Farmers Guardian articles from July 2008

Farmers Guardian archives from July 2008

Sheep EID `concessions' spark industry anger.
July 4, 2008... * Defra's Brussels boast is met by fury * No fundamental alterations made By Joanne Pugh AS Defra boasted about `concessions' gained in Brussels on sheep EID this week, industry leaders were furious they did not go far enough. ...

Scientists want Benn to battle EU over pesticides.
July 4, 2008... SEVEN prominent scientists have criticised European Union plans to dramatically reduce farmers' armoury of crop protection products in a letter to the Government this week. According to the Government's Pesticide Safety Directorate, the...

BSE testing leads to call for raising age limit on OTM cattle.
July 4, 2008... * Only seven BSE positive cattle found * Public health must remain priority By Alistair Driver THE results of nearly one million BSE tests on over-thirty-months (OTM) cattle in the UK show clearly why the age limit should be raised...

If castration and docking are justified consider anaesthesia.
July 4, 2008... CASTRATION and tail docking of lambs should not be undertaken without strong justification, says the Farm Animal Welfare Council in a report on the welfare of lambs, launched this week. While agreeing that FAWC was right to highlight the...

Brazilian beef will be back, admits Fischer Boel.
July 4, 2008... EUROPEAN Union Agriculture Commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, has admitted Brazilian beef will return to Europe. Speaking at a conference in Italy she said the Commission was under enormous pressure from traders to ease restrictions to...

Horticulture: Why it matters.
July 4, 2008... BRITISH vegetable and fruit growers could provide for the health of the nation, tackle climate change and nourish the economy - but only if policy makers woke up to the challenge, the NFU said this week. Launching `Why Horticulture...

Defra stuck in the past, says Kendall.
July 4, 2008... * Lack of coherence within Government * Needs to focus on food security By Alistair Driver THE National Farmers' Union has launched a scathing attack on Defra over its failure to move with the rapidly changing global agenda on...

Benn defends record.
July 4, 2008... DEFRA Secretary Hilary Benn has denied the Government is failing to provide sufficient support for farming at a time when food production is at the top of the global agenda. He was challenged on Tuesday in a Commons food security debate to...

Bluetongue Zone to extend as more vaccine arrives.
July 4, 2008... * Royal Show fears are eased * Vaccination in Wales and Cornwall By Jack Davies BLUETONGUE vaccination got underway in Wales and Cornwall this week as Defra extended the Protection Zone to those areas and released a further two...

Disruption fears for autumn sheep sales.
July 4, 2008... FEARS that bluetongue could cause disruptions to autumn sheep sales were aired at an open meeting in Wales this week. With movement restrictions preventing sheep from the Protection Zones being moved to the clean zones, sheep sales could...

Farmers are asked to help with study.
July 4, 2008... SCIENTISTS at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) and University of Cambridge have called on farmers to help them with a study. It is to measure the take-up of vaccine and to quantify the benefits of vaccination. Dr Chris Oura from IAH...

Scotland orders 12 million doses for compulsory vaccination.
July 4, 2008... THE Scottish Government has placed an order of 12 million doses of bluetongue vaccine from Merial Animal Health to support its compulsory vaccination programme later this year. The strategy is set to start in the winter months, although...

Test for bluetongue virus.
July 4, 2008... THE Veterinary Laboratories Agency has worked in collaboration with the Institute of Animal Health (IAH) at Pirbright to introduce the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test for bluetongue virus. This test is now available via veterinary surgeons...

Badger cull benefits `substantially greater' than was first thought.
July 4, 2008... With Defra Secretary Hilary Benn still deciding whether badgers should be culled to control bovine TB, Alistair Driver looks at how the latest evidence from the badger trials and the Irish experience could influence his thinking. *...

Culling policy is working in Ireland, says leading vet.
July 4, 2008... A SENIOR figure in the Republic of Ireland's bovine TB control strategy has hit back at claims that culling badgers is failing to curb disease spread. Deputy chief veterinary officer Michael Sheridan said the Irish policy could be...

`Regional' disease control recommended for Scotland.
July 4, 2008... * Measures aim to protect vital exports By David Boderke CONSIDERING whether Scotland could be isolated from certain disease controls to protect export markets is one of the recommendations made in the review of how the country handled...

Tackling hydatid disease.
July 4, 2008... THE Welsh Assembly is funding a major campaign in an intensive sheep- producing area to tackle a disease that affects dogs and can be fatal to humans. Hydatid disease is caused by a tapeworm which lives part of its lifecycle in infected...

Cost sharing here to stay.
July 4, 2008... A DIMINISHING budget is one of the biggest challenges facing new chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens. But he said responsibility and cost sharing were here to stay and offered real possibilities to work with the industry to find risk-...

Land Girls to be honoured.
July 4, 2008... AROUND 50 Land Girls will be presented with their badges of honour at 10 Downing Street on July 23. Selected at random from each region to represent their former colleagues, the Land Girls will meet the Prime Minister and Environment...

Chef's welfare plan fails.
July 4, 2008... HUGH Fearnley-Whittingstall's attempt to get Tesco to comply with RSPCA Freedom Food standards for chicken at the firm's annual meeting has failed, getting just 10 per cent of the vote. The celebrity chef, who had to become a shareholder and...

#600,000 Dairygold grant re-paid after plant closure.
July 4, 2008... THE Welsh Assembly has recovered #600,000 from Dairygold Food Products, which closed its West Wales cheese packing plant at Felinfach, Ceredigion, in April 2006, with the loss of 115 jobs. The company was awarded the processing and...

Project to promote rural sustainability.
July 4, 2008... * First branded product in September By Barry Alston THE launch of the Cambrian Mountains Initiative by the Prince of Wales marked the start of a major broad-based project to sustain traditional farming and rural communities in Mid...

Sainsbury's launches carbon footprint scheme.
July 4, 2008... A new scheme to help dairy farmers measure their carbon footprint and reduce greenhouse gases by up to 10 per cent has been launched by Sainsbury's. Certified by the Carbon Trust, the supermarket claims the carbon footprinting model will...

Drive to grow the industry.
July 4, 2008... FARMERS could be extinct by 2035 if the industry continues to lose workers at its current rate. The warning has come from training organisation Lantra, which says that, with 15,900 workers leaving the industry each year, Britain could lose...

LFA system `is effective'.
July 4, 2008... NO change is required to the area of land classified as LFA, says the NFU Scotland in its submission to a European Commission consultation on the designation of `intermediate' Less Favoured Areas across the European Union. The union says the...

LETTER: A minimum price for sugar beet?(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... SUGAR beet, for the past two years, has been a licence to lose money. Which explains why today nearly every sugar beet grower in the country cannot decide whether to grow in 2009 or simply give up the crop altogether. Many older growers...

LETTER: Retain faith in ELS vision.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... THE National Farmers Union does not dispute that some set-aside was good for wildlife, even the wider environment. But we are unconvinced that there has been a net environmental loss. Since 2005 the massive uptake in Environmental...

LETTER: Rules and regulations.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... IS there any other industry in this country which has to put up with so many rules and regulations as farmers do? I very much doubt it. Once again we are being given more and more rules on how we should run our farms. I just wonder what...

EDITORIAL: Actions speak louder than words.(Editorial)
July 4, 2008... IN 2002 the Government wrote in its `Vision for the CAP' document that `domestic production is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for food security' (p.3). It was clear at the time that Whitehall's interest in safeguarding...

OPINION: Knock-on effect of high oil prices.
July 4, 2008... SO, the Governor of the Bank of England has had to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to explain why inflation has climbed to its current level. There's no need to have spent three years studying a degree in financial management at...

ANALYSIS: Holstein bulls needed to fill gap in the supply chain.
July 4, 2008... Can black and white calves be the saviour of the beef industry? Here Robert Forster explains why he thinks 400,000 of them could be needed to make up imminent shortfalls. But Jack Davies outlines why progress in an initiative to bring more on...

ANALYSIS: Developing a business model for the domestic market.
July 4, 2008... IN JANUARY an industry-wide taskforce was set up with the aim of developing models for finishing male dairy calves and providing a link between Britain's dairy farmers and beef finishers. Launched with some fanfare, the Beyond Calf Exports...

ANALYSIS: Calves born to dairy cows.
July 4, 2008... * From September 2007, diary semen accounted for 80 per cent of inseminations compared to 50-55 per cent previously. * Of the 2.17million prime beef cattle produced last year, 1.2 million came from dairy cows. * The 25-30 per cent...

Balancing growth with green issues.
July 4, 2008... The International Dairy Federation brought dairy experts from around the world to Edinburgh to discuss how to tackle climate change. William Surman reports. * Call for trebling of research budget * Action required to cut emissions ...

Leading the way with pro-active approach to climate change.
July 4, 2008... UK dairy farmers were leading the world in their attempts to tackle climate change, said International Dairy Federation president Jim Begg. In his opening remarks at the dairy summit Mr Begg, also director general of Dairy UK, told industry...

Dairy emissions.
July 4, 2008... * Methane and nitrates are the two key pollutants. * Enteric fermentation in cows and anaerobic storage represent 80 per cent of agricultural and 30 to 40 per cent of methane emissions. * Dairy cows typically produce 118kg methane/year...

Cow productivity `a good starting point'.
July 4, 2008... INCREASING dairy cow productivity was the perfect starting point for farmers looking to reduce their carbon footprint, a new report has found. The research revealed the least efficient type of dairy farm left a carbon footprint 17 times...

#3m support package for upland livestock farmers.
July 4, 2008... A #3million programme to help livestock farmers in the upland areas of south west England to improve the viability of their businesses has been announced . The package is aimed at farmers on Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor, who are...

BUSINESS: Merger creates the UK's largest farmer group.
July 4, 2008... ATLAS Agriculture and Framlington Farmers are to merge, forming the UK's largest farmer-owned marketing and purchasing group with an annual turnover of #100 million. The merger was completed this week after almost a year of negotiations...

BUSINESS: Increased supply could drive feed prices down.
July 4, 2008... * Better harvest in US despite flooding * 35 million tonnes more grain in the EU BUMPER harvests are predicted across the globe this year, fuelling speculation that increased supply could bring feed prices down. The latest Coceral...

BUSINESS: AtlasFram group.
July 4, 2008... * Framlingham Farmers, based at Framlingham in Suffolk, purchases agricultural inputs worth approximately #70 million annually on behalf of 700 Members, who farm more than 300,000 acres and keep 25,000 dairy cows in East Anglia, the South East,...

BUSINESS: Tesco cuts all trade links with Zimbabwe.
July 4, 2008... TESCO has cut all trade ties with Zimbabwe, seeing it stop sourcing produce from the country and removing exisiting stock from its shelves. The move comes after Robert Mugabe was sworn in as Zimbabwean President this week amid fierce...

BUSINESS: Consider the costs before tupping.
July 4, 2008... PRODUCERS have to be aware of rising input costs before putting ewes to the tup for early lambing this summer despite one of the best spring lamb seasons in recent years, warns Eblex. The early lamb market has seen considerable growth on...

BUSINESS: Pig producers confidence fragile despite price rises.
July 4, 2008... CONFIDENCE levels in the British pig industry have fallen according to the results of the latest BPEX survey, showing that although producers had maintained or improved their competitiveness, optimism has been significantly eroded. ...

BUSINESS: Have your say on veal marketing.
July 4, 2008... Defra has launched a public consultation on the new European laws concerning the marketing of meat from bovine animals aged 12 months or less. In the UK, meat from animals slaughtered aged 8 months or less must now be labelled as `veal',...

BUSINESS: M&S provides a retail outlet for British veal.
July 4, 2008... * Finding humane uses for bull calves * Exclusive deal for Scottish producer Marks and Spencer has launched a range of high-welfare British veal products, providing a retail outlet for hundreds of dairy calves every year. Its new...

BUSINESS: Include family labour in accounts, farmers urged.
July 4, 2008... THE cost of family labour on the average dairy farm has risen by 16 per cent to around 4.43ppl over the last four years, according to the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers. RABDF's latest report, True Costs of Farmers' Own Labour...

BUSINESS: Marketing initiative to help assured beef farmers.
July 4, 2008... A NEW marketing pack has been launched by Eblex to help farmers sell Quality Standard beef direct to the public. The `Fresh from the Farm' promotional pack will help assured beef farmers work with Quality Standard scheme abattoirs to sell...

BUSINESS: No change in DFB milk price.
July 4, 2008... DAIRY Farmers of Britain members will not see a price rise for July, after the group increased prices by 0.5ppl last month. Prices will be held at current levels, though the DFB Board says it will keep prices `under active review'. The...

BUSINESS: Farmland still an attractive investment.
July 4, 2008... * Farmland values continue to increase * Banks still keen to lend to farmers AS the credit crunch throws the residential property market into a spin, farmers are questioning the effect on farmland value - but they have nothing to fear,...

BUSINESS: Recent land sales.
July 4, 2008... * Prices of up to #11,954 an acre were achieved at a Kidderminster auction conducted by Halls. A 59.46 acre block of pastureland at Wootton Green, near Bridgnorth, saw 20.86 acres selling for #95,000 (#4,554 an acre), while 25.55 acres of...

BUSINESS: Bernard Matthews set to source 100pc British.
July 4, 2008... TURKEY producer Bernard Matthews is to stop selling imported turkey meat, ensuring all its products sold in the UK are produced from British birds. The switch will take place in August and will see the firm source all its UK produce from...

BUSINESS: Online tools to beat the credit crunch.
July 4, 2008... * To help businesses deal with the pressures of the credit crunch, has rounded up the best online resources to make support and advice easy to access. * It features advice on managing cashflow, bad debt and improving your business'...

BUSINESS: The credit crunch.
July 4, 2008... Making sure you get the finance right for your business As the credit crunch continue to bite, Jon Brierley, HSBC Agriculture's senior credit manager gives his advice on how to ensure you can obtain finance for your farm business. STEP...

ARABLE: Mixed levels of take-all recorded around the UK.
July 4, 2008... * Farmers urged to keep checking crop By Angela Calvert TAKE-ALL is present at higher levels than in previous years, probably because there is more second wheat in the ground this season, although there are also some first wheats...

ARABLE: Engaging interest in crop science.
July 4, 2008... HIGH risk, high rewards; or low risk, low returns? This was the question facing a group of Reading University students when they visited The Arable Group's Sutton Scotney trial site in Hampshire last week as they bid to secure a bursary under...

ARABLE: New season potato initiative a success.
July 4, 2008... VALES Emerald potatoes grown in East Lothian made the journey from field to supermarket within a few hours during a three-week celebration of local produce organised by Greenvale AP and Tesco, The initiative, which started on Monday June 16...

ARABLE: ADAS dormancy testing.
July 4, 2008... ADAS is seeking samples of black-grass, Italian rye-grass, barren brome and meadow brome for dormancy testing as part of an HGCA-funded project studying dormancy in grass weeds. The project aims to provide an annual forecast of black-grass...

ARABLE: Simplified rules governing beet N applications.
July 4, 2008... RECOMENDATIONS for nitrogen applications to sugar beet are to be made simpler following changes to RB209, growers are being advised. While recommended maximum dose rates remain the same, at 120kg per hectare, they can be made to a wider...

ARABLE: Turnip yellows risk to oilseed rape increasing.
July 4, 2008... Work on cereals and oilseed rape as well as sugar beet was presented to visitors to the Broom's Barn open day in Suffolk. Dominic Kilburn reports. TURNIP yellows virus (TuYV), formerly known as beet western yellows virus, an increasing...

ARABLE: Increased herbicide power.
July 4, 2008... GROWERS should add more power to their herbicide mixes if weed control in the crop is going to be delayed, said Mike May of Broom's Barn, who advocated using more oil in applications. "Our view is that people have missed out by failing to...

ARABLE: Fusarium ear spray may have treated brown rust.
July 4, 2008... THE threat of fusarium in wheat crops last season has meant that growers who applied an ear spray to reduce the risk of the disease appearing this season, may also prevent brown rust getting to the ear, said Broom's Barn director, Bill Clark....

ROOT CROPS: Controlling blight at mid-canopy timing.
July 4, 2008... P otato growers rely ing on protectant fungicide activity alone for their mid-canopy blight sprays, could find that the more aggressive strains of potato blight catch them out this season. The warning came from Masstock technical support...

ROOT CROPS: Newcomer fungicide scores an impressive Euroblight rating.
July 4, 2008... A provisional rating in the Euroblight assessment of blight fungicides gives recently introduced Revus (mandipropamid) the highest rating for effectiveness in protecting leaf blight. In an additional listing of all blight products, compiled...

ROOT CROPS: Stressed crops could be down to a lack of air around roots.
July 4, 2008... CASES of staring or stressed sugar beet being seen on medium soils in particular are probably the result of lack of air around the roots. Speaking at a BBRO open day at Lavenham, Suffolk, Mike May said there were a few fields where beet...

ROOT CROPS: Experts forecast high levels of powdery mildew.
July 4, 2008... Advisers at Broom's Barn Research Station are forecasting high levels of powdery mildew in the beet crop this season, particularly in the south of the country where it favours warmer and drier summer weather. Mike May said that 70 per cent...

ROOT CROPS: Crop colour not always linked to yield.
July 4, 2008... GREEN is not always better. That is the message from the British Beet Research Organisation, which is advising growers that dark green crops do not always give better yields than paler ones. Crop colour can be affected by fungicides, as was...

ROOT CROPS: Growers warned to keep close watch for rhizomania.
July 4, 2008... HIGH pressure from disease in the soil, or a change in the rhizomania virus itself, could be responsible for the disease appearing in fields drilled with rhizomania-tolerant varieties. According to Broom's Barn's Mike May, it is not clear...

ROOT CROPS: Fungicide timing critical for beet.
July 4, 2008... TIMING is critical when it comes to fungicides for sugar beet, growers attending a British Beet Research Organisation open day at Lavenham, Suffolk, were told. "Think about when you are going to lift," said Jonathan Pilbrow, of British...

ROOT CROPS: Beet fungicides - best practice.
July 4, 2008... * Always use an approved triazole or strobilurin-based fungicide at full dose. * Their use gives a 5 per cent yield increase, even in the absence of disease. * Some varieties are very susceptible to foliar diseases. * Apply the...

FARM FEATURE: Business built on solid foundations.
July 4, 2008... Arable farming, pedigree cattle and tourist enterprises complement each other on a Northumbrian coastal farm as Neil Ryder discovered. When Christine Whiteford made the decision to give up her work as a legal executive and spend time with...

YOUNGSTOCK: A New Zealand adventure for young UK farmworkers.
July 4, 2008... Work, play and travel are the three aims of Richard Houston's seasonal farm work agency, which aims to offer young UK farmworkers experience on farms throughout New Zealand. Danusia Osiowy reports. Richard's contracting idea snowballs into...

YOUNGSTOCK: Simple ways to cut your fuel bill.
July 4, 2008... Roger Thompson of Valtra explains how dairy farmers can help mimimise fuel consumption on farm. FUEL costs have escalated beyond the worst pessimist's fears, so what positive steps can be taken to reduce consumption? * If you're not...

COUNTRY VIEW: Boar is back as an attraction and a profit-making meat.
July 4, 2008... The wild boar, which was hunted to extinction in England and Wales, is making a comeback in the fields and on the plate, as Paul Peacock reports. The number of public houses dedicated to the boar in England and Wales should be a fairly...

WORKING DOGS: Two clean outruns do the trick for Zac.
July 4, 2008... TOM Lawrenson was the winner of the Rooten Brook Charity open with his smooth-coated Zac. Running sixth in the final, Zac's outfield work was exceptional having two clean outruns and lifting the five Swaledale gimmers cleanly each time....

WORKING DOGS: OLF gives Shona the win at the Islwyn trials.
July 4, 2008... THE Islwyn Trials, held in Gwent at Cearllwyn Farm, Ynsddu, with 50 dogs, saw the Open class tied at the top, but the use of the OLF rule gave the first place to David Meek's Shona ahead of Eirean Morgan's Fred. In a combined run Shona won the...

MACHINERY: Expansion of Massey's combine range.
July 4, 2008... * Hybrid combine is still under wraps By Mervyn Bailey MASSEY Ferguson is expanding its combine range with new walker and rotary models. Set to be launched at the Innov-Agri event in France in early September the newcomers are...

MACHINERY: Renault buyout completed.
July 4, 2008... CLAAS has completed the purchase of Renault Agriculture. The German manufacturer has purchased the remaining 20 per cent which will now be known as Claas Tractor SAS. In 2003 Claas acquired 51 per cent of Renault's tractor business,...

MACHINERY: High energy, but tough on machinery.
July 4, 2008... Miscanthus is becoming an increasingly popular choice for growers. However, the machinery used to plant and harvest the crop would appear to still have some way to go. Andy Collings reports. THE Government's aim of generating 10 per cent of...

LIVESTOCK: EID use around the world.
July 4, 2008... RICK BEASLEY - AUSTRALIA EID of cattle is compulsory in Australia - but because the industry wanted it. The country is a major beef exporter and found a robust system of traceability was essential for some markets. Cattle are tagged...

LIVESTOCK: Regulation `would detract from powerful genetic tool'.(Conference notes)
July 4, 2008... An international conference in North Devon debated the benefits of voluntary EID versus compulsory EU legislation. Joanne Pugh reports. * Central database needed for EID data FOR two hours, conference attendees were shown how EID could...

LIVESTOCK: Questioning workability of sheep EID legislation in Scotland.
July 4, 2008... The Scottish NSA has told a European Parliament representative that EID is `simply unworkable' on extensive sheep units. Neil Ryder reports. * Serious issues on extensive hill units THE proposed EU legislation for individual electronic...

LIVESTOCK: Case study - Glenfernate Farm, Perthshire.
July 4, 2008... * FORCING him to EID sheep would just add to the existing problems of increased feed, fuel and fertiliser costs, said Glenfernate farm manager John MacLelland. The 17,000-acre estate, owned by David and Linda Heathcoat-Amory, is nearly all...

`Adding wheat straw to the ration pays for itself'.
July 4, 2008... Buying and incorporating straw into dairy cow diets can seem like a burden, but better dry cow condition, less post-calving problems and healthier dairy margins more than compensate for one Staffordshire unit. Simon Wragg reports. ANDREW...