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Food, Drink and Agriculture
Producers with a beef about age rules
When is beef not beef? It may seem a daft question but European Union labelling legislation states that any meat from a beast slaughtered under 12 months old cannot be called just “beef”.
Webb confident on funding
Optimism over future funding of agricultural education was expressed yesterday by the recently appointed chief executive and principal of the Scottish Agricultural College, Professor Bob Webb, writes Andrew Arbuckle.
Dairy co-ops in merger to create UK No1
DAIRY co-operatives Arla and Milk Link are to join forces in a merger that will create Britain’s largest milk processor.
Dairy chiefs welcome merger between Arla and Milk Link
THE merger deal between Arla and Milk Link setting up the largest single dairy company in the country was welcomed yesterday by farming leaders.
European mission to meet new entrants to farming
Next month a party of European Commission officials will arrive in Scotland for a two-day visit to discuss the ongoing issue of new entrants and single farm payment eligibility, speaking to Scottish new entrants about the difficulties they face.
1 commentMan charged after ‘incident’ at GM crop trials
A 50-year-old man has been charged with criminal damage after an incident at a research centre where a trial of GM wheat is taking place.
Wool prices on the increase
Sheep producers can expect a 22 per cent increase in the cash they get for their wool this year but the vice-chairman of the British Wool Marketing Board admitted there were still no fortunes to be made.
Analysis: How have letter and spirit of the law become so divorced?
AROUND the room the glasses chinked and the chatter rose in volume. Those expert in the art of networking were using this skill to speak to people while simultaneously on the lookout for someone of greater importance while the dull and the boring were washed aside like some jetsam on a beach.
7 commentsChinese deal a £50m boost to pig sector
British pig producers have received a major boost with the doors opening on an annual trade which could soon see £50 million of pigmeat being exported to China.
Plan to tackle cattle disease
The plan to remove bovine viral diarrhoea infection from Scottish dairy and beef cattle moved a small step forward yesterday with the Scottish Government launching a consultation on the next phase of the eradication plan.
Get out of the city and into the rural idyll
A PILOT project aimed at encouraging city dwellers to experience more of Scotland’s vibrant rural tourism sector has been launched this week.
Call for more cash to promote blackcurrant growers
As SCIENTISTS and plant breeders attempt to unravel the genetic make-up of blackcurrants to find out just what gives them the title of a “healthy super fruit” a leading grower yesterday expressed his concerns that too much money was being spent on science and too little on promoting and marketing the fruit.
Dairy co-op pays out £33.7m to members but cuts milk prices
HIGHER prices helped Milk Link, Britain’s biggest dairy co-operative, this year to pay its 1,600 members £33.7 million, a 15.4 per cent rise on the previous 12 months.
Call for fresh Pack inquiry into CAP rejected
A CALL for Brian Pack to be brought back into harness and update his report on how the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy should progress to Scotland’s benefit gathered pace during the day yesterday but was rejected last night by the Scottish Government.
1 commentNow Scottish beef is on the menu in the United Arab Emirates
Another export market has opened up for Scottish beef with the granting yesterday of the necessary health certificates for exports of de-boned fresh beef heading for the United Arab Emirates.
Tennent’s owner toasts rising profits
TENNENT’S lager maker C&C Group is on the hunt for acquisitions both in the British Isles and internationally after unveiling a €500 million (£400m) war chest, alongside a rise in full-year profits.
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Signs of light at last in CAP reform saga
Significant progress was made yesterday on the environmental proposals for the next Common Agricultural Policy with concessions being made but for UK politicians and farming leaders any moves were but a first step in achieving much more flexibility.
Enterprising move on pubs
ENTERPRISE Inns, the UK’s biggest pub landlord, has largely completed plans to dispose of a large chunk of its estate after raising £264 million from the sale of more than 1,000 venues over two years.
Land Court latest to celebrate centenary
Although the pre-First World War days were some of the hardest times faced by farmers, with imports pouring in from Commonwealth countries, it was also a time when a number of important institutions on the Scottish rural scene were established.
‘Balance struck’ in new farm wage board deal
A 2.8 per cent increase in farm workers’ pay bringing them up £6.86 per hour was yesterday described by Scott Walker, chief executive of NFU Scotland, as “striking the right balance” in the current economic climate.
1 commentComment: Our venerable industry’s roots face being torn out of land
Later this week, politicians will gather in Brussels to try and make progress with what have been called the “greening” proposals of the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Far Eastern eye falls on frozen foods company
BIRDS Eye has followed Weetabix as the latest big household brand to attract takeover interest from the Far East.
Rebrand boosts Browns
BROWNS Food Group expects to double sales of its Tarbert cooked meat range this year after supermarket giants Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco reacted positively to a rebranding that emphasises its Scottish credentials.
Confusing picture of NVZs from survey
Results of a major survey into groundwater quality in Scotland have revealed large areas of land currently designated as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) actually have less than the permitted levels of nitrates in the water.
Vigilence urged over disease
Despite a comprehensive survey of more than 300 stocks of potatoes failing to find any evidence of the highly infectious bacterial disease dickeya, which has wreaked havoc in Holland, growers have been urged to continue to be vigilant.
Costs slice into profits at Campbells Prime Meat
Campbells Prime Meat, the Linlithgow-based food supplier, saw operating profits fall by more than a third last year as higher costs took the shine off an increase in sales.
Call to build on success of Scotland’s forestry sector
The forestry sector in Scotland is already vibrant, with a huge amount of money ready to buy land with trees on it as investors increasingly look at some tangible asset. It also has a modern and efficient processing sector with a large throughput of timber currently meeting a strong demand.
Milne and Cameron make plea for sheep
Hill sheep farmers went on the offensive yesterday with a campaign highlighting the fact that their efforts result in far more than choice lamb chops even although this red meat is high in omega 3 which aids human health.
Independence row engulfs future of QMS
Scotland’s red meat promotional body, Quality Meat Scotland, has found itself “piggy in the middle” in a political dispute between a leading MEP and the Scottish Government.
Laird of Continental Farms harvests €418,000 as crops pay dividends
FARMING tycoon Mark Laird was paid €418,000 (£337,000) as chief executive of Continental Farmers during the company’s first year on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), according to the firm’s annual report.
1 commentNairn’s Aberdeen cookery school has an eye on oil industry
Celebrity chef Nick Nairn is today due to launch an “urban-format” cook school in Aberdeen, creating 12 jobs and representing £400,000 investment.
Cameron calls for action to challenge CAP plans
A FORMER president of the National Farmers Union of Scotland has suggested that politicians and farming leaders should “drag their feet until a new agricultural commissioner comes in place” unless there is a radical shift in the current proposals on the next Common Agricultural Policy.
EU ‘planning no new animal transport rules’
EU HEALTH commissioner John Dalli yesterday confirmed that the commission would not be bringing forward any new rules on animal transport.
£1.25m cash for crop research
Scotland leading plant breeding station, the James Hutton Institute, has been awarded £1.25 million for research projects aimed at improving the quality and reliability of malting barley.
April’s cold snap hits lambing
Although no numbers have been put on lamb deaths this spring, industry experts yesterday agreed that there had been “considerable” losses in the cold, wet April.
Andrew Arbuckle: Old farmers are a myth created by bureaucracy and forms
In A scene that is replicated up and down the country, the family are seated around the farmhouse kitchen table. Talk will have gone past the local gossip, the weather and market prices into the work that has to be done in the coming days and who will do what.
2 commentsCaithness plant attracts interest
Although it has only been in administration since the beginning of the week, there has been strong interest expressed in the £4 million Caithness Beef and Lamb abattoir and meat processing plant.
Tenants under pressure over rent case
The Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (SFTA) yesterday advised tenants to resist what they have described as “unwarranted” increases in rent.
1 commentExports are food and drink to farmers
agriculture is the driving engine behind Scotland’s increasing production of food and drink, it was claimed this week.
Demand will drive lamb production says bank
Sheep farmers were urged yesterday to maintain production to meet the demand for Scotch lamb in both home and export markets.
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Weetabix adds strength to Chinese appetite for iconic British brands
WEETABIX has become the latest British brand to be bought by Chinese investors as the world’s second biggest economy flexes its financial muscles.
6 commentsNew group to promote deer farming in Scotland
With a renewed interest in eating venison, a new group has been established to increase deer production in Scotland.
First Milk moves into sports nutrition
In A week where two of the big players in the milk market dropped their buying price to producers by 2p per litre, a third, First Milk has taken another step into the premium functional food sector with the acquisition of leading sports nutrition company CNP Professional.
Lochhead calls for freeze on CAP changes
After comprehensively rubbishing the specific proposals put forward by the European agricultural commissioner aimed at financing environmental objectives in the next Common Agricultural Policy, Scottish cabinet secretary Richard Lochhead said it was time for them to be cast aside.
Irish broadside against reform
If THERE was a view that all states of the EU were drifting somewhat reluctantly to a consensus on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, that was blown apart yesterday by Kevin Kinsella, the director of livestock for the Irish Farmers Union.
1 commentLees to reveal results before investor talks
Confectionery maker Lees Foods has said it will publish preliminary results for last year before a crunch meeting with shareholders to decide whether a proposed management buyout can go ahead.
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Now Wiseman cuts price it pays for milk
NFU Scotland last night described the decision by Robert Wiseman Dairies to drop the price they pay dairy farmers by 2p per litre as “hugely disappointing”.
Caithness meat processing firm in administration
A MAJOR meat processing plant with state of the art equipment which has never actually been in full production has been brought to the market following Caithness Beef & Lamb being placed in administration.
Spelman calms some Scottish fears over CAP reform
Last week, NFU Scotland had harsh words of criticism for the UK negotiators on their stance in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform talks, with the union saying it wanted support to continue to be funnelled into directly supporting farmers and not through environmental schemes and rural development.
2 commentsAndrew Arbuckle: Politicians’ words and actions on CAP do not match up
THERE is a great clamour from scientists, farming leaders and those in the food industry for more food to be produced in the world. I have even heard some European politicians claim they support that aspiration, or at least want food security in their own country.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
