Farmers Guardian
March 24th 2006

  • ‘No new information’ claims NFU over latest pesticide cancer link

    March 24th 2006

    The NFU has questioned the findings of a study conducted by scientists at the University of Liverpool that suggests chemicals, including pesticides, are more influential in causing cancer than previously thought.

  • Better use of grazed grass cuts costs and lifts margins

    March 24th 2006

    With beef cattle moving back outside it is the time of year to consider grassland management. We take a look at two important factors – balancing grazed grass with grass silage and worming cattle.

  • Confusion reigns over new sheep tagging rules

    March 24th 2006

    Confusing seems to be the only way to describe the new livestock movement rules, particularly for sheep farmers. The situation is so bad it is leading many farmers to fear they may inadvertently fail to meet cross-compliance regulations.

  • Decline of quoted company presence in dairy industry?

    March 24th 2006

    The future for two of the three major milk co-ops does not look too rosy according to a city stockbroker’s investors’ note on the UK dairy industry where, it says, there are a lot of ‘unhappy people’.

  • Defra prepares compulsory waste packing scheme

    March 24th 2006

    DEFRA has announced plans to bring in a compulsory scheme to deal with non-packaging farm plastic waste.

  • Desire to be price maker prompts a Highland fling

    March 24th 2006

    Seeing children leave home is always a time of change in family life, but it also proved the trigger for a major change in direction for West Yorkshire farmers Robert and Wendy Phillip, as Neil Ryder found out.

  • Disco protects and performs

    March 24th 2006

    Claas has updated its trailed mower conditioner range with the Disco 3050 Plus. The disc bed mowers have the option of having a full width spreading unit or a grouper for placing two swaths side-by-side.

  • Fears of a 2006 delay

    March 24th 2006

    With exquisite timing, application packs for the 2006 scheme year started dropping through farmers’ letter boxes this week.

  • Festival success caps triumphant return to fitness for Mick Fitzgerald

    March 24th 2006

    Nine months ago, National Hunt jockey Mick Fitzgerald returned from hospital following an MRI scan that had revealed the worst possible news – a crashing fall at Market Rasen had resulted in a broken neck.

  • Gold Cup glory for Ireland

    March 24th 2006

    It is an annual clash of the best-natured kind, with the Irish contingent heading en masse for the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival each year to plunder its gold.

  • Good practice on waste

    March 24th 2006

    Northumberland farmers gathered at Belford for a joint ADAS and Environment Agency farm workshop focusing on the new agricultural waste regulations. The day was part of the Defra-funded Environment Sensitive Farming programme.

  • Governor tops Lincoln Reds at 3,200gns

    24 March 2006

    A top price of 3,200gns was achieved at the Lincoln Red Cattle Society show and sale at a packed Louth Livestock Centre, Lincolnshire, on Tuesday.

  • Guidance and regulation at odds

    March 24th 2006

    What is all the fuss about? In the main it concerns ambiguities that have led those responsible for enforcing animal health regulations to the conclusion that it would be difficult to prosecute a farmer who had allegedly broken the law.

  • Making the most of ELS - Exploring all the options

    March 24th 2006

    Over the past eight months we have explored the practicalities and pitfalls of the most popular of Entry Level Stewardship options for arable farmers with advisors from the Rural Development Service (RDS) and Masstock Arable Group. In this final article in our exclusive series, Geoff Howe of RDS and Masstock national environmental adviser, David Wild recap the main recommendations, bringing them together in a handy ELS checklist.

  • McNeill goes but heat still on Ministers

    March 24th 2006

    DEFRA Secretary Margaret Beckett said the situation was ‘unacceptable’ after Rural Payments Agency chief executive Johnston McNeill was sacked last week.

  • National Shire Show

    24 March 2006

    Father and son take the stallion silver

  • New beet herbicide for pre- and post-emergence

    March 24th 2006

    A new sugar and fodder beet herbicide from Makhteshim Agan contains two ready-formulated residuals with different modes of action.

  • No end in sight for SP cash crisis

    24 March 2006

    It is feared farmers in England could be waiting until well into the summer for their Single Payments

  • Orange and Marzipan Cake

    March 24th 2006

    This recipe comes from Carol Leigh of Lowton, Cheshire. Looking ahead to Easter, she says: “Although Simnel cake is a traditional cake for Easter, this orange and marzipan cake is a lovely alternative. The decoration represents the 11 faithful disciples of Jesus.”

  • Passionate about the Piemontese

    March 24th 2006

    Brothers Ted and Stuart Dover are passionate about the Piemontese breed and are continually impressed by their easy calving, high killing-out percentage, great crossing potential and unique eating quality. They told Joanne Pugh why they believe the breed could provide solutions for many other cattle farmers.

  • Payments delay has a crippling effect on cashflow

    March 24th 2006

    The delay of the Single Payment is having a crippling effect on cashflow, with the Rural Payment Agency’s failure to deliver having major implications at all levels of the industry, according to financial experts.

  • Pre-movement testing go-ahead could result in ‘total chaos’

    March 24th 2006

    Leading industry figures have warned that Defra’s decision to go ahead with pre-movement testing (PrMT) from Monday, March 27, could lead to chaos for livestock auctions and producers.

  • Providing hot food, plates and even the cutlery for a new look on healthy, local school dinners

    March 24th 2006

    Not content with farming around 1,000 acres near Boston with his father, and owning a butcher’s shop in a nearby village, Stuart Ashton has set up a new business providing hot school dinners for a number of local primary schools.

  • Questions raised over HFA cheques

    March 24th 2006

    The Rural Payment Agency fiasco has led to questions over when other scheme payments will be paid, especially the final Hill Farm Allowance (HFA), which is due this month.

  • Regulation Rollout

    March 24th 2006

    What’s new this year – and where farmers have been falling down so far.

  • Review of the RPA

    March 24th 2006

    The ‘fundamental’ review of the RPA should be complete before the end of 2006, said Defra. Industry stakeholders will be consulted as part of the review process. Among the key questions it will address are:

  • Root density link to OSR yield

    March 24th 2006

    New work on optimising winter oilseed rape root systems carried out by ADAS has demonstrated that the density of the root system is linked closely to yield.

  • RPA fiasco timeline

    March 24th 2006

    April 2004 – Margaret Beckett announces three-region hybrid payment system for England.

  • Sale action at Ulverston

    24 March 2006

    There was a good entry of prime and store cattle at Ulverston Mart in Cumbria on Tuesday, with 170 store cattle and 1,100 sheep passing through the ring. Store trade peaked at £645 for Limousin cross steer, while prime sheep fetched 135.38p/kg. Auctioneers: Ulverston Auction Mart.

  • Save your soils do your SPR

    March 24th 2006

    Farmers will come across references to soil protection throughout the cross-compliance handbook. No less than three elements of the Annex IV list – the framework for GAEC – are about soil, organic matter, structure and erosion.

  • Search is on for young Shepherd of the Year

    March 24th 2006

    Young farmers are being given the chance to compete for the title of Shepherd of the Year at this year’s Scotsheep event, which takes place on June 7 at Wellheads, Huntly, Aberdeenshire.

  • Simmental breed records tumble at Darshams sale

    24 March 2006

    The award-winning Simmental cow Darshams Kit Kat broke the breed’s female record when she sold for 18,000gns at Newark Livestock Market, Nottinghamshire.

  • Soil Protection Review in practice at Loddington

    March 24th 2006

    1 History of point source pollution from soil washing down sloping field, onto the road, where it washes down the sealed tarmac surface and into the brook.

  • Sold to the highest bidder...

    March 24th 2006

    Cheshire-based contractor BS Parker reduced the size of its machinery fleet with the sale of modern tackle and tractors at Fields Farm, Audlem, near Crewe.

  • Stem browning hits early sown OSR

    March 24th 2006

    Stem browning and hollowing problems being seen in some winter oilseed rape crops are believed to be associated mainly with early sown crops.

  • Stepping into the unknown for a new life in the country

    March 24th 2006

    From a standing start, new entrant Ken Kelso has planted his feet firmly under the farming table in double-quick time. Tia Rund met him and found out how he is coping with his mid-life U-turn.

  • The cross-compliance challenge

    March 24th 2006

    Cross-compliance is a challenge farmers have had to cope with for the past 16 months. Alistair Driver and Alison Lea outline what is new in 2006 and where farmers have been falling down so far.

  • Thirty bales an hour

    March 24th 2006

    Vicon is to add the Bale In One combination baler wrapper to its product range that is already available under the Taarup brand name.

  • Walsh is leading rider

    March 24th 2006

    Three wins and enough places to put him beyond the reaches of champion jockey Tony McCoy saw Irish jockey Ruby Walsh scoop the leading rider award at the festival.

  • What went wrong?

    March 24th 2006

    Farmers still awaiting payment will want to know what has gone wrong. Why are payments delayed and why were farmers so badly misled?

  • Wireworm threatens potato crop yields

    March 24th 2006

    Thousands of tonnes of potatoes coming out of stores are being discarded from premium pre-pack grade because of the effects of wireworm.

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