tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917Mon, 27 Apr 2026 06:41:51 +0000Arable farming: moving to No-tillfarm businessFarm planning: thinking aheadGrowHowNPKOxford Farming ConferencesSmall scale farming: smallholdersYarafarm subsidieslivestock farmingsuccessful farmingAndersons Farm ConsultantsCAPCereals 2014Competition CommissionDefraEU farm commissionerFarm livestock: sheep managementFarm management: challengesFarm safety:Farming media: BBC livestock programmeGM cropsLoam FarmMPs expensesNorman BorlaugOmbudsmanOwen PatersonPeter JakemanZero-tilla day out on the farmcattle attack walkerscattle farmingchildrens farmscompost aerationcompost machinecountryside walkingcover croppingcover cropsdairy farmingdisease risks of farm visitsdogs on leadsexpenditure cutsfamily farmingfarm inspectionsfarm workshop compost machinefarmer co-operationfarmideasfarmingfertiliser spreaderflood preventionfootpath safetyfun on the farmgrass aerationgrassland managementmade-it-myself compostmilk co-operativemilk quotamilk regulation in EUmobile cattle crushrabbit nettingramblers safetysoil conditionsupermarket buying powersupermarket complianceupland water managementweighing cattleFarmers find a better way to do their work, and this can often result in creating a on-off something in the workshop. Practical Farm Ideas has been collecting and publishing these truly unique new ideas since 1992, and all are still available. Buy back issues and take out a subscription from www.farmideas.co.uk http://farmideas.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (farmideas)Blogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-6381794833533845251Wed, 17 Jun 2020 20:54:00 +00002021-07-27T17:36:44.703+01:00 Combine Harvester Pre-Harvest RoutineThink of your combine as SpaceX and there's every chance your harvest will be trouble-free. Here we provide an action plan for a smooth lift-off.  It's all there from checking to see the lights work to inspecting the threshing mechanism, drum or rotor. Note the plastic spout extension to load trailer at a distance Prepare your combine for http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2020/06/combine-harvester-pre-harvest-routine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-4918562615720824886Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:13:00 +00002020-04-16T17:13:56.397+01:00 Like many, I've been trying to make some sense of it all. You know what I mean and what's on my mind, and like everyone else, it's a new experience.  To me it really does feel as if all the world’s a stage. There’s no need to explain why… the life of every human, in every village, in every country across the globe is effected by a single variety of microscopic bug.  We have http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2020/04/economic-self-sufficiency-will-be.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-1541187718877482876Tue, 24 Mar 2020 12:48:00 +00002020-03-27T17:13:50.495+00:00Farm planning: thinking ahead p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 20.0px Helvetica} Too much to take in What’s the big story for today? The virus? The lock-down of UK plc? The FTSE crash? Not much else is getting a look-in. Even Greta Thunberg, Prince Harry and http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2020/03/whats-big-story-virus-lock-down-of-uk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-8911260216241055936Wed, 18 Mar 2020 18:28:00 +00002020-03-27T17:14:19.979+00:00Farm planning: thinking ahead p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Times; color: #1e497d} span.s1 {font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000} I wonder how long livestock marts will be permitted to continue?  It’s a fast moving story. The disease is inhttp://farmideas.blogspot.com/2020/03/coronavirus-how-long-will-livestock.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0Ross-on-Wye HR9, UK51.91445 -2.58244651.875272 -2.6631270000000002 51.953628 -2.501765tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-5964931962474846185Sat, 11 Jan 2020 11:40:00 +00002020-03-27T17:15:42.117+00:00Farm livestock: sheep management Low cost lamb warmer takes little time to make Made it Myself ideas for early January LAMBING is just around the corner, and this lamb warmer will come into its own.  Instead of a static box that's away from the ewe, here you move the heater into the pen.  The barrel holds the heat and when the lamb gets strong it can walk out and get a feed from mum.  The creephttp://farmideas.blogspot.com/2020/01/low-cost-lamb-warmer-takes-little-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-3906656648088067740Wed, 27 Nov 2019 21:35:00 +00002020-03-27T17:16:41.617+00:00Farming media: BBC livestock programme ‘Meat: a Threat to our Planet’: A travesty of a documentary BBC's Liz Bonnin was shocked at what she saw This programme shown on BBC 1 on Nov 25 2019 featured Liz Bonnin. Liz is a clone of TV investigator Stacey Dooley. They  are both highly concerned with global issues and travel the world looking for and exposing them. The Guardian commented on a recent Dooley programme "The http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2019/11/bbc-food-documentary-targets-livestock.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-1306548232464172426Thu, 05 Jul 2018 19:37:00 +00002020-03-27T17:18:21.373+00:00Farm safety: Water bowser puts out crop fires NFU Mutual warned us last week of the dangers of crop fires. Ripening  cereal crops are getting dry and the extreme sunlight is ready to ignite some tinder dry material.  Their warning reminded me of a neat idea which Geoff, a Midlands farmer with land close to dense housing estates, prepares each season as soon as  cropshttp://farmideas.blogspot.com/2018/07/water-bowser-puts-out-crop-fires-nfu.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-50046046039143315Mon, 29 Jan 2018 20:00:00 +00002020-03-27T17:19:00.247+00:00Oxford Farming Conferences FARMWORLD  Practical Farm Ideas  Issue 26-4  Feb - May 2018  More from FarmWorld will  be posted in due course Oxford: Gove tries to please everyone The two January conferences in Oxford run concurrently and Michael Gove was the first environment secretary to make the short dash between the events. Oxford 2018 was an important stage for the start of a new farming era, http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2018/01/oxford-gove-tries-to-please-everyone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-7144425143171662770Thu, 30 Nov 2017 18:12:00 +00002020-03-27T17:22:54.577+00:00Arable farming: moving to No-tillFarm management: challengesSmall scale farming: smallholders Facing up to the Challenges Brexit is just one of a number of challenges facing farmers in the next few years. Farmers have the choice of listing future problems, analysing what they may mean, and then planning for the future - what ever that may bring. Or else they plan to go on pretty much as they have been and don’t see the point in planning for an uncertain future.  Delegates at http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2017/11/facing-up-to-challenges.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-6894651852665125816Mon, 11 Sep 2017 13:40:00 +00002017-09-11T14:40:31.705+01:00 Looks like the EU will play hardball on Brexit Last week I was in Tallinn, Estonia. The country has been in the news because it now holds the european presidency, a role which each member country has for a 6 month period. It puts the spotlight on the country and ministers gather for informal meetings and some from the international press get the chance to meet and talk with them.  http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2017/09/eu-farm-ministers-meet-in-tallinn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-5491792587268828722Mon, 29 May 2017 11:33:00 +00002017-05-29T12:33:48.649+01:00 Where’s the NFU pre-election farm campaign? Last week Theresa May did a major U-Turn. Her plans for elderly care, while clearly sensible in the eyes of many, including elderly home owners were going badly wrong and had been dubbed the ‘dementia tax’. The objectors won the day and so the PM, renowned for her tenacity, changed her policy. It was not worth the time and effort to tough out.http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2017/05/wheres-nfu-pre-election-farm-campaign.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-589764942503545650Thu, 11 May 2017 12:31:00 +00002017-05-11T13:34:49.225+01:00   Pre-election farming politics Have you heard one Conservative politician promise long term money for farmers? Or any Labour or Lib-Dem one come to that? There’s an ominous silence. The NFU president Meurig Raymond promises members he will “ensure that all parties fully understand and engage with the food and farming community on the issues facing the sector, both now and post-Brexit,” http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2017/05/pre-election-farming-politics-have-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-7107264034026769771Thu, 09 Mar 2017 23:42:00 +00002017-03-17T17:11:44.663+00:00 Agriculture Minister George Eustice was in the spotlight for two hours yesterday, (March 8, 2017) being ‘grilled’ by people from both Houses of Parliament on the future for farming after Brexit.  This Blog covers: Useful pointers to the post Brexit direction provided by the Minister in answer to questions from Neil Parish, Kate Hoey and others.  Our headings:   The issuehttp://farmideas.blogspot.com/2017/03/brexit-farming-faces-uncertain-future.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-2386053475096004864Tue, 27 Dec 2016 18:19:00 +00002020-03-27T17:22:54.495+00:00Arable farming: moving to No-tillSmall scale farming: smallholders Summary:  Is the small farm becoming extinct? Are property prices making a few acres no more than a dream for many?   This analysis suggests there are opportunities and a future, and gives good reasons why the small farm sector should not be abandoned by either politicians or farming unions. “What are the prospects for smallholders today?” was a question posed by a reader this http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2016/12/how-rosy-is-future-for-smallholders.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-4532353477028008041Fri, 05 Aug 2016 21:08:00 +00002016-08-05T22:08:26.224+01:00 Badger contact survey jumped on as evidence that culling is ineffective Today's breaking news that badgers and cattle keep away from each other in the field and don't make contact is hardly a surprise to any farmer with cattle.  You just don't see the two animals mixing. Yet we all know that badgers poo and pee in the fields, roll and play in the grass, take water from streams and drinkinghttp://farmideas.blogspot.com/2016/08/badger-contact-survey-jumped-on-as.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-5223941889168182676Sun, 12 Jun 2016 22:54:00 +00002016-06-14T16:45:20.984+01:00EU farm commissioner Due to the dependence of UK farming on EU subsidies, the referendum is critical for the sector. Where is EU farm policy heading? Does the EU Commissioner have the appetite to help distressed sectors? Has he any further plans to provide relief?  The count-down to the EU referendum has begun and voters and politicians need to get real, put aside all the crazy facts and figures they have http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2016/06/where-is-eu-farm-policy-heading.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-3039255518633025739Fri, 06 May 2016 22:29:00 +00002016-05-06T23:29:50.693+01:00 Attention:  all practical farmers Practical Farm Ideas reaches 25 years, and it's a real feeling of achievement.  Those years have not been without incident, yet the publication never missed a deadline, has always been the the right number of pages (44 for the first ten years or so, and then 48), has had a loyal and growing readership. It has had no subsidy or support, official or http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2016/05/attention-all-practical-farmers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-5855809222576813098Wed, 24 Feb 2016 21:02:00 +00002020-03-27T17:23:37.419+00:00Arable farming: moving to No-till This low-cost, environment friendly farm method fits the bill Farmers across the globe are parking up their big machinery and moving to a system that gets nature to cultivate their soil for them. Instead of steel and diesel they use worms and biology to do the work for them. They save a huge amount of fuel and other costs and get yields which are equal to those they were getting before. http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2016/02/zero-till-becomes-norm-worldwide.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-6555816791631975973Mon, 14 Dec 2015 15:01:00 +00002015-12-14T15:37:02.400+00:00farmer co-operationflood preventiongrass aerationupland water management Farmers across Britain pull together to give essential help Volunteers with diggers and tractors open the beck in Glenridding, Pic: aol.com Synopsis: This article suggests that farmers consider another way of helping each other. Flood prevention should involve water management in the uplands, not just where rivers overflow in the towns downstream. Management of the land which catches thehttp://farmideas.blogspot.com/2015/12/farmers-across-britain-pull-together-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-3483753732847887234Sun, 23 Aug 2015 12:05:00 +00002020-03-27T17:22:54.550+00:00Arable farming: moving to No-till Why 2015/16 is The Year to Move to Zero-Till from Min-Till "I don't know what to do this autumn," a farmer said to me yesterday. "Growing barley at today's price of around £85 is walking into a loss. It's a real gamble that prices might improve. A crop of grass may well achieve nothing better. There's no real answer." It's a dilemma facing a great many farmers. With the combines out and http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2015/08/why-201516-is-year-to-move-on-from-min.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-3231847769191428039Mon, 12 Jan 2015 15:19:00 +00002015-01-12T15:30:21.822+00:00 The noted think-tank, The Adam Smith, makes this comment about milk prices:  "Of course, the real background to this is that, as has been happening for the past couple of centuries as farming techniques improve, milk has been getting cheaper and cheaper to produce. And as has been happening over that time the higher cost producers have been pushed out of the market by the lower cost ones. http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2015/01/dairy-farmers-deserve-minimum-milk-price.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-5026437640583838731Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:51:00 +00002014-06-30T12:06:23.350+01:00cattle farminglivestock farmingmobile cattle crushweighing cattle Practical solutions to cost problems in beef sector On today's BBC Farming Today programme (Monday, June 30, 2014), presenter Charlotte Smith talks to Professor Liam Sinclair from Harper Adams who makes some interesting points: 1. There's a wide gap in efficiency between the top third and the bottom third of beef and sheep producers 2. Capital costs are very variable between farms 3http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2014/06/reducing-costs-in-beef-sector.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-8482980585178249306Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:34:00 +00002014-06-24T15:28:31.615+01:00Andersons Farm ConsultantsCereals 2014cover croppingcover cropsGM cropsLoam FarmNorman BorlaugOwen PatersonOxford Farming Conferencesrabbit nettingZero-till Today's opportunities in farming   Bankers, politicians and other commentators with an income not directly gained from the land have joined a chorus singing of the wondrous opportunities in farming. Farmers on the other hand, with mud on their boots, and cattle and corn to pay the bills, seem to think otherwise. So while Minister Owen Paterson excites over farming http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2014/06/todays-opportunities-in-farming-bankers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-7777020765343561848Mon, 02 Jun 2014 12:10:00 +00002014-06-02T14:52:57.667+01:00cattle attack walkerscountryside walkingdogs on leadsfootpath safetyPeter Jakemanramblers safety Keeping walkers safe from grazing cattle On Wednesday May 14 2014 Peter Jakeman, 62, from Callington, Cornwall, was walking on a footpath in Derbyshire when he was trampled to death by cattle. This is not the first accident of this kind - in fact the UK average is one death from stampeding cattle and a hundred or so injuries per year, and very many more near-misses.  Enough to make http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2014/06/countryside-walkers-and-footpath-safety.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29353917.post-665279538988845357Sat, 18 Jan 2014 17:35:00 +00002014-01-18T18:09:43.281+00:00dairy farmingmilk co-operativemilk quotamilk regulation in EU Peter Lauritzen is chief executive of Arla Foods, the UK arm of the Danish-Swedish co-operative dating back to 1880. Arla now has 3,800 UK farmers as members, out of a total 13,500, and their UK business buys more than 25% of the milk produced in the UK.  An article in the Times (Jan 18, 2014), says that Mr Lauritzen anticipates a torrent of milk being produced after the quota http://farmideas.blogspot.com/2014/01/milk-after-quotas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (farmideas)0