Farmers Guardian articles from April 2008

Farmers Guardian archives from April 2008

Vaccination on track, but EU movement confusion.
April 4, 2008... INTERVET is on track to exceed its target for delivery of the bluetongue vaccine, expecting to provide more than 2 million doses to farmers in May. The news comes as the vaccine received approval from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate...

Vaccination gets under way as Europe takes its first deliveries.
April 4, 2008... VACCINATION against bluetongue is under way on the continent as farmers attempt to get to grips with the disease that has devastated livestock across Europe. France became the first country to roll out the vaccine this week as Merial...

VACCINE QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
April 4, 2008... WITH the announcement that the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has granted approval for Intervet's bluetongue vaccine, the animal health company answers the key questions surrounding the vaccine. 1. When will vaccine be available?...

Call for a crisis meeting.
April 4, 2008... AN industry-wide crisis meeting is being called for in Wales to consider the bluetongue threat and the use of vaccines. Farmers Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan is urging the Welsh Assembly to set up a gathering of agricultural...

`Defra is crippling my business'.
April 4, 2008... A DORSET farmer says his business has been devastated by Defra's `over- rigorous' bluetongue restrictions. Jim Shirley, from Higher Northfield Farm, near Beaminster, has a calf rearing unit that produces around 2,000 calves for the beef...

Tensions over levy spending resurface.
April 4, 2008... TENSIONS over how levy money will be spent under the new levy structure resurfaced this week as the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) became a reality. Last month, four livestock organisations sparked a major industry...

Changes for regulators.
April 4, 2008... THE Government's pesticides regulator, the Pesticides Safety Directorate, became an agency of the Health and Safety Executive on April 1. The move follows a decision to bring together several regulators as part of the Government's...

End of MLC but the hard work continues.
April 4, 2008... THE arrival of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) marks the end of the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC). Many of its services will continue through Eblex and BPEX in England, HCC in Wales and QMS in Scotland. ...

Defra launch new Soil Strategy consultation.
April 4, 2008... DEFRA has launched a consultation on protecting England's soils for the future through a new Soil Strategy. The strategy will aim to halt the loss of carbon in soils, to support habitats and biodiversity and to ensure England's soils are...

GM study prompts call for tighter rules.
April 4, 2008... A study by Danish and Swedish researchers has found that genetically modified seeds can survive in the ground for up to 10 years, prompting calls for the rules governing GM crops to be tightened. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Who pays for adult bovine collections and testing?
April 4, 2008... FARMERS have been warned they face a bill of #150 per beast under Defra plans to shift the cost of disposing of over-24-month cattle on to farmers. The proposal to pass on this #32million-a-year cost was outlined in a Defra consultation on...

RSPCA defends sacred cow decision.
April 4, 2008... THE RSPCA has claimed it has no case to answer over the killing of a sacred cow at Europe's largest Hindu temple. It was served with papers last week by monks at Bhaktivedanta Manor, Hertfordshire, accusing it of trespass to land and to...

Health and welfare costs consultation.
April 4, 2008... DESPITE reservations in Wales, a public consultation on sharing with the livestock industry the responsibility and costs of maintaining and improving animal health and welfare has been announced by the Welsh Assembly Government. "While I...

Farmers left `in limbo' over bovine TB.
April 4, 2008... THE group advising Defra on its animal health and welfare strategy (AHWS) has criticised Ministers for leaving farmers `in limbo' over bovine TB. The England Implementation Group said the on-going rise in bTB incidence was `immensely...

Badger groups fear `senseless slaughter'.
April 4, 2008... THE long-awaited Welsh Assembly bovine TB action plan is due to be unveiled next week - but already badger group supporters have been warning of `senseless slaughter'. Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones is scheduled to announce details of a...

Warning over `misleading' RSPCA lobbying campaign.
April 4, 2008... POLITICIANS in Westminster and Cardiff were being alerted this week to a `misleading' RSPCA lobbying campaign encouraging the public to use the society's website to send MPs and Welsh Assembly AMs a standard e- mail opposing badger culling. ...

US subsidies hurt UK biodiesel.
April 4, 2008... SUBSIDISED biodiesel from the United States is undercutting UK production and threatening the growth of the domestic industry, biofuel experts have warned. The US Energy Act of 2004 offers fuel processors a tax break of around 11p per...

Avian flu restrictions lifted in UK.
April 4, 2008... THE UK was free of avian flu restrictions this week for the first time since early January, after the Wild Bird Monitoring Area and associated disease control restrictions in place in Dorset were lifted. However, Defra has warned poultry...

Fischler calls for the CAP to re-address food security issue.
April 4, 2008... FORMER EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler has called for changes to be made to the Common Agricultural Policy to address the `biggest food crisis the world has faced since World War II'. He said the CAP must be used over the next 50...

Changes to Stewardship scheme to benefit some Moorland Line farms.
April 4, 2008... ABOUT 3,000 farmers in England will be affected by changes to the Environmental Stewardship scheme, which will now incorporate the Moorland Line. The change has been announced by Natural England, who say there are about 1,000 Environmental...

Serious fire at Morrisons abattoir.
April 4, 2008... A serious fire at Morrisons' `Woodhead Bros' abattoir at Turriff, Aberdeenshire, in the early hours of Wednesday morning is not expected to disrupt the supply chain. It is understood that beef and lamb are being contract killed elsewhere...

Farmers and hauliers must obtain certificate to transport livestock.
April 4, 2008... FARMERS and hauliers who do not hold a certificate to transport livestock more than 40 miles could be fined up to #20,000 or face imprisonment from May 1. EU regulation on the transport of live animals states that anyone moving horses,...

Hopefully common sense will prevail on vaccination.
April 4, 2008... Hopefully, if you have livestock, you will already have talked to your vet about ordering bluetongue vaccine. We have a short window in which we have a chance to get `at risk' animals vaccinated, and we want as many as possible vaccinated...

OPINION: Time to end TB impasse.
April 4, 2008... Two parallel stories of bovine TB have run side by side over the past decade. One, in full view of the public, has seen endless insults and arguments exchanged between politicians, scientists, badger lovers and the farming lobby over how the...

LETTER: Lords should look at why we need subsidies.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... I was rather alarmed to read that the House of Lords was calling for farm subsidies to go. Before making any rash statements, the House of Lords should research why farming needs subsidies. They should also note what has happened to...

LETTER: Overlooked effect of pesticides?(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... IN the light of numerous scientific reports linking pesticides and illness, it must surely be in the interests of the farming community to expose the truth. Pesticides are linked to diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzhiemer's, but effects...

LETTER: GM used in animal feeds for several years.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... SUZANNE Greenhill (FG, March 28) rightly pointed out that GM products benefit the manufacturers, though she may be right in that consumers may not want them. Yet we have all been eating them indirectly for some considerable time through...

LETTER: Too quick to dismiss the grouse option.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... I read Mike Keeble's very interesting article (FG, March 14) about the future options of a 10,000-acre moorland farm in the central Pennines. I just wonder whether he and his fellow advisers were too quick to dismiss the grouse option...

LETTER: Magnetised cold wind.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... Question: When does a cold wind feel far more bitter than it should? Answer: When it happens to be a markedly magnetised cold wind. Writing as a research worker of 20 years standing, it is my perception that this country was subjected...

Major farm labour shortage predicted.
April 4, 2008... BRITISH food producers are at risk of a major labour shortage according to Unite, the UK's biggest union for farmworkers. Addressing rural and agricultural workers in Cornwall, Unite national secretary Chris Kaufman issued a wake-up call to...

Campaign to improve standards for chickens.
April 4, 2008... ANIMAL welfare campaigners are calling on Tesco to `stop being rotten to chickens'. Supporters of the Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) campaign handed out `Compassionate Shopping Guides' outside three stores in Sheffield this week,...

#50m available for local food schemes.
April 4, 2008... FARMERS can apply for a slice of #50million under a new scheme to help them make locally-grown food more accessible to the public. The Local Food Scheme, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, will provide grants to help farmers get local schemes...

Organic debate `evidence' row.
April 4, 2008... THE Soil Association has hit back at claims that there is no reliable evidence to suggest eating organic food is better for you. It reacted to comments from the former Food Standards Agency chief, Lord Krebs, that there were no clear...

James Withers named the new NFUS chief executive.
April 4, 2008... NFU Scotland has appointed James Withers as its new chief executive. He has been deputy chief executive since 2005. Mr Withers, who will officially take up his new post on Monday, April 7, has been with the union for eight years, starting...

Gwyn Jones is re-elected NFU dairy board chairman.
April 4, 2008... GWYN Jones has been re-elected as chairman of the NFU dairy board. Mr Jones, who milks 750 dairy cows in the Sussex Weald, has been chairman since 2004 and will now serve for a further two years. He said he was honoured to be able to...

Reducing agriculture's impact on the environment.
April 4, 2008... WHILE farmers may be at the focus of emerging soil strategies, farming was not the only land activity to have impact on the environment, SAC chief executive, Bill McKelvey, told the SAC/SEPA biennial conference in Edinburgh. "Recent...

Cutting the red tape burden.
April 4, 2008... THE industry stakeholders group, set up to help Welsh Assembly Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones review farming's red tape burden, has met for the first time to examine the areas which should be considered. Emerging as key runners for...

FUW tells Brown of concerns.
April 4, 2008... THE FUW has expressed its `extreme concerns' to Prime Minister Gordon Brown over the impact on the Welsh farming industry of cuts amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds in Defra's budget. President, Gareth Vaughan has written stressing...

Governments must be kept informed.
April 4, 2008... JOANNE PUGH reports from the first two days of the British Society of Animal Science annual conference, held this year in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. SURROUNDED by animal scientists and research students presenting the latest findings...

Feeding data identifies health problems.
April 4, 2008... WITH an increase in cow numbers on dairy farms and human-to-animal contact falling, more use needed to be made of the data collected by the growing amount of on-farm automated machinery, according to Dr Bert Tolkamp of SAC. He had...

Environmental solutions must also benefit the farmer to be effective.
April 4, 2008... SOLUTIONS to environmental issues linked to livestock production had to be advantageous to farmers so they would have a reason to implement them, said Jamie Newbold of the University of Aberystwyth. That was the motivation behind his...

BOVINE TB: Living in fear of disease on a day-to-day basis.
April 4, 2008... For a decade the subject of bovine TB has generated more anger, passion and fevered debate than any other issue related to farming. While arguments have raged between politicians, scientists and lobby groups, the real story of loss and trauma...

ARABLE: Beet - a crop of two halves.
April 4, 2008... THE sugar beet crop is likely to be a crop of two halves this year, according to British Sugar agricultural business managers around the country. Richard Nicholls, of the Bury St Edmunds factory, Suffolk, said drilling started the week...

ARABLE: Septoria levels rise.
April 4, 2008... DISEASE in wheat crops is returning to a more normal level for the time of year, but septoria levels are rising as the time for T0 treatments approaches. The Arable Group's Ben Freer also says that cooler conditions have suppressed some of...

ARABLE: Rare disease hits oilseed rape crops.
April 4, 2008... A rarely seen disease of oilseed rape has been identified in a number of crops this spring. Patches of plants with severe phytophthora root rot (phytophthora megasperma) have been confirmed in several crops on sites with heavy, wet soils,...

ARABLE: Brown rot water control.
April 4, 2008... AMENDED irrigation and spraying controls, which were effective from March 31, will affect potato growers with crops grown in the vicinity of certain watercourses. Defra has introduced the changes following its 2007 watercourse survey for...

ARABLE: Potato plantings hampered.
April 4, 2008... UNSETTLED weather and cold temperatures have hampered progress with potato planting, says the British Potato Council. In the south growers took every opportunity to continue with planting, when conditions allowed last week. In the west...

ARABLE: Maintaining biodiversity after set-aside.
April 4, 2008... CURRENT cereal and oilseed rape prices may be a powerful incentive to expand the cropped area on many farms since zero set-aside was introduced last summer, but it might not be the long-term solution for everyone, a Midlands environmental...

ARABLE WEED FOCUS: Ebb and flow depending on yearly conditions.
April 4, 2008... Andrew Chell, The Arable Group, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Brome populations in the central region tend to ebb and flow depending on prevailing conditions each year. Currently, the prevalence...

ARABLE WEED FOCUS: Min-till leads to increase.
April 4, 2008... Richard Allinson, Tynegrain Agronomy Group Northumberland Min-till cultivations have led to a dramatic increase in brome populations over the past two to three years in Northumberland, forcing some growers to shift their cropping patterns...

ARABLE WEED FOCUS: Not a big problem if appropriately managed.
April 4, 2008... Richard Cartwright, Chichester Crop Consultancy While brome species can be an issue in the South East, they are generally not a horrendous problem if appropriately managed. Growers need to be aware of brome and take action to control...

ARABLE WEED FOCUS: Increasing in prevalence because of min-till.
April 4, 2008... Peter Riley, Prime Agriculture LLP Norfolk AN incidental problem in the Norfolk region, brome is mostly found around the outside 6-12m of fields. But, despite its relatively low populations, the weed is increasing in prevalence and can...

ARABLE WEED FOCUS: Brome species problem across all soil types.
April 4, 2008... Stephen Harrison, Southwest Agronomy Soil types in the South West vary considerably but brome species are found on anything, from Cotswold brash to red mudstone. Brome populations are evident on around 35 per cent of land, and...

ARABLE WEED FOCUS: Serious in winter cereal rotations.
April 4, 2008... Ian Dalley, farm consultant Aberdeenshire Brome is becoming a serious problem weed in winter cereal rotations, mainly across eastern Aberdeenshire, regardless of soil type. In the worse situations growers are ceasing production of...

FARM FEATURE: Linking traditional rearing with modern selling approach.
April 4, 2008... Farmers Peter and Henrietta Greig manage a small network of small family farms and have combined traditional rearing methods with a modern business approach of selling online and delivering. KATIE ROEBUCK meets the husband and wife whose...

NORTHERN AREA YFC WEEKEND: Making it a weekend to remember.
April 4, 2008... IT has been six years since Lancashire hosted the Northern Area Weekend and over 750 of its YFC members made sure it was a weekend to remember. Yorkshire, Cumbria, Dur-ham, East Riding and Northumberland joined the hosts in Blackpool on...

Quintet impress judges with jackson 5 tribute.
April 4, 2008... IT was the memorable performance of an all-girl quintet which saw the Lancashire federation win first place in the Stars In Their Eyes competition. Singing the Jackson 5's Blame it on the Boogie, Harriet Gerrard, Helen Eastham, Emma Smith,...

Brainstrust team makes it seven in a row.
April 4, 2008... LANCASHIRE A team won the intermediate brainstrust for the seventh year running and will represent the area in the National Competitions Weekend, to be held later this year. Chair of the panel was Heather Coar, with Katie Dellaney, Helen...

Raughton head conquer the entertainments competition.
April 4, 2008... BRITISH patriotism conquered once again as members of Raughton Head performed an imaginative snapshot of historic battles and characters, securing a win for the Cumbria federation in the entertainments competition. Written by the club, and...

COLLEGE NEWS ROUND-UP: Sparsholt's students get a taste of business.
April 4, 2008... STUDENTS at Sparsholt College received a taste of business trading after running their own stall at Winchester Farmers' Market for the first time. The students, all studying the National Diploma in Agriculture, sold a range of beef, lamb...

COLLEGE NEWS ROUND-UP: Reaseheath marathon for Raising and Giving fund.
April 4, 2008... AGRICULTURAL students at Reaseheath College completed a 24-hour sponsored ploughing marathon to raise cash for their Raising and Giving fund. They ploughed up 60 acres of grassland, part of 200 acres on the Dorfold Hall Estate newly-leased...

COLLEGE NEWS ROUND-UP: Bicton's #1,000 for air ambulance.
April 4, 2008... LAMBS and calves attracted crowds to Bicton College Farm raising more than #1,000 for Devon Air Ambulance Trust. Over 500 people met the lambs and calves and took a tractor and trailer ride to watch the cows being milked in the afternoon....

COLLEGE NEWS ROUND-UP: Oatridge launches distance learning course.
April 4, 2008... OATRIDGE College is launching a new distance learning courses for entrants to the farming industry, in a bid to reverse a sharp decline in the numbers seeking formal qualifications since the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board scrapped...

COLLEGE NEWS ROUND-UP: Campus blaze.
April 4, 2008... A FIRE destroyed the main building used as a campus by the agricultural college at Moreton Morrell. While it was believed that most students were away for their Easter holiday some members of staff were evacuated from the Grade II listed...

COUNTRY VIEW: Poultry business expands to meet increasing demand.
April 4, 2008... POULTRY continues to be the backbone of a family-run farming enterprise which is the region's biggest egg production business. Brothers Stephen and Richard are the fourth generation of the Tulip family involved with the business at Lintz...

COUNTRY VIEW: Is the charity moving away from its core principles?
April 4, 2008... FOR more than 175 years the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has safeguarded animal welfare in the UK. But in recent years, it has come under growing criticism from supporters concerned that it is moving away from its core...

COUNTRY VIEW: Machinery and gadgets.
April 4, 2008... SOME of the most labour-saving machinery and equipment in use on farms has been developed from ideas and inventions devised by farmers themselves. The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society is seeking to encourage budding inventors by inviting...

COUNTRY VIEW: Co-operative Farms' farm and employee of the year.
April 4, 2008... THE Co-operative Farm at the Goole Estate, and Fraser Scott, retail development manager at the Borders farm, Berwickshire, were singled out for particular praise at The Co-operative Farms' annual conference, at Dundee. The Co-operative...

COUNTRY VIEW: Lakes Flora of the Fells Festival `08.
April 4, 2008... WHAT do frogs, flowers and Romans and have in common? They all feature in the Flora of the Fells Festival 2008 funded by Friends of the Lake District and Natural England. FLD has put together a programme with over 130 events taking place...

COUNTRY VIEW: Newbury ploughing match attract 1,000 spectators.
April 4, 2008... THE Newbury and District Agricultural Society's annual ploughing match, which attracted around 1,000 spectators, was won by Russell Cox, of Hampshire, driving a Massey Ferguson with Ransome trailer. He had earlier won the vintage ploughing...

COUNTRY VIEW: FWAG Scotland launched.
April 4, 2008... THE Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Scotland has been officially launched in Edinburgh's Scottish Parliament. FWAG Scotland is a Scotland-wide, independent, farmer-led advisory body holding charitable status, established through October...

COUNTRY VIEW: Cider men from Wales aim to prevent hat-trick of wins.
April 4, 2008... FARMERS across Wales with a penchant for making cider and perry from their own apple and pear orchards will be on a special three-day mission in May. The aim will be to break the grip of an amateur perry maker aiming to make history by...

COUNTRY VIEW: Rain blesses EPIC centre's topping out.
April 4, 2008... RAIN failed to dampen the spirits of the 200 or more people who witnessed the topping out of Lincolnshire's newest and greenest exhibition and conference centre at the Lincolnshire Showground. During the EPIC centre topping out ceremony,...

COUNTRY VIEW: New man at the top in Wales.
April 4, 2008... THE new director of Forestry Commission Wales is Trefor Owen - a fluent Welsh speaker who joined the organisation 22 years ago, having previously held several forest management and leadership posts in Scotland and South, Mid and North Wales....

Huddleston first and second, Tim Longton's afternoon win.
April 4, 2008... TOM Huddleston took first and second placings with Udale Spring and Brook in the morning trial on Easter Monday at Deerplay, while the afternoon title went to Tim Longton and Jake. Set over the lower slopes of Deerplay Hill, situated...

OBITUARY: Death of Jack Suttill, aged 97.(Obituary)
April 4, 2008... A well-known and respected figure in sheep dog trialing circles, Jack Suttill, who enjoyed numerous successes and represented his country at the International seven times in the singles and once in the brace, has died, aged 97. He first...

MACHINERY: Jumbo combiline self-loading silage wagon.
April 4, 2008... POTTINGER has introduced the Jumbo Combiline self-loading silage wagons that can be quickly converted to a forage trailer to cart away from a self-propelled harvester. The Combiline uses the moving floor for unloading the 60, 66 and 72cu.m...

MACHINERY: 50 years of the Bobcat.
April 4, 2008... BOBCAT is celebrating 50 years of producing skid steer loaders in 2008. The firm which was recently bought by Doosan will be hosting a number of events in Europe and has introduced an anniversary logo. "Fifty years ago, Melroe...

MACHINERY: Sandman menage leveller.
April 4, 2008... Fleming Agri Products have introduced the 2m Sandman menage leveller. The unit is mounted on the three-point linkage which sets the working height of the levelling board at the rear. Within the frame there is a row of spring tines to break up...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Robotic welder speeds up Sumo.
April 4, 2008... SUMO has added a robotic welder to speed up production at its plant near York. The #110,000 robotic welder is capable of running continuously and managing director Shaun Wealleans points out that unit has an average turnaround time of six...

NEWS IN BRIEF: CNH service kits.
April 4, 2008... CNH has developed service kits for Case IH and New Holland equipment. Each box contains all the necessary parts for that particular service such as engine, fuel, hydraulic and cab filters along with other items such as water filters and...

MACHINERY: From tractor to telehandler, Landini PowerLift is mixed bag.
April 4, 2008... Landini is entering the telehandler market for the first time with the PowerLift, a machine first shown in the UK at last years Cereal's event. Mervyn Bailey got the opportunity to find out what exactly it has got to offer. Whether it is...

Adhering to a strict regime has paid off.
April 4, 2008... Extending a project that originated in the USA, Alta Genetics has started hosting `Elite Days' in this country - events for `progressive' dairy farmers with a range of speakers suited specifically to people milking large numbers of cows. JOANNE...

The elite are still committed.
April 4, 2008... MORE than 100 dairy farmers attended the Elite Day, one-quarter of whom had travelled over from Northern Ireland. Opening the event and explaining Alta Genetics' future aims, company chief executive Cees Hartmans said everyone there had...