News

Farmers miss out on flooding fund

Farmers and growers will not share in the EU flooding fund set up for damage caused by the flooding during summer 2007 despite suffering losses worth millions of pounds.

The EU Commission has announced 162.4 million euros from the European Solidarity Fund to help deal with the 'consequences of devastating floods' that hit the UK last summer.

However, the NFU is angered none of this money will find its way to helping farmers and growers who had homes ruined, crops destroyed and livestock put at risk. Vice President Paul Temple has spoken with farmers across the country who lost crops and suffered severe economic damage.

"Farmers and growers bore significant costs and disruption during last summer's floods with estimates of almost 50,000ha being flooded", he said.

"While the EU's announcement of 162m euros is obviously welcome for the nation as a whole, it again highlights the totally inadequate assistance made available to farmers and growers last summer.

"While farm businesses suffered losses of up to £250,000, help was limited to £2,500. Farmers are seeking recognition of the problems that occurred and are looking for local solutions to be found.

"We hope Sir Michael Pitt, in his report on the summer floods to be published on Wednesday (June 25), will recommend increased help following the flooding of last summer."

Tenderness gene development for beef cattle

Genesis Faraday, the organisation which funds and promotes the development of new genetic technologies, has backed the beef industry in research which could persuade breeders to use gene marking, identified through DNA, to produce cattle with more tender beef.

And the results of the trial, in which Dovecote Park, Border Quality Beef, the National Beef Association, IGENITY® and the University of Bristol are working together to discover which tenderness gene marker scores meet consumer expectations for beef tenderness consistently well, are expected later this year.

“The apparently random tendency of some animals to produce tough beef has frustrated consumers, retailers and breeders for decades but the identification of exactly which cattle carry the gene score combination that makes their beef acceptably tender could revolutionise beef production,” explained National Beef Association director, Kim Haywood, who co-ordinated the group application for the research grant.

“The trial’s first task is to discover the actual relationship between DNA profile scores for the tenderness gene and actual meat tenderness. Then a full investigation into whether selection based exclusively on traits which govern eating quality will undermine other physiological traits like growth rate, muscling or produce a different fat score is also being conducted.”

“Once this information has been verified, and if the results are as good as the industry hopes, then a number of new commercial doors will immediately swing open and moves can be made to produce animals which will be more valuable because none of their beef will disappoint consumers by being tough.”

The NBA which has for a decade been a committed supporter of the production of more high quality beef suspects that one of the first results of the DNA based trial will be a surge in the number of breeders using objective data to make sure they are purchasing the right stock bulls and brood cows.

“The visible characteristics that make a show champion will no longer be enough on their own to persuade modern breeders that they can be certain they are looking at exactly the type of animal they want,” said Ms Haywood.

“Instead they will need to combine genetic information made available through EBV (Estimated Breed Value) with other figures relating directly to beef tenderness to identify animals that are in the best position to deliver a high quality beef product to the supply chain.”

“Animals carrying the tenderness gene will be more valuable to consumers , retailers and processors who are prepared to construct a supply chain focussed on the delivery of more consistently tender beef and it is expected they will carry a premium as a result of this.”

“And because the same DNA gene marking technology that confirms inheritance of the tenderness gene also confirms the identity of the individual animal there will be in-built traceability that will identify beef from individual animals that have been moved through secure supply systems too.”

New deal for Cambrian farmers

Minister of Rural Affairs Elin Jones has launched a deal between a group of Welsh farmers and the Co-op supermarket.

Cambrian Mountain Lamb is the brain child of farmers from Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Powys who have teamed up to supply 350 lambs each week to nearly 100 Welsh branches of the supermarket, year-round. The Welsh Assembly Government’s farm business development service Agrisgop helped the group to establish itself as a brand and provided organisational support. Agrisgôp introduces potential farming partners and helps them to identify and develop new business opportunities. Processors Dunbia complete the supply chain signed up to the deal.

The farmers were inspired to come together under HRH The Prince of Wales’ Farmers Marketing initiative, which supports upland farmers, and were today part of the Princes’ Charities Showcase at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. The Minister launched the deal over a lunch reception where chefs from Dunbia served up the lamb which will soon be hitting Co-op shelves across Wales.

She said "The primary lesson for the industry to learn from Cambrian Mountain Lamb is the importance of partnership working. I cannot stress highly enough how this can deliver real results for the industry. One small upland producer can never satisfy the demand of a retailer as large as the Co-op alone, but when working together in this way the group really boosts its power.

Agrisgôp’s support has been valuable for the group and I am glad that the new Rural Development Plan for Wales will ensure the Assembly Government continues to focus on delivering dedicated business advice and support to farm enterprises.

The beauty of this deal is not only the opportunity it provides for the farmers but its local roots: the meat is produced, processed and retails in Wales boosting its environmental credentials, not to mention keeping investment within Wales and supporting the rural community. The promotion of locally sourced food is a One Wales pledge and the development of a local procurement strategy is underway.

Today’s event demonstrates how far the Welsh farming industry has come – our journey has been followed closely by other parts the UK who recognise the efforts made in Wales. We have made real progress but we are not complacent. A lot remains to be done and I trust that all partners involved in this deal today will continue to work together to allow us to achieve even greater success in future."

Plaques to be unveiled at Equestrian Hall of Fame

HRH The Princess Royal is to unveil a wall of plaques at a prestigious location in London as a permanent tribute to the Laureates of the BHS's Equestrian Hall of Fame.

The ceremony will be at the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment headquarters in Knightsbridge (opposite Hyde Park) on Wednesday, 20 February 2008 from around 3.30pm. It is to be attended by many of the Hall of Fame's Laureates.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the event.

The BHS's Chairman Patrick Print FBHS said: "It is well over two years since we launched the BHS Equestrian Hall of Fame and it is fitting that it should now have a wall of commemorative plaques.

"We hope visitors will come in their droves to see these wonderful, lasting tributes to the truly great equestrians and horses of times past and present."

BHS President Desi Dillingham is to speak about the Hall of Fame at the unveiling.

The BHS's Equestrian Hall of Fame was launched in July 2005 with 20 great equestrians and 16 remarkable horses honoured. The riders (or drivers) included HRH The Princess Royal, Harvey Smith, Colonel Sir Michael Ansell, Cynthia Haydon and Ginny Leng. The horses included Sefton, Milton, and Be Fair.

Additional laureates including HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Captain Mark Phillips, Nick Skelton and Douglas Bunn, and more legendary horses, such as Beethoven, Tosca, Arko III and Shear H2O, were announced at later events.