Farmers Guardian articles from August 2004

Farmers Guardian archives from August 2004

Over-quota producers facing bills.
August 6, 2004... FOR the first time in four years the UK is liable to milk supplementary levy and because wholesale and direct quotas were exceeded, both a wholesale and a direct sales levy have become due. Although nationally it is the lowest levy the...

Three key agricultural areas included in talks.
August 6, 2004... THE WTO framework is complex, with agriculture just part of a wider deal. All 147 members have accepted it as the basis for a final deal to liberalise agricultural and industrial trade. The central goal remains improving the economic...

WTO deal gets guarded praise from the French.
August 6, 2004... THE World Trade Organisation deal struck in Geneva has won guarded praise from the European Commission's biggest critic - France - and from the COPA as the umbrella body representing European farm unions. This reflects an acceptance that...

TB milk ban will not cover whole herds.
August 6, 2004... FARMERS have been reassured by Defra that a forthcoming ban on the sale of milk from TB reactor animals will only affect the individual animal, not the whole herd. Currently milk from TB reactors is allowed into the food chain as long as...

UK's second case of potato ring rot is confirmed by Defra.
August 6, 2004... DEFRA has confirmed the UK's second case of the bacterial potato disease ring rot. Staff at a Fenmarc packhouse in March, Cambridgeshire, spotted the symptoms in two potato tubers in a consignment of the ware variety Sante. The consignment came...

Bovine TB slaughter valuations are changed.
August 6, 2004... FARMERS can no longer select their own valuer to determine compensation rates for cattle slaughtered because of bovine TB infection, under a change to the rules that came in on Wednesday. The new arrangements will affect situations where...

More money for Cumbrian farmers through tourism.
August 6, 2004... TOURISM is now making more money for farmers in Cumbria than traditional farming, according to a North West Farm Tourism report released this week. Commissioned by the Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency together with Cumbria Tourist Board and...

`Joined up' strategies.
August 6, 2004... A NEW report, commissioned by the Countryside Alliance, has shown how CAP reform could be an opportunity for moorland regeneration and a new pattern of sustainable farming across the UK. In England, the new integrated agency under the Rural...

Angry response as research destroys supermarket `myths'.
August 6, 2004... THE head of the British Retail Consortium has provoked an angry response from farmers with dubious claims that new research commissioned by the Government destroys the myth that supermarkets hold farmers in an armlock. Kevin Hawkins, BRC...

Keep up the pressure for OTM change, Defra is urged.
August 6, 2004... THE National Beef Association has urged Defra to keep up the pressure on the European Commission to relax UK export controls early next year, despite the delays in changes to the Over Thirty Months rule. The association says the Government...

New store's beef from Brazil angers local farmers.
August 6, 2004... ANGRY farmers in a predominantly agricultural area of Wales have demanded that a supermarket removes Brazilian beef from its shelves. They were approached by customers in the Bala area concerned the new Somerfield store in the Meirionnydd...

Plans to speed up UK home-produced organic food sales.
August 6, 2004... THE Government has set out plans to accelerate the rise in consumption of home-produced organic food. The UK organic sector is very much on the up and provides 44 per cent of the organic food consumed in the UK, compared with 30 per cent...

Statement demanded on OTM rule.
August 6, 2004... Health Secretary John Reid has been called on to make a clear statement about the future of the Over Thirty Months rule by Liberal Democrat Shadow Rural Affairs Minister Andrew George. The Department of Health has remained silent since it...

Gangmaster draft is out for consultation.
August 6, 2004... THE Gangmaster Licensing Authority draft regulations, published by Defra, have been sent to around 250 organisations for consultation this week amid fears they contain a number of loopholes. The Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004, which...

FEELFINE LONDON 10K RUN.
August 6, 2004... NEW RABI (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution) chief executive, Patrick Shervington, celebrated the start of his new role by turning out to support the 22-strong team of runners raising money for the charity in Sunday's Feelfine 10k race...

Defra refutes pesticide claims.
August 6, 2004... DEFRA has refuted claims that it failed to pass on `vital information' on crop spraying to its chief scientific adviser. The claim was made this week by pesticide campaigner, Georgina Downs, who said the information was submitted, as part...

Three new bulls.
August 6, 2004... Three new Aberdeen Angus bulls that have genetics unique to the UK are now available to the pedigree beef market from Genus. Rockn D Ambush, Design Plus and Triple Brand, all from the US, are the first three entrants into the Genus new Premier...

Change in reference period for payments.
August 6, 2004... FARMERS whose businesses were affected by the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak have been urged to look carefully at how a change in the Single Farm Payment rules could affect them. The change announced by the Rural Payments Agency relates to...

Land price rises.
August 6, 2004... Agricultural land in Wales averaged #8,848 per hectare in the three months to the end of September 2003, compared with an average of #6,325 for 2002 as a whole. Welsh Assembly provisional returns are based on 41 transactions involving 682...

Sugar role.
August 6, 2004... NFU sugar board chairman Mike Blacker was elected a vice-president of the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers (WABCG) at the 8th World Sugar Conference. Former NFU sugar beet committee chairman and current sugar board member Matt...

Only Scotland to use beef envelope to cushion sector.
August 6, 2004... THE Scottish beef industry is to make use of the so-called national envelope to support the sector following an announcement in Edinburgh by Ross Finnie, the Rural Development Minister. Scotland will now be the only part of the UK to use the...

Beef adviser.
August 6, 2004... Kim-Marie Haywood has joined the National Beef Association as its policy development adviser. This is a new position, which the NBA says underlines the expanding role in the UK beef sector. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Winning fleece.
August 6, 2004... A Merion fleece exhibited by Chrissie Menzies of Llanerfyl, Welshpool, Powys achieved a remarkable 100 point total to take the Champion Fleece at the Royal Welsh Centenary Show. Ms Menzies also took the Reserve Champion with another Merion...

Pig producers welcome British quality mark.
August 6, 2004... EUROPEAN Union agreement on a new British Pig Executive Quality Standard Mark that features the Union jack for pork, bacon and ham has been welcomed by British pig producers, who believe it will encourage more consumers to buy British product....

WTO deal is the last piece of Fischler's reform jigsaw.
August 6, 2004... VIEW FROM BRUSSELS BY RICHARD WRIGHT The World Trade Organisation deal has attracted headlines and debate around the world - but in reality all that was agreed was a framework for future negotiations. Every WTO member and scores of...

OPINION: Please give generously.
August 6, 2004... In an uncertain world, in which farmers have long feared what a new WTO deal would bring, the industry now has a bottom line position with which it should be able to live. Farmers, like old soldiers, tend to die with their boots on....

Unveiling the answers of the land tax regime.
August 6, 2004... The new Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) regime introduced on December 1, 2003, has the potential to raise numerous queries. SUSANSHAW, tax director and head of the agricultural group at accountants Smith & Williamson provides some answers. Q: I...

A Chernobyl legacy, but Huw looks to the future.
August 6, 2004... BARRY ALSTON visits a sheep farmer with a mission - ensuring a future for the traditional family hill farm. EIGHTEEN years on from the day black clouds passed overhead, two small groups of sheep farmers in England and Scotland and a much...

Double tagging must be ensured.
August 6, 2004... JUST as arable farmers have adopted the voluntary initiative on sprayers, sheep farmers need to ensure current tagging rules are followed to the letter, if the UK is to stand any chance of securing an exemption from more burdensome legislation...

`Fantastic animal with style'.
August 6, 2004... THE first day of the New Forest and Hampshire County Show at Brockenhurst was highly successful for the C.B. Cooper partnership of Winterbourne Monkton, near Swindon, Wiltshire. Their home-bred Holstein first calving heifer, Normead...

Wiltshire Horn ram is champ of the day.
August 6, 2004... A `gobsmacked' Linda Rollason took Wednesday's inter-breed sheep champion title with her Wiltshire Horn ram. This year was the first in which the Wiltshires had been given their own class, and after beating stiff competition from the Jacob,...

Supreme beef title goes to Charolais.
August 6, 2004... THE supreme inter-breed beef champion at the second day of the New Forest Show was the home-bred British Charolais heifer, Mortimers Tiffany. She caught the eye of the judge, David Barker from Somerset, as soon as she came into the ring,...

Rare breed reputation.
August 6, 2004... THE show is fast building up a reputation for rare breed livestock classes, which formed a special feature of the final day, with a strong line-up of representatives from nine rare cattle breeds. With strong representation, the Longhorns...

Limousin bull reaps top cattle accolades.
August 6, 2004... THE home-bred Limousin bull Saunders Rijinsky shown by William Watson, Brampton, Cumbria, took the overall cattle championship at Cockermouth Show. By Cloughhead Jurassic, Rijinsky has enjoyed considerable show successes this season,...

More awards for Gower president.
August 6, 2004... FRESH from his success at the Royal Welsh, the supreme cattle championship at the Gower Show at Penrice Castle Park - about 20 miles west of Swansea - was won by an entry from the president, John Tucker of Horton. His winning animal was...

Karlotta takes top prize.
August 6, 2004... THE Aberdeen-Angus, January 2003-born heifer, Rosemead Karlotta, from Angus Stovold of P.C. Stovold and Son, won the beef inter-breed championship at Cranleigh Show, Surrey. Karlotta, which has had considerable show success this year, and...

Anniversary show with higher entries.
August 6, 2004... MARKING its 150th anniversary in fine style the re-named Cardigan `County' Agricultural Show last week recorded a `gate' double to that of a year ago, with very good entries in all sections. Supreme from the beef cattle entries were...

Triple double for Limousin breeder.
August 6, 2004... A LIMOUSIN breeder notched up three lots of double triumph during the Nantwich and South Cheshire Show beef cattle judging. Nigel Simms, who runs a herd of around 60 Limousins at Lach Dennis, near Northwich, began by winning the breed's...

Holstein Companion leads `tremendous' dairy line-up.
August 6, 2004... A JUDGING panel found a clear winner for the show's dairy championship in a Holstein cow purchased by her present owners just a few weeks ago. The overall winner, Avenham Jolt Companion 2, shown by Brian and Leonora Whitfield and their...

Double Gloucester wins supreme award.
August 6, 2004... The supreme championship at Nantwich International Cheese Show went to a traditional Double Gloucester exhibited by Belton Cheese of Whitchurch, Shropshire. The company last won the top award back in 1982. Belton Cheese produces a range of...

Record entry of 400 cattle.
August 6, 2004... ORGANISERS of Nantwich and South Cheshire Show were absolutely delighted with their record entry of around 400 cattle. "We are 33 per cent up on the number we had in 2002, the first show after foot-and-mouth, which is amazing when you think...

Inter-breed award goes to 16,000gns Texel ram Jaguar.
August 6, 2004... SHEEP inter-breed judge Peter Rowles was in no doubt about the quality of the Texel ram he selected as his overall winner. He gave the top award to a shearling ram, Haltcliff Jaguar, which Cheshire farmer Charlie Boden, Lancashire's David...

Record-breaking cattle numbers on glorious day.
August 6, 2004... GLORIOUS weather and record-breaking cattle numbers, boosted by an entry of 65 for the Scottish Charolais breeders' annual show, helped to make this year's Turriff Show one of the most successful in its 140- year history. Secretary Bruce...

Another double for Harestone Rumba.
August 6, 2004... THE Royal Highland Show beef inter-breed champion, Harestone Rumba, pulled off another double at Turriff Show on Monday when she secured the leading female and supreme awards at the Scottish National Charolais Show and went on to claim top...

Top among the regional shows.
August 6, 2004... THE organisers of the Border Union show deserve credit for making their annual event one of the best regional shows in Scotland. Springwood Park in Kelso was full to capacity on both days of the show, with the huge array of trade stands...

Berkshire farms awards.
August 6, 2004... WELFORD Farms, part of the Welford Estates, owned by former Newbury Show president James Puxley and his family, has won the Royal County of Berkshire Show's annual farming awards, competed for by farms which won the top four prizes in the 2003...

Plaque for society's 125th anniversary.
August 6, 2004... A plaque to mark the 125th anniversary of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society has been unveiled at the Royal George Hotel, Perth, by Lord Provost Bob Scott of Perth and Kinross Council. The ceremony took place 125 years to the day since the...

South Wales Holstein herds competition.
August 6, 2004... WINNERS of the 2004 Holstein South Wales herd competition are: Large herds Inspection: 1, T.M. and S.D.E. Phillips, Llanfyrnach (Pedran herd); 2, Griffiths Bros, Cardigan (Cardsland); 3, B.E. Baker and Sons, Usk (BB). Bull...

New RHAS chairman.
August 6, 2004... THE new chairman of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland is John Young (above), of Skerrington Mains, Hurlford, Kilmarnock. He succeeds Willie Sanderson, of Blackshiels Farm, Pathhead. Mr Young farms 700 acres over three...

40,000 visitors.
August 6, 2004... The award for best trade stand at the Royal Lancashire Show went to Townson Tractors from Skipton. Farmers Guardian editor Liz Falkingham presented the award to sales manager John Craig and the rest of Townson team. IN stark contrast to...

Government ridicules Tory claims on Defra savings.
August 6, 2004... THE Government has ridiculed Conservative Party claims that it could slash #500m from Defra's budget by getting rid of unnecessary bureaucracy and waste. Treasury Minister John Healey accused his opposite number, Oliver Letwin, of making a...

Workers lose proposed extra day's holiday.
August 6, 2004... FARM workers will not, after all, be receiving an extra day's holiday next year, under revised proposals from the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales. The board has altered its previous proposals for a new Wages Order from...

BVA hits back at `bland' response.
August 6, 2004... THE British Veterinary Association has attacked the Government's `bland' response to a key report on the veterinary industry. BVA president Tim Greet expressed his `deep disappointment' at Defra's response to what the BVA described as an...

Large jump in interest in recorded stock.
August 6, 2004... JUST seven months into its two-year programme, the EBLEX Better Returns Programme is helping to drive real change in the sheep sector, according to Meadow Quality - one of the UK's leading livestock marketing companies. Under a new...

Fifty years on, Lord Plumb's message is still - `cooperation'.
August 6, 2004... SHEEP 2004 might well have been packed with technical information, continuously running seminars, breed society and trade displays - but one of the main messages, according to event opener and National Sheep Association president, Lord Plumb,...

Displays win awards.
August 6, 2004... THE North Country-based Rough Fell Sheep Breeders' Association won the top award for the best breed society display. Second was the Welsh Mule Sheep Breeders' Association and third the British Bleu du Maine Sheep Society stand. Best indoor...

Database for three breed societies.
August 6, 2004... SHEEP producers were given the first glimpse of the new BASCO Database being pioneered by three pedigree breeds - the Suffolk and Texel Sheep Societies and the British Limousin Cattle Society. It is a web-enabled database accessed by the...

Quality Standard Scheme.
August 6, 2004... THE English Beef and Lamb Executive received a major boost at Sheep 2004 with EU official approval of its Quality Standard Scheme for beef and lamb. "It is great news for levy payers in England," said chairman, John Cross. "For the first time...

Top fleece.
August 6, 2004... TOP placed fleece was a Cotswold entry from Shropshire-based breed stalwart, Davinia Stanhope, of Kenley, near Shrewsbury, and secretary of the Cotswold Sheep Society. In reserve was a Teeswater fleece from Andrew Fisher, of Pateley...

Archive will store semen to preserve breed biodiversity.
August 6, 2004... BREED societies worried about losing genetic material as a result of taking out scrapie susceptible rams from the national flock were assured that semen storage provisions were at last getting off the ground and would be operational within the...

Cash benefits of performance recording flocks.
August 6, 2004... A unique industry-led sheep development scheme was unveiled. CST brings the Charollais, Suffolk, and Texel breeds together, along with Welsh Country Foods and Asda, in a scheme to promote the wider use of performance recorded terminal sires....

Ram selection guide.
August 6, 2004... A landmark producer manual designed as a 15-minute read on how better breeding can benefit commercial flocks has been launched by the EBLEX Better Returns Programme. `Targeting Ram Selection for Better Returns' is the sister publication to...

Sustainable worm control is the aim.
August 6, 2004... SCOPS - the new Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep industry-led initiative aimed at tackling the growing problem of ectoparasites - was formally launched at the event. "It is important that more sustainable worm control practices...

Boosting lamb profits with `designer rams'.
August 6, 2004... A sophisticated recording scheme launched by the Texel Sheep Society, in conjunction with MLC Signet, is being geared to boosting lamb production profits by providing `designer rams'. Performance Recorded Texels, unveiled at the event, are said...

Stockjudging.
August 6, 2004... THE top two competitors in the open YFC stockjudging both finished with 179 points. Gwent YFC member Philip Jones, from Hengoed and a member of Bedwas YFC, led the under-21 section, while Gareth Davies, of Rushbury and Cardington YFC, was the...

Tackling a fencing challenge.
August 6, 2004... TACKLING one of the hardest challenges were the teams taking part in the fencing competition - given only three hours to erect a 75-yard run, fully stockproof wire fence. Coming out top was the A.G.H. Fencing team of Matthew Campbell Briggs and...

Large areas of crop cleared - despite changing weather.
August 6, 2004... DESPITE the changeable weather a large proportion of the winter barley and oilseed rape area has now been cleared, while some growers have moved into wheat crops. To date winter barley yield and quality appear to be slightly up on last...

BARLEY YELLOW DWARF VIRUS.
August 6, 2004... CEREAL growers are being warned to be on their guard against early barley yellow dwarf virus attacks in this autumn's wheat and barley. Current high levels of soil moisture look set to provide ideal conditions for seed shed during harvest...

Protect spray armoury from resistance.
August 6, 2004... Do not follow the Australian arable farmer's approach of calculating how many `shots' of a grass weed herbicide you have got before resistance renders a product useless, warned a leading herbicide expert last week at a BASF field trials day at...

Limited Avadex available.
August 6, 2004... LIMITED quantities of Avadex (tri-allate) will be available to UK growers this autumn, the brand's new owner has announced. In a statement Gowan International said that `significantly limited quantities' of Avadex Excel 15G would be...

HDRA to be part of European seed treatment project.
August 6, 2004... HDRA is to be a research partner in the EU project Seed Treatments for Organic Vegetable Production (STOVE). The project, which is led by the Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Braunschweig, Germany, involves...

New organic cereal guides.
August 6, 2004... THE Soil Association has produced two new free guides to organic cereal production. `Storage of Organic Combinable Crops' aims to ensure that organic farmers are provided with sound, practical information to enable safe, efficient and effective...

Different attack tolerance.
August 6, 2004... RESEARCH within the Integrated Control of Wheat Blossom Midge LINK project has shown that varieties differ in both their vulnerability to infestation and in their tolerance of attack, says ADAS.Welford and Brompton are proving to be very...

Act now to secure water use in the future.
August 6, 2004... Irrigators have been at work this summer in many potato crops. But are you confident that your water supplies will still be available in coming seasons? The British Potato Council is urging potato growers to get together and justify their water...

Right rearing route to lift milk yields - and quality.
August 6, 2004... The first few months of a heifer's life has a profound influence on the overall performance of the adult animal in the dairy herd, believes Oxfordshire farmer Brian Doble. Neil Ryder paid a visit. HIGH quality calf rearing to produce mature...

RURAL LIFE: Nursery education on farming and food.
August 6, 2004... Arable farmers David and Jane Harrison from Legbourne, Lincolnshire, have converted their redundant crewyard - a three-sided building around a courtyard originally built to house livestock - into a children's day nursery. As CLEMMIE PEROWNE...

Katy's `Royle' appointment.
August 6, 2004... KATY Royle, of Congleton YFC, has been appointed Cheshire Young Farmers' dairy queen. She succeeds Louise Bennett, of Macclesfield. A receptionist at a veterinary clinic, Katy is training to be a veterinary nurse. She was crowned dairy...

Tints of tomatoes.
August 6, 2004... HOW do you like your tomatoes - red, green, yellow, orange... or brown? Flavourfresh Salads, exhibiting on behalf of the British Tomato Growers Association, at the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park, Cheshire, paid tribute to 200 years of the...

`Give a dog a phone' lift.
August 6, 2004... WALES Young Farmers have received a major boost in their campaign to raise funds for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. The Association is Wales YFC's chosen charity for the year and members have been promoting a `Give a dog a phone'...

Bound for race success.
August 6, 2004... A sponsored three-legged hill race by YFC members in Montgomeryshire has raised more than #1,000 for charity. The two-mile climb to the local landmark, Rodney's Pillar, Criggon, ended with a sprint to the summit. The sponsor money will be...

`Dairy Maids' centenary.
August 6, 2004... MAY Kidd, president of Associated Country Women of the World and former Scottish Women's Rural Institutes national chairman, was guest speaker at the British Women's Agricultural Association centenary lunch in Scotland. The organisation...

Show ambassador.
August 6, 2004... FARMER'S daughter Rhiannon Llewellin has been chosen as Miss County Show by Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society. Rhiannon is vice-chairman of Llawhaden YFC. She will be an ambassador for the county show (August 17-19). Copyright: CMP...

Double re-run needed to declare Spot as winner.
August 6, 2004... WHAT are sheepdog trials if they are not capable of producing surprises? At the Welsh National held in the grounds of Chirk Castle three days of trialling produced a totally unpredicted result - a tie on 200 points for first place and the...

Once settled, it's all easy gathering for Jim and Dan.
August 6, 2004... JIM Cropper and Dan won the double gather championship concluding three days of trialing at the Royal Lancashire Show. Although slightly touchy over the first morning, once they had settled the well presented Swaledale shearlings were good...