By unlocking the export potential China offers the pig industry, not to mention the red meat sector as a whole, we could gain entry into a marketplace which comprises a fifth of the world’s population.Agriculture in the national news - August 19
A DAILY look at how agriculture has caught the headlines across the country (Thursday, August 19).
England’s green and pleasant land may have to change to feed our thirst for fuel
As we look for alternatives to oil, our familiar pattern of meadows and pastures could become interspersed with biofuel plantations
Yesterday Dustin Benton of the Campaign to Protect Rural England criticised the vision for the countryside outlined in our Zero Carbon Britain report. He argues that our proposals would disrupt the familiar look of the countryside.
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/17/england-biofuels-oil-aviation
Coaltion of groups calling on Government to protect rural areas
THE countryside risks turning into a combination of a “dormitory, theme park and retirement home” without action to ensure rural communities can thrive.
A coalition of groups is calling on the Government to take steps to ensure rural areas can meet housing needs, build local economies, deliver services, and create flourishing market towns.
The Formby Times
http://www.formbytimes.co.uk/news/formby-news/2010/08/18/coaltion-of-groups-calling-on-government-to-protect-rural-areas-66401-27080192/
If rural courts close, Welsh could be in for a punishing
PLANS to close courts in some rural communities could have a devastating impact on the Welsh language, campaigners have warned.
Closing the courts is part of a wider review including England and will save the UK Government at least £15m a year in running costs, plus an extra £22m in maintaining buildings.
Farmer dies in freak tractor accident
A community grieving over the deaths of three locals in a boat tragedy suffered a fourth tragic death in 72 hours when a farmer died in a freak tractor accident.
Jim Murphy (65) died after the tractor he was driving apparently spun out of control on a road leading into the village of Allihies on west Cork’s Beara Peninsula.
Belfast Telegraph
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/farmer-dies-in-freak-tractor-accident-14916060.html#ixzz0x2WQ3sYT
Italian farmer pushes genetically modified crops
Giorgio Fidenato has made a habit of carrying a raw ear of yellow corn and taking a hearty bite whenever a camera is in sight.
It’s a provocation. The Italian farmer’s corn is genetically modified, grown surreptitiously in fields in the northeast not far from the Austrian and Slovene borders.
Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HLUEBO0.htm
Pakistan flood survivors struggle to save livestock
Many Pakistanis displaced by the country’s biggest floods in decades are struggling to save their livestock, not just survive themselves.
For many villagers forced from their flooded villages and seeking refuge on the outskirts of the southern city of Sukkur, their flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cows and buffaloes are what guarantees they have enough to eke out a living.
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67I0QA20100819
New right of appeal would give teeth to planning challenges
A public right of appeal in planning would end the costly judicial review process and ensure the delivery of good development
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), and many other civil society organisations strongly support the introduction of a limited, fair and manageable public right of appeal in planning.
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/aug/19/planning-right-of-appeal-cpre
U.S. wheat up 2 percent, volumes soar on crop woes
U.S. wheat futures jumped 2 percent on Thursday on expectations of tighter supplies from the drought-ravaged Black Sea region, with markets bracing for Ukraine to limit exports.
Markets were also on edge as an extended drought would raise the risk there would not be enough moisture in the soil to plant next year’s crop.
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