Today's News - 23 October 2012

“Anses recommends starting studies and research on the long-term effect of GMOs associated with phytopharmaceutical preparations. This work should be done in the framework of public financing and on the basis of precise research protocols.”
French food-security authority Anses’s statement on the need for more long-term research into GMOs, citing a limited number of studies on the subject – Bloomberg – 22 October 2012

French regulator calls for long-term study of biotech crops
France’s food-security authority Anses called for long-term research on the effect of genetically-modified crops, citing a limited number of studies on the subject. The agency said a French toxicity study of Monsanto Co. (MON)’s NK 603 corn, a variety tolerant to the pesticide Roundup, didn’t put into question the crop’s regulatory approval. Anses found only two other feeding studies of biotech crops associated with pesticides that tracked animals over their entire lifespan, it wrote in an online statement today.
Bloomberg (22 Oct)

US farmers using more pesticides with GM crops
Farmers in the USA have increased their use of pesticides since the introduction of genetically modified crops, according to a new study. Washington State University professor Charles Benbrook has studied the use of crops that have been genetically modified for resistance to the glyphosate weedkiller, Roundup, produced by US biotech company Monsanto.
Farmers Weekly (23 Oct)

Customers attack Sainsbury’s for ditching Red Tractor
Sainsbury’s has come under fire on its own website over its decision to drop the Red Tractor logo from the food it sells. Customers have branded the decision a ‘disgrace’ and some are threatening to stop shopping at Sainsbury’s stores until the logo is reinstated. The move has also been attacked by TV presenter Jimmy Doherty, who described it as ‘an odd thing to do’.
Farmers Guardian (22 Oct)

Sainsbury’s backs Freedom Food badger cull farmers
Sainsbury’s has insisted it would be wrong to penalise its Freedom Food members who ‘by geographic circumstance’ happen to be in the badger cull areas. Sainsbury’s is the UK’s biggest user of the RSPCA’s Freedom Food label, stocking around 300 lines. But it has distanced itself from the RSPCA’s threat to suspend members of the animal welfare scheme if they take part in the English pilot badger culls.
Farmers Guardian (19 Oct)

Badger cull delayed until next year
A badger cull to combat bovine tuberculosis is expected to be postponed until next year. Originally due to take place this autumn, badger culls in two areas of south-west England will not now happen until next summer at the earliest.
Farmers Weekly (23 Oct)
Badger cull to be delayed as Tories take another U-turn
The environment secretary, Owen Paterson, will announce on Tuesday that the government is delaying its plan to cull thousands of badgers, probably until next year at the earliest, amid growing concern about the cost and effectiveness of the controversial scheme.
The Guardian (23 Oct)
Badger cull statement: Politics live blog
Rolling coverage of the day's political developments, including Owen Paterson's statement on the badger cull.
The Guardian (23 Oct)

Local council may retract support for Welsh mega-farm
Councillors who last year expressed their support for plans to build a ‘mega-dairy’ in Mid-Wales may reconsider as time runs short on the plans. Following changes at Powys Council, future plans for a 1,000 cow dairy unit near Welshpool look less certain.
Farming Online (23 Oct)

Dairy farmers in for tough winter, warns TFA
THE TFA is warning many tenanted dairy farms face a difficult winter as the price they are paid for milk continues to lag behind costs of production. TFA national vice chairman and North Yorkshire dairy farmer Stephen Wyrill said the past few months have ‘felt like a real battle for the survival of our dairy industry’.
Farmers Guardian (23 Oct)

OFC 2013 to reveal farming’s value to society
The hidden contribution UK farming makes to society is to be evaluated for the first time in a ground-breaking piece of research commissioned by the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC). The research aims to establish the extra value from farming in the UK beyond the usual measures, such as share of agriculture and allied sectors, to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Farmers Weekly (23 Oct)

The Tory culture wars laying waste to the countryside
George Monbiot writes that the government’s ‘bonfire’ of regulations rages through the natural world as Conservatives protect their class interests.
The Guardian (22 Oct)

Farming Today
Organic cereal farmers in the UK are facing a shortage of organically certified, good quality seeds. This year, fusarium, a fungal disease which can greatly reduce yields and even wipe out an entire crop has taken hold in the damp conditions. As one charity estimates that only around 1% of the paths and bridleways are fully accessible to people with disabilities, Anna Hill asks if the countryside is closed to those with additional access needs.
BBC Radio 4, listen again (23 Oct)

And finally…Animal pictures of the week: 19 October 2012
The Telegraph (19 Oct)