Barbers Rural News

  • Muller to cut price to producers from 1st Feb.

    4th JanuaryPosted by Louise Taylor

    A report in the Farmers Guardian says that dairy products manufacturer Muller, based in Market Drayton, will reduce their price to milk producers by 0.5ppl from February 1st.

    The company has written to producers telling them that, following tough trading conditions and a generally disappointing 2011, it needs to achieve a more competitive costs base and hence the need to reduce the producer price.

    Milk procurement manager Andrew Gaskell said the cut would leave the firm’s...

  • Paice reiterates support to agri-environment schemes

    22nd DecemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    A report in the  Farmers Guardian says that Jim Paice has reiterated Defra's commitment to agri-environment schemes in light of the uncertainty surrounding their future.

    Mr Paice acknowledged that schemes like Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) will have to be altered under Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform plans.

    In a letter to the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE), he said the full impact of moves to attach ‘greening’ conditions to direct payments in Pillar One...

  • RPA announce record payment statistics

    22nd DecemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    According to a report in the Farmers Guardian, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has achieved its December Single Payment Scheme (SPS) targets nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.

    The agency has paid more than £1.4 billion to approx 91,400 farmers since the SPS payment window opened on December 1st.

    This represents 81 per cent of the estimated value of 2011 payments, against a December target of 78 per cent and 87 per cent of farmers eligible under the scheme, against a target...

  • Diversification of a different kind!

    20th DecemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    The Farmers Guardian reports that an Essex farmer is turning concrete and rubble into useful hardcore, having invested in a compact crusher to repair farm tracks and help avoid costly material disposal.

    Looking for an opportunity to supplement income from the 120ha (300 acre) family farm at Dunmow, Essex, Josh Askew turned his attention to unwanted concrete and rubble.

    “I saw a mini crushing machine at a show, and it was one of those eureka...

  • Collaboration is essential for a sustainable food chain.

    20th DecemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    SCIENTISTS farmers, businesses, retailers and policy-makers from across the agri-food sector are backing a co-ordinated industry approach to ensure a sustainable and efficient UK food supply chain.

    It follows the Centre of Excellence for UK Farming (CEUKF) inaugural conference, where delegates from industry, academia and Government debated how the UK could become the best place to produce safe and nutritious food - against the backdrop of global...

  • Badger cull is the way forward.

    20th DecemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    The National Beef Association has said that the proposed badger cull is a 'major step forward' in the on-going fight against bovine TB.  Chairman Hamish McBean said badger populations had 'exploded' in many parts of the UK and it would be 'impossible' for the cattle industry to get a grip of TB without looking at the wildlife element as well.

    “Farmers want to see badgers on their farm and the NBA believes these control measures will ensure those badgers are healthy, which will also...

  • Welsh come under fire as they delay TB programme.

    7th DecemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    THE Welsh Government has come under fire following an admission by First Minister, Carwyn Jones, that an announcement on the next phase of its bovine TB eradication programme will not be made until the early months of next year.

    The admission comes despite a previous statement by Environment Minister, John Griffiths, to expect a decision before Christmas and repeated calls by the farming unions for urgent action to allow Welsh farmers to plan...

  • Judge says rural crime should be taken more seriously.

    29th NovemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    Judge Paul Batty QC has added to the growing number of calls for rural crime to be taken more seriously after he heard the trial of four men accused of stealing a mini tractor worth £2,000.  At Carlisle Crown Court Judge Batty insisted that a statement from the farmer should be read to the court, even though the prosecuting barrister had not intended to do so.

    "The jury should be told of the effect it had," said the judge. "Rural crime is often dismissed as if it is just this, that...

  • Have McDonald's got all their eggs in one basket?

    29th NovemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    Farmers Weekly reports that the egg supplier that provided all of the eggs used by McDonald's in the west of the USA has been dropped after an undercover camera exposed animal cruelty and unsanitary conditions on their farms.

    Footage broadcast on ABC News America filmed last summer by animal rights group Mercy for Animals, shows poultry workers at Sparboe Farms bying birds to strings and throwing them around the factory, dragging them along the ground and tossing them in the air....

  • Welsh Lamb goes to Canada.

    28th NovemberPosted by Louise Taylor

    Hybu Cig Cymru has headed a red meat promotion trade mission and been successful in exporting Welsh Lamb into the Canadian market with high hopes for sales into Sweden and China.

    It was revealed at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair that a consignment of Welsh lamb has already been shipped across the Atlantic, with further supplies to follow.  This marks a successful attempt to move into the North American market by HCC and several Welsh processin companies.

    “HCC led a trade mission...

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