All articles by Sam Fortescue – Page 2
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Shoppers pay price for flood damage to crops
Consumers are still being forced to pick up the tab at supermarket checkouts for the disastrous 2007 veg growing season, new industry figures have shown. Although the panic prices of late July have subsided on some brassica crops, the...
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It's business as usual post-FMD say Kiwis
New Zealand lamb bosses have ruled out any lessening of competition in the UK when the New Zealand lamb season opens in January - while insisting they won't take advantage of the export restrictions imposed by FMD and bluetongue on British...
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Irish fury as FMD export ban lifted
An Irish farm leader has described as "incredible" the EU decision to sanction UK exports of fresh beef and sheepmeat from last weekend, when the lifting of an earlier ban had to be reversed within days. Malcolm Thompson, president of the...
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Asda backs British beef in plan to double sales
Asda has revealed the scale of its ambitions in the beef category following the launch of its quality-focused Beef Link scheme last week. Senior beef buyer Jim Viggars said that Asda planned to more than double the volume of beef it sold...
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Prices up for off-colour Hallowe'en pumpkins
Shoppers will have to pay up to 15% more for pumpkins this Hallowe'en - and the wet summer means they have not turned their usual orange colour. The problem has led to some growers heating the harvested green pumpkins to encourage them...
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Tesco to give kids a lesson
Tesco and its fruit supplier Norman Collett are sponsoring Kent school kids to learn about apples. They have shown 56 children from Goudhurst and Kildown Primary School around an orchard and will take them to the National Fruit Show on...
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Growers shun disease cost-sharing proposal
Growers have fired a broadside at government plans to share the costs of managing plant diseases, saying it could increase the price of fresh produce in shops. Any attempt to increase the burden of policing plant health controls for...
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Green threat bigger than soaring prices
Green issues should be at the top of the agenda for the world's dairy processors, not commodity prices or nutrition, according to president of the International Dairy Federation Jim Begg. Ignoring record milk powder prices and the raging...
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Price Basket - milk products
Milk price increases have fed through to the supermarket shelf, pushing the cost of our dairy basket to its highest total for more than two years, despite a special offer on Stilton at one major retailer. Butter prices are up more than 30% and milk...
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spotlight - Organic livestock farmer Steve Ramshaw
Organic livestock farmer Steve Ramshaw of Northumbrian Quality Meats is on a mission to show that small farms can be sustainable if they aim high and try to produce top-quality meat I was born in a city and brought up in a council house on an...
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Talking shop
The era of cheap food - and of food becoming cheaper year-on-year - is over, according to Richard Lowe, chief executive of the Meat and Livestock Commission Britain's pig farmers have been arguing strongly their case for higher prices in...
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Supplier warns of potato shortages
The Real Potato Co is warning that supplies of its Piccolo and Bellini potatoes are shorter than forecast because of the wet summer. The farmer-owned brand, which is part of Tesco potato supplier Branston, will start to run short of...
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Seed-free lemons to hit UK retailers
The world's first seedless lemon will go on sale in the UK in February for a six-month season, specialist South African grower Citrogold has announced. Eureka! Seedless lemons, which the grower claims are 100% seed-free, will appear in...
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Fishermen rewarded if they don't catch cod
Scottish fishermen are pioneering a scheme that will reward skippers for catching fewer cod, sole and plaice in their nets when they go after other species. Under the pilot, skippers will be granted extra days at sea if independent...
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BPEX: public will pay more for pork
The British public has come out in support of pig farmers campaigning for better prices from processors and retailers. The £500,000 campaign was launched last week by BPEX as a last-ditch effort to keep Britain's pig industry afloat in...
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Growers hit back at pesticide use claims
The fresh produce industry has accused health campaigners of scaremongering over pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables. This week, the government's Pesticides Residues Committee released the results of tests revealing excessive...
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Bumper English apple crop won't be enough
Retailers will struggle to meet consumer demand for English apples this year - despite a bumper crop. The English apple season gets under way on Monday (18 September) amid warnings that despite strong production growth for the main...
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Farmers' fresh misery after second outbreak
As the devastating news broke this week of a new case of foot and mouth disease, meat industry leaders were planning to demand compensation in the wake of last month's outbreak. On Wednesday chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds...
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In Brief: Profits up at Total; Residents eat well; Katopé acquisition
Profits up at Total Total Produce, Fyffes' retail fruit and veg supply business, has announced a 10% increase in first-half profits to £13.3m. It claimed strong demand in April and May helped boost turnover to...