Food for Thought

Way back in the autumn of 2005, then Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced new measures to make road fuels greener. The Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, he said, would start in April 2008 and, by 2010, would require 5% of fuel sold at UK forecourts to come from renewable sources.

Last week, just three weeks before the RTFO was due to begin, pressure groups, including Oxfam and Greenpeace, ramped up their opposition, writing to the Department for Transport demanding a delay until a review of the sustainability of biofuels has been published.

Such groups have long opposed this technology, citing the impact of biofuels on food supply and prices, and concerns over habitat destruction and carbon release from ploughing virgin land. On their own, these objections are unlikely to throw the government off track at this late stage.

But things took a more serious turn when DEFRA’s chief scientific adviser, Robert Watson, had his say, calling for a delay until the results of a government inquiry into the sustainability of biofuels are known.

Prof Watson is no sensationalist. Ministers might well take note when he says biofuels policy may have run ahead of the science, and that some thinking time is needed to ensure the RTFO does not have the opposite effect to that intended.

Whether you are a householder or a farmer flooding is a nightmare. So imagine being flooded four times in just nine months.

You have to feel sympathy for this chap in Oxfordshire.

The pictures of the tractor which got caught up in a landslide in Cheshire are amazing. But it seems that they might be more extraordinary that I thought.

I've received an email this morning from a professor at Durham University who specialises in landslides. He says that he has never seen anything like it in the UK and he's keen to investigate what caused it.

More from Ian Ashbridge at this year's Sentry conference

What is it about the RSPB that raises such passions among farmers? No sooner had Mark Avery, director of conservation at the RSPB, finished addressing this year’s Sentry conference, than he faced a personal attack from one of his organisation’s own members.

Every now and again you get the opportunity to go to an event that leaves you feeling inspired. Last Friday’s Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s grey partridge conference in Cambridge was just such an occasion.

Described several times by speakers as an iconic bird, grey partridge numbers have declined from over a million pairs pre-World War I to less than a 100,000 now.

But 40 years of research by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has identified what management practices farmers can put in place to reverse that decline.

By Andrew Shirley
Farmers Weekly's flabbergasted Business Editor

Everybody wants to be environmentally friendly these days, but DEFRA seems to have finally lost the plot.

It is planning a series of "roadmaps" to identify ways to make the various sectors of farming greener and has just released some draft proposals for dairying.

So far so good, we all need to do our bit for global warming and the like.

But, inexplicably, these proposals include a huge switch by consumers to UHT (longlife) milk and a 60% cut in methane emmissions by dairy cows.

At the moment only 5% of milk consumed in the UK is UHT, but DEFRA reckons that could be increased to 90% by 2020.

Apparently DEFRA did a blind tasting and people couldn't tell the difference. Rubbish.

I don't know about you but I can't stand the taste of longlife milk and certainly won't be bullied into giving up my fresh and tasty pinta.

It would also open the door to imported UHT milk from Eastern Europe where farmers have much lower costs.

And I'm not even sure how it would save the environment. Granted, it wouldn't need to be transported in refrigerated lorries, but it would still have to go in the fridge once opened.

But that won't matter because if DEFRA has its way we'll have to slaughter most of our dairy herd anyway to cut methane emmissions to the levels its happy with.

Thankfully, these are draft proposals and the NFU and Dairy UK has united to rubbish them. But what on earth made DEFRA think anybody would take them seriously?

What they have done is outraged the industry. But maybe that was DEFRA's aim.

Perhaps by suggesting such whacky and ridiculous ideas to begin with they think the sector will jump to embrace anything that sounds vaguely reasonable.

The final report is due in November. Hopefully it will container some slightly saner proposals.

This mocked-up picture of a Gold pea group viner (allegedly) being moved out of the mud by a Chinook helicopter has been sent in to Food For Thought by Julie Calam from East Yorkshire.

Apparently, the image has been whizzing its way around the 'pea world' even landing in the in-box of the head of Birds Eye.

"It has really cheered the men in the field up during what has been one of the worst pea seasons I've known," said Julie.

This blog is dedicated to everyone who battled the mud, the ruts and the rain in Car Park Two at the Royal Show on the evening of Monday 2 July. Other commentators will wrangle and dispute the future of the Royal Show itself. Farmers Weekly’s own columnist David Richardson made an admirable start this morning with his blog (David’s Digest, Tragic Royal Washed Away).

Farmers Weekly is holding out for a hero. We have joined forces with the NFU to seek a farming champion. As part of the 2007 Farmers Weekly Awards, we are looking for someone worthy of the title NFU Farming Champion.

I've just come back from a food industry conference debating whether food miles are too simplistic a measure of sustainability.

Listening to - and taking part in - the debate, it was clear that there is no one simple answer and that yes there are indeed flaws with food miles as a concept.

Certainly the New Zealanders who tuned into the event live from Auckland think so. They fear food miles is just protectionism by the back door, and they're at pains to point out that if you look at the whole life-cycle analysis of their production, taking into account maritime transport to the UK, they are much more carbon friendly.

My carbon footprint doesn't fit.

As the climate change industry grows, various websites are offering us the chance to measure our carbon footprint. But how effective can they be?

What with low-cost food imports and now today's debate on the role of nuclear power, I have to admit to wondering if the bubble is bursting on our indulgent lifestyles.

Only last week I was talking to a friend about "our generation" (I'm 35) - our use of cars, as much food as we can eat etc - and couldn't help wondering if in another 20 years' time we'll look back with affection at how easy it all was.

How reliant on others will we be for "staple" commodities such as food and energy by 2030? How vulnerable will that make us?

For years, farmers have been told that the self-sufficiency arguments for food production are outdated - something David Miliband reinforced recently. And yet at lunchtime today, the PM has cited our declining self-sufficiency in energy as a major concern and the reason for his backing of a UK-based nuclear solution.

For years, shoppers and politicans have taken low food prices for granted. But now weather worries around the world are making it increasingly difficult to ignore how vulnerable our food supplies can be. The latest chapter in this undoubtedly long saga was opened this week by the National Office of Statistics. Its latest report on food prices

Another post from Ian Ashbridge on the concept of "peak oil".

Academics, commentators and campaigners are divided over the concept of "peak oil" - the year at which fossil fuels begin to decline rapidly and we are forced to develop new ways of producing energy. Depending on whose figures you believe, oil extraction may have already peaked - it is variously pegged to be between 2005 and 2030.

But one enterprising academic has launched an innovative new research project into exactly how people might cope without fossil fuels.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Every 12 seconds another fly-tipped fridge, freezer, settee or other rubbish is dumped in our countryside, writes FW deputy editor Mike Stones. Nearly 2.5m incidents of unlawful rubbish dumping were recorded in the year to April 2006. And the cost to local authorities, let alone farmers, was just under £100m.

They are stark statistics and it's time to call a halt to the cost, to the inconvenience and to the grief. That's why Farmers Weekly is backing the Countryside Alliance's new campaign Fly-tipping - scrap it.

The World Bank wants the US to cut its tariff on ethanol imports: That's the subject of a recent post on Simon Robinson's excellent Big Biofuels Blog, writes FW deputy editor Mike Stones. It refers to mounting pressure on the US to remove its 54 cent per gallon duty imposed on imported ethanaol. Yet US energy secretary Samuel Bodman pledged only recently to retain the duty despite international opposition. "No one in the administration is looking to end the tariff ore subsidy prematurely (certainly not before the end of 2008), " he is reported as saying. So much for free trade in the Land of the Free.

Everyone seems to have been talking about the Great Climate Change Swindle that was on Channel 4 last week.

So DEFRA secretary David Miliband has now responded to the claims made in the programme on his blog.

Remember Major Major's father in Joseph Heller's magnificent Catch 22? The more government support he received not to grow alfalfa, the more alfalfa he didn't grow and the richer he became. I was reminded of that reading an article in The Times today "EU loophole allows city "farmers" to reap millions in subsidy harvest."
It alleges people who live in cities are making vast profits out of an EU loophole which allows them to claim farm support without owning land or going nearer a farm than watching the TV show Emerdale.

Ever wondered what farmers in Africa complain about? Well, having worked with both large and small-scale farmers in East Africa, I can tell you it's exactly the same as here - the weather's never right and prices are too low.

There is a big difference of course. If the grain market here slumps, we might have to tighten our belts but our kids won't go hungry.Too much rain in the UK might mean a washed out harvest, but it won't be life or death - in Africa it could mean just that - we've all seen the pictures on the TV.

I'm Farmers Weekly's Business editor and next Friday (16 March), I'll be going back to Africa to visit The Gambia, one of the world's least-developed countries. I'll be looking at a project run by UK charity Concern Universal that aims to create a reliable income for local farmers and provide them with a sustainable future.

I'll also be asking Gambian farmers, politicians and academics how subsidies for farmers in the world's richest countries could be harming those in the poorest.

Cars affect us all, particularly if you're living in more remote areas. And that's very common for farming folk.

A petition on No.10's website against road pricing - a Labour plan to deal with the fact that there are now some 7 million more cars on the road since it came to power - has received 1.8m signatures.

Top Gear's Richard Hammond tackles the PM in a podcast.

As a farming person who needs a car, I wonder if you think road pricing is fair. It certainly doesn't seem to be a system that can account for differing levels of need. It seems to me to be a one-size-doesn't-fit-all policy.

It's just another Labour tax to "invest" in solutions.

But listening to the podcast, sounds like the PM is back-pedalling to me. "The idea that you are going to come forward with some policy [without it going through an election process]...it's not going to happen like that," says the PM. "The idea is to engender a serious national debate about what the options are so that people can study them."

So when everyone says "no", you'll can the idea Tony?

David Miliband caused a hell of fuss at the start of the year when he said that organic food was no healthier.

But The Independent is carrying a story today which suggests that for some commodities you can't even say that organic production is better for the environment.

"The report for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found "many" organic products had lower ecological impacts than conventional methods using fertilisers and pesticides. But academics at the Manchester Business School (MBS), who conducted the study, said that was counterbalanced by other organic foods - such as milk, tomatoes and chicken - which are significantly less energy efficient and can be more polluting than intensively-farmed equivalents."

The full report is here.

It’s been a gloomy two weeks for the poultry industry and it’s easy to get depressed about the negative headline. But I was reminded yesterday of the real positive buzz in the egg sector.

I was one of three judges going through the many entries for this year’s British Egg Industry Council’s Egg Awards and as every year, I’m taken back by the high level of innovation in the egg sector.

Several entries caught my eye, including several ready-to-cook egg-based products, such as a ready-to cook omelette which comes in various flavours. Consumers simply open the pack, pour and cook. It's that simple: I believe it will prove popular as consumers spend less time preparing meals.

Then there was an egg line being promoted on environmental grounds by having a low carbon footprint. Egg boxes feature a picture of wind turbine and it states that the eggs are "from hens carefully reared using sustainable energy sources, such as wind and solar power." And with a feed mill close by to negate road miles, the carbon emissions of the poultry units are almost zero.

The pack also states that "1000 hens reared this way saves 60 trees."

I believe climate change and the whole green issue could become a significant marketing advantage. It’s certainly a means of differentiating your eggs from your competitors.

And if you are wondering who the winners are, you will have to wait until the awards dinner at the BEIC/NFU Egg Conference on March 22.

Richard Allison
Editor – Poultry World

The Soil Association's conference drew more than 600 people to Cardiff a couple of weeks ago. FW's deputy business editor Ian Ashbridge reflects on the message of peak-oil - and what society might look like in a powered-down world...

Do you switch off the light when you leave a room? Turn the TV off or leave it on standby? Do you wash clothes at 30 or 40? Buy local food? Compost your kitchen waste? Grow your own veg?

Well, you'd better start - and even then it might not be enough.

It's called climate change. Or global warming. Or we-can't-overlook-this-thing-any-more. And if that wasn't enough, a growing number of people believe we are at or very near "peak-oil" - the year when oil extraction peaks and fossil fuel stocks start to decline rapidly.

Because the Soil Association isn't just about organic food and farming anymore. Director Patrick Holden believes the "second chapter" of its work lies in working to equip society for a post-fossil fuel age.

He suspects future generations will look back with incredulity at the twentieth century - the time when we squandered the accumulated energy resources of 150 million years of planetary evolution in a few decades.