A year in the strife…
JANUARY
JAN 5 – Genetically modified crops and growth promoting hormones must be used to feed the world, US agriculture under-secretary Eugene Moos told the Oxford Farming Conference.
JAN 12 – Super-levy payment delays prompt the EU Commission to threaten a £5.8m clawback penalty.
JAN 19 – Animal Data Centre ranks for the first time a UK-bred and proven sire, the Cleitus son, MOET Elsas Contest, in the top five in the ITEM ranking list.
JAN 26 – Brown rot is found in consignment of Dutch seed potatoes in Cornwall.
FEB 2 – MAFF figures suggest UK farm incomes shot up by 34% in 1995 to £4bn – the highest level for two decades. But the biggest increase was in the cereal sector. Dairy and livestock incomes failed to reach 1993/94 levels.
FEB 9 – Meat and Livestock Commission announces consultation on plans to cut Britains abattoir capacity.
Farm minister Douglas Hogg demands that three German states lift bans on British beef during speech to NFU annual meeting.
FEB 16 – US Senate approves new Farm Bill which aims to cut farm support, export subsidies and set-aside.
Genetically modified tomato paste goes on sale in British supermarkets.
MAFFs TB control policy is criticised by south-west and Welsh farmers concerned over rising levels of bovine TB.
FEB 23 – EU farm commissioner, Franz Fischler warns that modulation (limiting arable payments to big farmers), could be discussed in Brussels.
MAR 1 – National Milk Records acquires DAISY herd health, fertility and milk recording business from Reading University.
MAR 8 – National Rivers Authority raises concern over the use of the herbicide isoproturon (IPU) after high levels are found in drinking water.
Lack of quotas leads to a soar in early potato plantings.
MAR 15 – First cloned sheep announced by Roslin Institute, Edinburgh.
MAR 20 -UK beef industry thrown into turmoil after health secretary Stephen Dorrell announces that the most likely explanation for 10 cases of CJD in people under 42 was exposure to BSE before the specified offal ban was introduced in 1989.
MAR 29 – Cattle markets empty, despite farm minister Doulgas Hoggs assurance that "there would be no damage to markets.
EU Commission confirms a word-wide ban on UK beef exports as NFU leaders urge government to consider removing cull cows from the food chain to restore consumer confidence
APR 5 – EU promises extra financial support for producers and agrees to help fund slaughter of over-30 month cattle.
APR 12 – EU compensation rates of 85p/kg liveweight for over-30-month beef cattle condemned as inadequate and NFU tells John Major that a selective cull is unnecessary.
Record milk superlevy announced.
APR 19 – £1bn compensation package announced by Mr Hogg including a 25p/kg initial top-up payment for over-30 month beef.
Spring drought hits Eastern root and cereal growers.
APR 26 – Mr Hogg discusses plans for a selective cull with Mr Fishler.
Silver y-moth hammers beet, potatoes and other crops.
MAY 3 – NFU cereals delegates vote to cut 1996/97 set-aside rate by half.
FW launches its "Whats in the bag?" campaign for a full feed declaration policy by animal feed compounders.
MAY 17 – Over 30-month cull finally gets underway as 500 farmers rally at Westminster.
UKASTA members agree to provide full ingredients lists for most compound feeds.
Seed to shelf traceability for crops urged by growers.
MAY 24 – Pig producers slow to make changes to sow stalls ban claim ADAS at Pig and Poultry Fair.
John Major launches governments EU non-co-operation policy.
Country Landowners Association launch "Access 2000" document.
MAY 31 – Spot feed wheat hits a season high of £127/t.
CONTINUED OVERLEAF
Troubled dairy firm Cricket St Thomas appoints joint administrators.
JUNE 7 – Abattoirs ordered to liase with Intervention Board over OTMS cull.
Landfill tax raises fears over fly-tipping.
Top Channel Island herds competitive with black and whites, claim Genus.
JUNE 21 – UK bows to EU pressure and adds 67,000 cattle to the 80,000 already identified as BSE cohorts, and a cut in over-30 top up payments to 15p/kg brings fury.
First green £ revaluation for three years cuts support payments.
JUNE 28 – John Major says the UK should meet the necessary conditions to allow a lifting of beef export by November.
Signet launches refined sheepbreeder service.
JULY 5 – Mr Fischler visits Royal Show and MAFF releases its plans for a selective cull.
Hybrid rape Synergy causes early concern among growers, but later yields well, as yellow rust strain (17) panics cereal sector.
JULY 12 – MLC chairman Don Curry calls for farm assurance throughout the marketing chain.
JULY 19 – Mr Fischler unveils beef reform package and MAFF cuts OTMS top-up rate cut to 10p/kg liveweight.
JULY 26 – EU farm ministers agree to halve set-aside rate to 5% but Brussels warns of a cut in arable payments to fund the BSE crisis.
AUG 2 – Dairy Crest shares valued at 155p prior to flotation. Agriculture select committee says Milk Marque should not be referred to Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
Interim results from a MAFF trial suggest BSE can be passed from cow to calf.
AUG 9 – Demands for reduction in scrapie test costs made at Sheep 96.
Wheat harvest begins with prices at £105/tonne.
MAFF announces plans for mature beef assurance scheme.
AUG 16 – Scots farmers prepare to fight Scottish Office decisions to roll together separate businesses which could cost them £10m in aid payments.
Rural Development Commission says CAP reform has speeded up job losses.
AUG 23 – Office of Fair Trading gives Milk Marque the all-clear in battle with Dairy Industry Federation over monopoly charges.
Better than expected wheat yields reported across the UK.
AUG 30 – Dairy Crest flotation sees shares rise to 196p/tonne.
Restrictions on IPU herbicide strengthened by Environment Agency.
SEPT 6 – MAFF shelves plans for a selective cattle cull after a Oxford University report, published in Nature, confirms BSE is likely to die out by 2001.
OTMS top-up rate cut to 5p/kg liveweight.
Launch of Farm Assured British Pigs scheme.
SEPT 13 – Record UK wheat crop of 15.9m tonnes according to first harvest estimates.
Milk Marque announces 1p/litre price cut from October.
Wheat sowings show big rise (9%+)
SEPT 20- Government gives up hope of clearing OTMS backlog by mid-October.
SEPT 27 – £60m announced to boost 1997 hill payments for suckler herds.
Northern Milk Partnership extends quality assurance requirements to feed at Dairy Event while NFU launches code of practice for dairy farms.
Prince Charles speaks out against industrialisation of agriculture during Soil Association speech, marking its 50th birthday.
OCT 4 – Farmers fury erupts as the EU agrees to cut the OTMS rate to 75p/kg liveweight. Mr Hogg is jeered at the South West Dairy Show and shouted down at a Shrops farmer meeting.
Wheat price falls below £100/tonne.
OCT 11 – More than 2000 farmers protest at the Conservative party conference at Bournemouth and Mr Hogg announces £29m extra support for the beef industry.
Gulf War syndrome recognised, rekindling OP debate.
OCT 18 – NFU issues a vote of no confidence in Mr Hogg saying he has lost touch with the concerns and needs of British agriculture.
Potato prices plunge to lowest levels in years.
OCT 25 – NFUs Westminster lobby commands support from 2000 farmers.
The Farmers Union of Wales threatens to put up candidates in marginal Tory seats.
Nutritionists advise dairy farmers to cut concentrates as silage quality is good.
NOV 1 – Ulster warns it will go it alone over selective cull as NFU celebrates National Beef Day.
MAFF reveals it wants to integrate agri-environment schemes.
Second green pound revaluation of the year – support prices now 5% lower.
NOV 8 – Ministers say OTMS backlog should be clear by Christmas.
MAFF announces privatisation of ADAS.
MLC calls for 64% cattle levy ceiling increase in 1997.
Dual resistance aphids found in potatoes and beet.
Wheat falls below £90/tonne.
NOV 15 – Fischler calls for more rural development support at the expense of agricultural production aid at Cork conference.
NOV 22 – NFU launches Food Standards Agency consultation document.
NOV 29 – Fears of sheep HLCA cuts prove unfounded in government budget.
Labour launches CAP policy document.
MLC launch beef burger quality mark at Smithfield Show, and NFU call for one quality assurance national scheme.
Broad-spectrum strobilurin-based fungicide launched at Brighton Crop Protection conference.
DEC 6 – Plans for English and Welsh Cereal Quality Assurance Scheme launched by NFU.
Anger surfaces over non-segregated GM soya and maize imports.
OP expert quits govts special medical and scientific panel.
Use of fishmeal in some livestock feeds withdrawn.
Fendt 308 Turbomatic wins the Pan-European tractor multi-test.
DEC 13 – MAFF launches computer database for stock.
Genus links up with Dutch firm, Holland Genetics, in new marketing and breeding initiative.
DEC 20 – UK government says it will go ahead with the selective cull and releases plans for certified herd scheme.
DEC 27 – Maize farmers to receive rebate after MAFF found to have miscalculated penalties.
JAN 5 – Genetically modified crops and growth promoting hormones must be used to feed the world, US agriculture under-secretary Eugene Moos told the Oxford Farming Conference.
JAN 12 – Super-levy payment delays prompt the EU Commission to threaten a £5.8m clawback penalty.
JAN 19 – Animal Data Centre ranks for the first time a UK-bred and proven sire, the Cleitus son, MOET Elsas Contest, in the top five in the ITEM ranking list.
JAN 26 – Brown rot is found in consignment of Dutch seed potatoes in Cornwall.
FEB 2 – MAFF figures suggest UK farm incomes shot up by 34% in 1995 to £4bn – the highest level for two decades. But the biggest increase was in the cereal sector. Dairy and livestock incomes failed to reach 1993/94 levels.
FEB 9 – Meat and Livestock Commission announces consultation on plans to cut Britains abattoir capacity.
Farm minister Douglas Hogg demands that three German states lift bans on British beef during speech to NFU annual meeting.
FEB 16 – US Senate approves new Farm Bill which aims to cut farm support, export subsidies and set-aside.
Genetically modified tomato paste goes on sale in British supermarkets.
MAFFs TB control policy is criticised by south-west and Welsh farmers concerned over rising levels of bovine TB.
FEB 23 – EU farm commissioner, Franz Fischler warns that modulation (limiting arable payments to big farmers), could be discussed in Brussels.
MAR 1 – National Milk Records acquires DAISY herd health, fertility and milk recording business from Reading University.
MAR 8 – National Rivers Authority raises concern over the use of the herbicide isoproturon (IPU) after high levels are found in drinking water.
Lack of quotas leads to a soar in early potato plantings.
MAR 15 – First cloned sheep announced by Roslin Institute, Edinburgh.
MAR 20 -UK beef industry thrown into turmoil after health secretary Stephen Dorrell announces that the most likely explanation for 10 cases of CJD in people under 42 was exposure to BSE before the specified offal ban was introduced in 1989.
MAR 29 – Cattle markets empty, despite farm minister Doulgas Hoggs assurance that "there would be no damage to markets.
EU Commission confirms a word-wide ban on UK beef exports as NFU leaders urge government to consider removing cull cows from the food chain to restore consumer confidence
APR 5 – EU promises extra financial support for producers and agrees to help fund slaughter of over-30 month cattle.
APR 12 – EU compensation rates of 85p/kg liveweight for over-30-month beef cattle condemned as inadequate and NFU tells John Major that a selective cull is unnecessary.
Record milk superlevy announced.
APR 19 – £1bn compensation package announced by Mr Hogg including a 25p/kg initial top-up payment for over-30 month beef.
Spring drought hits Eastern root and cereal growers.
APR 26 – Mr Hogg discusses plans for a selective cull with Mr Fishler.
Silver y-moth hammers beet, potatoes and other crops.
MAY 3 – NFU cereals delegates vote to cut 1996/97 set-aside rate by half.
FW launches its "Whats in the bag?" campaign for a full feed declaration policy by animal feed compounders.
MAY 17 – Over 30-month cull finally gets underway as 500 farmers rally at Westminster.
UKASTA members agree to provide full ingredients lists for most compound feeds.
Seed to shelf traceability for crops urged by growers.
MAY 24 – Pig producers slow to make changes to sow stalls ban claim ADAS at Pig and Poultry Fair.
John Major launches governments EU non-co-operation policy.
Country Landowners Association launch "Access 2000" document.
MAY 31 – Spot feed wheat hits a season high of £127/t.
CONTINUED OVERLEAF
Troubled dairy firm Cricket St Thomas appoints joint administrators.
JUNE 7 – Abattoirs ordered to liase with Intervention Board over OTMS cull.
Landfill tax raises fears over fly-tipping.
Top Channel Island herds competitive with black and whites, claim Genus.
JUNE 21 – UK bows to EU pressure and adds 67,000 cattle to the 80,000 already identified as BSE cohorts, and a cut in over-30 top up payments to 15p/kg brings fury.
First green £ revaluation for three years cuts support payments.
JUNE 28 – John Major says the UK should meet the necessary conditions to allow a lifting of beef export by November.
Signet launches refined sheepbreeder service.
JULY 5 – Mr Fischler visits Royal Show and MAFF releases its plans for a selective cull.
Hybrid rape Synergy causes early concern among growers, but later yields well, as yellow rust strain (17) panics cereal sector.
JULY 12 – MLC chairman Don Curry calls for farm assurance throughout the marketing chain.
JULY 19 – Mr Fischler unveils beef reform package and MAFF cuts OTMS top-up rate cut to 10p/kg liveweight.
JULY 26 – EU farm ministers agree to halve set-aside rate to 5% but Brussels warns of a cut in arable payments to fund the BSE crisis.
AUG 2 – Dairy Crest shares valued at 155p prior to flotation. Agriculture select committee says Milk Marque should not be referred to Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
Interim results from a MAFF trial suggest BSE can be passed from cow to calf.
AUG 9 – Demands for reduction in scrapie test costs made at Sheep 96.
Wheat harvest begins with prices at £105/tonne.
MAFF announces plans for mature beef assurance scheme.
AUG 16 – Scots farmers prepare to fight Scottish Office decisions to roll together separate businesses which could cost them £10m in aid payments.
Rural Development Commission says CAP reform has speeded up job losses.
AUG 23 – Office of Fair Trading gives Milk Marque the all-clear in battle with Dairy Industry Federation over monopoly charges.
Better than expected wheat yields reported across the UK.
AUG 30 – Dairy Crest flotation sees shares rise to 196p/tonne.
Restrictions on IPU herbicide strengthened by Environment Agency.
SEPT 6 – MAFF shelves plans for a selective cattle cull after a Oxford University report, published in Nature, confirms BSE is likely to die out by 2001.
OTMS top-up rate cut to 5p/kg liveweight.
Launch of Farm Assured British Pigs scheme.
SEPT 13 – Record UK wheat crop of 15.9m tonnes according to first harvest estimates.
Milk Marque announces 1p/litre price cut from October.
Wheat sowings show big rise (9%+)
SEPT 20- Government gives up hope of clearing OTMS backlog by mid-October.
SEPT 27 – £60m announced to boost 1997 hill payments for suckler herds.
Northern Milk Partnership extends quality assurance requirements to feed at Dairy Event while NFU launches code of practice for dairy farms.
Prince Charles speaks out against industrialisation of agriculture during Soil Association speech, marking its 50th birthday.
OCT 4 – Farmers fury erupts as the EU agrees to cut the OTMS rate to 75p/kg liveweight. Mr Hogg is jeered at the South West Dairy Show and shouted down at a Shrops farmer meeting.
Wheat price falls below £100/tonne.
OCT 11 – More than 2000 farmers protest at the Conservative party conference at Bournemouth and Mr Hogg announces £29m extra support for the beef industry.
Gulf War syndrome recognised, rekindling OP debate.
OCT 18 – NFU issues a vote of no confidence in Mr Hogg saying he has lost touch with the concerns and needs of British agriculture.
Potato prices plunge to lowest levels in years.
OCT 25 – NFUs Westminster lobby commands support from 2000 farmers.
The Farmers Union of Wales threatens to put up candidates in marginal Tory seats.
Nutritionists advise dairy farmers to cut concentrates as silage quality is good.
NOV 1 – Ulster warns it will go it alone over selective cull as NFU celebrates National Beef Day.
MAFF reveals it wants to integrate agri-environment schemes.
Second green pound revaluation of the year – support prices now 5% lower.
NOV 8 – Ministers say OTMS backlog should be clear by Christmas.
MAFF announces privatisation of ADAS.
MLC calls for 64% cattle levy ceiling increase in 1997.
Dual resistance aphids found in potatoes and beet.
Wheat falls below £90/tonne.
NOV 15 – Fischler calls for more rural development support at the expense of agricultural production aid at Cork conference.
NOV 22 – NFU launches Food Standards Agency consultation document.
NOV 29 – Fears of sheep HLCA cuts prove unfounded in government budget.
Labour launches CAP policy document.
MLC launch beef burger quality mark at Smithfield Show, and NFU call for one quality assurance national scheme.
Broad-spectrum strobilurin-based fungicide launched at Brighton Crop Protection conference.
DEC 6 – Plans for English and Welsh Cereal Quality Assurance Scheme launched by NFU.
Anger surfaces over non-segregated GM soya and maize imports.
OP expert quits govts special medical and scientific panel.
Use of fishmeal in some livestock feeds withdrawn.
Fendt 308 Turbomatic wins the Pan-European tractor multi-test.
DEC 13 – MAFF launches computer database for stock.
Genus links up with Dutch firm, Holland Genetics, in new marketing and breeding initiative.
DEC 20 – UK government says it will go ahead with the selective cull and releases plans for certified herd scheme.
DEC 27 – Maize farmers to receive rebate after MAFF found to have miscalculated penalties.
A year in the strife…
1996 was an unprecedented year for British agriculture dominated by the BSE crisis.
Tony McDougal reviews the events which made FWs headlines
EUfarm commissioner Franz Fischler (right) samples British beef.
Dairy Crest shares started trading at 155p.
South-west producers demostrate at Avonmouth docks.
JAN 5 – Genetically modified crops and growth promoting hormones must be used to feed the world, US agriculture under-secretary Eugene Moos told the Oxford Farming Conference.
JAN 12 – Super-levy payment delays prompt the EU Commission to threaten a £5.8m clawback penalty.
JAN 19 – Animal Data Centre ranks for the first time a UK-bred and proven sire, the Cleitus son, MOET Elsas Contest, in the top five in the ITEM ranking list.
JAN 26 – Brown rot is found in consignment of Dutch seed potatoes in Cornwall.
FEB 2 – MAFF figures suggest UK farm incomes shot up by 34% in 1995 to £4bn – the highest level for two decades. But the biggest increase was in the cereal sector. Dairy and livestock incomes failed to reach 1993/94 levels.
FEB 9 – Meat and Livestock Commission announces consultation on plans to cut Britains abattoir capacity.
Farm minister Douglas Hogg demands that three German states lift bans on British beef during speech to NFU annual meeting.
FEB 16 – US Senate approves new Farm Bill which aims to cut farm support, export subsidies and set-aside.
Genetically modified tomato paste goes on sale in British supermarkets.
MAFFs TB control policy is criticised by south-west and Welsh farmers concerned over rising levels of bovine TB.
FEB 23 – EU farm commissioner, Franz Fischler warns that modulation (limiting arable payments to big farmers), could be discussed in Brussels.
MAR 1 – National Milk Records acquires DAISY herd health, fertility and milk recording business from Reading University.
MAR 8 – National Rivers Authority raises concern over the use of the herbicide isoproturon (IPU) after high levels are found in drinking water.
Lack of quotas leads to a soar in early potato plantings.
MAR 15 – First cloned sheep announced by Roslin Institute, Edinburgh.
MAR 20 -UK beef industry thrown into turmoil after health secretary Stephen Dorrell announces that the most likely explanation for 10 cases of CJD in people under 42 was exposure to BSE before the specified offal ban was introduced in 1989.
MAR 29 – Cattle markets empty, despite farm minister Doulgas Hoggs assurance that "there would be no damage to markets.
EU Commission confirms a word-wide ban on UK beef exports as NFU leaders urge government to consider removing cull cows from the food chain to restore consumer confidence
APR 5 – EU promises extra financial support for producers and agrees to help fund slaughter of over-30 month cattle.
APR 12 – EU compensation rates of 85p/kg liveweight for over-30-month beef cattle condemned as inadequate and NFU tells John Major that a selective cull is unnecessary.
Record milk superlevy announced.
APR 19 – £1bn compensation package announced by Mr Hogg including a 25p/kg initial top-up payment for over-30 month beef.
Spring drought hits Eastern root and cereal growers.
APR 26 – Mr Hogg discusses plans for a selective cull with Mr Fishler.
Silver y-moth hammers beet, potatoes and other crops.
MAY 3 – NFU cereals delegates vote to cut 1996/97 set-aside rate by half.
FW launches its "Whats in the bag?" campaign for a full feed declaration policy by animal feed compounders.
MAY 17 – Over 30-month cull finally gets underway as 500 farmers rally at Westminster.
UKASTA members agree to provide full ingredients lists for most compound feeds.
Seed to shelf traceability for crops urged by growers.
MAY 24 – Pig producers slow to make changes to sow stalls ban claim ADAS at Pig and Poultry Fair.
John Major launches governments EU non-co-operation policy.
Country Landowners Association launch "Access 2000" document.
MAY 31 – Spot feed wheat hits a season high of £127/t.
CONTINUED OVERLEAF
Troubled dairy firm Cricket St Thomas appoints joint administrators.
JUNE 7 – Abattoirs ordered to liase with Intervention Board over OTMS cull.
Landfill tax raises fears over fly-tipping.
Top Channel Island herds competitive with black and whites, claim Genus.
JUNE 21 – UK bows to EU pressure and adds 67,000 cattle to the 80,000 already identified as BSE cohorts, and a cut in over-30 top up payments to 15p/kg brings fury.
First green £ revaluation for three years cuts support payments.
JUNE 28 – John Major says the UK should meet the necessary conditions to allow a lifting of beef export by November.
Signet launches refined sheepbreeder service.
JULY 5 – Mr Fischler visits Royal Show and MAFF releases its plans for a selective cull.
Hybrid rape Synergy causes early concern among growers, but later yields well, as yellow rust strain (17) panics cereal sector.
JULY 12 – MLC chairman Don Curry calls for farm assurance throughout the marketing chain.
JULY 19 – Mr Fischler unveils beef reform package and MAFF cuts OTMS top-up rate cut to 10p/kg liveweight.
JULY 26 – EU farm ministers agree to halve set-aside rate to 5% but Brussels warns of a cut in arable payments to fund the BSE crisis.
AUG 2 – Dairy Crest shares valued at 155p prior to flotation. Agriculture select committee says Milk Marque should not be referred to Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
Interim results from a MAFF trial suggest BSE can be passed from cow to calf.
AUG 9 – Demands for reduction in scrapie test costs made at Sheep 96.
Wheat harvest begins with prices at £105/tonne.
MAFF announces plans for mature beef assurance scheme.
AUG 16 – Scots farmers prepare to fight Scottish Office decisions to roll together separate businesses which could cost them £10m in aid payments.
Rural Development Commission says CAP reform has speeded up job losses.
AUG 23 – Office of Fair Trading gives Milk Marque the all-clear in battle with Dairy Industry Federation over monopoly charges.
Better than expected wheat yields reported across the UK.
AUG 30 – Dairy Crest flotation sees shares rise to 196p/tonne.
Restrictions on IPU herbicide strengthened by Environment Agency.
SEPT 6 – MAFF shelves plans for a selective cattle cull after a Oxford University report, published in Nature, confirms BSE is likely to die out by 2001.
OTMS top-up rate cut to 5p/kg liveweight.
Launch of Farm Assured British Pigs scheme.
SEPT 13 – Record UK wheat crop of 15.9m tonnes according to first harvest estimates.
Milk Marque announces 1p/litre price cut from October.
Wheat sowings show big rise (9%+)
SEPT 20- Government gives up hope of clearing OTMS backlog by mid-October.
SEPT 27 – £60m announced to boost 1997 hill payments for suckler herds.
Northern Milk Partnership extends quality assurance requirements to feed at Dairy Event while NFU launches code of practice for dairy farms.
Prince Charles speaks out against industrialisation of agriculture during Soil Association speech, marking its 50th birthday.
OCT 4 – Farmers fury erupts as the EU agrees to cut the OTMS rate to 75p/kg liveweight. Mr Hogg is jeered at the South West Dairy Show and shouted down at a Shrops farmer meeting.
Wheat price falls below £100/tonne.
OCT 11 – More than 2000 farmers protest at the Conservative party conference at Bournemouth and Mr Hogg announces £29m extra support for the beef industry.
Gulf War syndrome recognised, rekindling OP debate.
OCT 18 – NFU issues a vote of no confidence in Mr Hogg saying he has lost touch with the concerns and needs of British agriculture.
Potato prices plunge to lowest levels in years.
OCT 25 – NFUs Westminster lobby commands support from 2000 farmers.
The Farmers Union of Wales threatens to put up candidates in marginal Tory seats.
Nutritionists advise dairy farmers to cut concentrates as silage quality is good.
NOV 1 – Ulster warns it will go it alone over selective cull as NFU celebrates National Beef Day.
MAFF reveals it wants to integrate agri-environment schemes.
Second green pound revaluation of the year – support prices now 5% lower.
NOV 8 – Ministers say OTMS backlog should be clear by Christmas.
MAFF announces privatisation of ADAS.
MLC calls for 64% cattle levy ceiling increase in 1997.
Dual resistance aphids found in potatoes and beet.
Wheat falls below £90/tonne.
NOV 15 – Fischler calls for more rural development support at the expense of agricultural production aid at Cork conference.
NOV 22 – NFU launches Food Standards Agency consultation document.
NOV 29 – Fears of sheep HLCA cuts prove unfounded in government budget.
Labour launches CAP policy document.
MLC launch beef burger quality mark at Smithfield Show, and NFU call for one quality assurance national scheme.
Broad-spectrum strobilurin-based fungicide launched at Brighton Crop Protection conference.
DEC 6 – Plans for English and Welsh Cereal Quality Assurance Scheme launched by NFU.
Anger surfaces over non-segregated GM soya and maize imports.
OP expert quits govts special medical and scientific panel.
Use of fishmeal in some livestock feeds withdrawn.
Fendt 308 Turbomatic wins the Pan-European tractor multi-test.
DEC 13 – MAFF launches computer database for stock.
Genus links up with Dutch firm, Holland Genetics, in new marketing and breeding initiative.
DEC 20 – UK government says it will go ahead with the selective cull and releases plans for certified herd scheme.
DEC 27 – Maize farmers to receive rebate after MAFF found to have miscalculated penalties.