Dairy Farmer articles from June 2005

Dairy Farmer archives from June 2005

COMMENT: Clean out of widgets.(CAP)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Just when you thought the milk market was stabilising following lower production this spring, we get hit sideways with a double whammy. First the Commission decides to slash support for butter and powder to prepare us for world prices, and...

Fair trade?(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Green and Black's, the UK's fastest growing confectionery business, has now confirmed that none of its milk is sourced from UK farmers. Although its founder Craig Sams, who is also chairman of the Soil Association which heralds the UK...

Anger grows over Arla's move to slash milk prices.
June 15, 2005... Farmers leaders have reacted angrily to Arla's announcement of a 0.35ppl cut in milk price from the beginning of June. The decision has been roundly condemned as unjustifiable by the NFU Dairy Board chairman Gwyn Jones. "This decision...

Trials show diabetes risk cut by skim milk.
June 15, 2005... Results from a major American study have shown that drinking skimmed milk and the consumption of low fat dairy products can significantly reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes in men. The study of the eating habits of over 40,000 male health...

Dairy Crest year end results.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... After a turbulent 12 months of competing for a share of the supermarket liquid supply, Dairy Crest appears to have weathered the storm having just announced a 46% increase in pre-tax profits to #66.7m. In spite of losing both ASDA and Tesco...

UK bulls missing out after proof run glitch.(National Association of Breeders Services (NABS))(Genus)
June 15, 2005... Both Genus and Cogent stand to lose thousands of pounds worth of overseas sales because the proofs of their bulls abroad are effectively frozen. An administration glitch which resulted in an incorrect pedigree file being submitted to the...

Milk Link's novel approach for accurate data.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Milk Link has written to all its members requesting forecast milk profiles to be returned by the end of this month as a matter of urgency. To underline the importance of the exercise, Milk Link has come up with a novel approach with a...

COWMAN COMMENT: And now they want to tax horse pooh.
June 15, 2005... Just as he is licking his elections wounds, our south-west correspondent John Trunch is further incensed by the latest political shenanigans over horse manure. Whatever next? Now that election fever has well and truly passed I won't dwell...

COWMAN COMMENT: As TB rages on and on, can 400 vets all be wrong?
June 15, 2005... By the time you read this, the `tank-traps' of the SFP form will be a distant memory (maybe!), as will be the election and first cut silage. As `politics' was the last thing aspiring politicians wanted to talk about - the other two are probably...

COWMAN COMMENT: How Beeb put abrupt end to my silage plans.
June 15, 2005... Just as our Scottish correspondent Donald McColm was geared up to drop all that silage grass the Beeb suddenly put the dampers on it and he was forced into lifting a few early Epicure potatoes instead. I am writing this in mid-May on the...

Interview: How #17m of your money is in danger of disappearing.(Interview)
June 15, 2005... Remember Milk Marque? Well you may be surprised that it is still holding a wad of your cash which is in great danger of ending up in someone else's pocket. David Matthews talks to MM chairman Roger Evans about returning it to its rightful...

POTTER'S VIEW: Ask all your questions before flight check-in.
June 15, 2005... Impossible though it may be to believe, but this month the ever- gregarious Ian Potter is getting a teeny weeny bit anxious about his circle of friends and whether people are purposely avoiding him. Surely not... It's not often one of my...

EU: Commission in bid to drive down milk prices.
June 15, 2005... The European Commission has signalled that it wants to drive Europe towards lower milk prices. Despite a massive lobbying campaign by the industry it used the May meeting of the dairy management committee to slash support prices for butter,...

EU: Retailers in spotlight.(services of Milk Development Council )(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... A report prepared by the Milk Development Council on inequities in the dairy supply chain has won a commitment from the European Commission to investigate current practices. The key question will be whether large retailers in particular are...

EU: Boom year for Poland.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... The dairy industry in Poland has enjoyed a boom year for its first as a member of the European Union. Exports rocketed as the industry took advantage of new markets, both in the EU 15 and in third countries, with the benefit of export refunds....

EU: Giving the shirt off their backs.(naked protest )(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... British dairy farmers have in the past blockaded supermarket depots and dairies - but their opposite numbers in Germany have raised the stakes in farm protests to a new level. Several hundred protested naked at a processing plant in Cologne. At...

EU: Rural policies under threat.(agriculture spending )(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Agriculture spending should be safe from EU budget cuts - but many new rural development policies could be scrapped if member states limit their financial contributions to Brussels. In a compromise proposal, drawn up by the Luxembourg...

EU: Feta rights deal blow to Denmark.(feta cheese)(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... The dairy industry, other than in Greece, has criticised the decision by the advocate general of the European court to give Greece sole rights to the term feta cheese. While the case was brought to the court by Denmark and Germany others will...

BREEDING: Dutch bred bulls lead field as TDM kicks in.(usage of proofs)(Test Day Model evaluation system)
June 15, 2005... The May AI sire proofs saw the launch of the long awaited Test Day Model evaluation system. Angela Rhodes takes a look at how the first run of proofs has affected the rankings. The latest bull proofs have heralded the first major change to...

BREEDING: Top 10 Actively marketed sires ranked on #PLI.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 15, 2005... Top 10 Actively marketed sires ranked on #PLI (Source MDC Evaluations and HUK, May 2005) Milk CFP SCC PLI Type Supplier (kg) (kg) Merit *Loe Martin 1055...

BREEDING: Duplex heads UK type rankings.
June 15, 2005... At the same time as the genetic base has rolled back for production, similar changes have taken place for type traits and composites. Although the reduction, which takes account of improvements over the last five years, is more pronounced at...

BREEDING: Top 10 Sires ranked on Type Merit.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 15, 2005... Top 10 Sires ranked on Type Merit (Source Holstein UK, May 2005) Bull #PLI Udder Feet/ Type Supplier Legs Merit Mesland Duplex 2 2.85 3.81 4.02...

BREEDING: Where do cross breeding benefits really come from?
June 15, 2005... Following the publication of trials work, cross-breeding has emerged as a serious cattle breeding alternative with the Norwegian Red achieving a high profile with the success of the "Norstein" cross. Bruce Jobson looks at the reasons for this...

BREEDING: Welsh college puts cross breeding to the test.(Carmarthenshire College Farm)
June 15, 2005... Growing dissatisfaction with the reproductive performance of Holstein- Friesian cows in spring block calving herds has sparked enormous interest in crossbreeding. But is the promise of better fertility and lower culling rates through hybrid...

ADVICE - QUESTIONS ANSWERED: Dairying in Europe - is there a future?
June 15, 2005... Of course there's a future for dairying in Europe, says Kemira GrowHow's Dr George Fisher, but for whom and how best can dairy farmers thrive rather than simply survive? To survive in Europe, dairy producers will have to embrace change. To...

BREEDING: Nucleus herds: what future role for them?(Mark Smith)(Interview)
June 15, 2005... With the recent announcement that Cogent can no longer justify the cost of running a nucleus herd, is this form of genetic selection still a cost effective option? Genus' breeding director Mark Smith argues the case for MOET and gives us an...

DRY COWS: Straw priming gives feed efficiency boost.
June 15, 2005... Feeding higher levels of chopped straw in transition diets for dry cows could significantly improve feed efficiency and reduce health problems in lactation. According to Keenan's nutrition director, Prof David Beever, feed conversion...

MIXED FORAGES: Lupins play major role in Scottish forage mix.
June 15, 2005... Poor prospects for a better milk price prompted one Ayrshire dairy farmer to take a step back from a predominantly grass silage ration and introduce a variety of wholecrop alternatives. Following a suggestion by Tony Kirk of Practical Dairy...

United Dairy Farmers celebrate 10yrs.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... Northern Ireland's largest Co-op, United Dairy Farmers, celebrated its 10th anniversary last month over which period the business has gone from strength to strength. As well as the company's milk auction - a system that had never been...

United's auction price up 0.7ppl.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... United Dairy Farmers May milk auction sold 49mltrs (contracts starting Jun 1) for an average price of 19.46ppl, 2.64ppl up on last month's overall average and 0.71ppl up on the 53mltrs sold in the May'04 auction last year. Of the total,...

Round-up of the milk price.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... As well as Robert Wiseman finding an additional 0.1ppl for April taking its price increase to 1ppl for Mar/April, Arla Foods has confirmed a price hold for April following its 0.75ppl increase in March: * Golden Vale has increased 0.3ppl...

Wiseman is forced to make adjustment to seasonality.
June 15, 2005... Having to payout significantly more in premiums on its new milk profile scheme (introduced this April) than was previously forecasted for April and May, Robert Wiseman, after discussions with producer representatives, is to address the...

Possibly the lowest milk price in the UK.
June 15, 2005... We may have found what is possibly the lowest milk price paid to milk producers in the UK. Welsh quota-holding group, Llaeth Cymreig (Welsh Milk), Camarthen - set up as a quota holding business in Dec'02, currently having a membership of around...

DEFRA farm gate price down.(Brief Article)
June 15, 2005... The provisional DEFRA average UK farm gate milk price for Mar'05 of 18.45ppl was 0.11ppl up on the previous month but a fraction down on last year's price of 18.48ppl. Average protein for Mar'05 was 3.20% compared with 3.18% last year. Overall...

Good Evans: Please don't drop our money down the well!
June 15, 2005... As well as coping with the rooks, pigeons and pheasants, Roger Evans also has his hands full with a certain cattle dog and motorcyclists! This first piece is very important. It affects those of us who were members of Milk Marque and there...