This Week in Farming: Policy, sugar beet and dairy blues

Welcome back to another edition of This Week in Farming, your one-stop shop for the best Farmers Weekly content from the past seven days.

First, here’s this week’s markets at a glance (opens as PDF), which shows a welcome uptick in the value of lambs through the auction ring, but an unwelcome downturn in oilseed rape prices as markets respond to the US mid-term election results.

We have also just launched our annual Sentiment Survey, seeking your views on the year just gone and the year ahead. Please take a moment (well, 10-15 minutes) to take part. There is a £75 Amazon voucher up for grabs!

Now, on with the show.

Road to nowhere

Frustration with the government’s lackadaisical attitude to British agriculture boiled over at this week’s NFU Council meeting, where president Tom Bradshaw described Defra’s 25-year Farming Roadmap as a “road to nowhere”. 

In part, this reflected disappointment with Defra farming minister Stephen Morgan’s performance in a closed council session.

Mr Morgan had also frustrated delegates at the annual Egg and Poultry Industry Conference in South Wales where he ignored the key concerns of planning delays and substandard imports in his 10-minute address, then left without taking any questions from the floor.

The importance of getting post-Brexit farm policy right was also on the agenda at the NFU Cymru conference in Llandrindod Wells, where rural resilience minister Llyr Gruffydd was urged to make several key improvements to the Sustainable Farming Scheme. Welsh farmers are also seeking a ban on Brazilian beef imports. 

Farmers were slightly more upbeat in Scotland, where farm support is considerably more generous than south of the border. 

Livestock threats

Animal disease continues to challenge the livestock sector, not least with the unwelcome arrival of Shamonda virus – found in cattle but a greater threat to sheep.

It comes at a time when the UK’s disease surveillance capacity is under strain, according to evidence given to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee, which also learned that significant quantities of bluetongue vaccine had been diverted away from the UK earlier this year due to lack of demand. 

Defra also revealed its new bovine TB reduction strategy this week, with an emphasis on vaccination of cattle and badgers.

We also reported on the risks that some livestock diseases can pose for farmers, as Aled Roberts from Montgomeryshire shared how he’d picked up leptospirosis during the summer months. 

Missing a beet

The woes of sugar beet growers got an airing this week, as growers contend with low prices and drought-affected yields. This was put into perspective at the NFU council, where fears about ABF’s future plans for the Cantley factory in Norfolk were also aired.

Cambridgeshire farmer David Wheatley is one grower who has decided to stop growing sugar beet, as contract prices mean it is no longer viable.

Suffolk farmer Will Hitchcock says he will stick with the crop, but is decidedly underwhelmed by the low returns. Opinion writer Mike Neaverson says sugar beet’s days “might be numbered” on his farm because “if ever there was a crop that could be studied as an abject failure of recent policy, then we need look no further”.

Dairy blues

It’s not been a great week for the dairy sector either, kicking off with news that Arla Foods is having to investigate a number of its suppliers following undercover filming by the Animal Justice Project on 15 farms over a 12-month period.  

Dairy farmers across the board are having to contend with disappointing milk price news, as the recent rally appears to have run out of steam. 

FW editor Andrew Meredith in his leader column argues that there is no room for complacency when it comes to cow welfare, but the fear of being targeted and the worry of being tarred with the same brush is adding to the pressure on hard-working farmers.

On a slightly more positive note, Shirley Macmillan from our Livestock desk looks at how smart ear tag data is being used to improve calf rearing performance. 

Farming kit roundup 

As ever, the Farmers Weekly’s machinery desk has been out and about…

Machinery editor Oli Mark puts the Kverneland B-series plough to the test on hard-baked ground, describing it as “a quality plough with an ideal combination of features”.

He also takes a look at the McCormick X7.624’s in-cab tractor controls, suggesting they are “a work in progress”. 

Freelance reporter Peter Hill explains how China’s big car makers are preparing a 4×4 “onslaught”, while also taking a quick look at two KGM Musso pick-ups – the Rebel and the Saracen – which now get a “commercial” specification.

Meanwhile, Piers Welkin gets to grips with a new Sitemaster version of the ubiquitous JCB 3CX describing it as a “more affordable” backhoe loader.

Listen to the FW Podcast

Don’t forget to tune in to the Farmers Weekly Podcast, with Johann Tasker, Louise Impey and Hugh Broom.

This week the team takes a look at the new carbon tax on fertilisers and asks could English olive oil become the next big farming opportunity?

You’ll find it anywhere you get your podcasts, or listen free on the FW website.