Year: 2021

A new apprenticeship programme announced by the Government will include agriculture in a bid to tackle labour shortages across the country.  There will be 17 new apprenticeship programmes developed in 2022 and the plan is to create 10,000 apprenticeships in agriculture, engineering, construction, equine, finance, hospitality and food, ICT and logistics. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science, Simon Harris said the new apprenticeships will help deliver…

Irish farmers are being offered the opportunity to swap work for a season on a dairy farm in New Zealand. Applications for the roles are being sought via Facebook by farmer Keith Manton, who is originally from Templemore, Co. Tipperary.  Mr Manton, a dairy farm manager in Balfour, New Zealand, is advertising on social media for two assistant farm managers and two farm assistants.  He is willing to take on…

Exceptionally mild at first. Unsettled with spells of rain and strong winds interspersed with drier and brighter interludes. Rain heaviest over southern Scotland. Becoming colder through Sunday.

On Friday morning (New Years Eve), rain will clear northwards and the rest of the day will be mild and mainly dry with highest temperatures of 12 to 15C, in light southerly breezes. In the evening another band of rain will spread northeastwards across the country. Lowest temperatures of 9 to 11C, with fresh southerly winds, strong in some coastal areas.

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is to shut his Oxfordshire farm shop for renovations until March. West Oxfordshire District Council has ordered the Diddly Squat farm shop to close for repair work to the roof. Featured in the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, the TV presenter was filmed on his quest to run a 1,000 acre farm in Chadlington.  Following the programme, the shop has become a huge tourist…

Biblical rules of fair pay and fair trade should be applied to Irish farming, claims a Church of Ireland minister. The minister, who was raised on a dairy farm in Cashel, Co. Tipperary, has written about farming from a Christian perspective. Reverend Lester Scott said the Bible is clear that people should be paid fairly for their work and applying this principle means farmers should receive the minimum wage, at…

Heavy showers clearing from Scotland, then many northern areas dry with sunny intervals. Cloudier further south with outbreaks of rain and drizzle, mainly in western areas. Very mild again.

Thursday morning will be mostly cloudy and mainly dry. Rain will develop in the south towards noon and will spread northwards through the afternoon and evening, heavy at times with localised flooding possible. Highest temperatures of 11 to 13 degrees with light to moderate southerly breezes, which will strengthen in the south later.

Irish liquid milk farmers are making a massive exodus from the sector because rising costs during the winter are no longer covered by the premium, reported the Irish Farmers Association (IFA). Keith O’Boyle, IFA liquid milk chair, said: “Last year 20 per cent of liquid milk producers exited the sector. Escalating costs have eroded the profitability and sustainability of liquid milk producers.” “Since last winter, feed energy and fuel costs…

A €2.7million investment has been announced to expand the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory (NASCO). Charlie McConalogue, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, confirmed the new funding to step up the carbon farming framework. The investment will be used to purchase additional greenhouse gas (GHG) monitoring equipment to increase the range and types of soil and land uses being monitored by observatory. Minister McConalogue said the new NASCO funding is…

Wednesday’s auctions on LSL. Register at www.lslauctions.com to take part. *Details correct at the time of publication. Auctions are subject to change without notification.

On 12/22 we launched our new App with a much more modern layout and as a complete tool so that you don’t miss out on your favorite Auctions and Marts. Designed to cover the needs of our users, it is much more intuitive and easier to navigate. In the new LSL Auctions App, you can find the main functions on the home screen and can navigate through the Online Auctions…

More than 8,000 farmers are facing clawbacks when the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) reference period finishes at the end of the year, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA). Brendan Golden, IFA’s livestock committee chair, criticised the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s (DAFM’s) handing of BEAM. “It has been an administrative disaster from the outset by the Department of Agriculture,” he commented. “The situation reached new lows…

A tractor has been retrofitted with fuel-saving technology originally designed for buses. In a bid to reduce carbon emissions, a Welsh college is trialling the use of a hydrogen electrolyser, which has been plumed into the tractor’s airtake. The project by UK start-up Water Fuel Systems, claims the device can cut exhaust emissions by up to 80 per cent and fuel consumption by 20 per cent. Engineering lecturer Gareth Williams…

Cold with a few wintry showers in the north. Milder with rain at times in the south. In between, some rain, sleet or, mainly hill, snow. Breezy in places.

A cloudy Christmas morning with outbreaks of rain moving in from the south and becoming more widespread by the afternoon. Breezy with moderate to fresh southeast winds, windiest in Ulster. Highest temperatures of 8 to 11C, with light to moderate southeast winds. 

A new programme to tackle carbon emissions in the dairy industry has been launched by the Northern Ireland Government. Led by the Dairy Council Northern Ireland and CAFRE, the initiative will start in 2022. NI dairy farmers can join in the voluntary programme of carbon benchmarks that has been established with the dairy companies.  Agriculture minister Edwin Poots said the carbon audits align with the Green Growth Strategy which DAERA…

The BBC’s support service received more than 1.2 million phone calls and online visits this year after featuring depression and alcoholism among farmers. There were two thousand visitors to the BBC’s support page following an episode of Countryfile, shown in February which interviewed farmers experiencing economic uncertainty due to the pandemic.  A broadcast interview with a farmer, who had considered suicide due to lockdown, also prompted calls to the action…

Unsettled; bands of rain affecting most areas, these turning to snow in parts of the north. Windy, with a risk of gales Friday and Saturday. Mild start, colder later.

Patchy rain will clear Ulster and parts of Leinster through Thursday morning. Elsewhere will see brighter and drier conditions with sunny spells and scattered showers, this will extend to all parts during the afternoon. Relatively mild with highest temperatures of 10 to 13C, in moderate southwesterly winds.

New data has revealed that the price of Irish agricultural land is the fourth highest in the EU.  Only the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy have higher prices for farming land.  One hectare of arable land in Ireland cost an average of €25,724 last year, according to figures published by the European Commission. The European Commission said land prices depended on a number of factors including climate, proximity to networks, soil…

Payments in the new Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (CSP) will be a “big shock” for famers, claim the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA). According to Tim Cullinan, IFA president, the proposed CAP does not strike the right balance between environmental, economic and social sustainability. Mr Cullinan said to ensure farmers’ survival, the Irish Government should have put more funding into programmes to support beef, sheep and tillage farmers. “Overall, the…

Bright start in the east but cloud spreading across the country from the west. Rain arriving into Northern Ireland by lunchtime then spreading across Scotland, Wales and northwest England later.

Rain will become widespread tomorrow morning, turning heavy at times in the south and southwest.  The rain will clear northeastwards through the afternoon, with brief drier intervals. Further outbreaks of rain will push into the southwest in the evening. Feeling slightly milder with highest temperatures of 7C in the north to 12C in the south, in moderate to fresh south to southeast winds.

UK dairy farmers are being offered a free methane-reducing feed supplement for six months if they share farm data.  Agri-tech company Mootral, which is a joint Anglo-Swiss venture, wants to use the data to show how the product can help reduce emissions produced by cattle and lower the carbon footprint of milk. The programme is open to non-organic British dairy farmers with over 150 lactating cows and there is a…

Glambia Co-op members have voted in favour of a deal to buy the remaining 40 per cent stake in Glambia Ireland from Glambia plc. The €307 million deal gives the co-op 100 per cent control of Glambia’s dairy business which includes Avonmore, Kilmeaden and Premier brands. Pat McCormack of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), said the new board’s competence will be based on the strength of the milk…

Monday’s auctions on LSL. Register at www.lslauctions.com to take part. *Details correct at the time of publication. Auctions are subject to change without notification.

Rather cloudy, but a better chance of seeing bigger breaks and some sunshine across central and southern Britain than previous days. Some drizzle possible at times in far north/northwest.

Continuing mostly dry and cloudy for tomorrow, Tuesday with a few brighter spells locally. Chance of a few spots of drizzle too. Highest temperatures of 5 to 9C, in mostly moderate southeasterly winds, fresher near Atlantic coasts.

Farmers are warning of a daffodil shortage this spring unless they can recruit pickers from the EU. Growers say up to 75 per cent of their crop could be left unpicked due to critical labour shortage, leaving smaller farmers forced to give up daffodil growing. Harvesting of the billion stems begins in the first week of January and around 2,500 pickers are needed.  James Hosking, one of the largest growers,…