Farmers Guardian articles from October 2008

Farmers Guardian archives from October 2008

Fear of `boom-bust' cycle after massive EU harvest.
October 3, 2008... * 50 million tonne growth in production * Call for import tariffs to be reinstated By Alistair Driver CEREAL production across the EU grew by a massive 50 million tonnes this year, potentially resulting in an acceleration of the...

Reshuffle rumours at Defra.
October 3, 2008... ARE Hilary Benn and Jeff Rooker on their way out at Defra? Speculation has been rife for some months that Mr Benn, the Secretary of State, is a prime candidate to be moved in the next reshuffle as part of a drive to freshen up the ailing...

Tesco's `heavy handed' milk price rise adds 1ppl.
October 3, 2008... * 0.75ppl increase to the base figure * Producers must sign up to Promar By Jack Davies TESCO has come under fire after announcing it will increase its base milk price by 0.75ppl - but only to producers who sign up to consultancy...

Mixed quality from early wheats.
October 3, 2008... PRELIMINARY results from this season's HGCA cereal quality survey show mixed quality from early harvested wheat samples this year compared with 2007. Average hagberg falling numbers and specific weight have increased, but protein content...

Exchange rate boosts SFP.
October 3, 2008... THE European Central Bank has confirmed the exchange rate for next year's Single Farm Payment will increase by 13.4 per cent, meaning higher payments for many farmers next year. The exchange rate for the 2008 scheme will be set at E1=...

Calf export restrictions.
October 3, 2008... UK CATTLE producers could soon be facing new restrictions on calf exports. The EU's Standing Committee for Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) was due discuss a possible tightening of restrictions on Tuesday in response to the export of...

Rural payments now published online.(Website overview)
October 3, 2008... DETAILS of payments made to farmers across the UK via rural development schemes have been published on a new website. A simple search of farm businesses to show payments between January 1, 2007, and October 15, 2007 can be found and the...

Free collection of adult cattle to end.
October 3, 2008... * NFSCo to receive interim funding By Alistair Driver and Howard Walsh DEFRA has confirmed the free collection of adult cattle for BSE testing will end in mid-January, as part of its strategy of shifting animal health costs on to...

Commissioner should visit Wales to see folly of EID.
October 3, 2008... INDUSTRY leaders in Wales have held a mini summit with Welsh Assembly Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones on the planned EU introduction of electronic identification for sheep and goats from January 1, 2010. They urged her to invite the EU...

Bonus payments would undermine confidence.
October 3, 2008... THE British Wool Marketing Board's intention to offer bonus payments for deliveries of more than 4,000kg of wool would undermine confidence in the board, Welsh sheep farmers have warned. According to the Farmers Union of Wales livestock,...

Coastal access view slammed.
October 3, 2008... THE Government's refusal to accept two Parliamentary committees' views on coastal access has been slammed by the NFU and the CLA, which claimed it would deny landowners and farmers the chance to appeal against the new right of public access...

Winter immunisation to take place in France.
October 3, 2008... THE French Government has announced a winter vaccination programme which will see all livestock immunised against both major strains of bluetongue disease. These are serotype eight, associated with northern Europe, and serotype one,...

Only vaccination is effective.
October 3, 2008... * Only way to control bluetongue spread By Neil Ryder VACCINATION was the only effective way of controlling the spread of bluetongue and had succeeded in stemming the massive spread of the disease seen in Western Europe, German...

Advice on bluetongue vaccination.
October 3, 2008... NSA North region chairman, Hans Porksen of Morpeth, told the NSA regional meeting that in his own case, he had vaccinated all the females in his own flock but was delaying vaccinating his rams until after they had been used for breeding. ...

New Holland combine breaks world record.
October 3, 2008... ONCE again this year a New Holland CR9090 Elevation combine holds the Guinness World Record for harvesting the most tonnes in eight hours. The record was broken by Mountfair Farming at Castle Heaton Estates in Northumberland who harvested...

Is fly-tipping under control?
October 3, 2008... THE Country Land and Business Association has hit back at a claim in a survey, carried out by Defra's Keep Britain Tidy campaign, that `all councils were judged to have fly-tipping and graffiti under control'. CLA president Henry...

Large scale wind farm plan for Wales.
October 3, 2008... * Habitat restoration is part of proposal By Barry Alston PLANS have been unveiled to build one of the largest in-shore wind farms in England and Wales - with the tallest turbines at just over 137 metres high. Hand-in-hand with...

Call to boost confidence.
October 3, 2008... FARMING union leaders from across the UK are calling for long-term sustainable supply relationships to boost the current fragile confidence of farmers following a difficult summer. A weekend mini-summit in Cardiff of leaders from England,...

Biofuels advert ruling.
October 3, 2008... THE Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dismissed a complaint about a national newspaper advert warning against biofuels. The authority rejected the claim, against an RSPB advert, that UK biofuels were safe for exotic wildlife because...

The growing problem of bovine TB.
October 3, 2008... In cattle The latest monthly Defra figures for the first half of 2008 show: * Just over 20,000 cattle were culled because of bTB up to June 30 this year, a 44 per cent rise on 2007. * There were 2,639 new herd incidents, 16 per...

Rising TB levels in pets sparks concern.
October 3, 2008... * Fresh concerns over control of TB * Upward trend of incidence in pets By Alistair Driver NEW figures showing a significant rise in bovine TB infection in domestic cats has prompted fresh concerns about the dangers of failing to...

Member states work together over CAP Health Check.
October 3, 2008... WITH less than two months to go until the CAP health check is due to be agreed Farm Ministers demonstrated little common ground this week. In the firing line at the Farm Council was the plan to increase milk quotas from now to 2014, when...

Welsh slaughter figures highlight size of the problem.
October 3, 2008... LATEST Welsh Assembly figures showing that some 4,600 cattle were slaughtered in Wales between January and May this year compared with 3,200 in the same period in 2007 have been greeted with `acute dismay' by industry leaders. Magnitude...

LETTER: The hidden tax behind wind power.(Letter to the editor)
October 3, 2008... I SEE that Scottish `ice-cream baron' Maitland Mackie is proposing a new empire built upon wind power (FG, September 19). Before farmers and land owners leap to take advantage of this proposal, they should look at the source of the income...

LETTER: Have we not been listening.(Letter to the editor)
October 3, 2008... STAND back in amazement, here we go, a very determined campaign by the arable farmers to retain the pesticides which are causing devastation throughout the world, ably supported by the farming press. Have they not been listening to the...

LETTER: Surprised at your approach.(Letter to the editor)
October 3, 2008... I AM surprised at the Farmers Guardian approach to the pesticide problem given that FG probably has more information regarding the adverse effects of pesticides than any other publication in the UK - and has supported the victims in the past....

LETTER: No case for a blanket ban.(Letter to the editor)
October 3, 2008... APPARENTLY almost all of the cases of poisoning by agricultural spray chemicals is by accidental (or in the case of suicides, deliberate) ingestion of the concentrate. Undoubtedly there are incidents of persons who are allergic to diluted...

EDITORIAL: Breaking the boom-bust cycle.(Editorial)
October 3, 2008... THERE was a time not so long ago when among the things we would never stop and question were the stability of the global finance sector and the stable supply of affordable food. These certainties have, of course, been shattered. If bust has...

OPINION: Why shoot our bull calves?
October 3, 2008... VEAL. I first tasted it in Spain, when I simply didn't know what it was. White, tender and delicious, I was terribly impressed. Then, when I consulted my phrase book, I realised I had just conspired with unspeakable foreigners in torturing...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Paice's views on agriculture.(Conference news)
October 3, 2008... SHADOW Agriculture and Rural Minister Jim Paice outlined Conservative Party thinking on some key topics: * The introduction of GM: "It would be wrong to suggest that GM is the answer to all of our problems, but as long as the science...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Putting farming back into the hands of farmers.(Conference news)
October 3, 2008... The real possibility of power after the next general election guaranteed a buoyant atmosphere at this week's Conservative Party Conference, but can the party really deliver on their promise of a better countryside? William Surman reports. ...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Fantastic response to green challenge.(Conference news)
October 3, 2008... FARMERS are responding `fantastically' to the challenge of the environment and should not be vilified for past mistakes, NFU president Peter Kendall told an audience at the Conservative Party conference on Monday night. Mr Kendall was...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Demanding more from supermarkets.(Conference news)
October 3, 2008... A FRINGE meeting on Tuesday morning set out to answer a difficult conundrum: how could farmers make a profit when input costs were going up, yet consumers had less disposable income to cover those rising costs? NFU president Peter Kendall...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Right on cue.(Conference news)
October 3, 2008... IT could have been a scene from a sitcom when Shadow Defra Secretary Peter Ainsworth, opening the discussion at a fringe meeting, said: "We live in very difficult times indeed." At that moment, as if on cue, he received a message on his...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Natural party for the countryside.(Conference news)
October 3, 2008... THE Conservatives are `the natural party for the countryside', a packed audience was told at a rural drinks event organised by the Countryside Alliance, Commission for Rural Communities and Conservative Rural Action Group (CRAG) on Tuesday...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Fight to create level playing field in Europe.
October 3, 2008... THE Conservative agriculture spokesman in Europe Neil Parish has vowed to further push CAP reform across the whole of Europe. Speaking to Farmers Guardian during the conference, he said it was essential to create a level playing field...

CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE: Bees back on the agenda.(Conference news)
October 3, 2008... ONE issue that cropped up repeatedly in the rural fringe events was the decline of Britain's bee population. Shadow Ministers said the issue was a serious threat to food production. "Bees are vitally important to agriculture. They add...

Threat to home-grown minority crops if proposals get go ahead.
October 3, 2008... * UK growing season would be reduced * Longer rotation for organic vegetables By Angela Calvert THE concerns of the NFU and a major UK carrot and parsnip grower over the EU's proposed ban of key pesticides were outlined during a...

PESTICIDES CAMPAIGN: Case study.
October 3, 2008... Guy Poskitt is managing director of M.H. Poskitt, Kellington, near Goole. They are Asda's largest supplier of carrots and parsnips and also serve the food service industry and wholesalers. They grow over 1,000 acres of carrots, as well as...

Legislation hampers EU farmers.
October 3, 2008... EUROPEAN Union Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has admitted European farmers are hampered by regulations that do not apply in non-EU countries exporting into Europe. Speaking at the Congress of European Farmers conference in...

Prime Minster must step in to save EU agriculture.
October 3, 2008... * Impact of proposals must be assessed * Other nations must understand issues By William Surman PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has been urged to personally intervene in the European process to prevent further progress of new...

Syngenta debate the severity of proposals.
October 3, 2008... EUROPEAN Union debate over the new pesticides proposals is reaching fever pitch across Europe. This week, Hiltrud Breyer, the Green Party MEP responsible for tabling amendments that many farmers fear could decimate European agriculture,...

Giving commoners pride of place in making rules for managing land.
October 3, 2008... For years farming on the commons has been neglected. That could be about to change as plans to empower commoners to take a greater stake in their future take shape. Commons enthusiast John Thorley tells Alistair Driver why this is so important....

John Thorley's guide to farming on the commons.
October 3, 2008... * A common is land which is owned by one person and has rights of usage by another, or others. * The rights are usually associated with a holding, whether it is owned or rented. As the holding changes hands, the rights go with it. *...

Countryside and Rights of Way Act.
October 3, 2008... Important points to remember on public access to the commons: * Members of the public only have right of access to a farming common for the purposes of open air recreation, in most cases on foot only, provided access is effected without...

BUSINESS: Dairy Crest plans cost cuts as economy bites.
October 3, 2008... DAIRY Crest could be forced to cut staff and close some of its processing plants on the back of increased pressure from rising input costs and the gloomy economic outlook. The news came as the group released its half-yearly trading...

BUSINESS: Optimistic outlook for farmland, say agents.
October 3, 2008... * Decline of around 2 to 5 per cent * Values expected to recover soon By Howard Walsh DESPITE a third quarter fall, average farmland values remain well above those of even 12 months ago. Just what the average value is and what...

BUSINESS: Dairy industry could feel effects of looming recession.
October 3, 2008... THE dairy industry is not insulated from the global banking crisis and could soon feel the major knock-on effects of a looming recession, a leading analyst has warned. Nick-Holt Martyn, director of the Dairy Group, warned that a recession...

BUSINESS: Arla contract changes.
October 3, 2008... ARLA Foods has announced changes which will make it easier for producers to terminate their milk contracts. The move, agreed at a board meeting last week, will see members able to serve notice at the end of any month, with termination...

BUSINESS: EU ban on China milk.
October 3, 2008... THE European Commission is to impose a ban on imports of Chinese baby food containing traces of milk following the melamine-contaminated milk scandal which has affected tens of thousands of Chinese babies. The Commission will also be...

BUSINESS: Wiseman suppliers to get price rise.
October 3, 2008... * Selling prices up to cover producer costs ROBERT Wiseman dairies is expecting a `significant improvement' in the second half of the year after it called on retailers to increase their milk price. In its half year-end trading update,...

WORLD NEWS: Australia.
October 3, 2008... * Australian lamb exports to the Middle East were up 18 per cent for 2007/08 with 23,743 tonnes being shipped out. Beef exports also saw a major improvement over the year, doubling to over 7,718 tonnes. The mutton market - the largest...

WORLD NEWS: United States of America.
October 3, 2008... * Shares in Tyson Foods rose 7.9 per cent last week. The firm is the second largest poultry processor in the US and now looks poised to take over the mantle of Pilgrims Pride, the largest poultry processor in the country. Shares in other...

WORLD NEWS: Argentina.
October 3, 2008... * In the main grain export port of Rosario, soy prices fell to US$276 per tonne by end of trading on Friday, a drop of US$5 per tonne from the previous day. Trade volume dried up to around 4,000 tonnes, which was far below 100,000 tonnes...

BUSINESS: Rising cost of fertiliser's effect on beef margins.
October 3, 2008... * Snapshot has surprising results * Margins better in all areas EXPENSIVE as it has become, fertiIiser use at normal rates might not have hit margins as much as some livestock farmers might have believed. That is the picture that...

BUSINESS: Decision expected soon.
October 3, 2008... THE Department of Justice in the United States, is expected to make its decision on the acquisition of Smithfield Beef Group, National Beef Packing Co and Five Rivers Ranch cattle feed lots, that are being purchased for $1.535 billion by...

BUSINESS: Solicitors launch a free legal service for farmers.
October 3, 2008... A FREE legal resource specifically designed for farmers, estate managers and landowners has been launched by Oxford-based agricultural law specialists Darbys Solicitors. Called `Green', the new service is free to join and enables members...

ARABLE: Pressure on spring crop seed supplies.
October 3, 2008... * Winter wheat and barley seed adequate By Dominic Kilburn DESPITE a difficult harvest followed by problems with establishment and planting uncertainties across much of the country, seed supply for winter crops should be sufficient...

ARABLE: Yields excellent as sugar season under way.
October 3, 2008... NEWARK and Wissington sugar beet factories have been open since last week and report a good start to the season with excellent yields. Mark Culloden, agricultural manager at Wissington, Norfolk, said: "The last spell of dry weather and...

ARABLE: Soil Association calls for neonicotinoid ban.
October 3, 2008... THE Soil Association has written to Defra Secretary Hilary Benn, urging him to ban neonicotinoid insecticides with immediate effect. Neonicotinoid products approved for use in the UK include clothianidin, fipronil, imidacloprid, and...

ARABLE: Winter beans make a comeback.
October 3, 2008... Following two difficult years, the winter bean crop is making a comeback. Reports of high yields from this harvest and a significant increase in the planned area for planting this autumn, means winter beans could provide growers with fresh...

ARABLE: NIAB puts forward alternatives view to French fact-finders.
October 3, 2008... A GROUP of 10 French farmers visited the National Institute of Agricultural Botany to learn first hand about issues facing their British counterparts. It was part of a fact-finding visit in East Anglia to look at renewable crop...

ARABLE: Making the most of difficult soil conditions.
October 3, 2008... * Don't subsoil. Fill in the ruts and look to rectify the problem next autumn. * Spray-off any green stubbles with Roundup (glyphosate) before cultivating rather than attempting to set up a stale seedbed. * Wait until soil is dry...

ARABLE: Cultivate with care to avoid further soil damage.
October 3, 2008... * Ill-timed cultivation can ruin your ground STAY off your land until it is fit to cultivate this autumn rather than rushing on in an attempt to catch up after the most challenging harvest in recent memory. Otherwise the serious damage...

ARABLE: UK has capacity to produce extra 15.7million tonnes of biomass.
October 3, 2008... FARMLAND currently under permanent pasture together with temporary grassland could potentially be used to boost biomass production in the UK, an ADAS report for the National Non Food Crops Centre concluded. Speaking at a `Beyond Today's...

ARABLE: New encapsulated PDM formulation.
October 3, 2008... A NEW pendimethalin-based herbicide from Sipcam, is said to offer excellent control of annual grass and broad-leaved weeds in winter wheat, winter and spring barley, winter rye, triticale, potatoes, combining peas, forage maize and sunflowers....

MACHINERY: Labour-saver from Pellon.
October 3, 2008... THE need to reduce labour costs is leading to an increase in sales of automatic feeding systems. Claiming to have sold 80 automatic TMR systems and over 100 automatic belt feeding devices worldwide, Finnish-manufacturer Pellon will launch...

MACHINERY: Stoll adds smaller loaders.
October 3, 2008... BY the time this year ends, somewhere in the region of 12,000 new tractor loaders will have been sold in Germany, and with 50 per cent of the market Stoll claims the number one spot. The German manufacturer has seen output rise by 2,000...

MACHINERY: Eurotier show is coming of age.
October 3, 2008... New automatic milking and feeding systems will take pride of place at this year's Eurotier. There will also be plenty of new conventional mixer wagons offering straw chopping and spreading. Steven Vale looks ahead to the event. IT may be...

MACHINERY: Milk analysis with Merlin.
October 3, 2008... FULLWOOD will reveal the latest version of its Merlin milk robot where a new design and robotic arm are not the only changes. It will feature a brand new development called Inline Milk Analysis that will analyse all milk aspects, such as...

MACHINERY: More features on the Milk Taxi.
October 3, 2008... HOLM and Lane reckons to have sold more than 500 of its Milk Taxi calf feeders since launching it at the last show. Offered in a range of capacities from 80 to 250-litres, and designed to quickly mix milk powder with water, the latest...

MACHINERY: World's first four-way milking cluster.
October 3, 2008... THE details are limited but GEA WestfaliaSurge confirmed it will launch a brand new version of its Titan milk robot. In addition to new styling and new robotic arm, this latest version features a brand new 3D teat location system. ...

MACHINERY: Mayer have a new top of the range mixer.
October 3, 2008... THE list of Mayer mixer wagons includes a new top-of-the-range three- wheeled Siloking self-propelled version. Fitted with twin vertical augers, and offering a capacity of 22cu.m, the higher operating weight means that the central rear...

MACHINERY: A rear camera is safer.
October 3, 2008... ALL self-propelled mixer wagons need to be fitted with a rear view camera as standard as a way to improve safety. That is the view from the German VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association, which is campaigning for just such a move form...

MACHINERY: Revealed by Mayer.
October 3, 2008... MAYER will also reveal a mixer wagon that doubles as a straw blower. Available on the Siloking Duo models, it features a mechanical drive and an integrated stone trap. With a fan diameter of 1.5m, discharge is up to 20m and is controlled...

MACHINERY: Straw blowing mixer.
October 3, 2008... KUHN is the latest company to offer a mixer wagon that also doubles as a straw blower. Called the Euromix Plus 70 Series - there are five models - the single vertical auger 11cu.m 1170 and 13cu.m 1370, and twin auger 2370, 2570 and 2770 (23, 25...

MACHINERY: A more flexible Triomatic.
October 3, 2008... AT the last show two years ago Dutch-firm Trioliet stunned visitors with a brand new automatic feeding system. Called the Triomatic at this year's show the flexibility will be further bolstered with a straw dispensing option. In...

MACHINERY: Sgariboldi standardises.
October 3, 2008... SOLD in the UK by Lely, Sgariboldi has taken a long hard look at its line up of self-propelled mixer wagons and decided to simplify the product offering and use more common components. The result is that the current models - MonoCombi,...

MACHINERY: Front mount a new option.
October 3, 2008... STRAUTMANN has offered a mixer wagon/rear straw chopper and blower for the past five years. Currently fitted to around 8 per cent of new machines, the company will use the German show to reveal a version with a front-mounted chopper option...

MACHINERY: Innovado to be unveiled.
October 3, 2008... DUTCH firm Schuitemaker hopes to reveal a prototype of its very first automatic feeding system. Dubbed the Innovado, the driverless self- propelled vehicle is able to travel back and forth between the silage clamp and the feeding area. ...

COMBINES: Utilising technology to increase output.
October 3, 2008... Matching the best technology to their situation was key to Farnham Farms' choice for their replacement combine harvester. When the time came to replace their 10-year-old combine, Farnham Farms opted for John Deere's T550i for this year's...

FARM FEATURE: Old meets new in the Highlands.
October 3, 2008... One of the world's best known folds of Highland cattle is on a Scottish estate, near Inverness. Neil Ryder visited the historic Leys Castle Estate. One of the world's oldest folds of Highland cattle provides a sharp contrast with a modern...

Jennifer relishes the challenge of selecting potential winners.
October 3, 2008... Young handler, Jennifer Hyslop, is hoping she can repeat her success in 2007 at this year's Borderway Agri-Expo, by winning a red ticket in the suckled calf and primestock competition. Jennifer Hyslop will be returning to this year's...

Scholarship provided opportunity for future growth and development.
October 3, 2008... The suitability of a New Zealand-based grazing system on a Shropshire dairy farm was further reinforced through an international scholarship opportunity. Danusia Osiowy meets Nuffield Scholar Roly Tavernor. When dairy farmer Roly Tavernor...