Farming Category

  • Dairy merger faces in-depth investigation

    Müller’s proposed acquisition of Dairy Crest’s dairy operations will be referred for an in-depth investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced, unless acceptable undertakings are offered. Müller UK & Ireland Group LLP and Dairy Crest Group are two of the three main dairy processors in the UK. Together they process around 3.5 billion litres of milk per year and account for nearly half of the fresh milk consumed in the UK. And the ...

    Posted at June 13, 2015 | By : | Categories : Farming,News,Rural Business | Comments Off on Dairy merger faces in-depth investigation
  • RPA update on BPS claims

    The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has announced more detail on next steps for farmers and landowners who wish to claim for Basic Payment Scheme 2015. The Agency says that pre-populated BP5 claim forms will start to be sent out next week by email, to everyone who has registered on the Rural Payments online system. They will also get guidance on how to apply via email initially, with paper copies to follow in the post. Where a farmer has ...

    Posted at April 11, 2015 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on RPA update on BPS claims
  • Kraft accused of manipulating wheat price

    The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has accused Kraft Foods and Mondelēz Global of manipulating the prices of cash wheat and wheat futures. According to the CFTC, in response to high cash wheat prices in late Summer 2011, Kraft and Mondelēz developed and executed a strategy to buy $90 million of December 2011 wheat futures, which amounted to a six-month supply of wheat. The US regulator alleges that Kraft and Mondelēz never intended to take delivery of ...

    Posted at April 2, 2015 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on Kraft accused of manipulating wheat price
  • No rise in AHDB levy

    The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has announced that there will be no rise in levy rates, for the third year running. In addition, the Board says its focus for the 12 months ahead will be as follows: to help levy payers improve productivity and cost management (resource management, climate change, soils and water, managing market volatility) to help levy payers prevent and manage disease to help levy payers deliver market development (export development, promoting quality products to ...

    Posted at April 1, 2015 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on No rise in AHDB levy
  • IT problems hit Basic Payment Scheme

    IT problems at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) mean that farmers and their agents will have to resort to pen and paper to complete their applications for the Basic Payment Scheme. The Agency is still promising to make payments from December 2015 but apart from registering, farmers will not be asked to enter any further data online. From 23rd March, two forms will be available to download from the RPA's website. These are:  RLE1, which ...

    Posted at March 20, 2015 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on IT problems hit Basic Payment Scheme
  • Agricultural apprentices up 25%

    There have been over 36,000 applications for apprenticeships in the food and farming sector in the past year, a nine fold increase since 2010. According to government figures, more than 7,000 young people embarked on agricultural related apprenticeships with the figure up almost 25% since 2010. Environment Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, comments: "The Government is partnering up with industry to open up more apprenticeships in the sector, as farming alone will need tens of thousands of new people ...

    Posted at March 14, 2015 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on Agricultural apprentices up 25%
  • New water and woodland grants for farmers

    Environment Minister, Dan Rogerson, has announced that Natural England will be accepting applications for Water Capital Grants from 2nd March. Providing £10 million worth of government funding to the farm industry, the grants will help fund new projects to reduce the impact agriculture can have on water quality. Farmers, land managers and foresters are also being encouraged to apply for Woodland Capital Grants, worth a total of £4 million, to create new woodland. The Water and Woodland Capital ...

    Posted at February 25, 2015 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on New water and woodland grants for farmers
  • SPS payments delivered in record time

    The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) says it has already surpassed last year’s performance on the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) by meeting its end of December targets four weeks ahead of schedule. The Agency has already paid out to 96,669 SPS customers, equating to 95% of  the total and 91.4% of the estimated fund value. Environment Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, comments: "Over the last four years the Rural Payments Agency has improved beyond ...

    Posted at December 9, 2014 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on SPS payments delivered in record time
  • Met Office: 2014 warmest year on record

    Figures from the Met Office show that 2014 is on course to be one of the warmest, if not the warmest, year on record both globally and for the UK. The global mean temperature for January to October is 0.57°C above the long-term (1961-1990) average and recent Met Office research also suggests the shift is likely to be due to human influence on the climate. Responding to the data, Lord Deben, chairman of the Committee on Climate ...

    Posted at December 5, 2014 | By : | Categories : Farming,News,Renewables | Comments Off on Met Office: 2014 warmest year on record
  • RPA alerts farmers to SPS fraud

    The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is urging farmers to be mindful of fraud as the 2014 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) payments window nears. In the last two years the RPA has been made aware by banks that fraudsters, pretending to be from banks' fraud departments, may try to target farmers. So the Agency is urging farming businesses to remain vigilant and take note of a few simple steps, as follows: Remember that your bank will never request your ...

    Posted at November 27, 2014 | By : | Categories : Farming,News | Comments Off on RPA alerts farmers to SPS fraud
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