The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Turkey

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Turkey

The domesticated turkey body that you have either frozen in the freezer, defrosting in the fridge, roasted in the oven or stripped on the day after Boxing Day is descended from the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). This species is found in North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes family.

It was domesticated over 2,000 years ago by the inhabitants of the Mexican states of Guerrero, Jalisco and Veracruz. This bird was imported by the Spanish as the bird's flesh and eggs were used for protein, whereas the feathers were used by the Aztecs for decoration. It is thought that in the 16th Century, William Strickland (an English navigator) introduced the turkey to England.

There are eight varieties of birds (including Black and Bronze) recognised by the American Poultry Association and a further seven varieties (including Buff and Midget White) to be recognised, this list can be found here.

A report on Turkey and Goose production (completed in 2007) for Defra reported that two companies, Bernard Matthews Farms and Cranberry Foods, dominate the all year round market and there were approximately 600 smaller seasonal producers in 2006. This year brought 17 million turkeys into existence with 10 million being used in the seasonal period, which equated to 184 tonnes of turkey meat produced in the UK with another 48,000 tonnes being imported. This industry contributes £365 million to the UK economy.

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy published "How To Raise Heritage Turkeys On Pasture" and despite the turkey being a hardy bird that can be easily managed; its growth can be hampered by 9 different types of deformities, injuries, behavioural and situational problems including Bumblefoot as well as 32 diseases and parasites including Newcastle Disease. Amazing to see it on the dining room table.

The Twelve Ingredients of a Christmas Dinner - Parsnips

The Twelve Ingredients of a Christmas Dinner - Parsnips

The parsnip, that thing that looks like an anaemic carrot, is known as Pastinca sativa and is a relative to the carrot. It was hard to distinguish the difference between the carrot and the parsnip until 17th century when the Dutch bred the orange colour to highlight the independence of the Netherlands.

It was thought that the name could have been an amalgamation of the names "parsley" and "turnip" - the parsnip is related to parsley. But it is more commonly thought that the name comes the Middle English pasnepe (from the Latin pastinum which means "a kind of fork") (source).

The parsnip grows best in sandy loam conditions that have low soil temperatures and the English took it to the USA. The parsnip, and the carrot, are of Eurasian origin with the latter being from Iran and Afghanistan. I do hope that the Armed Forces stationed in Afghanistan will enjoy carrots and parsnips for their Christmas meal. I have recently heard that a friend of mien, serving in the Royal Air Force, has had parsnips out in Camp Bastion.

In the commercial and domestic harvesting, care should be taken when dealing with the leaves and the shoots, as they may contain furanocoumarin - this is a photosensitive chemical that can lead to phytophotodermatitis. This chemical is probably more prevalent in the wild parsnip. All this is, is the chemical has reacted to the ultraviolet light to form a burn that may blister for 24 to 48 hours before leaving dark spots that may look like freckles. The best solution is to wear long protective gloves when harvesting or if the sap gets on your skin is to wash it off with cold water and stay indoors, as the heat and light of outdoors will only increase the potential for blistering (more information can be found here http://multifariousraymonds.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/parsnip-anyone)

Hugh Fearnely Whittingstall, in his Guardian column (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/dec/21/parsnip-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall) for the 21st of December 2012, that "parsnip's intense sweetness and pungency can make it quite an overpowering mouthful" and one if his suggestions is to add a small bit to stocks. The roasted option helps to intensify the natural sugars to produce a caramelised effect. The tapering of the roast parsnip gives three different textures to the diner; the crisp end, the golden chewy centre part and the fluffy and soft thicker end. In his article, Hugh F-W suggests adding herbs and spices instead of honey as the vegetable has enough of its own and the honey may add to the burning of it within the oven. He provides three recipes for curried, purée and rösti.

Apologies for the lack of clickable hyperlinks, these will be restored in a later edit.

The Twelve Ingredients of a Christmas Dinner - Raisins

The Twelve Ingredients of a Christmas Dinner - Raisins

The raisin is part of the dried fruit mixture that is used to create both Christmas pudding and mince pies are literally dried grapes. So much so that the word 'raisin' comes from the Old French, which comes from the Latin 'racemus' meaning a bunch of grapes.

The varieties of raisin depend on the colour and size of the grape that is either flame or sun dried. The dried fruit contains 67%-72% sugar by weight (30% fructose and 28% glucose). When the sugars crystallise within the fruit, it forms a gritty texture. The raisin also contains 3% protein 3.5% fibre, but it is not all good news - the raisin has less Vitamin C than undried grapes. Don't feed the raisins to dogs, it can lead to renal failure. (Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raisin)

Raisins tend to swell in the stomach by absorbing water, they also contain the amino acid Arginine that stimulates libido and is beneficial to erectile dysfunction and the Oleanolic Acid that raisins contain protect teeth from brittleness, cavities and decay. (Source http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/health-benefits-of-raisins.html)

But what if you have waned of the raisin within baked or boiled goods; you can always add loose raisins to a shallow dish, pour brandy over the fruit (preferably warmed brandy) and then light the liquid. The game of Snapdragon was a popular parlour game played from the 16th to 19th centuries, where raisins were plucked from the burning brandy in a light dimmed room and eaten whilst avoiding being burnt. A chant could be recited whilst the game was played and this game was first recorded in Shakespeare's Love Labour's Lost (1594). Although there are several health and safety implications linked to the game. (Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap-dragon_(game))

The Twelve Ingredients of a Christmas Dinner - Cranberries

The Twelve Ingredients of a Christmas Dinner - Cranberries

The fruit of an evergreen dwarf shrub are harvested in wet fields so that they float and can be corralled as tiny spheres of crimson containing Vitamin C, fibre and manganese. The cranberry plant is found in the cooler regions within acidic bogs, be it natural or artificially managed.

There are four species of Vaccinum that are harvested for their super fruit qualities that include the nutritional and antioxidant qualities; these include erythrocarpum, macrocarpon, microcarpum and oxycoccus.

Tribes of the Northern Continents were the first to use cranberries as both medicine and as a food stuff; the Native Americans used them in dyes, pemmican and wound medicine. The cranberry is now a commercially viable crop in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin as well as several provinces in Canada and Argentina, Chile, Eastern Europe and the Netherlands. The vines are are watered frequently, often with a light nitrogen fertiliser application, but the initial establishing cost if a cranberry bed can reach approximate costs of US $ 70,000 per hectare (US$ 28,300 per acre). (Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry#Cultivation_2)

95% of the cranberries are used for juice, sauce and sweetened dried cranberries.

It was thought that cranberry juice had specific medicinal properties for urinary tract infections - there is some evidence that cranberries can help to prevent urinary tract infections but it has not been shown to be effective as a treatment for an existing urinary tract infection. (Source http://nccam.nih.gov/health/cranberry). If you have the latter, go and see a specialist. Also drinking too much juice lead to diarrhoea and can lead to secondary problems if people combine cranberry products with blood thinning drugs, liver medication or aspirin. (Source http://nccam.nih.gov/health/cranberry)

I hope Christmas Eve is going well for you all

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Potatoes

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Potatoes

The humble potato is that thing staring at you from the dinner plate - be it bashed, boiled, bubble and squeaked, creamed, diced, fried, mashed, roasted, unpeeled and velouted. The variety of ways you can cook a potato is unrivaled by the worldwide number of potato varieties - with approximately five thousand cultivated species.

Three thousand of them are found in the South America mountain region of the Andes in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It is also thought that there are around 200 wild species and subspecies. These species can and have been introduced to the cultivated species to create resistances to pests and diseases (see below for those diseases).

For a food stuff that was brought to the English shores from the Americas, it is the fourth largest food group, following rice, wheat and maize. It is thought that it may very well change the Asiatic diet as, according to the United Nations FAO's (Food & Agricultural Organisation) figures for 2010; China produced 74.8 million metric tonnes. The annual diet of the average global citizen includes 33 kilogrammes or 73 pounds of potatoes according to this pdf.

But before you complain about the price of a potato before you drown your par-bolied potato in molten duck fat; think of what that potato and the potato producer had to go through. The PCL Information Sheet IS02, published by the Potato Council, found here reports that 2012 was a year of contrasts with an early drought followed by low levels of sunlight and then high rainfall that leads to low yields and a late harvest. It was reported that 71% of the harvest was complete by the end of October. And with water, there always comes problems - the cost of the production of a potato has increased by 13% (over 2011) due to the increase in fungicide use and other chemicals.

To think that the potato, a vague relation of deadly nightshade, is attacked by 7 bacterial diseases including brown rot; 30 fungicidal diseases; 6 Nematode parasites; 3 Phytoplasmal diseases; 39 Viral and Viroid diseases; and 13 Miscellaneous diseases and disorders (source). It is a miracle of agriculture that it actually makes it to your plate.

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Chestnuts

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Chestnuts

The Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) is a fast growing tree that reaches a mature height of around thirty feet (nine metres); the plant was introduced from Sardis, Turkey where the nut was used as a carbohydrate substitute when the cereal crop harvests failed. Eastern USA had four billion trees in the early 1900's but by 1940 a blight had wiped a great number of them reducing the potential for cross-pollination.

The fresh chestnut, the fruit (nut) not the wood, is calculated to be about 180 calories per 100 grams - lower than almonds and walnuts; it contains no cholesterol, little fat (and mostly as unsaturated) and no gluten. The carbohydrate level is of a par to wheat and rice and no reason why it acted as a carbohydrate source for many medieval communities. It contains twice the amount of starch than potatoes and eight percent of the nut is made up of five sugars (fructose, glucose, raffinose, stachyose and sucrose). It also contains 40 milligrams of Vitamin C per 100 grams. (Source)

As stated above, the tree originated in Turkey but gained European status through the help of invading armies. Alexander the Great and various Roman armies planted these trees during their campaigns to create food supplies, much, later in the campaigns. In 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Americans spent $20 million importing chestnuts from Europe and Asia.

The chestnuts can be brewed for beer, milled for flour, roasted and sold in the street. I recommend not to eat them raw, as I found out to my cost, when I was on traffic light duty in the mid 90's - I felt a bit like a horse with colic, I am guessing.

The chestnut trees can also be coppiced to form fencing spials and posts as well as using the more mature trees for furniture making. 

So if you have gluten intolerant guests for Christmas, why not give them a cabbage, chestnut and hazlenut salad or a chestnut crepe, some recipes can be found here.

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Sprouts

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Brussels Sprouts (Brassica oleracea)

It is thought that that the current form of the Brussels Sprout, the vegetable that seems to the butt of all Christmas culinary jokes, can be dated back to the 13th Century from Belgium. Although it is has been considered that an earlier cultivar from the Gemmifera group was cooked in Ancient Rome.

The sprout is in season from September to March of the following year (source). Defra reports that sprout production increased by 10% in 2011 (Basic Horticultural Statistics 2012). The Scottish Government (2011) reports that 645 hectares (2009) of 15,246 hectares was used for sprout cultivation, this increased to 776 hectares in 2011 and produced 12.8 thousand tonnes in 2011. This 2011 sprout production raised an average of £13.39 million (Scotland.gov).

Brussels Sprout plants can leave a nursery after a period of sixty days where the stalk can be harvested after one hundred and ten days. Each stalk can be harvested up to five times over a seven week period and can lead to a potential 100 sprouts per stalk being harvested. The shelf life of a sprout is about twenty days if stored at one degree centigrade (Wired 2012)

An American cup measurement of sprouts contains 1,122 International Units (IU) of Vitamin A and 699 of beta-carotene (source). A fresh single sprout, be it raw or cooked, contains 10 calories whereas a cup of frozen sprouts that has been cooked contains 65 calories (source).

Why not treat them as a micro cabbage in a deconstructed Christmas dinner? A recent article in Wired (August/September 2012) states that the LYFE (Love Your Food Everyday) Kitchen in Palo Alto sees the Brussels Sprout as an alternative to the French Fry.

The Brussels Sprout is thought to contain anti-cancer chemicals (sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol) that may boost "DNA repair in the body's cells and block the growth of cancer cells"(Wikipedia 2012); although boiling the sprouts will reduce the concentration of the anti-cancer compounds. It is thought best to roast, steam or stir fry and add the cross at the base of the bud's stem to increase the penetration of heat to the vegetable, if the sprout is large.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has published a roasted sprout salad here.

Remember, remember the Ash in November

It seems fitting today that we should remember trees, both the living and the dead. The Fifth of November is a day for remembering...people light bonfires to celebrate that King James the First of England and the Sixth of Scotland survived an assassination attempt on his life where Guy Fawkes and 11 other plotters tried to blow up the House of Lords in 1605.

An Act of Parliament, the Observance of 5th November Act 1605 or the Thanksgiving Act, was passed in 1606 to enforce a public holiday - however this act was finally repealed in 1859. Yet still the thanksgiving is remembered by erecting and then burning a central bonfire as well as setting off fireworks in various displays.

However, this year we should try to remember the wood that makes up these bonfires - in a post of this blog from the 13th of September 2011, I posted a poem about different types of firewood with this verse about the ash logs:

But ash logs, all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.

But in the last few weeks it has come to light that a fungus, Chalara fraxinea, is attacking ash trees. This fungal pathogen causes leaf loss and affects the crown part of the tree. The fungus was first identified in Poland in 1992. The Forestry Commission web page states "In February 2012 it was found in a consignment of infected trees sent from a nursery in the Netherlands to a nursery in Buckinghamshire, England"and other sites of infection have been found over England and Scotland.

The Forestry Commission states that "C. fraxinea is being treated as a quarantine pest under national emergency measures, and it is important that suspected cases of the disease are reported", a pictorial guide (as a pdf) has been released and the following details have been published to report outbreaks.

Fera: 01904 465625;
 planthealth.info@fera.gsi.gov.uk
Forestry Commission: 0131 314 6414;
 plant.health@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

The BBC reported that over 100,000 trees have been destroyed to an attempt to stop the spread of the fungus and the University of East Anglia have developed an app for smart phones to identify and log potential outbreaks and can be found here.

So as you remember, remember the Fifth of November, also remember, remember the Ash and look at your trees to see if the Chalara fraxinea fungus has reached your area.


(The Eurolink pictures will be added later)

The Great Storm of twenty five years ago (and a few days)

It was twenty five years ago (and a week ago) that the South East of England was hit, by what some newspapers called, a hurricane or a very strong storm. Michael Fish MBE is a weather forecaster who has worked for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and is still known for a comment before a forecast he made on the 15th of October 1987:

"Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way... well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!"

It was suggested that Michael Fish was referring to Hurricane Floyd in Florida, USA that had developed off the coast of Nicaragua on the 9th of October and had been referred to in the One O'Clock News bulletin. But to his credit, Mr. Fish did warn people of high winds for the UK and to "batten down the hatches", but the storm did turn out to be a lot stronger than predicted.

The BBC On This Day website for the 16th of October records that "at least 13 people are known to have died and many dozens have been injured, mostly by falling trees and buildings...winds hit 94 miles per hour (151 kilometres per hour) in the capital and over 110 miles per hour (177 kilometres per hour) in the Channel Islands" and "In the London Borough of Ealing alone, 600 calls came from people whose homes and cars had been struck by falling trees and debris."
 
 The BBC Science and Environment website for the 15th of October 2012 records that "an estimated 15 million trees were uprooted...with winds recorded at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour or 86 knots)" and "at Toys Hill, the highest point in Kent, about 98% of the woodland...was lost".

It was suggested that this widespread devastation of woodlands was going to be disastrous, but with time it has been shown that the storm helped increase the woodland biota. Dr. Keith Kirby (of Natural England), a co-author on the Great Storm's ecological impact on woodlands (an interesting pdf on climate and woodland ecology can be found here) reported that the lack of woodland exploitation after the Second World War and decreased coppicing had led to the woodland canopy closing over and reducing the low-level biodiversity. The storm opened up the canopy and led to an increase in bluebell and primrose density as well as a temporary increase in the fritillary (a woodland butterfly)  population

Dr. Peter Buckley, the other co-author with Dr. Keith Kirby, found that the effects post storm changed the past monoculture of the woodlands. The tightly packed tall trees had shallow roots that led to them being easily ripped out, whereas as coppiced trees tend to be kept shorter and lead to less trees being damaged by the stronger winds. A lot of the woods regenerated naturally with pioneer species and since there were struggling with nature, there was less need for artificial management.

What are your memories of the Great Storm in 1987? Please add your comments.

Bad Harvests and Kent Farmer's Markets

With the mixed harvest, the NFU reports (on the 10th of October 2012) that "Wheat yields are down 14.1% on five year average, from 7.8 to 6.7 tonnes per hectare; Winter Barley yields are up 1.6% on five year average, from 6.3 to 6.4 tonnes per hectare; Spring Barley yields are down 7.4% on the five year average, from 5.4 to 5.0 tonnes per hectare and Oilseed Rape yields are up 5.9% on five year average, from 3.4 to 3.6 tonnes per hectare." So be prepared for a change in the supermarkets and especially the farmer's markets. 

Kent’s Farmers’ Markets are feeling the pinch.  Compared to last year, the number of customers is down 10-15%; the average spend per shopper is down from £22 to £17, and four markets have had to close.  While no one pretends that farmers’ markets are critically important to the local agricultural sector, they provide a valuable income to some family farms, and play a wider role in helping to reconnect the public with where their food comes from. This can have knock on effects in the choices they make at the supermarket in terms of buying British.  In addition, in some villages, markets have grown up as replacements for the village shop, and provide a venue for the community to get together.

Do you have ideas for helping markets survive the economic pressures?  What stops you visiting a market?  If you used to go, but don’t any longer, what changed your habits?  Benjamin Dent, chairman of Kent Farmers’ Market Association, would like to hear any comments or suggestions: benjamin.dent@dsl.pipex.com

Learn more about Kent’s markets at : www.kfma.org.uk

 

Milk may get a new lease of life

Milk in its usual form contains both A1 and A2 β-casein proteins that are genetic variants of the beta-casein milk protein with different chemical structures. Wikipedia states that:

the "A1 β-casein type is the most common type found in cow's milk in Europe (excluding France), the USA, Australia and New Zealand." (Source: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/231r.htm)

However A2 milk comes from selected dairy cows "whose milk is rich in A2 beta-caseins – but contains no A1 – it is a completely natural, and highly effective, solution to cases of A1 milk protein intolerance." (Source: A2 Milk)

It is thought that the A1 β-casein protein in milk can lead to specific forms of milk intolerance. Symptoms can include abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and nausea (Source: A2 Milk) 

So, therefore, the A2 branded milk is a form of milk protein that contains β-casein protein formed by Robert Wiseman Dairies and the New Zealand's A2 Corporation. It is thought that this A2 milk will be sold at Budgens, Tesco and Waitrose in the UK. In Australia, FWi states, "A2 milk has taken a 6% value share of the milk market."

The FWi has produced an interesting case study of an A2 milk producer, Andrew Evans in Shropshire, England. 

On the 2nd of October, the BBC News reported that "a genetically-modified cow produced milk without beta-lactoglobulin - a whey protein to which some people are allergic...The instructions for making the beta-lactoglobulin protein are contained in genes in the cow's DNA. The scientists added extra genetic material to disrupt the manufacturing process using a technique called RNA interference. The resulting calf was born without a tail, however, the researchers say that is "unlikely" to be because of the genetic modification. It has not yet become pregnant and produced milk normally so the scientists used hormones to jump-start milk production."

It certainly looks like there will be changes within the dairy industry, especially after the summer of discontent (see this post).

Making milk ours - Promoting milk

In the United States of America (USA), there is a state that is forever linked with Hollywood, California. The California Milk Processor Board bonded with Goodby Silverstein & Partners over a glass of milk to create the "Got Milk?" campaign on the 20th of October 1993. Using the belief that milk was needed to wash the dryness of biscuits. The milk mustache (sic) was created two years later and that thin line of white liquid was licensed to the National Milk Processor Board.

The "milk mustache" (sic) has 90% awareness in the USA and thus it is a big brand in creating awareness for the dairy industry. In 2006, the National Milk Processor Board targeted both Mexico and the Spanish speaking nations in the Americas with the phrase "Toma leche" - meaning "Did you take or drink milk".

From 2003 to 2008, there was a campaign in Scotland to increase the awareness of the benefits of milk with the "White Stuff" milk campaign. This campaign used celebrities Andy Murray and Nell McAndrew to promote milk and led to a 3.4% increase in milk sales.

In April 2010 with a financial aid package from the European Union, a £7.5 million Make Mine Milk campaign was launched at promoting low fat milk for teenagers and mothers alike. With the promotional celebrities of the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Pixie Lott on board. The campaign was used to rebrand milk milk as both cool and healthy, especially as there had been a decline of "1% in milk consumption each year between 2001 and 2008" (Joe Thomas).

This "Make Mine Milk" campaign has been updated after the success of the London Olympics 2012 and the concept of legacy with the addition of using Olympic athletes (Laura Trott, Jade Jones and Nicola Adams) for the campaign to remind people that milk is full of nutrients and contains less than 2% fat. We await to see how this campaign helps the milk industry especially combined with the #sosdairy campaign of the summer of 2012.

So what else could we use the Olympians to advertise to promote the rural activities of both the United Kingdom and Europe?

Global Harvests, Food and Water Security - 2012

As we enter the first few weeks of September, I have been gleefully informed that Christmas is only one hundred days away. We know that this is a period for global gobbling with the American Thanksgiving feast and Christmas Day. But dare we ask the question, how have the global harvests fared this year?

The Farmer's Weekly harvest round up page notes that, as of today (12th of September 2012):

• The harvest is between 70-80% complete in the South West and has only just started (07/09/12) in Caithness, Scotland.
• This year's conditions have been summarised here and entail droughts in Spring, one of the wettest summers in 100 years and decreased sunshine hours has led to "a poor grain fill" and increased susceptibility to attacks from aphids in autumn 2011 and spring 2012 to disease infestations of brown rust, late fusarium, septoria and yellow rust.
• The Farmer's Weekly reports (11/09/12) that drilling has already started in some parts of the country.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on the 27th of July 2012 that the global harvest predictions would be reduced due to the droughts in the Black Sea region and in the United States of America - the worst since 1956 in the USA - and the export market projections were not looking good for the aforementioned regions but it may spell opportunities for the grain producers who have done well. ABC reported that the world grain harvest for 2012/13 has been reduced to 1,640 million tonnes.

The International Grains Council published a report in August will tell you more.

So what has the global harvest of food got to do with water security? The Stockholm Water Initiative Water Week, that ended on the 31st of August 2012, helped to remind readers that "one third of the world's food is lost or wasted (1.3 billion tonnes per year), which equates to one quarter of global water use for irrigation".

• One litre of milk thrown away is 1,000 litres of water consumed by a cow to produce that milk.
• The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that $1 trillion is needed for investment in irrigation technologies by 2050.

How has the harvest been with you and how are you dealing with either a lack or an excess of water?

Livestock 2012 - Day Two (updated)

Livestock 2012 - Day Two

EBLEX (The organisation for the English Beef and Sheep Industry) in their blog, Beef and Lamb Matters, describe their two days at Livestock 2012 on this page and highlights two of their publications - Better Returns from Pure-Dairy bred Male Calves (BRP 10) and Balancing the Market.

Farmer's Weekly have released a statement from Jim Paice MP at losing his position as the Minister of Agriculture and Food, this statement can be found here. The last sentence of the statement is very poignant. "As I have said repeatedly to farmers change should be seen as an opportunity – that applies to me now!"

The Farmer's Weekly highlights a list of top tips for livestock handlers published by NFU Mutual. These are two of the top tips:

• Keep your mobile phone in a chest pocket so you can call for help.
• Always take a moment to consider the risks of a task.

The Farmer's Weekly has published a summary of the Livestock 2012 event with links to the FWi articles under News & Business, Technical and Machinery News

New Defra Secretary of State & Livestock 2012

 

News hot off of the press from the Defra Twitter account - Owen Paterson MP has been confirmed as the new Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Livestock 2012 is the leading livestock show for the Great British Farmer and follow the Twitter feed on #livestock2012

The Farmer's Guardian reporter Olivia Midgley has published news of the Cattle Health and Welfare Group (CHAWG) report here. The report is said to cover such diverse issues as Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), bovine fertility, Johne's Disease to name but a few and the full report can be downloaded at the EBLEX site here.

According to this Farmer's Guardian web page the gentleman, Jim Paice MP, who talked to the dairy farmers earlier this year has been let go with today's cabinet reshuffle. The dairy coalition has said that it will continue to work with Paice's successor. David Heath MP is, thought, to be the new farming minister.

Natural England has highlighted the five entry level and organic entry level stewardship schemes that will make environmental stewardship more effective (this page was originally published on 10th of August 2012) included hedgerow restoration; supplement to add wildflowers to buffer strips and field corners; ryegrass seed-set as winter/spring food for birds; legume and herb rich swards; and supplementary feeding in winter for farmland birds.

A leaflet that provides the funding and support for dairy farmers (NE345) has been published by Natural England and is available to download from this page.

More will be added in the next two days on this page.

ABCs - Alien Big Cats - part two

Last time, this blog explained briefly why people (from a king to an actress) used to have big cats and exotic animals - one of the main reasons was so that they could use it as a status symbol. But it was deemed in 1976 that the keeping of specific dangerous and wild animals was to be regulated through the provision of a license. This Defra website expresses that the details of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (DWAA) are to ensure that the "private individuals who keep dangerous wild animals...do so in ways that create no risk to the public". The DWAA also regulates the keeping of the dangerous wild animals through a licensing regime from the local authority.

It is curious to note some of the animals that are listed on the DWAA 1976 (modification) (no. 2) Order 2007 including from the Marsupial family three types of kangaroo, a walleroo and the Tasmanian Devil; members from six families of the primate group; armadillos and anteaters; members of the Canidae, Felidae, Hyaenidae, Mustelidae, Ursidae, Viverridae of the Carnivore group; members of the Odobenidae, Otariidae and Phocidae families of the Pinnipede group (these include some of the heavier weight seals) to name but a few - the whole list can be found here.

Even before the modification to the list in 2007, landowners and animal hoarders had to find a dispose of the animals that ended up on the list. Even for the curious have a look, the aardwolf (see below) is excepted from the Hyaenidae family, and see what other animals made or missed the list.

Aardwolf - Proteles cristatus

Source: Britannica.com

So what did the animal hoarders and landowners do after the DWAA came into existence in 1976 - it would be thought that some were licensed, killed, sold to wildlife parks or zoological gardens and some may have been let loose - although it should be said that these are only potential answers.

There is quite a comprehensive web page about the Alien Big Cats and the UK Government on Kithra's Alternate Miscellany with over 15 web links. I will come back to this page and other similar pages when I revisit this subject sometime soon, but how has your land or activity been hampered by alien, dangerous, invasive or wild species?

ABCs - Alien Big Cats - part one

A BBC website stated in late August 2012 that "A couple who claimed to have seen an animal which looked like a lion in an Essex field have said they believe the creature is still at large. A search for the "very large animal" seen near Earl Hall Drive in St Osyth, near Clacton-on-Sea, at about 19:00 BST on Sunday was called off on Monday".

Earlier this year, a similar search for a big cat in Southampton was called off when the supposed feline was a life size cuddly toy tiger that was blown over from the down draft of the helicopter.

But is there any truth to big cats wandering around the British Isles?

Alien or Anomalous Big Cats, or ABCs, is the term given to the members of the Felidae family that do not originate in the British Isles but are thought to inhabit the British Isles. These ABCs may include lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, pumas and black cats. Why are there here? Is it because they are the remnants of fauna from before the last ice age or have they have escaped from private collections?

Having a big cat or a collection of wild animals was thought to be a huge status symbol in the past; there were lions kept in the Royal Menagerie at The Tower of London from 1235 to the private zoos of the aristocracy. Phyllis Gordon taking her pet cheetah for a walk in 1939.

So why are there, potentially, cats of a larger persuasion out in the countryside of the United Kingdom, see part two of Alien Big Cats (coming soon).

Senecio jacobaea - part three

Apologies for the delay, but as suggested on the last post - here is the third post.

Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) in its first year stage creates an immature ragwort plant that resembles a small rosette of between 5 and 15 centimetres across with no flowers. In the second year, it pushes forth a green stem that can reach up and over 1.5 metres high (I know the blasted plants are higher than I am) with the yellow flowers at the top. The photo below shows a recently extricated plant. 

The third photo of this blog (see below) will show the scale of the plant, however it is possible to see how the plant in its second year develops most of its energy budget to create the huge stem with frond-like leaves.

The root is considerably small compared to the length of the stem. You don't have to imagine these plants as sails as you can see them from late July along the sides of single and dual carriageways - the shallow roots help the stem tot sway but not snap. This plant's anatomy reminds me of the huge trees in the tropical rainforests as they also have tall trunks and relatively short roots. This may be due to the fact that both plants exploit poor soils to create huge plants to increase the chance of their progeny surviving; Senecio jacobaea is a natural plant of semi-natural grasslands and colonise well drained and sandy soils. The plant can be an indicator of where sandy soils exist in a field. The small root is also useful in the plant's downfall, the ragwort fork has small tines, and when inserted at the bast of the plant, can act as a pivot for felling the large stem.

Senecio jacobaea has other tricks in its biological arsenal. The flower heads and vegetative parts of Senecio jacobaea have an allelopathic effect on the surrounding vegetation by suppressing the competition from other plants - so that the Common Ragwort can colonise an area. This can be seen by the creation of stands or swathes of Common Ragwort. As seen in the photograph below, the ragwork fork is shown for scale.

With various studies, it has seen that the seeds can travel from the parent plant of under a metre to over five metres. A plant can hold from 4,760 to 174,230 of seeds per plant. After flowering, the plant dies relying on the seeds to increase the invasion and the potential seed bank. The seed bank, the soil below the plant, can be affected by animals, failed germination, fire, mechanical, pathogens, physiological death, predation, rainfall dispersal, above ground and sub-soil water flow and wind.

Yes, it can be said that Senecio jacobaea or Common Ragwort can reduce the quality of a pasture through allelopathy and the decomposition of the leaf litter; it has the potential to kill many agricultural and pastoral animals; and finally it has a crucial part in providing a suitable food source and habitat for many invertebrates...as the Defra document states "It should be expected that some common ragwort will continue to occur in such swards and will fulfill its role in the ecological dynamics of well-drained grassland ecosystems."

If anyone is interested, please either email or add a comment, I can provide sources of the reports quoted in the blog entry above.

Senecio jacobaea - part two

On the last post, I said that Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) "can be dangerous to livestock" and yes it can be if not properly managed. However, as also stated in the first post of this series, I did write that the plant supported both the caterpillar and the moths stages of the Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaea) as well as a host of invertebrates.

A recently published web page by The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales notes that Common Ragwort has "done really well this summer" due to the inconsistent weather of this year and the flowers, leaves and plants have acted as an invaluable source for "at least thirty species of invertebrate". These include one form of aphid, 12 fly species, 7 leaf beetle species, 1 macro moth, 7 micro moths, 1 form of mite and 1 type of thrip. The article states that other invertebrates use it as a nectar source, especially if other flowers haven't survived as well, and these include 2 bee species, various butterflies, Conopid flies, hoverflies, at least 40 species of Noctuid moths, a minimum of 30 species of solitary bees and a minimum of 18 solitary wasp species. (Please note, that some of these details are repeated from the last post).

The reason for the larger than normal image is so that you will be able to see the bee, the beetle and the butterfly, any ideas on what they might be?

It is tiresome and back-breaking work, once in a while you get a wonderful view - I have been accompanied by some kestrels and possibly a buzzard. If you look at the photograph below, you may even seen one of the avian accompanists to my ragworticidal acivities.

Unfortunately the camera on a phone is not the most ideal at trying to take long distance shots of hovering kestrels. I will say that as I left last night, I looked back to see that my work hadn't disturbed the birds. I saw one, two and then to the left another pair - there were four kestrels hovering across the length of the field, if any more had turned up I would have thought that they may have been auditioning for Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Birds'.

The above photograph isn't a complete waste of time - it shows a loose stand of Common Ragwort. Next time, I will explain more about the stands tomorrow. I bet you can't wait?

Senecio jacobaea - part one

Today, yesterday and tomorrow as well as a few other days I will be roguing - the act of identifying and removing undesired plants from agricultural fields (the definition taken from Wikipedia) - ragwort plants.

Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) is native to the United Kingdom and despite being of importance to the native invertebrate's habitat, it can be dangerous to livestock.

The plant contains a form of alkaloid toxin (pyrrolizidine) that may act as a poison to agricultural livestock including avian, bovine, cervidae, equine, and swine members. This inability to safely consume and digest this toxin by these herbivores can lead to problems if the plant is combined with hay, haylage or silage.

The plant also provides a site for the egg laying as well as the food supply for the plant's main consumer - the Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) - and the flowers support the insects who drink the nectar, especially in times when other crop flowers are scarce. These include 2 bee species, butterflies, Conopid, flies, hoverflies, a minimum of 40 Noctuid moths, a minimum of 30 species of solitary bees, and a minimum of 18 species of solitary wasps.

More tomorrow, have you any questions?

Non-Native Bird Species

This week, on Radio 4, there is a series of programmes on foreign birds - The Alien Birds Have Landed - transmitted at 1.45pm on BBC Radio 4.

The Daily Telegraph's Radio reviewer, Gillian Reynolds, describes the first programme, with its emphasis on the Common Pheasant "The common pheasant is native to Asia but has been introduced all around the world because it adapts easily to new surroundings, breeds well and tastes good. Maybe the Romans brought them to Britain. Alison Steadman narrates this engaging series, on FM. Tomorrow, the ruddy duck and Canada goose."

The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is discussed here.

The second programme focuses on both the Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) and the Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) and the details of the programme are here. Both of these species have come from the Americas, yet one is loved and one is persecuted.

The third discusses both the large and small of the owl family - the Eagle Owl (Bubo family) and the Little Owl (Athene noctua) and the radio programme is found here.

The fourth discusses the Rose-Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), I have heard these in Sevenoaks, the programme is found here.

The fifth, and final programme, describes why the Starling (Sturnidae family) is hated in North America and the Blackbird (Turdus merula) is equally hated in New Zealand.

Where do you draw the line on non-native bird species - here are a few articles on non native species from About.com, IBIS (the International Journal of Avian Science) and  the R.S.P.B.. I am sure we will come back to this topic.

Schmallenburg Virus

Schmallenburg Virus (SBV), a name that brings dread to people involved with livestock, has been detected in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and recently in the United Kingdom. The SBV is transmitted by midges, mosquitoes and ticks and with the increase of warm and damp weather, it is ideal weather for the production of these virus vectors.It has been suggested by DEFRA that the insect vectors were blown across the English channel.

But what does the virus do? It can cause dehydration in animals through diarrhoea, decreases in milk production and fevers in adult animals and if a pregnant animal is infected, it can cause a late abortion or worse cause birth defects in cattle, goats and sheep.

The disease is being tracked across Europe and the United Kingdom.

The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency reported, on the 13th of August, that "there are 276 UK farms reporting SBV: 53 in cattle, 220 in sheep and 3 premises which reported sheep (earlier in the year) and are now also reporting cattle cases".

 DEFRA suggests that although SBV "is not a notifiable disease...farmers are asked to contact their veterinary surgeon if they encounter cases of ruminant neonates or fetuses which are stillborn, show malformations or are showing nervous disease".

The Farmers' Weekly reports this week that "There is widespread concern that cases of the Schmallenberg virus (SBV) are being under-reported by farmers." It continues that "In northern Europe the proportion of sheep holdings with confirmed SBV was 4% a country and 7.6% a region.
But evidence from the Netherlands, France and Germany showed the number of animals infected on a single farm had been as high as 70-100%, the report revealed".

For more information on SBV, have a look at the Farmers' Weekly page or DEFRA's page or the NFU's page or the AHVLA's page.

Eurolink "Agricolae" - What's in a name

"Agricolae" is the name the South of England Agricultural Society has given to British farmers who have taken part in their "Eurolink" exchange scheme with farmers in mainland Europe. These farmers, plus other who have joined them, belong to what we call the "Eurolink Agricolae Club", now extended into a network. Many have wondered why we have have chosen a word that seems strange to English ears. The answer lies in the origin of this interesting word.

The word "agricola" (the singular of agricolae) comes from the Latin "ager" - field and "colo" - cultivate and is the derivative of "agriculture", the science and art of producing plants and animals useful to man. Even before Roman times, hunting was not only the way of obtaining sustenance. As recorded and revealed in Latin works of Virgil and others, herds of beasts were reared and driven as required to suitable pasturage and crops were grown on patches of ground until the soil became exhausted. Man later discovered manures and the value of rotation of crops. Other branches of what we now embrace in the overall term "agriculture" were gradually developed, such as fruit growing and bee keeping and many others. After the decline of the Roman Empire, there continued to evolve this gradual development of agriculture and improvement of methods in stock breeding and tillage and all its ramifications throughout Europe.

What better name can describe the aims of the original Eurolink exchange scheme and the evolvement of a "club" or dedicated group of farmers wishing to impart, acquire and implement knowledge of the latest farming techniques?

"Agricolae" has now become a kind of trademark associated with Eurolink and the South of England Agricultural Society at Ardingly - a name and an enterprise of which we are justly proud.

A. M. Woodhead

Consumers are asked to save pig farmer's bacon

Earlier this month, there was growing concern about the forecast of the United States Department of Agriculture's maize production. A previous estimate, published by BPEX (on the 10th of August 2012) and the USDA, put it at 329 mega tonnes (329,000,000,000 kg) but it finally came in 274 mega tonnes. This will put pressure on other global areas to produce a surplus harvest. Combine this with the poor harvests in the Black Sea and northern Europe, it is reported by The Grocer (1st of August 2012) that the cost of feed has risen by 25%. 

Farmers are now losing £18 per pig they produce and The Grocer continues to report that some pig producers (10% of farmers that produce the UK's weekly pig production) will go out of business by Christmas (2012) as they cannot afford to feed their animals with the rising prices. This loss of 10% of the UK's weekly pig production would equate to a loss of 1.5 million rashers of bacon and 2.3 million sausages from British producers in the supermarkets and other stores. It should be noted that pork products with the Red Tractor logo conform to British Welfare Standards, whereas the potentially cheaper pork products from other countries may not have been kept to the same standards.

So what should the consumer do? By buying pork products that are either Red Tractor branded or have labeling that suggest that the product is created with British meat, you are stating to the supermarket or seller that you, as a consumer, are interested in only British products with British standards of welfare. The Grocer continues to report that:

"If supermarkets see a surge in demand for British products, they may be persuaded to pay our farmers the few extra pennies a kilo more they need to cover their soaring feed bill,” said the NPA’s general manager, Zoe Davies. "So we are asking shoppers, who have always been incredibly loyal in the past, to please be extra careful to look for the British Red Tractor logo on bacon, sausages and pork.”

Red Tractor Week is coming from the 24th to the 30th of September 2012 and will be highlighted in a future blog post.