Today's News - 29 October 2012

"There are too many antibiotics given to animals and even the less-complicated antibiotics are bad, because they drive up resistance through multi-resistance and cross selection for the bad ones."
Professor Peter Collignon, Australian National University - ABC Rural - 29 October 2012

Superbug threat on the rise through farm animals
Overuse of antibiotics in farm animals is leaving Australians exposed to an increasing risk from deadly superbugs.
ABC (29 Oct)
Find out more about the Soil Association’s work to reduce routine antibiotic use.

Petition fighting plan for huge pig farm hits 25,000 signatures
More than 25,000 people have signed a petition objecting to plans for a giant pig farm – the same number as the amount of animals to be housed at the site. And campaigners against Midland Pig Producers' plans for Foston have been boosted by comments made by James Bond star Sir Roger Moore about the general issue of pig farming.
The Derby Telegraph (29 Oct)

Find out more about the Soil Association’s Not in my Banger campaign.

CAP reform must not overshadow collaboration on family-owned farms
Smaller family farms need better access to rural development funds to enable them to break free of subsidy dependence, a meeting of the Family Farmers Association (FFA) in Westminster heard last week.
Farmers Guardian (26 Oct)

California's GMO labeling proposal in tight race
Heavy advertising spending by Monsanto Co and others opposed to a California ballot proposal to require labels on grocery products containing genetically modified organisms is paying off, according to a new poll that shows the measure has slipped into a virtual tie.
Reuters (25 Oct)
Prop 37 Opponents Spending Millions to Oppose GMO Label Law
Huffington Post (10 Oct)
Genetically engineered foods Q & A
USA Today (28 Oct)

Good Food for London report names Merton as second best borough
Improving school food standards and sustainability schemes mean Merton is now the ‘Most Improved Good Food Borough’.
SW London (28 Oct)
Find out more about the Food for Life Catering Mark.

Tesco to raise price paid to pig and poultry farmers
Tesco has announced that it is to raise the price it pays pig and poultry farmers for their produce.
Farmers Weekly (26 Oct)

Most beef and sheep enterprises making losses
New costings from EBLEX show that despite some dramatic improvements on the previous year's results, most cattle and sheep producers made a net loss in the year ending 31 March 2012.
Farmers Weekly (26 Oct)

Sky lantern inquiry welcomed by WFU
AS Halloween is celebrated around the UK this week, with sky lanterns aplenty, the Government is expected to launch a long-awaited inquiry into their impact on livestock.
Farmers Guardian (29 Oct)

Poor farmers 'face worst crisis since foot-and-mouth'
Struggling farmers are facing the worst poverty crisis since the devastating outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001, according to an agricultural charity which has seen a 50% rise in calls to its helpline.
The Telegraph (29 Oct)

Land deals in Africa have led to a wild west – bring on the sheriff, says FAO
Amid warnings that land deals are undermining food security, the head of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has compared "land grabs" in Africa to the "wild west", saying a "sheriff" is needed to restore the rule of law.
The Guardian (29 Oct)

Ash dieback fungus will 'change countryside very significantly'
Scientist in charge of tackling the spread of the deadly ash diebackfungus that has devastated woodlands in parts of Europe has conceded the fungus could be disastrous for Britain's ash trees with serious knock-on ecological consequences.
The Guardian (29 Oct)
Ash die back disease could have been lurking in UK for years
The Telegraph (29 Oct)
Ash tree import ban to halt spread of disease
The Telegraph (29 Oct)

Farming Today
The wet summer in the UK has meant that significantly less - and poorer quality - fodder has been produced on farms. The National Farmers' Union tells us that an increase in production costs, especially for dairy farmers, may lead to a shortage of milk and higher prices for consumers. Increased interest from supermarkets and consumers in native beef breeds such as shorthorn cattle is good news for farmers who had previously seen decades of decline in demand for their product in the UK.
BBC Radio 4, listen again (29 Oct)

And finally…Pictures of the day: 29 October 2012
The Telegraph (29 Oct)