Farmers Guardian articles from February 2006

Farmers Guardian archives from February 2006

RED LETTER DAY: Feb 14, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Entitlements by Valentine's Day and bulk of payments in March, promises Bach MOST farmers in England will receive their Single Payments in full by the end of March, Food and Farming Minister Lord Bach said this week. Bringing to an end...

Increasing costs are driving down agricultural earnings.
February 3, 2006... INCREASING costs and a lack of movement on retail prices are driving down UK agricultural earnings despite improvements in efficiency and production. The latest figures from Defra show that Total Income from Farming (TIFF) in 2005 fell, in...

Defra paints diverse picture of industry.
February 3, 2006... A SEPARATE set of farm income statistics from Defra paint a diverse picture of the industry - a rosier outlook for dairy and pigs, but bleak prospects for other sectors. Cereal and lowland grazing livestock farmers are predicted to...

SPS problems far from over, says farm bodies.
February 3, 2006... THIS week's positive news on the timing of Single Payments does not signal an end to the bureaucratic problems surrounding the scheme, farming organisations fear. The NFU and the CLA have expressed concern that not enough information is...

RPA help service starts March.
February 3, 2006... The RPA is telling farmers that the service to deal with SPS payment and entitlement enquiries at the RPA's Customer Service Centre (CSC) will only be available from March 6. Prior to that date, CSC will prioritise queries to help complete...

Kendall challenge to Bennett for NFU presidency.
February 3, 2006... NATIONAL Farmers' Union deputy president Peter Kendall has confirmed that he will challenge Tim Bennett for the leadership of the union this month. The Bedfordshire arable farmer put communications at the centre of his efforts to win the...

Tenants in trouble advised to talk.
February 3, 2006... TENANT farmers who believe they may have difficulty making their spring payments have been advised to seek a meeting with their landlord or agent as soon as possible. The delay in distribution of the Single Payment along with depressed...

Waterlogging rules `self-contradictory'.
February 3, 2006... CROSS-COMPLIANCE regulations over farming on waterlogged land are self- contradictory and therefore impossible to comply with, an agricultural lawyer has said. Mark Horvath, of Barker Gotelee Solicitors, said the regulations could pose...

Table valuations will `savagely undervalue' stock.
February 3, 2006... THE new tabular valuation system of cattle compensation introduced in England this week was `grossly unfair' and would `savagely undervalue' animals, it has been claimed. The publication of the first set of figures that will apply during...

Back off badgers - RSPCA.
February 3, 2006... THE RSPCA has launched a national campaign to persuade the public to take action to prevent badger culling as part of the fight to tackle bovine TB. `Back off badgers' advertisements were due to be placed in the national press this week,...

Almost 30,000 cattle were culled because of bovine TB last year.
February 3, 2006... NEARLY 30,000 cattle were culled as a result of bovine TB last year, Defra figures show. The 2005 figure of 29,585 cattle represented a 28 per cent increase on the 2004 figure of just over 23,000. Suspicions that the disease is...

NFU Cymru warns rethink on fallen stock needed.
February 3, 2006... THE independent consultant commissioned by Defra to look at how the national fallen stock collection scheme could be operated post 2007 has been told by NFU Cymru there has to be a radical overhaul of existing arrangements. With Government...

NEWS IN BRIEF: GM trials.
February 3, 2006... Plans to undertake field trials with GM potatoes have been announced by crop protection company BASF. The potatoes are being tested for their resistance to blight, and the company claims if the trials, staged near Dublin, are successful it will...

NEWS IN BRIEF: IGER jobs cut.
February 3, 2006... Cuts in research work funding have put at least 40 jobs in danger at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research. Most are likely to be at IGER's Aberystwyth headquarters and the rest at its North Wyke site in Devon. The upland...

NEWS IN BRIEF: WTO deal.
February 3, 2006... EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has won backing for his stance that a World Trade Organisation deal does not depend on Europe alone making further concessions on agriculture. This meant informal meetings during the World Economic Forum in...

EC faces sugar cut backlash.
February 3, 2006... THE European Commission is facing opposition from member countries over the detail of its plans to cut sugar quotas this year, to prevent over- production when it no longer has funds available to subsidise exports. A number of officials on...

Organic units hold their own in incomes survey.
February 3, 2006... LATEST financial data on organic farming published today shows that organic farms in England and Wales are holding their own despite market challenges. The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Institute of Rural Science's annual survey of...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Mutton club.
February 3, 2006... The Mutton Renaissance Club, set up for everyone involved in producing and selling high quality mutton, was due to be launched by Prince Charles at a dinner at The Ritz, London, this week. It is aimed at uniting sheep farmers, abattoirs,...

Countryside fear budget cuts will threaten UK environmental schemes.
February 3, 2006... THE RSPB and Sir Martin Doughty, chair designate of Natural England, have written to Tony Blair seeking reassurance that a cut in EU budgets will not threaten the future of UK agri-environmental schemes. Defra, however, has disputed the...

OPINION: Maximum investment is required if going organic.
February 3, 2006... The European Commission's new regulation to support organic food production - unveiled just before Christmas - isn't quite the key to lift-off in this sector that some of us were hoping for. A cynic would say that is because it does not provide...

OPINION: Breath of fresh air.
February 3, 2006... It is a sad fact that as a newspaper at the heart of British agriculture, Farmers Guardian rarely has any good news to shout about. Take this week for instance. Total Income From Farming incomes are down 11.4 per cent; Arla has cut almost...

Farmers must reform, adapt and change.
February 3, 2006... Two farmers were talking over a beer. The first says to the second: "What would you do if you won the lottery?" "I'd carry on farming until it was all gone!" At a break during a cross-compliance meeting last week I overheard two...

Scientific partnership aims to unlock biomass potential.
February 3, 2006... A NEW scientific partnership, aimed at identifying the most efficient processing methods to gain maximum benefits from raw biomass, has been backed by the NFU. The cross-Atlantic alliance was announced in the latest edition of the journal...

NFU awards for business excellence.
February 3, 2006... ENTRIES are being invited for the NFU's National Farming Awards, aimed at promoting business excellence and rewarding newcomers to the industry as well as those with many years of experience. NFU president Tim Bennett said the awards, which...

Search is on for young `voices' of climate change.
February 3, 2006... A NATIONAL search is underway to find nine young people, each representing a different region across England, to act as the `voices' of climate change. The search is part of the Government's climate change communications initiative...

Welsh farmers reject hill support scheme options.
February 3, 2006... NFU Cymru leaders met representatives of all the Welsh Assembly opposition parties this week to explain why farmers in Wales are giving a loud and clear `no' to the two options being proposed in the consultation paper looking at the future of...

British Sugar and Greenergy agree bioethanol deal.
February 3, 2006... BRITISH Sugar has signed a contract for the supply of bioethanol to Greenergy Fuels. It comes just weeks after work started on a #20 million bioethanol plant at British Sugar's Wissington site in Norfolk. Announcement of the supply...

Still too busy to `put his feet up'.
February 3, 2006... Far from taking it easy, a well-known Carmarthenshire farmer is now busier than ever. BARRY ALSTON reports. WITH some 40 years' service to the industry behind him when Hugh Richards stepped down from the chairmanship of NFU Cymru in 2002 it...

New website for dairymen.
February 3, 2006... THE Centre for Dairy Information (CDI) launched a new dairy industry website at the conference that will provide access to a central database for dairy information. Included in the website is an animal data section that gives access to...

United message is urged to beat TB.
February 3, 2006... FARMERS were called on to make their voices heard during the public consultation over bovine TB. The call came from Diana Linskey, head of the animal health and welfare strategy and delivery division at Defra. Mrs Linskey said that all...

Herd health plan to improve efficiency.
February 3, 2006... BEN BRIGGS continues his report from the British Cattle Breeders Club's British Cattle Conference, staged near Shrewsbury. PLANNING for a healthy herd and keeping recording systems were important issues that farmers needed to address,...

Fewer but larger herds for global future.
February 3, 2006... NEILS Bo, a Danish AI expert, spoke on European dairy breeding in a global market and pointed out that in the next decade the number of herds would fall but those still operating would become larger. He said challenges could be summarised as:...

Grain co-operative's biodiesel plan.
February 3, 2006... The Farming without Fossil Fuels conference in Barnes, London, was the first step for the industry in raising awareness of renewable energy throughout the sector. It was also a chance for farmers to realise just how much technology is already...

Village warms to plans of parish eco-system.
February 3, 2006... A HAMPSHIRE village is trialling plans to become completely self- sufficient in its heat supply, with local farmers providing the heat. Farmers in Longstock will grow energy crops such as willow or miscanthus and harvest it before burning...

Market forces dictate UK biofuels growth.
February 3, 2006... THE biofuels market in the UK would only take off if oil prices continued to rise, said Peter Clery, chairman of British Association for Biofuels and Oils (BABFO). In the past, biofuels have been more expensive than fossil fuels and...

UK must do more to curb climate change.
February 3, 2006... THE UK was lagging behind its European counterparts on tackling climate change and promoting energy crops, said Food and Farming Minister Lord Bach. He also revealed that the farming sector was the second largest contributor of greenhouse...

WTO negotiations are a wake-up call for the industry.
February 3, 2006... RECENT and future moves in the World Trade Organisation's negotiations should be regarded as a wake-up call for the industry, said Kevin Roberts, MLC director general. Andy Lebrecht, Defra's director general for sustainable farm, food and...

Pressure for change is at critical level.
February 3, 2006... Due to the lack of progress at the Hong Kong round of the World Trade Organisation talks in December, the Meat and Livestock Commission's annual Outlook Conference this week had more than its usual share of speculation and focused more on...

Britain put at disadvantage.
February 3, 2006... NON-TRADE concerns, such as animal welfare, were in danger of being put on the back burner under WTO negotiations, which could put Britain at a disadvantage, delegates were told. This led to protests from Mick Sloyan, BPEX chief executive,...

Continental steers lead way at Welshpool.
February 3, 2006... WELSHPOOL Livestock Mart, Powys, held its January Fair of store cattle, on Tuesday, where there was an entry of 828. Leading the way were two-year-old continental steers that peaked at #730, and prices averaged #566.70 for 242 sold with...

Good entries and fast trade at Melton Mowbray.
February 3, 2006... STORE and prime cattle went under the hammer at Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, on Tuesday, with good entries seen in both sections. An entry of 161 prime cattle met a fast trade while finished hoggs met a better trade than in recent weeks,...

NEWS IN BRIEF: New chairman.
February 3, 2006... Tenant farmer Trevor Wilson, 44, of Low Bankside Farm, Cartmel, has been elected as the new chairman of the NFU's Cumbria county branch. He started farming at Low Bankside in 1985, has 200 beef cattle and is also wintering 1,000 sheep for other...

`Opportunities must be seized'.
February 3, 2006... BARRY ALSTON highlights the key points raised at the latest round of NFU Cymru county meetings. THE most lucrative return from energy crops grown in Wales could come from small on-farm generators selling power to the National Grid,...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Business grows.
February 3, 2006... Yorkshire farmer Timothy Wilson, from Grange Farm, Levisham, who produces premium quality, free-range pork, lamb and beef under `The Ginger Pig' trademark on his 300-acre farm on the North York Moors is set to expand his operation thanks to...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Useful leaflets.
February 3, 2006... A new series of leaflets have been produced for farmers by Business Link York and North Yorkshire to help them digest some of the complex issues facing the industry such as the Single Payment Scheme. The leaflets, produced with the help of...

Rearing rare breeds from farm to customer.
February 3, 2006... JAMES Barclay, his wife Lucy and their two sons moved to Abbey Farm, Stixwould, near Woodall Spa, Lincolnshire, in 2002 after Mrs Barclay had an accident which left her wheelchair bound. The family were always involved with farming and...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Top dairy award.
February 3, 2006... Dairy farmers from across Wales will be competing for this year's top Royal Welsh Agricultural Society award. The Sir Bryner Jones Trophy is presented annually to a different branch of agriculture and this time around will go to the person...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Hedgelay event.
February 3, 2006... The Friends of the Lake District is staging its annual hedgelaying event on Saturday, February 18, on the Westmorland County Agricultural Society showground at Crooklands. The event is part of a regional grand prix of five competitions also run...

NEWS IN BRIEF: More funding.
February 3, 2006... An underground irrigation system supplying water to 14 farms in and around Duxford, Cambridgeshire, is the latest scheme to receive grant aid from the England Rural Development Programme. The latest round of funding brought the total grant aid...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Principal retires.
February 3, 2006... The principal of Writtle College, Essex, Prof Mike Alder, is due to retire at the end of the current academic year, after 20 years in the post, during which time, the college has grown sixfold. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Treatments prove effective.
February 3, 2006... USE of insecticide seed treatments, such as Gaucho (imidacloprid) and Poncho Beta (beta-cyfluthrin+clothianidin) to protect against soil and foliar pests and reduce the virus yellows threat has been used to great effect in high risk areas, but...

Achieving the sugar beet aim is possible.
February 3, 2006... British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO) winter meetings took place at Spalding, in Lincolnshire and Newmarket in Suffolk last week from where ALAN STENNETT and JAMES GIBSON report. ACHIEVING the British Sugar aim of 70 tonnes of beet to...

Control strategies for pests.
February 3, 2006... The HGCA R&D conference took the theme `Arable Crop Protection in the balance: Profit and Environment'. Teresa Rush reports from the event held at Grantham, Lincolnshire. CONTROL strategies for oilseed rape beetle pests that combine...

Reduced inputs not detrimental.
February 3, 2006... REDUCED pesticide inputs have not reduced yields or proved detrimental to the economics of wheat production in Denmark, farmers and advisers attending the HGCA R&D conference were told. Dr Lise Jorgensen of the Danish Institute of...

Oilseed rape workshops.
February 3, 2006... Control strategies including biological control and trap cropping are being developed for oilseed rape beetle pests. `Growing oilseed rape: Realising the potential' is the title of a HGCA winter workshop planned in association with Farmers...

Wood chips spark energy system.
February 3, 2006... LINCOLNSHIRE farmer, Charles Dobson, who farms at South Elkington, near Louth, and supplies heat for a farmhouse and three converted farm cottages using a boiler burning wood chip from woodland thinnings and waste material such as old pallets,...

Supply heat locally.
February 3, 2006... Alan Stennett attended a biomass meeting in Louth, Lincolnshire, funded by Defra's Rural Development Service, and organised by the Rural Energy Trust, to hear how farmers can profit from heat. FARMERS looking for profitable uses for biomass...

Perseverence with Shorthorns results in string of top awards.
February 3, 2006... BARRY ALSTON reports from the home of a West Wales pedigree dairy herd that has been hitting the high spots in the showring. It began as a childhood passion and simmered away for many years - but today a love of Dairy Shorthorns has led to...

Going out on a high - the young breeder with nothing left to prove.
February 3, 2006... AT 25 years old James Tomlinson has decided to hang up his white showman's jacket for the last time. The age limit in the Holstein Young Breeders' Club is 26 but James seems to have made up his mind. "Although I've got another year left...

Young Farmer Producer Award 2006.
February 3, 2006... The search is on to find the best Young Farmer Producer in the country. Farmers Guardian has teamed up with Waitrose to sponsor a new award in the retailer's well-established, successful Small Producers Awards competition. The winner will...

Country View: Up in smoke.
February 3, 2006... Like a lot of people living in rural areas, I find myself unable to move to a bigger or better property because I cannot keep pace with the soaring house prices. In the six years I have lived in my tiny, terraced weavers' cottage, its...

Country View: Concerns over reintroduction of beaver to Welsh rivers.
February 3, 2006... THE possible re-introduction of the European beaver to rivers and streams in Wales is causing considerable concern among NFU Cymru members who feel there could be serious consequences for animal health, farm land and crops. The last...

Country View: Celebrating open spaces.
February 3, 2006... FRIENDS of the Lake District and Cumbria County Council are running a project to help celebrate open green spaces in villages and towns. The Open Space, Green Places Project has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund with a grant of...

Country View: Harrogate farm shop takes top award.
February 3, 2006... A farm shop in the centre of Harrogate has been named best rural retailer in Britain, just six months after opening. Weeton's, on target to turn over #1.25 million within a year, has a staff of 20 and plans for another outlet. Its stated...

Country View: New community project.
February 3, 2006... Peak district residents are set to have their community spirit raised - thanks to a Defra-backed scheme to help local festivals become more inclusive and boost people's creative skills. Backed with over #18,000 from LEADER + funds, the...

CV's: BEST BOOK.
February 3, 2006... PoW to Lancashire Farmer: The Remarkable Life of Alec Barker by Anne Bonney Helm Press, #10.95 The spirit, determination and ingenuity of a cattle dealer turned soldier and the love of farming and his family shine from this...

Country View: An hour in the February garden.
February 3, 2006... Despite the feeling that the garden is in limbo in February, look a bit closer and you will find things are happening, as PAUL PEACOCK explains. Don't be fooled, the garden looks asleep in February, but in actual fact there is a lot going...

Boosting Young Farmers' profile in Scotland is vital, says SAYFC.
February 3, 2006... THE importance of recruiting more members and of raising the profile of Scottish Young Farmers was stressed by Jim Smith, SAYFC (Scottish Association of YFCs) national chairman, at the organisation's West Region annual conference. One way...

Country View: Voice of a younger generation.
February 3, 2006... A forum designed to promote the voice of younger YFC members has been held in Lincolnshire. Members of Horncastle, Harmston and Spalding clubs attended the Young Farmers' junior youth forum in Woodhall Spa. Andrew Todd, county chairman and...

Country View: Senior member of the year.
February 3, 2006... CLAIRE Booth, 23, a member of Bury YFC, is Lancashire Young Farmers' senior member of the year. Claire, a planning technician, is one of the Lancashire federation's representatives on NFYFC council. Farmer's daughter Alison Smith, 20, of...

Country View: Personal expressions portrayed by pictures.
February 3, 2006... PHOTOGRAPHS conveying Young Farmers' thoughts, feelings and aspirations linked with farming are on show at Buxton Museum, Derbyshire, until February 11. `Personal expressions' features the work of members from 10 YFCs in the county. It is...

Country View: Champions.
February 3, 2006... WENTWOOD YFC has won Gwent Young Farmers' champion club award. The most improved club title went to Crucorney whose membership dropped to just one but, during the past 12 months, has been rebuilt to 44 and successfully competed to share the...

Country View: `A breath of fresh air'.
February 3, 2006... A colourful, sing-along production with rural life at the heart of all the songs won first place for Middlewich YFC in Cheshire Young Farmers' entertainments competition. Entitled `A breath of fresh air' it was the last of four presentations by...

WORKING DOGS: Hat-trick of trophies for Bevis and Spud.
February 3, 2006... BEVIS Jordan and Spud swept the board on Saturday winning the Northumberland League trial, the concluding championship and the aggregate. The last of the nine Northumberland nursery trials was held at Seahouses where the entry of 17 was...

Agromek 2006: Tyre sealant from CTS Fritsche.
February 3, 2006... Tractor and self-propelled machine tyre punctures are not necessarily expensive in terms of repair, but downtime whilst the machine is out of action. With this in mind, comes a tyre sealant from German firm CTS Fritsche. Known as RPS, and...

Agromek 2006: Hylleberg mobile Box washer to clean inside and out.
February 3, 2006... Danish machine maker Hylleberg continues to work on its automatic box washer for the vegetable sector. Using a series of pressure washer nozzles to thoroughly clean both the interior and exterior of boxes, although the earlier version...

Agromek 2006: New system for slurry injection.
February 3, 2006... Denmark rates as one of the leading countries in terms of new slurry application techniques. One of the more interesting machines at this year's show was this Agrovo version, which is billed as a new type of slurry injection system. ...

Agromek 2006: Narrow cultivator for orchards.
February 3, 2006... Apple and pear growers will need no reminding of the difficulty in cultivating the land in the rows between the trees. Help is at hand in the form of a cultivator from Danish-firm Elkaers Maskinsalg, which has come up with a machine that is...

Agromek 2006: Scan-agro self-propelled sprayer for danish market.
February 3, 2006... The self-propelled sprayer on the stand of Scan-Agro is supplied by Knight Farm Machinery. For the past year the Danish importer has supplied Knight with some of its red line sprayers, whilst Scan-Agro uses Knight booms on its sprayers. ...

Agromek 2006: Danfoil Claim of sole air-powered sprayer.
February 3, 2006... Danish firm Danfoil claims to have the only true air-powered sprayer on the market. The trailed version is known as the Concorde series, and the firm says it is possible to work with spray volumes as low as 30- 40lit/ha. New options for...

Agromek 2006: Wavy discs driven by leading wheels.
February 3, 2006... Designed to operate in grass and cereal crops, a feature of Harso's 7.5m-wide Universal Precipitator slurry injector is that the wavy discs used to open the ground are driven by the leading rubber wheels. Connected by chain drive, the disc...

Agromek 2006: Simpler auto-steering system.
February 3, 2006... L H Agro's Field Pilot 2 is described as the second generation of tractor auto steering system. Developed in the US by sister company Mid Tech, the company says that it is a lot easier to install and simpler to operate than the original...

Agromek 2006: Rioh agro cubicle bedder.
February 3, 2006... A feature of this Danish-made cubicle bedder is its solid design. Made by RIOH Agro, and weighing in at over 1.5 tonnes, the company says that aside from servicing, customers should enjoy trouble-free operation for at least 5 years. Known...

Agromek 2006: Expandable titan milk robot.
February 3, 2006... Danish farmers in the market for a milk robot now have another model to choose from - the Titan. The result of development by Prolion and Punch Technix, the result made in Slovakia and marketed by Robot Milking Solutions (RMS). Available...