A new European-wide campaign to promote the sustainable use of crop protection products has been launched by the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA).
The 'Sense+Sustainability Campaign' targets EU agricultural stakeholders and aims to raise the awareness of the social, economic and environmental viability of using products sustainably and look at the role integrated farming can play. It follows two previous European-wide campaigns - CommonGround and Field2Fork - and will be rolled out to participating associations through to March 2007.
Commenting on the launch, UK Crop Protection Association chief executive Peter Sanguinetti said:
"In the UK the whole of the agricultural industry has worked together for the last five years on the Voluntary Initiative to promote best practice for the benefit of the environment. It has achieved significant behaviour change and has begun to demonstrate improvements in water quality and biodiversity."
A dedicated website has been set up for the new campaign, see www.ecpa.be/Sense+Sustainability

The annual cereal and oilseed levies paid by growers and processors will remain unchanged next season, DEFRA has announced.
Rates (plus VAT) that will apply from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 are:
Cereal grower levy: 40p per tonne sold into intervention directly or through an intermediary.
Cereal dealer levy: 43.3p per tonne purchased direct from growers (includes a sum equal to the cereals grower contribution).
Standard rate cereal processor levy: 8.25p per tonne sold and delivered to processors other than animal feed processors.
Reduced rate cereal processor levy: 4p per tonne sold and delivered to animal feed processors.
Oilseed grower levy: 65p per tonne sold by growers.
In all cases, under the terms of the Home Grown Cereals Authority Levy Scheme, all buyers (including other farmers purchasing directly as an alternative to buying from a merchant) are required to register with the HGCA and collect the levy. Failure to do so may result in legal action.

Wheat prices could receive a significant boost after the announcement this week of a joint biofuels project by some of the world's largest companies.
The collaboration involves petrochemical giant BP, science and chemical firm DuPont and Associated British Foods, which owns British Sugar and half of grain company Frontier.
It will centre around the development and production of biobutanol, which can be used at higher concentrations in unmodified engines and produces more energy than commonly used bioethanol. It is also easier to transport using existing fuel networks because it does not absorb water.
The new fuel will be produced initially from sugar beet at British Sugar's Wissington bioethanol plant, which is under construction. But, if the £20m-£25m pilot scheme proves successful, a new wheat-fuelled plant estimated to cost about £100m, will be built and could be online by harvest 2008, said Frontier's managing director Mark Aitchison. "The opportunity for establishing a technological advantage using biobutanol would give British farmers a real competitive edge."
Although Mr Aitchison said it was difficult to predict exactly how much wheat the project would use, the level of investment required and the volumes used by comparable plants suggested it would be up to 1m tonnes.
Frontier, which already buys about 4m tonnes of wheat a year, would source the grain, he said. And because of the amount required, it was highly likely that most of this would be from the UK.
The logistics required to assemble 30,000t of grain in one place each week mean you need local supply.
November 2007 futures arealready offering £80/t.

The firm - INEOS - has suggested its preferred site would be at Grangemouth in central Scotland, where its sister company INEOS Refinings has an existing plant producing 300,000t of synthetic ethanol.
INEOS chief executive Harry Deans said, "With the significant growth in demand for biofuels in the UK as a result of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, it is clear biodiesel will become a major renewable fuel."
In 2005, the company doubled capacity to 220,000t in a €70m (£48.3m) capital commitment, working in partnership with a French farming co-op to meet its demand. Mr Deans said INEOS would not rule out a similar arrangement with UK farming organisations. British rapeseed growers could benefit from the increased demand, he added. "Any company looking at the biofuels market has to look at the opportunities for domestic supply, and 200,000t would create a significant opportunity for UK rapeseed, even if it made up only 25% of demand."
INEOS hope its new UK biodiesel plant would be up and running by 2008.

They may be some of the most unproductive parts of the farm, but ignoring weed control in the two-metre margins required by cross - compliance isn't an option.
The weeds in these margins must still be controlled, both to prevent encroachment into the remainder of the field and in accordance with pernicious weed control legislation. Where weeds such as thistles and ragwort dominate, their control is essential to ensuring farmers meet both cross-compliance and other legal requirements. The key will be to use spot spray treatments where needed and to plant low maintenance grass species, such as fescues.
New to cross-compliance legislation for this year regarding two-metre margins is the requirement to look after green cover, so farmers are reminded they can no longer store bales on the margin areas. Further to this, from January this year, ditch dredging can no longer be spread on margins on the one-metre strip on the top of the banks

Margaret Beckett will be replaced by David Miliband as DEFRA secretary, it has emerged.
Mr Miliband, who is regarded as a rising star of the Labour Party, will move across from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. His previous job has been as minister of communities and local government.
Mrs Beckett is to take a new position at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Mr Miliband has been MP for South Shields since June 2001. From 1994 to 1997 he worked as Head of Policy for Tony Blair, working on the policies that helped get Labour into government. He was then Head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit in Downing Street during Labour's first term in office from 1997 to 2001

Farmers' inheritance tax bills will rise and many part-time or lifestyle farmers could be barred from claiming IHT relief on the farmhouse altogether, following a recent court win for HM Revenue and Customs. Land Tribunal judges decided in a recent test case that farmers' inheritance tax relief will only cover the agricultural value of a farmhouse and not its market value, allowing the 40% tax to be levied on the difference. In the case brought by the heirs of a Warwickshire farmer, the tax bill leapt by £73,600 as a result of the ruling. The decision provided a precedent that would strengthen the taxman's hand, said Carlton Collister, senior tax manager at Grant Thornton. "The Revenue has been pushing this very strongly for the past five years, but this is the first case giving guidance."
In the Warwickshire case, it was ruled that the agricultural value of the house was 30% below the market price, but the discount would vary depending on the region and the type of property, he added. Although land and farm buildings will still be eligible for IHT relief, the judges said in a further comment that the farmhouse should only qualify if the owner or their spouse farms the land on a "day-to-day basis", or used to before retirement. "It will influence a group of people in the City who saw buying a farm as a potential tax break," said Mr Collister. The Revenue would seek to use this part of the judgment, although it was not binding, he added.
The comments could also affect lifestyle farmers, those who leave the day-to-day running to a contract farmer and those who have scaled down their activity in recent years, according to Jeremy Moody at the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers. "It may now be a question of who makes the agronomy decisions"
he said.

Farm employers have agreed to a 3.4% pay increase and the introduction of a new workers' grading system.
After three days of negotiation the two sides have decided that there will be a new six-grade structure. The new Grade 3 will reward workers for developing higher skill levels.
NFU employment issue spokesman, Mr Bob Fiddaman, said: "I am delighted at the positive signals this grading agreement sends out to the industry. Both sides have shown that it is their intention to look to the future. It is in all our interests to attract more people into the industry, develop their skills and reward progress."
The two sides also came to a financial agreement on the rate of increase in the hourly rate for all six grades.
The new agreed rates are:
Grade 1 £5.05/hr (differential rates for under 18s, under 17s and under 16s are maintained, mirroring the current structure)
Grade 2 £5.58/hr
Grade 3 £5.91/hr
Grade 4 £6.58/hr
Grade 5 £6.98/hr
Grade 6 £7.53/hr
There will be no age differentials for Grades 2 to 6.

The Agricultural Wages Board will meet in July to ratify the rates.

DEFRA is considering the introduction of monthly rather than quarterly start dates for the scheme to ease ongoing application problems. Many growers have faced huge problems right from the start, with many struggling to get their digital maps correct and even getting the correct map for the holding. Since then, there has been the promise of 'online applications', which should have been available from March, but is only now available. Let's hope that the payment side of things is more organised and better managed.

The National Sprayer Testing Scheme will be compulsory under the Assured Combinable Crops Scheme for harvest 2006. The decision was announced at Cereals this week, that all growers with 50ha or more of combinable crops and sugar beet, must have their sprayer certified under the scheme in time for next summer's harvest. For growers with less than 50ha, the test will become compulsory as of 2007. Any growers wanting their sprayer tested can contact the office and we will point you in the direction of the nearest agent.

Merchants are braced for a shock early next week when the price of nitrogen is published for the start of the new 2005/2006 season.They have told customers to expect a starting price of £130/t on farm, but market leaders Terra are now more likely to start at £140/t for farm delivery in July, payment in August.
Though Britain's other ammonia manufacturer, Kemira GrowHow, will undoubtedly follow suit, stocks of both suppliers are limited so sales will be tightly managed.
As much as 750,000t of orders are often placed in the first quarter, but manufacturers may only be able to cover half that volume with fertiliser manufactured at lower summer gas prices. The price list will not go beyond September and will feature a £2 a month hike in both August and September.
The rules of supply and demand in the now truly global fertiliser economy have changed. Most farmers are aware that high energy costs have pushed urea and ammonia to astronomical prices. But the fact that UK nitrogen prices will be cheaper than in France, for example, will come as no comfort.
At current cereal prices, a hike of £25/t over last July's price will be hard to stomach and the season may well be slow to start whilst all options are considered.

Sainsbury's is in the firing line again after the Forum of Private Business went on the warpath over the way the retailer has treated its suppliers.
The FPB has refused to back down on criticism of Sainsbury's efforts to enforce extended payment terms for 1900 suppliers, which it likened to "ripping up" existing contracts. And now the lobby organisation says it has seen off a bullying challenge from the supermarket's chief executive Justin King, who tried to prevent the claims.
The row first emerged after the retailer wrote to suppliers in January informing them their payment terms had been lengthened to two months.
Sainsbury's failed to offer an avenue for negotiation, a key part of the voluntary code of conduct, until the Department of Trade and Industry became involved.
The FPB spokesman claimed that all the major supermarkets employed similar tactics, and vowed to remain on the look out.
Meanwhile, the Scottish NFU has called again for a regulator to ensure supermarkets could not abuse their dominant position. Suppliers contacted by the union in the wake of an Office of Fair Trading probe, which failed to reach a conclusion in March, confirmed abuses ranging from loyalty payments to imposed contract changes.
But surely in a society where supermarkets have an increasing grip on food and drink sales, there must be a check in the system when that relationship breaks down.

Industry groups have called on farmers to voice their opinions on responsible pesticide use before the draft National Strategy For The Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products can become law. The groups are worried that a concerted response to the strategy by anti-pesticide campaigners could sway government opinion and spark a raft of new laws and taxes. The draft strategy invites responses to measures such as pesticide taxes, the use of cross-compliance to influence pesticide application, increases on statutory levies and mandatory codes of practice. In order to keep pesticides, users need to make their opinions count by getting involved with the consultation, and secondly, be on top of your game when using pesticides.

Sales of organic food are now worth more than £1.12bn to UK retailers, The Guardian reports.
It cites figures from the Soil Association showing that organic food sales increased by more than 10% last year, although the amount of food sold through supermarkets fell by 1%.
This reveals, according to the paper, that customers increasingly prefer to buy their produce from a more direct source - either at farmers markets or through box schemes. Sales in this sector have risen by 16% to £108m.
The global market for organic food is estimated to be worth £15bn while the European market is £7.2bn.
The number of registered organic farmers was 3,995 in April 2004, according to the Organic Food and Farming Report, 2004. About 55% of the UK's organically managed land is in Scotland, with 373,249 hectares across 683 farms. This accounts for almost 7% of Scotland's agricultural land. The rest of the UK has an average of 4% organic farmland, according to the Soil Association.

Wildlife strips can benefit songbirds and game species if planned correctly, advises Chris Stoate of the Allerton Trust.
"Game management is important on many farms and farmers considering planting wildlife seed mixes or cover crops should make sure they are compatible for a range of birds," he said.
At the Trust's Loddington site, a mix of kale, quinoa and triticale is used to attract a range of species, including reed bunting, linnet, yellow hammer, tree sparrow and corn bunting, as well as a number of game birds.
"With the ELS coming in, many more will be looking at such strips and deciding whether they are appropriate for their farm. Farmers need to design a combination of habitats to meet their own individual requirements," he stressed. He went on to suggest that while the cost of establishing wildlife mixes can vary considerably, depending on the type of plant species used, soil fertility and weed pressures, the returns from stewardship grants (up to 450 points per ha) should be sufficient to cover them. He said that it is also worth monitoring bird numbers to evaluate the success of any new wildlife strip. Where farmers are familiar with particular species, this can be easily done 'in house'. But if expert help or detailed surveying is needed, farmers should contact the British Trust for Ornithology, or the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

DEFRA has announced it is extending the deadline for applications to its Entry Level Scheme from May 31 to Jul 1. The extension is because of technical problems, which have meant the Rural Development Service has been unable to generate full application packs for some farmers. Other farmers are still waiting for extra parcels of land to be put on the Rural Land Register.
"We want to ensure that all farmers who wish to start their agreement in August will be able to do so: this extension should allow them to do just that", said DEFRA. "We would like to apologise to those who have encountered problems in applying for the ELS".
All those who have requested packs will be written to explaining the changes.
At the present time, there are mixed views about Entry Level Scheme and whether people are going to take part in the scheme or not. Some are suggesting that they would rather not enter the agreement, due to the area of land they will have to take out of production to meet the points, and if wheat prices were to rise they would be better off.

Severe drought across Spain and Portugal has given new crop wheat prices a lift, but the rise has been curbed by requests from both countries for intervention grain to cover the shortfall. So far, Spain and Portugal have requested wheat from the EU pole to cover the suspected shortfall. At the moment, UK wheat is still to expensive, with wheat delivered to Spain between October and December being priced at £84/t, with a further £6 needed to transport it to the user. As a result UK wheat is still too expensive compared with France or the Black Sea Stocks. Current UK wheat prices are still hovering around the £65 per tonne, with forward prices not looking much different.

Farmland values have dipped, but are still significantly higher than a year ago, according to new figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
RICS' latest quarterly survey shows that farm prices dropped 2.9% to £9554/ha (£3866/acre) during the first three months of the year. This is still 14% higher than the £8358/ha (£3382/acre) that farms were selling for during the same period in 2004.
And bare land continued to post strong gains, increasing in value to £7804/ha (£3158/acre), up from £7328/ha (£2966/acre) at the end of 2004 and £6924/ha (£2802/acre) 12 months ago.
Land agents said demand for farmland still remained strong, particularly among buyers of commercial farmland rather than residential buyers.
The introduction of the single farm payment scheme on May 16 has kept more land off the market than is usual for this time of year. Excluding properties with a heavy residential bias, only 38 sales covering 1400ha (3459 acres) were reported.

As total EU wheat intervention offers reached 7.5 million tonnes this week, and UK export activity fades, old and new crop prices fell by around £2/tonne. With another month for EU offers to close, France and Germany may bring the total to 10 million tonnes. It would be a 12 year high, plus large commercial stocks. The price of Russian low grade milling wheat, which plays a major part in rivalling UK exports, means that UK wheats may have to drop below £52 to remain competitive. Many farmers in the region are struggling to sell wheat, expecting to achieve prices around the £70 per tonne, but the future looks bleak, and this price may not be achieved.

Fears that farmers would have to pay income tax on SPS before it was handed over have been eliminated. There will be no 'double whammies' of tax bills, both for crops in store and the SPS, at the end of next January. However, landowners have to note the following:

• Headage payments and quota already bought will have no value. They are likely to be treated as a capital loss that may be used against other CGT gains.
• SFP has been classed by the Revenue as a capital item, requiring a change in the legislation for it to be categorised as an asset eligible for rollover relief.
• Accountants warn that as a capital asset, a Will may need to be altered to ensure that the SFP passes to the same beneficiary as the land, and is not inadvertently transferred to someone in line to inherit non-land assets.

Farmers need to remember the May 16th deadline for SFP forms, and if it is missed penalties will be incurred.

The World Trade Organisation has confirmed that the EU sugar regime is illegal and must be changed within 15 months. A case against the use of subsidies to promote EU exports had been brought by Thailand, Australia and Brazil. Late last year the WTO came down in favour of these three countries and against the EU.
In particular it ruled that the EU was using high prices paid for A and B quota sugar to cross subsidise its exports of C sugar. It also said that some 1.3m tonnes of sugar imported at full price from the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries could not be offset against the EU's allowance for subsidised exports under the 1994 Uruguay Round.
It effectively means the EU will have to stop using subsidies on something close to 4m tonnes of sugar.
This is one of the main driving forces for reform of the EU sugar regime. The commission is expected to issue formal reform proposals in June, based around significant cuts in price and quota for EU beet growers.

Farmers and landowners who want to raise cash and rest their land for cropping by letting it out to an outdoor pig enterprise can do so without fear of losing their Single Farm Payment by failing cross compliance tests.
A cross-industry agreement has confirmed that properly managed outdoor pig units are compatible with the cross compliance requirements. Workshops will take place later on in the year, to explain how outdoor pig units are expected to look in order to comply with the cross compliance measures.

A ban on imports of US maize based animal feed into Europe following a genetically modified crop mix up is expected to be enforced this week. The ban will be the inevitable result of measures to prevent feed contaminated with a non approved GM variety, grown by mistake in the US, from entering the European Union and follows pressure from green groups.
The reason for an all out ban comes as there is no way of determining whether maize or products made from it are GM contaminated or not, and without separation of GM and non-GM consignments by US exporters, the result is likely to be an all out ban on any US maize feed entering the EU.

Grants of up to £50,000 are being offered to entrepreneurs for developing ideas that will increase the use of UK grain. The Home Grown Cereals Authority has just launched the 2005 round of applications for its annual awards which have seen £2.7m handed out in the past nine years. As usual, the award is open to the development, production and marketing of food and non-food products alike, as long as wheat, barley, oats or oilseeds are used.
Whether you are just starting up and have a good idea for a new product, or are seeking new markets for an existing product, this scheme can help. Awards will only be made where match funding has been secured.
Applications can be made online at www.hgca.com/enterprise or are available by calling 0207 520 3975. The deadline for entries is the end of June.

Farmers in the region will be glad to hear that they are to receive two more booklets about applying for the Single Payment Scheme.
The Rural Payments Agency is sending all existing and newly registered customers a supplement to the SPS Handbook and Guidance for England. They are also sending out a booklet entitled SPS Frequently Asked Questions.
The supplement contains important additional information, including common errors on forms submitted so far, as well as amendments to publications already issued. The FAQ booklet shares the answers given to the most frequently asked questions at the regional seminars that DEFRA and RPA ran on SPS during February and March 2005.
Farmers have also been told that anyone wishing to claim SPS for the 2005 scheme year should take action if they have not received an application pack by Apr 15. They should contact the CSC on 0845 603 7777 (calls charged at local rate) or by email: customer.service.centre@rpa.gsi.gov.uk.
The deadline for the receipt of application forms is May 16 2005.

Residual soil nitrogen levels are extremely variable this season and inaccurate assumptions could be costly to yields. While some patterns have emerged, such as heavier soils appearing to have lower residual N levels, generalisations are dangerous.
Over applications will cost more, let alone implications for NVZs and the environment, but assumptions about residual N levels being higher than they actually are, will be potentially damaging to yield.
One example from 130 core samples showed the amount of residual N in silty clay loams in the East and SE, ranged from 15kg N/ha to 75kg N/ha with similar variations being found elsewhere.
The reason for the variability is because relatively low winter rainfall means the amount of residual N remaining in soils has been complicated by several factors. Mild temperatures have increased N mineralization in many soils, making more available for crops to use and thus reducing residual levels.
The only really safe option when developing this year's fertiliser plan is to measure the actual quantity, real time.

The Rural Payments Agency has doubled the number of people manning its single farm payment helpline in response to farmer complaints that the system is a shambles.
RPA chief executive Johnston McNeill made the announcement at NFU Council on Tues (Apr 12) after he was quizzed about what is being done to solve ongoing SFP application problems.
Farmers at the meeting pointed out producers are not only struggling to get through to the single farm payment helpline, they are also worried about the quality of the advice that they are being given.
They also raised problems about delays and inaccuracies in the processing of maps for the Rural Land Register.
Mr McNeill admitted that demand for changes to maps had been "much higher" than anticipated.
He also acknowledged that many farmers had experienced huge difficulties in getting through to a customer service adviser.
Operations director Ian Hewett said calls had increased from 750 a day when the centre opened on April 14 to more than 4000 a day, which was why getting through was an issue.
To improve the situation the agency had increased the number of operators to 180 and it had also extended opening hours by two hours (7.30am to 6pm Mon to Fri). Staff were also calling back farmers with answers to queries over weekends and evenings.
Farmers need assurance that they will not be penalised because the RPA isn't organised. Where farmers have made genuine errors as a result of poor advice or inaccuracies on the part of the agency, they should be able to correct those errors after the May 16 deadline without penalty.

Sustainability benefits are key to public support for non-food farming, a study carried out on behalf of the Biotechnology Commission reveals. There were fears among participants in the study, however, that non-food agriculture might be a back-door route to the introduction of GM crops.
The research was conducted by consultants Corr Willbourn through a series of workshops and seminars in urban and rural parts of the UK. This was an in-depth study of public attitudes to non-food farming, and it found that the people who took part think non-food crops could play an important role in the future of UK agriculture.
There was one big caveat, however - GM crops. Many felt strongly that non-food farming could be a back-door route for the introduction of GM crops into the UK, which they did not welcome.
GM became a dominant issue in the study despite the fact that many non-food uses of crops do not require it.
As commission chairman Malcolm Grant stated: "People are clearly wary of using GM in non-food as well as food agriculture, and suspicious of the motives behind its use."

Milling wheat premiums have slipped back from Easter highs, but are still holding up well, traders report.
Prices have been buoyed by millers scrambling to cover Group 1 and 3 wheats for July and August, according to James Maw at grain merchant Glencore.
"For Group 1's, delivered prices are at £101/t, although haulage and commission could take as much as £13-16/t off that. There are simply more buyers than sellers for 13% wheats, and values should remain at similar levels for the rest of the season. Prices in the north, where premiums are highest, are close to import parity, bringing German A wheats into the UK."
Simon Ingle, Grainfarmers's head of milling wheat said premiums for Group 1's were between £18 and £23/t.
"In addition, Group 3 premiums, for those who didn't suffer as a result of the poor harvest, are quite extraordinary, at up to £8/t for what would normally be little more than feed value. It will be a huge logistical task hauling milling wheat from the south to the north, ensuring old crop cover throughout July and August.
Looking to the future, plantings are down for Group 1 wheats. Group 2's are up, but with the likes of Einstein, which isn't universally accepted by the millers.

Milld weather means sugar beet drilling is well ahead of normal on many lighter soils and crops are already emerging in some areas, according to latest reports.
On light land in the east, around 80% has been drilled so far and with some crops emerging, progress is a week to ten days ahead of usual, said the British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO). Nationally, around two thirds of the sugar beet crop is already in the ground - compared to 18% at the same time last year, added British Sugar's Colin Walters.
"Most progress has been made in the West Midlands, while drilling is much slower on heavier, wetter soils in parts of Norfolk," he said. "Crops are taking around 14 days to emerge and some of the early drilled areas are already coming up. But the mild start to the season has increased the potential threat from mildew and aphids, as we have already had a couple of days where it has been mild enough for aphids to fly - although none have been caught yet. Most crops have been treated with an insecticide, so this should take care of much of the threat. It is important growers make timely nitrogen applications in order to get crops growing well, which will help protect against any pest attack."

Bio fuel specialist Global Commodities has announced it will open a plant this summer that will turn used vegetable oil into bio diesel. No rapeseed oil will be processed at first, but there are hopes that farmers will eventually supply the factory, which has a 120m litres per year capacity.
"We're still trying to get the government to agree to either a bigger discount on the excise duty for bio diesel, or, if not, a statutory obligation to put 1% bio fuel into fuels in this country." a company spokesman said.
The latter would add 0.5p/litre to the cost of fuel at the pumps, he added, but was necessary to meet obligations under EU legislation for bio fuel use. European directives mean that 5.75% of road fuel must come from energy crops by 2010.
Rory Clarke, Rix managing director said: "The joint venture will bring together our combined knowledge of production, distribution and retailing."

The government is under pressure to allow farmers to apply to the Entry Level Stewardship scheme before all of their land is put on the Rural Land Register. The NFU has said that farmers are becoming increasingly frustrated at delays in registering land on the RLR. The union estimates there are probably thousands rather than hundreds of maps waiting to be sorted.
NFU deputy president Peter Kendall said he himself was waiting for maps and it was holding up his farm's ELS application. "For me it is going to be a really important part of my business's earning capacity. But I'm waiting for my maps to be returned for the second time."
Mr Kendall said he had written to junior DEFRA minister Elliot Morley asking that DEFRA and the Rural Payments Agency devote more staff time to land registration. He has also requested that DEFRA remove the requirement that all land must be registered before it can be included on an ELS application.
RPA have recently put additional staff on to registering land and this should reduce the time taken to deal with cases. But Anthony Gibson, south-west director of the NFU, pointed out that problems with maps are also making it difficult for farmers filling in their single farm payment claim forms. He said his office had been deluged with calls from people who had found mistakes in the pre-populated field data on the SP5 or their digital maps.
Farmers with incorrect forms should try to correct the information, and add any missing parcels, using their previous set of correct maps or OS references, said Mr Gibson.

Independent convenience stores need to respond to the rapidly growing demand for locally produced food, according to a study that suggests the £3.7 billion market is currently being dominated by supermarkets. In this study, 70% of consumers want to buy locally produced food and nearly a quarter of them would prefer to buy it from their local convenience stores rather than from supermarkets. Consumers also want to see local and regional foods gathered together into sections, such as organic food, so they can easily identify it from imports. The most popular items wanted from local suppliers were fruit and vegetables, along with eggs, bread, milk, red meat, poultry, cakes, jams, honey and preserves.

Monday the 16th May 2005 is one date that should be seared onto the minds of every farmer. This is the date by which all Single Farm Payment entitlement forms musts have been submitted. Those that miss the deadline will miss out on payments until 2012, an error that could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Farmers wanting to join the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme could miss out on cash because of digital mapping problems.
The first round of the scheme will start in August, with payment in February 2006, and the deadline for applications is May 31. But Anthony Gibson, NFU south-west director, said many were still waiting for their maps, which are a necessary part of the application.
Mr Gibson said DEFRA's advice to those affected would be to apply at a later date - the scheme has four payment windows each year - and miss out on at least three months of payments, or use earlier maps that didn't include all of their land. But, by choosing the latter, farmers could lose valuable payments of £30/ha (£12/acre) over the next five years.
Philip Butcher, of Wilts consultant Howard Smith, said there were problems with the maps for the vast majority of the firm's 95 clients. Some had received none at all, and those who had needed to amend the original RLR maps had either not received the updated copies, or they had been updated incorrectly.
Helen Curnow, of Strutt & Parker, said the delay was partly due to changes in the eligibility requirements for land entered into ELS.

A flurry of activity by investment funds across the Atlantic has helped boost oilseed rape values to highs not seen in this country since the autumn. Overall, values have risen £10/tonne in the past six weeks in response to a rally in Chicago soya futures, which have risen by £33/tonne over the same period. Ex-farm values in the UK range from between £132 and £135 per tonne.
The current wheat price has also seen a slight rise in the past few weeks, with old group trading at £72 ex-farm and future prices for harvest being around £67 ex-farm. Although a price rise is always welcome, many are still reluctant to sell, holding onto crops until the £75 pound ex-farm figure is reached - only time will tell if this will happen.

Entry Level Stewardship has arrived! The much-heralded scheme has finally arrived after months of hype, point changes and general questioning about when is a hedge not a hedge. This is a landmark event. Never before have we had such a national environmental scheme, accessible to all farmers with relatively little hassle. Sure, there has been countryside stewardship, but ELS offers a new baseline for the industry stakeholders. Features include:

• Benefits for the bottom-line - the scheme pays participants £30/ha from modulated cash for achieving 30 pts a hectare.
• Benefits for the environment - ELS aims to recognise the need for modern farming practises to be more sustainable.
• Benefits for processors and food manufactures - their customers increasingly demand environmental credibility and provenance.
• Benefits for taxpayers - who want the countryside preserved with a vibrant flora and fauna, but who recognise this cannot come for free.

THE NFU has backtracked on its proposal for a speed limit for tractors using red diesel as a means of discouraging inappropriate fuel use on roads. Instead, in its submission to the HM Customs and Excise consultation on red diesel, it proposes a system that defines more clearly the circumstances under which use of red diesel on roads would be allowed.
Having considered all the issues, the NFU has decided to go for a system that defines in detail which agricultural and horticultural uses qualify for the use of red diesel on public roads.
The NFU submission supported the government's analysis that the current system does not reflect the needs of modern farming.
The NFU said: "The use of red diesel on the road continues to be an invaluable concession for farmers and growers. The range of agricultural vehicles now being used is far broader than when this Act was introduced more than 20 years ago and this, and the diverse structure of modern farming, needs to be acknowledged in any legislative changes."

The eight points in the Renewable Energy Industry Action Plan are summarised below:

• Creation of a Cabinet level post to deliver the UK's renewable programme
• Extend renewable electricity targets so at least 25% of power comes from renewables by 2025
• Promotion of renewable energy in other sectors, so 25% of all energy comes from renewables by 2025
• Additional revenue for renewable power generation technology
• Tax breaks to promote investment in renewables - includes calls for a cut in biofuel duty
• More support for small-scale project