Blog
The Feb 20th DEFRA conference should be looking at soil management
The up-coming drought in the S-E of England is worrying farmers, who are demanding concessions to any drought orders in order to protect their crops and livelihoods. Yet it is on their land that the rain mainly falls. Is modern land management, that is, the way farmers work the land, in any way responsible for the problems of drought and flood? And if so, is there anything which can be done to help solve the problem?
Practical Farm Ideas thinks there is. For years......
Read more »
Check out our blog at: www.farmideas.blogspot.com 
Could PIGs (Portugal, Ireland, Greece) upset the farming apple-cart?
Down on the farm the troubles of euroland seem very far away, especially when the spring work is keeping us extra busy. But are farmers right to think that the ‘bail-out’ of the Greek, then Irish, and now Portuguese economies will have little impact on farming in Britain?
view articleA bad week for meat
Sales of vegetables in the USA are rising, and meat and animal fat is falling. This week's #1 selling headline for Amazon is headlined Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World. This week Oprah Whitney challenged employees to join her in becoming vegan for a week. This week Cargill published a video from inside a cattle slaughterhouse and meat plant which handles 4,500 head of stock each working day. Will it convince viewers that the meat process is okay? Click below to read on and get the links.
view articleNot all bad news this week
GOOD NEWS WEEK
There are two pieces of good news which have an impact on farming. The first concerns woodland, and the second birds. And the economy might not be as bad as some say.
view articleAdjusting your 2008-9 accounts
There are occasions when the farm account system breaks down, and allowable expenses in the previous years accounts have been left out. So you have paid more tax in 2008-9 than you need to have. There's still time to adjust the figures - up to a deadline of Jan 31. Do this and your tax bill for this year will be adjusted accordingly.
view articleSparex is to be bought by Agco
Agco, the US-based maker of Massey-Ferguson farm equipment, said on Friday that it had agreed to buy Sparex Holdings, a global distributor of accessories and tractor replacement parts based in south west of England.
view articleOriginal farming ideas from the big Danish show
Where ever they are held, Agri shows have a reassuring predictability to them. It's a bit like episodes of Top Gear. You know that Clarkson will whoop "Holy Cow" as the burning rubber swirls round the 200mph car he's trying to control. You know the jeans he's wearing, because you've seen them in all the previous episodes, and you'll recognise Hammond as the little guy who pushes his jacket back to get his hands in his pockets, while James May does it the other way.
Getting something original from farm shows means looking at the less obvious stands, and trying to ignore the kit which shouts "picture me!" The Danish Agromek show yielded a dozen innovations which are well worth reviewing... you may find a solution to an existing problem. And all the companies are perfectly happy to supply UK farmers.
view article'Better farming' ideas for everyone on the land
We're interested in things that farmers make in the workshop which save them time, cost less, and are often not available from agricultural merchants. Bright solutions to everyday farming problems. Click for more....
view articleStraw prices - till the pips squeak
A bid of £1,550 was not enough for the seller of a 16 ton load of straw in quadrant bales at Truro market. Is "Not Sold" at £100 a ton good business or just plain greedy?
view articleControlling weeds in the veg patch
Dumper truck makes mechanical weederUnique Selling Point: Used dumpers by Winget, Bomford, Twaites and others go for knock-down prices
Upsides: Hoeing 6 rows of vegetables, mounting mowers and other equipment on a ride-on machine converted in your workshop provides street-cred as well as low cost mechanisation. Great idea for the bigger garden, and also for farmers in the developing world. Huge talking point.
Downsides: No air-con or stereo, and engine that's raucous rather than dulcet. Older dumpers have crank start, but no electrics to go wrong, and most are air cooled. Tiller steering is addictive, but takes five minutes to get used to.
view articleThe cloning issue - loose regulations and a media on the warpath
There's nothing like a food crisis for the front page, and the media can't be blamed for exploiting the current issue of cloned cattle. The unfortunate consequence is that an innocent farmer is likely to get hurt. He buys a pair of bulls that have been bred in the UK from cloned embryos imported from the States. He uses the bulls to improve his herd's genetics, and there are no rules to prevent this. He checks that all is well with the authorities, and nobody apparently tells him that the milk from the cows bred from these bulls, and the bull carcases themselves, are classed as a 'novel foods' and therefore subject to the Food Standards Authority approval.
view articleWhy I'd never run a children's farm
They are popular and profitable, but Practical Farm Ideas believes they are high risk operations. Editor Mike Donovan prefers to stick with conventional farming.
view articleGood time for grass aerating
Rain - Make the most of it!
Grassland is becoming seriously short of moisture and farmers are praying for rain. When it comes there's every chance it won't be for long, enough to lay the dust and maybe do little more. We need a really good soaking.
Grassland that is in any way compacted will absorb far less water - allowing the precious liquid to stay on the surface where it will evaporate off as soon as the sun comes out. Mechanically increasing the absorbency of the field surface will make the most of the rain which will come - eventually.
view articleHow much pain will farmers get from Defra cuts?
How much pain will farmers get from Defra cuts?
Balancing
the mismanaged UK budget is apparently going to rely on a 4:1 ratio of
spending cuts to tax rises. Whitehall efficiency savings are said to
take up some of the slack, but there is absolutely no doubt that cuts
will be deep in some departments....
If you like the view, don't sell the field
Why, one asks, does a man of such wealth as Jonathan Dimbleby sell 55
acres of agricultural land in front of his des res if he wants it to be
kept a pastoral scene? Why not just enjoy the land, take some rent off
it, and forgo the few ££thousand....
Mobile phone cancer dangers
Could mobile phones be as or more dangerous to health as asbestos? Surely not - someone has surely tested them.
A recent report by the World Health Organisation suggests there are serious risks for 'frequent users' of mobiles....
Practical Farm Ideas was onto Bio-gas long before the experts
Readers
of Practical Farm Ideas might remember our 'Farm of the Future' piece
in Winter 2006-7, showing how a home built anaerobic digester plant fed
slurry from a 70 cow herd was saving the farmer £7,000 a year in energy
costs....
view articlePractical technology transfer
A valuable cow gets a bad cut on her teat
A Somerset farmer is on the line, wanting to follow up a story which was published in 2007. Last week he had a cow cut her teat badly on a barbed wire fence, and he wants to replace barbed with plain high tensile wire to prevent the accident happening again. See how he managed, in minutes, to get more information. You can do the same, on any of the 4,000 topics we have covered.
view articleWhy 1p a litre is vital to ASDA milk suppliers
ASDA announces it is reducing the number of farms it has on direct contract, exposing the 200 or so who are being dropped from their scheme to a 1p or more reduction in the price they receive. Milk contracts are at the heart of a sustainable industry. Many farmers spent years working under the MMB contract, which was non-negotiable and policed by representatives from all sides, farmers, dairies and consumers. Today's cut throat market is still an alien world to many.
view articleEditor hits out at BBC Radio 4 'Start the Week'
I don't know whether you heard Andrew Marr's "Start the Week" on Monday 9.00am on Radio 4, but many thousands will have. This week's issue told listeners the livestock industry produces 93% of UK meat in 'factory farms'. Start the Week is normally the high point of my listening week, as I judge Marr to be balanced and fair-minded, but he stipped up badly in this one.
view articleToo many children get hurt
Children on UK farms are being put at needless risk through outdated legislation which prevents them from riding in the tractor cab, under supervision, so forcing parents to let them play, unsupervised, in the farm yard
Since 1994 Practical Farm Ideas has campaigned for a thorough review of farm safety and children. We strongly believe that youngsters are far safer in the cab than on the ground. If you have views, for or against, please read the full story and use the button to send an email to us.
Note: 43 children and young people were killed on UK farms in 10 years, and many
more suffered injuries including amputations and serious burns.
view articleFarmers should be on the front line for snow operation
The British snow problems could be substantially eased if farmers were designated as the front line for non-motorways.
Tractors with snow ploughs on the front and grit spreaders on the back
should be the main sight on UK roads. Rather than attempting to bring
the professional army of council machines, drivers, managers in at a
moment's notice, a volunteer army of farmers are already dispersed
throughout the country, ready to do the job....
view articleThings not so hot with John Deere
John Deere posted a trading loss as sales have fallen 14% in 2008-9,
and the company expects a further 4% decline in 2010. Is there more
behind the figures which is not being revealed?
The buying spree of farm equipment over recent years has cooled in......
view articleFlood prevention - is Defra working quickly enough?
Get acres aerated!
That well loved TV programme 'Yes, Minister' had Sir Humphry regularly suggesting that a report be commissioned, "with ungency" to look into the problem of the day, and it was something few Ministers could resist. Creating a breathing space was, in political terms, almost as good as a solution.
Floods have created a veritable raft of reports, the senior one being the Pitt Report. Each report requests more information, more studies, more science - action that does little to alleviate the effects of the next rainstorm. The 2008 Defra Report on Urban Flooding focussed on 15 specific danger areas, but none were anywhere near Cumbria. There have been reports on the effects of paving front gardens, but the area involved (look out the aeroplane window) is minute, fractional, not worth worrying about.
Practical Farm Ideas calls for action - to reduce field run-off by increasing the porosity of grassland. Taking the plane window view, a 10% reduction in field run-off would make a significant difference to down-stream water flow. Getting acres aerated would make a real difference.
view articleWhen grassland aerating helps the townsfolk as well as farmers
Grassland aerating can make a real and substantial difference to flood protection, but since the last major floods in 2006 there appears to have been little progress made. Defra, under Hilary Benn, has commissioned several research projects but the they in themselves won't improve the situation. Why does progress take so long? Government's seem incapable of taking decisions and getting down to the job. Whether it's the supply of electrical energy, arming troops, sorting out immigration, controlling flooding, planning airports and other major infra-structure projects, it's easier to prevaricate than act. Maybe we need a law that forces them to reach a conclusion!
view articleDefra's Rural Payments Agency (RPA) policies threaten farm subsidy system
If an MP's 88p bath plug can hold the headlines, the sums of money
involved and wasted in the Single Farm Payment Scheme should be enough to keep the anger of hard working British taxpayers on the boil for some time. The issue could turn into another 'cause celebre' - like MPs expenses, one that won't go away. The public and media have access the details of how much each farmer or farming company gets through http://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/ Farmers and their leaders need to be prepared for a siege, before the surrounding army becomes too menacing....
view articleBringing bankers to heel
Bankers are there for one thing, to accumulate vast capital in their personal accounts and their employer's treasury. It's good to know that the farming industry is somewhat different.
Industry, including farmers, needs working capital for fertiliser, stock and so on, and
risk capital to.....
view articleConverting corn into cash
As the 2009 harvest draws to a close, as combines get packed away for
the next season, the question for a number of farmers is 'what to do
with the grain in the barn?' Converting corn into cash has long been a
an art mastered by many whose farming skills may not be all that
spectacular, and the huge swings in grain prices since 2007 have
underlined that selling is as important as cultivation.
view articleConverting corn into cash
As the 2009 harvest draws to a close, as combines get packed away for
the next season, the question for a number of farmers is 'what to do
with the grain in the barn?' Converting corn into cash has long been a
an art mastered by many whose farming skills may not be all that
spectacular, and the huge swings in grain prices since 2007 have
underlined that selling is as important as cultivation.
view articleConverting corn into cash
As the 2009 harvest draws to a close, as combines get packed away for
the next season, the question for a number of farmers is 'what to do
with the grain in the barn?' Converting corn into cash has long been a
an art mastered by many whose farming skills may not be all that
spectacular, and the huge swings in grain prices since 2007 have
underlined that selling is as important as cultivation.
view articleWill the new Grocery Ombudsman be of any help to farmers and growers?
Call me a pessimist, but I doubt it. The more law the more entrenched the protagonists. Supermarket buyers will make sure their new contracts are worded sufficiently widely....
view articleBBC Countryfile criticises sheep farmers for not vaccinating against blue tongue
John Craven needs to ask questions as well as putting forward his own opinion
It's interesting that John Craven restricted his interviews in last
Sunday's Countryfile piece over Blue Tongue to farmers who were not
really able to express the reason for their reluctance to vaccinate.
What they said, asked on the hop, was that BT was some distance away,
and that few if any breeding stock were imported to their area
view articleLet's start controlling crows and magpies and see if songbird populations increase
Blame for the reduction in song birds is laid squarely on farmers and farming methods, particularly the use of chemicals. There's nothing to stop farmers, or those with their permission, shooting them - and traps such as Larsen are also legal, but need to be checked daily. The RSPB says....
view articleWhy closing the Royal Show is a blow to UK agriculture
Many farmers see the end of the Royal Show as inevitable, the finish of
an anachronistic event. It's a parochial viewpoint. UK agriculture in world, and even European
terms, is small, yet it's technical influence remains considerable.
Britain may have lost an empire, but it's agriculturalists, graduating
from Reading, Newcastle, Harper and other agri courses, plus those in the industry trained in science technology and management play a
major role in world agriculture. British farming science, application,
management, innovation, machinery has a far bigger clout in global
terms than the puny farming area in the UK would suggest.
view articlePreparing for the worst in 2009
"If the money measures taken in the USA, Europe and elsewhere across the globe don't work there's an evens chance of a real depression in agricultural markets," says
Practical Farm IDEAS editor Mike Donovan. It's painful to look at the last world crash in 1930, which had farmers across the USA living hand to mouth. The relentless squeeze on farming margins from the food and retail trade will not be eased in the coming months. He ends the think-piece by giving an action plan for farmers.
send your comment view articleFarmers face big ups and downs
The
Three Counties Agricultural Society Annual Conference showed that the future decade was not going to be plain sailing, even in a world where commodities were in relative short supply. Profs David Hughes and Allan Buckland both told us that we live in an unstable world, politically, economically, climatically... all which present challenges to agriculture and the farmers that make up the industry.
view articleNFU needs a new approach to conservation issues
The Ross-Brand fiasco illustrated just how big corporations can get it so wrong, and the result has put the spotlight on the £135 Licence Fee that finances it all. This week Paul Temple, NFU vice president, played much the same hand with the bird brigade, saying "prove it" to survey results showing bird population declines, but the SFP is no more sacrosanct than the Licence Fee....
view articleBlowing off combines is made easy
Here's a brilliant way to keep combine engines, rads and screens on combines, foragers and tractors clean:
Practical Farm IDEAS contributor Eddie Kirk has made the job much easier. Chaff and dust on the screens and around the engine need blowing off and the regular way is to use an air line. Eddie cleans his combine off in minutes, and does the same on baler knotters and tractor radiators ....
view articlePractical actions livestock farmers can take to reduce Bluetongue risk
After Foot and Mouth and BSE, and now Bluetongue, UK livestock farmers are suffering from disease fatigue.
Government advice on Bluetongue is unspecific, vague and seems to have been written by a lawyer. Practical Farm IDEAS suggests farmers control insects around livestock, and there's no better way than using the home made scratcher / applicator on pg 17 of Vol 17 - 1. Being 'midge aware' seems a sensible while the threat remains...
read more.
view articleGet diesel in now ready for harvest
It would be a disaster if harvest was messed up by problems of fuel supply! Galling if all was spoilt because of worries of short term cash flow.
view articleThe world food crisis - we reap what we sow
The world need not have suddenly realised it was eating more than it was growing - official figures have been showing this for years.
The past 15 years in world agriculture has been a shambles. International organisations given the task of securing basic food supplies have failed in their duty. The World Bank and others have focused too much attention on social reform and democratic change, and expected farm production to magically increase. Today, finally, and at last, the big shots who make seismic changes in our world are talking about agriculture in a new way. They need to make more sense than they have in the past.
view articleFood and farming - a practical problem
The unwritten food policy of Britain has been to get supplies at least cost, and the result has been the decimation of the industry. British agriculture produces less food, has fewer production units, employs fewer people, has less R and D than a decade, two decades, three decades ago. The rapid catch-up in world commodity markets - forecast and published in Practical Farm Ideas for the past three years - has focused a spotlight on the topic that is the subject of the first major speech by the new Chief Scientific Advisor to the government, Professor John Beddington...
view articleELECTRONICS: A growing problem area in farm equipment
Electronic controls have been around for some time. Long enough for them to become unreliable. Farmers are faced with huge bills for their repair. Or, as is often the case, electronic failure signals to them that it's time to change the machine. Damaged control systems can frequently be cured inexpensively, by substituting simpler systems at a fraction the price. While farmers and local mechanics get stuck in to making boxes that replicate the functions of computer controls, machinery companies are doubtless trying to devise ways to make this harder to do!
view articleWill the farm now be your retirement fund?
Chancellor Darling's 'simplification' of Capital Gains Tax has resulted in a huge increase in tax for those who are selling their business and retiring on the proceeds. Our accounting advisor says it will result in farmers being locked into the business until they die. Handing over nearly one-fifth of the total proceeds in CGT is far more painful than waiting for the day when Inheritance Tax kicks in, which even under current rules has a six figure threshold.
view articleMilking machine annoys neighbours
Alan Ramsey's neighbours are getting fed up with the noise from his milking machine. It wakes them every morning, and has become the unacceptable face of farming. He called Farm Ideas to find a low cost answer to the problem.
view articleLow cost grain venting method cuts the risk of down grading
Lower grain yields and higher prices have made this harvest one which needs to be specially cared for. Wet harvesting conditions have added substantially to the difficulty. We describe a clever way of venting grain in store, using a system which installs pipes after the grain has been put into store.
subscribe - take advantage of our introductory offerview articleIncident or outbreak, the virulence of FMD requires vigilance
Once the Animal Health Lab and Merial were put in the spotlight as
being the possible cause of the FMD incident in Surrey, there was a
definite sense of relief from farm leaders. "at least it wasn't one of
us". We point out that whatever its source and cause, the FMD bug is
aggressive and needs containing. Readers with back copies of Practical
Farm Ideas can see a brilliant home built boot disinfector in Vol 12
issue 3, pg. 36.
view articleA low cost way to reduce flooding
"The ground is saturated and can't take any more water," says the expert on the TV who predicts further flooding as a result. So the call is for bigger and better flood defences. I believe the experts who take the line 'there's nothing we can do' haven't given enough thought to the problem. A good deal can be done long way upstream, on the land where the rain originally falls.
view articleMajor sale of military hardware
Practical farmers will be interested in this sale of military hardware, which provides a chance of getting some low-use kit which has been well maintained at very reasonable prices.
This military clear-out is of more than 600 lots, including spares and tools as well as Land Rovers, Harley Davidson 350 trials type bikes, Bedford 4x4s, trailers, bowsers and loads more. Bids by tender for each lot will be opened on Mon July 9, and there are viewing days at Colsterworth, Grantham, Lincs on July 4, 5, 6 and 7. Remember the auction isn't like eBay - you pay what you bid, not an increment over the next bidder.
view articleIs Marge the low-fat cow spin or breakthrough?
A New Zealand dairy co-operative has discovered a cow which naturally produces what the Farmers Weekly calls 'Skimmed Milk'. The discovery has led to many headlines and reports, a fillip to the company's shareholders and also the NZ dairy industry. Practical Farm Ideas takes a wry look, and wonders whether the scientific breakthrough is more hype than science.
view articlePractical Farm Ideas helps Macmillan Cancer Support
As a 'thank you' for a £5 donation to Macmillan Cancer Support farmers will receive a DIY mineral recipe that saves money and provides greater flexibility in mineral feeding.
view articleMaking the most of summer rainfall
This dry spell is a good opportunity for grassland farmers to aerate the land. This item provides a few useful tips. Farmers on light well drained soils are having problems that are becoming all too familiar - a dry period just when their grass, and other crops, need rain.
view articleThe 2007 Budget - a disaster for farmers
Practical Farm Ideas editor Mike Donovan glances at the Chancellor's Budget measures and finds it difficult to raise much cheer.
view articleDon't forget to revise your Will
If you have children both in and away from the farm business, please read the Financial Focus article in the latest issue of Practical Farm Ideas. Farms may not be making profits, but their value has doubled in a few years - welcome knowledge for farmers who want to leave their children something, but provides the boy or girl who has stayed at home to farm with a crippling prospect. read it and send your comments to
editor@farmideas.co.uk view articleCameron misses target at Oxford
If David Cameron and the conservative party are wanting to show their commitment to farmers, they need to focus on things more central than food labelling.
view articleA leg-up for the rural poor
The Nobel Economics Prize for 2006 was awarded to Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist who decided it was feasible to lend small quantities of cash to rural people on the breadline, because he had the faith to be believe they would repay. FARM IDEAS believes that sharing best practise ideas can be of use in helping those in the most grinding rural poverty.
view articleFarmers get insufficient time to apply for grant
Welsh farmers have little more than 5 minutes to get applications in for the new tranche of Tir Goval money. FARM IDEAS thinks the short time scale is to prevent too many applications being delivered. This policy favours farmers who are not necessarily the most deserving.
view articleHeat waves and dairy cattle
Cows need
extra energy to keep cool in hot weather - yet their inclination is to
eat less.
They need to drink
more water, yet there's
less about as springs and boreholes
Here are some solutions. To get cows to eat a bit more when the weather is hot. To adapt and improve the drinking water supply for your herd. Please send comments, suggestions and ideas to
Mike Donovan editor, Practical Farm Ideasview articleBath & West £1,000 prize for Dairy Farmer
Entries for this need to be in by July 24. It costs nothing to enter.
view articleYoung men want their weekend on the beach, not in the tractor cab
Were the tractors and trailers out in force in your area over the Bank Holiday weekend? That certailnly was the case for Irish farmer Graham Ferris, who got to thinking about the young men in the cab, and reckons farmers need to take the work / leisure balance more seriously.
view articleA home built bout marker maximises growing time for second cut silage.
Using a blob marker means no delay in applying second cut fertiliser. There's precious growing time wasted while you wait for grasland to green up sufficient to see wheel marks. In that time the plants could be taking in your fertiliser and converting it to new leaf.
view articleAffordable Rural Housing - another whitewash report
Set up by DEFRA and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister last July, this Commission's final report is a travesty of the truth regarding housing in the countryside. Couched in terms even less understandable than John Prescott's regular utterings, the report paints a picture so far from the truth it is unbelievable. Affordable rural housing is vital for farmers, contractors and farm workers, and this expensive exercise, presided over by ex ITN broadcasting star Elinor Goodman, is a wasted opportunity.
view articleAlways look on the Bright Side of life
Changes to farm tenanciy rules that provide tenants with greater flexibility in the work they do must be a good thing, and Lord Bach, the hapless peer in the centre of the RPA row should be given a round of applause for this far reaching development.
view articlePeter Kendall cuts teeth on calf exports
Did the newly elected NFU president cut the mustard this morning on the Today Programme?
view articleDownload a complete issue
Yes, read a total issue of Farm Ideas - Vol 13 Issue 1 - by simply downloading the file to your computer. It's your's to keep, and to share.
view articleSingle Payment Reserve allocation
Some assessment panels for the National Reserve have started hearing appeals, and we'd be interested in following some of these up.
view articleUrban legislation is smothering the British countryside
Banning the docking of puppies tails will cause country dogs more suffering
view articleEditor Mike Donovan is short-listed for MDC Dairy Innovation Award
Over the past 14 years Mike, through his Practical Farm Ideas, has helped thousands on dairy farmers improve their businesses, simply by showing them other farmers' methods. There have been an amazing range of ideas, and in the last year he has published some 35 novel innovations for dairy farmers
view articleFarming for tax breaks
Farming tax benefits, such as Agricultural Property Relief, attract non-farmers into the industry. It's a contentious issue.
view articleToday's beef summit promises
While the Farm Minister Lord Bach announced at today's Beef Summit an £8m package to help the beef industry, Practical Farm Ideas can help producers reduce costs and improve returns....
view articleIs Tesco's gain our pain?
With profits over 24 weeks up nearly 1/5th to just under £1bn, Tesco’s
star is surely shining with investors and consumers. But it’s a
different picture among it’s suppliers, no more so than with farmers.
Could Tesco help farmers? By giving them some cost-cutting ideas and information. Or would this be seen as an unacceptable admission from them that things were bad in farming and with some of their suppliers?
Email me your viewsview articleFarm commodities tipped by advisors
Fertiliser giant Yara International posts big increases in sales and profits, in sharp contrast to the performance of their UK customers.
view articleTraining needs skills as well as education
Training needs more spanner and less clip-board orientation. Farm education needs to prioritise the skills to do the job, and then lead on to environmental issues.
view articleSimple tips that makes sense
Single Farm Payment ... diesel costs... storing straights...
view article
