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The uplift in cattle prices of recent weeks slowed in week ended 11th May read more

With more new season lambs entering the market, the dynamics of the trade have started to change read more

Provisional data for April milk deliveries of approximately 1,111m litres are 93m litres (7.7%) down on the previous year read more

In April, the DAPP averaged 160.9p/kg, almost 4p up on the month. At the same time, the average retail price came down by a small amount read more

The GB weekly average price fell by £7.68/t to £295.35/t and the free-buy average fell by £22.02/t to £368.39/t. read more

The first USDA estimates for world production in 2013-14 forecast record maize and wheat production, citing larger planted areas and a rebound in yields from the US (maize) and the Former Soviet Union (wheat) read more

The USDA has released its first soyabean supply and demand estimates for the new season 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

A Highland dairy farmer said last night he was not troubled by the collapse of talks aimed at resolving a row over meat and milk from cloned animals and their descendants entering the food chain. It had been hoped the discussions between the European Council of Ministers and European Parliament, which had been ongoing for three years, would result in new EU-wide legislation on so-called novel foods. Father and son Callum and Steven Innes have been at the centre of the debate since August after they used two Holstein bulls – produced from embryos from a cloned cow created in the US – to sire 96 heifers and a number of bull calves on their farm at Drumduan, Auldearn, Nairn. UK legislation bars meat and milk from the cattle, and all subsequent generations born to them, from entering the food chain without first undergoing an independent scientific assessment and licensing procedure. But the demands elsewhere in Europe only apply to the meat and milk from the actual clone and not any animals bred from them. Steven Innes said Britain remained out of step with the rest Europe. He added: “I won’t be losing any sleep over this. We’ve not bred from the cattle so that gives us more breathing space (as there will be no milk produced from them for at least another year). “We’re still getting e-mails from people in Europe every other week asking us about the cattle and saying they want to buy them.”

UK scientists have been looking at how changes to the diet of cows and sheep could help reduce the animals’ greenhouse gas emissions. The study suggested that certain feedstocks, in proportion to milk or meat yields, could reduce the release of methane by up to 33%. According to latest figures, the agricultural sector accounts for about 43% of the nation’s methane emissions. Ministers hope the study will improve the environmental performance of farms. "It is very exciting that this new research has discovered that by simply changing the way we feed farm animals we have the potential to make a big difference to the environment," said Agriculture Minister Jim Paice. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) - which funded the study - the farming industry accounts for 9% of the UK total greenhouse gases, half of which comes from sheep, cows and goats. The research was carried out by a team from the University of Reading and Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (Ibers), showed how it was possible cut environmental impacts from livestock. Since the turn of the century, researchers in New Zealand and Australia have been considering ways to tackle the problem of potent burps from ruminants. In New Zealand, livestock account for 90% of the nation’s methane emissions, and about 43% of its greenhouse gases from human activities. In short, without coming up with a solution, it would struggle to meet its Kyoto Protocol targets.