Summer 2009

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Club visit to bounteous Brazil

Then: Option 1: Reception for Room Bookings and Dining Room Reser vations

Option 2: Secretariat

Option 3: House Manager for Meetings / Functions

Option 4: Accounts and Membership

(Ar ticle and pictures on pages 10-13)

INSIDE… •Royal Show Marquee entry details (Tue 7 to Fri 10 July)

•Committee nomination form

Application forms for: • Visit to The Alnwick Garden (Thursday 17 September) • Dinner at Great Yorkshire Show (Tuesday 14 July) • Dinner at Royal Welsh Show (Sunday 19 July) • Reception at CLA Game Fair (Saturday 25 July)

Please note your individual Club membership number, printed on your Journal envelope.

You will need it to access the members’ section of the Club website at www.thefarmersclub.com

25

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • John Reynolds

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • John Reynolds

THE FARMERS CLUB Over 160 years of ser vice to farming 3 Whitehall Cour t, London SW1A 2EL

contents

Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

2 Chairman’s Comments John Reynolds writes about the lead given by the Club in persuading young people that there’s a ver y wor thwhile and interesting career to be had in farming.

Club plays its part in encouraging young folk to see farming as worthwhile career assessors for both the Charitable Trust and, most recently, the Pinnacle Awards.

They were taxing days, as the standard was high and the material detailed.

4 Whither the RASE? RASE Chief Executive Brian Warren answers questions put to him by Journal Editor Don Gomer y about the organisations future post the Royal Show.

8 Top research from Fera Professor Nicola Spence, Chief Scientist of Defra’s new Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) explains how it will benefit farmers.

14 R&D sadly lacking Henr y Fell shares his views on the current state of farming and the condition of the land on which it takes place.

16 Celebrating Patron Saints Pictorial record of the Club dinner at Whitehall Cour t and lunch at the Barber-Surgeons’ Hall, commemorating, respectively, St Patrick and St George.

18 U30s Topic Roland Ballard and Miranda Gillimore gave up media careers to run their own company, Muddy Boots Real Food Ltd. Hard work but immensely satisfying.

19 Get rid of waste properly Richard Mar tin talks members through the new waste disposal regulations… and warns of the perils of ignoring them.

20 Under 30s 21 Whitehall Court Ramblings 22 Information and Diary Dates 24 Back Cover Give the Club a call. And here’s how…

FRONT COVER It’s carnival time in Rio de Janeiro... and club members were there to enjoy it.

Disclaimer: The ar ticles published in The Farmers Club Journal do not necessarily reflect the views of The Farmers Club. No responsibility for the quality of goods or ser vices adver tised in the magazine can be accepted by the publisher. Adver tisements are included in ‘good faith’. All rights reser ved.

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George Hood of Reading University is the winner of this year’s Farmers Club Pinnacle Awards, co-sponsored

by ADAS, funded by the Cave Foundation, and designed to reward final-year students planning to work in rural based industries, whose practically-based management projects were entered by their colleges or universities as of the highest standard.

Judging of the eight finalists took place at the Club in April, when George - the first Reading winner in the 12 years of the award - was judged Gold Student, receiving £1,250 for himself and his university, a framed certificate, the Nickerson Cup and free Club membership for a year. He is seen here (right), at the presentation dinner, receiving his Gold Student certificate from National Farmers Union President Peter Kendall.

The Silver prize went to Alice Berryman, of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, and the Bronze to Jill Brown of Scottish Agricultural College, Aberdeen.

We met many extremely intelligent, enthusiastic and eloquent individuals and, if farming is to remain an integral part of the British way of life, we must persuade more like them to consider farming as a career and to stick with it.

6 Club visit to Rutland Don Gomer y repor ts in words and pictures on the highly successful Club visit to Rutland, to see farms, wildlife centres and tour Burghley House.

10 Breathtaking Brazil Janet Reynolds gives an account of the two-week Club trip to study farms and farming in Brazil, aided by pictures from Deputy Secretar y Rober t Buckolt.

Farm business plan wins Pinnacle Gold for George Hood

Not long before I sat down to write these ‘Comments’, I turned the page of my RABI calendar over to ‘May’. For each month there’s a pretty rural scene and a short RABI case study.

The one for May tells the story of a young couple who were in desperate straits with their finances. A local agricultural merchant needed part-time drivers, but they had no money to spend on the training course needed for the HGV qualification.

The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution helped them out by financing this and they were able to get back on their feet again.

This story struck a chord with me for several reasons. First, the couple were from Staffordshire and, as a ‘Staffordshire lad’, I felt an affinity with them. Second, and obviously more importantly, they were young and they wanted to stay in farming.

Now, we can debate for a long time the average age of the UK farmer, but the crucial figures are those which show that the age of people holding land is increasing and the proportion of younger farmers to older is falling. Logic tells us that we should be doing our utmost to reverse these trends, which is why I found this story particularly significant.

High standards The Club, I’m proud to say, has a number of ways it helps agricultural students and those who have already embarked on a career in farming. Over the past few weeks, I have had the privilege of joining the

I speak as someone who left farming at the age of 28 and who did so because, at the time, I sensed no opportunity. With the benefit of hindsight, it was probably for the best, but it took many years to get over the loss of being in contact with livestock and the land, and even now I can genuinely say I still miss it.

So how do we go about encouraging our youngsters to get into and stay with farming? First, those who have children who show an interest in following on need to think about offering them some kind of a ‘career path’… study, perhaps, and maybe time abroad on a Nuffield scholarship.

When they come back, they need the chance to get ‘stuck in’ and to use their new skills. Allow them to get involved in the finances of the farm and encourage them to take part in the decision-making process.

Let them make plans and give them the resources to see them through to fruition.

Small risks, small triumphs and small failures all teach young farmers how to balance enterprise with pragmatism.

Hard sell All of us must start to sell farming as a proper career choice. Many youngsters (including city children) express an interest in running their own business, in a career that gets them outside, or allows them to work with animals. How many, though, are offered farming as a viable option?

Some might be put off by the cold, the pay and the early mornings. However, I know many executives who question their own career choice when they find themselves rising at 5.00 on a January morning to join their fellow commuters on a draughty station platform.

Certainly, on our recent visit to Brazil, we met many young people who saw no

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

barriers to making their way in agriculture. They were keen, enthusiastic and determined to start out on their own.

been set aside for some proper research to address the problem of our dwindling bee population.

There, farming relies heavily on families working together and many sons and daughters willingly divide their time between the family farm and a non-farming career. Indeed, our visit to Brazil challenged many of our preconceptions and proved a most enlightening experience.

I don’t want to sentimentalise the subject, but every farmer understands the role this little insect plays in our industry. We have many crops, from apples to oil seed rape, which depend on successful pollination, and we shall have a crisis on our hands if we don’t address this now.

Busy schedule

Some good news too, at the Seminar we held on plant breeding. Our speakers, Colin Merritt, of Monsanto, David Thompson of Syngenta and Tina Barsby, of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, explained how we might achieve improved yields, better take up of nutrients and greater efficiencies in the use of agro-chemicals and gave us some fascinating insight into the newest plant breeding techniques.

On our return, Janet and I were soon back into a busy schedule of Club events and forward planning. We hosted a lively St Patrick’s Day Dinner and enjoyed an entertaining and informed after-dinner speech by TV journalist and broadcaster Denis Tuohy, who had come over from Dublin especially to be with us.

A month later, we honored St George at a Club Luncheon in the Barber-Surgeons’ Hall. The Hall and staff did us proud, and we had the great pleasure of having Dame Julia Cleverdon as our guest speaker.

It was the first of a few warm and truly spring-like days and, even though our waistbands may have been a little stretched, I think all our spirits felt lifted as we set off for home. Dame Julia is a charming and generous lady, who delighted us all with her wit, her knowledge and her insight.

In fact, spring brought with it a few pieces of good news on the agricultural front. We had an announcement that £10 million has

Trehane Trust At the end of April, I was invited to attend the Annual Trehane Trust Scholars’ Dinner.

This was chaired by Professor Wynne Jones and celebrated the accomplishment of those who had been awarded the opportunity to undertake a programme of study related to dairying. Those involved in the projects travel around the world to study production systems, animal health, hygiene and product marketing.

The prospects for dairying are beginning to look good again and efficiencies, consolidation and innovation is certainly proving to be the key to a return to

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

profitability. In fact a White paper, produced

by Dairy UK, criticises the negativity that has surrounded the industry, saying that it is not justified and needs to change.

Mind you, that’s not much comfort when the old ‘badger debate’ is still rattling on and on. Our family farm in Staffordshire has just had to undergo the misery of a TB scare. Fortunately, it has not proved to be really serious, but it has caused a lot of halfeaten suppers and sleepless nights. It really is time for DEFRA to get real and to accept that waiting for a vaccine is just not good enough.

Grocery ombudsman In the last issue, I mentioned the need to appoint an ombudsman for the food industry and am pleased to report that an initiative to appoint a grocery ombudsman has been robustly supported by NFU President Peter Kendall. He has pointed out that strengthened codes of practice in retailing would give suppliers more confidence and consumers a greater level of trust.

However, and probably predictably, Andrew Opie, the Director of the British Retail Consortium, has hit back with a claim that the supermarkets are, in fact, the true defenders of customer rights and interests. I’m not sure the general public would agree, with the rise in popularity of farm shops and farmers’ markets suggesting that consumers are increasingly keen to forfeit this ‘protection’ and trade directly with the supplier.

I must, though, try to avoid finishing these musings as ‘Mr Grumpy’, a role my family says I play extremely well. Currently, we have a great deal happening that is good.

Let us try and keep focussed on that. It is, after all, a positive message we need to keep sending out.

Complicated process In the next few weeks, Janet and I will be travelling a great deal, taking in both the national and the county agricultural shows.

It will be a great opportunity to meet up with old friends and to make new ones.

We are genuinely looking forward to it, although the need to be prepared for all eventualities of weather and formality is proving to be quite a complicated process, with remembering to pack the correct attire quite a challenge.

Consequently, dear member, if we do meet and you happen to notice I am wearing tancoloured shoes with a navy suit, I hope you will turn a blind eye. Anyone can get it wrong from time to time.

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THE ROYAL SHOW • Brian Warren

THE ROYAL SHOW • Brian Warren

Following the decision by the Royal Agricultural Society of England to close what was long considered its premier event, the Royal Show, after its 160th staging this year, Journal editor Don Gomery asked RASE Chief Executive Brian Warren the reasons why this decision was made and where the society goes from here.

The RASE is developing a completely new package for members, including a rethink on price and a whole range of members benefits from 2010 onwards. New events will present value to members, as will other aspects of the membership package.

These include:

What future is there for the RASE after this year’s final Royal Show?

Q2

Will visitor numbers drop? What are you doing to ensure this is not the case?

We believe visitor numbers will increase.

We have had very positive feed-back from people who are determined to join the celebration of this, the last, Royal Show.

We are offering very attractive entry ticket deals targeted specifically at farmers and those from rural areas. We will be working with partners in the media and in commerce who also target those areas.

ar ren B rian W

Q1

Why are you cancelling The Royal Show after the 2009 event?

The RASE has lost money on the past five Royal Shows as both visitor numbers and stand revenue have fallen, despite aggressive marketing programmes. The credit problems faced by all businesses this year have further inhibited trade customers and, as a charity, we simply had to take a decision to stop the financial bleeding. We are a charity and have a clear duty to husband our resources with prudence.

We are maintaining our need to attract quality visitors to the last by ensuring a really top value for money day out designed to appeal to them.

Q3

Why has it taken this long to make a decision? Surely it was clear that the Royal Show was failing five years ago? Is it just because you, personally, as a relative newcomer to the RASE, didn’t have the baggage of Royal Show history and so found it easier to wield the axe?

• A midsummer National Equestrian Festival filling the same dates as the Royal Show (dates which obviously work for a great percentage of the horse fraternity).

passionate local following of a Royal Welsh or Royal Highland shows.

The RASE began the concept of specialist technical events when it launched Cereal Events back in the 1970s. Others followed and squeezed the technical heart out of the Royal Show.

chance to taste the wares of a huge range of English food producers and sample the output of many French quality wine growers who are making a first visit to Stoneleigh.

Despite all of this the Royal remained popular until the start of the century. The 2001 F&M cancellation seemed to trigger the current decline.

It will also be an opportunity to enjoy the new, semi-permanent Farmers Club marquee, more modern and comfortable than the building that was previously on site.

Yes, I did work with the Trustees to reassess the situation, but it was a corporate decision taken on the grounds of financial prudence.

Q4

The Farmers Club Pavilion has lost support over the years. Why should members come back to the Royal this year?

First, I would urge members to come to Stoneleigh just to celebrate the 160 years of the show, enjoy a bit of nostalgia but also still see all that is best in British livestock and equestrian competition. There is the

The Royal Show has been losing ground over the past few years. We fall between two stools… we have the infrastructure cost of a major national event but we don’t have the

Q5

Is this not the death knell of the RASE?

The RASE is the Royal Agricultural Society of England not the Royal Show Society.

There are numerous things that the Society does in the course of the year, including charitable work through the Arthur Rank Centre, education through FACE, careers through the arrival of Fresh Start and the organisation of a whole range of technical events, conferences, seminars, publications, etc.

We are an independent, apolitical thinktank that can perform a very useful role as a generator of new ideas and new ways of approaching old challenges. We also run and manage the Stoneleigh Park venue, a highly successful business in its own right.

Not staging the Royal Show will be sad, but it will release resources to add to this portfolio of activity.

Q6

How will you avoid competing with existing technical events as you develop a future programme?

A small team is now working on a project called ‘Plan 2010 and Beyond’. That will evaluate and research potential new ideas and consider how we can work to enhance existing events, both those owned and staged by the Society and those organised by other organisations. We have resources and a fantastic venue.

We want to be the partner of choice for all organisations planning or holding events targeted at agriculture and the rural economy. We do not intend to, nor will we, compete with our customers.

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THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Q7

Is a cereals event likely?

Never say never, but we do not have any immediate plans to launch a cereals event.

That is not to say that we won’t be looking at events which may be targeted at some sectors of the commodity or cereals market.

Q8

Will the Royal Show ever return?

It is not planned to hold a Royal Show, as we have known it, in the foreseeable future, but who knows what the longer term may hold.

Q9

It has been reported that the Royal Show has cost the RASE up to £250k a year in losses. Has this seriously damaged the viability of the RASE?

• An Education and Careers day involving the whole industry. An opportunity for us to “sell” farming and the food chain to potential entrants, work with agricultural colleges and provide a platform for the industry and its associated sectors to attract entrants.

• Smallholders and Rare Breeds – the smallholder and ‘self sufficiency’ movement is gathering pace as a new type of country dweller makes the lifestyle choice.

• AgriLIVe Smithfield… already launched and set fair to make a real impact on its debut in December 2009.

• British Genetics… working alone or in partnership with existing events or new event partners to seek a showcase for the British livestock genetics industry.

This is neither an exhaustive nor confirmed list, but it gives a flavour of our thinking.

Other people may have other ideas, and I hope, if they do, they will share them with us.

The Royal Show has incurred serious losses of that order in the past four or five years.

However, as a charity, staging an event such as the Royal Show was within our core purpose, which is why we persisted.

The RASE has often been accused of arrogance, of not listening to its audience and its members. That time is over. We want to work in partnership with all those of a liker mind.

We have taken the decision to cease the Royal Show before the accumulated losses did become a threat to RASE’s viability.

I may not have been here long but I do see that the agricultural industry will be better served by organisations working closely together to achieve common goals.

We want to be part of that.

you regret promoting and Q10 Do organising technical events that have competed so successfully with the Royal Show, such as Cereals and Beef & Sheep?

Not at all. Those events have been extremely important to the success of practical farming in the UK. Cereals, and events such as it, have played a central role in knowledge and technology transfer and the RASE is extremely proud to have played a part in their launch and success. should I still be a member Q11 Why of RASE? The Royal show was

TICKET OFFER The Royal Show is offering readers of The Farmers Club Journal the oppor tunity to purchase tickets at a special trade rate of £10.

To book your tickets please call 0844 5811400 or visit www.royalshow.org.uk and quote FARMER09

the only value I got from my membership.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

5

CLUB VISIT TO RUTLAND • Don Gomer y

CLUB VISIT TO RUTLAND • Don Gomer y

England’s smallest county proves a

big hit with visiting Club members RUTLAND may be England’s smallest county - tinier, even, than the Isle of Wight, when the tide is out but it was huge in farming, environmental and historic interest for the 80-plus members and guests who sent a memorable two days there on a scintillating Club visit in early May… albeit that we strayed slightly beyond its borders on numerous occasions.

Never theless, it was and is the home county of our hosts for the two days, Club Chairman John Reynolds and his wife Janet. Their choice of visits cer tainly didn’t disappoint. Far from it.

Day One For many members the trip started, unofficially, on the evening of Tuesday 5 May, when they gathered for informal get-togethers at the Haycock Hotel, Wansford, ready for a 9am start from there the next morning, in either of two coaches, designated alphabetically by surname.

First stop, for those on Coach A - who were given a fascinating history of the area en route by local farmer and Club member Andrew Brown - was Rectory Farm, Great Easton, a 377ha LEAF farm carrying 180 ewes plus lambs and growing wheat, barley, OSR and beans, with 1ha permanent setaside and 24ha in the seventh year of a 10-year Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

The tenancy of Rectory Farm was taken over by Tom Johnson in 1936, with his son, Philip, the current tenant, inheriting in 1985.

Philip Johnson talks to Coach A members at Rector y Farm

Janet Reynolds enjoying her visit 6

Dramatic views of Eyebrook Reservoir (used for training prior to the Dam Busters raid), Rockingham Castle and Nevill Holt make it little surprise that Rectory won the coveted title of Most Beautiful Farm’ in 2007. And most deservedly so, as members will testify, following their tractor-trailer tour of the farm. Wildlife abounds, including ospreys, ducks, wading birds, otters and brown hares, while brown and rainbow trout have been added to the reservoir for fishing, and shooting is let “in a controlled way”.

The suckler herd at Manor Farm

“When we took over from our father, we three brothers either had to split the business or grow it to maintain three families,” explained David. “We now work together, each of us having our own speciality part to play in the running of the enterprise, aided by Bernard’s two sons, Jonathan and Thomas, and their wives, Alison and Jane.” David himself specialises in the arable side of the business.

the hotel ballroom, where 100 members and their guests, as well as our hosts over the two days, dined on ham hock terrine, chicken supreme and pear and pecan tart, accompanied by good wines, before listening to that most personable of speakers, Professor Wynne Jones, who retires this autumn as Principal of Harper Adams University College.

Tom looks after the arable area, leaving Percy to manage the sheep and partridge/pheasant rearing linked to a shoot of eight standing guns, eight syndicate days and 20 fully-let days.

Wynne’s subject was, hardly surprisingly, agricultural education and research, and their need in a world with a rapidly increasing population and facing such issues as changing dietary demands, competition for land use, political unrest, climate change and water scarcity.

Providing the quality and quantity of people necessary to feed the world in the face of these challenges was more essential now, perhaps - not just in Britain, but globally than ever before.

Members were particularly intrigued by a sheep feeding machine designed by Percy Gilman and now manufactured and sold by Peter Allen.

Following a day of stimulating visits it was back to the Haycock to change for dinner in

Percy Gillman

The occupants of both coaches gathered for a delicious and very welcome buffet lunch prepared by the ladies of Rectory Farm. During it, members took part in a ‘guess the farm implement’ quiz, won by Professor Malcolm Stansfield, with Alan Johnson and David Bawcutt close seconds.

Then, it was time for ‘reverse tours’, with Coach A heading to Manor Farm, Deene, for a warm welcome by Club members David and Bernard Reading, whose father had taken over the tenancy of the then 273 acres in 1939. His three sons, David, Bernard and John, became involved in the 1960s and have grown the operation to its current 4,900 acres, with a cropped area of 2,600 acres of wheat, 1,400 acres of OSR, 200 acres spring beans and 700 acres of permanent pasture, carrying a suckler herd of 280 dairy Charolais cows plus Limousine-cross followers.

Next port of call, for both coachloads, was Coppice Farm, Glaston, for a warm welcome by Club members Percy and Tom Gilman, who run two units, four miles apart, totalling some 1,700 acres down to cereals, sugarbeet, beans, leys and river meadows supporting 2,200 ewes, whose progeny are finished on the farm for sale, entire, to Morrisons.

Nick Smith filling the sheep trough with machine designed by Percy Gillman

Day Two Simon Watchorn of Greenview Environmental explains the composting enterprise

Jonathan Reading, left, with Club members

An intriguing part of their enterprise is the current setting up of a composting unit on land previously occupied by farm buildings and overlooking the ruins of Kirby Hall.

This is being developed and will be run by Greenview Environmental, whose director, Simon Watchorn, explained the complex rules under which it will operate upon completion in July… as well as promising to provide an article on composting for a forthcoming issue of the Journal.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

The second day of Rutland visits once again saw members in two separate coaches, alternating between morning visits to the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre, Egleton, for a presentation on ‘Water in a changing environment’, and a stop at the Lyndon Visitor Centre and Nature Reserve for a talk on ospreys and a 20-minute walk to the Shallow Water Hide to see the ospreys nesting, as well as many other species. Both visits had majestic Rutland Water as a backdrop.

Then it was off to Burghley House, built between 1555 and 1587 by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Elizabeth I and the first Lord Burghley, whose direct descendents, Miranda Rock and family, live there to this day.

Looking at nesting ospreys in the hide

Professor W ynne Jones was guest speaker at dinner on Wednesday

Following a greeting by Miranda Rock, and lunch in the Orangery Restaurant, members were free to tour the majestic house, exquisite gardens and extensive parkland at their leisure. Small wonder that Burghley is described as ‘The Largest and Grandest House of the Elizabethan Age’.

“Biotechnology is going to be the biggest industry between now and the turn of this century,” Wynne said. “We must be in a position to invest in that.

“But sadly - very sadly - the management, or mismanagement, of issues relating to GM, has moved away from not only this country but Europe as well. We must lobby hard to recover our science based on that.

“We need science, we need technology, we need knowledge transfer. And we need well-trained people to provide this. It’s up to all of us to do what we can to ensure that young people can see that there’s a rewarding career to be had in agriculture and food production.”

Scintillating and thought-provoking, with much for all present to mull over, not just that evening but to carry with them and, hopefully, act on in the future.

Fire! Guests were evacuated from the Haycock Hotel in the wee small hours of Thursday morning

So, thank you, Mr Chairman, and our other hosts, for showing us that, although small in size, Rutland and its immediate environs are gigantic in stature.

Burghley House

Alas, photography was not allowed inside the house itself, with pictures here showing outside views and garden features only. To see more, every Club visitor would recommend that you go there yourself, starting with a taste-whetting visit to www.burghley.co.uk You won’t be disappointed.

Laying sticks on the osprey nest on arrival

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

Mike Drew (right) Action Plan Officer, Anglian Water, answers members’ questions on bird breeding 7

FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH AGENCY • Nicola Spence

FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH AGENCY • Nicola Spence

Club member Professor Nicola Spence is Chief Scientist at the newly-formed Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), which brings together five elements of government service to form a new Executive Agency of Defra. Here, she explains the work of the new national research centre and how it will benefit farmers.

How Fera will work - with your help - to give farming the best research available accidental releases of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials, as well as from major accidental releases of hazardous materials.

As Chief Scientist, my role is to ensure that Fera develops its scientists and scientific capability to deliver excellent quality research and evidence. We do this in strategic partnership with other organisations to ensure that the science and services have impact and provide value for money.

THE FOOD and Environment Research Agency (Fera) is a new national research centre, launched on the 1 April. It brings together five elements of government service to form a new Executive Agency of Defra. These were the Plant Health Division (PHD) in York, which includes plant and bee health policy and the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI); the Plant Variety Rights Office and Seeds Division (PVS), based in Cambridge; the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), also in York; and the Government Decontamination Service (GDS), in Stafford.

The new agency means closer integration between policy development, the scientific evidence that informs policy decision making and inspection services, specifically in the areas of plant and bee health and seeds. This provides an integrated service that can respond quickly to protect the public interest, while removing unnecessary delays for businesses involved in both national and international trade.

Fera also provides robust science and national coverage to support emergency response for Defra and other Government departments and agencies. With the inclusion of GDS, Fera has expertise that strengthens the UK’s capacity to resist and recover from deliberate and 8

Our 700 scientists, many of whom are world-leading authorities in their field, have access to state-of-the-art facilities, particularly the site and laboratories near York. In addition to our 150 plant, bee and GM inspectors based across the country, our outreach will include more than 40,000 customers, over 1,000 stakeholders and activities with more than 100 countries.

Excellence in science is at the top of our agenda to seek the right solutions to address the major national and global issues that threaten ecosystems, water and food supplies.

Valued relationships So what does this mean for the farming community?

Supporting sustainable food supply and protecting the environment will be at the heart of Fera’s science and services. The farming community and the bodies that represent farmers are among our most valued relationships and we are committed to developing closer partnerships with them to deliver positive outcomes. There are many areas of our work that are highly relevant to the farming community.

Fera co-ordinates the protection of UK plant health on behalf of Defra, which is a shared responsibility between government, growers, traders, and the general public.

This includes implementing quarantine measures to protect against non-native pests and diseases, ensuring inspection of plants and plant produce during trade, and specifying treatments that have to be carried out to manage risk.

The work aims to ensure that outbreaks are detected early while they can still be eradicated, and will continue to be based upon the latest risk assessment methodologies underpinned by robust R&D. In the context of plant health, Fera is leading the new Defra Phytophthora programme to combat the threat from two fungus-like diseases of plants, Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora kernoviae. Both diseases are having a significant impact in the South and West of England and Wales, particularly in Cornwall.

Certain tree species and bilberry have been infected in the wider environment and on heathland sites, while some historic and heritage gardens have also been infected, threatening their plant collections and, in some instances, changing the nature of individual gardens.

Rhododendron ponticum is the principal sporulating host of these diseases in wild sites, as well as being considered to be an invasive non-native weed species in GB. It is found both in open and woodland situations, particularly on acid soils, and mainly, but not exclusively, in the West of Britain.

All trees infected with P. ramorum or P. kernoviae have been in close proximity to infected R. ponticum. Under the existing programme removal of R. ponticum from infected woodland sites has proved effective in halting further tree infection.

Three workstreams The new programme has three workstreams, which are focussed on disease control by removing known infected and sporulating hosts; surveying, inspection and diagnosis to identify other infected sites; and the control of disease spread. Behavioural change, working with stakeholders to develop joint codes of practice which improve biosecurity techniques, an education and awareness project to improve understanding of disease management, and a research programme to improve our understanding

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

of the threats from these diseases, especially in the heathland environment, are all part of the Fera remit.

The profile of and interest in honey bees in the world today has never been higher in a political, scientific and economic sense.

Above any other livestock, bees are recognised as essential components of so many diverse environments and landscapes - urban, sub-urban, rural and natural - because of the key role they play as pollinators of plant species, either commercially grown or wild.

Because of this, there are major concerns about declining bee stocks, not just of managed honeybees but also of wild pollinating species.

It is clear that bees must be protected and there is an urgent need to understand the issues affecting bee populations. These issues are far reaching and include pests and diseases and environmental stresses.

The National Bee Unit (NBU) within Fera is implementing Defra’s new Healthy Bee plan. It places the latest science and evidence at the heart of the educational, surveillance and control programmes that we deliver in partnership with beekeepers, beekeeping associations and other research organisations.

The NBU is responsible for the National Bee Inspectorate, which covers England and Wales, and the laboratory services and science that will provide evidence to support healthy bee policy. We believe that a closer collaboration between scientist, policy maker and inspector will provide a significant step forward in protecting bees.

Market protectionism Although there is a clear consensus within government that the emerging global food security issue does not threaten UK food supplies, there is growing concern that a re-emergence of market protectionism from some nations could interfere with free trade and have a major impact on the range and cost of future food imports.

Through our research work funded by Defra’s Agricultural Change and Environment Observatory Programme, we have worked with partners in modelling the impact of CAP reform and

other key drivers on the agricultural landscape.

For arable cropping, the most likely scenario is a reduction in rotations and the emergence of large mega-blocks of wheat and oilseed rape. We can envisage that the associated growth in pest and disease pressure under this scenario will only be intensified as UK producers rise to the challenge of increasing yields from limited suitable land.

We were recently commissioned by Defra to provide additional evidence on the impact of the proposed revisions to the pesticides legislation EU Directive 91/414/EEC on wheat production in the UK. This proposed revision has been under great debate within Europe, given the future pressures on arable production to meet future food needs.

The results from the study predicted that yields could drop anywhere from 11% to 26% from disease pressure against a reduced availability of fungicides supporting the earlier UK view.

Providing information Another important aspect of our work is in supporting farmers by providing information sourced from monitoring sites across the country and up-to-date measurements of crop pest and disease activity in arable crops throughout England. All data gathered are analysed to identify disease and pest risk, seasonal variation in disease development and the effectiveness of control strategies.

Information is delivered through a webbased system (www.cropmonitor.co.uk), with users alerted to emerging threats during the growing season and advised on appropriate courses of action.

Cropmonitor is delivered in partnership with HGCA and Bayer Crop Science.

It is predicted that the EU is destined to become one of the key grain producing regions of the world, as climate change reduces yields in the southern hemisphere and central US prairies and creates more favourable conditions in the north. If so, a new ‘green revolution’ will be needed in which production will have to be carefully balanced against environmental costs.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

In Fera, we have a number of research programmes addressing wildlife management and the need to reduce reliance upon chemical inputs through various crop protection initiatives.

However, there will be considerable pressures on producers, and so, for these initiatives to be successful, there is an urgent need to stimulate public-private partnership to fund further R&D. Our scientists also work closely with others within Government on environmental stewardship schemes for the agricultural sector. Having previously evaluated the entry and higher-level pilot schemes at all stages, our scientists are looking forward with Defra and Natural England to new policy development.

The food security debate has also refocused views on bioenergy, particularly the land demands of biofuel crops. Our support to the new Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will be looking at the wider ‘costs’ of bio-crops, including carbon turnover and the impacts of this on the cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA).

Just as importantly, our specialists will also be looking at the value added to agricultural bi-product streams. This work is important economically for the viability of various initiatives, and is also good for the environment both in terms of waste reduction and the prospect of new chemicals from greener sources.

Our scientists’ ongoing work, evaluating uses for proteins extracted from rapeseed meal for the cosmetics industry, is just one example of this.

We are also engaged in various monitoring programmes, as well as developing new models to assess the environmental impact of chemical use, including agrochemical inputs and veterinary pharmaceuticals.

World leaders Fera specialists are world leaders in understanding environmental pathways for organic contaminants and other synthetic chemicals that are released into the environment and at any point during FERA continues on page 22 9

CLUB VISIT TO BRAZIL • Janet Reynolds

CLUB VISIT TO BRAZIL • Janet Reynolds

Twenty-six members and guests went on a breathtaking two-week Club visit to Brazil in Februar y-March, hosted by the Chairman and his wife, Janet. Janet Reynolds describes some of what they saw in this breathtakingly beautiful countr y of many and varied farming contrasts on the far side of the world.

Pictures by Rober t Buckolt.

Bounteous and beautiful Brazil: immense land with an economy highly reliant on good farming reflecting a little and things are finally beginning to make sense. Earlier that day, we met with the directors of the Cofercatu Co-operative and, after listening to their presentation and enjoying another generous lunch, we are experiencing our first taste of mixed farming in Brazil.

Above: Soy bean fields, Assai Left: Rubber trees

LET ME take you, if I may, into the shade of a small rubber plantation, by the side of a dusty road, in the state of Paraná, in Brazil.

Paraná, by the way, is pronounced Pa-ra-nar and not Pa-raa-na, like the fish. The temperature outside is probably pushing 38 degrees, the sun is relentless and the air smells hot and dry.

We had started off in Rio de Janeiro. A disparate group of Club members - some couples, some singles, some younger, some older – who had decided to travel to Brazil to see for themselves what farming was like on the other side of the globe.

In Rio, through shared interests or similar backgrounds, we had begun to draw together as a group. We had visited Jesus, enjoyed loaves and fishes for lunch, and discovered the exotica on the beaches; we had even donned garlands and shared the glamour of the final carnival parade.

Most of us had already found the heat overwhelming. Until we had moved on to Londrina, it had been very humid. Rio had been, let’s be truthful, sweaty, and Sao Paulo much the same. None of us was, I think, fully prepared for the ‘bigness’ of Brazil; it was something we had understood in theory, but now the sheer dynamics were beginning to sink in.

Next to the plantation is a huge field of soya. It is fully mature now and looking a little tired and grubby. The beans are ripe, the plant has given up any attempt to stand al C ar niv straight and is ready to surrender to the R io combine. Along the road, growing out of the red dust, is a wall of sugar cane.

Paulo, our farmer guide for the afternoon, and Pricilla, our tireless translator, have stopped the coach to let us investigate the rubber trees and to show us the soya up close. We have already looked at the sugar cane and, with our eyeballs poaching in the heat, have listened to Paulo explain how integrated farming, coupled with a careful rotation system, is working for him.

Until now, the facts and figures have all seemed a bit overwhelming, but, in the shade of the rubber plantation, we are 10

Certainly, the numbers and the volumes had first started to register when we visited a cattle farm owned by the Vestey Group.

We had been up at 6.00, on a flight to Sao Jose do Rio Preto by 8.00 and by 9.45 we were recovering with cold drinks, in the shade of an open-sided meeting house on the Fazenda Sao Francisco.

David Makin, Chairman of CFM, the Vestey Company in Brazil, and Luis Adriano Teixeira, who headed up the cattle breeding business at the Fazenda, sketched out the details for us. The Vestey Group had been in Brazil since 1908, but since 1993 had focussed on the farming enterprises. They had developed the farms from savanna scrub and now raised cattle and grew sugar and various other crops.

As we had observed on our journey, this savanna area is not homogenous; it has areas of grassland, scrubland and forest.

Biologically, it is the richest savanna land in the world, with an immense biodiversity of fauna and flora. Legislation dictates that areas around rivers must remain forested and there are laws governing the planting of trees and the burning of virgin savanna.

Until the mid 60s the Cerrado region was thought to be useless for agriculture; the

soils were old and nutritionally poor and many areas which had been pasture had been over-grazed and were abandoned.

Now, the Cerrado contributes more than 70% of the beef cattle production in the country and, thanks to irrigation and soil correcting techniques, it is also an important production centre for grains, soya, beans, maize, rice, and eucalyptus and pine, which are used to produce cellulose pulp.

CFM has nearly 40,000 hectares of pasture, 31,000 hectares of sugar, 4,000 hectares of miscellaneous crops, just over 38,000 hectares of forest and a further 23,000 hectares of savanna. There are 705 full-time employees, rising to 1,573 during the cane harvest. They work to an incentive scheme, receive a bonus based on profits and most live in company housing. The Fazenda Sao Francisco itself comprises15,000 hectares, which includes pasture and sugar cane.

Luis gave us a short explanation of the Nelore bull breeding enterprise at Sao Francisco and then we were taken off to meet a few of the group’s 70,000 cattle.

Each animal can be traced by a brand mark and by the tags in its ears. Each is vaccinated against foot-and-mouth and, for its entire life, is constantly performance evaluated. Those to be raised for meat spend 20 months on pasture and then are ‘finished’ in feed lots. They are sold at 22 months with a live weight of 540 kilos.

Through careful selection and rigorous deselection these cattle have been improved to provide a healthy economic return. They are grey, elegant beasts and, as recent rain had brought a rush of growth to the pasture, they were probably feeling indulged. “We have been specially chosen,” they seemed to say, perusing us with all the aloofness of an elite herd. “In cow terms, you are looking at the master race.”

Sug ar Loaf

C hrist

r deeme t he R e

ulls Nelore b

d Luis and Davi Abov e: CF M – boys w Right: CF M co

By now the day had really heated up. The sky was a deep blue, the colour sky should be, and wisps of cloud had theatrically placed themselves across it. It was a very evocative experience and one of the many

moments on our trip when we felt dream and reality colliding. Some of us, I’m sure, expected to hear a sudden swell of violins and the air to fill up with the theme from “The Magnificent Seven”. It really was quite glorious.

Adding to the romance were the cowboys, who had rounded up the cattle especially for our visit. They were genuine cowboys, too, with hats, chaps, long stirrups and weathered faces. Most of the time their function is general husbandry, but each cowboy can manage about 600 cattle on the move.

Sao Francisco breeds its own horses, which are essentially Mangalarga Marchador, an old and elegant Brazilian breed with its origins dating back to the early 1800s.

These horses have a lovely smooth and rhythmic gate and, with a little thoroughbred added for extra height, make excellent ranch horses.

All Sao Francisco’s bull breeding programmes are overseen by Sao Paulo University, where they hold the biggest database in Brazil. This is a good sector of the market to be in, as breeding programmes are becoming increasingly important in the development of the beef industry.

Later in our tour, we were to meet a new kind of ‘smart cow’, developed at the Agronomic Institute of Parana State, by Professor Daniel Perotto. This new breed, the Puruna, has increased resistance to tics and parasites and is more adapted to higher, harsher climates.

Over a late lunch of barbequed meat and salads, we exchanged experiences of farming in the UK and in Brazil. It had been a privilege to have been able to travel to Sao Francisco and to see what they were doing.

different from when you woke up, and I think this had been one such day. It had certainly felt a very long way from Whitehall Court.

Surprisingly, though, the huge numbers of the Vestey Group sit strangely against the traditional template of farming. Most farmers in Brazil have very small areas of land to farm – no more than 50 hectares and so for many of them the co-operative movement has been the way forward. Here in Britain we are often focussed on individual labour and independence, but in Brazil there are bigger issues to consider. Only by utilizing the economics of size and scale can small farmers hope to stay on the land.

During our time in Brazil, we visited several such co-operatives and found them energised and future focussed. Yes, farmers may have to compromise slightly on price, but in exchange there is a guaranteed return for their efforts. They are also able to take advantage of centrally recruited pools of temporary labour, expensive modern machinery, and have greater bargaining power in the market place.

Sugar cane is a prime example of how this can work. Pools of labour and specialised machinery are required to cut and manage the crop. Sugar cane grows to between four and five metres and is as dense and unwieldy as it is possible to imagine. It is very perishable, as the sucrose levels start to drop as soon as it is cut and, logistically, it is a nightmare. So, by investing in their own mills and in some cases an adjacent ethanol plant, farmer co-operatives can gain an advantage and greatly improve the return on the crop.

Club visit to Brazil continues on page 12 Sugar cane pl antation

That night, as we lay our sleepy heads down on the pillow, our faces aglow and our noses burnt from the sun, I think we all felt we had had a proper ‘day out’. There are times in life when your view of the world is changed forever, when you go to bed a little

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

11

CLUB VISIT TO BRAZIL • Janet Reynolds

CLUB VISIT TO BRAZIL • Janet Reynolds

Left: Sao Paulo Below: Carolina Costa with John Reynolds

Continued from page 11 Sugar was first grown in Brazil more than 500 years ago when the enterprising Portuguese sought to develop the hot, dry areas of the country. It is still big business and, now the world is crazy for new forms of energy, so is ethanol.

We found this out when we visited the headquarters of UNICA, the sugar cane industry association, which represents the majority of the sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity producers in Brazil. In their smart boardroom, perched on leather chairs and with the flags of Brazil, Sao Paulo State and UNICA adding a whiff of militarism to the occasion, we listened to a presentation from Carolina Costa on the country’s Ethanol industry.

Brazil itself is now rapidly moving towards an ‘ethanol economy’. Thirty years ago, facing declining sugar prices, rising oil prices and recognising an opportunity when they saw it, sugar producers diversified into ethanol production. In fact, Carolina informed us, 1% of the available arable land in Brazil could be utilised to replace 50% of the country’s gasoline usage.

Brazilian gasoline contains a 25% blend of ethanol, but 100% ethanol is widely available as well. Brazilians now have 30 years experience of driving on ethanol, and flexi-fuel vehicles allow one to switch between the two fuels, according to price differential or environmental conviction.

Currently, about 90% of new cars purchased are flexi-fuel and there is no significant difference between these and a conventional gasoline-driven vehicle. As Carolina said: “In Brazil, we now produce two types of ethanol; the best we drink and the other we put in our cars.”

In Brazil, the price of gasoline is fixed by the government. Thus, petrol will always cost the same at any outlet, but the price of ethanol is not fixed and moves above or below that of gasoline according to market forces. Although the Brazilian government can move the price of petrol up or down, it chooses to keep it constant.

12

This is a neat economic trick, as it encourages the ethanol producers to fight for the energy market by increasing output and cutting costs. It also ensures that the oil producers are not squeezed out completely and gives the consumer a choice. It does, if you will excuse the metaphor, keep everyone sweet. Inevitably, at some point in the future, both fuels will compete directly, but, at present, Brasilia can decide when that will happen.

The environment is an important item on the agenda in Brazil and the government is anxious to balance the need for modernisation and development with the need to care for the land and preserve natural phenomena and habitat.

It is also keen to preserve the period of civil stability it has been enjoying for the last few decades, so finding ways to increase standards of living must be a priority, too.

Rain deluge can cause catastrophic erosion, and drought can wipe out not only a crop but entire livelihoods.

To help control the consequences of this capricious climate, Brazilian farmers frequently adopt a zero-tillage system which, coupled with a strict scheme of rotation, can coax up to three crops over eighteen months and supply pasture for cattle.

Brachiaria grass is at the heart of the system, as it can provide temporary pasture or be harvested and used as feed. The stubble is not ploughed in, as conventional tillage can leave the soil exposed and at the mercy of heavy rain and burning sun.

Instead, the grass is sprayed off and the residual mat of straw provides both a binding agent for the soil and shelter for the fledgling seedlings. Crop rotation helps the soil to regenerate and avoids the pitfalls of depleting the land through monoculture.

Certainly, Brazil owes a great deal to zero tillage for its massive increase in wheat and soya production. Between 1991 and 2004, Brazil more than doubled its grain production from 57.8 million to 125 million tons from a cultivated area of 42 million hectares, 22 million of which was under ZT. Big things are at stake here. Brazil has an increasing and often hungry population, and keeping farmers on the land will be vital to its economic success. Without advice, help and support, disillusioned farmers who cannot earn enough to eat simply abandon their farms and set off for the promised land of concrete and twisted metal that makes up the city. If this continues to happen on a large scale, Brazil will not get to where it wants to go.

The importance of agriculture to the economy was made no clearer than on our visit to a huge wholesale market on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. General Right: Unloading pineapples Below: Veg market

rewarding level of existence, large programmes of practical training will need to be rolled out. Often, basic hygiene needs to be taught. “Sometimes,” explained Henrique, “we even have to teach them to wash their hands before they start to milk.”

Tiny trucks may arrive bearing a single load of pineapples or potatoes, and park up alongside a huge pantechnicon into which are being loaded tons of peppers or pumpkins. To us, it seemed like organised chaos. Several of us only just avoided being run over by a porter pushing past with a handcart of produce.

Over and over they stressed the need to keep people on the land; the economic future of the whole nation depended on it.

Youthful commitment will be vital, as large numbers will be needed to educate, train and develop an agro-population which is often illiterate and has, up until now, largely been left to fail.

To pay for our visit to the facility, we were asked to donate the cost of three boxes of fruit and vegetables for the poor. Like many companies we visited, CEAGESP is engaged in a programme of social responsibility. It provides literacy classes for workers and their families and donates surplus produce to charity Here in Brazil, poverty does not lie under the surface; rather it hangs around the edge of everything you see. It climbs up into the favelas that cling to the rock face in Rio, or frays the edges of Sao Paulo into a hotchpotch of unsanitary shacks and makedo shelters.

It lingered, too, behind the electric fencing of a Japanese-owned silk factory we visited.

Here we saw millions of white silk cocoons baked, steamed and teased into translucent threads, each far finer than a human hair.

Each cocoon surrendered 1,200 metres of thread, and the finished skeins – gleaming, and the colour of froth on ale - were sent to Japan to be dyed and woven.

Once again, every part of the process was environmentally balanced and nothing was wasted. A bore hole provided the spring water, which was then cleaned and recycled. The matted remains of the cocoons were sent to Thailand (to make inferior silk) and the grub itself was processed and sold as food for carp.

Zero tillage involves leaving a permanent cover of crop residue on the land, spraying this and any weeds off, and using specialised drills to push in the seed. Crop rotation (including the planting of cover crops) is necessary to maximise yield, develop biological activity in the soil and encourage biological pest management.

Some of the early experiments with zero tillage were set up in Britain more than 40 years ago and the practice is widely used in California for rice growing. The ZT movement has grown steadily in Brazil, and the method has been put to very good use in the savanna lands, where the dry season lasts for six months of the year.

soon as the sun rises in the sky and the heat begins to build, this is replaced by acres of fruit and vegetables. Here, producers, merchants and consumers can trade; in fact, anyone can rent space to sell or exchange produce.

Interestingly, Brazil has the largest community of Japanese outside of Japan.

About 1.5 million ethnic Japanese have their home in Brazil. In 1908, the Kasato Maru left the port of Kobe and sailed to Santos with 781 immigrants on board. By the 1950s, after several waves of immigration, many Japanese companies had decided to expand into Brazil.

Warehousing and Centres Company (CEAGESP) is a public network of warehousing, with a logistics network of transport and storage facilities.

The action starts before it is light, as a huge flower market rolls into place. Then, as

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

t to ex perimen Sw eet pota

Brazilian farmer is very sharp-minded and is looking to coax an extra crop, or a second harvest, out of any three month window.

Take sweet potatoes, for example, currently being developed experimentally to be grown to produce ethanol. Very neatly, this spidery crop comes in many different varieties, all of which suit different soils and climate zones.

The sweet potato matures at a time when the sugar mills are quiet and the ethanol plants are hungry. As we discovered at a small experimental station in Ponta Grossa, where they are working on this option and several other projects, it can fill the production gap and feed the fuel stream.

In fact, our visit to Ponta Grossa gave us pause for thought in several ways. The study centre is part of a privately-owned university which is funded philanthropically – an old fashioned concept, but somehow in keeping in a country such as Brazil.

A large canteen, with a chalk menu and counters sporting tubs of biscuits and chocolate treats, bore witness to the presence of a significant number of students and staff members. It seemed a companionable and contented sort of place, full of keen young people ready to commit their futures to agriculture, and it certainly reminded us of the place of education in Brazil’s agricultural future.

Back in Curitiba, Henrique Gonçalves and Fabricio Monteiro of FAEP and SENAR, two organisations which focus on farmerled improvement, explained to us the work needed to take developmental programmes out into the farming community.

So, where did we begin? Ah, yes, in the shade of a rubber plantation, with Paulo, who had been showing us his crops and talking with measured (he was a farmer, after all) satisfaction about his life.

As we listened, he took a cutter from the base of a tree and cut a new groove around the trunk, so we could see the sap flow. A rubber tree takes seven years to produce its first crop, but after that it is useful for more than 20 years. It is an easy crop, which needs little attention.

With the leaf canopy above us and the quietness, it seemed almost church-like and the joy of seeing the rubber flowing brought out the child in all of us. It was one of those special moments one gets from travel, and it was particularly good to be able to share it.

As the tour progressed, we would have many other such moments, at the Falls in Iguaçu, at the side of the massive Itaipu Dam, in the din of the cotton mill and in the peace of a country farm house, drinking barley water and eating honey cake.

As Mark Twain put it, “Nothing so liberalises a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people.”

For more photos of the visit go to www.photobox.co.uk and sign in with secretariat@thefarmersclub.com using password: farmers

In order to take farmers out of subsistence farming and into a more productive and Iguazu Falls

For hundreds of years, Brazil has absorbed immigrants and, generally, ethnic groups have mixed well. It has enabled crosscultural fertilization, which has been very much to the advantage of agronomy.

Certainly, we discovered the modern www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

Tour g u id w it h Jo es, Junior an hn and d Janet R P risc illa ey nolds 13

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT • Henr y Fell

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT • Henr y Fell

That most prolific and informed of writers, Club member Henry Fell, founder Chairman of The Commercial Farmers Group, has been giving much thought to the state of our farming and the condition of the land on which it takes place. He shares his always thought-provoking views with Journal readers.

Agricultural R&D is sadly lacking and never more needed than now I am writing this in March after eight months of British weather.

A very wet harvest made life both difficult and expensive, and was followed by rain continuing well into the New Year. We then had an outbreak of winter when the country ground to a halt.

February brought three weeks of very mild and dry weather, when gardens woke up and the country enjoyed the snowdrops.

March brought in its share of wind and rain.

No cause for surprise in any of that. It’s all happened before.

But driving round the country recently – and this is especially true of my home county of Lincolnshire – I have been aware of the poor soil conditions that are very noticeable in wheat crops, and particularly so on heavy clay land. Poor growth and lots of patchy flooding; and all the worse where mini-till has been used.

Of course this has been exaggerated by the very wet conditions of last summer and autumn, but it has become increasingly evident over the past few years. In consequence, the prospects for the 2009 cereal harvest do not look all that promising.

Then I had a note from a friend and colleague in the Commercial Farmers Group, a large-scale arable farmer, in which he said: “Soils are degrading and becoming

14

less productive slowly over time. This is a result, we suspect, of our removing high crop yields year on year. A better understanding of soil management and soil fertility is essential if we are to continue producing high levels of output”.

I have been thinking about this for some time, not just personally and locally, but in the far wider context of the need for increased production in a world where food security is increasingly at serious risk.

I happened to come across a copy of a lecture I gave in 1995 entitled ‘Agriculture and Good Husbandry’. It dwelt on our experiences on the 1,850 acres of the heavy land farm at Worlaby, the tenancy of which we had from 1959 to 1988.

Two short quotes are relevant: • Heavy land that has been subject to flooding, and especially if it has been badly managed, will inevitably have a poor soil structure. That had certainly been the case at Worlaby, and, in considering how it should be farmed – having got rid of the water and let in light and air – the second essential was to restore soil structure by increasing the level of organic matter via the use of leys in an arable rotation and by the chopping and ploughing in of straw.

• I was in no doubt about that. I was a good deal less sure how to make profitable use of the leys once I had grown them. The choice was to use sheep, and we had to start what was a steep learning curve on how to make them profitable; while all the time remembering that the sheep were but a means to an end… that being the growing of high yields of combinable crops. Worlaby is, first and foremost, an arable farm.

I would suggest that this thinking is even more relevant today than it was 40 years ago. But, over that period of time, two very important things have taken place: • Farming has become increasingly polarised between the arable areas – crop specialist, greatly increased scale and high tec machinery – and the livestock areas, mainly on the poorer soils where commodity cropping could not compete.

It is easily possible to drive 25 miles in Lincolnshire without seeing any livestock other than horses. Livestock skills have disappeared.

• As arable cropping systems were being forced to become more and more cost efficient, the red meat sector was subject to highly damaging regulation under the inefficiencies of the CAP. A prime example of this was in the sheep sector, where financial support was based on the Single Ewe Premium (SEP), which paid subsidy per head of productive ewes. In other words, the more ewes you kept, the more subsidy you got, and that was the profit driver; but it lead inevitably to poorer quality and a lack of incentive.

So, what has changed? Answer: a great deal!

The arable sector has to prosper in an increasingly volatile and global market which, at the same time, must meet consumer demand for low cost value as well as feeding a rapidly growing global population. But it is having to do this in a country where the anti-science culture dominates public and political thinking; where R&D support is negligible; and where soil conditions are degrading.

The sheep sector has diminished in size and is continuing to do so… and not just in the UK but also in New Zealand (competition with dairying), and in France.

The market is getting stronger and it is reasonable to believe that it will continue to do so.

The reduction in ewe numbers has been accelerated by the scrapping of the SEP and the change to subsidy payment per managed acre; an improvement, certainly, but still somewhat bizarre as you barely need to keep any sheep to get the cash.

But at least, and at last, genetic and management technology is moving forward… and not before time. Looked at in general terms, the prospects for profitable red meat production look better than for very many years. But there is one essential qualification.

If the sheep sector is to become realistically profitable – and not just be dependent on environment subsidy – then it must come into the real world. It must go for scale – 1,000 ewes per shepherd – and go for modern technology; that means ‘Easy-Care’ and top-level genetic performance and quality. And that really is a major change in thinking, but perfectly possible nonetheless.

But to get back to the central issue of Good Husbandry.

We just cannot afford, either individually or as an industry, ‘for soils to be degrading and less productive slowly over time’ – nor, incidentally, can we afford to allow our hillsides to deteriorate due to understocking.

again? Can rotational farming be restored to the benefit of both sectors?

I believe that the answer could be YES; but that must not ignore the serious difficulties that stand in the way: • Of course, there has to be the WILL… but that is far from evident at the moment.

• The shortage of sheep (and beef) management and shepherding skills.

• The absence of practical, hands-on, science and education.

One thing is for sure. If a large scale arable farmer is to consider going into a rotational system, let us say with sheep, he has to be convinced that the livestock enterprise must be profitable in its own right. The near certainty is that he cannot see himself doing that.

It could be via set-aside.. But other than on uncultivable land, this surely is a negation of our responsibilities in a hungry world.

It could, of course, be via fossil fuel crops, but my somewhat cynical view is that there must be better ways of countering the fuel crisis than by using good, productive cropping land.

Whatever the answer to current problems – and there will be many different answers – I come back to my experiences at Worlaby in the 1960s. Two related facts were of critical importance: • Agricultural research and development in the UK was thriving, and our research institutes were world leaders. They were in the forefront of the ‘Green Revolution’.

However, there is an alternative. There are young men skilled in livestock management, and for whom there is little attraction in remaining on a small farm on the uplands, who could be attracted into a contract system managing his own sheep on, say, 500 acre blocks circulating on, perhaps, 3,000-5,000 acres of cropping.

I believe this is a solution which merits thought and promotion. It is, what one might call, a ‘New Zealand’ solution.

• Transfer of that scientific knowledge to the practical working farmer was excellent. Our local Advisory Officer was a first class GP practitioner.

But if the object is to improve soil organic structure, does it have to involve a rotation?

Another friend of mine, heavily into pigs, makes the case where his well pigmanured soils are yielding 0.25 tonnes of wheat per acre more than on his specialist arable areas.

The results are serious. There has never been a time when these two essentials were more urgently needed.

Good Husbandry is, of course, more than simply rotational farming, but all our experience at Worlaby emphasises how important it is, and how we should be considering how we could bring it back into fashion. And I am most definitely not talking about organic production.

The big question is: Can the arable and the livestock sectors be brought together

Nevertheless, as reality hits the economy, the potential for the high level performer has to be good.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

OR… does it have to involve livestock at all?

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

Neither of these two essentials exists today.

Investment in Science has moved from production to environmental care, and, whatever that may mean, it has nothing to do with production.

• Henry Fell can be contacted by emailing henry.fell@tiscali.co.uk or by calling 01652 618329.

ST PATRICK AND ST GEORGE CELEBRATIONS • Don Gomer y

ST PATRICK AND ST GEORGE CELEBRATIONS • Don Gomer y

More than 50 Club members and their guests gathered in Whitehall Cour t on 20 March for a dinner to commemorate the Saint Day (albeit three days late) of Ireland’s Patron, St Patrick, followed on 23 April (the day itself) when one shor t of 100 members and guests lunched in celebration of England’s St George at the magnificent Barber-Surgeons’ Hall, in the City of London. Journal Editor Don Gomery provides a pictorial record of both events…

Scintillating Club celebration of Ireland and England Saint Days

Janet Reynolds, Julia Cleverdon and John Reynolds

Singer, Barbara Askew

Guest Speaker Dame Julia Cleverdon

Norman Shaw and Carla Colombani Skinner Singer Anne Morrow and pianist Karen Glass

Robin Morrow said Grace Chairman John Reynolds introduces the speaker

Pre-lunch drinks

Coat of Arms of the Worshipful Company of Barbers

Rosemar y Duffy Tom and Frances Morrow

Campbell and Isobel Tweed Janet Reynolds presents flowers to Dame Julia Dining in the Great Hall

Lorna Richardson at the piano John Reynolds and speaker Dennis Tuohy

John Pombo

Marguerita Campling

An appreciative audience 16

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

The Barber-Surgeons' Hall, Monkwell Square, in the City of London A listening audience www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

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U30S TOPIC: MUDDY BOOTS AND REAL FOOD • Roland Ballard and Miranda Gillimore

Getting their Boots Muddy while selling the very best of real foods tricks or additives to help with the preparation. There are no preservatives or nasties in our recipes; it’s traditional recipes made with the best ingredients we can find.

“The burger range is where I have a bit of fun, by mixing in other ingredients with the burger mix. Stilton and cider is another popular one, though roasted red pepper with lime and paprika is my favourite.”

Roland and Miranda are keen to promote the nutritional benefits of beef… its zinc, potassium, iron, protein and, in this exclusively grassreared herd, Omega 3 content.

“We meet a lot of people who are wary of beefburgers or ready meals, which we totally understand as we’ve seen the press and tasted some of the poor quality ourselves,” says Roland. “We’re proud to stand at farmers’ markets and promise our customers that our products are different… and, fortunately, lots of people listen to us, try them and come back for more.

TWO Farmers Club U30s’ members are having a go at running their own company in Worcestershire, called Muddy Boots Real Foods Ltd. Roland Ballard and Miranda Gallimore left their London routine and careers in media to move back to their home county of Worcestershire. They met at university, though they’d grown up 20 minutes away from each other, and seven years later knew that if they were going to fulfil their dream of running their own company, they were simply going to have to go for it.

Roland was an assistant co-ordinator for Working Title Films and was in the production team for the current Richard Curtis film, The Boat That Rocked. Miranda had been Sir David Frost’s PA for five years.

Both enjoyed their jobs and their experiences in the industry, and had learned some vital skills, which they’re bringing to their new company, even though they’ve gone in a totally different direction.

Muddy Boots makes homemade meals and beefburgers from 21-dayhung, 100% pure-bred Aberdeen Angus beef. Roland’s father has a pedigree herd and is a former President of the Aberdeen Angus Society.

Consequently, they had a great resource and set about researching the potential market for this quality beef. They couldn’t find another company who could promise they were using this standard of quality beef in their meals and burgers, and were appalled by some of the compromising criteria used by some. Muddy Boots believes that people should have the option of buying a beefburger or ready meal which contains the very highest calibre of meat.

“They tell us that they’re serving them at dinner parties, which is a massive compliment to us and our beef.”

Roland and Miranda are at Notting Hill and Pimlico farmers’ markets on Saturdays (9am to 1pm) and Marylebone and Islington on Sundays (10am to 2pm); they’ve just started selling wholesale at The Hereford Deli; they’ve launched a home-delivery service; and have organised a free fun event on Saturday 20 June at Fulham Palace, called The Muddy Boots London Croquet Tournament, to which all are invited (see www.muddybootscroquet.co.uk).

“We’re having a great time and developing faster than we could have imagined,” says Roland. “We’re loving it… and very grateful for our London base at The Farmers Club, as all our sales have so far been in London, which is quite a commute from Worcester.”

Club members can find out more at www.muddybootsfoods.co.uk and are asked to get in touch with any queries.

“We’re developing almost entirely on people’s feedback and would love to receive ideas and advice,” adds Roland.

“Please come along to the croquet tournament as well. It should be a great day.”

They’re not campaigning for other corporations to change their ways; they just passionately believe that everyone deserves to have the best beef, whether it’s a fillet steak or in a beefburger. So they hang the beef for 21-days, sell the fillet, rump, sirloin and rib as cuts and mince, and dice the rest to make burgers and ready meals, ranging from lasagne to beef with herby dumplings to their caramelised onion and mozzarella burger (the current farmers’ market’s bestseller).

NEW WASTE REGULATIONS • Richard Mar tin

Two new pieces of environmental legislation come into force this year which will directly affect small and medium sized farming and agricultural businesses. At a time when the Environment Agency is stepping up enforcement and companies are at increasing risk of being fined for non-compliance, Richard Martin, Programme Manager for environmental guidance website NetRegs.gov.uk, explains why farmers cannot afford to let these new regulations go unheeded.

Stiff penalties face farmers for failure to comply with new rules on waste disposal AGRICULTURE is one of the UK’s highest producers of waste. Although it outperforms many other sectors with regards to high awareness and compliance with environmental legislation, farmers also have some of the largest specific responsibilities under a range of waste regulations.

With the Environment Agency tightening up its targets on environmental pollution and emissions, businesses in the sector must ensure that they are on top of all changing laws or face penalties.

We believe that poor compliance often stems from a lack of understanding of relevant and applicable regulations. For example, the Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations came into force back in 2006, but our research suggests many businesses are still not compliant, perhaps due to a misconception that these laws do not apply to their sector.

When asked by NetRegs as part of our last SME-nvironment study, almost two thirds of small and medium-sized agriculture businesses could not identify any piece of environmental legislation unprompted… highlighting poor awareness levels.

With environmental issues high on the agenda, a business's green credentials can play a central role when it comes to attracting and retaining customers. Not only can a proactive approach to addressing environmental issues bring commercial benefits, but in many cases businesses can also save money.

In 2007, SMEs were hit by fines of around £2.4million for pollution and environmental damage, largely caused by poor

compliance. Regulations such as the 2007 WEEE Regulations (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), put the cost of disposal of electrical equipment back on to the manufacturers, meaning significant cost savings for many end-users in sectors such as farming.

Likely affects Two pieces of environmental legislation are expected to come into force during 2009 that will directly affect farming and agricultural businesses.

The Waste Controls (England and Wales) Regulations 2009, which come into effect in October, will affect all businesses that produce waste, regardless of whether or not they are actively involved in waste management.

Under previous regulations, agricultural businesses which carry their own waste did not need to register with the Environment Agency. Now they will have to do this if they transport their own waste on a normal and regular basis. Many smaller businesses manage their own waste disposal so, for these, the new regulations may be particularly relevant.

A second legislative change expected in 2009 is the Pesticides (England and Wales) Regulations 2009, which will consolidate four sets of existing regulations, but also include a new legal requirement for professional users to keep a record of pesticide treatments they carry out.

Understanding essential While we understand that many farmers struggle to keep on top of new environmental regulations, it is critical that they understand and act on these new legislative changes. Many agricultural businesses in England and Wales will need

to make changes to bring themselves into line with the new regulations.

They can find details on how to do this at www.netregs.gov.uk This is a free environmental guidance website, offering sector-specific information to ensure organisations not only avoid penalties but also benefit from stronger green credentials.

Three tips NetRegs.gov.uk recommends keeping up to date with regulations by following a simple three-step approach… Check up, Wise up and Clean up.

Check up. Review your current processes.

Look at what your business does and consider each element in turn, to see what legislation may be applicable to different processes.

Wise up. Make sure you understand the different environmental regulations so you can benefit from cost savings and improved green credentials. You can find out all you need to know by logging onto the website and accessing the sector-specific information on agriculture. You can also carry out a free self-assessment questionnaire to make sure you are up to speed on other applicable environmental legislation, as well as sign up for e-alerts to receive regular free updates.

Clean up. If you have not already done so, introduce an environmental policy, building environmental regulations into your procurement procedures. If possible, appoint an environmental manager with responsibility for compliance and ensure everyone involved in your business knows what they have to do to comply. Lastly, look at your suppliers and contacts… and try to work with partners whose own green credentials tick the right boxes.

Miranda runs the kitchen and Roland the business affairs. “My job’s easy”, says Miranda. “The beef is so delicious that I don’t need any

18

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

19

U30S X • X • Luke Paterson, Chairman; Gemma Par tridge, Vice Chairman; Mar yAnne Salisbur y, Secretar y

Chairman’s Jottings HELLO and welcome. With fertiliser prices continuing to fall, and many customers hoping for an old crop price rise before they sell, I took the opportunity to call all U30s members for contact details, to enable us to email them with the first U30s newsletter.

Can bubbly from Blighty really be compared with champagne?

The various wines we tried, and their cost per bottle, were: Chapel Down Brut NV – £17.00 Reichenstenier, Muller-Thurgan, Pinot Noir (15% Pinot, I think)

I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you for all your positive comments. The praise, however, belongs to its author and compiler, Gemma Partridge.

Any of you who didn’t get the newsletter can receive it by sending me their email address. Similarly, to be removed from the mailing list, just let me know.

It’s been very interesting updating the contacts’ list; considering we all have one common denominator… farming. It’s remarkable to see the diversity of industries and professions we have chosen within that common framework.

For those of you in London or nearby, the inter club events prove very popular, with almost all selling out immediately.

For information about these, visit www.inter-club.co.uk We have quite a few events coming up.

By the time you read these Jottings, the U30s and the main Club will have held their respective farm walks and, of course, the show season will be well under way.

We will keep you up-dated, via emails and letter, about forthcoming events, and look forward to meeting you at as many you can manage to attend.

Luke Paterson

hael (left) w ith M ic Luke Paterson Ridg ev iew Estate Rober ts from

ON THE last Friday in March, the U30s were asked the question: “Can bubbly from Blighty really compare with champagne?”

To find out for themselves, members from around the country travelled to Whitehall Court to meet other young people from agriculture and related professions, to enjoy fine wines and good company in superb surroundings.

To help answer the question, Michael Roberts from Ridgeview Estate kindly provided a selection of high-quality sparkling wines from the south coast of England. These ranged from an organic Pinot Noir Auxcrois mix from the Limney Estate, Kent; a crisp Chapel Down Brut NV; and three sparkling wines (Cavendish, Bloomsbury and Grosvenor) from the Ridgeview Estate on the South Downs.

For comparison, a benchmark bottle of champagne* was added to the tasting, its identity withheld. Needless to say, with generous quantities of bubbly ahead, the U30s sipped - even quaffed - into their task.

When the champagne was compared directly with the Ridgeview Bloomsbury (winner of ‘Wine of The Show’ and ‘Best Sparkling Wine’ at the English Wine Festival 2008) 90% of Club members thought it was the champagne. Praise indeed, and proof if ever it were needed, that homegrown sparkling wine has truly come of age.

Above: U30s members enjoying the wine tasting at the Club.

Right: Felicity Pinder, Rob Medley, Rhydian Scurlock-Jones.

20

Davenport Limney Estate Sparkling 2005 – £18.00 49% Pinot Noir, 51% Auxcrois Ridgeview Grosvenor (Blanc de Blanc) 2006 – £21.95 100% Chardonnay Ridgeview Cavendish 2006 – £19.95 27% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir, 48% Pinot Meunier *Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label – £32.49 Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay Ridgeview Bloomsbury 2006 – £19.95 61% Chardonnay, 27% Pinot Noir, 12% Pinot Meunier Unable to call their British-produced bubbly ‘champagne’, which is reserved for wine produced only in the Champagne area of France, English sparkling wine producers are discussing adopting a generic name for their product.

The desire to differentiate their merchandise from the rest of the market, targeting the more discernible consumer, has certain advantages. The move may well be what is required to propel an excellent product to a growing domestic and export market.

Dinner followed our tasting, over which members pondered a closing remark that traditional French champagne houses have been looking to procure land for vines on the south coast of England. Such interest shows similarities in climate with the Champagne region, and may highlight a hidden potential if climate change were to raise optimum latitude for growing vines.

After the three-course dinner, club members had a chance to relax and mingle at the bar, allowing new friendships to be made. As has become tradition – and despite an outrageous suggestion from the Chairman that we might frequent a new night spot - a group of around 15 hopped across Northumberland Avenue to ‘Motion’ to round off the evening with more high spirits.

Edward Reynolds

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

RAMBLINGS • Stephen Skinner

Hooray! We have sunshine and a balcony again at Whitehall Court THE SCAFFOLDNG is down! Light is now infusing the Club after many months of us being encased in plastic and metal poles, making the whole feeling of the public rooms much more pleasant. Mind you, we haven’t quite got the balcony back, as I write, but that will be available from 21 May By the time these words appear in print, normal service will have been resumed.

There have been other changes as well, some obvious and some not so. Those who have telephoned the Club of late will have realised that we have a new telephone system. This was an essential change as the old system was fragile in the extreme and extremely difficult to support.

The new system is a marked improvement on what we had before, although we have yet to get the ‘flow’ of answering messages quite right. We’re working on this and hope soon to have it sorted, so that members are not left going around and around the same options.

That said, it’s worth noting that Reception’s busy period is from 8am until 9.30am. Consequently, if possible, I would suggest calling outside these times or emailing your needs or queries to reception@thefarmersclub.com

Talking of email, we now have a new computer system up and running. This has made quite a difference to the efficiency of our administration, for the staff in their dayto-day operations, and for members in their paying of bills, making bookings and the like.

It’s not the answer to everything, of course, and there are bound to be hiccups.

However, in the relatively short time it’s been in, we’ve ironed out some of the operating difficulties and, in the not too distant future, should all be comfortable with it.

Finally, on Club developments, we have set in chain the establishment of a ‘Business Suite’ to be built within what is now the House Managers office. Chris Burden and his team will be moving elsewhere, leaving the suite to provide a purpose-built and discrete area in which members can use their laptops or a pc (we’ll provide two of the latter), rather than having to spread themselves randomly around the Club’s public rooms.

Work on the new suite will take place during the summer closure.

Dorchester turfed for a ‘Day at the Races’ HAPPENINGS beyond Whitehall Court include - wait for it - the turfing of the ballroom floor of London’s prestigious Park Lane hotel, the Dorchester, by Club member Stephen Fell’s company, Lindum Turf.

Lindum was asked to do this, Stephen tells me, prior to a ‘day-at-the-races’ for 350 diners attending the first awards ceremony held by the magazine Britview, to recognise and reward outstanding achievement in the UK and Republic of Ireland gambling industry.

Working together with design florist Lavender Green, the spectacular transformation of the ballroom floor took only a few hours, using Lindum Grassfelt, a ‘living carpet’ of soil-less grass growing in felt, which is rolled out like a ‘normal’ carpet and rolled up again afterwards without leaving any mess.

Our picture shows Stephen Fell in the grass-carpeted ballroom, which certainly gives a new meaning to ‘The Turf’. We shouldn’t be surprised, as last year Lindum turfed Trafalgar Square, turning it into London’s village green for a couple of days.

Whatever next?

The mind boggles. www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

A downside to high bedroom bookings ON A slightly broader front, after a relatively quiet winter our occupancy levels have returned to very nearly what might be called historic norms. This is good for Club finances, of course, although it can mean frustration for those who leave their room bookings until the last minute.

Hamid, Cyril and Marlene, on Reception, will do all they can to meet your requirements… and you’d be surprised how many times we manage to get through the waiting list. So my message is, if you can be flexible, don’t give up!

Hope to see you at the summer shows AS WE approach summer, we’re gearing up for the many shows we attend. It would be wonderful to see you there, should you be able to make it.

As a reminder, we are attending (or will have attended, by the time you receive this Journal): the Royal Ulster (dinner), the Devon County (reception), the Suffolk (reception), the Royal Cornwall (dinner), the Rutland (reception), Cereals (working breakfast), the Three Counties (dinner), the Royal Highland (dinner), the Royal (for all four days), the Great Yorkshire (dinner), the Royal Welsh (dinner), and the CLA Game Fair (reception).

Have a fun day out at Cheltenham Festivals I’M TOLD that a Club member passed on to the organisers of this year’s Cheltenham Festivals that other members may be equally interested in attending these funcombined-with culture events, covering individual topics such as science, music, jazz and literature.

For example, the Cheltenham Music Festival, running from 3 - 18 July, includes a 70-piece big band performing film themes from Gone with the Wind to Harry Potter; Harry Enfield as Handel in a musical review of the composer’s life; and the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, performing at Tewkesbury Abbey; as well as many classical favourites and premieres.

For more information www.cheltenhamfestivals.com or 0844 578 7979.

see call

Ramblings continues on page 22

21

RAMBLINGS

Club Information & Diary Dates

THE FARMERS CLUB

The Secretariat 020 7930 3751

THE FARMERS CLUB Over 160 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Cour t, London SW1A 2EL

Brazil presentation FINALLY, I should mention that, on 21 July, the Chairman and his wife Janet will host a buffet lunch here in the Club, followed by a presentation on the very successful Brazil trip, for any member wanting to learn more about what sounds a most fascinating visit.

Details will soon be found on the Club website and on the notice boards here in Whitehall Court (we are too late for a flyer to go in this Journal).

Farm Sunday founder gets Rural Hero award I WAS delighted to hear that Club member Ian Pigott, who founded the highly successful Farm Sunday campaign, has been recognised for this great achievement., which opens up and presents the countryside to a whole new audience, as well as promoting farming in the most accessible way.

Ian’s simple idea of getting farmers to recognise the importance and significance of reconnecting with the consumer has fast become a summer staple, opening up and presenting the countryside to a whole new audience, as well as promoting farming in the most accessible way. More than 400 farms held events on the third annual Farm Sunday held on 1 June last year, with at least this number scheduled to take part in the 2009 event on 7 June.

In recognition of this, Ian was presented with a national Countryside Alliance Local Hero Award - nicknamed “The Rural Oscar” and designed to honour people who work hard to preserve countryside communities, traditions and enterprise - at a parliamentary reception in March. Our picture shows Ian (left) receiving his award from Lord Rooker.

Congratulations, Ian. We’re very proud of you and all you’ve done for the farming industry.

Club Information 020 7930 3751 Further information is available on The Farmers Club Website: www.thefarmersclub.com To register for the Members’ Area, enter your membership number as shown on the top line of the address label of your Journal and then create your username and password.

Obituaries It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members: A J Atwater Sussex Rt Revd IPM Cundy - Bishop of Peterborough Cambridgeshire R A Latta Cambridgeshire Miss F Murray Lincolnshire I R Murray OBE Berkshire J H M Webster Nottinghamshire

New Members Details of those accepting our offer of membership following the Februar y election will be available in the next Journal.

IT Facilities Reception can provide members with a password to use the Club’s wi-fi circuit and to access the pc in the IT Room. Laptops must not be used in the Lounge but are now permitted in the Shaw Room, adjacent to the bar. Their use is restricted to single users only and must not be used in conjunction with a meeting.

Envelopes Sponsorship The Farmers Club w ould like to thank Agrovista UK for its kind sponsorship of the Journal envelopes. Agrovista is the leading research-based agronomy advice and product supply company providing solutions for arable, fruit & vegetable growers throughout the UK. For information about the company, visit www.agrovista.co.uk.

Club Marquee at the Royal Show Come and visit the Club Marquee at the last Royal Show. There is an insert in this Journal which gives full details of the catering available.

Summer Closure During the Summer Closure a number of bedrooms will be available for members on the understanding that no other Club facilities will be available. Weekend rates only will be charged for this period.

Any member wishing to book a bedroom during this period should make their reservations as soon as possible and prior to 28 July. Priority will be given to members wishing to stay for a relatively long period.

These dates are reviewed for every Journal. Please read them on each occasion, as they are sometimes revised and additional dates included.

Details of events circulated in the previous issues are available from the Secretariat at the telephone number shown above.

Continued from page 9…

Visit to RHS garden at Wisley, Surrey Tuesday 23 June. Application form was in the Spring Journal

Visit to The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland Thursday 17 September Application form in this Journal

The Royal Highland Show Dinner Wednesday 24 June.

Application form was in the Spring Journal

Theatre Visit and Supper at the Club Friday 25 September.

Application form in the Harvest Journal

Royal Show, Stoneleigh Park Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 July Insert in this Journal

their life cycle. It is important that our environmental work is underpinned by the best of analytical methodologies and we already have impressive chemistry capabilities.

Fera works in more than 100 countries worldwide, providing science and services to government and commercial customers.

There are numerous global issues of interest to the UK farming community, such as agricultural trade, biodiversity and climate change.

CLA Game Fair Reception, Belvoir Castle, nr. Grantham Saturday 25 July Reply slip in this Journal

Several London Clubs offer members the use of their facilities during this period, as long

Reciprocal Clubs

Fera supports the UK strongly in the areas where there is an international obligation,

However, we cannot do this alone, and we look forward to working together both with the farming community and its associated industries.

To find out more about us, and our work programmes, please visit our website at www.defra.gov.uk/fera

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009 • www.thefarmersclub.com

St.Andrew’s Day Lunch at the Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh Monday 30 November Application form in the Harvest Journal

Royal Welsh Show Dinner Sunday 19 July Reply slip in this Journal

as you are in possession of an introductor y card. A list of these Clubs and introductor y card is available from the Secretariat prior to the Club closure.

Fera also works with the Department for International Development (DFID) and other international bodies in the area of international development, particularly to address Millennium Development Goals.

So, looking ahead, the future is challenging and exciting. We will be applying our best minds to research and development to fill the knowledge gaps and prove robust evidence to support future policy.

Harvest Festival Service at St Martin-in-the-Fields followed

by Buffet Supper at the Club Tuesday 6 October at 5pm Preacher: Revd. Nicholas Holtam, Vicar, St Martin-in-the-Fields Details in the Harvest Journal

Great Yorkshire Show Dinner Tuesday 14 July Reply slip in this Journal

During this period the office w ill deal with correspondence only. The Reception telephones and fax will not be manned.

or a homeland policy position, through co-operation with developing nations, for example in biosecurity, trade compliance, biodiversity and climate change.

VICE PRESIDENTS John N Harris OBE MC, Peter Jackson CBE Roddy Loder-Symonds, Sir David Naish DL John Parker THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB FOR 2009 PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN John Reynolds TRUSTEES Mark Hudson (Chairman), Barclay Forrest OBE Mrs Susan Kilpatrick OBE, Norman Shaw CBE

UK Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh

The UK Government is a signatory to various international treaties that support a UK policy position. For many of these treaties the UK Government is recognised as having an international leadership role.

22

Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

Diary Dates 2009

Continued from page 21…

OVERSEAS The Western Australian Club, Per th, Australia Queensland Club, Brisbane, Australia (Bedrooms not reciprocated) Royal Dublin Society, Dublin, Ireland (Bedrooms not reciprocated) The Muthaiga Countr y Club, Nairobi, Kenya The Harare Club, Harare, Z imbabwe The Christchurch Club, Christchurch, New Z ealand

The Canterbur y Club, Christchurch, New Z ealand (Bedrooms not reciprocated) Members wishing to visit any of the above Clubs must obtain an introductor y card. To see their contact details including website address, go to www.thefarmersclub.com and click on links at the foot of the home page.

VICE-CHAIRMAN Mrs Nicki Quayle HONORARY TREASURER Paul Heygate IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Julian Sayers COMMITTEE Elected 2004 Ian Lindsay, Mrs Jill Willows Elected 2005 Charles Notcutt OBE Elected 2006 Stewar t Houston CBE (Chairman House Sub-Committee), Meurig Raymond MBE Elected 2007 Tim Bennett, Mrs Anne Chamberlain, James Cross Richard Harrison, Campbell Tweed OBE Mrs Teresa Wickham (Chairman Journal & Communications Sub-Committee) Elected 2008 The Reverend Dr Gordon Gatward OBE Jimmy McLean (Chairman Membership SubCommittee), David Richardson OBE, John Wilson Elected 2009 Richard Butler, John Stones Co-opted Luke Paterson (Chairman Under 30s) Gemma Par tridge (Vice-Chairman Under 30s) THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST TRUSTEES John Kerr MBE JP DL (Chairman), James Cross Stephen Fletcher, Dr Tony Harris CBE Mrs Stella Muddiman JP , The Chairman and Immediate Past Chairman of the Club (ex officio) Chief Executive and Secretary Air Commodore Stephen Skinner Deputy Secretary Rober t Buckolt Club Chaplain The Reverend Nicholas Holtam 020-7766 1121 Reception & Dining Room Reservations 020-7930 3557

CLUB CLOSURES 2009

Accounts 020-7925 7101

3.00pm Friday 14 August to 3.00pm Tuesday 1 September Tuesday 22 December – no afternoon bar or dinner 3.00pm Wednesday 23 December to 3.00pm Monday 4 January

Membership 020-7925 7102 Private Function & Meeting Room Reservations 020-7925 7100 Secretariat 020-7930 3751 Personal calls for members only 020-7930 4730 Fax 020-7839 7864

2009 Charitable Trust Bursary Awards Dr Stephen Hoad

SAC Edinburgh

Gareth Phillips

Reaseheath College

Miss Lucy Preston

Harper Adams University College Sparsholt College

Mrs Stephanie West

The evaluation of new varieties for sustainable cereal production in Europe.

To gain fur ther knowledge of different tur f climates and management techniques in Canada and the USA. To research the valuation methodology and administration of agricultural rating valuation work.

To research the methods, legislation and policy of environmental, par ticularly ecological, protection in Iceland.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Summer 2009

E-mails secretariat@thefarmersclub.com accounts@thefarmersclub.com membership@thefarmersclub.com functions@thefarmersclub.com meetings@thefarmersclub.com reception@thefarmersclub.com u30s@thefarmersclub.com Website www.thefarmersclub.com THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Editor and Advertisement Manager Don Gomer y 01892 610628 Email: don.gomer y@btinternet.com Printed by Pureprint Group, Brambleside, Bellbrook Park 23 Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 1PL Tel: 01825 768811