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In week ended 5th January, the deadweight prime cattle average price levelled on the week at 365.0p/kg. read more

As domestic lamb continues to compete with increased volumes of cheaper imports and demand remains subdued, DW lamb prices eased in week ended 5th January. read more

World prices eased back towards the end of 2012 although remained at levels comparable to the same period in 2011. read more

Having shot to record levels during September and October, GB finished pig prices continued to rise in November and early December, albeit more slowly. read more

The GB weekly average price rose by £4.63/t to £227.93/t and the free-buy average fell by £4.45/t to £330.74/t. read more

Mid-January saw the release of much-anticipated information from the USDA in the form of world supply and demand estimates, US winter wheat plantings, final 2012 production estimates and quarterly stocks. read more

The USDA data set a bearish tone for oilseed markets with upward revisions to US and Brazilian crops. read more

UK malting barley export prices are at €245/t FOB (spring, South Coast) w/e 11th April. read more

The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on the activity of UK hatcheries and poultry slaughterhouses. read more

USDA’s latest quarterly stocks report, released on 28th September, estimated US maize stocks (at 1st September) at 25.1m t, down 12% on the same point in 2011 and the lowest since 2004. read more

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PAPERS

The Asparagus Growers’ Association (AGA) has, for the first time, published a document highlighting the increasing success of the British asparagus market. The document reveals that the total value of the retail market is £18.2m - up 15 per cent year-on-year. It says UK consumers ate nearly 7,500 tonnes of both domestic and imported asparagus last year and growers have increased the size of their crops by 84 per cent in just five years. According to Defra, production is predicted to increase from 4,700 tonnes last year to 5,350 this year. In 1988, production was just over 1,000 tonnes. The AGA added that 2010 could be the best season to date, with consumption of asparagus predicted to top almost 8,000 tonnes.

 Backers of a new initiative to cut the carbon footprint of high street supermarkets and promote regional produce are joining forces with fellow campaigners. From My Farm, the regional fruit and vegetable provider which now supplies Morrisons stores in Bradford, Kirkstall, Morley, Keighley, Yeadon and throughout Yorkshire, has launched a new partnership with Slow Food UK. The aim of the joint initiative is to help raise awareness of food issues through Slow Food’s grassroots volunteer network, which has branches across the country including in West Yorkshire. From My Farm will help fund UK-wide educational projects and events to raise the profile of various initiatives to promote regional produce over the next 12 months.

 On behalf of the Organic Milk Cooperative, Humble is urging milk drinkers to break the habits of a lifetime and go organic. "As a nation we are often guilty of shopping on autopilot," she says. "We don’t often relate the process of milk production with the pints we put in the supermarket trolley." Maybe we should develop a kind of check-out conscience and think about the larks and buttercups before the bar coder starts to ping. If just 5 per cent of us switched to buying organic milk, says Humble, it would turn 52,000 acres – an area the size of Greater Birmingham – into organic land. For an extra pound a week we would get healthier milk, happier cows, more wildlife and a prettier countryside. Not a bad deal.