Welcome to the Fenland Farmers Community Website
Welcome to the Fenland Farmers Website and Blog
This website has been set up to bring farmers and farm workers together from across the Fens area of East Anglia.
If you are a farmer, a small holder or a farm worker and you would like to discuss, promote your ideas, please use this website.
We would welcome regular contributers – especially if you would like to contribute an article for discussion in your area of expertise.
It is your website -so please browse, contribute and comment to regular posts below.
Like this:
Make Hay whilst the weather lasts
the weather is turning around this week. Hadleigh “the pig man” says to start getting your hay in whilst the weather forecast is going upward. Countryfile forecast looks good for this week.
Rural Economy Grant – Apply now
CAMBRIDGESHIRE County Council is urging rural businesses to see if they could benefit from a new £60 million grant scheme announced by the Government.
The Rural Economy Grant scheme allows rural firms to apply for individual grants ranging from £25,000 to £1 million. Visit http://rdpenetwork.defra.gov.uk/funding-sources/rural-economy-grant
Who Can Apply?
The following businesses across England are eligible to apply (please see section 7 of the Applicant Handbook for further details):
- Farmers
- Rural based enterprises
- Forestry contractors
- Woodland owners
- Horticultural businesses
- Rural Growth Networks
- Not for Profit/ Companies Limited by Guarantee
Stage 1 Outline Application ROUND 1 TO BE SUBMITTED BY 5.00 pm on the 30 April 2012
It will take some BEETING this year……!!!!
Glad that the doom and gloom of last winter is now fully behind us.
With record sugar yields, easy harvesting conditions and a refund of 50% of seed costs.
Beet is back as the backbone of the fenland rotation.
As I have said many more times than I can remember. “Nothing is forever”.
Beet won’t be as good as this every year, and it certainly won’t be as bad as last year very often.
Lets hope we have some more good years around the corner….!!!
Plough your fields, but don’t scatter the walkers request!
Press release from Cambridgeshire County Council
Release date: 15/12/2011
Author: Glenn Thwaites
Dry conditions earlier in the year made it difficult to mark paths after cultivation and drought conditions delayed the growth of some crops, but warm conditions during November have encouraged healthy crop growth and in some places routes have become obscured by winter cereals.
Farmers are being urged to ensure that all paths are kept clear to help keep users on the straight and narrow and ensure they are not scattered across the countryside by using unauthorised routes.
The Rights of Way Team can provide accurate maps and details of recorded routes and also waymarkers to enable farmers to clearly mark the exact route of paths and to help avoid unintended trespass.
County Council Cabinet Member for Community Infrastructure, Councillor Steve Criswell, said: “Clear and clearly marked paths will help keep path users on the straight and (not too) narrow when they are out and about taking healthy exercise to walk off the excess this Christmas.”
For more information on countryside access in Cambridgeshire, go to: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/countryside or call (01223) 715350.
Hay-you! Don’t miss your chance to become a tenant farmer!
Press release from Cambridgeshire County Council
Release date: 10/11/2011
Author: Mark Miller
David King, national tenant spokesman for the NFU, encourages people to look at letting a farm
• Ditch Farm, Burwell,
• Lincoln Farm, March
• Middlemere Farm, Soham
• New Farm, Earith
The farms will be open for viewing on the 6th December and the deadline for applications is 23rd December 2011.
Cambridgeshire County Council’s Farms Estate covers 35,000 acres (13,500 ha) with 250 tenants and is the largest of its kind in England and Wales.
The Estate is important in Cambridgeshire’s rural economy, supporting many small buisinesses and provides funding for wider Council services as well as an important first rung on the ladder for new entrants to farming. It also helps protect the local unique countryside and environment as well as provide leisure opportunities in the countryside.
Prudent management of the estate since 1993 has enabled £51 million to be released to be spent on delivering council priorities.
The estate has been used to open public access to the countryside with miles of new bridleways and footpaths. It has also improved the landscape with new woods and hedges as well as protecting biodiversity and archaeology.
Cambridgeshire County Councillor Steve Count said: “These four farms represent an amazing opportunity for someone to start a small rural business and get their foot on the ladder of a career in agriculture. The farms estate is important to the County Council in that it provides careers and boosts the local rural economy as well as protecting the environment. I would urge anyone to listen to what David has to say and maybe soon you could become his neighbour.”
Anyone interested should look at the Council’s website
or call 01223 699095.
Wild Bird Seed Mix – how to do it…
….Expert advice coming to a farm near you!
Experts from Kings and the RSPB invite you to a series of events where you can get advice on the establishment, management, and agronomic and environmental benefits of wild bird seed mix.w
ardship and CFE.
Tues 1 Nov Halls Farm, Guyhirn, PE13 4AD
Tues 8 Nov Grapnell’s Farm, Wallasea, SS4 2HD
Weds 9 Nov Green Farm, Prickwillow, CB7 4UN
Thur 10 Nov Priory Farm, Needingworth, PE27 4NE
All events run 10.30am – 1.30pm, lunch and refreshments provided
Speakers:
Richard Barnes, Game Cover & Conservation Crops Manager, Kings
Simon Tonkin, Senior FarmlandConservation Officer, RSPB
Niki Williamson, Fenland Farmland Bird Adviser, RSPB
Frank Vargas, Essex Farmland Bird, Adviser, RSPB
Booking essential: helen.leach@rspb.org.uk, 01603 697500
Barclays Launches £100 Million Energy Fund for Farmers
Barclays Bank has created a £100 million fund designed to help farmers meet the costs of renewable energy initiatives like wind farms, solar panels, organic waste power and hydro plants.
Research undertaken by the bank has revealed that agricultural businesses are now keen to benefit from government support tariffs. More than a third of farmers would like to install renewable energy projects on their land during the coming year, and hope to generate average annual returns of £25,000.
Britain aims to generate 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020, compared with 7.4% reached in 2010.
The Barclays survey of 300 agricultural customers indicated that four out of five farmers recognise how renewable energy can save costs and 60% see it as a source of additional income.
The funding provider expects around 80-90% of projects will be solar and wind farms as they are cheapest to build and their costs are forecast to drop by up to 50% in the next three to five years as demand rises and technology improves. Barclays states that the cost of installing renewable energy projects can be recovered after around ten years.
The fund’s loan budget will be unlimited and it has been suggested that the first £100 million could support more than 100 projects as the average cost varies between £250,000 and £700,000.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/30/barclays-renewable-energy-farmers
comments welcome
Driest in a 100 years!!
According to the BBC ! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13617207
Now the drought is biting
Cats looking for homes
- Valentine looking for home
Valentine is looked after by the Chatteris, St. Ives Branch of Cats Protection. She is 5 years old and has been with us for over a year as she is an independent lady who has previously lived on a farm and is finding it hard to find a new home on another farm.
She would desperately love to find a new home where she can roam freely as she did before.
