December 2011 Archives

Traditional British Cheddar is the most popular cheese bought during the festive season, a survey by The Dairy Council has revealed.

Of the 1000 people questioned, 76% said they would tuck into Cheddar this Christmas, making it almost twice as popular as Wensleydale (38%), Stilton (42%) and British Brie (35%).

Generally men and women showed similar tastes, although Stilton was more popular among men - 46% choosing it, compared with 39% of women.

“We are pleased that people will be enjoying British cheeses during this festive season, regardless of the type,” Judith Bryans, director of The Dairy Council, said.

“While British Cheddar is certainly a worthy choice as the nation’s favourite this Christmas, people might be surprised to know that Britain produces more varieties of cheese than France.”

Most people surveyed ate cheese with crackers after dinner, rather than in a sandwich at lunchtime.

The UK wheat crop totaled 15.3m tonnes this harvest, 3% more than last year, according to final results from Defra’s national survey published today (22 December).

Wheat production was up due to a 2% increase in the sown area to 2m ha, combined with a 1% increase in the average yield, to 7.7t/ha. The highest yields (8.1t/ha) were in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, while the lowest yield was in the North West and Merseyside at 6.5t/ha.

Barly production was up 5% in 2011, to 5.5m tonnes, as a 13% increase in the spring barley area more than compensated for a decline in winter barley and a small reduction in overall yields.

It was a record year for oilseed rape though, as yields were up by 13% to an average of 3.9t/ha and area was 10% higher than 2010. This led to total UK production of 2.8m tonnes, some 24% more than last year.

Interim results from National Milk Records show turnover increased by 3.9% to £8,641,000 during the six months ended 30 September, but operating profit of £379,000 was down on the £496,000 during the same period last year.

The company said a number of new revenue streams were beginning to deliver results, while costs associated with investment in new projects and a laboratory in Staffordshire would affect profitability for the year ended 31 March 2012. “These costs will deliver additional revenue and increased operating margin in the future,” it said.

NMR chairman Philip Kirkham said the outlook remained challenging, despite a favourable outlook for farmgate milk prices. “In the short term production cost on dairy farms has led to a squeeze on cash flow. Selling new products in this environment is challenging but I have been pleased with our success to date and optimistic for future growth.”

The ongoing supermarket price war means that a typical basket of food bought in the UK now costs around 5% less than the European average, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Shop price inflation is at its lowest level for a year and cheaper commodity prices, combined with continued retailer discounting and the Chancellor’s decision to postpone January’s 3p/litre rise in fuel duty will help keep inflationary pressure down, it said.

Overall food inflation fell to 4% in November, from 4.2% the previous month, while overall shop price inflation stood at 2%.

“With the OECD forecasting consumer spending to fall by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011 and the first of 2012, retailers are likely to face a challenging start to the New Year,” the BRC said.

Buoyant grain markets have helped grain trader Wessex Grain make record annual profits in the year to 31 July 2011.

The company made an operating profit of £427,127 on turnover of nearly £56m, significantly up on the £41m the previous year.

“Not only were the markets buoyant, with feed wheat prices increasing by £80/t from the market lows, but for significant periods, the market followed clear trends which the company took advantage of,” managing director Simon Wilcox said.

The business opened its expanded Henstridge store in July, providing space for an extra 20,000t of grain and boosting overall capacity to around 70,000t.

Arla Foods is to start selling dairy commodities on the GlobalDairyTrade online trading platform in a bid to access more international markets.

It will begin offering Skim Milk Powder and medium and low heat products from April 2012.

“We believe that the growth potential on the European markets will continue to be under pressure in the years to come, and we are therefore increasing our focus on the growing markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia,” Arla Foods chief executive Peder Tuborgh said.

“A part of our strategy is to conduct an efficient trading business on those markets. The GlobalDairyTrade auction platform is one of the tools we intend to use to reach and service new and present customers in a cost effective way.”

Representatives from the solar industry have urged government to reconsider the drastic cuts to the Feed-in Tariff that came in for systems installed after 12 December.

A letter signed by 200 prominent individuals and organisations, and a Friends of the Earth petition signed by 17,000 people was delivered to Number 10 this week, urging the government to protect the solar sector and the FiTs scheme.

“We are calling on Cameron and Clegg to intervene to ensure a future for solar power beyond 1 April 2012,” Renewable Energy Association chief executive Gaynor Hartnell said.

“The cost of solar is falling so dramatically that in about five years’ time it should cost no more to generate one’s own solar power than to buy it from an electricity supply company. To get there we need commitment and stability, not boom and bust.”

Sole traders and rural businesses have been urged to get their online tax returns completed in plenty of time, following a clampdown by HM Revenue & Customs.

Online Self Assessment forms must be completed before 31 January 2012, but rural accountant Old Mill said that 1.5m taxpayers were fined for late filing in 2011, 8% more than 2010.

“With a standard late filing penalty of £100, the sum of 1.5m penalties represents a minimum of £150m income for the Exchequer,” Old Mill partner Mike Butler said.

HMRC has altered the penalty system in recent years and taxpayers will be charged a penalty for late submission even if no liability is due, he warned.

“I would urge everyone who has failed to meet the paper return deadline of 31 October to file online before 31 January, even if they are not expecting a liability to be due.”

Fuel prices rose again last month, according to the latest Farmers Weekly/ NFU Inputs Price Monitor survey.

Farmers paid an average of 67.7p/litre for red diesel in November, up almost 2p from October and well above the average price of 53p/litre paid last November.

White diesel was up almost a penny to 117p/litre, while kerosene typically cost 59p/litre, up 3p on the month.

Go to www.fwi.co.uk/IPM to take part in the December survey - it’s quick, free, anonymous and helps give a clearer picture of what farmers are paying for inputs.

The NFU has urged government not to “marginalise” the bioenergy sector, following publication of the Committee on Climate Change’s bioenergy review.

Chief renewable energy adviser Jonathan Scurlock was concerned by the lack of ambition for developing domestic bioenergy in the report, pointing to proposals to withdraw Renewables Obligation support for large-scale biomass power generation and the recommendation for delayed target setting for transport biofuels.

But he welcomed the report’s conclusion that the UK’s carbon targets would be hard to meet without bioenergy and that bioenergy should be combined with carbon capture and storage to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“Around 4m tonnes of straw, plus a similar amount of new energy crops, could be supplied without disrupting existing agricultural markets” he said.

Dairy nutrition company Volac has posted strong results for the last financial year. Operating profit was £12.5m on turnover of £121m, up by almost 38% year-on-year.

The company, which has seven production facilities - five in the UK, one in The Netherlands, and one in Malaysia - said the business’s strength had been helped by a programme of collaborative investments over recent years.

This has included a total investment of over £10m in a lactose plant, increased milk replacer capacity and expanded whey protein site at Felinfach, Wales; a £7m investment with Milk Link at the Taw Valley Creamery; and acquisition of specialist young animal nutrition business Parnutt Foods.

Wheat straw was in hot demand at a recent hay and straw sale at Newbury in Berkshire.

The sale saw 70 lots totalling almost 1000t on offer, with big bale wheat straw selling to a top of £17 a bale, or £85/t. But there was a wide variation in prices due to variable quality, with some lots down to £55/t and an average price of nearer £70/t.

Carter Jonas Auctioneer, John Read, reckoned straw demand was being driven by strong exports to Holland and France, where farmers were desperate to make up the shortfall after their own poor crops this year.

Hay and barley straw trade was more mixed though, with some lots unsold. Top price of £19.40 a bale (£79/t) went to a batch of Mini-Hesston spring barley straw bales. Conventional hay bales sold well, but big bales proved harder to sell.