The main message for livestock farmers in relation to liver fluke this year is to “test, don’t guess’.

Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) and Control of Cattle Parasites Sustainable (COWS) have labelled 2023 as a “very strange year” in terms of weather patterns and parasites.

On behalf of COWS, Prof Diana Williams of the University of Liverpool said:

“2023 has been a funny old year. A very dry cold spring was followed by a hot early summer and then July and August were extremely wet.

“Top that off with the mini heatwave in early September accompanied by heavy rain, and it is fair to say there will be an impact on levels and timing of the risks faced by grazing livestock this season.”

Fluke forecast

The National Animal Disease Information Service’s (NADIS) fluke forecast, which is based on local weather patterns, is generally predicting a low-to-medium risk, with the exception of high-risk hotspots in Scotland.

SCOPS and COWS said this is almost certainly due to how dry it was at the start of the year and, while recent months may have been ideal for the fluke and snail lifecycles, the total window for their development has been relatively short.

“Liver fluke and its intermediate host, the mud snail galba truncatula, require temperatures of more than 10^o to remain active and continue development, so if we have a warm autumn and early winter the risk may still increase later in the year, particularly if the conditions also tempt farmers to keep their livestock out later,” Williams said,

“The serum antibody ELISA test, which is done on blood samples taken from 10 individuals is an extremely valuable tool in these circumstances.

“Using this test, we can monitor lambs or calves born in 2023 to look for evidence of exposure to liver fluke.

“Repeated at regular intervals, this not only means we can check for exposure but also when that exposure occurs, which reduces the risk of unnecessary or mistimed treatments.”

SCOPS

SCOPS independent sheep consultant, Lesley Stubbings, said: “Anecdotally, we’ve not seen much liver fluke across the country this year so far.”

In contrast, Stubbings highlighted the increase in cases of haemonchosis in sheep, which is caused by the highly pathogenic roundworm haemonchus contortus  (also known as the barber’s pole worm).

“The conditions in the UK this summer and last summer have seemingly suited this worm, which is common in many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world,” Stubbings said.

“Because clinical signs of anaemia, bottle jaw and weight loss can result from the blood-feeding behaviour of either liver fluke or haemonchus, this can be confusing.

“Differential diagnosis is all the more important and underlines the need to ‘Test, don’t guess’.”

Testing

Experts from both SCOPS and COWS have urged caution to any producers looking to use the ELISA test but thinking of trying to cut the cost by pooling blood samples rather than testing individuals.

“The sensitivity of a pooled test is much lower and may give a negative result even though one or more animals are positive,” Stubbings said.

“This means that tests need to be done more regularly (every 10-14 days) to try to ensure the exposure is not missed, which will probably cancel out any cost saving compared to individual blood testing every three to four weeks.”

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National potato supplier Branston has announced plans to open a mashed potato facility to produce and supply leading UK supermarkets.

The facility is due to open by spring 2024 and will be lead by production manager, Wayne Mansfield.

The company currently handles 350,000 tonnes of potatoes for fresh and prepared products and the mashed potato facility will expand its capabilities.

Speaking on Branston’s new mash facility, Mansfield said: “We’ve seen demand for prepared potatoes growing over the years and mash was one product that we weren’t able to produce in-house.

“It needs highly specialised equipment to produce the quality and consistency as well as the right potatoes. 

“With our potato expertise and access to the best varieties it was a natural decision for Branston to invest in a mash facility.”

Mashed potato facility

Mansfield said Branston got the go-ahead last October and, after sourcing the best possible kit, construction began in March of this year.

“We’re aiming to begin commissioning in December, ready for technical validation of the product range early in 2024,” he said.

“The build is well under way, and we’re installing state-of-the-art equipment to ensure the process is as efficient as possible, transforming fresh potatoes into chilled mash in under two hours.

“I’ve been in the food industry for 25 years and leading this project for Branston is a fantastic opportunity, to see it from build right through to production.

“We’ve carefully sourced machinery for the latest innovations available creating a highly automated yet flexible process, all of which supports full crop utilisation and efficiency.” 

Products

The new Branston facility will feature two main lines producing 14 different products, ranging from ready-to-eat mash, to artisan root vegetable recipes, and topped jacket potatoes.

Branston said the facility is expected to output 23 million packets of mashed potato in the first year.

Group managing director of Branston, Jim Windle, said: “This new facility has been in our plans for some time and now we’re just a matter of months away from starting to produce samples – it is fantastic to see it approach fruition.  

“Previously, we sent peeled potatoes away to a third-party facility to be mashed, however, to improve efficiency and sustainability, it made sense to develop a solution in-house where we know we can get the best out of every potato and use the right varieties for the right products.

“This will not only improve the consumer product, but also make the supply chain more sustainable.”

Jobs

Branston will hold a ‘Monster Mash’ recruitment event at the Branston site on Tuesday, October 31, between 1:00p.m and 7:00p.m for the new facility.

“We are very excited to be bringing 90 incremental new job opportunities to Branston and the surrounding Lincoln area,” Windle said.

“These roles will be specialised due to the technical nature of the production line and will include engineers, machine technicians, line operatives, section managers and a host of other positions.”  

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Five dairy and five pork UK exporters are set to join the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) at the Food and Hospitality China (FHC) event next month.

The event, which is Asia’s leading food and beverage show, will run from November 8-10, 2023, at the New International Expo Centre in Shanghai.

AHDB’s dairy export team will be in the British pavilion on a collaborative stand with the five UK dairy exporters.

The pork exporters will join the AHDB export team in the meat hall on the AHDB-hosted British meat pavilion.

The board said the event will provide a platform for pork exporters to meet existing customers and potential new ones from the key Chinese market.

AHDB senior exports manager, Lucy Randolph, said: “FHC will be the first time the AHDB dairy export team has been back to China in person post-pandemic and we are excited to be taking part with our exporters.

“China and other markets in the wider Asia region present significant opportunities for dairy exports. Consumers in China have a high regard for food safety and quality and the UK is well-placed to satisfy that demand.

“Our strong presence at the show will help play an important role in developing further export opportunities for the companies joining us.”

AHDB’s head of international trade development, Jonathan Eckley, said: “We are delighted to be back at FHC China.

“Despite current challenges on the global pig meat market, China remains a key market for the UK pig meat sector with carcase balance playing an ever more significant role.

“This was reflected in a 16% increase in volume of fifth quarter exports in the first half of 2023.”

Eckley said Food and Hospitality China will provide AHDB and its exporters with the platform to build on existing commercial relationships and develop new ones in the “important market” for the pig meat sector.

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The UK government’s Food and Drink Export Council (FDEC) is set to hold its first ever meeting in Perth, Scotland, next month.

The meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, November 8 during International Trade week at the Black Watch, is aimed at Scottish food and drink businesses already exporting that wish to expand and grow their exports.

The free to attend event will consist of interactive sessions on creating strategic export plans, understanding export markets and identifying and building relationships with overseas partners.

The FDEC is a collaborate expert committee comprised of representatives from the Scottish government, UK government, industry and other devolved administrations focused on boosting UK food and drink exports.

UK government minister for exports and co-chair of the FDEC, Malcolm Offord, said:

“This event will be a big help to any Scottish food and drink exporters who are looking to expand their sales abroad.

“We know there is huge demand internationally for the high-quality food and drink we produce here in Scotland, and the FDEC are looking to do all that we can to help businesses take advantages of the opportunities that are out there.” 

Scottish exports

The meeting is being delivered in partnership between the Department for Business and Trade and Scottish Development International (SDI) on behalf of the FDEC.

Global head of trade for consumer industries at SDI, Ewen Cameron, said: “Scotch whisky is the number one UK food and drink export, with Scottish salmon the UK’s leading food export.

“Scotland has a vital role to play in the success of UK food and drink exports, with this council meeting providing a platform to embed an appreciation and awareness of our strengths with council members and showcase some of our leading exporting companies.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with other council members, and bringing SDI’s deep knowledge of international growth opportunities, strong relationships with our portfolio of exporters, and effective international networks to deliver economic growth across all regions of Scotland.”

Chief executive of Seafood Scotland and founding member of the FDEC, Donna Fordyce, said the event is a perfect opportunity for Scottish food and drink businesses to learn more about export expansion.

“We know that many Scottish food and drink businesses are already exporting successfully in overseas markets,” she said.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from your peers, find out what works – and what doesn’t – and build your overseas network too.

“This event will enable businesses to accelerate and refine their exporting ambitions in a welcoming and trusted environment.

“We will also be sharing expertise on how to reduce the administrative burden of exporting abroad, something we know will be very welcome.”

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Property consultancy Knight Frank’s latest farmland index Q3 has revealed that an acre of land is now worth £8,951 on average, showing that farmland demand “remains robust”.

The farm and estates team of the consultancy highlighted that the acre average price across England and Wales represents an 8% increase on the year.

According to the latest report, the firm predicts that, by the end of the year, average values may reach £9,000/ac, which could suggest the farmland market is either at or very close to its near-term peak.

Beyond that, 2024 is expected to bring in a period of consolidation as supply and demand finds stability, Knight Frank said.

Head of rural research at Knight Frank, Andrew Shirley, said: “Our latest Q3 figures show that demand for farmland remains robust, particularly among farmers who have sold land or faced compulsory purchase for housing and infrastructure projects like HS2, as they seek to reinvest their capital gains. In specific regions, this heightened demand has driven prices above £15,000/ac.

“However, environmental buyers, who have also been active in this market, are reportedly showing slightly less enthusiasm due to uncertainties surrounding the development of nature-based finance frameworks in the UK”.

Farmland values

Despite historically low levels of publicly advertised farmland, Knight Frank believes that there are a few indications of a “significant surge” in the coming year.

In Knight Frank’s annual flagship report, the Rural Report, the highest value of prime arable land that can be achieved sits across south west, south east, eastern and north east regions, where they can reach up to £12,536/ac.

Head of rural research at Knight Frank, Andrew Shirley, said: “Of the other asset classes Knight Frank tracks, only the FTSE 100 index, has significantly outperformed farmland in the past 12 months, boasting a remarkable 10% increase. Looking back over the last five years, farmland values have experienced a notable 27% growth, second only to gold, which saw an impressive 67% increase.

Head of farm and estates at Knight Frank, Will Matthews, said: “The land market continues to thrive with a minor uptick, showcasing its strength as we fight against inflation.

“There is a great deal of opportunity across the country, especially in the regional markets as premium land values continue soar to the top of the leader board.

“Currently, there is a lack of urgency to sell, resulting in a robust pricing for most of the stock, which is causing the gap between buyers and sellers to widen. However, despite this and increasing competition, quality stock is still in demand and selling well.”

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The consultation was on Northern Ireland’s 2030 and 2040 emissions reduction targets and the first three carbon budgets.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is seeking views on the advice of the CCC – which includes reducing dairy cattle numbers by 22%, beef cattle numbers by 17% and sheep, pigs and poultry numbers by 18%.

UFU president David Brown said that, while the union recognises that action is needed, that it “cannot support” any proposals to achieve net zero that will impact Northern Ireland’s food security and suppress the livestock industry.

“Cutting livestock numbers is not going to change consumer demand for dairy and meat. It will result in products produced to lower standards being imported to replace what we can no longer produce,” he said.

“If this happens, we wouldn’t be playing our part in tackling climate change, we would be passing the buck.

“We would be putting countries that have higher emissions from food production and are working to feed a growing global population, under pressure to produce more food.”

Sustainable food production

Brown said it is vital that a balance is found between sustainable food production in Northern Ireland and climate action.

“It’s critical that a balance is found between sustainable food production in NI which is the backbone of rural communities, and climate action to prevent carbon leakage,” he said.

“Especially when NI dairy farming has reduced its carbon intensity by 34% since 1990 and greenhouse gases from UK beef are about half the global average.

“Government needs to step outside their bubble and wake up to the social and economic impact their net zero targets in NI will create at home and abroad.”

Brown said the union is largely in support of DAERA’s alternative suggestion for reducing emissions from agriculture based on the policies and proposals within the Future Agricultural Policy Programme.

“This remains a very tough challenge for the industry, but we will continue to combat climate change,” he said.

“Agriculture is one of few sectors in NI that has policy ready, and a budget allocated to continue delivering climate action in line with the first carbon budget.

“It’s vital that policy supports us to do the same without supressing local farming.”

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Yara, one of the world’s largest fertiliser manufacturers, has today (Friday, October 20) reported that its third quarter (Q3) financial performance has been impacted by “strong price declines”.

The Norwegian company said that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITA), excluding special items, was $396 million, down 62% compared with just over $1 billion in Q3 2022.

Revenue was down from $6.2 billion in Q3 2022 to €3.8 billion this year.

There was a significant drop in net income from $420 million in Q3 2022 to $2 million in the same period this year.

Yara

According to Yara, nitrogen markets experienced significant volatility in Q3. Lower gas prices and higher deliveries (+7%) were more than offset by a sharp drop in prices.

“The quarter began with swift nitrogen price responses to positive market news, with both improved demand and tighter supply.

“Demand softened in the mid-quarter as urea prices declined and European customers were reluctant to take further positions early in the new season,” the company said.

Yara said that although fertiliser affordability reduced during the quarter, it is still above historical averages, and optimal application rates are up compared to the 2022/23 season.

Production

During Q3, the company curtailed European ammonia capacity production by 6% to 80,000t, while finished fertiliser production was curtailed by 3% to 130,000t.

Yara warned that there is a risk of new nitrogen curtailments if slow European demand continues.

Based on current forecasts for natural gas, the company estimates that it s gas cost for Q4 will be $520 million lower than a year earlier.

“Although the season for the European nitrogen industry is off to a slower start than in previous years, fundamentals for the full season are supportive.

“Agricultural conditions are favourable, and industry consultants forecast increased cereal production in 2023/24, despite drought in several regions earlier this year,” Yara said.

Svein Tore Holsether, president and chief executive at Yara said that the nitrogen industry continues to operate in a lower margin environment.

“Although agricultural fundamentals are supportive, nitrogen markets remain sensitive to geopolitical and commodity market volatility.

“War, geopolitical instability, and the climate crisis are having major impacts on food security.

“It is therefore even more important to safeguard Europe’s strategic autonomy in within food and fertiliser, and to accelerate the green transition of European agriculture and industry,” he said.

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Staffordshire Police has appealed for information regarding the theft of nine pigs from a farm in Lichfield in two separate incidents.

In the first incident, which occurred on October 3, the force said three pigs were stolen from the farm on Tamworth Road, Lichfield.

The second incident involved the theft of six more pigs, which occurred between 6:00p.m on October 9 and 6:30a.m on October 10 at the same farm.

During this incident, another six pigs were left injured at the farm.

Staffordshire Police said it received the reports on October 11 and believe that the suspect or suspects drove up a track to gain access to the farm before leaving the scene with the stolen pigs.

The force said it is currently reviewing CCTV of the area at the time of both thefts.

“If you have any information, CCTV or dashcam footage that could help us with our inquiries, contact us on 101, quoting incident 230 of October 11, or use live chat on our website,” Staffordshire Police said.

Staffordshire animal welfare offences

Three Staffordshire farmers have been convicted for offences relating to animal welfare, cattle identification and movement rules.

51-year-old Charles Gibson and 44-year-old Alison Bailey, both of Leonards Farm, Hot Lane, Biddulph Moor, pleaded guilty to animal welfare offences at Cannock Magistrates Court in April this year and were sentenced on Tuesday (October 17).

Wheelton Farms Ltd, represented by its director Martin Wheelton from Millend Farm, Harbour Lane, Macclesfield, pleaded guilty to cattle identification and movement offences.

The farmers were prosecuted by Staffordshire County Council’s trading standards animal health team.

At the sentencing at Telford Magistrates’ Court, Gibson was given a 20-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work. 

Gibson was also ordered to pay fines of £4,000, a victim surcharge of £128, and given a lifetime ban from keeping all animals.

Bailey was given a community order with 80 hours unpaid work, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £90. She was also given a lifetime ban from keeping all animals. 

Wheelton Farms Ltd received fines totalling £32,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.

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The National Sheep Association (NSA) has said that Red Tractor has “sideswiped” the sheep farming sector following the announcement of its Greener Farms Commitment (GFC).

The trade association for UK sheep farmers said it is “deeply concerned” that none of the detail of the commitment has been discussed with those directly impacted.

The NSA is calling for a “root and branch review” of the Red Tractor assurance scheme and its governance.

NSA chief executive, Phil Stocker, said: “NSA continues to support the concept of farm assurance as an open gate declaration of good practice.

“But we have long been frustrated that the scheme is losing its way and has become less relevant to sheep farmers with little acceptance of the unique nature of our sector.

“Most of the nation’s sheep farms are not big businesses with layers of management, but are family farms and single operators, many with little land of their own, and our sector still offers a valuable first step on the farming ladder for young new entrants.

“Becoming Red Tractor Assured presents a huge hurdle for many sheep farms, and for most of the sector’s routes to market it adds no value.”

Green farms commitment

NSA said the GFC takes Red Tractor into the realm of setting environmental policy in isolation rather than getting behind the key environmental and sustainable farming schemes being introduced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Following a meeting of the NSA English committee on Monday (October 16) NSA chair Kevin Harrison said:

“There is no doubt the feeling of the NSA English committee is one of a great deal of frustration and concern on how Red Tractor is forcing its vision of the greener farms commitment through without proper consultation, and without any understanding of the unique position sheep producers find themselves in. 

“It is quite telling that those responsible for the governance of the assurance scheme felt the need to work on this behind closed doors without even consulting their boards or technical advisory committees.”

Farming sector input

Stocker said that the recent announcement of the GFC with no practical input from the farming sector is “flawed and simply a step too far.”

“We do not accept this will remain a voluntary scheme and additionality like this comes with a cost that needs to be supported via market premiums or by full alignment with Defra’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship schemes”.

We are frustrated by the fact there has been no consideration for the hundreds of sheep farmers who operate as graziers on other people’s land and have no influence on wider land management decisions, or direct access to SFI and similar schemes, yet do a great job within the boundaries of their authority”.

“We are not prepared to put at risk the social and cultural makeup of our industry in this drive for more industrialisation, supposed professionalisation, and red tape.”

NSA said it is especially concerned this development comes as “one of a litany of ill-thought-out decisions” from Red Tractor.

“This latest proposal has resulted in NSA calling for a review of the governance and direction of Red Tractor,” Stocker said.

“NSA is fully prepared to continue to work with the scheme in a constructive way, on the beef and lamb board and the technical advisory committee, but that doesn’t stop us from calling the governance of the organisation into question. 

“Furthermore, NSA is not prepared to be part of any development advisory panel for the greener farms commitment on the basis that the whole concept needs to go back to the drawing board with full debate and discussion with the farming community.”

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Three Staffordshire farmers have been convicted for offences relating to animal welfare, cattle identification and movement rules.

51-year-old Charles Gibson and 44-year-old Alison Bailey, both of Leonards Farm, Hot Lane, Biddulph Moor, pleaded guilty to animal welfare offences at Cannock Magistrates Court in April of this year and were sentenced on Tuesday (October 17).

Wheelton Farms Ltd, represented by its director Martin Wheelton from Millend Farm, Harbour Lane, Macclesfield, pleaded guilty to cattle identification and movement offences.

The farmers were prosecuted by Staffordshire County Council’s trading standards animal health team.

‘Extremely poor conditions’

In May 2020, Staffordshire County Council said welfare issues were found at a farm being run by Gibson and Bailey when livestock, including young calves, were found being kept in extremely poor conditions. 

A number of dead animals were found in pens with live animals, pens where livestock were kept were not suitable and had little food, water or dry lying was being provided to the animals.

With low value, untagged calves found at the farm which had been given to Gibson, Staffordshire County Council’s trading standards animal health team found that Wheelton Farms Ltd was complicit in the failure to comply with the traceability requirements for bovine animals.

The case, which the council said was one of the worse witnessed by the team, resulted in the animals being taken into the possession of the local authority at the time, in a bid to prevent further suffering. 

At the sentencing at Telford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (October 17), Gibson was given a 20-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work. 

Gibson was also ordered to pay fines of £4,000, a victim surcharge of £128, and given a lifetime ban from keeping all animals.

Bailey was given a community order with 80 hours unpaid work, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £90. She was also given a lifetime ban from keeping all animals. 

Wheelton Farms Ltd received fines totalling £32,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.

A ‘particularly upsetting case’

Cabinet member with responsibility for trading standards at Staffordshire County Council, Victoria Wilson, said: “Our animal health team work hard to make sure that livestock is looked after properly and there is the required traceability of animals.

“This is a particularly upsetting case involving a number of vulnerable, new-born animals where their basic needs for care and identification were not met.

“Thankfully, the vast majority of Staffordshire farmers and livestock owners take good care of their animals and follow the rules. However, on some occasions, we do see incidents where these standards are not met, as in this case.”

Wilson said the council was pleased that the court reached a “successful conclusion” and that this case should send a clear message that the council will take action to ensure the welfare needs of animals are met and that livestock identification and movement rules are adhered to.

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The company is also planning to close the co-located research and development (R&D) centre by Q1 2025.

The announcement means that around 542 people working in the facility will now be placed at risk of redundancy.

“We will now consult with all employees and their representative unions,” a spokesperson for Nestlé said in a statement.

Infant formula

The company pointed to “external trends” which have “significantly impacted demand for infant nutrition products in the Greater China region”.

“The number of newborn babies in China has declined sharply from some 18 million per year in 2016 to fewer than nine million projected in 2023,” it stated.

“The market, which had previously been reliant on imported infant formula products, is also seeing rapid growth in locally-produced products,” the spokesperson said.

The company is proposing to transfer the production from Askeaton to two existing factories – Suzhou, China and Konolfingen, Switzerland.

Konolfingen is also home to Wyeth and Nestlé Nutrition’s global R&D centre of excellence for infant and maternal products.

It is proposed that R&D work at Askeaton would be absorbed into Konolfingen, where 365 staff work on research and product development across several disciplines.

A satellite R&D centre in Shanghai would be strengthened as part of the plans.

The company stated:

“These proposals have been carefully considered and are no reflection on the excellent contribution made by our employees in Askeaton over many years.

“To date, we have not been able to find a buyer. Therefore, we will commence a meaningful consultation process with our employees on a proposed closure.

“In parallel, during this consultation we remain open to approaches from a credible buyer,” the Nestlé spokesperson said.

Wyeth Nutrition

The facilities in Co. Limerick were part of Nestlé’s acquisition of Pfizer Nutrition in 2012.

Operating as Wyeth Nutritionals Ireland Ltd (WNIL), the factory manufactures infant formula products exclusively for export to markets in China and Asia.

The factory currently employs 491 people, while there are 51 staff at the R&D facility.

In a statement this evening Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney said his first thoughts are with the Wyeth workers and their families.

“It is hugely disappointing news as this facility has provided fantastic employment in Limerick and made a huge contribution to Ireland’s economy.

“Officials in my department will now begin a process of engagement with the management and workers in the company.

“The full range of state supports will be made available to the employees, and we will examine each and every option to ensure that the best possible outcome is reached for all concerned,” he said.

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As a result of today’s auction, the index increased by 4.3% when compared to the previous event on October 3 to 994.

The GDT Price Index has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of September, however it still remains at levels last seen in late 2020.

The index dropped to its lowest level in 2023 on August 15 when it slumped to 850.

35,974MT of dairy products were sold during today’s auction, with 117 winning bidders out of 167 participants.

There were 18 rounds of bidding which took almost 2hr and 40 minutes to complete.

The average price today stood at $3,202/MT.

GDT

All of the products offered for sale during the auction saw an increase in average price, butter milk powder (BMP) was not offered at this event.

The average price of anhydrous milk fat jumped by 7.1% to $5,310/MT, this follows a 3.7% increase at the previous auction.

Skim milk powder (SMP) average price rose by 4.3% to $2,659/MT, while there was a similar increase for whole milk powder (WMP) to $3,059/MT.

There was an rise of 2.9% for butter to $4,940/MT, there were marginal gains for cheddar (+0.2%) to $3,858/MT and lactose (+0.2%) to €599/MT.

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Although the deal is described as a joint venture between Trimble and AGCO, it involves the tractor manufacturer obtaining 85% of Trimble’s portfolio of agricultural assets and technologies.

Joint Venture

The move comes appears to enable Trimble to divest itself of its agricultural interests and concentrate on the construction industry.

However, it is described as a joint venture, suggesting that the technology giant, worth $12.4 billion, is not giving up entirely on the business.

Spending this amount of money represents a firm commitment to digital technology on the part of AGCO which is by far the smaller company in the deal, despite it having a more prominent public presence in the agricultural industry.

One advantage of buying into an existing portfolio of products and services is that the technology can be applied across all makes and brands of machinery, whereas in-house development will tend to limit its use to just that company’s products.

This, according to ACGO, is a main driver behind the acquisition which it believes will “enhance AGCO’s comprehensive technology offering around guidance, autonomy, precision spraying, connected farming, data management and sustainability”.

It goes on to note that AGCO’s Precision Ag portfolio will serve agriculture across the whole crop cycle while supporting over 10,000 equipment models, although it is not clear whether it is just tractors, including legacy models, which are being referred to, or if implements are also included.

AGCO pushes digital sales

All the major tractor manufacturers see digital technology as as a growing part of their sales revenue, as it is an increasingly profitable sector to be involved in.

The approach being taken by AGCO is to consider it as a separate product line which can be sold to existing manufacturers and for retrofitting to older machines, broadening the appeal of digital tech and accelerating its adoption in doing so.

The deal will be financed by Morgan Stanley Inc, and will involve a mixture of new debt, existing liquidity and the generation of an increased cash flow.

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Strutt & Parker has said farmland is remaining “extremely resilient” despite rising interest rates and a squeeze on farm profitability.

The property consultancy’s latest Farmland Database shows the average price of arable land sold so far during 2023 is £10,900.

This is lower than the £11,100/ac reported for HI 2023, but is the same as the 2022 average – which was 15% higher than 2021.

The Strutt & Parker database also revealed that, since 2000, arable farmland has outperformed the commercial and residential property sectors, and equities, delivering an annualised return of 7.8%

The value of arable farmland has risen by 29% over the past 10 years and by 351% over the past 20 years.

Head of estates and farm agency for Strutt & Parker, Matthew Sudlow, said: “Although it appears the growth in values has slowed in some locations, this is only because there have been fewer sales at £12,000/acre or more.

“Our analysis shows that 60% of the arable land traded in England this year has still sold for more than £10,000/acre, compared to 33% in 2021, highlighting the continued strength of the market.”

Demand for farmland

Sudlow said the feeling amongst agents is that demand is more variable for farmland than it was a year ago, but prime farms in popular areas of the country continue to sell well.

Buyers include farmers with rollover money to spend, private individuals, the investment sector and green investors.

“We’re also seeing some significant purchases from a handful of overseas buyers, who like the fact it is easier to buy at scale in the UK than in some other European countries,” he said.

“The UK’s appeal is being enhanced by our farming industry’s enthusiasm for adopting regenerative farming techniques.”

Traditional farmer buyers have accounted for around 40% of transactions so far in 2023. Historically, this figure tends to be 50-60%, Strutt & Parker said.

Supply rose in Q3 of this year, taking the total amount brought to the open market in England during the first nine months of the year to 65,600 acres, which is 9% above the five-year average.

There also continues to be “plenty of activity” on the private market, the consultancy said, but overall supply remains constrained in historical terms.

Positive outlook

Sudlow said the outlook for the coming year remains positive, although greater polarisation in values is a possibility.

“With demand becoming more variable, location is once again becoming an increasingly important factor in determining the price,” he said.

“The expectation is that the market is set to remain buoyant in the perennially popular areas of the country, such as the Cotswolds and counties close to London, and in other parts of the country where there are existing landowners looking to upsize.

“However, farms in traditionally less popular regions focused on productive farming may struggle to achieve the same level of interest as they would have seen last year.”

Levels of supply remain a talking point in the industry, Strutt & Parker said, with questions being asked about whether there could be a noticeable rise in the volume of land available, if farmers decide to sell up in the face of a difficult harvest, high input costs and falling Basic Payment receipts.

“While this is clearly a possibility, there is little hard evidence that it is happening yet,” Sudlow said.

Overall, the sentiment is that farmland remains a solid investment prospect, with a proven track record of capital growth, for a range of buyers, he said.

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The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is set to launch a new strategic dairy farm at the end of the month.

Dillington Farms near Ilminster, Somerset, will become one of the board’s strategic dairy farms on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.

The event will take place from 10:45a.m until 2:15p.m at the mixed farming business’s 870ha site.

The launch event will include:

• A tour of the farm with an opportunity to find out more about operations, performance figures and goals for the farm over the next three years;
• Insight on how the estate has incorporated mid-tier crops, grown on arable headlands, into the dairy and dry stock ration to achieve 3,700L of milk from forage;
• A discussion on how the team use growth and performance data to select replacements, with an age of first calving of 23 months;
• An exploration of how a three-way cross has led to high fertility and health cows while producing yields in excess of 10,800L/cow per year.

Dillington Farms

The in-hand farming enterprises of the Dillington estate are run by Ollie Blackburn with the help of Lou Thorner, the herd manager.

The herd based at Knott Oak Dairy currently comprises a dairy herd of around 350 cross-bred cows yielding approximately 10,800L/cow/year.

Around 130 replacement heifers are reared each year, with the remaining progeny being reared for beef in a separate enterprise.

The herd calves all year round and is fully housed – except for dry cows and second season heifers, which graze for five to six months of the year.

A purpose-built portal frame building accommodates all milking with its six robotic milkers and space for calving cows. Dry cows are housed in a separate cubicle shed when not grazing.

Calves are reared in group pens on automatic feeders before being moved to weaned pens and eventually into cubicles.

Grazing is provided from permanent pasture and parkland with a range of forages, including herbal leys and maize, being ensiled.

This farm focuses on home-grown feeds and is involved in an extensive mid-tier scheme, as well as renewable energy.

Strategic farms

AHDB’s strategic farms follow either an all-year-round or block calving system so participant farms can have real-world demonstrations and get ideas to make improvements on their farms.

“The farms are solid performers who openly and honestly share their experiences and performance figures at on-farm and virtual meetings,” AHDB said.

“You’ll hear about a range of topics from mastitis and managing calves to breeding and buildings.”

The Strategic Dairy Farm programme is funded by AHDB and the Betty Lawes Foundation.

AHDB is currently seeking more strategic farms. More information on becoming one can be found on the AHDB website.

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Ceva Animal Health has released a step-by-step guide and mobility improvement training videos on best practice in dairy cattle lameness management.

The guide and videos are designed for the ‘Fab Five’ foot treatment team – farmers, vets, foot trimmers, mobility scorers and nutritional consultants – to emphasis the importance of working together to improve herd mobility.

Ceva said the step-by-step guide highlights the importance of implementing a robust and ongoing treatment plan to improve cow comfort and reduce lameness in the short-term, with the aim of increased production and herd welfare in the longer-term.

The steps feature:

• Advice on reviewing whole herd mobility by an independent RoMS (Register of Mobility Scorers) accredited mobility scorer;
• Seeking veterinary advice or contacting a mobility mentor (someone who has been trained to deliver the ADHB Healthy Feet Programme) if lesions are identified;
• Treating affected cows within 48 hours of identification using a combination of trim, block, topical antimicrobial spray and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), as appropriate;
• The importance of ongoing treatment, prevention and monitoring every fortnight.

The guide also includes tips for the successful use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), which include the importance of using a NSAID with a zero milk withhold.

The lameness management videos are produced in collaboration with James Wilson, a foot health consultant from Herd Health Consultancy.

The videos feature contributions from professional foot trimmer and chair of the National Association of Cattle Foot Trimmers (NACFT), Alex Burrows; dairy farmer from Gleadthorpe Farm in Nottinghamshire, Dave Bacon; assistant herdsperson at Gleadthorpe Farm, Shannon Trinder; and veterinary surgeon and ruminant technical advisor at Ceva Animal Health, Harry Walby.

They cover the benefits of regular mobility scoring, prioritising lameness prevention in heifers and maintaining successes with practical and effective lameness treatment and prevention programmes across the whole herd.

Cattle mobility

Wilson, of Herd Health Consultancy, said he was delighted to be involved in the new dairy cattle mobility videos and guide as they provide “extesive advice” of lameness treatment.

As well as this, Wilson said the videos provide advice on prevention programmes and the importance of “rigorous mobility scoring”.

“Using this guide to help you prioritise mobility in heifers, particularly in regard to NSAID usage, will help to deliver measurable positive change to herd mobility,” he said.

Walby, of Ceva Animal Health, said: “Our new cattle lameness step-by-step guide and lameness management training videos provide invaluable advice to promote best practice and the planning and implementation of an effective and easy to follow herd mobility improvement programme which will help increase production and herd welfare.”

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Adama Agricultural Solutions UK Ltd. has appointed Michael Farr as the company’s regional agronomy manager in the South West of England.

In his role as regional agronomy manager for Adama, Farr will provide technical support and advice to growers, agronomists and trade partners in the South West of England.

Commenting on Farr’s appointment, Adama’s go-to-market director, Stephen Beal, said:

“I’m delighted to welcome Michael to Adama’s UK team where he’ll play an important role in promoting a better understanding of our extensive range of fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators, molluscicides and insecticides.

“Over the next few years Adama will be launching a pipeline of new crop protection products and I look forward to working closely with Michael and Adama’s wider agronomy support team to launch these products and provide key technical advice to customers, distributors, agronomists and growers throughout the UK.”

Michael Farr

Farr, who is FACTS and BASIS qualified, joins Adama having spent a brief period of time with FMC where he was an account manager in the UK and Ireland.

Prior to this, Farr’s agricultural career began when he joined United Oilseeds as a trainee area manager and seed sales administrator.

Here, he worked with growers to provide advice on crop marketing, seed purchases and variety selection, and offering technical agronomic advice.

He was also responsible for overseeing the company’s companion cropping trials.

Farr then spent nine years working for DSV, initially as an area sales manager in the south of the UK, selling a range of crop seeds including oilseed rape, maize, grass and clover, cover crops and cereals.

He then went on to become DSV’s forage manager and provided technical support for the company’s arable crop portfolio, and represented DSV at the BSPB crop group and was selected to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) committee for oilseeds.

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Aldi has been given the title of the UK’s most popular supermarket chain, after 84% of those surveyed by YouGov had a positive opinion of the retailer.

The retailer placed first in YouGov’s Q3 popularity rankings of UK supermarkets. The market research company uses millions of responses to continually monitor what the UK thinks about different brands, people and products.

Aldi was followed by Marks & Spencer Food (82%) in second place, Lidl (78%) in third place, Sainsbury’s (73%) in fourth place and Tesco and Tesco Express (72%) in fifth place.

Communications director at Aldi, Richard Thornton, said: “Low prices never go out of fashion which is why Aldi is – and will continue to be – loved by so many.

“Our unbeatable combination of high-quality products at low prices has helped us attract around a million new customers in the past year alone, but we’re not stopping there.

“We’re investing £1.4 billion over the next two years to help bring us closer to even more households.”

Aldi held the top spot overall for adults according to the YouGov survey but, within the Generation X and boomer survey groups, it was knocked off the top by Marks & Spencer Food.

Differences in men and women

Aldi was also number one in the overall male category, with 82% popularity.

It was followed by Lidl (77%), Marks & Spencer Food (73%), Tesco Express and Morrisons (both 71%).

In the overall female category, Marks & Spencer Food claimed the top spot, with 91% popularity.

It was followed by Aldi (86%), Sainsbury’s (81%), Lidl (79%) and Iceland (77%).

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The loss is averaged to be worth 5% of annual global agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) equivalent to $123 billion per year.

FAO released a report titled ‘The impact of disasters on agriculture and food security ‘ which has revealed an estimation for the effect of disasters on agriculture production.

It highlights the need for improving data on the impact of disasters on all subsectors of agriculture to create data systems that can serve as the base, where effective action can be constructed.

The report also indicates that losses related to major agricultural products are showing an increasing trend.

Loss of crops and livestock – FAO

The FAO report revealed the disasters on lower middle income countries affected 15% of their total GDP, inflicting the highest relative losses on them.

The disasters also affected small Island Developing States (SIDS), losing almost 7% of their GDP.

The loss of cereals in the last three decades, amounted to an average of 69 million tonnes per year. According to the report that loss is corresponding to the entire cereal production of France in 2021.

Fruits and vegetables and sugar crops underwent a near average loss of 40 million tonnes per year.

There was an average estimated loss of 16 million tonnes per year for meats, dairy products and eggs, which corresponded to the whole production of meats, dairy products and eggs in Mexico and India in 2021.

Director-General QU Dongyu of FAO stated: “Agriculture is one of the most highly exposed and vulnerable sectors in the context of disaster risk, given its profound dependence on natural resources and climate conditions.

“Recurrent disasters have the potential to erode gains in food security and undermine the sustainability of agri-food systems.”

He added that the publication, showcases a chance to address risks to the agricultural food systems.

It added that losses were higher in high-income countries, lower-middle-income countries and upper-middle-income countries, but low-income countries, and especially SIDS, suffered the highest incidence of losses in agricultural added value.

The most vulnerable farmers in the agri-food systems are smallholding farmers.

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The co-op, which has 3,200 farm families supplying two billion litres of milk annually, said the initiative is being introduced to support milk suppliers in light of continued high inputs.

It is designed to support suppliers who produce milk through the winter months. It is also to help spring-calving herds manage the winter dry period.

Winter feed support

The initiative will see a €20/t or £20/t rebate applied to all Lakeland Dairies dairy feed purchased by milk suppliers during the four months of November 2023 through to February 2024.

Commenting on the support initiative, Lakeland Dairies chairperson Niall Matthews said: “As a board and a business, we are always looking at innovative ways to support our farm family suppliers.

“This has been a challenging year for all milk producers and we are moving to support our suppliers over the 2023/2024 winter period with this strong dairy feed initiative.

“Whether farmers are spring-calving or those who produce milk through the winter months, this initiative will financially support them over what is traditionally an expensive time in the farming calendar.”

Lakeland Dairies general manager of Lakeland Agri, Mark Delahunty added: “We are looking forward to rolling out this support to our farm family suppliers.

“It’s a very simple support in that whether you buy 1t or 20t, all tonnes will be discounted by €20/£20 per tonne.

“The loyalty and support of our farm families over the generations is what has allowed us to have a strong business today.

“We are acutely aware of the challenges that 2023 has brought and are glad that we can help in some way to manage costs across the winter period.”

The co-op said that terms and conditions apply and farmers can contact their local Lakeland Agri representative for further information on the initiative.

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The two-day event, FoodTechIL, was due to take place from November 7-8, however the organisers have decided to postpone the event as result of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

It was due to bring more than 3,000 people to Tel Aviv and online with 75 Israeli startups to feature, as well as food tastings, global food-tech speakers and business-to-business meeting areas.

Israeli food summit

The event, which was scheduled to take place at Tel Aviv Cultural Centre, was organised by the Strauss Group in association with the Israel Innovation Authority and Ministry of Economy and Industry.

In a statement about postponing the event, organisers said: “To our dear speakers, startups, partners and guests. We are sorry to announce that following the severe terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, we are postponing FoodTechIL 2023.

“We will update you as soon as possible on the next steps regarding our summit. We highly appreciate your understanding and support in these sad moments.

“Our hearts are with the families of the dead, wounded and missing.”

Among the speakers who had been scheduled to speak at the summit were CEO and co-founder of Chunk Foods, Amos Golan, deputy under secretary with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Sanah Baig and chief information officer (CIO) with Danone Manifesto Ventures, Clemence Delcourt.

There is no indication yet if the event will be rescheduled for a future date.

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The union’s advice follows calls for farmers to be vigilant for signs of bluetongue virus (BTV-3) as reports of a new strain in the Netherlands emerged.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) confirmed the presence of BT-3 at four sheep farms in the Netherlands last month – the country’s first outbreak since 2009. The route of BTV-3 incursion into the Netherlands is currently unknown.

The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has since confirmed that as of September 29, 416 outbreaks of BTV-3 have been reported by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Bluetongue has also been confirmed in neighbouring Belgium this month, however the strain has yet to be named. BTV-8 has also been confirmed in France.

The UFU said farmers must be aware of current risks to help safeguard Northern Ireland’s livestock industry.

UFU deputy president John McLenaghan said: “In recent weeks a number of diseases are said to be circulating across Europe.

“A new strain of bluetongue was initially detected in Holland but has now spread into Belgium, and epizootic haemorrhagic disease has been detected in Southern France, having spread from Spain and Portugal.

“Whilst imports from Holland and Belgium are no longer possible as export conditions cannot be met due to the diseases circulating, local farmers need to be aware that animals originating from neighbouring jurisdictions could carry a significant risk.”

Should farmers buy livestock in Europe, McLenaghan said they need to be “extremely cautious” and report any possible signs of disease immediately.

“Farmers must also bear in mind that should their imported animals be infected by bluetongue or epizootic haemorrhagic disease, there is no compensation for animals that must be removed from the farm,” he said.

“This stresses the importance of protecting the herd and the farm business.”

BTV-3 symptoms

Symptoms of BTV-3 can vary across ruminants, with sheep generally exhibiting more overt symptoms than cattle, but both can showcase clinical signs.

Symptoms in sheep include:

• Drooling;
• Mouth lesions;
• High fever;
• Lameness;
• Oedema (swollen heads);
• Sudden death.

Cattle are not usually as severely affected but may show similar clinical signs as well as teat, eye, coronary band and nose lesions.

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The first survey of the 2023/24 harvest by Conab, the Brazilian government’s food supply and statistics agency, signals a “slight decrease” compared to the previous season.

The forecast has been influenced by the prospect of a decrease in average productivity due to a slight growth in the total area sown, which is expected to exceed 78 million hectares.

The 2022/23 grain harvest reached a new record at an estimated 293 million tonnes, representing an increase of 18.4% or 45 million tonnes in the amount of grain harvested when compared with the previous season.

Harvest

“From what projections indicate, we will have, at least, the second-largest harvest in the history of Brazil,” Edegar Pretto, president of Conab, said.

“It is necessary to monitor the development of crops and the adjustments that we will make throughout the season, which could result in this harvest’s production even surpassing that of the last harvest.

“However, even if it is not a new record, we expect a good harvest,” he said.

Conab estimates growth in both the planted area and productivity of soya beans, the main grain grown in Brazil, but at a slower speed than that recorded in the last crop year.

With an expected planned area of ​​40 million tons and an initial average productivity estimated at 3,586kg/ha, production should reach just over 162 million tons, the agency said.

If this forecast is accurate, the volume to be harvested will be a new record for the crop.

Brazil is anticipating that soya bean exports will remain high in 2024 with shipments of the oilseed estimated at around 92 million tonnes.

However, corn production is expected to drop to 107 million tonnes in the 2023/24 harvest due to a 4.8% reduction in the planted area and a similar decrease in average productivity.

Exports of corn are forecast to drop by around 27% as a result compared to the 2022/23 harvest.

Brazil

Conab is expecting a 7.7% increase in the volume of rice harvest compared to 2022/23, while bean production is anticipated to be 0.8% up on the previous season.

“The federal government has resumed public policies to stimulate food production, with announcements of harvest plans, the resumption of public purchases and the guarantee of minimum prices.

“These and other actions give positive signals to rural workers and we believe that the result we see in this announcement is related to this,” Pretto said.

With around 40% of crops harvested, Conab said that wheat crops show an increase in area of ​​around 12.1% and a reduction in productivity of 11.6%, compared to 2022, resulting in an expected production of 9.5 million tonnes.

Heavy rainfall and diseases associated with high humidity had a particular impact on crops in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.

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The Beef and Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) New Season Outlook 2023-24, published today (Wednesday, October 11), shows that global demand for beef and sheepmeat is expected to recover slightly.

However, ongoing increases in farm costs are anticipated to sharply reduce the incomes of sheep and beef farmers for the second year in a row.

The report states that profit before tax for 2023-24 is forecast to average NZ$88,600/farm (€50,354).

After adjusting this figure for inflation, this is equivalent to NZ$54,800/farm (€31,145) in 2004-05 terms.

B+LNZ said that this represents a 25% lower farm profit than what was recorded in 2004-05.

New Zealand

B+LNZ’s chief economist Andrew Burtt said that this will be another tough year for the country’s farmers.

“Farm-gate prices are expected to be similar to last season but increasing costs, driven by inflation and high interest rates, will continue to squeeze farm profitability.

“We’re forecasting farm profitability to fall by 31% for the 2023-24 year, which follows a decline of 32% in 2022-23 and means profits for farmers have more than halved in two years.

“This is a 15-year low, when you take inflation into account. The global outlook for the red meat sector remains fragile,” he said.

B+LNZ said that although demand is expected to recover slightly from last year’s levels, prices are expected to remain soft compared to the highs of two years ago, especially for lamb and mutton.

The pace of China’s economic recovery is also uncertain, while the economies of other key markets remain relatively weak.

Farmers in New Zealand will also face stiff competition from Australian red meat exports to China.

“There are further short-term downside risks on these forecasts, should China not recover as quickly as forecast, and if Australia suffers a strong drought its red meat exports would be higher than expected in New Zealand’s key markets,” Burtt added.

New Zealand exports over 90% of its meat production, so global economic conditions significantly influence farm-gate prices.

Profit

The B+LNZ report states that some farmers in New Zealand are likely to not make a profit this coming season.

“We expect profitability in all regions and farm classes will decline with sheep-dominant areas most affected, as lamb prices are likely to be flat for the coming season while beef prices are relatively good,” Burtt said.

“This lower profitability comes at a time when many farmers are continuing to rebuild farms in the wake of last summer’s cyclones and preparing for potential drought conditions in the coming months as a result of El Nino, which will impact the timing of sales for example.

“The B+LNZ forecast does not take into account the potential increased costs facing farmers from the government’s regulatory reform agenda,” he added.

The B+LNZ chief economist said that “money management is going to be critical this year”.

“Firstly, making sure every farm input is driving productivity and profitability and secondly, working proactively with bankers and accountants to best manage any debt and tax obligations,” he said.

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ABP Food Group has announced that it is joining the Harper Adams University school of sustainable food and farming delivery partner network.

The UK school is at the forefront of the development of sustainable farming methods and also in exploring methods to help British farmers with their pathway to achieving net zero.

This partnership comes in addition to ABP’s sponsorship of the professorship in sustainable beef and lamb production at the university.

The post, which is currently held by Prof. Jude Capper, is committed to leading the development of postgraduate research into sustainable meat production systems.

ABP

Prof. Capper’s team is currently working with research teams from ABP on the company’s demonstration farm in Shropshire.

The work initially focused on using a data-driven approach to improving the genetics available to the beef herd, so that beef animals grow faster by optimising their feed conversion ratio.

This means that the cattle are ready for slaughter at a younger age.

The ultimate aim of the partnership is to support the industry’s ambition of reducing emissions and demonstrate the industry’s climate credentials.

ABP is also working with 350 farmers across the UK to identify productivity improvements and understand the carbon cycle on their own farm

Commenting on the new partnership, Phil Hambling, UK head of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for ABP said:

“Our existing projects with Harper Adams University are helping us with evidence to dispel some of the myths about beef and lamb’s carbon footprint but also showing how we can improve productivity and benefit farm business resilience.

“Our partnership approach with farmers and Harper will ensure that we can build on our early progress, demonstrate how we can continuously improve and celebrate the positive story that British agriculture has to offer,” he said.

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North Yorkshire Council has refused planning permission for a solar farm and battery storage system on tenanted farmland in Old Malton, North Yorkshire.

The solar farm, had it been permitted, would have been built on 44.52ha of land currently farmed under a tenancy agreement by the Sturdy family, whose campaign ‘Save Old Malton Countryside’ had garnered national media attention.

The family welcomed today’s decision to refuse the planning application on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Today is a good day for [tenant farmers] as the [council] overwhelmingly refused the solar application on our farm. The application was recommended approval but the committee fully recognised the impact this development would have on our livelihood,” they said.

The news has also been welcomed by the Tenant Farmers’ Association (TFA), which last week called for the Prime Minister to get involved and reject the proposal.

“I am hugely delighted for Rob and Emma Sturdy who have fought a long-running battle against this inappropriate solar farm application,” TFA chief executive George Dunn said.

“The TFA has been pleased to have stood with them in their fight.

“It is good that the planning committee understood its responsibility to consider the impact on the personal circumstances of Rob and Emma as tenants of the site and also in respect of the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land.

“I am greatly appreciative of the due diligence of the planning committee even though its planning officer recommended approval of the application,” he added.

“We will wait to see if the developer decides to appeal this decision, but it sends a really crucial message to all other developers that they cannot treat tenant farmers as merely collateral damage.”

However, Harmony Energy, which submitted the planning application for the solar farm and battery energy storage system earlier this year, said it is “disappointed” at today’s outcome.

“We are disappointed by the decision made today, as renewable energy is critical in creating a sustainable future for everyone, ensuring the future security of the UK’s energy supply, whilst helping to meet global targets to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change,” it said.

“Unfortunately, despite our strong track record in the renewable energy industry, our transparency and cooperation with the public, and our careful planning and preparation, we will now have to revisit our plans and carefully consider our next steps.

“We are disappointed, but that will not stop us from pushing for a more sustainable and greener future.”

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The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a new freephone number for the food fraud hotline as new research estimates food crime costs the UK economy up to £2 billion a year.

The aim of the new hotline is to make it easier for people to “speak up and share their concerns”, FSA said.

In the latest update from its Food Fraud Working Group it also said it will work with industry on ways to encourage food fraud whistleblowing; strengthen information sharing between third-party auditors; and improve its warnings to food business about potential fraud in supply chains.

The FSA said that people are often unware they are a victim of food fraud, which can involve selling food or drink that isn’t what it says it is, or that includes cheaper ingredients than the ones listed on the label.

Earlier this year a food fraud investigation got underway after a UK supermarket was found to have meat products in its shelves labelled as British, when they were actually sourced from South America and Europe.

“The UK has some of the safest and most authentic food in the world, but there will always be a threat of criminality in the food system,” Emily Miles, CEO of the FSA commented.

“Food businesses are the first and most important line of defence and we want to support them.

“This is one of the reasons why we launched a working group to explore together whether some areas of our collective response to food crime can be improved.”

Membership of the FSA / food industry working group on food fraud include:

• The Food Standards Agency;
• The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers;
• The British Meat Processors Association;
• The British Retail Consortium;
• BRCGS;
• Chilled Foods Association;
• The Food and Drink Federation;
• The Food Industry Intelligence Network;
• Institute of Grocery Distribution;
• National Farmers’ Union;
• Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association;
• Northern Ireland Meat Exporters Association;
• Provision Trade Federation;
• Red Tractor;
• Salsa.

“Together, we’re making it easier to share intelligence and information by helping people who work in the food system to share their concerns with us freely and confidentially,” Miles said.

“Our research suggests that for businesses and consumers feeling the financial strain, the cost of food crime still matters.”

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Supermarket chain Waitrose is now using cow manure to power tractors at one of its farms in a bid to reach net zero.

The cow manure is produced by the 500 cattle kept at a Waitrose farm at the Leckford Estate in Hampshire and is harvested and upgraded, producing fugitive biomethane.

Executive director of Waitrose, James Bailey, said: “Two years ago we challenged ourselves to use Leckford as an experiment in farming best practices, to pave the way for genuine solutions to help conserve our soil, air and water for the future generations, and our biomethane lagoon does just that.

“An innovative example to help our farm and hopefully other farms, reach net zero.”

The cow manure not only fuels machinery, but significantly reduces the carbon footprint, the retailer said.

A facility has been built by Waitrose to provide sustainable fuel aimed to help cut down up to 1,300t of carbon per year.

The covered lagoon – which is the size of two and a half Olympic swimming pools – holds the energy rich fluid separated from farmyard manure.

The solid material is extracted as a digestate which is rich in nutrients and can be used as fertiliser for crops.

The process is circular, from grazing cows in the field to producing manure, which then captures the methane gas and refines it, Waitrose said.

This process leaves behind a natural fertiliser, which will be pumped directly back onto the fields. The monitoring system for the facility is also powered by solar panels on farm buildings.

Head of Leckford Estate, Andrew Hoad, said: “This is a new era for Leckford Estate farm. 

“We understand the positive impact farming can have on addressing the effects of climate change and nature loss. 

“Reduction in use of fossil fuels and capturing fugitive methane are an important part of us becoming carbon net zero as a farm, ahead of our 2035 partnership goal.”

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In a trading update update for the fourth quarter (Q4) and the full year ended September 29 2023, the company said that Q4 pro-forma revenue was 4% up year-on-year.

Pro-forma revenue at the group’s food to go division increased by 3% in Q4 and by 10% on an annual basis.

In the other convenience categories pro-forma revenues were up 6% in Q4 and by 22% on an annual basis.

Pro-forma revenue growth adjusts reported revenue to exclude the additional week of trading in the FY22 accounting period.

It also adjusts reported revenue in FY22 and FY23 to reflect Greencore’s disposal of Trilby Trading Limited at the end of September.

Greencore

Greencore, which operates 23 manufacturing units across 16 locations in the UK, anticipates that adjusted operating profit will be ahead of current market expectations in a range of approximately £74 million to £76 million.

The company is a leading manufacturer of food in the UK including sandwiches, chilled prepared meals, soups and sauces, salads, quiche and sushi.

Greencore’s net debt, excluding lease liabilities, is estimated to be approximately £155 million (FY22: £180 million) at year end.

This follows capital expenditure of £36 million and the completion of a further £10 million share buyback between May and August 2023.

In total, £35 million has been returned to shareholders to date since the group announced a recommencement of a value return to shareholders in May 2022.

It is intended that a further £15 million will be returned to shareholders through an additional share buyback programme starting today and running until no later than March 30, 2024.

Greencore said that this is part of the group’s wider commitment to return £50 million to shareholders by May 2024.

Dalton Philips, Greencore chief executive, said the company had delivered a strong second half performance in what was a difficult seasonal comparative period and against the backdrop of inflation and a challenging consumer environment.

“We continue to drive operational improvements across the business underpinned by our commitment to quality and customer service.

“While macro-economic uncertainty remains, we are pleased with the expected FY23 outcome and are committed to driving an improved financial performance in the period ahead,” he said.

Greencore will report its FY23 results for the year ending September 29, 2023 on November 28, 2023.

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Less than half of farmers have a succession plan and the percentage has not risen in three years, according to a recent survey from the insurance branch of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU Mutual).

NFU Mutual’s annual Voice of the Farmer survey interviewed a sample of more than 1,700 farmers from across the UK and found that just 48% have a succession plan in place in 2023.

36% do not have a plan because they don’t think it’s relevant to them, while 16% said succession planning is relevant, but they haven’t got round to it yet.

Farming specialist at NFU Mutual, George Belcher, said farmers have found it tough to plan with certainty over the past few years.

“The post-Brexit transition in subsidies, rampant inflation, slow pace of farming policy, and changing prices to food, fertiliser and fuel have all impacted the ability to put in long-term business plans,” he said.

“Deciding who to hand the farm down to and how to do that drops down the priority list when there are more immediate needs to tackle.

“But even in tough environments, the importance of future-proofing the farm does not disappear.”

Belcher said, in some cases, these challenges will have triggered a need to start thinking about succession, but even those farmers who don’t believe a plan is relevant to them can put in a series of small simple steps to protect their farm.

Protecting agri businesses

NFU Mutual said farms without a natural successor can still protect themselves.

Chartered financial planner at NFU Mutual, Sean McCann, said: “Even if now isn’t the right time to make a succession plan for your farm, there are still some simple measures you can put in place to protect its future.  

“Thinking of the ‘what ifs’ is a useful starting point, especially if you’re in a partnership.

“One of the great risks of a business partnership is that one of the partners may die, with his or her share of the business passing to someone else. That person may have little interest in the business or – at worst – may be hostile to your objectives.”

Equally, McCann said, a partner who suffers a serious illness may want to retain the option of continuing in the business or be compensated for their exit from the business.

“The ideal solution is to have a partnership agreement in place that sets out what happens if one of the partners dies, becomes seriously ill or wishes to exit the business,” he said.

“This, together with each of the partners having up to date wills in place, will help ensure the business ends up in the right hands at the right time.”

Financial security in later life

Another key consideration is how farmers are going to fund their income in later life, NFU Mutual said.

Over the past four years, the percentage of farmers with pensions has increased from 66% to 77%, and pensions have been identified by farmers as one of the most important financial management priorities, the rural insurer said.

“An increasing number of farmers are investing in pensions,” McCann said.

“Pensions can provide an independent source of income for the older generation, giving them the freedom to take less from the farm.

“This can be particularly important when two, and sometimes three, generations are relying on the farm for their livelihood.”

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11 rural businesses, community partnerships and individuals from across Scotland have won awards at the national Helping it Happen Awards.

Now in its seventh year, the Helping It Happen Awards aim to recognise the role of estates, rural businesses and community groups which help rural Scotland to “thrive”.

The awards are organised by rural business organisation, Scottish Land & Estates, and sponsored by NatureScot.

Chief executive of Scottish Land & Estates, Sarah Jane-Laing, said: “Huge congratulations go to our Helping It Happen Awards winners who exemplify everything that is great about rural Scotland.

“The independent judging panel took their time to deliberate over the awards after some hugely impressive shortlists were drawn up.

“All the winners and nominees make a considerable contribution to Scotland’s rural communities, economies and environment, often spending their own time and resources to be able to do so.”

Jane-Laing said the awards are designed to publicly recognise the “often unsung heroes” in rural Scotland.

“Their help and influence is vital in sustaining flourishing rural communities and motivating and encouraging others to follow their lead,” she said.

The full list of the awards, and their winners, is as follows:

• The award for Outstanding Contribution to Rural Scotland – Henry Graham;
• The Conservation Award – East Neuk Corn Bunting Project;
• The Education Award – The Cairngorms National Park Junior Ranger Project;
• The Enhancing Our Environment through Land Management Award – Scottish Invasive Species Initiative;
• The Innovation in Farming Award – Arbikie Highland Estate;
• The Iver Salvesen Award for Combatting Climate Change – Balbirnie Home Farms;
• The Rural Business Award – Leys Estate;
• The Rural Property Award – Active Kids Adventure Park;
• The Rural Rising Star Award – Claire Taylor;
• The Tourism & Visitor Management Award – Duncan McConchie;
• The Working with Communities Award – Communities Housing Trust.

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This year’s Welsh National Farmers’ Union (NFU Cymru) conference is set to feature discussions centred on climate change and agriculture’s net zero aspirations.

The event, titled ‘Welsh farming – Producing for the future‘, will take place on Thursday, November 2, at the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells.

The conference will kick off with an opening speech from NFU Cymru president, Aled Jones, and an address and Q&A with Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths.

The second session will then focus entirely on climate change and agriculture’s net zero aspirations.

Discussions will be led by the head of land, agriculture and nature at the UK Climate Change Committee, Dr Niki Rust.

Rust will be joined by future leaders fellow at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and senior lecturer in environmental data analytics at Cranfield University, Dr Michelle Cain.

Trade and consumer trends

The conference’s third session, focused on trade, will be led by partner at Flint Globally, Sam Lowe, who will provide commentary on the outlook for Wales in the global marketplace.

After a break, food and drink industry analyst Prof David Hughes will make a return to the conference to give insights into consumer trends and behaviours.

The final session will see NFU Cymru president Minette Batters take to the stage to provide her thoughts on what the future holds for UK farmers.

Speaking on the event, NFU Cymru director John Mercer said: “Each year we manage to attract the very best speakers to NFU Cymru Conference and our 2023 line-up promises to be one of our best events to date given the high calibre of speakers who have agreed to join us this year.

“The Agriculture (Wales) Act has paved the foundations to develop new devolved policy here in Wales and the Sustainable Farming Scheme will shape Welsh farming for many years to come.

“Given the anticipated changes to the policy landscape, Wales’ place in the global marketplace and the industry’s ongoing climate change challenges, I believe our expert line-up of guests will help inspire and inform those who attend.”

Mercer said the conference is a popular event among the union’s membership and encouraged interested members to confirm their attendance as soon as possible.

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Avara Foods technical field manager Hannah Cargill has won the 2023 Meat Business Women’s ‘One to Watch’ award.

The awards, in its fifth year, aims to recognise and celebrate young, ambitious women making their mark in the meat industry.

Meat Business Women said Cargill stood out from the eight finalists this year for her “vision to help create an industry fit for the future and by nominating herself for the prize”.

Judges also remarked on her resilience, and said they found it truly inspirational to interview her.

“The judges also commented that she had very clear aspirations for her career, combined with a commercial mindset and a strong drive, it is clear she will be strong leader in the future,” Meat Business Women said.

This year’s judges included: Margaret Boanas, chair of the International Meat Trade Association; Lucianne Allen, director at Aubrey Allen; Sean Dean, Bord Bia; and Jamilla Gordon, CEO of Lumachain.

Cargill received a £4,000 investment prize into her personal development and all 50 applications to the awards this year will receive personalised feedback on their applications.

Commenting on applications to this year’s award, Harriet Wilson, partnership director at Meat Business Women, said: “The calibre of applicants was so high this year, with strong representation from across the supply chain which is so encouraging for the future of the industry.

“Hannah showed total dedication and passion, so we’re extremely proud to name her our winner,” she added.

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New Zealand’s largest dairy company raised the 2023/24 season forecast farmgate milk price range to NZ$6.50 – $8.00 (€3.68-€4.53) per kilogram of milk solids (MS).

The co-op announced a new midpoint of NZ$7.25/kgMS, which is up 50 cents from the previous forecast.

Fonterra

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell said that the improved outlook reflects both supply and demand dynamics.

“Here in New Zealand we’re forecasting collections to be slightly below last season, while aggregate milk growth in key export countries is expected to be below average for FY24 [full year 2024].

“The El Nino weather pattern may have further impacts on supply, and this could be driving recent buyer sentiment,” he said.

“On the demand side, we have seen increases in recent Global Dairy Trade (GDT) events. While this has been encouraging, it is not yet clear whether the stronger demand from China will be sustained.

“For other key regions, customers remain relatively cautious in terms of their forward purchases,” Hurrell added.

The Fonterra chief executive warned that it is still “early days” when it comes to the amount of its 2024 sales book that the co-op has contracted.

“We still face significant exposure to volatility in commodity prices.

“Exchange rate volatility is another factor to keep in mind. Our foreign exchange hedging strategy is designed to help lessen the impact of this, and also supports a higher advance rate level than would be possible without hedging.

“We’ll continue to let our farmers and the market know as soon as we can when we think things have materially shifted,” Hurrell said.

Last month, Fonterra Co-operative Group reported a profit of NZ$1.6 billion – up 170% – for the financial year to July 31, 2023.

The co-op, owned by 9,000 farmers, also reported a final 2022/23 season farmgate milk price of NZ$8.22/kgMS.

It also reported full-year milk collections of 1,480 million kgMS . 

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Researchers from the James Hutton Institute are seeking arable and mixed farmers to help shape a new mobile phone app aimed at helping tackle on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Farmers are invited to attend a test-drive and workshop event on November 9, 2023, at Glensaugh research farm near Laurencekirk.

During the workshop, researchers from the James Hutton Institute will demonstrate the app prototype, which, alongside on-farm sensors, will estimate GHG emissions.

As well as this, it will point to ways to reduce and help store more carbon in arable and mixed systems, the institute said.

The event will also feature a discussion about the drivers and challenges of reducing emissions, a tour of Glensaugh – including the institute’s Climate-Positive Farming Initiative – and a talk about cutting carbon in arable farming from plant physiologist and soil scientist Prof Tim George.

Project leader Dr Jagadeesh Yeluripati said: “Our goal is to give farmers a way to identify practices that may effectively reduce their GHGs and also use their soil to store more carbon.

“This workshop is a unique opportunity to shape and improve this innovative technology.

“Together, we can identify the driving forces behind emissions, enhance usability and maximise its impact.”

The event on November 9 will run from morning to early afternoon and includes lunch. Farmers registering for the event will be paid travel expenses and compensated for their time.

The workshop is part of the Scottish government funded TRANSITION project.

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Planning consultancy Roger Parry & Partners has said the “huge barriers” facing Welsh farming families seeking housing need to be addressed.

Partner at the consultancy, Richard Corbett, said it is aware of a “massive problem in a Wales where housing is needed for farming families”.

Roger Parry & Partners said it is leading discussions in getting planning policy and government proposals to address the issue, which it said is “vital for agricultural businesses to surprise”.

Corbett said: “Farms face huge barriers to provide future generations with housing.

“We want to take things further and make the discussion more important in planning policies and government proposals.”

During the Royal Welsh Show in July, the planning consultancy hosted a workshop to discuss everything about housing on farms.

Roger Parry & Partners’ in-house planning consultants Richard Corbett, Gerallt Davies and Gail Jenkins were joined by planning barrister from No5 Barristers Chambers, Sioned Davies, and former Wales YFC Chair, Caryl Haf, at the event held in the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) pavilion.

Royal Welsh Show

Super early bird tickets are already on sale for the 2024 Royal Welsh Show, which will take place from Monday, July 22, until Thursday, July 25.

The four-day long event of livestock and equine competitions also includes different activities in all realms of agriculture.

Activities in forestry, horticulture, crafts, countryside sports, shopping and food and drink are featured at the event.

As well as this, there is a 12-hour programme each day of entertainment, attractions and displays.

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Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal, visited free range egg producer St. Ewe Free Range Eggs to open a new grading and packing centre.

The Princess Royal, Anne, visited the site on Wednesday (October 4) to open the purpose-built packing centre, which is a result of the company expanding its processing facilities and upgrading its production infrastructure.

Chief executive of St. Ewe Free Range Eggs, Bex Tonks, said: “We are honoured to have had HRH the Princess Royal officially open our packing centre, and hope that it will demonstrate how our British family business supports other family farms around the UK.

“If it wasn’t for their dedication to farming and the hard work of our whole team, St. Ewe Free Range Eggs wouldn’t be where they are today.

“British farmers play such an important role in nurturing the nation’s food system, as well as delivering a wide range of environmental and rural community benefits which span well beyond the farm gates.”

Tonks said supporting British produce has “never been so important” and that the company feels proud to be part of “this magnificent industry”.

“I speak on behalf of the whole St. Ewe family when I say that it marked a huge moment for us, as we reflect, with huge pride, on our combined achievements over the past 41 years,” she said.

St. Ewe Free Range Eggs

The company’s packing centre spans 50,000 square feet and, along with specialist machinery, has enabled the business to continue to thrive and step change its growth from one million eggs/week to two-to-three million eggs/week at present.

“With the processing capacity of the business having increased more than five-fold, this in turn has generated more employment opportunities within the local community,” the company said.

The Tonks family diversified into poultry in 1982 and founded St. Ewe Free Range Eggs in 2007, when they began packing their own free range eggs for the supermarkets under their own brand.

The Princess Royal, Anne, was invited to unveil a plaque to commemorate the opening of the new grading and packing centre and was presented with a Cornish hamper by the Lucia Tonks – seven-year-old daughter of the chief executive, Bex Tonks.

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The company has held two demo days of late, the second being at Dunleer in Co. Louth, which gave both dealers and farmers the opportunity to have a look at the machines in the sticky conditions of this autumn.

Tractors on display

The day had been organised in conjunction with Quail Machinery of Skerries, Co. Dublin, the Deutz Fahr dealer for the area, which also has the agency for Pottinger, which also supported the event.

Deutz Fahr has not always appeared the most ambitious when it comes to marketing in Ireland, although it is always one of the top three brands sold in Germany, along with Fendt and John Deere.

These two days marked a renewed interest by the company in raising its profile here.

To hold a successful demo day you not only need the people to attend, but also the product to attract them, and Deutz Fahr did not lack in this department by any means with 13 tractors on display, 10 of them working.

Of particular interest in Ireland are those tractors falling into the 120hp to 200hp bracket and the company has this segment well covered with no less than four different sub groups within its 6 Series range which spans this power segment.

Selection by transmission

To a casual observer, the philosophy of the engineers at Deutz Fahr appears to be that the transmission type is of as much importance as engine size and configuration when it comes to buying a tractor.

This approach has its merits as engine performance and reliability throughout the industry is more evenly matched than it ever was, and so the attention shifts to other core elements of a tractor in a bid to distinguish it from the competition.

Deutz Fahr has settled upon offering four transmission options, although they are not all available across the board, and these themselves are variations on two gearbox types.

The first is a mechanical five range type which has six splits, or ratios, within each range, giving 30 forward speeds, while the second transmission type are CVT units which come in two different flavours.

The basic transmissions are the Power Shift (PS) boxes which are of mechanical drive and have the ranges selected by gearstick with six powershift ratios in each range.

Move on to the RC boxes and the range change is also operated by powershift.

Virtual gears

Taking another step up brings us to the CVT boxes, the smaller of which is the RV model which is a CVT unit that mimics the action of stepped gearbox.

This arrangement is unique to Deutz Fahr and has attracted mixed reviews from the media with questions asked as to why burden a CVT with the limitations of a fixed ratio gearbox?

The answer is better understood when it is realised that this box is only available on the recently introduced 6.4 Series which Deutz Fahr has designed as the ultimate crossover tractor between smaller stockman’s machines and larger tillage tools.

The operation of the box is simple, push the joystick forward and it goes up a virtual ratio, pull it back and it drops one.

This brings the simplicity and familiarity of powershift transmissions to CVT drives, in a sector where tractor driving may not be the main role of the operator.

It is this 6.4 Series of tractors, from 127hp to 171hp, that are considered highly suitable to the Irish market where grassland farmers are looking for adaptable machines and tillage customers still want a unit that can handle large mounted implements.

If a full-on constantly variable transmission is required, then the TTV gearbox fits the bill and is Deutz Fahr’s very own design and make of CVT.

It retains a two-range function as the company believes this still gives better economy than a one-ratio unit, especially if field work, rather than transport, is the major use.

The TTV transmission is also fitted to a number of tractors in the 5 Series at the other end of the power scale, although they are aimed more at the continental market.

Deutz Fahr cabs keep you connected

The cab is another core component of a tractor and Deutz Fahr has fitted its medium to larger tractors with a unit that is both functional, comfortable and homely.

For the time being at least, the company provides a working environment that does not pretend to be something more than just a tractor.

Sat behind the wheel, the operator is still aware that they are driving a tool of agriculture rather than an intergalactic express train.

There is a proper dashboard and a connection with the ground that some other ultra modern tractors lack; it may not be all bells and whistles but you know that you are farming, without the rough edges, and that, for many, is an essential element of the job.

Pinpoint precision

Tractor companies cannot let any opportunity to show off their digital technology pass by and Deutz Fahr is no exception with an impressive display of the accuracy of its RTK satellite system.

Topcon provides the hardware for the tractors while the software is produced by the company, with all the features that we have come to expect from satellite navigation systems, including headland turns and management.

With the A-B baseline set in the system, the tractor located where it was, and where it should be, and locked in on the lines in a very short time.

The accuracy of its positioning was highlighted by David Jefferson, of SDF (Deutz Fahr’s parent company) placing a 1c coin in the middle of the field and marking its location on the screen.

With careful attention to the screen and some steady driving it was possible to park the tractor right next to the coin and find it in the stubble with very little hesitation.

Being the top end RTK system, this result is repeatable over the years thanks to the use of a base station to correct for satellite drift.

There is no doubt that Deutz Fahr designs and builds a premium product and that product enjoys great success in other markets.

By bringing the tractors out into the field, the company has demonstrated not only its competence, but its desire to bring that sales success to Ireland.

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The Welsh government has announced £80,000 in funding for the Welsh Farm Safety Partnership to raise awareness of farm safety.

The funds will go towards the setting up and hosting of events, working with schools and the Wales Young Farmers Club (YFC), as well as a new children’s book on staying safe on farms.

Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths, made the funding announcement while on a visit to Richard Pilkington’s farm at Shordley Hall near Hope in Flintshire.

While making the announcement, Griffiths said: “Our farmers do a fantastic job, but we know the work they do can be dangerous too.

“We have sadly seen the stories of tragic incidents on farms in Wales and one incident is one too many.

“This funding will be important in raising awareness of the dangers on farms, helping farmers, their families and visitors to understand the risks and how to stay safe.”

Pilkington, of the 365ha dairy, arable and sheep farm, said: “It’s been great to welcome the minister to Shordley Farm to show the important work which takes place here.

“Many farmers often work alone which can make working safely a real challenge.

“I’m pleased the funding being announced will help promote the importance of safety on farms across Wales.”

Farm safety in Wales

Newly appointed ambassador for the Wales Farm Safety Partnership, Beca Glyn, sustained serious injuries from a quad bike accident on her family farm in 2018.

The North Wales beef and sheep farmer said she has since been on a mission to raise the profile of farm safety and promote safe working practices.

The £80,000 in funding awarded to the Wales Farm Safety Partnership, which is a collaboration of agricultural organisations, will be used to help drive down the number of serious incidences and death on Welsh farms.

“I think it helps for farmers to listen to someone who has made a mistake and has had first hand personal experience of what can go wrong and the consequences of that,” Glyn said.

“…we want to spread the important message of how farmers can get better at making their farms safer places to work and live, and today’s announcement will help with this aim.”

Glyn believes farm safety is moving in the right direction in Wales, but there is still more to be done.”

“We can all improve, whatever our farm or system, not only for our sakes but for our families and visitors to the farm like our vets,” she said.

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The Welsh branch of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU Cymru) and NFU Mutual are seeking this year’s Livestock Champion, who will go on to work within the agricultural industry in Wales.

The ninth winner of the Welsh Livestock Champion of the Year award will receive £500 and a Welsh Royal Crystal trophy.

The closing date for entries is Monday, October 30, and the winner will be announced at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells on Monday, November 27, 2023.

The award seeks to highlight the dedicated, committed an enthusiastic livestock people from all across Wales.

Chair of NFU Cymru’s livestock board, Rob Lewis, said: “In Wales we have some of the best quality beef and sheep in the world, produced to the highest animal health and welfare standards.

“This award aims to celebrate excellence amongst Welsh livestock producers.

“We want to recognise the key role an exceptional livestock person can make to a livestock farm, and to the Welsh livestock industry as a whole.”

Lewis said potential winners will be judged on:

• Management of the flock/herd;
• Animal health planning;
• Breeding programme;
• Stock handling skills;
• How health and safety is incorporated into day-to-day activities on-farm;
• Vision for the future of the industry.

NFU Mutual group secretary, Mike Thomas, said: “Welsh farmers are amongst the best stockpeople across the world and this competition does a great job in showcasing and celebrating their skills.

“During challenging times for livestock farmers, it’s vital that these skills are maintained and are able to thrive for future generations, and, as the leading rural insurer in Wales, NFU Mutual is delighted to be sponsoring the award again.”  

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Agricultural and environmental research organisation, the James Hutton Institute, has announced the election of four new members to its board.

The new board members include: international consultant, Anne MacColl; chief operating officer and deputy vice-chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University, Susan Mitchell; senior manager for finance and revenues for Clackmannanshire Council, Lindsay Sim; and company executive for Heinz, Carlsburg and HP, Robin Walker.

Walker has also been appointed chair of James Hutton Limited, the institute’s commercial arm.

Together, the James Hutton Institute said the new directors bring a “wealth of organisational and business development, financial and community experience”.

They will help with the research organisation’s work across land, crops, water and the environment at its sites in Aberdeen, Invergowrie, Balruddery and Glensaugh.

Chair of the institute’s board, Susan Davies, said: “I’m delighted to welcome our new board members to the Hutton.

“This is an incredibly exciting time to be joining this organisation as we work to address some of the fundamental challenges facing us today, across food security, energy and the environment.

“Our new members bring a wide range of skills that will support our major projects, including the international barley hub and advanced plant growth centre, as part of the Tay Cities Deal, and our HydroGlen and just transition hub projects, supported by the Scottish government.”

Davies thanked the former James Hutton Institute chair, Ian Gambles, for “guiding the institute’s strategic direction” and for guiding investment on the new initiatives.

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The Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers (IAAS) has said that high frequency electronic tagging could revolutionise the livestock industry.

The new president of the IAAS, Alan Hutcheon, met with the Under Secretary of State for Scotland, John Lamont, at ANM marts at Thainstone earlier this week to demonstrate the tagging system.

Hutcheon is also a director at ANM, which has trialled the high frequency tagging in a live mart situation.

“High frequency electronic tagging is essential for the future of our industry,” Hutcheon said.

“Having a single source digital database of all cattle movements will improve the efficiency and traceability across the supply chain, reduce the administrative burden that surrounds it and enhance animal welfare and staff safety.

“It also has the potential to help reduce red tape around exports and manage disease outbreaks.”

UHF technology

With the Scottish government due to announce a date for the compulsory use of ultra-high frequency (UHF) tags in the beef supply chain, Hutcheon said this technology can improve efficiencies and reduce costs for the sector.

“It’s so impressive and it’s only when you see it in action that you appreciate the savings in time and management, and importantly also for the health and safety for those working in the marts,” he said.

“The reader can quickly record numerous animals at a safe distance. It’s quick, it reduces the cross checking and paperwork, and it instantly creates easy traceability throughout the supply chain.”

ANM and ScotEID have been collaborating to trial UHF electronic tagging in a commercial situation in conjunction with farms and abattoirs.

Hutcheon said the technology has been through rigorous testing and continuously iterated over the last 10 years to ensure it is user-friendly, practical and accurate in both farm and mart conditions.

“It was a pleasure to show Mr Lamont and his team around the mart to discuss our industry and to be able to demonstrate so clearly the merits of ScotEID and why we need to fast track it into use, for farmers, for the marts, for abattoirs and meat wholesalers,” Hutcheon said.

Hutcheon said paper passports are costing tens of thousands of pounds to produce ever year and that this money could be redirected.

“If we could redeploy these government funds to support farmers and marts in the uptake of ScotEID, it would significantly support the industry to modernise and be more efficient, traceable, and less costly for all,” he said.

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Former Scotland rugby captain and livestock farmer Rob Wainwright will join the Stirling Bull Sales this month for an event focussed on rugby, farming, and motor neuron disease (MND).

Insights with Rob Wainwright: Rugby, Farming and MND will take place the morning of Monday, October 23.

The Stirling Bull Sales take place from Sunday, October 22, to Monday, October 23, at the United Auctions’ Stirling Agricultural Centre where 629 pedigree cattle will be put forward for show and sale.

Wainwright will share his personal take on the Rugby World Cup in France, his own career, his farming life on the island of Coll and his ambassadorial work fighting to find a cure for MND.

The 45-minute conversation will be co-hosted by United Auctions and the Bull Sales sponsor – Scottish independent property consultancy, Galbraith. 

While the event is free to attend, donations to the MND charity ‘My Name’5 Doddie Foundation’ are encouraged, and collection buckets will be available at the agricultural centre.

Following the conversation, Wainwright will present a championship prize in the pre-sale show of Limousins before attending the judges’ lunch.

Managing director of United Auctions, George Purves, said: “The farming and rugby communities are deeply interconnected.

“We’re pleased to co-host Rob, a familiar face at our sheep sales, as a distinguished guest.

“With the Rugby World Cup in focus, we anticipate that our customers and rugby enthusiasts will eagerly engage in the conversation.”

Partner at Galbraith, Alistair Christie, said the property consultancy is thrilled to welcome Wainwright and have the opportunity to see his insights and experience as “a rugby star farmer and MND ambassador”.

“It’s also a great platform to highlight his up-and-coming ‘All Roads Lead to Rome’ challenge for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation in March 2024,” he said.

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Power harrow/drill combinations are a particular case in point; both elements can be heavy, especially if the hopper is full, rendering wider machines too weighty for the new breed of power dense tractors.

Fold for transport

Pottinger’s answer to this has been to make a folding trailed version of its Aerosem machines that are no more than 3m wide for transport and place little weight on the tractor itself.

The drills were launched last year and have eventually arrived in Ireland with the 5m version, the VT5000, being demonstrated at the Deutz Driving days recently.

What immediately sets the drills apart from others is the position of the seed hopper. Rather than sitting laterally above the power harrow element, it has been moved forward and is mounted longitudinally on the drawbar.

By placing it in this position Pottinger’s engineers have created room for the harrow beds, with coulters attached, to fold vertically and so keep the transport width down to 3m.

Some of the weight of the seed will also be transferred to the rear of the tractor, aiding grip without the need for additional weights.

VT5000 power requirement

On the day, the VT5000 was hitched to a 280hp Deutz Fahr 8 series tractor which, as Paul Flynn, sales manager for Pottinger Ireland pointed out, was a good deal larger than required, but the event was intended to demonstrate the tractors rather than the implements.

A minimum of 150hp is listed on the spec sheet but he suggests that 160hp to 200hp would be the ideal tractor for the combination, putting it right in line with many of the tractors found on tillage farms and in contractors’ yards.

Paul said that this is exactly the intention, and he feels that the VT5000 will fit right into many farming and contracting operations as it provides a generous working width without the need for a heavy and over powerful tractor to hang it from.

Heavy cultivation still needed

Pottinger also had lighter cultivation equipment present, including the Rotorcare mechanical weeder, but this is more targeted towards min-till operations rather than primary cultivation.

Paul points out that the catchy conditions of this autumn have shown that there is still very much a need for tools, such as the power harrow and plough, that can establish a crop in adverse seasons.

The new VT series combination drills come in working widths of 5m or 6m and are available with all the features associated with the Aerosem range.

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Accountancy and financial planner Old Mill has predicted dairy farm profits to drop rapidly in the coming year, and has urged businesses to adapt to manage cashflow over the winter.

According to the ‘Milk Cost of Production‘ report by Old Mill and the Farm Consultancy Group (FCG), the reverse of higher yielding, year-round calving herds making the most of last year’s high milk prices is set to happen.

Profits are forecast to drop back to £415/cow in 2023/24, due to high costs and reduced income, down from a high of £914/cow between 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Rural administrator at FCG, Annabel Hole, warned that volatility is set to continue – and there will be some losses made in the short term.

However, efficient dairy producers will continue to make profits in the longer term – although they should beware large tax bills in January 2024 when some of the lowest milk prices of the past 18 months will be paid, she said.

“With interest rates 5%+ higher, basic payments declining, and extra investment required to comply with water and environmental regulations, there is a cash squeeze looming,” she said.

“Mistakes in the next 12 months will be punished severely, financially.”

Input costs

Rural accountant at Old Mill, Dan Heal, said the year to March 31, 2023, is the only year in the last five where milk income alone has comfortably covered the cost of production for dairy businesses.

However, this summer has deviated from this drastically, he said.

“Looking back over a five-year period, the year to March 31, 2023, is the only year where milk income alone has comfortably covered the cost of production,” he said.

“This is a clear signal of supply and demand being out of balance.

“But summer 2023 has taken a very different path, with milk prices falling quickly, and some costs remaining stubbornly high.”

Although costs are falling, Heal said the cost base for inputs is still 30% higher than two years ago due to electricity costs doubling, feed still being 40% higher and most fertiliser having been bought forward at double current market prices.

2021 – 2023 dairy profits

The Milk Cost of Production report showed that average profits increased by 146% between 2021/22 and 2022/23, to £914/cow.

This was due to a 56% increase in milk income/cow (given both higher yields and milk prices) and increased non-milk income (like calf and heifer sales), Old Mill said.

Combined, that more than offset the higher input costs, which rose from £2,300/cow to £3,182/cow.

The figures don’t include rent, interest, drawings, tax, capital expenditure or basic payments, and include a labour charge of £30,000 per full-time partner or director.

The gap between the top and bottom 10% of herds continues to widen, with the former making £1,668/cow profit versus the latter at £187/cow, Old Mill said.

“Larger, higher yielding herds were more suited to the market conditions of 2022/23,” Heal said.

“These systems typically perform well in times of high prices, although have high cost bases for when prices fall.”

Heal said there are some common themes among the best performing herds: They benchmark their costs of production, are involved in discussion groups, are willing to change, and plan and budget ahead.

The type of system is irrelevant, he said, as there is a mix of both in top and bottom 10% of herds.

“Farming efficiently relies on the farmer and is not based on the system which is run,” he said.

“We’re confident that producers who manage their businesses effectively will be able to weather the more difficult periods as well as take advantage in the good times.”

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Speaking at the Farm Progress Show held in Iowa recently, he indicated that New Holland was going to toughen its stance on dealers that stocked products from other manufacturers which competed with its own machinery lines.

His comments were uncompromising in their intent and will have put many New Holland dealers on alert, not just in America, but worldwide as company policy tends to apply, eventually, to the whole distribution network.

He did not dwell on specifics, no other companies or particular product categories were mentioned, yet he admitted that “we will not eliminate all (competing brands) because some OEMs will resist”.

For Lambro, it is not just a question of the dealers shuffling their brands around to appease New Holland, it is a question of cementing the partnership between dealer and manufacturer.

He stressed that dealers will need “to decide if they want to be really on board to be true blue dealers, trusting the brand or not”.

“If they trust the brand, I think that the brand can provide all the support, product, service, machinery, financing, whatever they need,” he said.

This gives every indication that New Holland is intent on closing the gap that exists between themselves and the dealers.

Naturally, they will want a return on the support provided which will doubtless encroach upon a dealer’s independence.

New Holland plans expansion

In Ireland, there are many smaller dealers who are unwilling to take on a big brand franchise as they fear this very loss in independence, and the news of other manufacturers withdrawing franchises overnight will not help settle the nerves.

With regards to the North American market, he noted that the company should “rationalise” its network, saying that New Holland will also be looking to expand its dealer presence in North America with Texas and Florida being two states where he feels that the company needs to be better represented.

Over the past year, the number of dealers globally has remained static at 1,779, yet the number of points of sale has decreased by 502 to 3,529, indicating that that certain degree of rationalisation is already underway.

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A group of farming and research organisations are teaming up in a bid to better understand the research and innovation priorities for farmers and growers across the UK.

This autumn, a series of workshops hosted by the National Farmers Union (NFU); the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB); Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF); and Innovative Farmers, among others, will ask farmers what research would be most useful to their business, now and in the long term.

The groups will hear views from all major agricultural sectors, across a wide diversity of farming systems. 

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is one of the organisers of the research. Prof Tom MacMillan, the Elizabeth Creak chair in rural policy and strategy at RAU said: “The need for innovation in agriculture has never been more urgent.

“Our industry is grappling with rapid changes in policy and trade, heightened volatility, and climate and nature crises.

“Research is vital to help understand these challenges and find ways to address them. As researchers, there is certainly more we can do to make sure our work is truly relevant on the ground.”

Workshops and research

The workshops are supported by organisations including Innovate UK and the Agricultural Universities Council (AUC), which brings together 16 UK universities that carry out research in agriculture.

In May, the AUC published its joint research strategy setting out how the universities would work together to help address challenges facing farming.

Top of the list was working more with farmers and others at the sharp end, to understand their priorities and shape the research agenda.

Chief science advisor for the NFU, Dr Helen Ferrier, said: “It is so important that the voices of farmers and growers are heard when research strategies are developed.

“These are the people who will be turning scientific knowledge into practice in their businesses and they therefore play a key role in enabling Government funding to show a return on investment.

“The positive impact of innovation in our sector can be extremely significant if the research and development and knowledge exchange system works well.”

Challenge director at Innovate UK, Dr Katrina Hayter, said: “Innovate UK recognises the importance of the agri-food sector, understanding its vital role in both the UK economy and environmental sustainability.

“To maintain and enhance this role, we need to continually reassess our strategies and identify the sector’s key research and innovation priorities.

“We are pleased to provide our support to this multidisciplinary initiative and extend our thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the workshops and the creation of the final report.”

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Dr. Debbie McConnell, who took up the role of principal group scientist, a new position within the business, last month has a passion for the livestock industry.

McConnell joined the group from Lakeland Dairies (agri-business division), having previously held senior research positions at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (agriculture branch) and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (dairy division).

According to Northern Ireland based AI Services she has brought a wide range of experience to the new role,

Originally from a dairy, beef and sheep farm, McConnell has worked in a number of research roles, within industry and on commercial farms within the UK and Republic of Ireland livestock sector for the past 11 years.

According to the principal group scientist she is delighted to have joined the team at AI Services.

Genetics

In her latest role she will work across the AI Services Group with a particular focus on the introduction and adoption of new science and technology both within the group and on farm.

Dr. McConnell said: “It has been exciting to see the range of breeding indices, traits and tools on offer to farmers increase markedly in recent years as our understanding of genetics and our ability to capture data from animals increases.

“I look forward to working with the team across the group to help ensure farmers are gaining maximum value out of these developments, and help them build their herds for the future.”

The development of effective breeding policies has always been a “cornerstone” of improved herd performance, according to the AI Services Group.

The farmer-owned company, which has around 2,500 farmer shareholders, believes there is a growing recognition of the role that genetic improvement will play in delivering future sustainability for the milk sector.

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The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is seeking a head of campaigns, digital and brand.

The chosen candiate will avail of a £75,000 annual salary and will have a choice of location at one of Defra’s hubs – either in York, Newcastle, Bristol or London.

Applications for the position close at 11:55p.m on Sunday, October 15, 2023.

Defra said the chosen deputy director will lead a “highly motivated” team of communication professionals to deliver the department’s campaigns and digital strategies.

“This role requires a leader with expertise in creating an inclusive, agile and creative culture working in a communications environment supporting multiple organisations,” Defra said.

“As a leader you will drive and cultivate a team of communication professionals to deliver integrated digital and campaign expertise, while creating a culture of innovation.”

Job description

The department said the chosen candidate will be a leader, with expertise in creating an inclusive, agile and creative culture working in a communications environment within a large organisation.

The responsibilities of the head of campaigns, digital and brand will include:

• Lead teams delivering the in-house capability to deliver professional, creative and innovative campaigns and digital content;
• Create and deliver a culture where campaigns and digital communications are delivered as a single strategy;
• Lead a campaigns and brand function delivering paid for campaigns for Defra and its arms length bodies and professional brand and design expertise, and a digital engagement and creative content team responsible for managing channels for Defra and its ALBs and creating high quality, expert content;
• Equip the team with the skills and capability to deliver prioritised communications which are based on insight and are targeted across a range of channels to key audiences;
• Oversee the development of digital and design ensuring that work is appropriately prioritised, planned, budgeted and external agencies are utilised in line with contracts;
• Develop the team to be agile to enable delivery across competing priorities ensuring work is delivered to the highest standard while meeting Defra objectives;
• As a senior leader in the department build strong, positive relations with ministers, special advisers, key external stakeholders and senior policy colleagues;
• Work with Government Communication Service colleagues to ensure that Defra is delivering campaign and high-level design to professional standards which meet government priorities.

Defra said candidates will need to be able to show through their applications that they have the professional skills and experience for the role.

The department said candidates must be professional communications leaders who have a proven track record of this.

As well as this, they must have experience within an integrated digital and campaign environment in a large business or agency.

More information on this position, and its criteria, can be found on the Defra website.

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Glastry Farm is a specialised dairy farm which extends to 247ac owned, as well as a further 190ac leased at Kircubbin, on the Ards Peninsula of Co. Down.   

The farming enterprise is run by Gareth and Liz Taylor, the sixth generation of Taylors on this farm, dates back to 1856 and was originally 58ac.

The seventh generation, Amy, Isla and Tom take an interest in the farming activities but are at this point, of school age.

Will Taylor is the fifth generation. He takes care of the Glastry Farm ice cream side of the business, having diversified in 2004. He says things are going well, but that a lot of effort goes into that.

“We have a rainfall of 28-30in (850mm) year-on-year with all grass/clover leys, 45ac of forage maize and 15-20ac of winter wheat,” he said.

“This is the base ration for our pedigree dairy herd and ensures that there is a reseeding policy built into the system.

“The 300-cow pedigree dairy herd is the engine that drives the farm, it has been self-contained for a generation.

“The only outside purchase is an Aberdeen Angus bull every third/fourth year as a heifer ‘sweeper bull’ with an exemplary health background,” he added.

“This is mostly because the region has 18% of herds under TB restrictions with all the associated cashflow implications plus the possible loss of a lifetime of breeding endeavour.”

Genetics and yield at Glastry Farm

The current herd genetic gain in the black and white breed is rapid over the past decade and more so at Glastry, where the milk recording, according to the National Milk Records (NMR) report for August 12, 2023, showed the rolling average milk yield was 10,632kg.

Perhaps more significantly, the rolling average for fat is quite spectacular in that it is 4.72% fat and 3.41% protein.

“That would be very much ahead of the pack in terms of the Northern Ireland or Irish average in terms of both volume and in terms of components,” he added.

So, how does that come about?

“We have almost 80% of the herd in excellent (EX) or very good (VG) status and genomic data on the females, as well as sires that are being used, to improve rapidly our genetic gain and herd performance,” Will continued.

“There is a very clear relationship between the genetic potential of the herd and the efficient use of inputs, particularly, feed.

“We need to bring super management allied with superb nutrition to these high-performance animals to benefit from their genetic potential 365 days a year. Would the Red Bull team fill an F1 racing car with paraffin to cheapen the running costs in a Grand Prix race?

“Yet, we continually do that in times of drought, poor grass availability, wet or monsoon periods and adverse conditions, yet we don’t react quickly and lose productivity as a result.”

The Taylors feel they have addressed the ‘ethical timebomb’ of dairy farming in Ireland by using sexed semen on the quartile of the herd with most genetic potential, so only pure black and white heifer calves are born on farm.

The rest of the herd are inseminated with Aberdeen Angus semen. The resulting calves are moved directly at six weeks to the ABP Angus rearing scheme on an approved farm.

Environment

Will Taylor said that the environment is also an important concern in how they farm.

“We take our environmental obligations seriously, as dairy farming is in the spotlight in terms of pollution of our lakes and waterways, with increasing legislation heading our way and derogations of what we do and how we conform becoming more stringent,” he said.

“We are part of the first tranche of farms that have been part of the Soil Nutrient Management Scheme in Co. Down.

“All our fields have been sampled and readings for lime requirements, phosphorous, potassium and sulphur for the expected crops for the next three years tabulated.”

“This exercise has saved us several thousand euro already in year one, and in a period of high fertiliser prices, science has overcome the blanket excess of nutrients being applied,” he added.

Will explained that they have completed a carbon audit of the farm.

“Our bottom line result for 2023 is 1.23kg/L of milk produced, which is a barometer of input efficiency on this dairy farm,” he said.

Brexit

Will said there has not been much impact on their farm from Brexit.

“In terms of the farm, the impact has been minimal. Inputs have obviously increased dramatically in particular because of the Ukraine war; the price of fertiliser and feed have risen dramatically,” he said.

“Brexit, farm-wise, has had a minimal effect but I think the farming community as a group who voted very resoundingly, as I understand it, to come out of the European Union, I think they are now finding that they have been very much misled.

“The great yonder of much less bureaucracy and being in charge of their own well-being really hasn’t happened and in actual fact, farms, including our own here at Glastry, have a much heavier burden or bureaucracy and statutory farm visits than they have had previously.”

Will says the key to their success lies in running the farm and the ice cream/sorbet businesses alongside each other.

“That is the secret of what is a very integrated business to keep both sides of it continuing being profitable which is obviously the ultimate sustainability benchmark and without that input from my son and daughter-in-law, this business would not continue in the way it is at the moment,” he said.

“We believe that our 150 years of farming this land is a testament to our sustainability in all its forms and we will continue to use science to underpin all that we do in the future,” he added.

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The Carmarthen branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has elected Ann Davies as its new chair.

Davies was born and raised in Llanarthne, where she farms a tenanted dairy unit with her husband Gareth.

She takes over the role of FUW Carmarthenshire chair from Phil Jones, who served the branch as its chair for four years. 

Speaking on her appointment, Davies said: “I would first like to thank Phil Jones for the tremendous work he has done in his role as chair. They are big shoes to fill.

“I’m honoured that our members have chosen me to represent them here in Carmarthenshire and I look forward to working alongside other FUW officials to ensure that we have thriving, sustainable, family farms across Wales for generations to come.”

Ann Davies

Up until her appointment as county councillor for Llanddarog and Llanarthne parishes in 2017, Davies was a peripatetic music teacher with Carmarthenshire County Council.

She now co-runs Cwtsh y Clos children’s nursery with her daughter Gwenllian. 

The FUW has described her as “very active in her community”, and she is a pastor and organist at Cefnberach MC Chapel.

Davies is also a member of Llanarthne Community Council and was one of the founders of the new hall which was built on budget and on time in 2008.

She is the current chair of the hall and has successfully built a new extension again within time and funding. 

Her love of music ensures that she regularly organises Welsh evenings in the area and gets bands and artists from across Wales to Llanarthne, the union said.

Following her appointment as county councillor for Llanddarog Ward, Davies is now a member of cabinet with responsibilities for rural affairs, planning policy and community cohesion.

Since 2022, she has been a member of the South Wales Corporate Joint Committee on Strategic Planning.

She also represents Carmarthenshire on the Welsh Local Government Association’s Rural Committee and Equalities Committee.

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National potato supplier Branston has appointed a general manager for its new protein extraction facility.

Tom Seagrief has been appointed to the position in preparation for the company’s full-scale production and commercialisation of potato protein in early 2024.

Branston said Seagrief brings several years of experience in the food industry with him to the role and is returning to the company through this role, having originally joined the team on its graduate programme over a decade ago.

Speaking on his appointment, Seagrief said: “I’m excited to be re-joining Branston to take on the challenge of leading the new protein extraction facility and bringing our UK grown and processed potato protein to market.

“I’m hungry to keep developing and progressing in my career, and Branston has enabled me to do that through its aspirational culture and mission to continually innovate.

“This is a hugely important time for us, with Branston investing in driving sustainable change and better industry practices.”

Tom Seagrief

After placements in technical and finance, Seagrief gained experience in operations before being promoted to managerial roles within Branston’s site services and raw materials departments, the company said.

He also worked as a space planning officer at the University of Lincoln and in further managerial roles in production and operations at wholegrain food brand, Jordans Dorset Ryvita. 

Branston said Seagrief will be working with “a highly skilled team” to optimise the technologies within the factory, to convert large volumes of the low value by-product into a high-quality functional protein to meet customers’ exacting specifications. 

Managing director of Branston, Jim Windle, said the company was delighted to welcome Seagrief back and to appoint him as general manager of its protein factory.

“His production knowledge and experience with high care food factory environments will be invaluable,” he said.

“Tom has already fully embraced our ongoing mission to utilise all of the crops we handle, and to get the best quality, and most sustainable return for the end to end supply chain from every single tuber.”  

Branston

Branston said Segrief’s appointment follows on from its multi-million investment into its protein factory in partnership with RootExtracts Ltd.

The team began working on the most effective way to extract protein from potatoes in 2013, starting from a lab-based level and gradually scaling up to a commercially-viable operation. 

“The world is our oyster when it comes to the potential uses of potato protein, with the market for plant-based foods continuing to grow,” Seagrief said.

“I am thrilled to be part of the Branston journey as we fine-tune and scale up our operations to meet the demand for UK-grown functional protein.

“With the official factory opening due in early 2024, we’re focusing on recruitment to expand our highly skilled team.

“We’re also testing and optimising the final product, now in its pre-production phase, and working closely with potential customers to ensure we’re ready to gear up for full production.” 

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The chair of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) is set to share his personal experience with avian influenza (bird flu) at BFREPA Live 2023.

The Scottish egg producer James Baxter, who farms near Stranraer and had 200,000 of his hens culled, aims to highlight the reality of dealing with bird flu.

BFREPA Live 2023 will take place on Wednesday, November 15, at the Telford International Centre.

BFREPA said Baxter’s “honest and open” talk will cover his experience of bird flu – the loss on his entire flock – and how he sees his business recovering, as well as the lessons he learned.

Baxter will speak publicly about the loss of his flock for the first time at BFREPA Live.

He lost almost 200,000 hens to a mandatory bird flu cull following a positive test in January of this year.

BFREPA Live 2023

This year’s BFREPA Live event will see also see a number of other talks and discussions throughout the day, the association said.

These discussions include a panel on bird flu vaccination – hosted by BFREPA chief executive Robert Gooch with Gordon Hickman of the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA), Dave Hodson from Rosehill Poultry, and Crowshall’s vet Ian Lowery joining as panellists.

The event will also feature a debate on whether there should be a Great Britain-wide vaccination programme, the pros and cons of having one, and how it might work if it became a reality.

Later in the day there will be series of technical presentations. AD Harvey’s Oliver Harvey will give technical and practical advice on preparing for end of lay, while Premier Nutrition’s Ralph Bishop will be talking about nutritional strategies for extending the laying cycle.

Charles Macleod, of St. David’s vets, will be debating if water is an unavoidable necessity or a vital nutrient for free range flocks.

The day will conclude with a 4:30p.m talk held by Nick Bailey from Joice & Hill, who will be covering the latest in genetics, the latest breeding developments, and the benefits of breeding white hens.

BFREPA events manager, Kate Dickinson, said:

“BFREPA Live’s speakers will offer an insight from all aspects of the free range egg sector, from the producer in the shed, to the officials making decisions on behalf of the whole industry.

“We believe that we’ve struck a great balance between the two, and that those in attendance will learn something valuable to take back to their farms.”

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Livestock medicine producer Zoetis is urging sheep farmers to be on high alert for worm and fluke risks in their flocks this autumn.

Results from the farms involved in the company’s parasite watch scheme at the end of August revealed worm egg counts in lambs varying from 70 to over 700 eggs/gram, with an average of 380 eggs/gram.

Zoetis said these results highlight the importance of faecal egg counts (FEC) on an individual farm and at a group level.

Together with growth rates, they are a good indication of the need for treatment in lambs, the company said.

Zoetis vet Patricia van Veen said the extreme and variable weather is making predictions difficult and is likely contributing to localised spikes in FECs.

Zoetis said its parasite watch data from previous years shows the parasite challenge remains a real risk into the autumn.   

“Fluke is more challenging to monitor through FECs at this time of the year, as the time between infection and egg production, known as the pre-patent period, is 10-12 weeks,” van Veen said.

“During this period, the early immature migrating larvae do a lot of damage, causing the disease known as acute fluke in any age of sheep.

“Ewes and rams also need monitoring in the approach to tupping as fluke burdens could impact their condition and conception rates.”

Parasite risk

Sheep farmer John Yeomans, who farms near Newtown, Powys, and is one of the parasite watch monitor farms, said he treated his animals earlier this year due to the parasite risk and challenging summer.  

Yeomans tups 530-550, mostly Beulah ewes and 170 ewe lambs each year, bringing them back to the home farm in October and returning them to the hill in December until lambing.  

“Our farm is heavily stocked, with the ewes grazing high-up, so we demand a lot of them,” he said.

“Over the past decade, we have noticed that fluke can pose a real risk on our farm, sometimes resulting in dead sheep.

“We have done post mortems on them before and found them to be full of fluke.”

Yeomans said he not only monitors worms and fluke by regular testing but is also trying to do more targeted worming based on weight gains in lambs.

“We must use medicines responsibly to safeguard their use,” he said.

Van Veen said it is important that farmers work with their animal health provider to select the best product, particularly when there is a mixed parasite burden in their lambs.

“Carefully consider which product you are planning to use,” she said.

“Your animal health advisor will be able to give you the best advice on which products to choose.”

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Livestock feed manufacturer ForFarmers has launched an apprenticeship scheme aimed at developing “future leaders” within the company.

The scheme will start in October and consist of an 18-month programme designed to equip participants with the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to excel in leadership roles within ForFarmers.

The two apprenticeship courses are “Level 3 Team Leader” and “Level 5 Operational Management”, and they are being delivered by partner organisation Itec.

ForFarmers said Itec will provide a comprehensive and tailored learning experience for employees from various departments across the company.

Over 70 employees have been selected to join the first cohort of apprentices.

ForFarmers UK managing director, Steven Read, said: “Any business is only as good as the individuals within in, and particularly its leaders and future leaders.

“At ForFarmers we believe in this passionately and it is what ultimately will enable us to achieve our mission For The Future of Farming.

“With this in mind I am delighted that we are embarking on an apprenticeship programme that will enable the professional development of so many colleagues.”

Read said he is pleased to welcome ForFarmers’ first group to their studies this month.

“It will be the first of many and will be part of what enables us to really live our values,” he said.

Director at Itec, James Pearson, said the company is thrilled to have been selected as ForFarmers’ learning partner for its leadership apprenticeship.

“Collaborating closely with the ForFarmers team, we are dedicated to crafting a truly unique and adaptable leadership development programme for managers,” he said.

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The amount of agricultural land in England stands at 8.8 million hectares, or 68% of all land, according to new statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The agricultural land use in England release contains the estimates of crop areas, land use and land ownership on commercial agricultural holdings in England on June 1, 2023, from the June Survey of Agriculture.

The utilised agricultural area (UAA) includes all arable and horticultural crops; uncropped arable land; land used for outdoor pigs; temporary and permanent grassland; and common rough grazing.

The total croppable area accounts for over half (55%) of the total UAA in England, and saw little change between 2022 and 2023 – remaining at just under 4.9 million hectares.

Permanent grassland accounts for an additional 40% of UAA and has decreased by 2.9% to 3.5 million hectares in 2023.

The area of agricultural land owned in England decreased by 0.5% to just under 6.2 million hectares in 2023.

Land rented in for a year or more fell by 0.9% and now stands at just under 2.9 million hectares.

Crops

The total area of arable crops saw a 1.3% decrease between 2022 and 2023, falling to just under 3.7 million hectares.

Cereals account for the majority (70%) of the total arable crop area, covering just under 2.6 million hectares in 2023.

The area of wheat decreased by 5.3% to 1.58 million hectares, whilst barley increased by 2.2% to 799 thousand hectares.

The area of oilseed crops increased by 3.4% to 369,000ha in 2023. Oilseed rape accounts for 93% of this area and rose by 6.1% to 342,000ha in 2023.

Potatoes decreased by 12%, falling to 82,000ha in 2023.

The remaining arable crops covered 670,000ha. Field beans and maize together account for almost two thirds of this area. Fields beans rose by 1.2% while maize saw a larger increase of 7.5% between 2022 and 2023.

The area of horticultural crops covers 117,000ha of land, a decrease of 6.3% compared to 2022.

The post Agricultural land makes up 68% of England – Defra appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Applications for the three-day study tour researching innovations in hatching and commercial egg production will be accepted from tomorrow until the deadline of Monday, October 9, 2023.

DAERA is offering broiler breeder and commercial egg farmers the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands to learn about and study new technologies for their sectors.

This study tour is part of the Farm Innovation Visits Scheme which is being delivered by the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).

The group chosen for the trip will leave on the morning of Wednesday, November 22, 2023, and return on the evening of Friday, November 24, 2023. The tour will be led by CAFRE’s poultry advisers.

Study tour

The study tour programme will include a tour of Vencomatic Group’s campus with technical talks; a visit to a broiler breeder farm to view an automated egg handling system; a visit to a laying facility to view a new multi-tier system, with heat exchanger ventilation and intelligent lighting; and a visit to Rondeel, a Dutch Better Life system.

While the tour will include visits to farms there will be no access to birds to mitigate avian influenza (bird flu), DAERA said.

The areas of innovation studied on the tour will include:

• Air-to-air heat exchangers – operation and benefits, including ammonia reduction;
• Automated hatching egg handling technology;
• High welfare commercial egg production system;
• In-ovo sexing and on farm hatching of commercial layers;

Applications

DAERA is inviting applications from one member or employee from each poultry business with at least 5,000 commercial laying hens or broiler breeders.

Applicants must be over 18 years old on the application closing date and not in full-time education.

To increase the benefits arising from the study tour, all applicants must identify a group of farmers to share their findings with upon their return.

Up to twenty places are available (aiming to have 10 commercial egg farmers and 10 broiler breeder farmers).

In the situation of over subscription, preference will be given to those with larger poultry enterprises based on potential impact, the department said.

Broiler breeder and commercial egg producers who are interested in participating in this study tour can find out more details and complete an online application on CAFRE’s website.

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The aim of the MSC is to improve the efficiency and sustainability of dairy farm operations.

The ecosystem will be open for partners to join, with the objective of providing farmers with data needed for an holistic view of the dairy operations.

Milk Sustainability Center

Dairy farmers will be able to use the MSC to monitor nutrient use efficiency (NUE) for nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), for their entire farm, specific fields, or their herd.

The MSC will also provide data to allow dairy farmers to compare their performance to other dairy operations and identify key areas for improvement.

The MSC aims to serve dairy farmers independent of farm machinery brands and herd management software.

Dave Chipak, director, dairy and livestock production systems at John Deere said: “Dairy farming is perhaps the most complex agriculture business today with no system integration between crop and animal performance​.

“Dairy farmers often use five to seven different, non-connected software solutions to run their business.

“The MSC will enable dairy farmers to calculate, benchmark, simulate, and optimise NUE and CO2e for sustainable and profitable decision-making.”

After farmer authorisation, data from DeLaval Plus and John Deere Operations Center will be automatically pulled into the MSC.

Manual data input will be reduced, ensuring high data quality, and ultimately helping an entire farm system – fields, cows, employees, advisors, machines, and other assets – work efficiently together, according to the companies.

MSC is cloud-based for desktop or mobile devices, built and powered by Dairy Data Warehouse BV (DDW), a Dutch company in operation for the last 10 years offering data solutions for sustainable dairy.

Dairy farmers, consultants, dealers, and other partners can also be invited to view their data in MSC.

Also commenting on the partnership Lars Bergmann, executive vice-president of digital services at DeLaval said: “Dairy farmers are seeking ways to decrease their environmental footprint and improve sustainability.

“The MSC will help dairy farmers achieve their goals and address the growing needs of dairy processors, retailers, government, and ultimately, consumers​.”

The launch of the John Deere / DeLaval partnership will be a key focus in the John Deere booth at the AGRITECHNICA 2023 trade show, from November 12-18, in Hanover, Germany.

The initial version of MSC will be released in summer 2024 in North America and selected European Union countries and will be free of charge.

A premium version with extended capabilities will be released at a later date.

The post John Deere and DeLaval create joint Milk Sustainability Center appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has proposed a new digital system to remove paper processes from the bovine registration system.

The department has launched an eight-week consultation on an updated system, which will run until November 15, 2023.

The proposals would mean that the British Cattle Movement Service – which allows the government to identify and locate livestock in the event of an animal disease outbreak or food safety incident – would become digitalised.

The aim of the proposals, if implemented, is to make the system easier to navigate and less time consuming for keepers.

“These changes will enable the government to trace disease more quickly and effectively and help safeguard national public health and food safety,” the UK government said.

“This will also strengthen the UK position in international markets.”

Bovine registration

Biosecurity Minister Lord Benyon said: “By registering their cattle, farmers and keepers play an important role in protecting the national herd from insidious diseases such as bovine TB and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

“I urge all those with an interest to respond to this consultation to help ease unnecessary administrative burdens and take advantage of digitisation, to make registration of cattle much easier.”

The UK government said it has engaged closely with industry to understand the difficulties of the current system, which also covers bison and buffalo – and how they can be resolved.

As well as the introduction of bovine electronic identification (BeID), other new proposals include a “fairer and more proportionate regulatory framework” and greater flexibility such as for late registration of calves, so that farmers do not suffer financially by having them excluded from the food chain, the government said.

This consultation forms part of the wider Livestock Information Transformation Programme, which will replace the existing domestic traceability databases with one multi-species platform.

“Bovines will have a new database that will make tracing individual animals quicker and easier, which will help to reduce the harm caused by a disease outbreak,” the government said.

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Rural land and property specialist GSC Grays has said the number of farmer buyers for farmland in 2023 has dropped by nearly 10%.

Head of land and farm sales at GSC Grays, John Coleman, said the market for farmland this year has seen a drop in farmer buyers, but other types of buyers are becoming “increasingly active”.

As a result, the market overall shows demand continuing to outweigh supply, Coleman said.

“In the buyer market in any one year we would expect the number of active farmer buyers to be at or just over 50% but in 2023 this is falling closer to 40%, ” Coleman said.

“The lack of farmer buyers has been compensated by private investors, lifestyle buyers, institutional investors, and environmental buyers.”

Coleman said institutional investors and environmental buyers prefer larger farms or land holdings, as their need for “green credentials” is hard to fill.

“ESG investment funds have been hugely influential recently and capital funding for environmental groups has made them very competitive with the need for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and in Nutrient Neutrality (NN) where the better the land taken out of agricultural production the greater the reward and benefit to the environment,” he said.

“How long these conditions can continue is open to debate, as the government are threatening the removal of Nutrient Neutrality (NN) to assist housebuilders.”

“The lifestyle buyer and private investor face change as their competitive advantage over farmers comes from capital tax reliefs through Agricultural & Business Property Relief (APR and BPR) which a new government may affect.”

Misconceptions

Coleman said there is a perception that the supply of farmland has seen a significant increase, but that analysis of the market, particularly across the North of England, suggests otherwise.

“Various reports say anywhere from 33,000 to 62,000ac of openly marketed land was on offer by the end of June 2023 – a little down on 2022 and at least 10% below the 10 year average,” he said.

“For land parcels and farms greater than 50ac, the amount of land offered for sale in the north is around 5% up on last year and similar to the 10-year average.

“Northumberland is offering more farms for sale than it has done for the last 12 years. However, North Yorkshire and County Durham have remained relatively quiet, down over 6% this year, while Cumbria is even quieter. “

Despite the impact of interest rate rises, which have slowed the general rate of growth, Coleman said premium prices are being offered in the market with an increase in available land expected at the end of this year and heading into 2024.

“Prime arable land has traded in the north between £10,000 and £13,000/ac, whilst grassland prices have settled at between £8,000 and £9,000/ac” he said.

“Marginal land and upland grazing have benefitted again by competition from the forestry sector with land capable of supporting commercial plantations trading between £4,500 and £6,000/ac.

“Expectations are that there will be more land available in the second half of the year and going forward into 2024.”

However, Coleman said buyers are likely to face increased funding costs and the possibility of a change of government in 2024 may cause them to offer less or postpone any decisions.

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Despite this escalation in generations, the new S series remains much as it was, although the power ratings have, unsurprisingly, crept up and the Q Series cab, with all its advanced digital features, has been fitted and the engine fettled.

Power ratings

There are six models in the range, these start at the 280hp S286 while the top model the S416, produces 420hp, all of which can be delivered through the transmission, obviating any need to split the output between the power take-off (PTO) and wheels, so there is no boost on that particular machine.

The engine fitted to all models is now the LX84 TN. This is the latest variant of the 8.4L six-pot unit used in the present S Series and is offered in the following configurations.

There was some expectation that Valtra would equip the tractors with the new Core engine but AGCO, owners of Valtra, has so far only released the unit to Fendt, despite the €1 billon investment in the latest engine and its production facilities.

The engineering team at the factory explain that there is plenty of life left in the older engine and it has yet to reach its full potential, besides which, higher horsepower versions of the Core series are not yet ready for production.

Already having a long stroke design for improved longevity and power band, the improvements made to the engine are said to centre around the head and valve gear, with a 3% increase in fuel efficiency claimed over the outgoing unit.

A heavily revised single stage turbo-charging system, which does away with the necessity of an intercooler between twin turbos, is the main visual difference between the two.

Drive train

The transmission is the ML 260 CVT unit that is to be built at Suolahti in an assembly area that lies adjacent to the main tractor line; it has been upgraded to cope with the higher horsepower, as has the rest of the drivetrain.

It retains a two-step configuration to ensure that maximum mechanical drive is available at lower speeds, peaking at 28km/h in the lower range.

Hydraulic oil flow is unlikely to be an issue as there are two options available, both of which can deliver up to 400L per minute.

The base system comprises an axial piston pump (swashplate), and a gear pump which can be switched on or off, while the other has twin swashplate pumps which activate automatically on demand.

Cab from the Q

The cab is borrowed from the Q Series, which was launched and sold as the ultimate platform for smart farming with the built-in potential to expand its digital capabilities still further.

There are no great breakthroughs this time round, however, Valtra stresses that the digital component of tractor operation is becoming easier and more intuitive as its engineers begin to appreciate that if systems are to be used, then they need to be user friendly.

Another move being made by Valtra is to expand the role of Tractor Implement Management (TIM) which allows the implement itself to optimise the tractor’s speed and engine settings.

While Kubota already has it on its balers Valtra is suggesting that forage wagons will also benefit from this field of automation, although it will doubtless be applied to AGCO balers as well.

Improvements and upgrades to the S Series are relatively modest, but it was not just the renewed tractor that Valtra was talking about, there was also news of the company’s expanded production capacity and this will be covered in a later article on Agriland.

The post Valtra S Series boasts 5% power lift and 400L oil flow appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

The Andersons Centre is predicting that major structural change will impact across UK farming over the next decade.

This was the overarching conclusion emanating from the agribusiness consultancy’s recent autumn seminar.

Factors that will directly impact on UK farming businesses over the coming years include: The changing format of the government support systems available to agriculture, rising inflationary pressures, stronger interest rates, increased pressure on farm input costs, and challenging farmgate returns.

But, according to Richard King, head of business with the Andersons Centre, inflation will remain the “key challenge” for all farming business over the coming months.

“It is currently sitting at around 7%, well above where it would have been a couple of years ago,” King said.

“The net result of high inflation is higher wage costs, higher interest rates and higher costs for farmers across the board.

“Agriculture came through two very good years in 2021 and 2022. Yes, input costs did increase during this period,” he said.

“However, strong farmgate returns more than compensated farmers for the enhanced spending they incurred at that time.

Significantly, the tenor of most food commodity markets has fallen sharply since the beginning of 2023.

“Specifically, where dairy is concerned, there was a degree of hope expressed earlier in the summer that world markets might stabilise as we headed towards the end of the year,” King said.

“It turns out that such optimism was premature. The reality is that the outlook for milk prices remains extremely challenging over the coming months.

“Most farmers will have invested the profits made up to the beginning of this year in their businesses. And this is a good news story.

“In terms of input costs, it is also worth noting that fertiliser prices have fallen significantly from the heights of last year,” King added.

“However, the economic challenges confronting agriculture across the UK continue to mount up. One of these is the high tax bill facing many farm businesses at the end of next January.

“This is an inevitable consequence of the two good years that agriculture enjoyed in 2021 and 2022. The reality is that farmers will have to find the money to meet these commitments.”

Support for UK agriculture

According to King, the banks will continue to support the farming sectors.

“But the period ahead may well see it becoming that little bit more difficult for farmers to get that overdraft increase they might be looking for,” he said.

“The bottom line is that the banks will want to see a strong business case made against every funding request they receive.”

Richard King fully recognises the strong economic headwinds confronting agriculture throughout the UK at the present time.

“In these circumstances, farmers have no option but to sit down and ruthlessly assess the state of their businesses,” he said.

“Their priority must be that of improving efficiency levels across the board. Finding ways of reducing on-farm input costs is equally important.”

Significantly, the Andersons representative believes that the UK government will retain its current level of support to the farming sectors.

“But how the money is spent will be the big issue. In England and Wales, environmental payments represent the future,” he said.

“But these do nothing for the bottom line of a farming business, as would have been the case back when the single payment was available.

“Now farmers have to actually spend money before they can recoup the support that is available from government.” 

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Farmers are being urged to secure winter bedding supplies as the sawdust shortage hits its peak.

Managing director of EnviroSystems, Liz Russell, said the company had received increased calls and enquiries on the back of the sawdust shortage.

“We’ve had years like this in the past, and we invented EnviroBed in 2001 because of a shortage of bedding. Over the past two years, the bedding shortage has been building and has now come to a head,” she said.

“Every so often, bedding shortages happen, and we’re happy to be able to fill that gap for farmers when this happens.

“We encourage farmers to start thinking about their winter bedding supplies and, if they are struggling to secure supplies, to think of suitable alternative options.”

When looking at alternatives, Russell said farmers should make sure they know exactly what they are buying and check aspects such as the dry matters and what is actually contained within the product.

Tight supply

James Weaver, a dairy farmer from Rooms Farm, Market Drayton, said he enquired about receiving his supply of fine sawdust after placing an order earlier in the summer.

However, he said he was told that the supply was tight and that delivery could not be guaranteed.

EnviroSystems said the shortage is thought to be on the back of an increased volume supplying biomass plants in Europe, with supplies dwindling over the last couple of years. 

Weaver, who milks 300 Holsteins and usually stocks up with two artic loads of bedding before the winter, said he rang various other suppliers and was told a similar message.

“Each of the companies said they were struggling to supply sawdust, and on top of that, the price had also increased significantly,” he said.

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Researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) have highlighted the value of integrating remote sensing and data sharing for timely agricultural information critical for food security and sustainability planning in a new paper.

They say that real-time crop monitoring has become increasingly important, particularly for addressing climate-induced losses and damages, as discussed during the last United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP 27).

Satellite data

The researchers indicate that initiatives like GEOGLAM and the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) have traditionally contributed to monitoring global food security by relying on existing data about crop locations and agricultural productivity.

However, these systems often provide static information based on past data at a coarse resolution, they said.

To address current limitations and advance real-time, global-scale crop monitoring, the WorldCereal project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), has reportedly created an open-source, highly scalable system.

This system utilises openly available satellite data provided by the EU Copernicus programme.

In 2021, the system demonstrated its capability to provide seasonal cropland information, crop-specific maps for maize and cereals, and irrigation maps.

In their paper published in Nature Food, IIASA researcher Linda See and colleagues from ESA, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research’s VITO Remote Sensing, Stellenbosch University, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), highlight the potential for the system to incorporate greater crop-specific data, thereby boosting the accuracy of sub-national and national agricultural statistics.

According to the authors, this enhancement in data quality and gap-filling techniques would significantly improve capacity to monitor domestic situations and contribute to established international protocols, including FAO questionnaires concerning production and land use statistics, UNFCCC initiatives, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Global database

A key innovation of the project, according to the researchers, is its community-based, open, and harmonised global reference database, which contains 75 million samples from 2017 onwards, which was contributed to by many organisations and individual projects worldwide.

To fully realise its potential, the researchers said that steps should be taken to evolve the project into a cloud-based, sustainable platform with diverse operational models.

Linda See, lead author and a senior researcher in the Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program said: “ESA’s WorldCereal project leverages high-resolution satellite imagery to generate near real-time information about crop types and irrigation.

“This advancement is just the beginning, as it opens doors for continual improvement and global collaboration.

“The system can be used in a demand-driven manner to cater to the needs of various user communities, potentially encouraging countries to not only provide on-site data, but also enhance cropland maps through the incorporation of local knowledge and data.”

The WorldCereal system demonstrates the power of integrating remote sensing, machine learning, and shared reference data, offering critical agricultural production and yield estimates for food security and sustainability planning, the research team has said.

While it demands significant investment, the benefits of having high-resolution, data-rich agricultural information, supported by an engaged global community, far outweigh the costs according to the team.

“In collaboration with international organisations like the FAO, national agencies can leverage this technology to enhance their agricultural statistics and reporting capabilities to support global initiatives like the UNFCCC and the SDGs,” study author Sven Gilliams, WorldCereal project manager at VITO said.

The authors point out that, while the community-based nature of the WorldCereal system offers many benefits, there are still gaps that need to be filled with data from various regions and sources.

There is, however, great scope for improvement through contributions from public and private organisations, as well as emerging data types like street view imagery and citizen science, the research paper stated.

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Although it was anticipated that it would incorporate the new AGCO Power Core engine, the company has left the current 8.4L six pot unit in place which now boasts up to 420hp with the help of only the one turbo.

Billed as being a sixth generation machine, the company has nick-named its latest high hp offering as ‘The Boss’.

The 8.4L engine and CVT transmission offer a 5% reduction in revs and up to 10% decrease in fuel consumption compared to the S predecessor, according to Valtra.

Valtra detail

The three-point linkage and rear end generally has been beefed up cope with larger implements in the field.

Valtra’s SmartTurn automatic headland turning completes the autonomous field driving experience with four turning patterns – Part Field Mode; U-Turn; Y-turn; and K-turn.

These reportedly allow the driver to work the field in the most efficient way.

The latest S Series is also said to place high emphasis on comfort, visibility, and smart technology.

There are several new features and improvements including a new design, improved access, a new spacious cab, an increased number of lights (all of which are LED), and more versatility for all tasks.

Valtra said that the factory fitted TwinTrac reverse drive system and SmartTouch user interface have always been popular features with the S Series drivers.

“The new S Series brings a number of upgrades including a range of suspension options for front axle and cab, and now S Series tractors can also be fitted with Valtra’s Skyview cab option and Valtra Unlimited customisations,” the company said.

The big news, as far as Valtra is concerned, is that the new machines are to be built at the Suolahti factory in Finland rather than the Massey Ferguson plant in France.

This has been made possible by a significant investment at the factory with a new paint shop, capable of handling the bigger machines, being installed.

Sustainability

Valtra promises the S Series will be one of their most sustainable tractors both in terms of production and supporting farmers to grow sustainably.

Two thirds of components in Valtra tractors are sourced from within Finland, and their factory runs on 100% renewable energy, according to the company.

The S Series is renewable diesel compatible and will leave the factory with Neste My renewable diesel in its tank.

The smart farming technology offered with the S Series reduces inputs and time, and lowers fuel consumption, making farmers’ work more efficient and sustainable, the company has claimed.

Valtra parts supply

A new logistics centre has also been built to provide the components to the single assembly line upon which all the tractors are assembled, irrespective of their type.

The company claims that all the supply problems that plagued the industry are now resolved, component shortage is no longer a problem and is not delaying machine production.

Presently the factory is producing 40 tractors a day in a single shift, but with removal of the bottleneck caused by the old paint shop there is considerable scope to increase this as demand grows.

Bringing production of the S Series to Finland has already meant that production levels will need to rise.

Serial production is being ramped up in the second quarter of 2024 and first deliveries in Europe can be expected in the summer, Valtra has said.

Top links get smart

As part of the launch, Valtra also announced its Smart Top link system for fertiliser spreaders. This automatically levels the fertiliser spreader as the weight changes during filling and emptying, ensuring a much more even distribution.

At first it will only be available through Valtra Unlimited as an option on the N,T, Q and Series tractors at a retail price of €5,000, although retrofitting to older tractors will be possible in due course.

It is believed that a 200ha tillage farm is likely to save at least €3,000 through its use per year.

Additonal reporting by Stella Meehan.

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Scottish Quality Crops (SQC) has today (Thursday, September 21) announced that it is moving from an annual scheme to a product certification model to streamline audits for Scottish crop growers.

The SQC said this means that audits can take place throughout the year and grain passports can be issued earlier in the year to relieve the pressure of receiving these in time for harvest. 

The new product certification model will start on October 1, 2023, in line with the new scheme year and distribution of membership renewals.

Manging director of SQC, Teresa Dougall, said the certifier of crops for Scottish growers has been listening to the concerns of its members around the issue of receiving passports in time for harvest.

“Under the current annual scheme model, growers must be audited between October 1 and prior to harvest and successfully complete the certification process in this time to gain assurance,” she said.

“Only at this stage can passports currently be issued. With the move to product certification, we can provide rolling certification over 12 months meaning that passports can be issued earlier in the season and before harvest starts. 

“It will allow assessments to be more evenly spread across the scheme year providing our certification body, FIA, and their assessors with more time to allocate audits and complete the certification process.”

Dougall said it also brings SQC in line with other assurance schemes, making it easier for joint audits to take place where applicable.

Growers

Dougall said there is no need for Scottish crop growers to take any different action to previous years for the new product certification model.

“The move to product certification will still require all growers to have an annual assessment,” she said.

“The biggest change is that audits may take place at a different time of year and will not necessarily be at the same time every year.

“We are very pleased to be making this transition which will also add integrity to the SQC scheme by allowing for improved monitoring of production across the full scheme year.” 

Buyers can continue to use the member checker to confirm that the grain is from an approved site, SQC said. It confirmed that it will be working to improve the efficiency of the member checker next year.

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Ruminant nutrition company Rumenco Ltd. has today (Thursday, September 21) announced its acquisition of Owens Nutrition Ltd. following the retirement of its director.

Rumenco said the acquisition of Owens Nutrition is aligned with the retirement of its director Andrew Owens.

A family business, Owens Nutrition has run for over 25 years manufacturing, supplying and servicing molassed buckets as well as distributing calf and lamb milk powders.

Chair of Rumenco, Dr. Frank Heap, said Andrew Owens will remain in the company to oversee the transition into next year.

“Owens Nutrition is complementary to Rumenco and will allow us to extend our work in providing livestock producers with innovative products, strongly supported by research and a technical team, for multiple areas of livestock production,” Heap said.

Rumenco said the “highly regarded” molassed buckets and milk powders will remain unchanged and that Clwyd Davies and Simon Leversha will continue to market them as they have successfully done over the years.

Owens Nutrition offers a selection of molassed mineral/protein/horse buckets, bagged minerals and protein concentrates.

It said its products are manufactured and packed to meet customer’s requirements, including its own branding and labelling.

Rumenco

Rumenco has been specialising in beef, dairy and sheep nutrition for over 70 years and manufactures products in these areas.

The company said its products aim to help livestock farmers maximise animal performance from homegrown feeds and forage throughout the year.

It specialises in feed blocks, molassed feed, mineral and low moisture buckets, together with a range of minerals and liquid feeds.

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Whitlaw Farm, sitting on over 107ha of land northwest of Lauder, has been brought to the market by Galbraith.

The property consultancy said the site is situated in a private position two miles outside the small Borders town which is located in the upper valley of the Leader Water.

Whitlaw Farm comprises a mixed farming unit with a farmhouse set within a private area of garden ground, a range of modern and traditional farm buildings and an area of farmland extending to approximately 107.18ha (or 264.84ac).

Galbraith is accepting offers over £1,215,000 for the whole site, but it can also be sold in four lots.

The farmland has been classified by The James Hutton Institute as Grade 4.2 and 5.1 with smaller areas of Grade 4.1 and 5.2.

The site features several areas of amenity woodland which comprises a mixture of commercial and amenity trees, Galbraith said.

The four lots, and their starting place for offers, are as follows:

• Lot 1: Whitlaw farmhouse, garden, outbuildings and paddock, 2.27ha (5.61ac) – offers over £595,000;
• Lot 2: Land extending to 89.04ha (220.02ac) – offers over £430,000;
• Lot 3: Farm buildings and land 6.24ha (15.42ac) – offers over £140,000;
• Lot 4: Land extending to 9.63ha (23.80ac) – offers over £50,000.

Country home

The property consultancy has also brought a “Gothic Tudor style” detached country home located in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, to the market.

Waterton House features four reception rooms and five bedrooms and, Galbraith said, retains many original features like log burners.

The house stands in a wraparound garden on grounds stretching to approximately 1.5ac.

“There is a productive orchard with both cooking and edible produce and a large timber log cabin offers a versatile outdoor facility, with a covered cooking and seating area,” the agency said.

Waterton House is on sale for offers in the region of £630,000.

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The Willsbro herd from Cornwall has been crowned the winner of the 2023 Holstein UK Premier Herd competition, which acknowledges outstanding Holstein herds in the UK.

The 1700-cow herd was singled out for praise by judge Brian Moorhouse of the Aireburn herd, for exceptional management and presentation on a very large scale.

“Willsbro had exactly what I look for in a herd,” Moorhouse, whose herd won the award in 2022, said.

“There’s tremendous consistency throughout, exceptional udders legs and feet the right balance of strength and dairy quality in every age group. They are outstanding with exceptional management and presentation on a large scale.”

The Wills family were presented with the award at UK Dairy Day.

Holstein UK Premier Herd 2023

The Willsbro herd was established in 1969 with just 40 cows milking. In 1976, it increased to 120 cows, and 2004 saw a further increase to 800 cows.

The Wills primarily house cows in groups of 200, split according to stage of lactation. The cows are housed in sand-bedded cubicles, with a tidal wash-down system and milked three times daily through a 60-point rotary parlour.

In 2005, the family graded up their herd to become full pedigree and started the journey in high-genetic female families including Amber; Adina; Aderyn; Ashlyn; Lila Z; Pammy; Rachel; Rozy; Rozelle; and Sharon. This was the start of Willsbro Holsteins.

The herd is currently achieving an average yield of 14,467kg, 4.06% fat and 3.24% protein with a calving index of 411 days. The all-year-round calving herd, gained a Holstein UK Master Breeder award in 2020.

The Wills family are showcasing their dairy setup in north Cornwall, at an upcoming open day and sale on September 23.

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The union said today (Monday, September 18) that the five webinars are specifically focused on applying research to “common farming situations” and will provide solutions that increase the sustainability of agriculture in Northern Ireland.

The series of webinars will be held online via Zoom, with the first taking place on September 26, 2023 at 8:00p.m.

The themes the webinars are set to address include:

• Increasing production efficiency;
• Resilient grassland management;
• Dairy nutrition;
• Nutrient management in grassland;
• Farm case studies of carbon benchmarking.

UFU president David Brown said “There are a number of challenges facing the agricultural industry.

“Research and science will help us to address these challenges whilst improving efficiencies and reducing costs on farms.

“These webinars, which will also serve as our contribution to Countryside COP3, will show how farmers can make simple changes supported by scientific evidence, to improve the sustainability of their business.”

The webinars are free to attend but registration is necessary. Those interested in registering should visit the UFU’s website.

Webinars

General manager of AgriSearch, Jason Rankin, said the webinars will showcase AgriSearch’s work with farms in Northern Ireland on farming solutions.

“AgriSearch have been working with farmers from across Northern Ireland to explore science based, innovative practices which deliver both farm profitability and for the environment,” he said.

“The webinars will showcase a selection of these with a series of videos showing the practices in action.”

AFBI director of sustainable agri-food sciences, Dr. Elizabeth Magowan, said: “AFBI are delighted to partner with the UFU and AgriSearch to bring forward this series of five webinars.

“The webinars are designed to provide farmers with solutions that are underpinned by scientific evidence and demonstrate how these solutions are being employed on farms in Northern Ireland.

“The rapid adoption of evidence based solutions to improve the environmental impact and support farm profitability is essential to enable the Northern Ireland farming industry to be world leading into the future.”

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Sainsbury’s has launched a new Aberdeen Angus beef range which will offer a 25% lower carbon footprint compared to industry standard.

The supermarket chain has launched the new ‘Taste the Difference‘ Aberdeen Angus range with the aim of changing how beef is produced in the UK.

Customers will be able to find the Taste the Difference Aberdeen Angus beef range in new packaging in over 60 stores from today (Monday, September 18), with a nationwide expansion expected.

Sainsbury’s said it developed the range by bringing together its dairy and beef supply chains, reducing carbon through a combination of “superior cattle breeding and animal management”.

The Taste the Difference range will initially feature 16 “customer favourites”, including 12% and 5% fat mince, 30-day rib eye steak and a 30-day beef roasting joint.

Director of agriculture, aquaculture and horticulture at Sainsbury’s, Gavin Hodgson, said: “More customers than ever want high quality beef with a lower carbon footprint and that’s why we’ve invested many years of research and development into transforming how we produce it.

“Our updated lower carbon premium beef range not only tastes great but is also positive news for our farmers too, who will benefit from more security and stability, supporting the future growth of UK agriculture.

“We’re excited about the possibilities this move could hold for the future of farming in the UK.”

Carbon footprint

Sainsbury’s said measures such as strictly monitored feed and living conditions mean that healthy calves are raised in the most efficient way possible, needing less time and energy to grow, in turn emitting fewer harmful gases.

As well as being better for the planet, Sainsbury’s said it has made sure the new process will offer benefits for farmers with “fixed, forward pricing” providing greater security and stability.

The retailer said it also equips farms with advanced free-of-charge technology which generates in-depth data to help them make better farm management decisions.

Director of corporate responsibility and sustainability at Sainsbury’s, Ruth Cranston, said: “We know that more customers are wanting to make responsible choices when buying food so we sought to find a solution which gave them high quality, great tasting beef which is lower carbon.

“By creating 25% lower carbon emissions, this launch is another step forward in Sainsbury’s ambition to become net zero across its own operations by 2035, and value chain by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement’s aim of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C.

“This launch also shows what can be achieved through genuine collaboration with farmers and suppliers.”

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Pest control products manufacturer, Lodi UK, has said rodent numbers have risen sharply following Covid-19 and, as temperatures fall, rodents will seek shelter on farms.

If not controlled, the company said, rodents could ruin grain stores.

Lodi UK pest control specialist, David Reece, said: “Farmers should take an integrated pest management approach and use a variety of baits to combat resistant rats and prevent infestations that can result in grain losses and contamination.”

Lodi warned that rats can thrive in a grain store and multiply quickly, with one breeding pair escalating to 1,250 in just one year.

Reece said protecting grain stores does not have to involve the use of rodenticides, and farmers should select bait carefully to avoid wasting money baiting resistant rats.

“Farmers can take many non-chemical measures such as proofing buildings, identifying areas that rodents may be using for harbourage and making regular checks by walking the farm,” he said.

“Rodenticides should contain actives such as cholecalciferol or brodifacoum because some rats are now resistant to the previously popular actives bromadiolone and difenacoum.”

Tips

Lodi and Reece’s first tip for farmers is to look for signs of rats and mice – this includes checking for droppings and gnaw marks.

Reece is encouraging farmers to make a farm plan and regularly walk their farm to look for burrows and record where rodent activity is apparent.

“Just because there are signs of rodents it doesn’t mean baiting in that area will always be totally effective,” he said.

“Understanding areas that rodents are using to access food and water can help make trapping or baiting much more effective.”

The second tip is to keep farm buildings and sheds free from clutter and rubbish.

Lodi said rats do not like open spaces, so farmers can reduce rodent activity by keeping their farm, especially areas around grain stores, clear of rubbish, weeds and objects that rats can use for harbourage.

“Although a simple process, keeping a farm tidy by removing rubbish can make a big difference,” Reese said.

“Preventing access to food and water by securely storing food, repairing dripping taps and making sure there is no food available outside will reduce the likelihood of rats seeking harbourage and breeding on a farm.”

Rodent control

Another tip from the pest control company is to ensure farm buildings have no access points for rodents to reduce the risk of infestation.

“Small measures like using mesh smaller than 10mm to cover gaps in grain stores will help to prevent both mice and rats gaining access,” Reece said.

The fourth tip is to establish bait boxes at least four weeks ahead of baiting at it will reduce a rat’s neophobic behaviour (a fear of new objects) and improve bait take.

“Rats have a fear of new objects (neophobia). Therefore, placing boxes ahead of time and even adding non-toxic bait can help the boxes become trusted,” Reece said.

Reece’s final tip is that rodenticides be used when non-chemical methods have been exhausted.

However, these should rodent controls should be carried out methodically and carefully, he said.

“The fastest acting bait available is Harmonix which contains cholecalciferol and can control a rodent infestation in just 7 days. It is not an anticoagulant so can be used inside and out, and also poses less threat to non-target species such as birds and other wildlife,” he said.

 Using a bait that is highly palatable is a particularly important consideration in grain stores where food is plentiful, Lodi said.

“Harmonix or Lodi Gems Sapphire both have a highly palatable wheat-based formulation that make it more appealing to rodents and represent the best choice for grain stores,” Reece said.

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Achieving that happy situation is, however, proving ever more problematic as pressure is being put on farmers to reduce the amount of total soil inversion through not using that mainstay of tillage farming, the mouldboard plough.

The situation is complicated further by the war being waged on herbicides, which have contributed so much to ensuring elevated crop yields over the years.

These two factors have swung the focus very much towards considering the soil as a living part of the farm rather than just a medium in which crops will grow if enough inputs are thrown at it.

A good deal of innovation and development is required from machinery companies if food production is to be maintained while disallowing these two tools, and Kuhn Centre Ireland recently put on a tillage day in Co. Kildare where it addressed the issue.

Vital role of plough

Despite the disdain for the plough held by those who guide farming policy, the implement is still a vital part of a farmer’s armoury and will not be disappearing anytime soon.

All major implement manufacturers are of the opinion that it will still be needed for various situations.

Kuhn itself is of the opinion that total soil inversion will be required every four or five years to bury a build-up of trash and weeds.

To this end, it is still developing its range of VM ploughs, the VM denoting variable width, and the major part of the market is covered by either the company’s 12 or 15 type ploughs.

This figure denotes the size, in centimetres, of the box section used at the head of the beam.

The variations upon this general theme are countless, but the company suggests that an un-extended plough is purchased to match the present tractor, it can then be enlarged with an extra furrow or two if the tractor is upgraded.

Simplifying choice

Traditionally, the plough would have been followed by discs or tines, often both, to break up the clods and prepare the seedbed, but ploughing speeds have increased which has reduced the requirement for following cultivations.

In Ireland, Kuhn’s philosophy tends to view discs as suitable for surface cultivation while heavy duty but adaptable tines should be called into action where deeper working of the soil is called for.

This clarity helps in finding a path through the multitude of cultivation systems that have appeared over the years, even those that dispense with the plough altogether, which encourages Kuhn to stress the versatility of its products.

Discs for the topsoil

Its Optimer L range of discs is intended to work at 3-15 cm, dependent on disc type.

There are two types of 510mm discs available: A smaller notched version for a working depth down to 6cm; a version with a larger notch that will work down to 10cm; while a 620mm disc, known as the Optimer XL, will run between 5-15cm.

The smaller discs will rotate faster, adding to the mechanical work being done on the soil, the larger disc, however, gives better mixing down to a greater depth.

When the disc sets were put to work on a pea stubble, the shallower setting produced a fine stale seedbed but a deeper setting was required to dislodge grass weeds and volunteer cereals from a previous crop.

Tines for depth

If deeper cultivation is required and the soil needs to be stirred, then Kuhn has two options, the Cultimer range of tined stubble cultivators, or the hybrid Performer models which combine discs and tines.

Billed as stubble cultivators in the brochure, the sales and marketing team at Kuhn are eager to point out that the Cultimer machines are so much more than that with versatility once again being the major strength.

Working depth spans an impressive 3-35cm, from stale seedbed preparation to deep cultivation with thorough mixing of the soil and disruption of compacted layers.

In between, there is the possibility of straw incorporation to 15cm which increases the soil straw contact area.

The break-back force on the tines is 600kg which helps, the company claims, maintain a constant working depth.

The tines are curved to promote a better flow and more even mixing while optional carbide tips reduce the war rate by around 80%.

Shallow work of between 3cm and 7cm is aided by the further option of winged tines which are designed to slice through rooted weeds while encouraging weed seeds to germinate in the top horizon of the soil, leaving deeper seeds undisturbed.

Three-in-one

The Performer range combines the working elements of both the Optimer and Cultimer implements, providing a tool for one-pass seedbed preparation.

The working depth of the disc and tine elements can be altered independently of each other, allowing them to be used alone or together, effectively giving three implements in one.

Surface cultivation and deep soil mixing in one pass can require a good deal of effort and Kuhn recommend a 50-80hp/m for Performer models when it is running both discs and tines at the same time.

Looking ahead

With a turnover of €1.3 billion, the company claims to be the largest agricultural implement manufacturer in the world, yet, unlike similar companies, it has not put its name upon any mechanical weeders or a range of ultra-shallow cultivators.

This may appear something of a hole in the portfolio, but when pressed on the subject the company’s export manager, Joachim Brossard, remained tight-lipped, suggesting only that there is always development work proceeding on new products.

There was not an awful lot new at the tillage demo day in Athy, and little more is promised for Agritechnica, so the suspicion remains that Kuhn will have some big news next year and it may well include completely new tillage machines catering for this growing market.

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GSC Grays has said the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), despite its problems and delays, may prove to be a “game changer” for farmers.

Rural director at the rural land and property specialist, Greg Ricketts, said the scheme has the potential to boost income for farmers and help them improve their farming technique.

The SFI is currently accepting expressions of interest and will start accepting applications from September 18.

“For some farm businesses, SFI 2023 could be a real game changer in terms of income generation and farming technique,” Ricketts said.

“Perhaps the real beneficiaries will be lowland grass farms which, according to Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), are set to experience a 53% decrease in farm profitability between 2022 and 2023 due to increased input costs and reduced Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments.

“The government have thought seriously about the initiative and are looking to roll out payments for practices which improve productivity, reduce costs, and reduce reliance on support payments.”

Ricketts said that this is likely to result in farmers having to make “quite significant changes” to their businesses, and that carrying on as they have been farming is not likely to be a realistic option for many.

“It would result in more casualties if farmers chose not to change but it also provides farmers with a springboard to create a business that, over time, will be financially viable without the need to be waiting for the annual government payment,” he said.

Herbal leys

Some grassland farmers have already started to introduce herbal leys, GSC Grays said, but did not want the complexity of trying to put in 13 different species as required under a Countryside Stewardship legume and herb rich sward (GS4).

“Under SFI, herbal leys (SAM3) need only two grasses, two herbs and two legumes, allowing farmers to adapt their farming system slightly,” the agency said.

“This means they receive a payment greater than the basic payment (BPS) which they have received historically,” Ricketts said.

“More importantly, in our opinion, there is a focus on profitable production with reduced dependency on feed, fertiliser and fuel inputs and cost which achieves a more profitable system.

“At GSC Grays, we have seen situations where most of the farm is established with herbal leys (£382/ha) where the SFI scheme could deliver a significantly greater overall return than the previous BPS system.”

Initially, Ricketts said there might be some reduction in productivity of livestock but, if balanced correctly against the reduced inputs, the system could still be more profitable going forward than it has been.

“I appreciate the (above) example is at the extreme end of SFI options available, but it highlights the overall potential of SFI to certain farm types,” he said.

“Even where implementation of SFI is not quite as extreme as our example above, there are options for introduction of legumes into grassland swards (£102/ha) and low input grass (£151/ha) which all grassland farmers should be looking at.

“For arable farmers, whilst the payments per hectare may not be quite as great as for grassland, there are still opportunities available where businesses can be adaptable. To benefit from SFI arable farmers must consider their wider rotations.”

SFI options

Ricketts said many farming businesses, because they have been receiving the BPS, have been farming in ways that “do not leave an acceptable margin”, but have continued to do so because the BPS “bailed them out”.

“Now each business needs to assess whether what they are doing is leaving an acceptable profit after all costs are taken into account,” he said.

“If it does not, they need to ask why they are doing it and should they be looking at alternative options.

“The issue on farms now is determining what to put into the SFI options for each individual farm, rather than the application process itself. This is where some specialist advice and guidance from farm business consultants might be required.”

GSC Grays said it expects further announcements about the additional standards that will become available in 2024 by the end of this year, with the full suite of SFI options available by January 2025.

“We also believe that the scheme will evolve over time and the objective of farmers should be to develop farming systems which are profitable without support,” it said.

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The Monaghan company was presented with the Golden Fork award for Ireland for its confit duck legs, one of the highest accolades in the food and drink world.

The confit duck legs were among the top 16 highest-scoring product list in the whole competition, and were shortlisted for 2023 Great Taste Supreme Champion as a result.

The grand finale of the world’s largest food and drink accreditation scheme based entirely on taste took place at the Battersea Arts Centre in London earlier this week.

Almost 14,200 products from 109 countries were entered in this year’s Great Taste competition, which is dubbed the “Oscars of the food and drink world”.

Only 248 products, including Silver Hill’s confit duck legs, were presented with a three-star rating which signifies “extraordinarily tasty food and drink”.

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, judging took place over 89 days in Dorset and London, with a panel of more than 500 judges putting the products to the test.

Silver Hill Duck

The judges described the Silver Hill confit duck legs as “a fabulous looking duck, bronzed and inviting with a little crunch around one side of the skin”.

The product is made by a dedicated cooking team, led by Erika Matule, using a secret recipe at the company’s plant in Emyvale.

Silver Hill Duck’s sales and marketing manager Greg Devlin and the company’s technical and quality manager Gladys Keating accepted the Golden Fork award on behalf of the company.

“Without doubt this is the biggest recognition to date of our unwavering commitment to quality and recognition to all 230 members of the Silver Hill Duck team of the unique and inspiring work they do each and every day,” Devlin said.

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Agrochemical and crop protection manufacturer UPL Ltd. has launched a challenge which offers successful farmers 20ha of Vitalroot each.

The Vitalroot Vilality Challenge is offering 50 farmers the chance to avail of 20ha of the nutritional biostimulant that promotes increased plant health to support healthy root growth and root activity.

The deadline to apply for the challenge is September 30, 2023.

UPL said Vitalroot stimulates root growth and increases tiller numbers, which leads to “improved nutrient uptake, drought tolerance and higher yields”.

The company recommends that it be applied from the two-leaf stage until the beginning of tillering, which often combines with early post-emergence herbicide applications.

UPL head of marketing in the UK and Ireland, Gemma Noakes, said: “The active ingredient is Goactiv, mixed with phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) to make Vitalroot.

“It is an oligosaccharide that kick-starts enzyme activity, stimulating the plant’s metabolic pathways.

“This gets the plant moving at a key time, producing bigger root systems and more tillers, which translates to higher yields.”

Noakes said UPL is delighted by Vitalroot’s performance in trials this year, and feels that the best way to demonstrate this to growers is by offering them the product to trial on their farms.

To enter the Vitalroot Vilality Challenge, farmers must enter their details online through a link on UPL’s website.

UPL

UPL Ltd. is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions, with, according to the company, annual revenue exceeding $6 billion.

“We are building a network that is reimagining sustainability, redefining the way an entire industry thinks and works – open to fresh ideas, innovation, and new answers as we strive towards our mission to make every single food product more sustainable,” UPL said.

The company’s portfolio consists of biologicals and traditional crop protection solutions with over 14,000 registrations.

“We are present in more than 130 countries, represented by more than 10,000 colleagues globally,” it said.

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The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said more needs to be done on the issue of farm support, as farmers are facing a “cashflow crisis”.

The union said it is welcoming a number of recent government announcements on farming and growing, but warns that this is not enough.

Earlier this month, the NFU said farmers are facing a “bleak end to 2023” due to delays in the roll out of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).

It called for the government to “do the right thing” and bridge the financial gap in farm support caused by the changeover in support schemes from the old Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) to SFI.

Serious challenges have been mounting with significant delays to the start of the SFI, which should have been up and running to deliver payments by December, the NFU said.

NFU President Minette Batters said: “We have heard a number of welcome announcements this week, and credit where it’s due, farmers will be pleased government has listened to them.

“But the backdrop to these pieces of good news is that many farmers continue to face a bleak end to the year, with money they were promised, and rely on, not coming.

“While we have been working hard to prepare for changes to the essential support schemes that support farming and environmental management, delays in the rollout of the new scheme, coupled with reductions in the current scheme, mean most farmers have been unable to access the new SFI while facing significant holes in their finances from the withdrawal of BPS.”

SFI

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced at the end of August that farmers could start registering their interest for the scheme from August 30, and that applications would begin to be accepted from Monday, September 18.

However, the NFU said the SFI should have been up and running to deliver payments by December, but “critical delays” in the roll out of the scheme mean most farmers are unable to access it.

“Under the current plans the SFI is open to the few and not the majority,” Batters said.

“The lack of budget transparency in Defra makes it almost impossible to know where the BPS money, initially earmarked for SFI in 2023-24, has gone.

“In the short-term, we need the government to bridge the gap it has created in taking away one set of payments before delivering access to their replacements by ensuring farm support payments made in December are not capped as currently planned.”

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Lidl GB has confirmed that it is offering farmers financial incentives to move into egg farming.

The retailers is offering new and existing farmers an additional investment on top of market rate, supported by long-term contracts as part of a guaranteed pay back deal. Further details have yet to be announced.

It hopes that these long-term contracts will provide its suppliers with security, and in turn confidence, to invest in their futures.

It is also calling on other retailers to follow suit, and find ways to “encourage farmers back into the egg sector”.

“As an industry we need to be doing more to ensure the long-term sustainability of the British egg sector, which is why we have taken steps to offer incentives and security for farmers to expand into egg production,” Martin Kottbauer, chief trading officer at Lidl GB commented.

“We would urge other retailers to do the same.”

Lidl GB is also supporting its existing suppliers with additional £40 million investment compared to last year.

These measures follow what Kottbauer acknowledges has been a “particularly challenging” year for the British egg industry, with particular pressure coming from avian influenza (bird flu) outbreaks and the cost-of-living crisis.

A government-issued review to help establish fairer supply chains in the egg sector is due to take place this autumn.

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Two new cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, also known as bird flu, have been confirmed – one in Scotland and one in England

Bird flu was confirmed at a premises near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire on Sunday (September 10), and in commercial poultry at a premises near Warrington, South Warrington, Cheshire on Friday (September 8).

A 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone has been declared around both premises.

The Scottish government has said that the level of risk associated with bird flu to poultry and other captive birds while low, “does not mean no risk”.

Although the risk has been reduced it said “infection is still present in the environment and amongst wild birds”.

The Scottish government also said that contact between birds and gull species is at “particular risk at this time” so it is advised to maintain as much separation between poultry/captive birds and wild birds as possible.

If you keep poultry (including game birds or as pets), you are recommended to maintain high biosecurity standards.

The risk of bird flu in wild birds in Great Britain is very common so it is assessed as high. The risk of poultry exposure to bird flu in Great Britain is assessed in two “low” categories.

It is categorised as low where the event is rare but does occur with high uncertainty where there are substantial biosecurity breaches and poor biosecurity.

It is also categorised as low where the event is also rare but does occur yet with low uncertainty where good biosecurity is applied.

Preventing bird flu

Among measures to keep up high biosecurity, keepers should follow the following advice to try prevent bird flu from infiltrating their flocks:

• Keep vehicles clean and sanitary to reduce the risk of the disease spreading.
• Restrict non-essential individuals from entering the sites can also aid in reducing the spread risk and also ensuring clothing and footwear is changed before entering the bird sites.

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The Farming Community Network Cymru (FCN) is holding a free event to address loneliness and isolation in the farming community on September 22, at Gwernyfed Rugby Club, Talgarth.

A personal speech will be made by FCN ambassador and north wales farmer Will Evans at the event, which kicks off at 7:00p.m.

At the family friendly event he will be addressing his own struggles with loneliness he has experienced on his farming journey.

“It can be challenging in farming to find the time to get off-farm to attend events or to meet new people,” Will said.

He said the event “is a great opportunity to come together, to share experiences and to remind ourselves we’re part of a supportive community”.

Sheep shearing commentator and local farm liaison officer will also be there on the night as “compere”.

FCN

FCN is a charity and voluntary organisation that supports families and farmers within the farming community. Its services include help with business, help with health, help with farming, and help with family.

FCN’s assistance is provided by volunteers and is free and confidential. It runs a helpline and e-helpline which is open from 7:00a.m to 11:00p.m seven days a week.

According to FCN, it has travelled over 130,000 miles to support farmers needing assistance.

According to a study by University of Exeter and The Farming Community Network on the topic of loneliness and farming, loneliness was found to be linked to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

According to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), three people in the UK farming and agricultural industry die by suicide every week, and male farm workers were three times more likely to take their own lives than the national male average.

“Worryingly, we expect these figures to rise as the cost-of-living crisis exacerbates the longstanding challenges farmers already face – including higher living costs, known as the rural premium, increased rates of loneliness, and isolation,” BACP chief executive Anna Daroy said.

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