According to the Farmers Guardian the UK poulty industry is suffering from high feed prices, limitetd volume growth and oversupply despite operating in one of the highest value-added markets in the EU.
That is the view of Rabobank which sees the industry at a crossroads, with the way forward including further consolidation, greater efficiency, better supply discipline and what the bank terms further internationalisation.
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Savills have reported that the capital value growth of UK farmland is forecast to outperform many commodities markets, residential property, UK gilts and West End offices. They expect the average value of farmland in the five years from 2012 to increase by 36%, with average growth of 5% in the first 12 months.
This forecast growth follows a substantial rise in average farmland values over the past five years (138 per cent),...
A report in the Farmers Guardian says that dairy products manufacturer Muller, based in Market Drayton, will reduce their price to milk producers by 0.5ppl from February 1st.
The company has written to producers telling them that, following tough trading conditions and a generally disappointing 2011, it needs to achieve a more competitive costs base and hence the need to reduce the producer price.
Milk procurement manager...
According to a report in the Farmers Guardian, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has achieved its December Single Payment Scheme (SPS) targets nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.
The agency has paid more than £1.4 billion to approx 91,400 farmers since the SPS payment window opened on December 1st.
This represents 81 per cent of the estimated value of 2011 payments, against a December target of 78 per cent and 87 per cent of...
Defra has announced a new Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme which will make £20 million available in grants of between £2,500 and £25,000. The grants will be for qualifying items and further information, including a guidance booklet, is available on the Defra website.
The application form for applications under the first round should be available to download from 16th November 2011 when the application period...
Dan Bowden has been researching and analysing the CAP reform proposals and has written a brief information sheet trying to explain what the current proposals might mean to British farmers.
One of the biggest challenges will be proving that you are an 'active farmer' and could potentially result in you having to disclose a great deal of personal information about non-agricultural income.
The Welsh Government's decision to abolish the Less Favoured Area payment top-up within its new environment management scheme will result in farmers in these areas losing 20% of their subsidy, according to a report in the Farmers Weekly.
The decision, which will affect nearly 80% of agricultural land in Wales, means that for the first time in more than 60 years, Wales has no scheme specific to areas with more challenging farming...
Johann Tasker writes in the Farmers Weekly that farmers who refuse to adopt 'green' measures planned by Brussels will lose far more than the expected 30% of their annual subsidy cheque.
Apparently proposals unveiled this week suggested 30% of direct payments would depend on farmers respecting certain agricultural practices including maintaining permanent pasture and cultivating at least three different crops on arable land.
To...
The NFU have warned that changes to the way in which farmers receive their single farm payment are likely to be delayed beyond the European Commission's 2014 deadline for CAP reform.
Maeve Whyte, director of the NFU's Brussels office, said debate about what the proposals will look like was still going ahead between leaders in Europe – despite the plans being formally unveiled by European farm commissioner Dacian Ciolos on...
A report in the Farmers Weekly says that wheat prices have reached their lowest point for a year, falling by about £25/tonne over the past four weeks. This puts the spot feed wheat price at around £140/tonne ex farm.
Grain markets are under severe pressure on fears of lower demand on a poor world economic outlook and higher harvests than had been expected. However, prices have now dipped low enough to create some buying...
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