Food for Thought

With Maundy Thursday looming up on the horizon there seems to be a bit of a secret as to where Her Majesty will be handing out the Maundy purses this year. Presumably the 81 men and 81 women who will be the recipients this year know where to go this 81st year of the Queens's life but does anyone else know or even care?

I couldn't find out, perhaps you can...

Posted by Jonathan Long - Livestock editor

Ask many farmers their views of providing formal staff training and the simple answer will be: There isn't time for it.

"Time's money and there's none of it to spare" would be a typical response, but is it the right one?

After all, how can you expect anyone to do a good job without giving them the skills they need? How many of you would expect your accountant to undertake a spot of ploughing, or what about asking your plumber to do the odd calving on the side?

A colleague took a phone call last week from a Tesco spokeswoman saying that they would have an announcement this week which we "might be interested in". Talk about underselling it!

Tesco's decision to pay more to 150 farmers supply local milk and to offer dedicated milk supply contracts to about 850 producers and a base price of 22 pence per litre is a real breakthrough.

Although it will only directly impact on 1000 farmers the benefits should be felt through the whole of the dairy industry. The market leader has moved and hopefully others will follow.

It's not the whole solution - what about milk going into other dairy products like cheese and butter? Don't farmers supplying those markets need a sustainable price too?

Nor is it as ground-breaking as Tesco would like us to believe. Haven't M&S, Waitrose and even Asda being doing similar things for some time?

But if the rest of the retailers follow suit then it could mark the start of a much brighter future for the dairy industry.

Farmers are used to deadlines - it seems like every job has to be done to a deadline. Another profession working to tight schedules but very different is journalism - a lot of us read papers and magazines so it'll be interesting to see how they're produced.

If you want to get an insight into what life's like working on a magazine watch Deadline which is on ITV2 at 10pm tonight. It's a new reality show and challenges ten 'celebrities' to put together a mini magazine. This will actually be printed and appear in the magazine Closer.

Janet Street Porter is the editor, Darryn Lyons is picture editor and Joe Mott copy editor.
It would be good to see some of these so-called celebrities run a farm, then we'd really see what they're like at coping under pressure.

It is said that you know you are getting old when policemen start looking younger than you.

But does that also apply to retailers? Meet Tesco's dairy team - one of the most powerful groups in the country...

A lot of children will be out in the countryside this first bank holiday weekend of the year. According to new research commissioned by Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) they are becoming increasingly aware or rural issues.

Almost 80% of 7-11 yr olds have been on a farm at least once in the past three years and when asked about farmers 11% said they were kind and 4% said they were grumpy. So the kind, hardworking image wins or does anyone know different?

A posting by business reporter Caroline Stocks:

It's hard not to feel enthusiastic about Devon dairy farmer Winston Reed is doing.

By realising the potential of the public's changing attitudes, he is developing his passion, adding value to his business and, with a bit of luck, saving the planet.

For those of you who haven't read about Winston this week's Farmers Weekly, he has set up Greener for Life, a company which hopes to add value to farm produce while at the same time providing funding for conservation projects.

Environment-conscious Winston is in talks with major supermarkets to allow him to put Greener for Life logo on a range of produce.

That produce will be sold at a premium, with Greener for Life accredited farmers receiving a portion, and the remaining cash going into a Green Fund which will award farmers grants to set up conservation schemes.

But the chance for farmers to make more money doesn't stop there.

What a glorious Easter weekend we have enjoyed in the south-east. Most of us have staggered back in to sunny Sutton -how different life is here in suburbia to where some of us went walking in the Brede Valley.

We parked at Jempsons an unusual superstore at Peasmarsh and explored the East Sussex hills between Rye and Northiam.

It is so refreshing to see that there are still a few independent stores in the country for people unable to spend a day away from the shops but also fantastic to know that you can still go walking in this overcrowded country of ours and see nobody else for hours except an enthusiastic farmer mending a fence and putting in a new stile for keen ramblers Thanks to him and many others who still work while we play!

England will be joining the rest of the UK by becoming smokefree in the workplace and enclosed public spaces from 6am on 1 July.

No smoking signs will have to be displayed at entrances to premises and also in company vehicles driven by more than one person.

Employees need to be told how the new law will affect them as hefty fines can be incurred for non compliance. Further information is also available from the NFU.

Brilliant that at last passive smoking will be a thing of the past but how on earth is this law going to be enforced if a puff of smokers move from the farmhouse where smoking is permitted to the farm office where it is banned?

There was a really good programme on BBC Radio Four last night (Wed 11 April). It started and finished in San Palo, Brazil and explained how free and open source software can help children who live in areas that have been socially excluded for generations.

Free and open source software respects users' freedom as in free speech not free beer. A good comparison was made between free software and recipes, both are works of knowledge to get a job done but software is protected by copyright and as far as we know nobody has been sent to jail for copying or changing a recipe of their favourite meal.

This book is a thought-provoking portrait of the natural world, written by the former Bishop of Lynn and illustrated by celebrated artist Pat Albeck. Pat presents a beautiful painting of a different wild flower on each spread. Accompanying this is text by the Bishop describing the plant and its practical uses, and then linking the plant and its properties to aspects of Christian thought and devotion.

It's for people of all ages, a gentle and peaceful book, written in a direct, open way that is both soothing and refreshing.

It's hard to imagine when Tesco's growth in power is ever going to stop.

Not only has the supermarket group announced full-year profits of £2.55bn, but now Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy has been named the most influential unelected person in the UK.

Sir Terry was ranked ahead of Bank of England governor Mervyn King, Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre and the Queen, who found herself languishing in fourth place on the list drawn up by a panel of experts for Guardian Unlimited.

Other counterparts on the list include supermodel Kate Moss, X Factor judge Simon Cowell, Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Manchester United FC boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

A posting by Poultry World editor Richard Allison

There has been much said and written about the potential benefits of biofuels to farmers and it does make sense bringing so called set-aside land back into production. It's better producing fuel than being a breeding ground for weeds and pests.

But spare a thought for livestock farmers. A closer examination of the EU target reveals a very different picture.

Imagine soaring feed prices and feed manufacturer having to import a substantial proportion of their cereals from outside the EU. That's the chilling prediction I heard at the recent International Egg Commission conference in London.

Next week sees the launch of the Great Milk Debate - the National Federation Womens' Institutes has teamed up with the National Farmers' Union to bring awareness to the general public of the plight of the dairy industry. Farmers, milk processors and retailers wills have the opportunity to face the public.

Over 90 meetings throughout the country have been planned and some have already taken place - over 90 people attended a debate at Hailsham in East Sussex.

Is all this too little too late? Having the W.I on your side has got to be a good thing - remember their slow hand clapping Mr Blair a few years ago?

What you can do......

Henry Fell, chairman of the Commercial Farmers Union, makes an unlikely Cassandra. Remember the mythical Trojan blessed with the gift of prophesy but cursed because no one would believe her? I couldn't help thinking of Cassandra as Henry Fell spoke during the Agricultural Engineers' Association conference in London on Tuesday.

It seems as though people across Europe can't get enough of the 'typically British' products we produce.

Twinings Tea, Walker's Shortbread, Weetabix cereal and Tyrells Crisps all feature high up on the list of exported products.

But one British product in particular seems to being proving particularly popular: meat.

According to latest figures from Food From Britain, the UK's meat export market rose by 4% to £764.4m last year.

Well it probably comes as no surprise to dairy farmers that the price of a pint of milk back in 1964 was half the price of a pint of beer but now in 2007 is only a fifth of the price.

Lets hope the start of the Great Milk Debate today will make a difference !

What are the top three words guaranteed to set farmers' blood boiling?

How about Rural Payments Agency, writes deputy business editor Ian Ashbridge.

No-one in farming will need reminding of how big a shambles the administration of the Single Payment System has proved. At a cost of something like £22m in interest and finance charges, it will be hard to forget.

A posting by Farmers Weekly News Editor Jonathan Riley:

A DEFRA information leaflet that has been arriving on farmers' doormats throughout England has prompted more questions than answers. But it's not the Whole Farm Approach initiative, and helpline 08459 33 55 77, that have caused questions to be raised. It's the back page picture that is prompting farmers to ask -

Where was it taken?

What is the crop?

Why did DEFRA choose this picture for a leaflet about England?

We're fairly sure we know what it is, pretty certain about where it is, but completely stumped by the last question.

Let us know your thoughts.

By Andrew Shirley, Farmers Weekly Business Editor

And so it's announced that six more ADAS research units are to be sold off by landlord DEFRA.

Part of the explanation was that, with farming in the doldrums, ADAS's research and development revenues were falling and running the farms was becoming a burden to the organisation.

Forgive me for seeming naive, but isn't it now, when farmers are struggling to make a living, that we need more, not less research?

All life on earth depends on plants. Plants are the basis of ecosystems in which all animals, including humans, live, survive and grow. By saving seeds we can save plants.

The Millennium Seed Bank has collected its billionth seed Oxytenanthera abyssinica for safekeeping and conservation.

The billionth seed was presented to the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, on 26 April, ahead of an official banking ceremony at the Millennium Seed Bank on 22 May.

Farming seems to be growing in popularity when it comes to TV. Earlier this year we had the Top Gear guys' efforts at tractor driving and there was also the surprisingly popular Kill it, Cook it, Eat it.

The next thing due to air is a show called The Lie of the Land which has been made by an award winning documentary maker called Molly Dineen, who is best known for her films about the reform of the House of Lords, London Zoo and the weeks following Geri Halliwell's departure from the Spice Girls (the latter being the only one I have seen!).

The 70-minute programme looks at the British countryside and, in particular, the way in which farmers are struggling to cope with the challenges they face.

The Times is carrying an interesting interview with her which explains why she felt driven to film the documentary and her attitudes towards the supermarkets.

The Lie of the Land is on Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday, May 3.

By Andrew Shirley, FW Business Editor

On Easter Monday, as many of us were tucking into our Easter Eggs, The Times ran a story about how cotton farmers in Burkina Faso, west Africa, are suffering, partly due to US subsidies to its own cotton farmers.

What, you may wonder, does this have to do with farmers in the UK? We don't grow cotton and many of us are struggling just to break even ourselves.

I have always been a huge fan of the writer Bill Bryson. His book Notes From a Small Island is is one that still makes me laugh out loud (particularly his comments about the British Potato Council!)

So I am pleased to see that The Sunday Times has reported that he could be the new president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

The CPRE is a funny beast. Some farmers are members - but others regard it as an organisation which wants to preserve the countryside as it was in the 1950s.

But Bill Bryson is a passionate advocate for the British countryside and one that the public seem willing to listen to. As an American - and I suppose an outsider - he seems to be able to spot things which we 'natives' often overlook. I think he could be a great ambassador for rural areas.

By Tim Relf, Farmers Weekly's Farmlife editor:

Wow, what a weekend.

I'm back in the office today after joining 4000 Young Farmers in Torquay for their annual convention.

It reminded me what a brilliant youth organisation the Young Farmers movement is.

It was action-packed and fun-filled, featuring everything from high-powered debates on the future of farming and drama contests to dancing competitions and some serious partying.

There was even an appearance by Radio 1's Chappers & Dave. You can see why 20,000 people in England and Wales - and 3000 people in Scotland - are members of Young Farmers groups.

You can read all the action from the event, or read my full blog

You can even watch a video of the highlights.