By David Boderke
A round up of agricultural news from across the UK and Ireland.
Claim milk firm will leave farmers poorer
A top milk processor will still leave dairy farmers worse off later this year, despite calling off a potentially devastating price cut, managers of a family business have claimed.
Tracey Lewis-Jones, whose family runs a farm between Welshpool and Oswestry, said her family was losing 4p on every litre of milk it sold to Arla Dairies and would be down by thousands of pounds.
Shropshire Star
Badger cull at risk of sabotage
Hunt saboteurs are threatening to take direct action against farmers in a bid to halt a planned cull of badgers in a trial to tackle bovine TB.
The Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) is the latest organisation to call on its supporters to take “any legal means necessary”, in a move which appears designed to intimidate any farmers involved.
Western Morning News
‘Strength in numbers’ is the way ahead
With an additional 25 million litres of milk being committed to it from Scottish producers, it would appear that First Milk, the country’s largest farmer-owned co-operative, has benefitted from the recent price battle
between producers and milk processors.
The figures emerged yesterday when more than 350 farmers and industry representatives descended on Sandyford farm in Ayrshire for a First Milk roadshow. A spokeswoman for the co-operative said that the additional supplies had been recruited in the past fortnight in Scotland and that the company was having discussions “with lots of other producers”.
The Scotsman
Travellers moved into field while farmer was harvesting his crop
TRAVELLERS had to be turfed off a Uttoxeter farm after setting up camp while the gates were open for bales to be collected.
Staffordshire Police were called after around eight caravans and ‘loads of cars’, all with an Irish registration number plates, set up camp on a field next to the B5030 on Tuesday evening, which is owned by Aggregates Industries and rented out on a farm tenancy.
Uttoxeter Advertiser
Union wants details of ‘difficulty’ with banks over lending costs
One week after it was revealed that bank borrowing by Scottish farmers had risen to new record levels, NFU Scotland yesterday asked its members to provide details of their relationship with their bankers, especially relating to costs they face in obtaining or maintaining credit and overdraft facilities.
The latest borrowing figures to the end of May 2012 reached £1,670 million, some £56 million or 3.5 per cent higher than a year ago.
The Scotsman
Food prices may rise as rain, drought hit harvest
HIGHER FOOD prices could be on the way in the autumn because of problems with the grain harvest at home and abroad, UCD’s professor of crop science Jimmy Burke has said.
His latest research suggests that the recent unfavourable weather will push down Irish grain yield potential by 10 per cent compared with last year.
Irish Times
Food prices could rise as result of the bad summer
FARMERS are unlikely to be the only ones counting the cost of this summer’s abysmal weather as food prices are likely to increase and locally produced potatoes and veg will become thin on the ground.
Potato crops have been decimated by blight, caused by the damp conditions, and as the US faces the opposite problem with blistering heat destroying their grain and soya bean crops, the outlook does not look good for global prices, and therefore the consumer.
Isle of Man Today
http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/business/food-prices-could-rise-as-result-of-the-bad-summer-1-4856330
Glanbia’s farmer shareholders have a week to accept deal
GLANBIA’S farmer shareholders have yet to agree on whether to take on their milk processing business with only a week to go until the company’s deadline for a final decision.
The farmer-controlled co-op is in negotiations with Glanbia PLC, the food group it part owns, about a proposed joint venture (JV) to run milk processing ahead of the end of EU quotas on milk production in three years’ time.
Irish Independent
Payment warning on soil review
FARMERS who do not complete their Soil Protection Reviews are risking missing out on Single Farm Payment Scheme payments.
Early findings from Rural Payments Agency inspections have shown that smaller farms are particularly at risk. RPA is urging farmers to complete their reviews and avoid any issues as inspections continue during the summer. Farmers are being reminded that the Farming Advice Service offers help on how best to carry out the review.
Cornish Guardian
Livestock antibiotics ‘could have contributed to human obesity’
FARMERS may have played their part in the obesity epidemic by fattening their livestock with antibiotics, a study suggests.
By altering the fine balance of gut bacteria which influence our metabolism, even small amounts of the drugs entering the food chain could have caused obesity rates to rise, researchers claim.
Irish Independent
Farmers at tipping point over rubbish dumped on land
ROADSIDE laybys and gateways are the most common places to find fly-tipped waste.
A long-running case involved a layby on the A487 at Maentwrog, where for years rubbish was thrown in to a SSSI gorge managed by a local farmer. This summer a wall was built along the layby by Gwynedd Council to stop further tipping.
NFU Cymru policy officer Dafydd Jarret said the farmer had initially cleared the waste at his own expense – but then turned to the authorities for help.
Daily Post
Helpline needed for distressed farmers says Ó Cuív
Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Agriculture, Éamon Ó Cuív has called on Minister Simon Coveney to direct his Department and Teagasc to immediately set-up a helpline for the farmers who are in distress due to the poor weather conditions this summer.
Deputy Ó Cuív commented: “Every day I am contacted by farmers and farm organisations concerned about the effect the terrible summer is having on farmers’ mental health and the need for emergency action and support.”
Galway Advertiser
Project will assess farming’s true value
FARMING contributes much to the public good according to the Oxford Farming Conference, and a newly commissioned project plans to discover what these contributions are and measure their value.
The research commissioned for the next Oxford Farming Conference will be presented to delegates at the annual gathering, which runs from January 2 to 4.
Cornish Guardian
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