October 2011 Archives

In what the company describes as a challenging and surprising marketing season, Gleadell’s harvest oilseed rape pool has returned £352.50/tonne ex-farm to growers after commission and before bonuses.

Initially, little and often was sold to put a base into its pool sales. Once it became apparent that the crop had defied all expectations, the balance of the pool was sold into the developing export market.

Current ex-farm prices are at £355-£365/t ex farm, depending on location, with new crop at £330-£340/t ex farm. 

“There is some concern over rapeseed plantings in Germany, Denmark, Romania and Bulgaria - and this uncertainty should support new crop UK rapeseed for the time being,” said trading manager Jonathan Lane. Underlying continental demand would support rapeseed throughout the season, but prices may be vulnerable in the short term.

There are encouraging signs that the national beef supply base is stabilising, according to EBLEX.

Analysis of British Cattle Movement Service data showed that just under 2.63m calves were registered with BCMS in the year to July 2011, around 20,000 head up on the previous year and 65,000 more than 2008/09. It brings registrations back to the level of 2007/08.

Some 470,000 calves were pure-bred dairy heifers, leaving nearly 2.16m available for the beef industry, 2% more than 2008/09.

Dairy-sired calf numbers were down slightly due to a sharp fall in male registrations offsetting a rise in dairy heifers.

Limousins remained the most widely used beef sire, continuing to record more than double the registrations of the next most popular breeds - Charolais and Aberdeen Angus.

Rural businesses submitting paper copies of their self-assessment tax returns have just a few days left to do so.

Paper tax returns must reach HM Revenue & Customs by midnight on 31 October, or a heavy penalty could be imposed, Richard Cartwright from Saffery Champness warned.

“Even if you are one day late there is a fixed penalty of £100 which applies even if you have no tax to pay or have paid the tax you owe. If your tax return is three months late, you'll have to pay a penalty for each additional day it is late. If it is six months late, you'll have to pay a further penalty and another final penalty if it is 12 months late.”

In a few cases the deadline could be delayed, but only if this has been confirmed by HMRC. If the paper tax return cannot be returned on time, there is the option of filing it in online by 31 January 2012.

The promised increase to Feed-in Tariff payments for small-scale biogas plants has finally come into effect, over two months late.

The increase, which resulted from the “fast-track review” of FiTs carried out earlier this year should have been implemented on 1 August, but was on condition of EU state aid approval. The NFU said this process was held up by the European Commission, but it had now rubber stamped the new tariffs, which are 14p/kWh for AD plants up to 250kW and 13p/kWh for those of 250-500kW.

“We hope some previously marginal on-farm AD projects will now progress, although these tariffs alone are unlikely to result in the rapid growth in farm-based AD that we need to deliver multiple environmental benefits,” NFU chief renewable energy adviser Jonathan Scurlock said.

Troubled wind turbine manufacturer Proven Energy has been sold by receivers KPMG to Kingspan Renewables.

The sale safeguards jobs of the remaining 20 Proven staff and provides the opportunity to continue manufacturing at the company’s Stewarton facility in Ayrshire.

Suppliers or customers with claims regarding warranties or other matters relating to Proven Energy or products supplied by the company, including the P7, P11 and P35 turbines, are advised to lodge a claim with Proven (care of the joint receivers) and not with Kingspan.

Five EU member states will pay superlevy fines totalling more than £48m for exceeding their milk quota in 2010/11.

Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Cyprus and Luxembourg bust their dairy quotas by a total of 200,000t.

However 14 member states recorded deliveries at least 10% lower than their quota and production across the whole of the EU was 6% lower than quota.

Dorset-based beef and lamb processor RWM Foods lost a major retail order just as the group was bought by ABP, it has emerged.

RWM said it was told of the cancellation of a “substantial order” for retail packed meat from a major multiple retail customer in the same week that the deal with ABP came into effect (9 October).

It did not reveal the name of the customer or why the business was lost but said the lost order represented over half the production at the Yetminster facility and consultation with staff at the site had begun.

“We intend to make a powerful case to reverse this decision, win back the business and prevent significant job losses,” a spokesman said. The lost order would have no effect on Blade Farming’s operations, he said.

Morrisons Traditional Breeds Beef Range hits the shelves this week, promoting quality cuts from native British cattle.

Two hundred farms have been producing Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen Angus and finished stock from many other native breeds for the chain.
 
Consistently high eating quality in flavour and texture through marbling is the aim, with a special diet and 21 day maturing on the bone part of the plan. All of Morrisons’ fresh beef, lamb and pork is British.

There’s a relatively positive outlook for agricultural commodities next year, according to a report from EU farm experts DG Agri.

EU cereal markets are forecast to remain tight, as slightly lower production (-0.2%) is met by a drop in domestic demand from feed compounders and bioethanol producers in 2012, due to high prices.

A slight drop in total meat production is also predicted next year, although consumption of most meats is set to remain at 2010 levels. Beef could see a slight fall, while poultry is likely to benefit from its “cheapest meat” image, the report says.

A slight rise in fresh dairy production is predicted next year, in line with a forecast increase in consumption. Total EU milk production is estimated to reach 150.8mt in 2011 and 151mt in 2012, as further improvements in milk yields compensate for a contraction of the dairy herd.

Argentina looks set to become a major force in world poultry markets, as impressive growth over the past decade is predicted to continue.

A report by Rabobank says the country’s poultry production has grown from 900,000t in 2000, to 1.5mt in 2010. Over that period it has gone from a net importer of 18,000t to a net exporter, bringing in just under US$500m last year.

The country’s low cost base and good access to feed grains and protein crops put it in a good position for future expansion, supplying both international and domestic markets, the report says.

Domestic consumption of poultry meat in Argentina is growing strongly as consumers make lifestyle and dietary changes, moving away from more expensive beef. Consumption is forecast to reach 44kg per head by 2016 - up from around 34kg last year.

The number of agricultural holdings across Europe fell by one fifth between 2003 and 2010, as the average size continued to increase, European Commission figures have revealed.

In 2010 there were just over 12m agricultural holdings in the EU-27, and a farmed area of 170m ha. While the number of holdings was down 20% on 2003, the area was just 2% lower, meaning the average size increased from 12ha to 14ha.

Seven states accounted for almost three-quarters of the utilised agricultural area, with the largest area in France. The largest average holding size was in the Czech Republic (152ha), followed by the UK (79ha), Denmark (65ha), Luxembourg (59ha), Germany (56ha) and France (53ha).

Seven member states accounted for more than 80% of all holdings. These were Romania, Italy, Poland, Spain, Greece, Hungary and France. The biggest drop in the number of holdings was in Estonia, Bulgaria, Latvia and Poland, while Malta and Sweden were the only countries to record an increase.

Demand for home-produced milk is set for a further boost after Nom UK - part of Austrian dairy company Nom AG - announced bold expansion plans.

It wants to double production capacity for short life dairy products at its new £60m site in Telford, Shropshire, from 350m pots a year to around one billion, equivalent to about 15% market share. The move would more than double its requirement for British milk, which currently stands at almost 30m litres, all of which is sourced from local processors.

It is expected that doubling the size of the dairy will take place over the next two to three years, with building work taking up to 12 months. Capacity could be expanded further in the longer term, possibly up to 1.5bn pots per year, or 20% of the market.

“About three billion pots of short life dairy products are imported into the UK every year and one of our objectives is to make meaningful inroads into that market with UK retail partners,” said Nom International chief executive Christoph Wenisch.

There was an interesting take on the “food versus fuel” debate at last week’s ‘Power of 3’ event at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Addressing the issue of the increasing feedstock required to supply more anaerobic digestion plants, Masstock’s Roger Hellawell suggested land had already become available due to the decline in cattle numbers.

Defra census figures showed cattle numbers had fallen by 300,000 head over the past five years, which at a stocking rate of two per hectare, equated to around 150,000ha of land. At a grass yield of 40t/ha freshweight, that gave a potential 6mt of grass, enough to supply about 90 250kW AD plants, he said.

The figures may have to be taken with a pinch of salt, but they at least illustrate the potential that already exists to meet the growing demands from renewables.

A new contract to attract growers of two speciality white wheat varieties has been launched by Openfield.

It is offering a premium of £30/t over feed for the spring variety Zircon and winter variety Heroldo, with the option to receive a reduced premium of £25/t for samples that meet the minimum 11% protein, but have lower Hagbergs and specific weights (see below).

Both wheats will be used for the production of breakfast cereals by Weetabix and Morning Foods.

“There is strong market demand for these varieties and as such we are offering what we believe is the best premium in the market,” said Chris Martin, contracts manager for Openfield.

With Group 1 wheats currently attracting premiums of around £20/t and Group 2s nearer £13-15/t, Mr Martin reckoned the gross margin from the white wheats would outperform open market varieties.

Provided crops were managed well, growers should have no problem hitting the required specification, he added. “Despite an official Hagberg of 179, 40% of commercial crops met the target of 225 and no commercial crops have been rejected for exceeding the mycotoxin threshold of 700ppb.

“We do advise, however, that both varieties are sprayed with glyphosate once the crop reaches 30% moisture to kill off secondary tillers, ensure consistent ripening and preserve Hagbergs.”

Further evidence of shoppers’ desire for high animal welfare standards when buying meat has been produced by those busy researchers at the Institute of Grocery Distribution.

Its latest survey suggests that 81% of meat shoppers are attracted by higher animal welfare standards and almost two-thirds (63%) buy Freedom Food products because of its association with the RSPCA.

Sainsbury’s, which claims to be the UK's largest retailer of Freedom Food branded lines, says sales of Freedom Food eggs, pork, chicken, turkey and ham have gone up by almost 10% over the past year alone. This month it will also be the first UK supermarket to introduce Freedom Food canned ham in a new cold canned meats range.

“This news reinforces the fact that people really do care about farm animals but with an increasing number of different food labels on offer, it can be confusing to know what to choose,” said Leigh Grant, chief executive of Freedom Food.

Global meat supplies are likely to tighten further next year, which should help keep prices firm, according to a Rabobank report.

Barring any major economic disruption, it predicted GDP growth - particularly in countries such as China, India and Indonesia - would outstrip protein supplies, resulting in “another year of record prices in most markets for most proteins around the world”.

There was likely to be reduced supplies from the US in particular, where a steep drop in meat and poultry production was forecast for 2012. Drought in the south and southwest US had exacerbated the long-term downtrend in the cattle herd, while the chicken industry was cutting back production due to lower profitability, it said.

The US pork sector had so far held relatively steady, but Rabobank said there were signs of increased sow slaughter as the industry got to grips with some of the tightest corn supplies in history.

Home produced beef and lamb are taking a bigger share of supermarket chiller cabinet space. The latest Eblex Beef and Lamb Watch survey, carried out in supermarkets during August 2011, showed 83% was British produce.

This is the highest level since the quarterly survey was started in its current form in August 2008. It also found that 56% of beef and 65% of lamb packs carried the Red Tractor assurance logo.

“There has been a consistent improvement in home sourcing of beef and we now look to see this commitment carry on into the future,” said Alistair Mackintosh, NFU livestock board chairman.

“We will remain vigilant on pack labelling including retailer support for the use of the Red Tractor logo, to ensure customers can continue to buy beef and lamb produced to leading standards of food safety and animal welfare.”