Dairy Farmer articles from February 2009

Dairy Farmer archives from February 2009

COMMENT: Uncharted waters.
February 13, 2009... Roosevelt may have been right when he said we have nothing to fear but fear itself, but the IMF's warning that globally we're heading into the biggest post-war slump with the UK nose-diving the deepest of all western countries is enough to give...

EU makes move in attempt to put floor into chaotic market.(Brief article)
February 13, 2009... Producers are desperately hoping that the EU's move to offer early support to dairy produce will help halt the avalanche of price cuts. Freshways, Meadow Foods, Wiseman and Dairy Crest all joined in to announce price cuts from February....

Guernseys make the news.
February 13, 2009... The English Guernsey Cattle Society website has been inundated with enquiries to suppliers of Guernsey milk following Channel 5 news reports concerning anecdotal evidence that A2 milk can help with behavioural problems in autistic children. ...

Asda change their cheese supplier to Lactalis.
February 13, 2009... Asda has switched its 8000t/annum contract to supply Smart Price mild cheddar from First Milk to Lactalis, with effect from April 1. First Milk is believed to have already factored in the volume loss through its two major cheese plants in...

Defra launches new green guide.
February 13, 2009... A new "one-stop shop practical guide to help farmers, growers and land managers protect the environment" has been launched by Defra. The Code of Good Agricultural Practice, a single document that consolidates three previous codes last...

New dairy board is announced.
February 13, 2009... The NFU has announced its "Next Generation" Dairy Board, consisting of 12 young farmers who will be trained-up on and exposed to dairy politics, policies and NFU lobbying. Members of the Board are: Rob Harrison - SW (chairman), Tom Rawson - NE,...

Irish call for support to ease export trade.
February 13, 2009... If you think things are looking bad here, consider the position of overseas dairy industries, particularly the Irish. Not only have their milk prices fallen, but their industry is battling with the UK's extremely weak currency, which is...

Medina boss dies.
February 13, 2009... The boss of the UK's fastest growing dairy company over the last few years - Sardar Hussain of Medina Dairies - passed away on Saturday January 10, 2009. Mr Hussein started off as a milkman in Slough in the 1970s, but subsequently built up...

Milk Link extends its flavoured drink range.
February 13, 2009... Milk Link, the UK's largest cheese producer, has made a further significant capital investment at its Taw Valley Creamery in Devon with the installation of a #1.5m fully automated block-forming system. The firm has also launched a new...

First Milk launches Scottish reduced-fat cheese.
February 13, 2009... First Milk is getting in on the reduced-fat cheese market with the launch of Scottish Pride Lighter - the only Scottish origin "lighter" brand in the sector. The product contains 30% less fat than standard Scottish Pride, but with "the...

COWMEN COMMENT: Cold spell was big bonus in the battle against the bugs.
February 13, 2009... The severe cold spell was something not witnessed for many a while and, as John Trunch reports, the harbour water actually froze over in North Cornwall. A couple of days ago our eldest grandson was breaking ice in water troughs while I was...

You wouldn't think you could get tractor stuck in building, would you?
February 13, 2009... Things got off to rather a frustrating start down in the south-west as Pat Bird's tractor and straw chopper ends up in a rather peculiar predicament. After weeks of the big freeze, I'm writing this with temperatures up by 10 degrees, sun...

COWMEN COMMENT: Silage shortfall demands some rather drastic action.
February 13, 2009... What with the silage running low and the wholecrop spring wheat not really delivering the goods, Donald McColm has had to shed some stock and rethink his feeding regime. As we move into a new year we are still contending with the hangovers...

Are you prepared for this season's battle against bluetongue?
February 13, 2009... As the second bluetongue season looms up fast, things are a little different this time round, not only in injection regimes but in vaccine availability. Peter Hollinshead talks to Merial's technical manager Brian Rice about the changes. ...

Will Tesco's contract prove to be as rock solid as is claimed?
February 13, 2009... As more and more buyers announce price reductions, Ian Potter wonders just what sort of rabbit Tesco will have to pull out of the hat if they decide to join the others and yet still adhere to their much heralded pricing formula. The new...

CONFERENCE: It really is a matter of which channel you are tuned into!
February 13, 2009... As usual there was plenty of food for thought at this year's Semex conference as stalwarts headed north to the annual Glasgow gathering. Chris Walkland reports. The theme of the conference this year was `changing channels' but, despite...

CATTLE BREEDERS: Why high output cows might not be best bet.
February 13, 2009... Are you better going for a high or low output system to produce high profit milk? That was the question tackled at this year's British Cattle Breeders Conferenceby Mike Houghton from Andersons' Salisbury office. At the recent British...

BREEDING: Competition hots up as top bulls battle to lead the pack.
February 13, 2009... Sons of the leading international bull O-Bee Manfred Justice created a buzz in last month's proof run with two new Genus bulls - Morningview Legend and Wa-Del Hayden - appearing as front-runners. Ann Hardy has the details. Despite the...

BREEDING: Lakemead Rancher is top British Friesian.
February 13, 2009... Breeds other than Holstein have seen little movement although a new number one British Friesian comes in the shape of Lakemead Rancher, who moves up from second place in the previous proof run. This Somerset- bred Holwerda Torello son combines...

BREEDING: Top rankings of the high type bulls.(Brief article)
February 13, 2009... THE outstanding type bull, according to Holstein UK's January figures, continues to be Dairy Daughters' Mario Xacobeo with a Type Merit of 3.87 and an additional 22 daughters in 17 herds. Incredible udder attachment and shallow depth also earn...

MAIZE: Three easy steps to achieving the highest ME yield per acre.
February 13, 2009... Last year may have been the third challenging maize season in a row but one group of growers across Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire have brought in their best crops on record. Many of the 130-plus Green Gem growers who receive a...

MAIZE: NIAB LIST DATA ON NEW VARIETY.
February 13, 2009... Joining the new, reduced NIAB Descriptive List of maize varieties for 2009, Ixxes from RAGT Seeds has one of the best combinations of all- round performance. Ixxes is the only one of the 11 new varieties joining this year's far more...

MAIZE: Are we striking right balance between earliness and yield?
February 13, 2009... With potentially more variable weather conditions to contend with and the latest NVZ rules to observe, Grainseed believes it may be time to rethink our maize growing strategy. Cold and wet growing conditions over the last two years caught...

MAIZE: Big potential for plastic or is it money down the drain?
February 13, 2009... WITH the emphasis on ensuring maturity and stable starch supplies, does plastic now have a new role to play? "To a degree, plastic has been superceded in recent years due to concerns over environmental friendliness and costs - not to...

MAIZE: Halfway house between maize as silage and as crimped grain.
February 13, 2009... While a relatively new concept in the UK, Corn Cob Mix (CCM) is increasingly used as a source of high energy cattle rations on the continent and helps reduce the reliance on concentrates. According to KWS UK maize specialist, John Burgess,...

MAIZE: Why it's so important to get the crop off to a flying start.
February 13, 2009... Establishing a good stand of maize can be a bit of a problem if conditions aren't quite right, and yet time lost at the start can have dire consequences on later yields. Maize growers are failing to provide their crops with the nutrition...

MAIZE: Giving your crop best start in life.
February 13, 2009... After two challenging years, maize growers need more than ever to follow the correct agronomic procedures in order to secure maximum yield and quality, claims Mole Valley's Graham Ragg. Producing maize successfully relies on attention to...

MILK PRICES: Dairy Crest looks for price stability.
February 13, 2009... Holding producer milk prices for Jan'09, Dairy Crest has now cut its liquid contract price from Feb 1 by 1.75ppl, while suppliers to Davidstow will receive a slightly smaller cut of 1ppl. In order to provide some stability at a difficult...

MILK PRICES: Arla Foods balancing scheme.
February 13, 2009... Arla Foods is to re-introduce its balancing scheme, suspended from last July, from Feb 1. The current estimate for the Feb'09 charge, based on anticipated AFMP volume and returns from the commodity market, is a reduction of 4.5ppl on all litres...

MILK PRICES: United's price up.
February 13, 2009... UNITED's first milk auction of 2009 saw prices clawing upwards slightly with 45mltrs for the month of February averaging 18.5ppl, 1.87ppl up on last month, but 3.89ppl down on the 83mlts sold (42mltrs on 3mth contracts) last year at an average...

MILK PRICES: Farmgate price down.
February 13, 2009... DEFRA's provisional UK average farmgate milk price for Nov'08 was 27.10ppl, 0.19ppl down on Nov'07 and 0.28ppl down on the previous month. With no price increases reported for Dec'08 and price cuts starting from this month, it looks like the...

WORKSHOP TIPS: Using circulation cleaner to fight off foot problems.
February 13, 2009... With the pressure on margins, producers are constantly looking at ways to improve cow health without incurring major costs - and in particular to reduce foot ailments. With diesel, fertiliser and interest rates yo-yoing as they have been...

GOOD EVANS: I wonder whether the cat is trying to tell me something?
February 13, 2009... Apart from worrying about cream lakes and NVZ legislation, Roger Evans has a rather more delicate feline matter to clear up - literally. I see two issues impacting on our dairy farms in the coming year and I am seriously concerned about...