Today's News

19 September 2012

“There is no excuse for the present failure – for sound biological thinking shows that good food for everyone should be eminently possible. But report after report – the kind governments and big organisations choose to override – tells us that the best way to ensure that everyone is well fed, sustainably and securely, is through farms that are mixed, complex and low-input (quasi-organic). These must be labour-intensive (or there can be no complexity), so there is no advantage in them being large scale. Such farms are traditional in structure, but they need not be traditional in technology. They would benefit from good technologies and science.”
Campaign for Real Farming co-founder Colin Tudge on the need for a renaissance in small farming – The Guardian – 18 September 2012

Why the world needs renaissance of small farming
Campaign for Real Farming co-founder Colin Tudge writes that the greed for profit is ruining agriculture – and the world – but the trend for local shops and farmers' markets offers real hope.
The Guardian (18 Sept)
Find out more about organic farming.

Agent Orange chemical in GM war on resistant weeds
A US pharmaceutical company is set to introduce a controversial new genetically modified corn to help farmers fight resistant weeds which scientists say result from GM crops introduced in the mid-1990s. The new GM product will use a chemical that was once a component of the Vietnam war defoliant, Agent Orange. There is skepticism about the chemical’s safety and its effect long-term. Jeremy Leech, farmer in southeastern Nebraska, feels encouraging biodiversity, as with organic farming practices, is the way forward.
BBC News (19 Sept)
Find out more about the Soil Association’s campaigning against genetically modified food.

The Silence of the bees: government refuses to act on pesticide evidence
Despite evidence of great harm being caused to bees by sub-lethal doses of neonicitinoid pesticides - published in the world's most prestigious journals - the government has decided that no changes to regulation are required, because the case has not been proven beyond all doubt.
The Guardian (18 Sept)
Find out more about The Plight of the Honeybee.

Radio 4 Food & Farming – Farming Today
Charlotte Smith visits Eastbrook farm in the North Wiltshire Downs to investigate whether the British have lost their appetite for organics. The programme features Tim Finney, managing director of Eastbrook farm, and Anna Rosier, managing director of an organic baby food company and chairwoman of the Organics Trade Board. She says the bubble has not burst on an industry worth £2 billion.
BBC Radio 4, listen again (15 Sept)

Finland: More people than ever switching over to organic
The food safety agency Evira reports that there is a sharp increase in the number of companies that are choosing to switch over this year. Up to now, 365 farms have submitted a request for an organic certificate; 113 of which are livestock farms, which is almost as many as in the last three years put together. The sharp increase in the price of chemical fertiliser and cattle feed is a catalyst for a more natural way of working.
Fresh Plaza (18 Sept)

MEPS call on Commission to reverse CAP budget cuts
MEPS have formally demanded an increase in the funding allocated to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) under EU budget proposals.
Farmers Guardian (18 Sept)

Badger cull is a shot in the dark
The government’s randomised badger culling trial (RBCT) concluded that "the reductions in cattle TB incidence achieved by repeated badger culling were not sustained in the long term after culling ended and did not offset the financial costs of culling. These results … suggest that badger culling is unlikely to contribute effectively to the control of cattle TB in Britain."
The Guardian (18 Sept)

Mass slaughter of farm animals set to push food prices up 14%
The mass slaughter of millions of farm animals across the world is expected to push food prices to their highest ever levels. Farmers across the world have begun a mass slaughter of their pig and cattle herds because they cannot afford the cost of feed, which has soared following the worst US drought in living memory.
The Guardian (19 Sept)

Industry reacts to biofuel cuts plan
The industry has been reacting to EU proposals to limit the global development of biofuels. The NFU said the move was ‘staggeringly short sighted’, and demonstrated a failure to address the important issue of greenhouse gases.
Farmers Guardian (19 Sept)

Farming Today
Agriculture Minister David Heath says the Government remains committed to the badger cull despite growing public opposition. He tells Anna Hill that whilst no one wants to see the shooting of wildlife, there is currently no feasible alternative.
BBC Radio 4, listen again (19 Sept)

And finally…Cane rat on the menu. Why not?
A justified public outcry arose yesterday at news that some traders in east London's Ridley Road market have been selling illegally imported meats, including Ghanaian cane rat.
The Guardian (18 Sept)