee. "This is...

Probe into SRM rule breach.(beef imports from Ireland)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The Food Standards Agency is investigating breaches of Specified Risk Material controls involving failure to remove vertebral column from live cattle imported into the UK from the Republic of Ireland. In most EC member states, including the...

Put farming on terror alert - plea.
April 4, 2003... URGENT action to guard Britain's food supplies was called for this week following a decision by the United States to tighten security in its agricultural sector against a possible terrorist attack. The Farmers Union of Wales said it was...

EU cash drain concern.(Common Agricultural Policy)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A TOWN that is normally associated with its bracing seaside air is lobbying Euro MPs and the Government over the knock-on effect of changes to Europe's farm policy. Scarborough Council, whose territory includes many rural area outside the...

`Check access rights maps'.(Snowdonia and North-East Wales)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... RURAL business owners in northern Snowdonia and North-East Wales are being urged to check for errors in the draft maps of areas subject to the new right of access before next month's deadline. CLA Wales wants local farmers and landowners to...

Anger as confusion grows over fallen stock disposal.
April 4, 2003... WITH such vast areas of open grazing stretching across Mid Wales and more sheep than people, little wonder that farmers there are far from happy that in a few weeks time they could be prosecuted and fined heavily for doing what generations of...

Incineration: not just the cost but complying with all the conditions.
April 4, 2003... WHETHER or not a national collection scheme for fallen stock can be agreed, there are some people who would prefer to incinerate if they cannot bury. But buying an incinerator is one thing. Obtaining a licence and complying with the...

Agriculture's new image is on schedule.
April 4, 2003... A CROSS-industry campaign to improve the public's understanding of agriculture and horticulture - known as the Image of Agriculture campaign - is taking shape ahead of its official launch just before Easter. Contributions committed to the...

Cash for hedges, margins and advice.
April 4, 2003... COUNTRYSIDE Stewardship Applications are to be submitted by April 30 this year - a month earlier than usual. It is understood that the stewardship budget is unlikely to be filled, resulting in the majority of the applications submitted...

Diversification best-practice guide.
April 4, 2003... The North West Regional Assembly has just published its 'Farm Diversification in the North West - A Guide to Planning', the first of its kind in the country. The guide will be landing on the doormat of every farmhouse in the North West...

Late-pay cash pledge branded as `miserly'.
April 4, 2003... A WELSH Assembly promise that compensation would be paid during May to producers who received late payments under the various agri- environmental schemes and grants was "miserly", the Farmers Union of Wales said on Wednesday. "Even though...

Protect against powdery mildew.
April 4, 2003... OVERTAKEN by recent scares on yellow rust and septoria, powdery mildew has fallen down the rankings as the priority disease in wheat. But the popularity of susceptible varieties and the ever-present importance of achieving premium wheat crop...

Single pre-em mix cuts cost.
April 4, 2003... SUGAR beet and break crop growers could save substantial amounts of time and money without compromising weed control this spring by tank- mixing a high compatibility Roundup formulation with their pre-em herbicide spray, according to Monsanto...

`Red alert' for septoria in Scotland.
April 4, 2003... WHEAT growers are being advised to be on `red alert' following a rapid build-up of septoria in the Scottish wheat crop over the last few weeks. "The level of disease at this early stage of the season is already the highest for many years....

Strob resistance fear: back to convention.
April 4, 2003... FEARS of septoria strobilurin-resistance developing in crops are prompting advisers to revert back to conventional fungicides like chlorothalonil at T0 and T1 to ward off the disease and avoid problems later in the season, according to...

Critical time for leatherjacket damage.
April 4, 2003... DESPITE one of the lowest leatherjacket populations in recent years, growers across the country have been warned isolated pockets of infestations pose a real threat to spring crops. Figures from Dow AgroSciences' Pestwatch survey have...

New winter wheat has top yield claim.
April 4, 2003... NEW winter wheat variety Nijinsky is set to be launched by Nickerson this autumn. The result of crossing widely grown varieties Claire and Consort, it will be the highest yielding wheat available, yielding 4 per cent more than Claire and 6...

Strobs safety changes.
April 4, 2003... THE Pesticides Safety Directorate has announced its intention to make a number of changes to both the statutory conditions of use and to the product labels of strobilurin fungicides marketed in the UK. The move follows the recent...

New cyazofamid fungicide used in potato blight fight.
April 4, 2003... IN a bid to tackle blight, one of the biggest disease challenges in potato growing, a Cambridgeshire farmer has incorporated a new fungicide into his disease control programme. Philip Bradshaw, who recently became Cambridgeshire county NFU...

On-line warning service.
April 4, 2003... BLIGHTWATCH, the internet-based localised potato blight warning service will be starting its third year and going `live' on-line in mid-April. "Last year was one of the heaviest blight risk years for many years and BlightWatch really came...

Potatoes off to flier.
April 4, 2003... NEARLY three weeks of dry weather up to Monday has seen potato growers making rapid progress with planting in many parts of the country. The British Potato Council (BPC) now estimate that more than 17,200 hectares of potatoes are in the...

Glyphosate back-to-back mix advice.
April 4, 2003... A BACK-TO-BACK recommendation for mixing the glyphosate optimiser Hornet with the new glyphosate formulation Trustee Elite has been agreed by Interagro and Barclay Plant Protection. The new surfactant system in Trustee Elite has resulted in...

Crop monitor: Dry weather slows crop and disease growth.
April 4, 2003... Independent agronomists from FG's specialist, six-strong nationwide panel report on the progress and performance of combinable crops across the country and advise on management opportunities, threats and priorities. THE dry weather in the...

Foliar blight control: an alternative to tin.
April 4, 2003... TRIALS commissioned by BASF indicate that the company's blight fungicide Ranman TwinPack provides an effective alternative to tin- based products. According to BASF agronomy manager Phil Brown, trials conducted in Derbyshire,...

Fast-track to new wheat varieties.
April 4, 2003... ENVIRONMENT Minister Michael Meacher visited Thriplow-based plant breeder CPB-Twyford to see how fast-track conventional plant breeding techniques were bringing new wheats, with novel traits, to the market within just three to five years of the...

OSR growers warned of lodging risk.
April 4, 2003... THICK stands of lush, well-forward crops and good 2002 market prospects added up to a notably high lodging and harvest difficulty risk for many oilseed rape growers this season, UAP technical director Chris Bean has warned. And that put a...

Spanish milling market potential.
April 4, 2003... GROWERS should consider switching to producing Group 2 only wheats for export to Spain, according to Emma Jackson, HGCA technical marketing manager. "The crucial point is that with the new Group 2 varieties farmers do not need a premium to...

Show `going places' with Bingley Hall move.
April 4, 2003... THE 22ND NATIONAL HOLSTEIN SHOW - OFFICIAL PREVIEW Director of the National Holstein Show is Norfolk breeder Ken Proctor who would like to see the event become the best Holstein show in Europe. "Before foot-and-mouth it was certainly...

Right type breeding brings milk rewards.
April 4, 2003... The last National Holstein Show, held just days before the foot-and- mouth outbreak in 2001, saw a four-year-old, British bred cow from Mike and Shan Miller's Worcestershire-based Shanael herd take the supreme honours. LIZ FALKINGHAM visited...

Body capacity, strength and width are key characteristics.
April 4, 2003... Twenty years ago, Co. Antrim Holstein enthusiast Ian Montgomery used to attend the National Holstein Show as a spectator. In the nineties he was an exhibitor - winning the Premier Breeder trophy in both 1998 and 1999 with his Smiddiehill...

PAST NATIONAL CHAMPIONS.
April 4, 2003... Grantchester Heather 8 THE Nationals of the early Nineties were dominated by a single cow, Grantchester Heather 8, who scored a so-far unbeaten three-in-a-row, taking top honours under three separate North American judges in 1990, 1991 and...

Integrated recording adds `huge value' for British dairymen.
April 4, 2003... INTEGRATED herd recording has the potential to add a huge amount of value and interest for British dairymen while reducing the time and hassle involved in record-keeping, according to the Cattle Information Service. Previewing the concept to be...

National Holstein Show champions' roll of honour.
April 4, 2003... THE 22 National Holstein Shows to date have seen 18 cows carry off the supreme championship crown. Only two animals - Avondale Linmack Monogram and Somerford Falcon Primrose 5 - have achieved this feat more than once, and one alone -...

Pedigree dairy cattle prices hold up well.
April 4, 2003... HOLSTEIN cattle backed by novel quality assurances are attracting a good trade this spring, reports the Western Holstein Club. Prices of up to 4,000 guineas have been achieved already this year at the club's monthly sales with Wright Manley...