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BRAZIL could soon become global leader in the beef market, with production outstripping that of the US and EU combined. Lea Leachman, chairman of Leachman Cattle Company, Montana, US, delivered […]

ROSS Finnie has been reappointed Scotland's Minister for Environment and Rural Development. His appointment on Tuesday (May 20), along with the other cabinet ministers in the new Scottish government, followed […]

Lambing and calving are all but finished at Towiemore, freeing up time for spring field work. Shelley Wright reports WITH 60 more lambs born this year compared with last, to […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent WITH crucial EU mid-term review negotiations looming, NFU Scotland is anxious that the ongoing talks on forming a coalition government, after the elections to the […]

FIGURES produced by Brussels on the impact of forthcoming CAP reform on beef production are fundamentally flawed, according to analysis by Quality Meat Scotland and the Meat and Livestock Commission. […]

IMPROVED representation in Brussels must be a priority for Scotland's new government, elected yesterday (May 1), according to NFU Scotland. With so much of farming and rural policy now shaped […]

THE new Scottish Parliament, to be elected on May 1, and its Executive will have a significant role to play in creating an environment to allow farm businesses to grow, […]

DESPITE local opposition, the Scottish Agricultural College will push ahead with closure of two of its three education sites unless government funding is increased. At a board meeting on Apr […]

ASDA aims to be the first UK supermarket to ditch foreign carrots - while Tesco is seeking more Welsh beef suppliers. Asda intends to double the volume of carrots it […]

PERTH-BASED UA Group, which concentrates on livestock and property sales, has returned a pre-tax profit of pound sterling421,095 in the year to Jan 31, 2003, compared with a loss of […]

u NFU Scotland's troubled farm secretarial service, NFU Assist, has been transferred to UK agri-business consultancy Promar International. The union pulled the plug on NFU Assist early this year after […]

Calving and lambing are the order of the day at Towiemore, as Shelley Wright found out THE driest March in the north-east of Scotland has given the calves born so […]

IRISH beef exports to the UK are likely to fall by almost 40% as a result of the anticipated unwinding of the Over 30 Months Scheme. Michael Duffy, chief executive […]

PROGRESS is finally being made on introducing a national scheme for collecting fallen stock from farms, according to Scot-land's rural development minister, Ross Finnie. He has consistently insisted that a […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent SCOTLAND has broken ranks with the rest of Britain by announcing that it will not introduce the ban on burying fallen stock on farms from […]

CHARLES Milne is to succeed Leslie Gardner as Chief Veterinary Officer for Scotland. Mr Milne, divisional veterinary manager for the State Veterinary Service's South West Scotland Division, figured prominently in […]

By FW reporters ROBERT Wiseman Dairies is set to become the leading supplier of liquid milk to major retailers after announcing larger contracts with Safeway, Tesco and Sainsbury. The processor […]

SCOTLAND'S largest farmer-owned business - Inverurie-based ANM Group - increased throughput, turnover and trading profit in 2001. The 7400 members will receive a dividend of 6%. Chief executive Brian Pack […]

WESTERN Isles Council is calling for urgent tests amid fears that seaweed used by local crofters as a fertiliser could be radioactive. A spokesman for the council, which is based […]

A CODE of practice to protect groundwater from sheepdip chemicals has been published by the Scottish Executive. The code, which consists of two pages of what to do and what […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent SCOTLAND'S Agricultural Holdings Bill, which introduces new types of farm tenancy, has been passed by the Scottish parliament. After a day's debate on Mar 12, […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent TWO of the three existing Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) campuses seem likely to be axed, following completion of a wide-ranging review of the business by […]

THE Scottish Executive has rejected claims by the Scottish Parliament's health committee that genetically modified crop trial guidelines are flawed. The health committee's inquiry into the human health aspects of […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent CONSULTATION is under way on proposed changes to agri-environment schemes in Scotland. It concentrates on three policy priorities - improvements to the Organic Aid Scheme, […]

EAST Lothian farmer John Kinnaird has been elected president of NFU Scotland. At the union's annual general meeting in St Andrews, Fife, on Friday (Feb 28), Mr Kinnaird defeated his […]

A pound sterling2m national strategy for farm business advice and skills has been launched in Scotland. Speaking at NFU Scotland's annual general meeting in St Andrews last week, rural development […]

JIM Walker, who stood down as president of NFU Scotland last week, has been appointed as a consultant to Robert Wiseman Dairies. A company spokesman said: "It is important that […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent THE 20-day standstill on animal movements in Scotland is to be cut to 13 days. Rural development minister, Ross Finnie, told farmers at the NFU […]

A wandering tup from a neighbour's field means lambing at Towiemore is about to start - a month earlier than planned. Shelley Wright reports THE first lambs at Towiemore are […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent ALMOST two-thirds of Scotland's young farmers are optimistic about the future of the agricultural industry, according to results of a new survey. While 60% believed […]

AN ACTION plan to double the area of organic production, and which has the ultimate aim of making Scotland 70% self-sufficient in home-produced organic food, was unveiled this week by […]

RUNNING a dairy herd in Norfolk, in the driest part of the country, is not always easy and there are few producers now dairying in the area. An average rainfall […]

IMPROVEMENTS to Scotland's Rural Stewardship Scheme, the country's main agri-environment programme, have been signalled by rural development minister Ross Finnie. Responding to the Custodians of Change report, published last June […]

By Shelley WrightScotland correspondent IN almost any discussion on profitability among dairy farmers, the inevitable cost a litre or margin a litre is the prevalent statistic. But Glossop-based nutritionist Colin […]

DESPITE low milk prices, output has to keep increasing to allow family-run farms to keep up with its fixed costs. That was the view John Dennison, who runs the Denmire […]

By Shelley WrightScotland correspondent THE future of genetically modified crop trials in Scotland has been thrown into doubt after the Scottish Parliament's health committee insisted that existing risk assessment procedures […]

CONCERNS that banks are lending irresponsibly to farmers have been denied by Barclays. Speaking at the Semex conference, Terrig Morgan, chairman of the NFU's milk committee, said: "When I meet […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent A LEADING retailer says government intervention is crucial if the dairy industry is to have any chance of solving the problems besetting it. Ian Merton, […]

The recent festive freeze caused barely a problem at Towiemore. Of much greater concern is the spectre of bovine TB. Shelley Wright reports GRAEME and Colin Smith are keeping their […]

TWO candidates are in the running for the post of president of NFU Scotland. Existing vice presidents, John Kinnaird and Peter Stewart, have both been nominated for the top job […]

MEMBERS of the Scottish Parliament have been told that setting fixed targets for organic production is not the best way to develop the sector. During the first session of evidence […]

A FARM in the north east of Scotland has been given the all-clear after being at the centre of a foot-and-mouth scare. Alistair Ingram, who farms at Bogton of Corse […]

By Shelley Wright Scotland correspondent ALL farmers should have a compulsory waste management plan if they want to qualify for farm subsidies in future, according to one of Scotland's leading […]

By Shelley Wright A SMALLER national beef herd will not lead to an improvement in producer returns. The consensus at a beef seminar at last week's Scottish National Winter Fair […]

LEADING players in the sheep industry predict a buoyant future for the sector. At the Scottish National Winter Fair, held at Perth mart last week, John Thorley, chief executive of […]

NFU Scotland has launched a new scheme to help farmers who want to develop a new business or diversify an existing enterprise. Farm Business Choices, available to all of Scotland's […]

By Shelley WrightScotland correspondent RED meat marketing must change radically to provide farmers with a better return, says a leading marketeer. Brian Pack, chief executive of ANM Group, Scotland's largest […]

BUCKS-BASED ACT, which has 8000 farmer members and a turnover of about pound sterling40m a year, has completed its takeover of the arable business of North Eastern Farmers. NEF was […]

RUSTLERS have stolen 220 sheep worth pound sterling10,000 from a Moray farm where they were being over-wintered. Ian Duncan Millar, former farmers weekly Management Matters farmer, owns the sheep and […]

Having travelled to all corners of the globe during the past year as part of their Nuffield Farming Scholarships, the 20 recipients of the 2002 awards gathered in Peebles last […]