News

Livestock producers and food chain specialists now have a rare opportunity to develop a more in depth understanding of how global livestock production can be made more sustainable.

Thanks to an educational initiative from The Agrifood Training Partnership (AFTP), a ‘sustainable livestock production systems’ module from the Reading University post-graduate Animal Science MSc by Research course is being made available to anyone else who wants to increase their understanding of this important topic.

Tutor, Dr Caroline Rymer says: “This course offers a new opportunity for people involved in agriculture and the food chain to access many years of research. We will cover ruminant and monogastric production systems to explore measures that...

Written by John Swire

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has been flying the flag for red meat and dairy products from Britain at a leading gourmet food event in Singapore.

High quality pork, beef, lamb and cheese took centre stage in the British Pavilion at the Speciality and Fine Food Asia trade show – with the aim of growing overseas trade to Southeast Asia.

Throughout the three-day show, AHDB showcased the products to the gourmet food service sector in Singapore. The show provides a dedicated platform for producers to meet with key buyers and decision makers from across the region.

Singapore is the UK’s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, with two...

Written by John Swire

Increasing feed efficiency to reduce days to finish will help reduce total feed costs and maintain margins in the light of moves by beef processors to set a lower cap on carcass weights, according to David Bonsall from UFAC UK.

Mr Bonsall says there is pressure from processors and retailers to reduce carcase weight to optimise the value of the carcase in the food chain.

“Supermarkets are looking for steaks at around £5 on the shelf which has seen the average size of a steak drop to 200g,” Mr Bonsall comments. “If they have to trim steaks down they lose around £11/kg on the offcuts. The optimum carcase to supply a suitably sized loin is 280-350kg.

“But the...

Written by Agriland Team

A number of cattle have been reported stolen from a farm in an overnight raid yesterday morning, Wednesday, July 31.

Taking place in Co. Down, the incident is being investigated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

In a statement on the matter, local PSNI officers said: “Police in Newtownhamilton today received a report regarding the theft of 10 cattle along the Kingsmill Road.

It is believed that this occurred between 12:00am and 5:30am this date.

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“If anyone has any information regarding this please call 101 quoting reference 663 31/07/19,” the statement concluded.

Police ‘keen to speak’ to tractor driver...

Written by Jamie Day

AHDB has begun a new research partnership with its equivalent levy body for arable in New Zealand, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR). It aims to share knowledge and resources to benefit arable growers on both sides of the globe. FAR funds a wide range of research for its arable and maize levy-payers to tackle […]

The post AHDB in NZ arable collaboration appeared first on AgriTrade News.

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Sugarcane farmers label scientific consensus on reef 'unsubstantiated scaremongering'

Written by Ben Smee

Growers hosting lectures by academic who says Great Barrier Reef is ‘in great order’

Queensland sugarcane farmers – among the biggest polluters of the Great Barrier Reef catchment – have labelled the scientific consensus about the natural wonder as “unsubstantiated scaremongering”.

Their peak organisation, Canegrowers, says it is attempting to bring “balance” to scientific debate about the reef by hosting and promoting two lectures next month by the controversial academic...

Written by Rachel Martin

British dairy co-operative First Milk has increased its group turnover by 7.8%, according to its latest set of accounts.

The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending March 31, 2019, showed First Milk’s turnover reached £272.3 million last year.

Operating profit for the year also remained stable at 2.6% of turnover, while net debt fell by £3.8 million year-on-year and net assets grew by £4.4 million.

The same year, the company also launched First4Milk – a responsible sourcing programme and introduced a member premium to reward members for their loyalty.

Commenting on the results, chief executive, Shelagh Hancock, said the accounts demonstrated a further...

Written by cpm

Sowing a cover crop after harvest can be a great way of improving soil health and facilitating spring cropping, providing it’s carefully tailored to field requirements, crop rotation and other site-specific conditions. CPM finds out more Cover crops can serve many functions. By Paul Spackman As the main period for establishing cover crops approaches, Farmacy agronomist Alice Cannon gives her advice to help pick your way through the multitude of cover-cropping options for this autumn. Based on several years of research on farms in Lincs, she highlights four important areas to focus on. Large amounts of brassicas in a cover crop grown ahead of oilseed rape, could harbour diseases or...

127 Heritage Graziers & Loopy Ewes

Written by

Tonight I talked to James and Katie Allen about how they got from civil engineering, software developing, and graphic design, to finding each other again and farming together in the Cotswolds, and the many challenges they've overcome along the way.

With special guest appearance from baby Jack..



EAT FARM NOW: FOR ALL THE BEST FARMING & FOOD RELATED PODCASTS, VIDEOS, AND BLOGS, FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD, PLEASE VISIT www.eatfarmnow.com - and if you want to get your content onto the site, or if you want to get involved as a partner or sponsor contact me at [email protected]...

Live exporter charged with animal cruelty over deadly Awassi shipment

Written by Calla Wahlquist

Emanuel Exports and two former directors charged after more than 2,400 sheep died of heat stress on voyage to Middle East, leading to federal crackdown

Live export company Emanuel Exports has been charged with breaching animal welfare laws in a deadly shipment that was filmed by whistleblowers and led to a federal crackdown on the export of live sheep to the Middle East.

More than...

Written by Rachel Martin

In an unprecedented move, the decision by the former Secretary of State for the Environment to ban metaldehyde slug pellet products has been declared unlawful.

In December, Defra ruled to withdraw all products containing metaldehyde with immediate effect.

However, the High Court has approved an order, agreed this week by the company that’s challenged the legality of the ban, that formally overturns that.

“Metaldehyde is back on the market and we’ve reverted to where we were eight months ago,” confirmed Philip Tavener of Chiltern Farm Chemicals who took the legal action to bring Michael Gove’s decision before the High Court.

The sell-out and use-up...

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Written by John Swire

Following The Supreme Court’s decision today to rule in favour of Frank Smart & Sons Ltd regarding VAT repayment on the purchase of farm entitlement to CAP subsidy, HMRC will find it more difficult to restrict VAT recovery

Frank Smart & Sons Ltd, a family owned farming company in Aberdeenshire today won its case against HMRC regarding the claim for the repayment of VAT on the purchase of 34,477 units of Single Farm Payment Entitlements.

HMRC refused the claim on the grounds that there was a direct link between the purchase of the entitlements and the receipt of subsidy. As the subsidy was outside the scope of VAT the claim for VAT repayment failed the test that...

Written by Rachel Martin

A new campaign has been launched today (July 31) at the UK’s border to help keep the deadly pig disease African Swine Fever (ASF) out of the country.

Although the disease poses no threat to human health, it is fatal for pigs and has already spread widely across Asia and parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Cases have also been reported throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

So far, ASF has led to the deaths of over 800,000 pigs and wild boar in Europe and an estimated four million pigs in Asia, causing global pork prices to rise.

If the disease was found in the UK, it could have a devastating impact on the British commercial pig stock of five million pigs, as well as...

Written by John Swire

Carter Jonas, the national property consultancy, has reacted to the Prime Minister’s visit to Wales today to meet with rural communities and discuss the impact of Brexit on agriculture. The company’s rural division advises farmers and landowners across England and Wales.

Mark Charter, partner, Carter Jonas, said: “It is significant that Boris Johnson has made early visits to both Wales and Scotland, as he is tackling the two most contentious areas facing him from an agricultural context head on. A no deal Brexit will have far reaching consequences for the farming industry, but certain sectors will be more affected than others.

“The lamb industry, which is...

Steve Bell on Boris Johnson's visit to Wales – cartoon

Written by Steve Bell

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Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we...

77: Martin Williams interviews the AHDB

Written by AHDB

Monitor Farmer, Martin Williams speaks to AHDB's Market Intelligence Analyst, Peter Collier in an open discussion about his role at the AHDB, his thoughts on exports and the global market.

For more detailed information please go to https://ahdb.org.uk/cereals-oilseeds-markets

Continue reading more on the ADHB Website...

Written by Jamie Day

Tractor sales for the first half of 2019 are down by 5% from the previous year but fell by a sharp 13% in the month of June. Tractor sales are a traditional indicator of farmers’ confidence to invest in their businesses. The Agricultural Engineers’ Association (AEA) reports that 6,198 units of 50 horsepower and above […]

The post Tractor registrations fall in H1 2019 appeared first on AgriTrade News.

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Written by Agriland Team

Detectives have launched an investigation after a man was shot and firearms stolen during an armed robbery on a farm in the UK.

Taking place in Lancashire, England, police were called around 9:40pm yesterday, Sunday, July 28, to a report a man had been injured during a robbery at a farm on Back Lane, Aughton.

“Officers, including armed police, attended the address and found the man, aged 65, had been shot to the ankle and knee with what is believed to be a firearm,” Lancashire Constabulary said in a statement.

He was taken to hospital for treatment and is to undergo surgery for his injuries.

Detectives believe a number of men wearing balaclavas or face...

Written by John Swire

Farmers face potentially significant changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) after proposals released earlier this month from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), according to rural accountant Old Mill.

The OTS review could result in a number of revisions to IHT, with both positive and negative impacts for farms, says head of rural services Andrew Vickery. “There are two proposals in particular which could have quite an impact upon farms and rural businesses, should the Treasury decide to implement them.”

The first proposal would be fairly positive as it involves possibly aligning the IHT treatment of furnished holiday lets with that of Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax...

Accounting for the LULUCF sector in the EU’s 2030 climate targets

Written by Alan Matthews

The land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector is assigned an important role in both global and EU climate policy because it is an important store of carbon (around four times as much carbon is stored in soils and biomass including forests as in the atmosphere itself (Lal, 2004) and it is, to date, the only sector with the large-scale potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

The Paris Agreement highlights the potential contribution of the LULUCF...