This Week in Farming: Bovaer, slurry and Scots budget

Welcome back to This Week in Farming, your regular roundup of the best Farmers Weekly content in the past seven days.

First, here’s your markets and, in a phrase I will never get tired of uttering, it’s another week where red meat prices have climbed higher and diesel prices have fallen.

Now, on with the show.

Storm in a bulk tank

The story that has had the most tongues wagging this week is the social media backlash to farmer-owned dairy co-operative Arla’s decision to trial Bovaer, a feed additive that can reduce the amount of methane cows belch.

Arla, the UK’s biggest milk buyer, isn’t the first dairy to trial the product, but its seemingly innocuous announcement quickly went viral after a series of false claims were made about the product, including that it was financed by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates.

In my editorial this week I caution that while scrutiny and discussion of the product is welcome, the manner in which the debate has been conducted could have harmful effects on the sector as a whole.

Defra wades into slurry

English farmers have a nervous wait to find out if they’ll be subject to new restrictions on autumnal spreading of organic manures after Defra launched a snap review of the current guidelines.

Central to the debate is whether autumn spreading should be curtailed on the basis that as crop growth slows down, its nutrient need falls, increasing the risk that more manure will be leached into watercourses.

In other arable news this week, the AHDB has unveiled a mammoth number of new crop varieties onto its Recommended List, giving farmers plenty to consider for next season.

Scots budget

It was the turn of Scotland’s farmers to get their Budget announcement this week after the Westminster one at the end of November.

NFU Scotland was left disappointed not to see the hoped-for real-terms increase, and there are also questions over the scope of the new capital transformations scheme.

Meanwhile, plans to protest the UK Budget measures, including the changes to inheritance tax, continue, with the next scheduled protest to take place at Melton Mowbray market on Monday (9 December).

Organic livestock in focus

It’s the turn of organic production to be in the spotlight for our livestock team this week, with four articles looking at various aspects of producing milk and meat under the low-input system. They are:

• Why staff loss was the catalyst for organic conversion in the Highlands
• How new lagoon will drive silage quality and milk from forage
• How a shift in grazing grew more beef for less money
• The benefits of a dedicated calf rearer for split block system.

Who’s up and who’s down?

On the up this week is anyone who had cull ewes to sell – many benefited from rocketing prices described as a flash in the pan.

Feeling a touch gloomy this week is arable farmer focus writer Robin Aird after the faster-than-anticipated cuts to delinked payments left the farm business he manages with a £55,000 hole in its budget.

Listen to the podcast

Don’t forget to tune into this week’s FW podcast, with Johann Tasker and Louise Impey.

You’ll find it anywhere you listen to podcasts, or free to listen to on our website.