Farmers Guardian articles from February 2005

Farmers Guardian archives from February 2005

Name and shame threat.
February 4, 2005... Gangmaster watchdog warns supermarkets that cheap food policy could exploit labour SUPERMARKETS that contribute to the illegal use of labour through their pricing policies will be named and shamed by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority,...

Narrow `window' to avoid SFP penalties.
February 4, 2005... FARMERS will have little more than a month to complete and submit their SP5 forms if they are to register for Single Farm Payment entitlements without penalty. Earlier this week in Newmarket, at the first of a series of 32 seminars across...

Applications to National Reserve by March 14 in Scotland.
February 4, 2005... THE Scottish Executive announced this week that farmers who wish to apply to the so-called National Reserve for additional entitlements to the new Single Farm Payment have until March 14 to lodge their claims. The National Reserve is...

Minister gives assurance that payments will not be delayed.
February 4, 2005... A PERSONAL assurance came this week from Welsh Assembly Countryside Minister, Carwyn Jones, that he was determined the new Single Farm Payments in Wales would not be subject to unnecessary delay. The commitment was given at a meeting with...

Competence query at `inexcusable' delays.
February 4, 2005... THE Rural Payment Agency's delay in sending out Single Farm Payments has been described as `inexcusable' by the NFU's North West Livestock Commodity Board chairman Thomas Binns, who farms at Clitheroe, Lancashire. He said Defra and the RPA...

Defra defends its policy over FMD compensation.
February 4, 2005... DEFRA has defended the Government's foot-and-mouth compensation policy after the chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee described financial controls in 2001 as `pitifully inadequate'. On Wednesday the National Audit Office...

Farmers `not to blame' for valuations.
February 4, 2005... FARMERS Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan was quick to defend the reputation of farmers before it could be insinuated they were in some way to blame for the inflated valuations. The Audit Office report received media coverage...

HSE to hold two safety awareness days.
February 4, 2005... THE Health and Safety Executive is holding two safety awareness days in Derbyshire with the aim of reducing the number of farmworkers killed and injured each year on farms. The events will take place at the JCB Proving Ground, Ashbourne, on...

Welsh food fraud unit will target illegal `smokies'.
February 4, 2005... THE UK's first Food Fraud Co-ordination Unit was set up this week to pool intelligence about illegal slaughtering operations and other possible food safety offences. The Welsh Assembly-funded initiative will be based in Ceredigion, the...

Government rethink on AI rules puts the emphasis on training.
February 4, 2005... THE Government is looking to `rubber-stamp' a practice farmers have been carrying out legitimately for years. It has been a long-standing, routine practice for farmers and other non- veterinarians to carry out artificial insemination of...

Downward trend for UK self-sufficiency.
February 4, 2005... SELF-SUFFICIENCY in indigenous food has fallen by 7.5 per cent since 1997, figures released by Defra have revealed. According to the `Agriculture in the UK 2004' report published on Friday, self-sufficiency of food that can be grown in the...

Stable outlook for organic crops.
February 4, 2005... THE UK organic vegetable market became more stable and self-sufficient during the 2003-2004 season, according to a study by HDRA, the organic organisation. Some 123,500 tonnes of organic vegetables, representing a total retail value of...

OP dips get green light.
February 4, 2005... THE Government has confirmed it has no plans to remove the remaining organophosphate sheep dips from the market, claiming there is no evidence that OP dips have affected the health of sheep farmers. Responding to calls for remaining OP dips...

Personality.
February 4, 2005... North Wales farmer Rees Roberts, who chairs the Hybu Cig Cymru Welsh red meat development body, has been named as Food Industry Personality of the Year 2005, at the Food Marketing and Manufacturing magazine's first food awards luncheon in...

Alliance could apply for injunction to delay hunting ban.
February 4, 2005... THE Countryside Alliance has said it could apply for an injunction that would delay the introduction of the hunting ban after its challenge to the validity of the 1949 Parliament Act was rejected by two judges in the High Court. The...

Communicator.
February 4, 2005... Defra has appointed Yasmin Diamond, currently head of strategic marketing at the Department for Education and Skills, as director of communications. She was previously head of Welfare to Work Marketing in the Department for Education and...

Food director.
February 4, 2005... The Welsh Development Agency has appointed Arwyn Davies as its new agri- food director. Currently head of agri-food development at the agency, he has been with the food directorate since its establishment in 1999 and now will be responsible for...

Llama display.
February 4, 2005... A display of llamas and alpacas is being staged by the British Camelids Association at the Royal Welsh Smallholder and Garden Festival on May 21 and 22. Sheep farmers are said to be acquiring llamas because of their efficiency as guard animals...

Sales position.
February 4, 2005... Ben Stanley has been appointed as sales executive with Haymarket Land Events - the agricultural exhibitions company formed earlier this year by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, the Agricultural Engineers Association, the Royal...

Flood defences.
February 4, 2005... The Farmers Union of Wales has been given an assurance from the Environment Agency in North Wales that remedial works to flood defences in the Conwy Valley is imminent. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Vaccination seen as preferable to culling.
February 4, 2005... FARMERS affected by Bovine TB outbreaks see cattle vaccination as a better policy of dealing with Bovine TB than badger culling, according to a survey published in the Veterinary Record. It showed that farmers also preferred the current TB...

BSE cohort culling shock for some `a small price to pay'.
February 4, 2005... WHILE the enforced culling of BSE cohort cattle, due to start shortly, may come as a shock to some, it must be accepted positively by all concerned, according to the English Beef and Lamb Executive. It says alongside the very best...

Hunt transfer inaction attacked.
February 4, 2005... WELSH Assembly Countryside Minister, Carwyn Jones, was condemned this week for refusing to seek a transfer of powers to deal with the Hunting with Dogs Bill in Wales. Asked in the Assembly debating chamber by Mid and West Wales Conservative AM,...

British Sugar to hit tonnage target.
February 4, 2005... BRITISH Sugar is confident that after offering sugar beet growers the opportunity to assign all, or part, of their contract tonnage, it will reach its 160,000-tonne target. The company wrote to growers last week with the offer which it said...

Roadshows will seek solution to rising cost of nitrogen fertiliser.
February 4, 2005... FARMERS across Wales are being invited to a series of free roadshow meetings to discuss practical solutions to problems caused by the rising cost of nitrogen fertiliser. The roadshows, `Nitrogen - how much?' will travel to six venues...

Union to probe impact of nitrates directive.
February 4, 2005... THE Ulster Farmers' Union is to commission an independent economic analysis on the impact of the proposed EU Nitrates Directive. UFU chief executive Clarke Black said the analysis was being commissioned to raise awareness about the impact...

NUTHALL'S VIEW: Give the `eye in the sky' a chance to combat fraud.
February 4, 2005... Of course, farmers like to say they hate computers. After all, agriculture is as far removed from the world of pointy-headed IT technicians as you can get. But actually the truth must be told: computers are useful, especially in helping out...

OPINION: Playing by the rules.
February 4, 2005... Once again, supermarkets and their unrelenting downward pressure on prices are under the spotlight - this time from the new body set up to regulate gangmasters. It was the Chinese cocklers tragedy which drew attention to the plight of...

Mutual agreements are the way forward.
February 4, 2005... Only a few weeks ago Defra issued encouraging guidance from TRIG to advise landlords and tenants to cooperate and work together to secure the best mutual SFP outcome. However, writes Matthew Williams, rural expert at Bruton Knowles,...

Farm diversification essential as industry incomes decrease.
February 4, 2005... The latest figures on UK farm incomes show that profits from core farming activities are down but that income from diversification is helping to plug the gap. ALISTAIR DRIVER examines whether diversification really is doing for farmers what it...

Kinnaird questions reliability of survey results in Scotland.
February 4, 2005... NFU Scotland has questioned the reliability of the farm income figures released by the Scottish Executive, suggesting the annual survey was not truly representative of the current situation. The Executive states that for 2004 total income...

The Government puts brave face on farm figures.
February 4, 2005... FOOD and Farming Minister Lord Whitty was keen to stress the good news about diversification in the face of the worrying downturn in farm income figures. The 8.1 per cent fall in Total Income From Farming (TIFF) and the drop in average...

Ulster Farmers' Union raise concerns over unsustainable incomes.
February 4, 2005... THE Ulster Farmers' Union has welcomed a 7 per cent increase in farm incomes but warned that farmers are still not earning enough to re- invest in their businesses. UFU president Campbell Tweed said: "The modest recovery in farm incomes is...

Hazardous chemicals study needs farmer/workers help.
February 4, 2005... SHEEP farmers and farm workers are needed for a new study into the long- term effects of low-level exposure to hazardous chemicals on the farm. A research team from University College London is studying whether long- term low-level exposure to...

Soil structure key to surface water control - plus awareness.
February 4, 2005... TIMING was everything, farmers were told at a soil conference at Staple Fitzpaine, Somerset, organised by the Royal Bath and West Agricultural Society. Richard Smith, the principal land quality officer for the Environment Agency, who has...

Gail's a `dynamo' on and off the farm.
February 4, 2005... BARRY ALSTON visits the very remarkable winner of the NFU Cymru-NatWest Wales Woman Farmer of the Year Award - and her next door lamb supplier. WHAT a hectic life Gail Swan leads both on and off the family's 240- acre Flintshire farm at...

In the farm shop it's local quality that counts.
February 4, 2005... THERE are two key criteria for whatever passes through Swan's Farm Shop - it must be top quality and locally produced where possible. Both are seen as essential to maintaining customer confidence and providing a rock solid base for...

CAP reform: Tenants' entitlements.
February 4, 2005... There are still many farmers who are confused when it comes to the intricacies of CAP reform - tenant farmers included. Here, the Tenant Farmers' Association and Defra officials attempt to unravel some of the detail for tenants. FOLLOWING...

Keep records - and then use them.
February 4, 2005... AT the very least, herd owners should be recording the weights of calves and their dams at weaning and the slaughter weight of finished beasts. Hopefully, however, a host of other useful data should be going into the notebook or onto the...

Dairy cross suckler dams not an option.
February 4, 2005... WITH even the top 5 per cent of suckler herds projected to lose money without `subsidy', producers needed to find #200 per cow from a combination of reduced costs and increased output value, the conference was told. Technical director of...

Product branding options add value.
February 4, 2005... THERE was sufficient differentiation in the eating quality, and production systems, which could be employed with the Stabiliser, for branding options to be a possibility in the retail market. BIG's Richard Fuller said the group was already...

Developments in EBVs and indexes.
February 4, 2005... SIGNIFICANT developments in cow and bull evaluations will enable beef producers to further fine-tune their breeding programmes to increase efficiency and output in coming years, said MLC Signet's Duncan Pullar. New EBVs and indexes would...

Too many breaks in hill beef producer information chain.
February 4, 2005... THERE are too many breaks in the information chain between commercial beef producers who breed cattle in the hills and uplands and consumers. That was one of the key messages to emerge in Perth at a conference staged by Quality Meat...

Chairman of Rural Development Service.
February 4, 2005... A FORMER president of the Federation of Agricultural Co-operatives, Poul Christensen, has been appointed chairman of the Rural Development Service. The appointment is part of a move to strengthen the role of the service before it is...

British Cattle Breeders' president.
February 4, 2005... THE new president of the British Cattle Breeders' Club is the Meat and Livestock Commission's longserving livestock export marketing manager Henry Lewis, who takes over from Northumberland farmer and businessman, John Moffitt. He was...

Beef threat from South America `exaggerated'.
February 4, 2005... BEEF farmers are scaring themselves unnecessarily over South American imports and should remember the best defence against increased deliveries from overseas is to maintain domestic production. That is the view of the National Beef Association...

Brazil intent on becoming a `more significant' player.
February 4, 2005... AT around 10 million tonnes a year, Brazilian beef, pork and poultry production is a major force to be reckoned with on the world market and the country is intent on becoming even more significant. With more than 100 million hectares of...

Openings on health and taste fronts.
February 4, 2005... AGAINST an overall theme of the global challenge in the wake of European Union farm policy changes, MLC forecasters of domestic market opportunities were remarkably robust in their outlooks. Richard Lowe, MLC's market director, predicted...

OSR overlooked as healthy alternative to current oils.
February 4, 2005... RAPESEED oil is already a healthy product even if many consumers haven't realised it yet. New varieties will bring more health advantages, says a leading plant breeder. "The current standard oil we get from our rapeseed crop is an...

Call for more action over biofuel benefits.
February 4, 2005... FOR all the talk, UK biodiesel output remains tiny. One trade expert thinks that could be about to change. If he is right, the potential gains for agriculture are enormous. "If I had to summarise the state of the UK biodiesel industry...

Innovation and variety will revitalise OSR markets.
February 4, 2005... INNOVATION can mean more markets for rapeseed oil and better prices for rapeseed, says the head of product development at one of the biggest vegetable oil companies. "There is still a good future for the rapeseed we are growing in this...

Strobilurin fungicide for rape approved.
February 4, 2005... THE first strobilurin fungicide to gain official approval for use on oilseed rape will deliver growers an extra #50 a hectare, according to Syngenta. The official green light for use of Amistar (azoxystrobin) in oilseed rape is expected to...

Funding to find control of sclerotinia in carrots.
February 4, 2005... THE Horticultural Development Council has funded SAC scientists to investigate new ways of controlling sclerotinia disease in carrots. The disease poses a serious threat to UK carrots with annual losses estimated to be around #4 million. ...

Wheat demand and supply expected to be in balance.
February 4, 2005... HARVESTS across all the major wheat producing countries are expected to be slightly down this year on last, according to Gleadell, which is predicting a 615m-tonne world harvest, compared with 620m in 2004. Only the variable weather might...

Quality key to spring barley prospects.
February 4, 2005... PROSPECTS for spring barley will rest on the quality at harvest time. "It's too early to say as nothing is drilled yet,'' said Gleadell's malting barley director Stuart Shand. "But world malt prices are under increased pressure and maltsters...

Profitable winners and losers.
February 4, 2005... GROUP 1 wheat growers should still net healthy profits from the 2005 harvest - even if they take their Single Farm Payment out of the equation. But winter malting barley, winter rape and set-aside will drain money from the business and will not...

Orchard guidelines distinguish between traditional and modern.
February 4, 2005... THE Central Science Laboratory has published guidelines for distinguishing traditional orchards from their modern counterparts - enabling rapid checking by field staff from the Rural Payments Agency and providing compliance guidance to farmers....

Light leaf spot in Scottish OSR crops.
February 4, 2005... LIGHT leaf spot is being found in oilseed rape crops in Scotland but little natural infection is reported in England and Wales, according to the Defra-funded Crop Monitor project. If it is found prior to stem extension, a fungicide treatment...

Beet growers `nothing to fear' from soil rules.
February 4, 2005... COMPETENT sugar beet growers should have no difficulty in meeting the new cross-compliance requirements for soil management. That is according to Matthew Ward of Strutt and Parker's East Midlands farm department. Mr Ward told a British Beet...

Sarpo trial success.
February 4, 2005... HDRA members who took part in a trial of Sarpo potato varieties have given them the thumbs-up, according to HDRA, the organic organisation. Nearly 200 growers tested the Mira, Axona and Tominia varieties as part of HDRA's `Beat the...

Protect early and learn from wheat lessons.
February 4, 2005... ANY fungicide application programme for wheat must be balanced to protect the 25-year-old chemistry of triazoles. That's according to Syngenta`s Matt Pickard, who says that fungicides with multi-site activity, such as Bravo...

Cases of 100 per cent septoria tritici resistance recorded.
February 4, 2005... SEPTORIA tritici resistance in wheat has reached 100 per cent in some parts of the UK, according to Syngenta. Dietrich Hermann of the company's Swiss research laboratories said the problem is clearly linked to the use of strobilurins and...

Major buyer warns Scottish malt prices set to stay low.
February 4, 2005... NFU Scotland has met with Bairds Malt, one of the leading buyers of Scottish malting barley, at the company's plant at Pencaitland in East Lothian to seek clarification on the prospects for the coming season. Following recent harvests,...

Providing growers with crop management skills.
February 4, 2005... A NEW guide from the HGCA aims to provide information to help oilseed rape growers plan, grow, market and promote oilseed rape successfully. "For many arable farmers oilseed rape is the major break-crop in cereal rotations. However, it is...

Scottish growers advised to treat oilseed rape now.
February 4, 2005... SCOTTISH winter oilseed rape crops are being affected by light leaf spot much earlier than normal, according to CSC Crop Protection. Last week the disease was identified by NIAB analysis on at least two samples of oilseed rape from the...

Miner's son makes his mark - above ground.
February 4, 2005... Not everyone is born into farming. BARRY ALSTON profiles a well-known West Wales farmer who has done it the hard way. He might be a coal miner's son from the Rhymney Valley but Bill John has carved out a highly successful life above ground...

So you'd like to be: a service technician.
February 4, 2005... Jimmy Lockhart has worked for the East Anglian dealer group Ben Burgess `man and boy'. He is, in many respects, typical of a service department employee - a farm manager's son who joined the dealership as an apprentice straight from school...

Farmer's wife with a softly, softly approach to diversification.
February 4, 2005... "THERE'S hardly a farming family in this area that hasn't diversified in some way," says farmer's wife Julie Watson - but the latest addition to her rural enterprise must be the most unusual With help from a Defra grant she has...

It's Harray again.
February 4, 2005... HARRAY YFC, Orkney, won Scottish Young Farmers' national junior speechmaking competition for the second year in a row. Kelly Nicolson, Helga Pirie and Inga Price claimed first place at Stonehaven with `Smoking should be banned in public...

Projectline stalwart retires.
February 4, 2005... JOAN Cremer, administrator and a director of WFU Projectline for the past 15 years has retired. Joan, a farmer's wife from Kent, was an ardent promoter of Projectline from its launch 15 years ago and before that had been the national...

Hampshire YFC awards.
February 4, 2005... LOCAL celebrity chef James Martin was guest speaker at the Hampshire Federation of Young Farmers Clubs' annual meeting. James, who lives near Winchester, first cooked at the age of four, inspired by his father who organised the catering at...

In the chair.
February 4, 2005... VERONICA Strangward, who was instrumental in the revival of Bracknell YFC and is now club leader, has been elected chairman of the Berkshire Federation of YFCs. A farmer's daughter, she is a childminder as is Georgie Perry (Bradfield YFC), the...

Jane and Kate prove a point.
February 4, 2005... IN a closely fought contest Jane Simpson and Kate took the Parks Farm Nursery championship by a single point over Maurice Collin and Fairlea Bill in second place. In the preceding trial, however, Maurice was the victor but with Fran Bill. ...

Glamorgan score team trial victory - by a whisker.
February 4, 2005... DESPITE Brecon winning two of the team trials, the Open class and the Novice class, in the Brecon versus Glamorgan annual team trials, it was Glamorgan that walked away with the overall victory - but by just a single point. Both counties...

Holstein index changes.
February 4, 2005... KEY changes in some indexes used by Holstein UK will be seen for the first time when this month's bull proofs are presented, said Lucy Andrews, of Holstein UK. New components in the bull proofs would be scores for rump and dairy strength....

Changes leave little to fear from Polish dairy exports.
February 4, 2005... MAJOR updating and re-structuring of the livestock enterprises is under way on a 12,000ha Polish farm milking 3,300 cows, said Rafal Kapica, livestock director of Top Farms, Glubczyce (TFG), Poland. He said this, and similar developments,...

Use measures with pregnancy focus.
February 4, 2005... IMPROVING profitability required producers to make use of measures such as pregnancy rate and pregnancy inventory that focused on pregnancy production in a specified time period and allowed them to easily interpret status and make necessary...

Look ahead and seek total quality.
February 4, 2005... KEEP looking ahead and do not look back - drive like an Italian. Seek total quality production by using improved quality measures to change commodity behaviour. That was the key message from Andy Warne, NMR managing director, to the conference....

Prevention of metabolic disease in ewes.
February 4, 2005... LAMBING is now weeks away in many flocks. Good nutritional management over the next few weeks will be crucial to ensure that good scanning results result in high lambing percentages. Undernutrition could result in poor lamb survival associated...

Commander sprayers with pivot steering and extra capacity.
February 4, 2005... A NOVEL pivot steering system and increased capacity are two of the features of the latest Commander trailed sprayers from Hardi. The range includes a 3,200 and 4,400 litre models while a colossal 6,600 litre model should be made available...

Krone maize header to suit other machines.
February 4, 2005... KRONE is now selling its maize header to suit competitors machines. The Easycollect row independent header uses guides to direct the maize stalks to the knives, where they are cut and then transported upright to the pre-compression rollers....

Challenger gets CVT tractor.
February 4, 2005... AGCO is in the process of launching a brand new range of wheeled Challenger tractors to the North American market. Called the MT600B series, a quick look at the photograph on the facing page confirms that this does not concern a paint job...

One-pass seedbed mounted cultivator.
February 4, 2005... AN Australian firm has developed a one-pass cultivator called the Roto- Cult, allowing farmers to make just a single pass to prepare a field, reducing time and fuel and resulting in less distress to the ground. The mounted cultivator is...

Electronic controls for silage cutting and feeding machine.
February 4, 2005... ELECTRONIC controls are now offered on the Kuhn Polcrok 1750 silage cutting and feeding machine. The single beam cutting and loading arm as well as the left or right hand discharge are controlled using the finger tip controls. The #4,225...