We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.Agriculture in the national news - November 16
A DAILY look at how agriculture has caught the headlines across the country (Monday, November 16).
Hereford farm worker wins £45,000 after losing fingers in machine
AN apple picker who lost two fingers in a freak farming accident has won £45,000 in damages from his former boss.
Dad Dave Bowkett, 53, saw the index and middle digits on his left hand severed after they became trapped in faulty machinery.
But the left-hander was made redundant when he tried to return to work five months after his horror accident.
Leaders meet for UN ‘food summit’
World leaders are preparing to meet in Rome for a UN conference aimed at stabilising food prices.
The World Summit on Food Security comes a year after major rises in food prices caused chaos across the globe.
The UN says one billion people are hungry and has said food production must increase to cope with a growing global population.
BBC Online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8361770.stm
Unlocking the English countryside
The South Downs have become a national park, writes Geoffrey Lean.
It passed almost unnoticed, but Thursday was the best day in decades for the tens of millions who love to get out into beautiful countryside.
A Bill to open up a path around the whole of England’s coastline passed into law, and Britain’s 16th national park was formally established after a 60-year delay.
Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/geoffrey-lean/6563658/Unlocking-the-English-countryside.html
Kent farmers key to country’s food security
A scientist has stressed the need for worldwide co-operation to tackle the global problem of food security as the population continues to grow.
Dr Chris Atkinson, head of science at East Malling Research (EMR), said every country has to be on board to help guarantee sustainable food sources, while also limiting the impact production has on climate change.
He said: “Kent in particular can play a part in ensuring levels of food productivity are kept up.”
NFU 2009 Tenant Farming Conference, Derbyshire
The importance of tenant farming, and what needs to be done to secure its future, will be top of the agenda when the NFU hosts the 2009 Tenant Farming Conference at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.
With a new government expected within the next 12 months the NFU hopes the conference will set the tone for future lobbying for the tenanted sector and enable government to develop a positive framework to ensure the next generation of farmers has access to secure tenancies.
Land Gazette
http://www.landgazette.co.uk/index.php/component/jcalpro/view/227/1
Celebrity chef James Martin confesses - ‘I’m now part cow!’
CHEF James Martin is used to cooking with beef – but now he’s found a bizarre use for a cow.
He’s had a piece of cow bone grafted on to his jaw to repair a rugby injury he suffered almost 20 years ago.
