Dairy Farmer articles from April 2007

Dairy Farmer archives from April 2007

Boycott did take its toll.(Arla Foods Ingredients A.m.b.a. (Skanderborgvej, Denmark) posts profit despite the impact of the boycott on its products)(Financial report)(Brief article)
April 16, 2007... Despite the impact of the boycott on its products in much of the Middle East, as the result of a Danish newspaper publishing derogatory cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, Arla had a good year in 2006, with profits of around #90m. It says...

COMMENT: Tectonic shift or not...
April 16, 2007... At long last a bit of good news - all the major retailers are to lift the retail price by 1.7ppl following the initial move by Tesco. Good news in the sense that if this marks a Damascene conversion in seeking to regain their margin from...

Produces left in dark as to their share of any price rise.
April 16, 2007... After a hard fought battle to raise milk prices, all of the major retailers followed Tesco this month in increasing the milk price by 1.7ppl. But at the time of going to press there was still no news on how much would be coming back to farmers....

Biofuels pushing feed prices up.
April 16, 2007... The world is gradually going mad! Well the straights world is anyway - on the back of the growth in the biofuels industry. Maize and wheat prices are now being driven by the demand for energy, and not for food. Already there may not be...

Eco friendly milk pouches.
April 16, 2007... A pioneering North Wales dairy - Tomlinson's of Minera, near Wrexham - has become the first in the UK to pack milk in Eco friendly milk pouches. Already the degradable plastic pouches have proven to be a big hit during trials at a local primary...

Ofcom puts the pressure on cheese advertising.
April 16, 2007... Much to the industry's dismay Ofcom - the TV regulator - has banned the advertising of certain foods - including many cheeses - to children. The move has been described by Dairy UK as draconian and the regulations unbalanced. "It is a...

PiC likely to open up price war in market warns dairy analyst.
April 16, 2007... As Partners in Cheese, the company striving to build a new #60m cheese plant in Cumbria, enters the final stages of its milk procurement campaign, it has emerged that the UK's two main cheese producers - First Milk and The Cheese Company -...

Arla sets up new payment package.(Arla Foods Ingredients A.m.b.a. (Skanderborgvej, Denmark) )(Brief article)
April 16, 2007... Arla Foods Milk Partnership (AFMP) will be providing 90% of Arla Foods total milk requirements this year. A new package was agreed this month between the two parties, with a new Arla Foods Milk Price Equivalent (AFMPE) set up, based on the...

Milk Link announces new product launches.
April 16, 2007... It has been a busy month for product development at Milk Link - two new drinks, made at its Kirkcudbright site in Scotland, have been launched together with a new cheese from Taw Valley. The new drinks comprise a semi-skimmed milk which is...

Cowman comment: Time for radical changes if we are to save the industry.
April 16, 2007... With the growing exodus of producers, particularly in the south-west, our correspondent John Trunch is becoming more convinced than ever that we may have passed the critical tipping point. Since you last read this page, in the Feb edition,...

Keeping myself out of firing range of back-legged exocet.(productivity in beef cattle farming)(Viewpoint essay)
April 16, 2007... Faced with the need to milk out a freshly calved heifer, our south-west correspondent Pat Bird is quickly reminded that heifers have to be treated with a certain cautious respect. We started calving Ken's new Aberdeen Angus cattle this...

Father's death causes Donald to start reflecting more on life.(proper dairy farming)(Viewpoint essay)
April 16, 2007... Just as our Scottish correspondent Donald McColm was adjusting to his new farming circumstances, a more personal tragedy strikes with the death of his father. The last time I wrote for DF I revealed the major shake-up in the way we now...

Interview: Health scheme likely to need funding from levy of producers.
April 16, 2007... In a frank discussion the new president of the BCVA reveals his organisation would support an effective badger cull and on the wider herd health scheme for England he warns a producer levy may be necessary. Jennifer MacKenzie reports. Why...

Think again: it's not quotas that are driving producers to pack it in.(Farm production quotas has little significance in )
April 16, 2007... Sainsbury boss Justin King may think the industry is simply restructuring and suffering a temporary hiccup, but Ian Potter firmly believes there is one thing, and one thing only, causing the catastrophic tumult and exodus - and it isn't quotas....

EU News: How EC is planning to finally wind up quotas.
April 16, 2007... The European Commission is now committed to removing milk quotas. Richard Wright takes a look at their latest position and what it means for farmers. The first question to ask is whether we have had any formal decision yet? The answer to...

EU News: MEP promises to champion farmers' cause.
April 16, 2007... The new head of the European Parliament's agriculture committee has promised to bring more common sense to its deliberations on farming. British Conservative, Neil Parish, was a full time farmer before he became an MEP for the south-west...

With market prices holding up producers are losing out.(world milk production to grow)(Brief article)
April 16, 2007... There are signs that a new World Trade Organisation deal will not be as great a threat to the dairy industry as forecast. Analysts claim strong world markets are set to continue, meaning prices in key markets, including the United States,...

Breeding: How to get value for money with sires under #20/straw.
April 16, 2007... The last Holstein proof run produced a number of useful newcomers who have made it on to our latest `Value for Money' shopping list. Angela Rhodes gives us an update. The semen selling market just seems to get tougher and more competitive...

Survey: Survey shows growing interest in putting more acres to maize.
April 16, 2007... As UK dairy farmers start to plan this year's maize crop, survey results suggest we are more in love with the crop than ever with increasing numbers viewing maize as an essential energy source rather than just an alternative forage. UK...

How lifting feed conversion would start to pay big dividends all round.(feed conversion efficiency)
April 16, 2007... Producers in this country still have a long way to go in lifting feed conversion efficiencies, and not only would it lift profitability but reduce the much talked about greenhouse gas emissions as well. Phil Christopher reports from a recent...

Viewpoint: They won't miss you till you're gone!(forecasts for farming)
April 16, 2007... What future for farmers - will they be extinct in 20 years time? Melanie Reid, senior assistant editor on the Herald newspaper, wrote an article recently which seems to sum up the parlous state of the industry. With her permission we reproduce...

Animal health: Are we missing a trick on the selenium front?(David Wilde of Alltech talks about selenium yeast )(Interview)
April 16, 2007... Selenium yeast - commercially known as Sel-Plex - is making a come-back after two years withdrawal from use. Ann Hardy talks to David Wilde, ruminant technical manager with Alltech, about why he believes it has a place on every British farm....

US trials show how minerals can help in lifting herd fertility.
April 16, 2007... The latest in dairy cow mineral supplements to hit the UK from the US claim to improve margins by more than #100 per cow. Jennifer Mackenzie reports. Mineral expert Max Winders is aiming to convince UK producers about the supplements...

Animal health: Taking care to avoid worst pitfalls of an early turnout.(safety measures against grass staggers )
April 16, 2007... Turnout is a time of great change for the cow, particularly as regards her rumen. Ann Hardy reports on the greatest risks for this season and the appropriate action to take to avoid the variety of possible problems. Low stocks of silage...

It's crucial to open up buildings if you want to avoid pneumonia.(livestock health)
April 16, 2007... However careful you are you may still get outbreaks of pneumonia in your youngstock, but as building designer Dr Mike Kelly tells us the crucial thing is to ensure that foul air is not trapped in the building. Animal health problems arise...

Time to rethink our approach to monitoring herd fertility?
April 16, 2007... Using calving interval as a measure of herd fertility gives a distorted picture of actual performance and producers would probably benefit more by adopting two indices used by Australian farmers. Shirley MacMillan reports. The 100 day...

Animal health: Making sure your cows are getting back in calf.
April 16, 2007... Falling herd fertility is one of the major challenges facing the UK dairy industry, and letting fertility get `out of control' can have significant knock-on effects on a herd's profitability. Vet Chris Watson outlines the practical...

Animal health: Breeding your way to cows with improved health status.
April 16, 2007... New data on cell counts and fertility is confirming the importance of breeding to achieve long-term improvements in cattle health. Ann Hardy reports. The natural reaction to any health problem is to examine the management regime and no one...

Letter - TB chaos: big penalty for being wrong side of border.
April 16, 2007... From: Andy Bevan, D W Bevan & Son, Newton Farm, St Weonards, Herefordshire HR2 8PW. Open letter to: National Farmers Union, Agriculture House, Stoneleigh, Warks. Dear Mr Peter Kendall, I am contacting you directly, as leader of...

Letter - Home produced protein crops.
April 16, 2007... From: Bob Miles, Elsoms Seeds Ltd, Pinchbeck Rd, Spalding, Lincs PE11 1QC. As regards spring sown protein forage crops (DF March), David McNaughton has written an excellent article on lupin/triticale silage but with comments about his own...

Milk prices: AFMP agrees to new milk supply contract.
April 16, 2007... Arla Foods Milk Partnership has agreed changes to its milk supply contract that include a new minimum milk price guarantee. The group is also increasing its milk supply from 85% to 90% of Arla Foods UK's total fresh milk requirement by April...

Milk prices: Parkham Farms cuts price 0.3p.
April 16, 2007... North Devon Farmhouse cheesemaker, Parkham Farms, has cut its direct supply milk price by 0.3ppl from January 1. With the company's last price change of a 0.74ppl reduction in July 2006, this latest decrease via lower constituent payments...

Milk prices: Lower `standard' Bactoscans.
April 16, 2007... The criteria for setting our standard litre is to reflect, as closely as possible, a typical UK milk producer, while at the same time trying to avoid making changes every year so as to provide continuity of price comparison year on year. ...

Milk prices: Defra farmgate price down 0.48ppl.
April 16, 2007... The Defra UK farmgate milk price (including retrospective bonuses) for January was 18.18ppl, 0.48ppl down compared with last year. The provisional average milk price (including retrospective bonuses) for the 2006 calendar year was 17.96ppl,...

Milk Link launches quality bonus.
April 16, 2007... Milk Link is to launch a new `Premier' milk quality bonus from April, worth an extra 0.3ppl on the milk price. The bonus will reward members who consistently achieve excellence in milk quality and have supplied milk for the last 12 months....

United's average auction price up.
April 16, 2007... The average price for the 54m litres of milk sold by United Dairy Farmers in its March auction was 17.3ppl, 1.12ppl higher than March 2006 and 0.23ppl greater than February 2007. Of the total volume (all contracts starting April 1), 51m litres...

Workshop tips: Simple ideas for making more of your tractor loader.
April 16, 2007... With the constant call to be lifting, stacking and storing materials around the farm, Mike Donovan gives us a few tips on fore-end loaders. A great many of us baby boomers, brought up in the 1950s, are hard- wired for frugality. When we...

Good Evans: Suddenly cry goes up that cow is down in the parlour.
April 16, 2007... Milking can be a solitary job, but when the alarm call goes up that there's a cow down in the parlour, the last thing you want is her joining you in the pit. Roger Evans embraces science (and Ian Potter) as part of his solution. I always...