Recently in livestock farming Category

Sheep producers received a bigger share of the retail price for lamb in December 2011, but beef and pig farmers saw little change, according to AHDB’s latest UK Market Survey.

Strong export demand and tight supplies saw the average deadweight ex-farm price for lamb increase by 42p/kg in December compared with the month earlier. Over the same period the retail price declined slightly, so producers received almost 60% of the final retail price, up 6% on the month.

Overall during 2011 producers received 59% of the retail price, compared with 55% in 2010.

Beef producers received on average 54% of the final retail price during December, 1% down on the month, but 5% higher than December 2010. Pig producers saw a smaller improvement on the year (up 2%) and still receive a much lower share. The average ex-farm deadweight pig price equated to just 39% of the retail value in December.
 
 

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.

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.

Farmer-owned supply co-operative AtlasFram Group has announced its best ever results for the last financial year.

The Group’s financial reserves rose to a record £2.5m for the year to 30 June 2011 on turnover that was 21% higher at £168m.

All divisions recorded increased volume as its 1060 members bought more through the co-operative, although the livestock and energy supplies departments performed particularly well.

The formal alliance with ADM Direct also proved successful, giving AtlasFram’s grain marketing department a significant boost.

Richard Anscombe, chief executive said: “The UK is now just a small part of a truly global marketplace and our domestic agricultural sector is becoming less important to increasingly-large international suppliers and end-customers.

“To remain competitive, farmers will have to work together more closely through a strong, stable cooperative which purchases the inputs they require, achieves the best returns for their combinable crops and provides impartial advice to enable them to operate more profitably.”

The Welsh sheep flock has increased by 5% to 8.6m over the past year, according to provisional results from the June 2011 Agricultural and Horticultural Survey for Wales.

A 10% increase in lamb numbers to 4.34m drove the increase, while the breeding ewe flock remained unchanged at around 4.1m.

There was a slight fall in the total number of cattle and calves to 1.12m, after a 1% rise in the dairy-bred females was more than offset by a 3% fall in non-dairy breeds.

The cropped area increased slightly, as more cereals were planted at the expense of oats, maize, bare fallow and other crops which all recorded slight falls in area.

It’s been a good year for farmer-owned agricultural suppliers ACT, which has announced record results.

The co-operative made a pre-tax profit of £2.4m on record sales turnover of £108m in the year ending 30 June 2011. It has allowed the company to pay out a £1.1m trading bonus to its 5000 farmer shareholders, the nineteenth year of doing so.

ACT managing director John Hamilton said the performance was driven by a 10% increase in fertiliser and feed volumes, with particularly strong growth in Scotland. There was also the “largest ever” annual sales of forage seeds.

“This demonstrates that farmer-owned co-operatives can trade competitively and deliver good service and good value,” he said.

Are you paying too much for your farm inputs? You can check what you're paying against the rates others are being charged by submitting the prices you pay to the NFU/Farmers Weekly Inputs Price Monitor at www.fwi.co.uk/nfu-IPM.

Results are published monthly and anonymously. The more contributors we have, the more reliable and useful the data.  

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.

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.

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.