Agriculture in the national news - July 2

MPs protest as Minister axes rural affairs tsar

THE Government is axing its Rural Advocate to slash Whitehall spending.

The post, held by Stuart Burgess, is being abandoned with immediate effect.

But Ministers are being urged to rethink the move, which comes just a day after Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman announced plans to abolish the Commission for Rural Communities, which is chaired by Mr Burgess.

Yorkshire Post
http://tinyurl.com/36gnarn

Concern over growing toll of farm deaths

A SIGNIFICANT rise has been recorded in the number of people being killed on Britain’s farms, despite overall declines in the number of workplace deaths.

A total of 38 agricultural workers died between April 2009 and March 2010, compared with just 25 the previous year.

The figures, compiled by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), show agriculture to be the most dangerous industry to work in, as farming now accounts for more than a quarter of workplace deaths in the country.

Yorkshire Post
http://tinyurl.com/34wa5mw

Scheme helps boost bird numbers in Cambridgeshire

An RSPB project has helped almost treble the number of farmland birds over the past 10 years, figures show.

The RSPB, which owns Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire, said it had seen the number of birds increase by 177% in the past decade.

It said the project had been particularly successful in boosting the number of threatened skylarks, linnets and yellowhammers.

BBC Online
http://tinyurl.com/3322uqa

Cumbrian farmer injured in tractor accident

A South Cumbrian farmer had to be airlifted to hospital after trapping his arm in a tractor.

The man was trying to clear a blockage in the back of the vehicle when the accident happened on Wednesday.

He managed to free himself and his family called the emergency services to the field where he was working in the Duddon Valley.

BBC Online
http://tinyurl.com/33895vh

Agriculture: Russia to become global leader in grain exports business

In the Nineties, Russia was facing food shortages. Today, wheat exports are among the highest in the world, but the country’s infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

One hundred years ago, Russia’s vast land resources made it one of the world’s largest food suppliers.

The capricious agricultural strategies of Soviet times not only put an end to that, but also saw the country forced to swap oil, gas and gold for food imports to feed the population.

Daily Telegraph
http://tinyurl.com/34mmsch

Organic farming gives better pest control, bigger spuds

PARIS — Supporters of organic agriculture got a boost on Thursday with a scientific study that said pesticide-free potato farming improved control over crop-munching insects and delivered bigger plants.

David Crowder, an entomologist at Washington State University, led a team that reviewed published data about local potato fields, looking in particular at plant-chewing beetles and the bugs and fungi that prey on them.

AFP
http://tinyurl.com/3yss5xb

Public’s right to know about GM crops

THE public will have access to a register of GM crops grown in Wales under plans outlined by Plaid Cymru rural affairs minister Elin Jones yesterday.

The Ceredigion AM said she planned to introduce legislation for a “statutory national register”.

She restated the Assembly Government’s commitment to have the “most restrictive and precautionary approach to GM crop cultivation” possible.

Wales Online
http://tinyurl.com/34m88vx

‘Euro Leaf’ logo aims to clarify organic labeling

The EU’s new organic logo, the ‘Euro Leaf’ aims to define exactly what organic is.

On July 1 the European Commission, in an attempt to clear up confusion, announced new rules on organic food and a new EU organic logo called ‘Euro Leaf.’

The new laws make it compulsory to show the logo on any pre-packaged organic foods that have been produced within EU member states.

The Independent
http://tinyurl.com/35r8upa

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