Activities

Abstract:
This article looks at some of the main issues that have affected agriculture over the past 12 months. Aside from the perennial favourites of the weather and prices, farmers’ main preoccupation was the new subsidy arrangements. Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) saw the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) introduced. The decoupling of support is likely to have a profound effect on the industry over the coming years. But just as farmers were beginning to get to grips with the new support system, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, started pushing for another fundamental reform (or even scrapping) of the CAP. As the Chinese say “may you live in interesting times”.

Abstract:
There is no doubt whatsoever that sheep farming will have a part to play in the UK farming scene for a very long time into the future for it is supported by some of the most dedicated and entrepreneurial people in agriculture. They are blessed with the indomitable spirit and determination needed to ensure a real future for sheep in spite of the difficulties and impediments put in place by urban orientated politicians and civil servants and in spite of the highly professional lobbying of bodies of people who are dedicated to hold sway without understanding the problems which they create for farming. This is especially so when that involves extensive livestock keeping. Examples abound w...

Abstract:
Decoupling of farm support payments from production is making beef producers look long and hard about whether they stay with beef cattle and some estimates forecast a reduction of more than a third in the size of the UK industry. On the other hand demand for beef is good and there is potential for this country to produce good value, high quality, grass-fed beef on high animal health and welfare systems which are good for the environment and which is logistically simple to get to consumers. However this will only happen if producers can cut their costs by about 25 per cent and buyers can increase the prices they pay by a similar amount. So far there is little evidence that retailers pro...

Abstract:
The UK Pig Industry has reduced by 40 per cent in seven years. This paper describes the factors behind the decline and the resulting structural changes in the industry. It highlights three areas of collaboration pre-farm gate, which have radically altered trading relationships for key inputs to cut costs and improve efficiency. The current competitiveness of the industry compared to other European countries is outlined including a discussion of the differences and the potential for improvement. Post farm gate the current contractual arrangements are described highlighting the failure of current carcase assessment methods to provide clear connection between carcase value in terms of fa...

Abstract:
This paper looks at the way farming is supported through the Common Agricultural Policy and how the environment is protected through regulation. It explains the break in the association between payment and production through CAP reform, moving instead to a model where payment is dependent upon meeting a range of existing EU requirements and on meeting good environmental standards. This new way of administering Single Farm Payment is commonly referred to as “cross-compliance”. The benefits of the new Environmental Stewardship scheme, announced in March 2005, which complements cross-compliance, are also discussed. The role of the Environment Agency in supporting and regulating both pol...

Abstract:
Both land use changes and climatic changes are altering the flows of water and chemicals in southern Britain. These alterations have profound influences on the groundwater-fed lowland streams in the chalk and Midland sandstone areas of England. NERC’s LOCAR programme aims to provide the scientific understanding of these changes and to assist in meeting the requirements of integrated catchment management. Exploration of the complexities of groundwater flows in the chalk and infiltration through glacial deposits on the Midland sandstone shows that water takes several subsurface pathways, at different speeds. These affect flooding and the transfer of chemicals to rivers. Valley floor wet...

Abstract:
The paper reviews a range of research results in the area of the study of stockpersons/animal caretakers. Issues covered include the use of Self-Report Personality Inventories and Repertory Grids to establish the personality traits of the good stockperson. It also summarises some research on routine tasks carried out and the stockperson’s perception of them, highlighting the most liked and most disliked tasks and the feelings stockpersons have on good and bad days. The paper considers some of the wider implications of CAP change on stockpersons and hence animal welfare. Finally it discusses how the research has wider implications for animal carers.

Abstract:
This paper explores the issue of stress in rural England. It suggests that “rural” and “farming” have been conflated in many research studies and that this has contributed to limitations in the existing evidence base. Furthermore, methodological problems may mean that the incidence of farming related stress remains significantly under-reported. Despite these limitations, it is clear that certain groups of people in rural areas are exposed to a wide range of stressors and that some individuals appear to cope less well. There is an urgent need to expand the body of research on stress in rural areas and, at the same time, to redress the balance that has seen an emphasis on farmers at the ...

Abstract:
This paper examines the economic potential associated with incomers to rural England. It incorporates data from a household survey and interviews. It is argued that incomers generate considerable opportunities for job creation and economic regeneration. Unfortunately, this potential has not been maximised to the benefit of rural areas. Rural policy-makers and service providers could do more to ensure that the potential offered by incomers is more fully realised. Key words: Rural economy; incomers; job creation; expenditure patterns.

Abstract:
Farmers are increasingly aware of their changing place in society in general and the rural community in particular. For them the countryside is the shop floor of Britain’s largest industry. But many people value it principally as a habitat of flora and fauna, as a place of space and landscape and for recreation and refreshment. In this context it is part of the Church’s task to minister to the marginalised and excluded – those on low incomes, and those who find access to facilities and services increasingly restricted.

Abstract:
This article asks how agriculture can make a comeback from its current low ebb. For some the industry is over subsidised and exploitive when the reality is that it has been a victim of its own success. The burgeoning world population, better diets almost everywhere and the challenge of climate change mean that we need to produce all the food we can and also use our land to produce renewable energy to conserve diminishing fossil fuel stocks. All this can be achieved but it will require fundamental changes in attitude in those who determine our policy, in the food chain, and among farmers themselves

Abstract:
This paper argues for the centrality of agriculture at the heart of England’s and other countries’ national economies. Re-examination of what is meant by “agricultural efficiency” is proposed, together with a plea for agrarian advocacy. Such advocacy would comprehensively link the need for sustainable farm livelihoods with proper environmental management for food security through the maintenance of a socially, environmentally and strategically adequate number of farmers in place. Unregulated trading is seen as a major cause of farmer displacement internationally which gives rise to substantial concerns. Some proposals are made to address these challenges.

Abstract:
The sustainable use of game species can contribute to the conservation of biological diversity, but there is a lack of understanding as to how this works in practice. Management for country sports (hunting, shooting and fishing) has made an historic contribution to landscape still evident today. More recently, research has shown that management of the countryside for the conservation of game species can benefit other species including farm and woodland birds through the provision of food sources, nesting sites and shelter. It has also helped protect the countryside from the impact of postwar agricultural policy which maximised and intensified production. Conservation measures designed ...

Abstract:
The “no-development” ethic in the countryside came about for economic reasons rather than today’s concerns which are mainly about environmental quality. This paper challenges the assumptions behind countryside planning and argues the case for imposing economic logic on development decisions to allow more development which would reverse the downward spiral in social conditions and community and environmental quality.

Abstract:
In 2004 Sir Kenneth Carlisle was awarded the Bledisloe Gold Medal for Landowners. He first came to Wyken in 1950 and took over the farming in 1974. Nowadays the farming is contracted out and the estate has diversified into a vineyard, a shop, a restaurant and a farmers’ market and has opened its garden. Sir Kenneth says “diversification is no panacea. It needs capital to start with and you need to learn a new business.” Conservation is also important on the estate and much has been done to safeguard the harmony of its ancient woods and varied soils and farm buildings.

Abstract:
Recent history would suggest that becoming a new entrant into farming is very difficult. For decades, Young Farmers’ conferences at Stoneleigh Park, and elsewhere, have been dominated by worries about the increasing competition for new opportunities and the need for seemingly impossible levels of capital investment in order to get started. Now things are changing.

Abstract:
Tony Worth’s family have farmed in South Lincolnshire since the start of the 20th century and this article describes the development of the business over that time. It well illustrates the adage that successful businesses need to change continuously. Up to the 1930s rotations were simple; clover or beans followed by potatoes and then wheat with cattle and pigs. Peas came in during the 1930s, initially for canning and later for freezing. After World War II labour intensive crops like peppermint, spinach, runner beans and opium poppies were introduced. By the 1950s the business was supplying vegetables to Marks & Spencer and later to other chains and was instrumental in getting farmer co...

Abstract:
Richard Vaughan describes the way he has changed his business model over the past 35 years to reflect the vagaries of the market place for agricultural produce. He describes how he moved from a combination of intensive arable farming and a state of the art beef feed-lot, through the development of the farm as a tourist attraction to the establishment of his specialised meat business, Huntsham Farm Pedigree Meats, which focuses on the production of meat of superlative quality and supplies Middle White pork, Longhorn beef and Ryeland lamb to a combination of private customers and high quality restaurants throughout the country.

Abstract:
Clive Gurney was born into immediately post war Britain and his character was forged by the comradeship and determination to survive of that time. He feels that he was born a farmer despite an urban early life and has climbed the farming ladder from the first 33 acres his parents farmed with him in Staffordshire with its balanced low input, low output cows to his 112 acres in Cheshire – a high input, high output system with three times a day milking and latterly to Herefordshire where, with his son Andrew, he farms four times the land area and double the business size. Putting something back has always been important to him – he is a member of his Parish Council, a Governor of Harper ...

Abstract:
The Warwickshire Rural Hub is a group started for farmers by farmers and rural businesses. Since it got off the ground in autumn 2003 more than 1,000 people have attended its events on subjects including waste management, hemp, rural tourism, equestrian enterprises, information technology and bio-energy. It has also helped the development of a major food distribution project, The Green Grocer. There are nine specialist groups tasked with developing areas as diverse as rural tourism and bio-fuels, IT and farm waste. The Hub has received support from several organisations including the RASE and the members of the Rural Forum for Coventry, Solihull & Warwickshire which provided a co-ordi...

Abstract:
This brief history plots the progress of the RASE through the foot and mouth crisis of 2001 and chronicles its policy development work which tracked in parallel the arrival of far reaching reforms of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. For many in farming the period of 2000 to 2004 broke a long tradition of evolution and step change and ushered in an era of revolution and upheaval. It has also been a period of rapid change for the Society which included the first cancellation of the Royal Show in peacetime and a period of serious restructuring, a new partnership, Haymarket Land Events to organise the Royal Show and its other events, changes in its governance and structure and ambitious...

Abstract:
The Rev’d Patricia Pinkerton became involved in ministering to those whose farms were stricken with the disease, an involvement that was soon to become, and has since remained, a part of her life. Concerned about the effects of the crisis, especially on those affected by the disease, she was determined to assemble as much information as she could to document what took place. Her work, which still continues, is evidenced in the many hundreds of items that she has collected and presented to the Society for safe keeping. This article provides some background information leading to the tragic events of 2001and outlines the scope of the collection and its significance in the years to come....

Abstract:
This article lists some of the work of RASE and its associated organisations over the past year. The article has been sourced mainly from press releases published during the year.