Farmers Guardian
December 22nd 2006

  • ‘No new evidence’ ruling on OP dips

    December 22nd 2006

    LEICESTERSHIRE police have said they will not be investigating claims by sheep farmers that they have been poisoned by organophosphate dips. Superintendent Paul Smith had been sent a copy of Brenda Sutcliffe’s Cause and Effect document on OP poisoning by the Crown Prosecution Service. He said it was an ‘extremely useful’ document, but contained no new evidence that would justify a criminal investigation.

  • ‘Plenty of scope to improve farm business profits’

    December 22nd 2006

    WITH over half of UK farms generating less output than the value of their total inputs there is still huge scope in many businesses to improve profit, farm business consultant Sebastian Graff-Baker of Andersons told the HGCA rotations workshop.

  • ‘Put weight on OTM cattle while prices remain flat’

    December 22nd 2006

    HANG on to your OTM cattle for a few weeks if you can put weight on to them economically and they will not get over-fat.

  • 1,800gns top price at Shailcan dispersal

    December 22nd 2006

    PRICES peaked at 1,800gns when the Shailcan herd of pedigree Holstein Friesians was dispersed at Ross-on-Wye Cattle Market for Brian and Carol Smith of Llangovan, Monmouth.

  • 2,000gns top price at last Border and Lakeland sale of the season

    December 22nd 2006

    THE last Border and Lakeland Holstein club show and sale of the season saw a top price of 2,000gns, with trade slightly up on the month to show an average of over £1,200 for the heifers sold.

  • A festive farm experience with all of the trimmings

    December 22nd 2006

    Penquite Farm promises mince pies and local clotted cream to all its guests at this time of year – those staying in the Christmas week even get a home-reared turkey. Lured by the prospect of festive food, David Burrows went to meet owners Ruth and John Varco to find out what they do to make Christmas extra special for families staying in one of the farm’s three holiday cottages.

  • Accommodation land sales agreed

    December 22nd 2006

    Kivells Land Agents of Liskeard have agreed sales on two blocks of accommodation land within South East Cornwall.   

  • Argentine farmers stage nine-day strike

    December 22nd 2006

    Argentina’s beef and cereal farmers have staged a nine-day strike that was described by economy minister Felisa Miceli as the biggest in 20 years.

  • Beltex go to 2,600gns at Brecon evening sale

    December 22nd 2006

    THE first-ever evening sale of in-lamb Beltex ewes at Brecon market saw a top of 2,600gns.

  • Biofuels ‘heading for big fall’

    December 22nd 2006

    Despite wild growth and enthusiasm for biodiesel and ethanol production, some US economists are already worried that the industry is heading for a big fall.

  • Bird flu scare on French chicken farm

    December 22nd 2006

    POULTRY farmers on the continent suffered an avian influenza scare after 4,000 birds died in one day on a French chicken farm.

  • Black Beauty Bonanza show

    December 22nd 2006

    IT was a successful day for Charles McCombie’s Auchincrieve herd at the Black Beauty Bonanza show of Aberdeen Angus yearlings and calves at Thainstone, Inverurie.

  • Black Beauty Bonanza show

    December 22nd 2006

    IT was a successful day for Charles McCombie’s Auchincrieve herd at the Black Beauty Bonanza show of Aberdeen Angus yearlings and calves at Thainstone, Inverurie.

  • Both sides take a victory in the North versus South Wales Nursery challenge

    December 22nd 2006

    HONOURS were shared in the North Wales versus South Wales Nursery Challenge. Alan Jones and Max from the North took the individual title, while the team title went to the South.

  • British labelling ‘is in no way beneficial to consumers’

    December 22nd 2006

    CONTROVERSIAL business speaker Sean Rickard encouraged food processors and retailers not to worry about buying British. He was not against UK-sourcing per se, but said it should be ‘on the basis of quality and not by wrapping yourself in the Union Jack’.

  • Calendars raise YFC funds

    December 22nd 2006

    ‘COUNTRY girls and boys revealed’ is Essex Young Farmers’ fund raising calendar for 2007. Skimpily dressed Young Farmers have posed for the camera to support the federation’s building fund to be used to transform a redundant farm building into their new headquarters. The calendars cost £6 plus £1.50 p&p. Details from the Essex federation office on 01371 859732 or from photographer Dave Waller’s website, www.davewaller.co.uk

  • Calving intervals are cut with planned breeding for fertility

    December 22nd 2006

    JUST one year after the launch of the Fertility Index, the Milk Development Council is urging dairy farmers to take heed of the information it is offering.

  • CARROT AND ORANGE SALAD

    December 22nd 2006

    THIS is an easy-to-make salad which will add colour – and flavour – to a festive buffet, says Isabella Broatch of Riggheads Farm, Lochmaben, Dumfries and Galloway.

  • Case IH appoint a new vice-president

    December 22nd 2006

    CASE IH has appointed Andreas Klauser as its vice- president who will be based at the firms’ new European headquarters in St Valentin, Austria.

  • Champion heifer makes 1,700gns

    December 22nd 2006

    THE champion heifer at the Lancashire Holstein Club show and sale, held at Lancaster in conjunction with their annual Christmas Dairy show, was presented by W.W. and D. Boow, Bootle, Cumbria, and sold for the highest price – 1,700gns.

  • Champion lambs

    December 22nd 2006

    VENDORS of the champion lambs at Kirby Stephen Christmas primestock show were Martin and Val Brown, Newton-le-Willows, Bedale. The six lambs weighed 35kg on average live with an average carcase weight of 20.8kg. They sold at £115 each to Ivan Brown, Kirby Stephen.

  • Chasing butterfat can accelerate loss of body condition

    December 22nd 2006

    THE use of excessive fatty acids in dairy cow diets, in the quest for milk butterfat percentage increases, can accelerate a reduction in body condition scores, a feed company has warned.

  • Chelford Christmas show and sale of butchers pigs

    December 22nd 2006

    THE Christmas show and sale of butchers pigs at Chelford attracted an entry of 131. The championship rosette went to T.W. Eden and Sons for their pen of porker weight pigs. The pen was snapped up by the show judge, Geoff Mycock, of A. Mycock and Sons, Buxton, for £1.40 per kg.

  • Cheshire Forest Hunt Young Supporters Christmas Party

    December 22nd 2006

    THE Cheshire Forest Hunt Young Supporters celebrated its first ever Christmas in style, organising a sell-out festive party.

  • Collections curator is sought

    December 22nd 2006

    THE contract to maintain and curate the National Fruit Collections is being put out to tender early in the New Year.

  • Deadline for HFA payment claim applications looms

    December 22nd 2006

    HILL farmers in England are being reminded that the deadline for claiming next year’s Hill Farm Allowance (HFA) payments is January 19, 2007.

  • Defra defiant as autumn stats show TB rise

    December 22nd 2006

    DEFRA is refusing to change its current policy on tackling bovine tuberculosis in cattle, despite a 13 per cent increase in TB cases this autumn.

  • Dispelling the ‘whining farmer’ myth

    December 22nd 2006

    In a corporate world of brand identity and PR, farmers are in danger of being associated with stale stereotypes that no longer exist. Over the next three pages, Farmers Guardian asks politicians, industry heads, PR experts and our readers about farming’s image problem – and what can be done about it.

  • Dow Bale Sculpture competition winner

    22 December 2006

  • Drinking water

    December 22nd 2006

    IN an article ‘Government plans to slash red tape for farm businesses’ in our issue of the December 15, we erroneously implied that risk-based regulations carried out by the Drinking Water Inspectorate would mean fewer inspections for farms. The Inspectorate has asked us to point out that its role is to regulate public water supplies. It does not regulate members of the farming community.

  • English Sheepdog Trials Results

    December 22nd 2006

    YORKSHIRE, Moor Lodge Farm, Oakworth, Nursery (30 ran): 1, K. Salisbury (Riddlesden) Scott, 81 of 90; 2, C. Mellin (Oakworth) Tan Hill Jess, 75; 3, J. Howard (Holme) Tim, 72; 4, J. Howard Mel, 70; 5, R Fielden (Todmorden) Brad, 69; 6, A. Salisbury (Riddlesden) Sam, 65. Young handler: K. Bolland (Bolton Abbey) Whin, 62.

  • Exeter and District Christmas show and sale

    22 December 2006

    A TOP of 460p per kg was realised at the Exeter and District Christmas show and sale.

  • Farm business dreams of a ‘creamy’ white Christmas

    December 22nd 2006

    Two days before Christmas 2002, the Petherams received permission to convert one of their farm buildings so that they could start making clotted cream. Since then, they have never looked back and are now looking to expand even further. DAVID BURROWS reports.

  • Farmers owed £274 million by supply chain, say NFU figures

    December 22nd 2006

    SO how does the NFU reach the conclusion that farmers are owed £274 million by the rest of the supply chain?

  • Fayre from the Fair’s a table treat

    December 22nd 2006

    BARRY ALSTON joined NFU Cymru leaders for an end-of-year visit to an award-winning farmer-butcher with a business built around locally produced quality meat – and a determination to keep the multiples at bay.

  • Foreign riders lead the way at Olympia

    December 22nd 2006

    THROUGHOUT the week at Olympia, the London International Horse Show, foreign riders dominated the leaderboards in most of the big classes, with Germany’s Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst ultimately being crowned leading rider of the show.

  • Free evaluation service on-line

    December 22nd 2006

    Meadow Quality is offering its pig membership a new free service that enables a producer to evaluate the financial benefits of running-cost changes to their production/management system. Using the on-line service (www.meadowq.co.uk), the producer fills in actual daily management figures, such as dlwg, fattening places, sow number ration costs etc.

  • Fresh-calved heifer makes £1,250 at Beeston sale

    December 22nd 2006

    A TOP price of £1,250 was realised at the December mid-month sale at Beeston, Cheshire, where 25 animals made it past the £1,000 barrier.

  • FSA at fault for GM rice delay?

    December 22nd 2006

    THE FOOD Standards Agency (FSA) was too slow to react over illegal genetically modified organisms found in rice imports from the US, said the Liberal Democrats this week.

  • FSA visits abattoir hit by OTM licence suspension

    December 22nd 2006

    TWENTY days after having their licence to kill Over-Thirty Month (OTM) cattle suspended, West Devon Meat was finally paid a visit by Food Standards Agency staff this week.

  • Gisburn Christmas prime lamb show and sale

    December 22nd 2006

    OVERALL champions at Gisburn auction mart’s Christmas prime lamb show and sale last Monday were a pen of five Texel lambs, weighing, 44kgs from J.V. Fox, Clitheroe, Lancs. They sold for £70 or 159p per kg to sheep buyer, Alan Moorhouse on behalf of Harvey Ashworth wholesale butcher, Royton, Oldham.Averages: Prime Lambs std 109p; med 105p; hvy 101p.Auctioneers: Richard Turner & Son.

  • Glenside Texel gimmer tops at 5,500gns

    December 22nd 2006

    BIDDING peaked at 5,500gns at the British Texel Sheep Society in-lamb sale held in conjunction with the Solway and Tyne Texel Breeders Club and shearlings from the Glenside flock led the way.

  • GM trials suffer setback as Derbyshire farmer pulls out

    December 22nd 2006

    TRIALS of genetically modified potatoes in the UK suffered a setback this week after the withdrawal of one of the farmers involved.

  • Gobbled up: Ringtone boosts turkey website

    December 22nd 2006

    THE NFU’s turkey website hit a Christmas high this week, clocking up more than 100,000 hits in just two months.The popular, downloadable ‘gobble, gobble’ ringtone is believed to have helped boost numbers to the British turkey-promoting website, which lists more than 140 producers.A competition to win a family stay on a farm also generated more than 5,500 entries.

  • Grainco Group profits up 83pc on 2005 to £344,000

    December 22nd 2006

    The Grainco Group has recently reported its eleventh successive profitable year, with pre-tax profits for the year ending June 2006 at £344,000, an 83 per cent increase on 2005.

  • Home economics on their syllabus

    December 22nd 2006

    A CALL for the teaching of home economics to be made compulsory in schools because of its importance throughout life helped Mauchline YFC clinch victory in the Scottish Young Farmers West Region junior speechmaking competition.

  • Hopes of a milk price rise at last

    December 22nd 2006

    MILK processors have started negotiations with their customers on potential price increases to be passed back to producers.

  • Keith and Scott win Yorkshire Nursery by six points

    December 22nd 2006

    WITH a clear six point advantage, Keith Salisbury and Scott won the Yorkshire nursery at Moor Lodge Farm, near Oakworth, West Yorkshire, on Saturday.

  • Lamb pelt returns half

    December 22nd 2006

    Returns to New Zealand meat companies for lamb pelts have halved in the past two years and New Zealand’s reputation for export quality pelts is under threat.

  • Landmark polytunnel ruling

    December 22nd 2006

    SOFT fruit growers could be forced to remove polytunnels from their land after a landmark ruling by the High Court dismissed a Surrey grower’s planning appeal.

  • Last-minute approval of a £14.4bn budget puts Tir Mynydd in tailspin

    December 22nd 2006

    THE last-minute approval of the Welsh Assembly’s £14.4 billion budget proposals has resulted in total confusion over Tir Mynydd.

  • Limousin cross Louth champion

    December 22nd 2006

    A TOTAL of 47 cattle and 72 sheep went under the hammer at the Christmas primestock show and sale at Louth, Lincolnshire. The champion beast was a 21-month-old Limousin cross heifer from P. and B. Hodgson and Sons, Mareham-le-Fen, Boston, bought by L. Brown and Son, wholesale butchers of Lincoln, for 276p/kg (£1,708).

  • Livestock market plan turned down

    December 22nd 2006

    PLANS to redevelop Abergavenny’s livestock market have been turned down by Monmouthshire Council’s planning committee following the lodging of more than 3,500 letters opposing a supermarket and shopping centre proposal.The idea was to move the existing market to a new site mid way between Abergavenny and Monmouth, which has already lost its livestock market to a supermarket development.

  • Livestock market’s ring of confidence

    December 22nd 2006

    Livestock market auctioneer, Paul Gentry believes the future for modern, forward-thinking, livestock markets is bright. KATIE LOMAS went to meethim to find out why.

  • Looking ahead to LAMMA

    December 22nd 2006

    AT the last LAMMA event Amazone introduced its Rotec+ disc coulter which, claimed the company, allowed a drill fitted with such coulters to operate at faster speeds and work effectively in cloddy and trashy field conditions, writes ANDY COLLINGS.

  • McCormick tele-trac

    December 22nd 2006

    McCormick’s first telehandler and a new hydraulically-extendable dual row crop wheel arrangement were just a couple of the highlights at last week’s Dutch Agrovak machinery show. Joining the estimated 40,000 visitors, Steven Vale discovers that there were also new tractors from Case IH and Zetor.

  • McCormick tractors to close Doncaster plant after 60 years

    December 22nd 2006

    AFTER recently celebrating 60 years of production the McCormick tractor facility at Doncaster is set to close.

  • Mixed picture as EU cereals delayed by adverse weather

    December 22nd 2006

    TENTATIVE early estimates suggest a mixed picture for this autumn's EU cereal and oilseed plantings, reflecting higher prices in recent months as well as delays in planting as a result of adverse weather conditions at sowing time.

  • New Crop Opportunities seminar

    December 22nd 2006

    A ONE-DAY seminar on ‘New Crop Opportunities’ will look at the agronomic and financial considerations of new crops and marketing opportunities.

  • Newark enjoys seasonal joy

    December 22nd 2006

    Newark’s annual Christmas Primestock show and sale saw an entry of 120 show cattle and around 400 non-sale cattle went under the hammer, making it one of the biggest sale days of their yearly calendar.

  • No new Diabrotica beetle outbreaks, survey reveals

    December 22nd 2006

    NO beetles were found in the 2006 diabrotoca survey, Defra has announced.

  • North meets South at Royal Ulster Fair

    December 22nd 2006

    DAIRY cattle from south of the border were back at the Royal Ulster Winter Fair for the first time in 11 years, and as fate would have it, one duly won the supreme championship.

  • Nutrition can help ‘milk’ your contract

    December 22nd 2006

    MANIPULATING milk constituents by feeding has produced a significant cost benefit for a group of North Wales suppliers to a cheese manufacturing dairy.

  • NVZ deadline extension call

    December 22nd 2006

    SCOTTISH farm businesses and associations must have an extra month to respond to the Scottish Executive’s NVZ consultation, says NFU Scotland.The union is worried that the current deadline of February 15 gives the industry insufficient time to take advice and hold discussions in Brussels, especially as it feels the Executive has ignored points made by farmers at pre-consultation meetings.

  • Orkney Meat’s Chritmas show and sale

    December 22nd 2006

    THE beef champion at Orkney Meat’s Chritmas show and sale went to Limousin cross from Michael Cursiter of Laga Farms, Evie.

  • Persuading people to pay more for food

    December 22nd 2006

    FARMERS, supermarkets and Government will all have a role to play in this changing the public’s attitudes to food so they are willing to pay for British food given its quality, taste and the benefits producing it has for the environment.

  • Pneumonia ‘breakthrough’ drug

    December 22nd 2006

    A NEW pneumonia drug which the manufacturer claims is a ‘breakthrough treatment’ has been launched by Schering Plough Animal Health.

  • Ray of hope for reduction of IPPC regulation costs

    December 22nd 2006

    THERE are signs of light at the end of the tunnel for poultry and pig farmers weighed down by the burden of pollution control regulations.

  • Reaseheath Christmas party

    December 22nd 2006

    AN end-of-term and Christmas celebration rolled into one saw staff and students at Reaseheath College pack out the campus restaurant and bar. JOANNE PUGH reports.

  • Reaseheath Christmas party

    December 22nd 2006

    AN end-of-term and Christmas celebration rolled into one saw staff and students at Reaseheath College pack out the campus restaurant and bar. JOANNE PUGH reports.

  • Reversing the current negative stereotype

    December 22nd 2006

    LIKE many professions, a lack of understanding, education and some ignorance has created a negative stereotype of the farming industry. But how would a PR company recommend turning that stereotype around?

  • Robin Hood bang on target for Malpas pantomime win

    December 22nd 2006

    MALPAS YFC’s ‘Robin Hood’ pantomime proved a winner at Cheshire Young Farmers’ annual entertainments competition. Runner-up in the event, sponsored by Cheshire County Show, was Congleton YFC with their documentary-style ‘Top Link TV’ charting the YFC year. Third place went to Nantwich YFC members with their version of ‘The X Factor’ – with an agricultural flavour.

  • Sarah’s blog December 19 2006

    22 December 2006

    For me, as for so many, the magic of Christmas begins at Olympia, and has done since I was about nine years old and allowed to stay up and watch the show on television as a special treat.

  • Scottish Sheepdog Trials Results

    December 22nd 2006

    KILWHANNEL (Judge: B. White, Carsphairn) Nursery (14): 1, C. Dickson (Girvan) Scot, 94; 2, J.R. Welsh (Girvan) Cap, 93; 3, D. Walker (Pinmerry) Cliff, 90; 4, C. Dickson (Girvan) Meg, 86; 5, I. Fergie (Straiton) Fly, 83 outbye; 6, 4, D.D. Shennan (Girvan) Joe, 83.

  • Selby pigs sale

    December 22nd 2006

    THE overall championship prize at Selby’s Christmas show and sale of prime pigs went to a pen of pork pigs from J. and R. Branford, Kellington.The pen sold to Messrs Williamson, butchers, Darlington and Crook, at 230p/kg or £161 per head.This is the sixth consecutive year the Branford family have won the championship trophy. They also took the reserve prize with a pen of bacon pigs which sold at £116 per head to Messrs Nixon, Cheadle.

  • Sherdon herd sale sees 39 lots make over 1,000gns

    December 22nd 2006

    A TOTAL of 39 lots sold in excess of 1,000gns at the sale of the Palmer family’s Sherdon herd, Chawleigh, Devon, which also included a guest consignment from the Postlake herd of John Pyne, Devon.

  • Shorter crop rotations could lead to higher levels of take-all and club root, says leading agronomist

    December 22nd 2006

    TAKE-ALL and club root will be among the diseases likely to benefit from shorter rotations, according to a leading agronomist.

  • Shrewsbury Livestock Centre’s Christmas Fatstock Show and Sale

    22 December 2006

    ENTRIES from M.E. and G.E. Jones, The Hafod, Mochdre, took both the championship and reserve awards at Shrewsbury Livestock Centre’s Christmas fatstock show and sale.

  • Simmental prize

    December 22nd 2006

    THE prize awarded by the North West Simmental Club for the highest priced Simmental-sired store sold at auction in the North West in November went to R.H. Carter and Son, Wigton, Cumbria.Top price store was a heifer selling at £682 at Carlisle, to Messrs Brabbs, York. The top price Simmental-sired calf from J. Shuttleworth, Rylstone, Skipton, sold a bull calf at Gisburn Auction Mart for £260 to K. and D.J. Lavin, Wigan.

  • Skipton mart lambs record

    December 22nd 2006

    A Skipton mart record price was achieved for the champion lambs at the Christmas primestock show and sale.

  • Smiths of Bloxham take top three at Carlisle as bids go to 21,000gns

    December 22nd 2006

    PRICES rose to 21,000gns when pedigree Limousins from two herds went under the hammer at Carlisle and pedigree breeders, Smiths of Bloxham, Banbury, Oxfordshire, went home with the three top price entries.

  • Spreading the fertiliser using precision maps

    December 22nd 2006

    In search of efficiency gains and lower costs, Overbury Farms has turned to nutrient maps and variable-rate spreading for its P and K applications. And bulk fertiliser will follow next year, reducing packaging waste too. Geoff Ashcroft reports.

  • SPS payment just keeps the overdraft in check

    December 22nd 2006

    The front-page headline in the Farmers Guardian at the end of November made interesting reading.

  • Strong competition for high value entitlements

    December 22nd 2006

    WELSH farmers competed feverishly for higher value entitlements at the first sale of its kind to be staged by auctioneers McCartneys at Kington.

  • Successful outwintering can cut beef production costs

    December 22nd 2006

    Outwintering cattle on brassicas can help cut costs in beef production but is not for everyone. One farm where the system has been used for many years is Cogarth, near Castle Douglas – the venue for an SAC farm walk. NEIL RYDER visited the farm.

  • Suffolks reach 1,000gns at Abergavenny

    December 22nd 2006

    SUFFOLK ewes sold to 1,000gns at the in-lamb Suffolk ewe sale at Abergavenny and averaged just over £230.

  • Temik withdrawn on some crops

    December 22nd 2006

    THE insecticide and nematicide Temik 10G has been withdrawn from sale in the UK following a decision by the European Commission that current European residue levels of its active ingredient aldicarb should be reduced to the limit of determination in potatoes, carrots and parsnips.

  • The Nativity on a farm

    December 22nd 2006

    THIS Christmas more than 2,500 people, mostly children, have watched and taken part in the nativity plays at Totley Hall Farm, Totley, near Sheffield.

  • Top honours at Highbridge

    December 22nd 2006

    TOP honours at the Highbridge Christmas Fatstock Show went to a Limousin cross steer from Colin Harris, Torrington.The 605kg steer sold at 284p/kg (£1,721.23) to Keith Sherrell, the Oakham Farm Shop, Portbury, Bristol.

  • Tories hit back in row over rural funding delay

    December 22nd 2006

    THE Conservatives have attacked Defra Secretary David Miliband over accusations they are to blame for the delay in the start of the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP).

  • Welsh sheep numbers down, but cattle herd on increase

    December 22nd 2006

    FINAL results of the Welsh Assembly’s June 2006 agricultural census show a fall in sheep numbers – but an increase in the overall cattle herd.

  • Welsh Sheepdog Trials Results

    December 22nd 2006

    NORTH v SOUTH NURSERY CHALLENGE. Individual: 1, A.Ll. Jones (Defaidty) Max, 5; 2, K. Evans (Libanus) Spot, 9; 3, A. Owen (Corwen) Ben, 10.Team: 1, South, 334; 2, North, 349 points lost.

  • What should be done to improve the public image of farming?

    December 22nd 2006

    We asked a mixture of farmers and industry representatives for their thoughts:

  • Worcestershire Young Farmers are ‘flying high’

    December 22nd 2006

    ONE of the most successful years ever for Worcestershire Young Farmers was the verdict of retiring county chairman Mike Shaw at the county’s annual meeting.

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