1.Virtually all policy matters have been put on hold with the recent shenanigans across Government. However we have a new Ministerial team at Defra with Mark Spencer being the key appointment as far as agriculture is concerned as Minister for Food. Mark used to be a member of the APPG, Dairy.
2.The Environmental Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Efra.com) have urged the "new" government to reconsider its response to a report on the impact of the Australian free trade agreement following a disappointing response form the previous Government!
3.The Agri-climate report 2022 reveals that between 1990 and 2020 greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture fell by 16% with nitrous oxide emissions down by 20%,methane down 15% and carbon dioxide down 15%.Falls due to a combination of lower livestock numbers and less artificial fertiliser used. In 2020 agriculture was a source of 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the UK,69% of nitrous oxide emissions,48% of methane emissions and 1.7% of carbon dioxide emissions.
4.The Welsh government has delayed the implementation of Stage 2 of its plan to make the whole of Wales a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone from Jan to April to allow for consultation on a licensing scheme that will enable Welsh farmers to apply for an exemption from the maximum 170 kg of Nitrogen per hectare to a higher level of 250 kg/ha dependent on crop needs. If granted the licence would apply to 2025 to enable the Welsh Government to conduct a regulatory impact assessment.
5.Updated statistics have been published on UK Agriculture in 2021.The Utilised Agricultural Area fell by 0.2% to 17.2 million hectares .The labour force fell by1 % to 467,000.Average Farm Business Income rose from £39,000 to £46,500 but 16 % of all farms turned in a negative return while 28% generated more than £50,000.Total Income from Farming rose by 14% to £5,998 millions, the third highest since 2000.Agriculture's contribution to the UK economy increased by 8.9% to £11,222 millions representing 0.5% of Gross Domestic Product.
6.The Agricultural Land Use in England study has revealed that land in the tenanted sector has fallen by 6% since 2018 with land let under a Farm Business Tenancy now accounting for 52% of let land.
7.The UK average "all milk" price for August, reported this month, was 46.71 pence per litre, an increase of 1.14 above the July average and significantly above July's 5 year rolling average of 30.84 pence per litre. The EU average for July was 1.14 pence per litre below the UK average at 45.57 pence per litre.
8.Global milk production is expected to be down by 0.5% in 2022 with notable falls in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina of around 2.2%.The US forecast is showing an increase of 0.3%.
9.With effect from Aug 2023,Arla's points-based voluntary sustainability incentive will be replaced by a variation to the monthly milk price dependent on the level of environmental activity. Up to 2.6 p/kg will be available for sustainable activities based on 19 levers, in addition to 0.88 p/kg for submitting climate change data, with each point accrued worth 0.026 p/kg. The levers include fertiliser and land use, protein efficiency, manure handling, use of sustainable feed, use of renewable electricity, biodiversity and carbon farming activities and knowledge building. The first year is expected to result in distributions totalling £237 millions.
10.During September, average butterfat increased by 2.9% compared to August to 4.21%.Average Protein level was 3.38%
11.In the 12 weeks to Sept 4,Aldi broke into the UK's top four supermarkets with a share of 9.3% relegating Morrisons to fifth. Aldi's sales rose by 18.7% in the period while those of Lidl rose by 20.9%.
12.According to Kantar, in the year to 4 Sept, retail spending on milk increased by 4.4% due to higher prices but volume purchases fell by 7.2% with semi-skimmed hardest hit. Volume sales of yellow fat fell by 9.6% with value sales up by 1.5%,only plant based spreads achieving growth. Despite average price increases of 5.3%,spending on cheese fell by only 0.8% with a 5.8% volume fall. Only snack and lunchboxes cheeses have achieved increases.
13.The Global Dairy Trade overall price index fell by 4.6% to $3,723/ tonne at the latest auction mainly driven by falling demand in China.
14.In the year to date (August),exports of yoghurt and buttermilk are down by 22% at 21,000 tonnes, milk powders and concentrates are down by 14% at 70,000 tonnes and butter down by 2% at 30,000 tonnes. However cheese exports are up 22% at 119,000 tonnes while whey products are up 10% at 18,000 tonnes.
15.Research carried out by IGD has found that, while in March 2021,29% of consumers would shop sustainably, with 35% saying their purchases depended on price and quality, by June 2022,43% said that price was the biggest driver with just 21% remaining loyal to sustainability.
Hope that's of interest. As ever happy to answer any queries/issues.
Tim Brigstocke
Policy Director.