Farmers Guardian articles from September 2003

Farmers Guardian archives from September 2003

Protest threat as pay fury mounts.
September 5, 2003... PATIENCE is fast running out in Wales over the long-running fiasco of late support scheme payments - sparking the prospects of direct farmer protests and possible legal action. A rallying call has been issued this week making it clear that...

Anti-GM group attacks show stand.
September 5, 2003... Anti-GM protestors launched a very vocal and at times `physical' attack on the Bayer stand at British Potato 2003 this week on the Newark Showground. Trashing some of stand's moveable hardware and light refreshments, the protestors chanted...

Major changes in potato industry.
September 5, 2003... NEWS of a massive shake-up in the potato machinery manufacturing and supply business greeted visitors to British Potato 2003 on Wednesday. Some well-known names in the business are merging, some names will be disappearing off the machinery...

Mart under threat from new `gatherings' rules.
September 5, 2003... THE Government's new Animal Gatherings Act is threatening the future of Acklington Auction Mart, Morpeth, Northumberland. According to Acklington auctioneers the new act would make it impossible for the market to carry on with its weekly...

Docks protest over live lambs.
September 5, 2003... COMPASSION in World Farming (CIWF) organised a protest at Dover Docks this week to try to prevent the export of live lambs to the continent. The animals leaving Dover are the same ones that were recently initially intended to go for export...

Exports crucial to stability of beef sector.
September 5, 2003... THE National Beef Association is advising farmers to do their bit in securing the earliest possible introduction of exports to the EU by contacting their local MP and MEP and explaining that the UK application to the European Commission must be...

NFU airs concerns over payment delays.
September 5, 2003... CONCERNS over delayed bovine payments in England were addressed on Wednesday when NFU national livestock chairman Richard Haddock attended a meeting with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). He said the RPA had listened to what he had to say...

Westbury take-over deal is stalled by `foreign bidder'.
September 5, 2003... AN eleventh hour bid from a foreign milk processor is believed to have stalled the milk co-operatives' plan to have sealed a deal to take over Westbury by the end of last week. Control of United Milk should have been firmly back in farmer...

Call for tougher line on labelling.
September 5, 2003... THE National Pig Association is urging Trading Standards officers to take a more aggressive stance on misleading food labels. In a leaflet entitled `How to buy British pork', launched on Monday the NPA highlights the ways in which manufacturers...

Pesticide use by `good neighbours'.
September 5, 2003... PRIOR notification of all spray activities by farmers would be impractical the Crop Protection Association said this week in response to the Government's consultation on public access to information on pesticide use. "We need to ensure...

Disease policy a `cruel cull'.
September 5, 2003... CLAIMS of panic and the illegal slaughter of many of the 10 million animals culled during the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak have been `rubbished' by the Minister in charge of tackling the disease in Wales and the farming unions. The denial...

Claims dismissed as `utter rubbish'.
September 5, 2003... RESPONDING to the report's claims, Carwyn Jones has dismissed the findings as `utter rubbish'. "Just where the evidence comes from is beyond me. We did what we did in the interests of most farmers," he said, questioning how the authors had...

Sugar regime reform options to be published by Commission.
September 5, 2003... THE European Commission has confirmed that it will publish reform options for the sugar regime on September 23. Details will also emerge then of plans for the other unreformed regime, including tobacco, olive oil and cotton. The plans will...

Disagreement clouds WTO negotiations.
September 5, 2003... AS the World Trade Organisation negotiating session on agriculture in Canc#n approaches, the depth of disagreement between many of its 145 member countries is becoming increasingly clear. Attempts by the WTO secretariat to set an agenda, or...

NFU priorities set out for talks.
September 5, 2003... NFU President Sir Ben Gill this week set out the NFU's key priorities ahead of the next round of World Trade Organisation talks. Sir Ben was due to meet DEFRA Secretary of State Margaret Beckett yesterday (Thursday), ahead of the...

NPA denies illegal use of antibiotics.
September 5, 2003... The National Pig Association (NPA) has firmly denied that any of its members are using antibiotics illegally as growth promoters. "Nobody chooses to use these medicines unless it is absolutely necessary," said the NPA's regional manager Ian...

Legal action to be taken over regional GM-free declarations.
September 5, 2003... AGRICULTURE Commissioner Franz Fischler has confirmed that attempts by member states or regions to declare themselves GM free would be illegal. When he published details of the Commission's co-existence proposals for GM crops in July he...

Low number of notices served during HSE blitz.
September 5, 2003... A relatively low number of enforcement notices needed to be served during a Health and Safety Executive blitz on North Lincolnshire farms in July. The HSE reported it visited 80 farms but served only six prohibition notices and nine improvement...

Simmental society has new secretary.
September 5, 2003... NEW general secretary of the British Simmental Cattle Society is Sara Roberts, who has been working for the last eight years with the Forestry Contracting Association as operations manager. Mrs Roberts grew up in Herefordshire and took up a...

VIEW FROM BRUSSELS: `New school term' begins with unfinished business.
September 5, 2003... This is the time of year when in Brussels there is a sense akin to the start of a new school term. This year, however, there are two major issues still on the agenda from before officials left for the summer break. These are finalising the CAP...

OPINION: The Trial of farming.
September 5, 2003... There can be few greater scandals affecting British farmers currently than the fiasco over late support scheme payments. Indeed it is a tale of burueacratic muddle and double talk that the Czech author Franz Kafka, with his taste for the...

Unleashing the potential of her computer.
September 5, 2003... A farmer and young mum from West Yorkshire has been using the little spare time she has to unleash the potential of her computer and transform her farm business. Rachel Hallos, who farms around 800 hectares of land near Ripponden with her...

Simulated outbreak has positive outcome for Government officials.
September 5, 2003... HOW the Government would react to a renewed outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK was tested in Scotland this week. Senior officials at the Scottish Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs expressed satisfaction at the handling of...

FFA protesting comes to a halt.
September 5, 2003... DUE to a good response from milk retailers and processors following two weeks of protesting by Farmers For Action, the group decided not to continue their campaign this week. FFA chairman David Handley confirmed the group was in talks with a...

Horticulture redundances.
September 5, 2003... Horticulture Research International (HRI) has announced the formal redundancy process has begun for around 100 staff at Wellesbourne, Kirton and Efford. Staff at East Malling and Wye are still in negotiations over redundancies with East Malling...

Irish determined to make decoupling work.
September 5, 2003... Farmers and politicians in Ireland are united in welcoming the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy and are intent on pressing ahead with full decoupling of support from production. Under the present regime Irish farmers are...

`Green' schemes expansion.
September 5, 2003... There has been a massive increase in the number of farmers signed up to `green' farming schemes set up to protect Britain's countryside. The amount of land covered by Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) schemes has gone up by nearly...

Pork sausages contain more salt.
September 5, 2003... A survey carried out by the Food Standards Agency has shown standard pork sausages in the UK contain more salt now than they did when last surveyed in 1991. The amount of salt in them has increased from 2.2g to 2.4g per portion (two sausages)....

Black Welsh Mountain `double'.
September 5, 2003... Both the championship and reserve in the Black Welsh Mountain sheep section went to Kimberley and Dawson, of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, on the second day of the Anglesey Show at Gwalchmai, Anglesey. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Welsh Mountain ram tops 18-breed sheep line-up.
September 5, 2003... A Welsh Mountain hill section ram described as `one of the best seen in over 60 years' topped a splendid 18-breed Meirionnydd sheep judging line-up. The praise came from inter-breed judge and retired veterinary surgeon Evan Davies, of...

Topper tops cattle trio.
September 5, 2003... WHILE sheep entries were strong, Meirionnydd's cattle turnout was decimated - with only the champions of three breeds vying for the inter- breed title. Topping the trio was the aptly-named 18-month-old home bred Charolais bull Trannon...

TB and milk price `damaging farming'.
September 5, 2003... LOW milk prices and bovine TB are being blamed for seriously damaging farming in Wales. Speaking at the Monmouthshire County Show, NFU Cymru president, Peredur Hughes, claimed it was "disgraceful" that producers received just 27 per cent...

Beltex yearling takes top sheep title.
September 5, 2003... FEW, if any, lamb carcase competition championships up and down the country have escaped the clutches of Worcestershire supremo David Bishop. Monmouth saw him making his mark with live entries - taking both the supreme and reserve rosettes...

Supreme bull lives up to his name.
September 5, 2003... BY rights Mike Brown should not have been competing in the Monmouthshire Show cattle rings - instead he should have been on a hospital operating table. After sending in his show entry forms he heard he had been scheduled for knee surgery...

Competitions nearing completion.
September 5, 2003... THE Montgomeryshire Agricultural Association competitions are nearing completion. This month sees judging of the best field of maize and the best managed farm - before the overall winners are decided. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

UK's best-ever pull.
September 5, 2003... UK competitors pulled off one of their best ever performances in this year's World Ploughing Contests in Canada - where the first championships were held 50 years ago. Welsh ploughing champion, Evan Watkin, took the gold medal in the...

Power crops move welcomed.
September 5, 2003... THE announcement this week of new moves to encourage use of biomass power - spelled out in a consultation document from the DTI - should benefit farmers, says the NFU. The DTI launched the `Renewables Obligation' in 2002, setting targets...

Bale wrap: heat shows up forage spoil problem.
September 5, 2003... SOME farmers and contractors have experienced problems with plastic bale wrap in the heat this summer. Some farmers were reported to be in negotiation with wrap manufacturers in a bid to head off legal action because of spoiled forages....

BvL twin solution to variation in feed passage size.
September 5, 2003... WITH 40 per cent of its production exported from Germany, the old established manufacturer of diet mixers, BvL, receives plenty of feedback from international markets. The latest development is in response to the wide variance in feed...

One-pass, min-till establishment.
September 5, 2003... ERADICATING any pan and easing the workload on the following power harrow or other cultivation tool, the Bed Buster is a West Yorkshire farmer/engineer's answer to one-pass min-till crop establishment. The implement fits neatly between the...

Lower weight flail cutter.
September 5, 2003... WITH a nominal reach of around 9.2m from the centre of the tractor, Bomford's latest flail cutter has a lower weight than some other comparable machines on the market. Extra reach is gained by a telescopic second arm and the hydraulic system is...

More power from Kubota.
September 5, 2003... Kubota has launched its most powerful tractors yet in the UK and Ireland. The 58hp, 85hp and 94hp models are four-wheel drive models with water- cooled, high torque-rise engines. The ME5700 has a 12/12 synchro transmission with...

Heavy duty flail mowers.
September 5, 2003... AVAILABLE in working widths of 2.7m and 3m, new heavy duty Magnum HD flail mowers from McConnel, will suit tractors of 60hp and over. It uses `whale tail' flails, the rotor shaft being driven from the gearbox by five-belt pulley system. The...

MF dealership closure worry.
September 5, 2003... MASSEY Ferguson tractor and combine owners in the Vale of York are worried about the supply of spares with the only MF dealership in 50 miles closing at the end of October. One farmer who contacted FG said he was just one of more than 40 in a...

Slug solutions - the common problems answered by experts.
September 5, 2003... IN early August, Farmers Guardian invited readers to put their slug- related question to a panel of `slug experts' and judging by the variety of issues raised by farmers, the troublesome pest is a problem in much of the UK's arable land and one...

Miscanthus proving positive as production moves up a gear.
September 5, 2003... BACK in 1998 David Croxton got together with a group of landowners to form Bical, short for Biomass Industrial Crops Ltd. Their idea was to exploit the uses of Miscanthus - more commonly called elephant grass - a crop which is not only...

CROP MONITOR: Handsome harvest but rain now required.
September 5, 2003... Independent agronomists from FG's specialist six-strong nationwide panel report on the progress and performance of combinable crops across the country and advise on management opportunities, threats and priorities. HARDLY had the dust...

Jemima's descendants still `bringing home the bacon'.
September 5, 2003... Conservation and tradition are the key phrases at Boyton Farm in Wiltshire, home to 10 per cent of the country's population of Tamworth pigs. DAVID BURROWS reports. Set across 2,100 acres in the Wylye Valley, the majority of Boyton Farm...

Taking the strain - pulling in the titles.
September 5, 2003... "YOU have to read the rope, read the other team and be totally focused. You have to keep your body absolutely straight, using your point of balance and leverage. Your arms link your body to the rope but they don't have to be strong - it's using...

Culinary creativity.
September 5, 2003... A quick, healthy main course recipe incorporating local produce is sought to celebrate the launch of the new Ceredigion Food and Drink Directory. Food lovers in Ceredigion are being asked to draw on their culinary creativity. The winning...

Parishes get farming facts for harvest festivals.
September 5, 2003... FIGURES showing the continuing decline in farming are being sent to vicars to help them prepare for this year's harvest festival services. The Rev Nick Read, agricultural chaplain in the Diocese of Hereford, has prepared a briefing for...

Celebration with a difference.
September 5, 2003... A harvest celebration with a difference will highlight the diversity of foods produced in Lancashire's Ribble Valley. The 11th century parish church of St Wilfrid's, Ribchester, will be transformed as it stages its first ever harvest...

FG recipe proves a winner.
September 5, 2003... FARMER'S wife Lorna Lindsay won a best in show cookery trophy thanks to a Farmers Guardian `Recipe of the Week'. Mrs Lindsay of Tiding Field Farm, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, won at Halifax Agricultural Show using a `Malteser traybake' recipe...

Carnival capers: Taking to the water.
September 5, 2003... A Kent Young Farmers' Club took to the water for an unusual carnival. Hythe Venetian Fete is a spectacular display of floats which makes its way along the Royal Military Canal in Hythe. This year's event featured around 40 floats including...

Carnival capers: Going potty on a float.
September 5, 2003... FARM materials came in handy for Kingsbridge YFC's float in the local carnival. Tyres off the silage pit and silage wrap on flowers pots were used for the club's `Kingsbridge YFC go potty' entry. "The town has two carnival processions a year...

Martin and his men get a four-star review.
September 5, 2003... THE farmer, radio producer and concert pianist/music teacher from Shropshire who make up the comedy/music act `Three Men in a Bowtie' have returned from their first trip to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a four-star review, thoughts of...

#6,000 from calendar girls.
September 5, 2003... A cheque for #6,000 has been presented to the ARC Addington Fund by the Northern Counties branch of the Women's Food and Farming Union. The money was raised through sales of a calendar featuring discreetly clothed photographs of farming wives...

Clitheroe win top club title.
September 5, 2003... CLITHEROE YFC has won Lancashire Young Farmers' club of the year title. The club which has around 45 members but seeks more and recently secured sponsorship from Envar (part of the ADAS group of companies) to support promotional activities. ...

Diamond date.
September 5, 2003... SPEAKERS from each decade of Abergavenny Young Farmers' Club's 60 years will entertain members past and present when it celebrates its diamond jubilee year at the Three Counties Hotel, Hereford, on September 26. President, Pam Francis, is...

Swedish raiders at Moelyniadd.
September 5, 2003... THE Bank Holiday launched a busy week of trialling in South Wales - nine venues and 12 trials including three on the Monday itself. At Moelyniadd, some 66 dogs were run and two of the handlers were from Sweden - Lisa Hansson, from...

Kate shows fine form with open `double'.
September 5, 2003... TAKING two open titles within a week, Malcolm Mason's Kate is currently in fine form. On the Bank Holiday Monday at the Ryedale open held at Easby, North Yorkshire, she topped an entry of 29 dogs, judged by last year's winner Tony Bell, of...

Champion showman award.
September 5, 2003... THE champion showman award at Derbyshire Holstein Young Breeders' annual calf show went to 17-year-old Helen Fox of Rowsley Bar Farm, Rowsley, near Matlock. This qualifier for the All-Britain Calf Show at Stoneleigh in October was judged by...

Tonian calf and handler Katrina take top honours.
September 5, 2003... THE Yorkshire Holstein Young Breeders held their calf show last week at York Market. Master judge for the day was Gerald Carter of Bricknell who gave the top prize to Tonian Gibson Peach from M.W. and A.J. Woodliffe of Huby, York. The...

Titles for handlers and calves.
September 5, 2003... THE first North East All Breeds Dairy Calf Show was held on Sunday at Thirsk Auction Mart, North Yorkshire. The North East Ayrshire Club, North Eastern Holstein Breeders Club, North East of England Jersey Club and North East Shorthorn Club...

Bilsrow calf `ultra dairy'.
September 5, 2003... LANCASHIRE Young Breeders' Calf Show, held on Saturday, saw nearly 60 handlers and calves compete at Lancaster Auction Market. Champion calf judge Mike Halliwell selected the winning June calf, Bilsrow BJ Sarene from D.J. and S. Tomlinson...

Ingleview goes to next round.
September 5, 2003... HAVING judged the Yorkshire Clubs Herd competition Mr Pattinson of Crosby-on-Eaden has selected Messrs Butterfield of the Ingleview Herd to represent Yorkshire in the North of England round of the Premier Breeder Herd Competition. RESULTS...

Maize Monitor 2003.
September 5, 2003... Maize Monitor 2003 Region Variety Days to Latest crop assessment (maturity class) harvest * Southeast Goldion (5) 5 - 20 days Cobs yellow, hardening Central south Goldaphne (5) 10...

Grazing Monitor 2003: Making more of grazed grass.
September 5, 2003... Grazing Monitor 2003: Making more of grazed grass Grass Growth Rates DM D Value Protein ME Sugars kgDM/ha/day % % % MJ/kgDM % Rawston (Dorset) 16 34.0 69 ...

Primitive sheep return.
September 5, 2003... WITH entries only slightly down on figures pre-foot-and-mouth, Eccleshall Primitive Sheep Show made a welcome comeback last Saturday. The overall championship went to Vicky Mason of Nantwich with a Hebridean ewe. A Shetland ewe took reserve...

McAinsi Limousin wins show's top accolade.
September 5, 2003... THE top accolade at Bucks County Show held at Weedon Park, Aylesbury, went to Ronick McAinsi, a Limousin from W.J. and M. Mash Ltd. Other successes came for J.C. Hunter whose Holstein cow was overall dairy champion and D.F. Daffurn whose...

Belgian Blue takes beef title.
September 5, 2003... KILNSEY Show, North Yorkshire, brought successes for K. Gamble who took the top beef prize with a Belgian Blue, R. and E. Butterfield, champion and reserve dairy winners and Messrs Lord, who won the sheep inter- breed. RESULTS BEEF...

POYNTON SHOW.
September 5, 2003... THE Limousin breed champions swept the board at Poynton Show, Cheshire. RESULTS BEEF Inter-breed Supreme, M. Schofield, Millbrook Playbob (Limousin); reserve, M. Schofield, Cheadlewood Odelia (Limousin). Limousin (G. Simms,...

REETH SHOW.
September 5, 2003... SEVERAL exhibitors swept the board in their respective breed championships at Reeth and District Show, North Yorkshire, - but the it was Swaledale and Beltex that vied for the supreme inter-breed trophy. RESULTS SHEEP Inter-breed...

KESWICK SHOW.
September 5, 2003... CATTLE Limousin (J. Mulholland, Great Orton, Carlisle) Sup., G. Phillips, Mardonsen Siesta. SHEEP Herdwick (G. Haryman, Little Langdale, Ambleside) Sup., T.G. Grave. Swaledale (F. Raine, Middleton-in-Teasdale) Sup., G.L....

Sweet taste of hill farm success.
September 5, 2003... The problems of marketing hill lambs was the key subject for discussion when Hawes farmer Patrick Sowerby invited Maurice Hall of Hawes Auction Mart and Heather Bailey of the newly formed Dales Quality Meats initiative for a working breakfast....

Invest in prevention of calf pneumonia - vet.
September 5, 2003... Farmers must take a pro-active approach in preventing calf pneumonia, says Leicestershire-based vet Peter Orpin, of the Park Veterinary Group, Whetstone, and vaccination has a key role to play in any strategy against this costly disease. ...

Nutrient drenching brings in more profit.
September 5, 2003... Sheep producers could improve their flocks' overall performance by drenching ewes in the next few weeks with an organically chelated trace element and vitamin supplement, according to an independent trial carried out by the Scottish...

Research goes direct to business.
September 5, 2003... The Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, has created Macaulay Enterprises to ensure that the benefits of research can be taken onto a business level by the most direct route possible. "Transferring the results of scientific research into the...

A British White herd now at Highgrove.
September 5, 2003... Dorset cattle breeders, Sheila and Ron Clarke have received a tremendous boost to their belief in saving British Whites by being asked to supply The Prince of Wales with a starter herd of the breed, known otherwise as Old English cattle. ...

NADIS DISEASE BULLETIN: Copper deficiency in adult cattle.
September 5, 2003... NADIS data shows that copper deficiency is a widespread problem especially in the autumn and when grass copper levels are at their lowest. Copper is an essential element in many enzymes that are essential for the normal functioning of the body....

Calf rearing advice.
September 5, 2003... A new 54-page full colour Calf Management Guide providing comprehensive technical information and advice on calf rearing has been launched by Volac International. Available free, the guide is based on the principles encompassed in Volac's...

Back to reality as Texels top at 6,800gns.
September 5, 2003... A SENSIBLE and realistic trade was achieved at the British Texel sheep society's English National Texel show and sale at Worcester last Tuesday and Wednesday, when the two-day event claimed a 90 per cent clearance and a top of 6,800gns. ...

Champion makes top Texel price.
September 5, 2003... BACKING his breeding at the North West Texel Breeders' Club's annual show and sale of pedigree Texel sheep was Cumbria-based Peter Woof, when he requested that his show champion be the first to go under the hammer. The show and sale, which...

Glen is top dog at 1,500gns.
September 5, 2003... GLEN, a registered two-and-a-half year old dog handled by R.H. Hughes, of Welshpool, claimed the top price of 1,500gns in a private deal at the autumn sale of working sheepdogs at Skipton last Friday, when he failed to find a purchaser earlier...