Farming from around the world

28 March 2000



Farming from around the world

• Irish farmers leader rejects forecast on farmer numbers
  
  There has been a divided reaction within the farming organisations to one of the central predictions made in the AgriFood 2010 Report, that the number of full-time farmers could fall to 20,000 in 10 years.

• Ireland down to 20,000 full-time farmers by 2010, Irish Farmers Journal on @gWorldwide, 27 March, 2000

• Hawaiian papaya growers rethink planting GM variety
  
  Hawaiian papaya growers have mixed feelings about increasingly going into the production of genetically modified disease-resistant papaya.

• How farming is reinventing itself
  
  Contrary to their staid image, farmers can be quite nimble when it comes to adopting new technologies.

• Hungarian minister hints left-wing forces behind reports of farmers protests
  
  The Hungarian minister of agriculture Jozsef Torgyan believes that it is only the press which presents the current situation as if farmers were preparing demonstrations.

• Crazy abattoir costs come under attack
  
  The boss of Scotlands biggest red meat business has little hope that the governments much-vaunted red tape review will ease any of the draconian charges on the abattoir sector.

• Australian chemical watchdog calls for tighter OP controls
  
  An Australian chemical watchdogs panel of experts has recommended stronger label warnings and better packaging for organophosphates (OP) sheep dip.

• Blow to farmers as German consumers reject British beef
  
  The daunting task facing Britains farmers as they attempt to win back business in Europe has been shown in a new survey.

• Retinal imaging could be way forward
  
  Retinal imaging may someday replace branding and ear notching on livestock, it is reported.

• Ontario farmers slash use of insecticides
  
  Farmers have drastically cut their insecticide use over the past 15 years, but reliance on weed killers has soared, according to an Ontario government study

• Breaking the speed barrier
  
  Europeans have been making fast tractors for years. Now US makers are entering the race. Together they will redefine how Americans think about tractors.

• Deere & Company begins India tractor production
  
  Deere & Companys joint venture for tractor manufacturing in India has started production of 55-horsepower tractors.

• Charolais bull semen to Sweden
  
  Semen from two highly rated Charolais bulls – Barringtons Olympian and Maerdy Impeccable – is to be exported to Sweden

• Saudi Arabia bans Danish meat in health scare
  
  Saudi Arabia has announced a ban on Danish meat and milk products because of BSE fears.

• Record Australian wheat shipment sets sail for Iraq
  
  Australian wheat sold by AWB Limited to Iraq is now being loaded in the largest shipment of grain ever to be exported from Australia.

• Aventis wins appeal against Monsanto
  
  A judge in North Carolina has affirmed a $ 65m award to Aventis CropSciences in its suit against Monsanto seed subsidiary Dekalb Genetics for the misappropriation of glyphosate-tolerant corn technology.

• EC takes The Netherlands to court over nitrates
  
  The European Commission is to apply to the European Court of Justice against the Netherlands for non-respect of the EU Nitrates Directive.

• EU needs no cyanide-free label on Hungarian food
  
  The Hungarian government has said the EU does not require separate certification that its exports of animal products and food are cyanide-free, after the poisonous chemical entered Hungarian rivers.

• Scottish firms reject GM food
  
  Leading Scottish food and drink suppliers are among top European firms that are rejecting genetically modified ingredients, claims Friends of the Earth.