Farmers Guardian articles from February 2008

Farmers Guardian archives from February 2008

Set-aside move provokes an angry response.
February 1, 2008... THE NFU has vowed to fight moves to retain set-aside as a cross compliance measure, even if the European Commission abolishes the policy. Defra is considering advice from Natural England and the Environment Agency to introduce a new cross...

Export of Brazilian beef `banned'.
February 1, 2008... THE export of Brazilian beef to Europe has effectively been banned from today. It follows the European Commission's rejection of some 2,500 potentially export-eligible Brazilian beef farms. While it is essentially an animal health...

Bluetongue fears as PCR test results awaited.
February 1, 2008... THE process of pre-movement testing livestock in order to move them out of the bluetongue zones created a major scare this week. Over the weekend it emerged that livestock on farms in Cheshire and Shropshire had tested positive to blood...

Wild swans test positive for avian flu.
February 1, 2008... MIGRATORY birds from Europe are believed to have brought avian flu to the Dorset coast, according to the latest epidemiology report on the recent outbreak. The report suggests that the infection arrived in mid-December and could have come...

Carbon saving criticisms.
February 1, 2008... THE UK Government's response to EU plans to tackle climate change has been criticised for failing to recognise what carbon savings the British countryside could actually deliver. CLA Wales assistant director Sarah Andrews said confusion and...

Tailoring farm policies.
February 1, 2008... NFU Scotland has met EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel in Brussels to outline its ideas on how Europe's farm policy could be tailored to deliver maximum food production, environmental and economic benefits to the public. The...

BPC come under fire after refusing to offer levy rebate.
February 1, 2008... THE British Potato Council has come under fire after refusing to offer a rebate on the levy charged to farmers in Hereford who lost their crops to the summer's floods. The BPC has insisted that all farmers affected by the floods pay the...

Frustration grows as Defra delays its decision on UK sugar quota again.
February 1, 2008... BRITISH Sugar and the NFU have spoken of their frustration this week as Defra has again delayed its decision on the processor's application to relinquish 13.5 per cent of UK sugar quota. Defra was due to announce its decision on whether it...

Complete crop protection management plans to help avoid regulations.
February 1, 2008... INCREASED regulation for pesticide use could be on the cards if users fail to complete Crop Protection Management Plans (CPMP). Paul Chambers, NFU plant health adviser, said as the CPMPs were no longer compulsory for new Entry Level...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Farm Sunday.
February 1, 2008... This year's Open Farm Sunday is to be held on June 1, with the organisers LEAF aiming to makethe event even bigger and better than last year when 150,000 people visited more than 400 farms. Anyone wanting to take part in this year's event or to...

South West farmers reveal a strong appetite for badger cull.
February 1, 2008... MORE farmers in the South West have expressed a willingness to participate in a co-ordinated badger cull over a selected area. More than 200 farmers attended a meeting in south Devon last Thursday, called to drum up support for a collective...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Countryside Council Wales.
February 1, 2008... Four new members have been appointed by the Welsh Assembly to the Countryside Council for Wales for three-year terms. They are Dr Susan Gubbay, a marine ecologist, diver and conservationist for over 20 years; Lynnette Margaret Thomas, who works...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Construction waste proposals.
February 1, 2008... Responses are invited to a consultation paper, published jointly by Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Environment Agency, on possible changes to the rules for dealing with brick, concrete, hardcore, subsoil and other inert waste from...

Lawyers dispute the accuracy of bovine TB test.
February 1, 2008... LAWYERS acting for farmers seeking a re-test for cattle that produced anomalous bovine TB test results have said it is `statistically impossible' for the tests to be accurate. Clarke Willmott will represent a Somerset organic farming...

Welsh Assembly working to come up with TB eradication programme.
February 1, 2008... WITH the final piece of the consultative jigsaw now in place, the next steps in how Wales goes about tackling bovine TB are down to Assembly Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones. The eyes of both the farming industry and wildlife support...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Call for beef sector lectures.
February 1, 2008... Beef and sheep sectors have been urged to follow the dairy industry's lead and offer specialist information events for college staff. The call was made by Jonathan Clarke of Warwickshire College which hosted an agricultural lecturers day,...

End of an era for some members.
February 1, 2008... ARTHUR Hill and John Hoyles, chairmen of the NFU's combinable crops and sugar boards respectively, will step down from their roles after next month's NFU conference. They will remain on the NFU council. This week's council meeting was the...

Union calls for `intelligent' GM debate.
February 1, 2008... The NFU Council met on Tuesday in Warwickshire, covering a range of topics. ALISTAIR DRIVER reports. THE NFU has called for an `intelligent, practical and science-based' debate on the place of GM technology in British farming this century....

Farmers to undertake `New Zealand lamb watch'.
February 1, 2008... NFU members are to take part in a new initiative to monitor supermarkets' use of New Zealand lamb. Groups of farmers will collect information on prices and volumes of British and New Zealand lamb in stores across the country. The...

Don't waste `once in a generation opportunity', dairy farmers warned.
February 1, 2008... DAIRY farmers have a `once in a generation opportunity' to tear up their existing milk contracts and negotiate new ones with their buyers, so don't waste it, dairy chairman Gwyn Jones urged farmers. "We need better contracts because current...

NFU to push for a Red Tractor Olympics.
February 1, 2008... THE NFU is lobbying the organisers of the 2012 London Olympics to ensure all eligible food served at the event is certified under the Red Tractor Scheme. NFU director general Richard Macdonald said the union had contacted the British...

NFU taking legal advice on behalf of IPPC `victims'.
February 1, 2008... NFU poultry chairman Charles Bourns condemned the `scandalous' treatment of poultry farmers under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC) regulations. Mr Bourns said he was aware of 10 sites that Environment Agency...

Close to 75 per cent full payment for 2007.
February 1, 2008... OVER 70 per cent of all claimants in England have now received their 2007 Single Payments in full. The latest figures from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) show that 74.7 per cent of claimants have now been paid. Around #863 million has...

May 15 becomes red-letter day for Single Payments.
February 1, 2008... A single date replaces unpopular 10-month requirement FROM this year, May 15 will be a significant date in the farming calendar as it has become the date on which farmers will be required to have land at their disposal each year in order to...

Total disregard for worker safety sees gangmaster have licence revoked.
February 1, 2008... A SUFFOLK gangmaster, alleged to have shown `a total disregard for worker safety', has become the 46th to have its business shut down by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). Vilnius Recruitment of Leiston, which supplied workers to...

Exemption granted for agricultural vehicles.
February 1, 2008... A NEW scheme to cut vehicle emissions in London could see the cost of transport rocket - with haulage companies having to pay up to #200 a day to drive in the capital. The Low Emissions Zone comes into force on February 4, covering the...

Tenants must be well armed ahead of any rent review.
February 1, 2008... FARMING organisations are advising their tenant farmer members to check their budgets and be prepared to negotiate rent reviews in the run-up to Lady Day (March 25). It comes as a large number of notices were served last year before the...

Is it the end for British agriculture's backbone?
February 1, 2008... The tenant has always been the backbone of British agriculture. Indeed in the 19th and early 20th centuries he made up by far the greater proportion of farmers, only falling off in numbers after WW2. By and large the tenancy has been a...

OPINION: Clouding the issue?
February 1, 2008... It is easy to forget set-aside was introduced in 1992 as a market measure designed to tackle over-production of cereals in the EU. The logic of its removal now, when the demand-supply equation has shifted so far the other way that global...

LETTER: Vaccination should be made compulsory.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... As a reader of your newspaper who is not in the industry as yet (moving to France to breed alpacas in within the next few months, subject to bluetongue) I am confused by the recent articles in your publication regarding bluetongue vaccinations....

LETTER: Home pig market struggling.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... BEEF and lamb prices up (FG, January 18), but what about pork? This good news of the future prospects for beef and lamb will make these producers nearly as happy as the large grain growers. No mention of the destruction of the home pig...

LETTER: Tests serve very different purposes.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... LAWYER Tim Russ says that one of the two tests for bovine TB `must have something fundamentally wrong with it' (FG, January 11). He appears to misunderstand that the skin and gamma interferon tests serve very different purposes. The...

LETTER: Waste of a British food resource.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I am writing concerning the news stories about black and white bull calves. Anyone who saw `The Lie of the Land' which was first shown two or three years ago is aware of what happens to the bulk of these bull calves in the dairy industry....

LETTER: Excellent job under very difficult conditions.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... TO see Jamie Oliver on a recent front page of Farmers Guardian was just giving him the publicity he craves. For decades, British farmers have produced high quality foodstuffs and do an excellent job under very difficult conditions,...

LETTER: Genetic progress to be made through cloning.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... While I think there is genetic progress to be made through cloning, and fail to see that it would present a food safety issue, can we really afford the impact it could have on consumer confidence? We've already seen plenty of headlines of...

`Whitehall must get its house in order'.
February 1, 2008... FOOD and Farming Minister Lord Rooker said that, in addition to supermarkets, the Government also had an important role to play in improving meat sales. In an attack on Whitehall's key departments, he said the Government could not lecture...

Food security to herald `new era' for agriculture.(Conference notes)
February 1, 2008... The Meat and Livestock Commission's annual Outlook Conference in London on Tuesday drew industry experts from across the country to assess the challenges and opportunities facing the meat sector in 2008. WILLIAM SURMAN reports. A LIVESTOCK...

A sustainable industry.
February 1, 2008... SUPERMARKETS and environmentalists were not necessarily `public enemy number one', but they would probably not top a list of livestock farmers' favourite people either. So it could have been with some trepidation that Sainsbury's trading...

Farmers urged to be pragmatic amid high feed prices and disease fears.
February 1, 2008... THE outlook for beef, sheep and pig farming looked ominous as economic analysts presented delegates with successive reports that predicted each sector to slim over the coming year. The dramatic increase in feed costs would trouble all...

Debate surrounding dual-purpose dairy cows remains clearly divided.
February 1, 2008... Continuing her report on this year's British Cattle Conference, organised by the British Cattle Breeders Club, JOANNE PUGH looks at some of the issues relating to dairy cow management and technological progress being made in cattle genetics....

Call for `farmer friendly' and compatible data collection.
February 1, 2008... THE pros and cons of data collection in dairy herds were discussed by three speakers - one a farmer voicing his concerns, and two representatives from milk recording companies describing the progress being made. Paul Miller, who runs the...

`Revolutionary' genome selection discussion generates excitement.
February 1, 2008... WHOLE genome selection (WGS) generated a lot of excitement on both days of the conference, described on different occasions as `revolutionary' and `the biggest thing since AI'. Chris Warkup, director of Genesis Faraday, said WGS had been...

New animal transport test is now compulsory.
February 1, 2008... If you transport livestock, regardless of how frequently and for how many years you have been doing it previously, you must now past a test to prove your competence. Like it or not, the long-threatened legislation is now is place across the EU...

CASE STUDY - ROGER PEDERSON: Is the test really necessary?(Case study)
February 1, 2008... AT 21 farmer's son Roger Pederson of Daventry, Northamptonshire, was one of the first to take a test for a Certificate of Competence by taking advantage of NPTC's promotional offer at last year's Royal Show. He opted to undertake the...

Research investment needed.(Conference notes)
February 1, 2008... RESEARCH and development was essential to the sustainability of the farming industry, yet first rate scientists were working in `third world' establishments in the UK, NFU president Peter Kendall told the HGCA `Arable cropping in a changing...

Food wastage is an ever-growing threat, warns Lord Haskins.
February 1, 2008... FOOD security could be under threat with the risk of a global food shortage exacerbated by excessive wastage of food products, the Government's food and farming adviser Lord Haskins warned this week. Presenting the annual City Food Lecture...

Food and drink spending falls.
February 1, 2008... SPENDING on food and non-alcoholic drinks has fallen from one-third of household expenditure in 1957 to 15 per cent in 2006. A special anniversary edition of the annual Office for National Statistics report Family Spending, published this...

Defra's cuts have made fighting disease tougher.
February 1, 2008... GRAVE concerns have been expressed by the Farmers Union of Wales that Defra cuts will limit the ability of local authorities to deal with animal disease outbreaks. The fears follow a meeting with Denbighshire County Council animal health...

MACHINERY: John Deere remained best UK seller in 2006.
February 1, 2008... JOHN Deere held on to the top position in the UK tractor sales league for 2006. It had 25.8 per cent (3,861) of the 14,941 units sold according to the figures from the Agricultural Engineers Association. New Holland regained second (18.3...

MACHINERY: Kubota GL40.
February 1, 2008... KUBOTA has updated the L30 series tractors with the five range GL40 spanning 35hp to 58hp. There is a choice of three transmissions - a 16 forward, 16 reverse synchronised `box with creep speed, a 24/16 clutchless transmission and a...

MACHINERY: New website for Bearingboys.(Website overview)
February 1, 2008... BEARINGBOYS have developed a new website to offer a greater variety of bearings and components to farmers and engineers. Established two years ago by brothers Will and Sam Hueston the success of their initial website allowed them to move to...

MACHINERY: Loader rival to be bought by Alo.
February 1, 2008... SWEDISH loader manufacturer Alo is to buy French firm MX better known in the UK as Chillton. Alo already owns Quicke and Trima and MX was their largest competitor producing some 7,000 loaders as well as associated implements last year alongside...

MACHINERY: Vapormatic is improving site.
February 1, 2008... PARTS company Vapormatic has developed a new website that allows users to log in and access more features such as technical support and troubleshooting guides. Users can see if the part they require is among the 16,000 lines the company...

MACHINERY: Doosan complete Bobcat purchase.
February 1, 2008... CONSTRUCTION manufacturer Doosan Infracore has completed its acquisition of Bobcat, Utility Equipment and Attachments businesses from Ingersoll Rand. The move puts Doosan Infracore into the top ten global manufacturers of construction and...

MACHINERY: Power boost a real plus for transporting.
February 1, 2008... The Case IH Maxxum range replaced the three-year-old MXU line-up earlier last year, and brought in a new flagship - the 140. Geoff Ashcroft sought the views of farmer and contractor users with Multi- controller 140 models With a power...

MACHINERY: `Multi-purpose tractor can make light work of most ploughing.
February 1, 2008... Somerset contractor James Dalgren bought a Maxxum Multi-controller 140 for his general contracting business, but opted for a high specification tractor including 50kph transmission, front linkage and pto, ground speed radar and wheel slip...

MACHINERY: Fendt Vario 900 Key control.
February 1, 2008... FENDT is making some moves to put things right with its Fendt Key Control system fitted as standard on the new shape Vario 900 series tractors with those already at work getting an upgrade. The key contains a data chip and once inserted...

MACHINERY: The growing menace of machinery theft.
February 1, 2008... MORE than #5.5 million worth of tractors and farm machinery were stolen in the UK last year - up 22 per cent on 2006. The latest spate of thefts has seen a surge in the number of tractors stolen by organised gangs, with farmers and dealers...

MACHINERY: No need to blow budget with Siromer's top-of-the-range 404.
February 1, 2008... If you are in the market for a scraper tractor or need something for a smallholding you can choose one of two paths - buy a secondhand classic or opt for a `fresh out of the box' compact and if you are on a budget you can even build it...

ARABLE: Higher sugar content as beet growers try to maximise yield.
February 1, 2008... SUGAR contents have been consistently high, but yields lower during this year's sugar beet campaign, which draws to a close at three of the four remaining factories this week. "We have seen some very good sugar contents this year. On...

ARABLE: Wheat bulb fly warning.
February 1, 2008... WITH the wheat bulb fly season fast approaching, Dow AgroSciences is warning against applying Dursban WG (chlorpyrifos) in tank mixes with Atlantis WG (iodosulfuron+mesosulfuron). "Timing for wheat bulb fly treatment may coincide with...

ARABLE: UK arable sector `optimistic' for season.
February 1, 2008... A survey of 12 leading arable consultants and agronomists, commissioned by BASF in the light of recent market changes, has highlighted several key economic and agronomic drivers for the coming season and beyond. "One thing that was very...

ARABLE: Soil condition `more important for N uptake'.
February 1, 2008... SOIL conditions favourable to nitrogen uptake are more important than calendar date when applying N to oilseed rape. That is just one of the pieces of advice contained in The Arable Group's (TAG) 2008 `Spring Strategies' document, delivered...

ARABLE: Climate Change - What is Changing?
February 1, 2008... Drier summers and wetter winters expected THE climate in the UK is changing and will continue to change. The average annual temperature for all regions has risen by between 0.4 and 0.9 degC since 1914 and the growing season for plants...

ARABLE: How Can Farming Adapt to Climate Change?
February 1, 2008... Farmers have power to mitigate its effects AGRICULTURE can help mitigate the effects of climate change by either reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) or adopting management practices that that permit sequestration of carbon in soil...

ARABLE: Farmers will have to adapt to the conditions.
February 1, 2008... WHILE awareness of climate change amongst farmers is high, acceptance of it as an issue for which agriculture needs to plan is not. Results from ADAS surveys conducted during 2005 and 2007 highlighted concerns amongst farmers about some of...

ARABLE: More drought tolerant varieties will be required.
February 1, 2008... INCREASING numbers of wheat crops are likely to experience drought as climate change takes effect, according to Dr Eric Ober of Broom's Barn. Even now in the UK wheat yield is lost each year as a result of insufficient soil moisture and...

ARABLE: Warm summers may increase migratory pests.
February 1, 2008... TRADITIONAL pests of UK arable crops are generally favoured by small temperature increases but very high temperatures may have an adverse impact on them, ADAS entomologist Jon Oakley told the conference. Warm periods may encourage...

ARABLE: One disease's loss could be another one's gain.
February 1, 2008... SEASONAL fluctuations in the severity of disease are set to continue under climate change. However, because the different diseases of wheat are sensitive to different weather variables, it is likely that increases in one disease may coincide...

ARABLE: Helping farmers manage coastal change.
February 1, 2008... A rise in sea levels and Defra's withdrawal from maintaining sea walls threatens the future of 300 miles of Essex coastline and could affect more than 180 landowners. The Managing Coastal Change project is looking at the opportunities and...

FARM FEATURE: Simpler organic system makes time for on-farm education.
February 1, 2008... Helping children and teachers from inner-city schools to visit working farms is the key role of the Country Trust, enabling the children to have fun learning about how their food is produced and a little about rural life. Neil Ryder meets the...

YOUNGSTOCK: Joining forces for the first time.
February 1, 2008... `GREASE is the word' - or at least it was for the Young Farmers across Lancashire who joined forces with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution to raise #1,400 for the farming charity. The joint venture between RABI and the YFC...

YOUNGSTOCK: Clear purpose is educating the future farmers.
February 1, 2008... Kingston Maurward College in Dorset is enjoying a bumper year with a record number of students signing up to study agriculture. KATIE ROEBUCK dropped in to find out the secrets behind their success. It's been a busy 12 months for staff and...

YOUNGSTOCK: Agricultural apprentices gain invaluable experience.
February 1, 2008... Josh Fincham and Will Dyer are both agricultural apprentices at Kingston Mauward College. Agricultural apprenticeships combine full time employment with one day a week study at college. Josh works on an estate within Dorset while Will...

COUNTRY VIEW: Jane's aim is to find new homes for battery hens.
February 1, 2008... Charity's message is support British farmers, not criticise them The Battery Hen Welfare Trust rescues and rehomes thousands of ex- battery hens every year as an alternative to slaughter. JACK DAVIES talks to founder Jane Howarth about the...

WORKING DOGS: Northumberland sweep for Bevis Jordan and Tex.
February 1, 2008... SUNDAY saw the conclusion of the Northumberland League nursery season with Bevis Jordan and Tex sweeping the board, taking the trial, the championship and the aggregate titles. The venue for the 10th and final trial was Fawns, near Cambo,...

Positive vibes at annual meetings.
February 1, 2008... BRIGHTER times ahead - but on-going concerns over disease, have been the main topics dominating the debates at the NFU Cymru county annual meetings staged so far. Despite all the troubles of 2007, farmers in Meirionnydd were treated to a...

Younger people required.
February 1, 2008... GETTING younger people involved in the NFU is the main aim of 36-year- old Russell Bowman, who has been elected as the union's new county chairman for Cumbria. Mr Bowman, of Castlerigg Farm, Armathwaite, Carlisle, is a tenant farmer with...

Money wasted by Welsh red tape.
February 1, 2008... RED tape farm inspections are costing the Welsh Assembly almost #3 million a year, according to figures obtained by Welsh Conservative AMs. During 2006-07 almost #2.8m was spent, with around #2.66m being estimated for 2007-08. "This is...

Milk initiative targets business improvements.
February 1, 2008... MILK Link and the Milk Development Council have launched a three-year Monitor Farm initiative in Cornwall. After an assessment by an advisory group made up of local Milk Link members, monitoring the farm's performance against current...

Payment move welcomed.
February 1, 2008... SCOTTISH Crofting Foundation chairman Norman Leask, has welcomed the Scottish Government's commitment to pay delayed support payments to Less Favoured Areas within two weeks. This follows favourable discussions in Europe of the Scottish...

RNCI appoints a new chairman.
February 1, 2008... MARTIN Birse, Pitgaveny Farms, Elgin, has taken over as chairman of Royal Northern Countryside Initiative, succeeding Alyson Hunter of Wedderburn, Huntly. Mr Birse, is a regular visitor to schools as well as hosting visits to Pitgaveny...

LIVESTOCK: Putting a price on faster growth rate.
February 1, 2008... IMPROVING growth rate in the finishing herd by just 70g per day could help hard-pressed pig farmers increase returns by #2.86 per pig, amounting to over #30,000 for the annual output from a 500-sow herd, according to Ed Sutcliffe, technical...

LIVESTOCK: Meeting shows depth of concern over bluetongue.
February 1, 2008... THERE was a huge turnout of farmers for the East Midlands NFU bluetongue meeting, held at Newark showground, showing the strength of feeling and concern about the disease. Dutch vet Daan Dercksen outlined how rapidly the disease had spread...