The Farming Forum

118: Is ordinary food good enough?

Written by AHDB

Ordinary food is good enough

We are constantly informed by media on how to consume food, regardless of the negative mental and health impact it may cause us or our loved ones. In light of these challenges we face daily, the ‘Ordinary Food is Good Enough’ campaign is aiming to fight back these negative and unregulated fed diets which encourage an unbalanced diet.

In this podcast, Christine Watts, Chief Communications & Market Development Officer shares the ideas behind the #OrdinaryFood campaign, along with AHDB’s Senior Nutrition Manager, who explains the importance of a balanced diet.

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New legislation will ensure producers take more responsibility for their products, as LGA calls for car seat solution

Written by Defra Press Office



On Saturday the Local Government Association (LGA) published a press release calling for manufacturers of child car seats to do more to ensure that they are recyclable at the end of their life.

According to...

Written by Matt Hopkins

As we enter a new decade, young African farmers are determined to invest in ag tech to curb the challenges that the country has faced for years, says contributor Stephen Korir.

The post Technology Trends African Farmers Are Embracing in 2020 appeared first on PrecisionAg...

Written by Rachel Martin

More than nine out of 10 teachers who used new education resources prepared by the National Farmers’ Union think food and farming are a great fit for teaching STEM subjects.

The survey invited the views of the teachers who had used the NFU’s education scheme, ‘Farming STEMterprise’, which aims to bring food and farming into the national curriculum.

The free resources take Key Stage 2 children (aged seven to 11) through every step of setting up a farm shop business – from growing their own ingredients and using market research to test ideas, to designing responsible packaging and calculating expected profit.

After implementing the NFU’s resources within their...

Written by Agriland Team

With the lambing season underway, the focus will turn to ensuring ewes are healthy and in good condition.

An issue that is quite common on sheep farms is lameness. The aim should be to avoid housing any lame ewes and to treat them separately from the rest of the flock.

Ewes that are housed on solid concrete floors are susceptible to picking up infections from wet and dirty straw. However, this can be avoided by regularly bedding ewes and spreading lime around the pen.

However, this is a bit trickier for ewes that are housed on slatted floors. Moreover, the fact that if you spread lime on slats; the majority of it will be lost down the tank...

My partner, Andrew, and I will be relocating to the UK from NZ to begin a new chapter in our adventure in an industry we are so passionate about, with the bonus of being much closer to my family!

We are aiming to arrive in the UK around the 14th of May, and although a short break is something to look forward to, we are excited to dive into a new opportunity promptly. We are interested in discussing a variety of positions, and ultimately hope to invest in a herd or profit share agreement and build a successful business partnership with other passionate people in the future.

Andrew is an experienced manager with over 20 years in the industry between NZ and Australia, responsible for smaller family farms as well as large herd corporate operations overseeing a TMR system and a number of...

The revitalised Cereals Event team is calling on the arable industry to help shape next year’s event, kicking off with a reception for exhibitors and farmer advisory board members.
Having worked to forge stronger links with farmers, agronomists and exhibitors in recent years, the newly expanded team invited exhibitors and board members to a hog roast in Hertfordshire last week, where they welcomed feedback and fresh ideas.

“In 20 years of managing events, Cereals has been the most challenging but most rewarding event I have ever been involved with,” said event director Alli McEntyre. “It’s also the most beautiful event I’ve been to and we need your help to make it even more valuable to our visitors.”

Feedback from this year’s event...

Written by Agriland Team

“If you looked at defining welfare on farms, you would hear things like freedom from hunger, freedom from discomfort, those kind of words.

“When in actual reality, anybody who rears calves is doing so much more than any kind of minimal legal standard. We have to, to rear the calf and keep the calf alive.”

This was the message from European specialist in bovine health management, Catherine Carty who spoke on the last day of the Animal Health Ireland (AHI) and Teagasc calf care events last week.

During her presentation, she said that there is a “critical relationship” between animal health and animal welfare.

She commented: “If we were to say what is your measure...

£1.15 million fund to fight food waste and UK and Australia join forces in simulated African swine fever exercise

Written by Defra Press Office

£1.15 million fund to fight food waste



There is positive coverage today in The Daily Mail, The Grocer...

Written by Agriland Team

Two men have been arrested in South Africa following a police discovery of 29 sheep in two vehicles that were not designed to carry livestock.

According to a media statement from the South African Police Service, the “alleged livestock thieves” appeared in the Klerksdorp Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 30, for charges of stock theft and possession of stolen livestock.

The police statement explained that the suspects were “nabbed” after a farmer in the Paardeplaas area, near Hartbeesfontein, South Africa, alerted the police that his sheep were stolen the previous night, Tuesday, January 28...

117: Pre-planting decisions for desiccation

Written by AHDB

In this episode we are focusing on the decisions you will have to make before you plant, to make sure you will be able to desiccate without diquat and store without CIPC.

Sequence of discussions and speakers:

• Desiccation talk with Will Gagg (SPot Farm North host)
• Knowledge Exchange team’s view on desiccation – Bill Watts, David Wilson and Harry Henderson
• Advice on what you can do now to prepare for storing without CIPC – Adrian Cunnington (Sutton Bridge - Head of Crop Storage Research)

Links: ...

Landmark Bill will restore and protect environment for generations to come

Written by Defra Press Office



A ground-breaking Environment Bill will return to Parliament today as the government reasserts its commitment to restoring and protecting our natural environment for generations to come.

The Bill has received widespread coverage in today’s media, including in the...

Continued coverage of the new Fisheries Bill

Written by Defra Press Office



There is further coverage of yesterday’s Fisheries Bill introduction with articles running in today’s Times, Express...

Are you putting enough peas into your arable silage mixture?

Grass and small seeds manager for Cope Seeds, Simon Travers, challenges the commonly used ratio for silage mixtures in his latest blog post

Simple adaptations from common farming practices have been proven to provide significant output differences. By changing pea percentage in arable silage mixtures from 60% barley and 40% peas to 40% barley and 60% peas, there would be a significant increase in the potential protein levels of the crop and nitrogen fixing.

The most popular mixture always seems to be 60% barley & 40% peas by weight but with a Thousand Grain Weight of around 250 grams for...

Drilling of crop plots at the 2020 Cereals Event site in Cambridgeshire is nearing completion, with stands of oilseed rape and cereals emerged and growing away, despite the difficult conditions.

“The site is on free draining land and the grass for the Cereals Event has established extremely well - the whole area looks a picture,” says host farmer Robert Law.

According to crop plot manager Paul Scrimshaw, 100% of the exhibitor plots were drilled by the end of October, with the Choice Cereals plots – featuring most of the approved and candidate winter wheat and barley varieties – now ready to go in.

“Like elsewhere in the UK, we’ve experienced very tricky wet conditions – although we’ve escaped more lightly than some areas,” says Mr...

G A Stevenson Ltd are currently looking for some harvest staff to help us on our 4500 acre arable operation. Which also includes 370 acres of potatoes. We are based in north Essex and cover 35 mile radius. Accommodation provided with evening meals at peak times. Mid July to early October work available.

Please PM if interested

In this video viewers will see 14 tractors from the major tractor brands in North America from the 1960's and 1970's. There are 10 brands of tractors from the United States including Allis-Chalmers, Big Bid, Case, Ford, International Harvester, John Deere, Minneapolis-Moline, Oliver, Steiger and White. Canada had four tractor brands including Cockshutt, CO-OP, Massey Ferguson and Versatile. Watch for each of these tractors in the video working in alphabetical order.

If we're seeing coccidiosis in calves at or just before one month of age, it's a clue that all is not right early on...

Charles Michel’s MFF juggling act

Written by Alan Matthews

During the past few weeks, the President of the European Council Charles Michel has been meeting national sherpas to sound out Member State positions regarding the Commission’s proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the period 2021-2027. In the next few weeks he will be meeting national leaders face-to-face.

He has called a special European Council meeting which, ominously for national leaders who value their beauty sleep, is scheduled to start on 20 February but which notably has no termination date or time...