The NFU livestock board has issued a survey to find out to what extent clipping cattle is causing problems for its members.

The board believes members are putting themselves at risk clipping cattle on farm before sending them to the abattoir. NFU livestock board chairman Alistair Mackintosh said he is also aware that this practice has resulted in some serious
injuries on farm and he wants farmers to help the NFU collect some firm evidence on
this issue.

“Livestock farmers always strive to produce clean animals for slaughter,” he said.

“However, due to adverse weather conditions or a shortage of bedding materials,
there are times when cattle need to be clipped.

“We know this is a serious problem for our members but we need to build some proper
evidence if we are to tackle this issue. The more responses we have the more
accurate a picture we can build, meaning our lobbying position will be stronger.

“Ideally, we would like to see more abattoirs provide a post-mortem clipping
service. Not every animal will require clipping but when the need arises it would be
much easier for an abattoir to do it after slaughter. This would also negate any
health and safety issues associated with clipping on farm.”

Farmers wanting to fill in the survey can log on to NFU
Online or contact their NFU
regional office for a paper version.

Russian wildfires sent the grain market off the rails

Direct from the NFU

NFU President Peter Kendall is to hold an urgent meeting with Defra Secretary of State Caroline Spelman to ask the Government to invest in home-grown food supplies to defend us against the vagaries of a turbulant global market.

Mr Kendall believes the Government must take urgent action to close the UK’s widening food gap and thinks it is hypocritical for rich countries like the UK to sit back and ask the rest of the world to feed its people.

He explained: “The dramatic events of the past 12 months: drought in
Russia, floods in Queensland, the hottest year on record, global food
prices at an all-time high – and a factor in the major upheavals in
Tunisia and Egypt, demonstrate that agriculture is not a purely economic
issue but is central to social and political stability.

“The recent Foresight report on global food and farming has called on governments to take urgent and co-ordinated action now to avert hunger and disruption on a catastrophic scale in the future.

“The Foresight report is another wake-up call. Bold actions and difficult decisions will be needed. I’m asking the Government to look at our own growing population’s reliance on supplies from the rest of the world as part of
its response to the report.

“I’ve heard a number of commentators sitting on their high horses and
talking about how bad export bans are. But if we’re going to have a
debate about morality I honestly believe that a country short of food
trying to protect its own people’s supplies by banning grain exports is
nothing compared to rich countries allowing their agriculture to decline
and then expecting the rest of the world to feed them.

“I will be asking Caroline Spelman to lead the way at Defra and ensure
that a food plan is drawn up, alongside the other White Papers on the
natural environment and water that her department is working on – and
quite rightly; biodiversity and water resources are flagged up as major
concerns by the Foresight group. But where’s the food plan?

“On the future of the Common Agriculture Policy, I will be urging the
Secretary of State to focus on developing the fair and functioning
markets which the Foresight report talks about. Again, that’s not just
about export bans ‘out there’ in the rest of the world; it’s about how
markets work within Europe and the UK. Simply ending subsidies won’t
miraculously make the markets work. We need to drive competitiveness and
manage volatility in the markets first to give UK producers – those
working at the sharp end of the food chain – the chance to do what they
what to do; stand on their own two feet and make a living.

“I think everyone at conference will be with me when I say UK farmers
are part of the answer to the grand global challenges which have been
laid bare even in the past twelve months. We need the Government to
accept that too – and make a place for farming at the top of its own
agenda.”

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne’s announcement of a comprehensive review of the Feed-In Tariffs Scheme is a lobbying success for the NFU’s policy on farm-based anaerobic digester plants but needs to be resolved quickly.

The NFU says there is a major cause for concern where solar photovoltaic (PV) plants are concerned as well as damaging uncertainty over investment in a much wider range
of farm-based renewables. The NFU does not believe there is a threat that solar
farms will take up a disproportionate amount of FITs support or that they will
occupy more than a tiny fraction of national or regional land area.

NFU chief renewable energy adviser Dr Jonathan Scurlock said: “The NFU is deeply
concerned that all solar PV projects above 50 kilowatts are to be included in the
FITs review – this will include many agricultural rooftop projects involving as
little as £150,000 investment. It is imperative that the government announces its
timetable for any proposed changes, and the transitional rules that will apply – in
order to avoid a collapse in confidence among investors. This hardly seems like the
right way to reward the success that the FITs had achieved so far, in bringing new
sources of investment into land-based renewables. Alongside the domestic scale,
agricultural, industrial and community renewable schemes have a vital role to play
in green growth.”

While the NFU supports the Government announcement of a fast-track review of
renewable electricity FITs for farm-based anaerobic digester (AD) plants, it wants a
clear timetable to be set out so projects already in development are not stalled.

Dr Scurlock added: “We are keen that any policy is evidence-based and that
farm-based biogas plants help to deliver low-carbon energy, avoid methane emissions
from slurry storage and encourage good nutrient management.

“Improved feed-in tariffs for farm-based AD will help to solve many of the
outstanding issues for the farm and rural sector contained within the development of
the current AD Strategy. However, the devil will be in the detail, such as whether
projects now under development will be stalled pending the introduction of a new
tariff regime. We call upon the government to backdate any FITs uplift to February,
since only a few on-farm AD projects have actually progressed to date.

“Farmers are ready and willing to contribute to national energy security and job
creation in the low-carbon economy. NFU members and their development partners have
started to invest in projects on the basis of existing Government policy. However,
the government’s willingness to move the goalposts again and again undermines
investor confidence in the whole range of renewable energy incentives – whether for
clean electricity, heat or transport fuels. The message this sends to all future
investors in green energy is extremely damaging.”

The Government should get behind the European Commission’s Dairy
Package, NFU President Peter Kendall told the Semex Dairy Conference in
Glasgow today.

Dairy farmers demonstrating at supermarket depots in the freezing cold,
the infamous case of the missing milk millions and the fact that farmers
are losing money on every litre of milk they produce were, he explained,
sure signs of a serious problem with the way the market works for dairy
farmers in this country.

Mr Kendall gave the example of a telephone call he received from a
Cumbrian dairy farmer last week who pointed out that his local pub had
put the price of a pint of beer up by 15p, a bigger rise than the total
amount he gets paid for producing a pint of milk.

Mr Kendall said: “I know that Jim Paice has expressed frustration that
the dairy supply chain isn’t operating properly or fairly at the moment.

“And, right now, the UK Government has a real opportunity to help
address the flaws in the chain by backing the Commission’s proposals for
changes to milk contracts and the way supply chain deals are negotiated.

“We’re asking for Defra to join things up on dairy. This Government,
along with politicians from all the main parties, recognises there needs
to be an adjudicator to counterbalance the power of the supermarkets in
their dealings with suppliers.

“At the same time the Government wants the UK’s farmers to be less
reliant on support and more reliant on the market for our returns. We
want that too, yet, here we are, with a golden opportunity to help
redress the balance of power in the dairy supply chain, and instead of
backing it the Government stand back and seem reluctant to take it up.
There are lots of people out there who are struggling to make sense of
that and I am one of them.

“Let’s be clear. We are not asking the Government to take action because
our dairy farmers want to be treated differently from everyone else but
because they want the same chance in the market as other players in the
chain.”

Farmers in Cornwall are asking Halloween revellers not to let off Chinese Lanterns as part of their festivities.

The decorative novelties can kill cattle, because when their wire shells come to rest in countryside, farmers can unwittingly chop them up when making hay. Cows and other livestock then swallow the dangerous wire.

DEFRA are currently officially looking into the effect the discarded lanterns have on the countryside.

NFU Government affairs adviser Nick von Westenholz said: “Halloween and Bonfire Night can be fun events for all the family and we hope everyone will enjoy them safely and responsibly.

“We hope, however, that people will refrain from using Chinese lanterns or releasing them into the countryside as part of celebrations.

“Even though the fire risk is reduced at this time of year, lanterns continue to pose a risk to livestock, either to those still out in their fields, or at a later date when fallen lanterns go undetected.

“They also pose a huge litter nuisance, and dozens of these large, unsightly objects are often found spread over a wide area of countryside the day after a local celebration or party.

“We are pleased that Defra has taken on-board our messages and is now working with the industry in an attempt to reduce the risks posed.”

Ends

Have you got Farming News for us?

Of course we get our regular feed from the NFU and all the usual suspects.

That’s all good. But it’s not news. It’s press releases. We want news.

Do you think you could help?

Drop us a line: help us make our Cornwall Community News Farming Section the best informed in the Duchy.

NEWS@CORNWALLCOMMUNITYNEWS.CO.UK

We’d love to hear from you.

Ed

Thousands of local people turned out for a fun-filled family day that included a performance by the Cornish Wurzels, broadcasts by Peninsular Radio, more music from The Camborne Youth Band,
and a stunning display of Falconry.

But don’t take our word for it – the Camborne show has it’s own marvellous website with all those agricultural and animal competition results laid out in detail so you can check on how the family budgerigar ranked in contest or who’s got this years’ fanciest pigeon or champion chicken or – our personal favourite -dog with the waggiest tail.

Just click through to http://www.camborne-show.org.uk – and don’t forget to tell em who sent you!!

These fantastic pictures of the event are by Portreath based photographer Colin Higgs – if you’d like to contact Colin or commission a print you can mail him on colin@ciosp.eclipse.co.uk.

The NFU are warning that unless old fashioned husbandry replaces use of pellets, the common pesticide is at risk of being outlawed.

The metaldehyde compound, which eight out of ten slug pellets are made of, is at risk of a ban because it breaches technical standards for pesticides in surface water.

NFU combinable crops board chairman Ian Backhouse told the News it was vital to keep the chemical available and the only way to do so was for farmers to reduce its use.

Mr Backhouse said: “I’m urging farmers in Cornwall to look at other control options first – like cultivations, seed rates and seed dressings.

“Please only use metaldehyde slug pellets as the last resort.

“The clock is ticking now and we must all work together to preserve metaldehyde: we want to ensure we keep all of the tools available in the fight against crop pests.”

“There are no magic solutions on the horizon here,” Mr Backhouse went on.

“Slug control is vital on many soil types and metaldehyde accounts for around 85 per cent of the current market.

“Although there are limited alternatives products available they would not be able to meet the gap in the market, in the short term or at all.

“The actions of individual farmers can and will make a real difference.

“The technical standard which is being breached here is so low that it will take all farmers following the new guidelines to the letter to make real improvements.

“So I am calling on fellow farmers to follow the new voluntary guidelines produced by the Metaldehyde Stewardship Group, to follow the risk assessment and be prepared to use alternative options in high-risk conditions.”

Ends