Dairy Farmer articles from February 2007

Dairy Farmer archives from February 2007

TFA plea to save county farms.(Tenant Farmers Association)(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... County Council dairy farms are under threat - but the Tenant Farmers Association is championing their cause. According to the TFA retention would help Councils to meet their goals in areas like environment, local food links and the provision of...

COMMENT: Collateral damage.(Editorial)(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... Take a look at the NFU's stark figures showing the producer's share of the retail milk price falling from 59% in 1995 to 35% now as the supermarket's share has risen from 3% to 30%. Just what more concrete manifestation of unfairness could...

CC says that it will look closer into retail margin.
February 9, 2007... More than most, milk producers will need no convincing of the fact that they get a raw deal from retailers, but the Competition Commission seemingly still does. According to its "emerging thinking" document, the organisation has "some...

We're eating more cheese.
February 9, 2007... People are eating more dairy products, according to Defra's Family Food Survey for 2005/06. Liquid milk consumption is 0.6% higher than last year, with semi-skimmed milk drinking up 3.4%. Cheese consumption increased by 5.5%, and so has...

Why producers may not see market in same light.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... UK producers may feel they are missing out on something as they attempt to reconcile their own perception with that of the European Commission. On a trip to the EC, Dairy UK was told that there was strong demand, tight supply, economic...

Battle rages to sign up Aspatria supplies.(Aspatria Dairy Crest Direct )
February 9, 2007... As Dairy Farmer went to press things were hotting up in Cumbria over who'll be taking on the Aspatria Dairy Crest Direct suppliers. At a meeting dubbed "the final beauty parade" all prospective buyers - First Milk, PiC's Ronald Akkerman,...

Parkplace Flower-ET EX90.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... Setting a new world Jersey butterfat record is Parkplace Flower-ET EX90 in the herd of Duncan and Felicity Dawes, Parkplace Jerseys, Poplars Farm, Hornton, Banbury. Her remarkable achievement of an incredible1237kg fat smashed the previous...

Cowman Comment: Politicians have no idea of dire state of industry.
February 9, 2007... With little faith in the politicians to resolve anything, John Trunch is left to provide his own solution to some of those pressing south- west questions. Who appoints these so-and-so's to watch over us? Where do they come from? I daren't...

Cowman comment: What are we doing with 7000 cattle on local farms?
February 9, 2007... Starting the year as she means to go on, Pat Bird takes no prisoners and first in her sights is the army of bureaucrats enforcing the all- encompassing red tape producers currently find themselves being wrapped in. I ended 2006 with a...

Cowman comment: It's all change - how we decided on our exit strategy.
February 9, 2007... After much heart searching, Donald McColm decided to sell his farm and lease it back and while admitting after all these years to not being too enamoured with the prospect of becoming a tenant, he admits it has given him a degree of contentment...

Conference: WI is ready to stand up and push for better deal on milk.(Semex)
February 9, 2007... The annual Semex dairy conference is renowned as being a scene-setter for the year ahead - and this year was no different, with a passionate call from the WI to move things forward. Chris Walkland reports. Line up and take your places...

Conference: Don't subsidise the chain with unprofitable supplies.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... Farmers must not subsidise the rest of the dairy supply chain by allowing their balance sheet to be eaten away by continuing to farm long after the minimum price their business can sustain has been breached, said Trevor Lloyd, dairy farmer and...

Agreement in world trade talks will impact on dairy industry.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... World trade talks may seem miles away from the farm gate, but they will affect the dairy industry if they are ever resolved. At the moment, it's very unlikely there'll be an agreement, according to David Hemingway of the British...

Cross-breeding can add #30/cow worth of benefit.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... Cross-breeding cattle can inject advantageous heterosis benefits worth #30 a cow, according to Torstein Steine, director of breeding and research at Geno Global. So far in the UK there had been little use of cross-breeding, but the...

Potter's View: Are producers hanging on in hope of price increase?
February 9, 2007... If quota prices suddenly rocketed to 15ppl then there would be a deperate need for an orderly queue, but as Ian Potter explains the prospect of cross border trading still seems a long way off. When I agreed to supply quota for the Italians...

Maize: Picking your way through the best of the new varieties.(Revolver is the best variety of corn)
February 9, 2007... Selection of maize varieties depends a lot on individual circumstances and expections in terms of yield, starch levels and so on. Now a new variety, just completing three years of NIAB trials, looks set to go some way to finding a way through...

Maize: Beware last year's results.
February 9, 2007... Even basing your choice of maize varieties on last season's results could spell disaster, according to Neil Groom, technical manager for Grainseed. "There's a danger that growers will think they can get away with any variety following last...

Maize: How increasing seed density can give higher energy yield.
February 9, 2007... Despite what may be thought, seed rates do have an effect on the yield of forage maize and surprisingly on maturity dates. Ann Hardy reports. Farmers who reduce seed rates when drilling maize are misguided if they believe it will make no...

Maize: Where crimping maize has grown into quite a business.
February 9, 2007... The majority of maize is harvested as forage maize but over the last two to three years there has been a growing interest in grain maize, and to avoid drying costs this is often crimped and treated with a clamp additive. Michael Finch reports....

Maize: Right time to spray post-emergence.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... The experience of a growing season without atrazine has highlighted the importance of applying post-emergence herbicides at the right time.Maize yields last year suffered by up to 20% through either the lack of use of a pre-emergence herbicide...

Maize: How to fill the weed control gap left by demise of atrazine.
February 9, 2007... According to reports, Bayer's new pre-emergence herbicide may become the replacement for atrazine, and in some ways may be better. Ann Hardy reports. A new pre-emergence herbicide launched this season by Bayer Crop Science could fill the...

Maize: Damage to foliage could lead to smut attack.(corn industry)
February 9, 2007... Some areas of the country saw the tell-tale black smut disfigurations last year for the first time. Ann Hardy gives some tips on avoiding the fungus. Farmers who experienced maize smut on lastyear's crop should take extra precautions when...

Maize: Critical element is amount of by-pass starch it provides.
February 9, 2007... New ultra early forage maize varieties are already finding acceptance in the UK by easing concerns over cross compliance, but according to Saaten Union's Dr Ernst Loop the greatest benefit is in improved utilisation of starch. The...

Maize: Need to cut sowing rate for these ultra early varieties.
February 9, 2007... Some surprising results from farm trials carried out throughout the UK last year are suggesting that we may need to rethink our maize growing techniques. Giving us an update on the trial results is Neil Groom, technical agronomist with maize...

Maize: Poyerston pedigree Holstein herd.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... The autumn calving 220-strong Poyerston pedigree Holstein herd yields 9000 kg/year with the main winter ration based on a 50:50 maize:grass silage forage base fed with 4kg of a soya, rapeseed and maize distillers blend; 1.5kg rolled barley;...

Maize: Is grain maize set to plug gap left in arable rotation?
February 9, 2007... Grain maize as an alternative to other arable crops such as beet throws up a lot of `ifs', but arable producers are starting to examine the possibilities of growing the crop and selling it on as a high energy livestock feed. Michael Finch...

Milk prices: Arla Foods is set to level out supplies.(Arla Foods Ingredients A.m.b.a.)
February 9, 2007... Milk price analyst Stephen Bradley comments on the latest milk industry developments. Arla Foods UK and Arla Foods Milk Partnership have clarified the new scheme from Apr'07 to Mar'08 that makes each individual responsible for balancing...

Milk prices down by nearly 0.8p.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... This month presents an ideal opportunity to compare last year's prices with average prices paid for the calendar year 2005. Analysis of the far right column in our table highlights the difference between the two years in ppl terms where on...

Milk prices: United Farmers with biggest cut.(Brief article)
February 9, 2007... Of the four main co-ops, our price for United Dairy Farmers (who's base price increased by 0.4ppl for Dec'06) suffered the biggest reduction last year of 1.3ppl compared with smaller cuts of 0.77ppl by First Milk and 0.87ppl by DFB. (DFB...

Good Evans: Stair polish and life assurance in same drawer!
February 9, 2007... There's a reason why the wily fox Roger Evans always puts his socks on in the kitchen, but he's beginning to wonder whether there might just be a bit more to the incessant stair polishing than meets the eye. We held our `staff' Christmas...