January 2011 Archives

The Renewable Energy Association has urged government not to amend the feed-in tariff rates for solar before the scheduled review next year.

It says any “knee-jerk” policy change could damage investor confidence in the sector and believes hard evidence is needed in order to inform policy-making. The REA has written to Energy Minister, Greg Barker, calling for:

• No change to the eligibility criteria for Feed-in Tariffs. The threshold should stay at 5MW and all existing technology bands should be maintained
• DECC to base any changes to tariffs on a full analysis of the benefits
• Support for the roll out of solar energy in the UK, so that the industry can grow and get onto a trajectory whereby costs come down to the level of retail electricity (i.e. solar reaches “grid parity”)

First Milk has awarded scholarships to nine young farmers as part of its academy that helps the next generation get started in the sector.

Around £1000 will be paid to each student to cover course fees, learning materials and travel costs. There will be six professional development workshops covering topics such as business management and herd health, which could lead to a Higher Education Certificate in Dairy Herd Management.

The nine students are: Katie Withington, Greg Billington, Geraint Owens, Jill Bathgate, Dylan Roberts, David Jones, Dylan Davies, Ian Onion and Robert Norton.

London-based commodity consultancy VM Group has launched Worldcrops.com, a specialist site tracking global commodity movements. Updated daily by a team of UK journalists, analysts and statisticians, Worldcrops.com is headed by Gary Mead, former commodities editor on the Financial Times. Although it's aimed primarily at traders, brokers and investors, it offers useful reports on weather in key grain producing regions of the world, and commentary on political events affecting specific crop markets. Much of the site is restricted by a subscription firewall - you have to pay to read it - but general information and news is available for free. www.worldcrops.com

Milk Link has bought the Cornish Country Larder cheese business for an undisclosed sum.

The deal strengthens Milk Link’s position as a provider of British cheese and paves the way for new investment at CCL’s Trevarrian Creamery between Padstow and Newquay. The site already uses milk from Milk Link’s Cornish dairy farmer members.

Neil Kennedy, Milk Link’s chief executive said the acquisition was an important addition to the co-op’s growing speciality cheese offer and would enable it to offer retail and food service customers a selection of soft cheeses.

Anyone who's filled up at the pump recently will need no reminding that petrol is currently about £1.25p/litre and diesel is £1.30-plus. In some more remote parts of the country it is said to have hit £1.50/litre. Red diesel on farm is about £65p/litre.

NFU Scotland's is among the voices reminding government about the idea of a fuel stabiliser mechanism, as well as scrapping any plans to increase fuel duty further in April.

Such a mechanism would regulate the proportion of tax paid on fuel in relation to crude oil prices, effectively keeping a cap on the total price and, hopefully, reducing fuel pressure on inflation.

Similarly, the NFUS points out that in many other European countries, fuel duty is variable depending on location. This prevents isolated rural communities being disproportionately affected by high fuel costs.

These are sound ideas and deserve serious consideration. And when will the cheap, green biofuel alternative be on offer at the pumps please?

The recent rise in Consumer Price Inflation from 3.3% to 3.7% (way over the Bank of England's 2% target) has led to speculation that the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee may approve the first hike in the base interest rate for nearly two years.

Many commentators have suggested that, if inflation continues to grow and the UK recovery remains sluggish, the Bank could raise interest rates substantially in a series of quarter-point moves throughout 2011.

But others point out that not only has the full effect of the government's spending cuts still to be felt, but that the MPC targets inflation two years ahead - not at the current rate. Therefore, while some members will no doubt advocate a small raise in interest rates, it is possible the MPC will want to wait, and assess the full impact of the coalition's cuts on the economy. Interest rate rises are by no means a certainty.

Last year’s single farm payment was paid at an exchange rate of 1Euro:86p, the second most favourable rate since the current scheme began.

On Tuesday, the Euro was worth around 84p but the future for the single currency is far from rosy, according to Tom Barclay, head of agriculture at CLA Foreign Exchange Services, part of currency broker World First.

He predicts the Euro value at lower than 81p by September, when the 2011 payment rate for sfp will be set. This alone would represent a cut of almost 6% in sfp values.

Political and economic uncertainty for many of the Eurozone countries and the dramatic rise in the cost of their governments’ borrowing means that sfp claimants should think about protecting their income sooner rather than later, says Mr Barclay. An increasing number are choosing to do this in stages this year rather than hedging the whole payment at one rate.

Beef sales got a big boost over the Christmas period, rising by almost 13%, according to new figures from EBLEX. In the four weeks to December 26, the volume of fresh beef sold rose to 28,548 tonnes, up by almost 13% on the same period in 2009 while the value of those sales was 11.3% higher than in the previous year.

Over the four-week period in the run up to Christmas, £167.3m was spent on fresh beef in total and Kantar research shows roasting joint volume sales were up 6.3% and mince by 15.6%.

“The figures were particularly pleasing as the weather was poor, making it more difficult for people to get to the shops, and Christmas fell at a weekend, a time when more people generally have a beef roast anyway which means it is less likely for us to see an additional seasonal spike in beef sales,” said Richard Cullen, category development manager for EBLEX.

The rise came on the back of the EBLEX-backed ‘Give the bird a break’ campaign which saw former England cricketer Darren Gough leading an humorous advertising push encouraging more men to get in the kitchen over Christmas and to make use of beef rather than poultry.

Scotch beef is apparently now the best-recognised British red meat brand in London.

Results of an IGD survey at the end of 2010 revealed that 40% of Londoners were aware of Scotch Beef, making it the red meat brand with the strongest consumer awareness in the capital.

Promotion agency Quality Meat Scotland is understandably delighted with the news, which follows a £600,000 poster campaign targeting Scotland and London. Over £1m was spent on a trio marketing campaigns for beef, lamb and pork last year.

“It is great news for the Scottish red meat chain that, on the 20th anniversary of the assurance schemes which underpin the brands, this strategic promotional push has generated such great results,” QMS head of marketing Laurent Vernet said.

The recent big swings in grain prices have prompted the NFU and Agricultural Industries Confederation to underline the importance of contract obligations for buyers and sellers.

Prices can fall just as quickly as they rise and buyers can be as reluctant to move grain as sellers, but everyone should honour their commitments. While disputes will occur from time to time they are both time consuming and costly, whatever the outcome, they say.

Growers are advised to use the HGCA’s Cereals Sellers Checklist from the outset to minimise the risk of errors or misunderstandings. It can be found at www.hgca.com

BPEX has called on pig producers, vets, processors and the allied industry to take part in its annual confidence survey, which has just been sent out.

Now in its fifth year, the survey provides a snapshot of the factors affecting the industry and how they’ve changed.

Last year’s showed confidence was up among producers and suppliers, although I fear it could be a very different picture this time around as the impact of soaring feed costs hits home.

Copies of the survey have been posted out, but it is also available to download at http://englandmarketing.co.uk/survey/BPEX/bpex2011.htm

Believe it or not, 16,230 people filed their tax return online on New Years Eve, 96 of them between 11pm and midnight and a further 5,130 were up to the job on New Years Day.
 
If you plan to file your tax return online for the first time this month, don’t leave it until the last minute - you’ll need a code which can take up to seven days to reach you by post, warns HMRC.

Taxpayers must register as new users, create a password and are then given a user ID on-screen. The activation code is then sent separately by post. Once the code is received it must be used within 28 days or it becomes invalid.

Returns for 2009/10 must be filed online by 31 January. Submitting later than this date could land you with a £100 penalty.

If you’ve filed online before, you will need your user ID and password. Replacements also take up to seven working days. Help is available from the HMRC website or from the self assessment helpline on 0845 9000 444.

 

European agricultural incomes rose by an average of 12% per head in 2010, but UK incomes fell, according to European Commission figures.

In total, 21 member states recorded an increase in real agricultural income per worker, with Denmark showing the biggest increase at 55% higher than 2009 levels, followed by Estonia and Ireland with income improvements of 49% and 39% respectively.

The UK was among six countries to record a negative year-on-year change, with income per worker down 8% on 2009. But despite this fall, UK real agricultural incomes were 16% above 2005 levels, compared with average EU incomes being 10% higher. Even though Denmark recorded the largest rise in 2010, real agricultural incomes remained 22% below 2005 levels and in Ireland they were 7% lower.