Falklands : Falklands Agricultural Advisory Committee Report
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 09.06.2007 (Article Archived on 23.06.2007)
Find out what happened during this important Committee meeting.
AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE: A BRIEF REPORT
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the Agricultural Advisory Committee took place in the Department of Agriculture Library on Monday, 28 May 2007. Present were Cllrs Hansen (Chair and Stevens as well as Mrs. Phyl Rendell (Director of Minerals and Agriculture), Mr Vic Epstein (Senior Vet), Mr. Neil Judd (Senior Agricultural Officer) Mr. Terrance McPhee (Farmers’ Representative), Mr Paul Robertson (Rural Business Association Representative) Mr. John Ferguson (FIMCO) and Ms. Glynis King (Minutes).
Firstly, Mr Paul Robertson was welcomed to the Committee as Rural Business Association (RBA) Representative. There were no apologies for absence or declarations of interest. After the confirmation of the minutes of the meeting held on 04 April 2007, matters arising from those minutes were discussed.
Cattle Grids:
Cattle grids need to be re-engineered so that cattle cannot cross over them.
National Beef Herd (NBH):
Mr. Lee from White Rock Farm wants to retain the NBH for a minimum of another 12 months. Members agreed to this until May 2008.
Replacement Fencing:
No Farmers volunteered to give it back and it is assumed that they want to use it. There has been a recent request for 3 miles of fence battens if anyone has spare replacement fencing.
Labour Scheme:
New guidelines have been approved and there will be funding from the last week of June. The policy is that replacement fencing must be put up before funding for any other work will be approved. Funding must be applied for in advance of any works being carried out.
Mrs Rendell then gave a brief activity report what has happened over the past month
Pasture Improvement Programme:
49 plans have been submitted for consideration and most reflect cropping for winter feed and nutrition for stock. Rotational grazing is also part of the programme. A quarter of the funds are allocated for rotational grazing. Planning for the programme began earlier this year than in previous years due to confirmation of funds in the budget.
PIP:
Phyl Rendell said she made no apology for evaluation of PIP plans as it must be assured that the plans meet the guidelines. The PIP was debated at LEGCO on 24 May. There has been some criticism in the press (Not FINN) that DOA are telling farmers what to do. Mrs. Rendell stressed that staff provide advice only and it is up to farmers to take the advice or not. However, if FIG funds are involved, staff have a duty to ensure that proposed spending complies with the guidelines. Te LEGCO debate was about how the scheme should be developed and not about funding. Mrs Rendell feels it is important to have budget support from Stanley as well as from Camp. Cllr. Stevens agreed that Stanley Councillors support effective Camp funding.
Trials Using By-pass Protein and Forage Cops on Farms:
Peter Johnson had provided the DMA a briefing note on the two trials being run which she thanked him for.
Swede Trials:
7 crops have been planted of which 5 have grown well enough to be grazed. In the next few weeks transects will be taken to quantify yields based on this information a grazing strategy, such as sheep numbers and length of time on crop will be calculated with each farmer for each of the trial sites.
Protein Trials:
Feed has been sourced from Australia after much searching. This has been ordered and is due to be shipped on 9th June. Lupins (32%) protein were the final product of choice. Out of the 8 trials, currently 4 (2 ewe & 2 hogget) have been filled. Another reminder has been put out in the current Wool Press for interested parties. After Farmers’ Week, training of sheep to feed will begin, with lupin ration beginning at the end of July.
Cllr Stevens raised the question as to what size bags the feed would come in. DMA explained that they would be in 50kg bags but this was addressed at the last department staff meeting and the bags will be broken down. This problem is to be addressed as most feed, seed etc arrives in 50kg bags.
Sheep ET/AI Programme:
Nyree Heathman has once again prepared the programmes and ordered all the genetic material and drugs required with the minimum of fuss and the programme is in progress at present. Michylla Seal, a genetic specialist, is also here working with Nyree through the farms and they have completed the North Arm and Goose Green programmes.
Dohne Merino, SAMM and MPM material, both local fresh and some frozen, is being used predominantly this year. The DMA commented that the availability of material from excellent local stud animals is very encouraging.
Managed Grazing Workshops:
Jim Gerrish from Idaho visited the Islands in April/May to deliver a series of workshops to reinforce the concept of managed grazing, on both East and West Falkland. Attendance was mixed but feedback has been very encouraging. Encouraging enough to decide to bring Jim back again in Farmers’ Week to continue the dialogue on managed grazing. It was hoped that a repeat visit would be welcome as there has been comment that each presenter DoA brings to the Islands has new ideas. Councillor Stevens and TM said that they saw the logical continuation of the Grazing for Profit courses in Mr Gerrish’s workshops.
Farmers’ Week :
The DoA are to put forward a programme of presentations over two days during Farmers’ Week, at the request once again of the RBA. The two sessions will run over Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th July. These will be open to ALL farmers in the Islands. There will be farmer participation as in previous years plus the Veterinary Section will have a slot to discuss animal health issues. Any specific subjects farmers would like to see included should be forwarded to Neil Judd or Vic Epstein.
Organic Status:
Dialogue is ongoing and Neil Judd plans to revisit the Soil Association to demonstrate the “clean and green” status that already exists on farms here. In addition a visit by Soil Association representatives is planned for late in the year as the Association is keen to work with Falkland’s agriculture.
Staff:
Joe Hollins was thanked at the last meeting for his sterling work as Veterinary Officer over the last year, he leaves the Islands on 2nd June. Zoe Luxton was welcomed as the new Veterinary Officer and congratulated on qualifying and gaining the necessary experience to be appointed to this post. Zoe has already been working with farmers during the five months attachment to the Sand Bay Abattoir
FIMCO:
John Ferguson, the Operations Manager at Sand Bay Abattoir was invited to the open part of the meeting to discuss how the 2007 export season had gone. JF informed Members that he would be giving a detailed run through of how the season has gone at Farmers’ Week. He went on to say that he was content with the season, with all objectives met and this being the least traumatic season to date. The season finished a week and a half earlier than last year which was fortunate due to transport limitations into the winter. It is hoped to extend the number of farmers to supply lambs for the coming season.
Mr Ferguson made the following points
- 34,350 mutton processed
- 12,000 lambs processed
- FIMCo is currently run as a project not a business and it is envisaged that it will be 5 – 10 years before it becomes a stand alone business
- Prices for next season would be discussed at a FIMCo Board meeting next week
- A shorter export season while processing on average 400 animals a day helped reduce overheads.
A discussion followed where long-term sustainability was questioned and 5/10 year projections were considered worth analysis. There was also discussion on ways to rationalise transport issues by collective identification of stock holding areas for sheep coming from the West. All these issues had cost implications but JF welcomed suggestions. To conclude, it was agreed that the fifth export season had gone well and an increased amount of money had gone to farmers.
Cllr Hansen thanked John for his time.
Brucella Ovis:
The SVO submitted a self explanatory information paper on a Brucella ovis monitoring programme to seek advice from Members of the best way to introduce checking for signs for the disease on farms.. Should farmers at any time wish to sell to countries other than those in the EU there would need to be proof that monitoring is talking place.
A Testicular Examination of Rams form has been produced by the SVO and these will be handed out at Farmers’ Week, for inclusion in the Farm Management Handbook, which farmers are asked to complete annually. Those not able to attend Farmers’ Week will have a copy posted to them. Suggestions were that the examination could take place at shearing. Farmers who are not sure what to look for could get instruction from the Veterinary Officers.
All Members agreed to promote the monitoring programme and encourage farmers to examine their stock and complete the forms provided. It will also be publicised through FIRS and at Farmers’ Week. It was acknowledged that the monitoring programme would be voluntary.
Hydatidosis : Update
The SVO submitted a paper to update on the progress in eradication of hydatidosis from the Falkland Islands.
Three hydatid cysts were found through the abattoir this season out of the 34,344 export trade sheep undergoing meat inspection. This shows that hydatid still persists in the Islands despite a 37 year campaign on the disease.
SVO has recommended that Members advise the farming community of the necessity of maintaining vigilance in offal control, cull sheep disposal and dog working control to help eradicate hydatidosis from the Falkland Islands. That farmers advise of any abnormalities found in sheep livers of sheep slaughtered on farm and send the affected organs to the DoA for confirmation of hydatidosis and ask farmers to examine the liver and lungs of any hares shot and send any abnormalities to the DoA.
Members supported recommendations and are very willing to advise the farming community of the necessity of maintaining vigilance.
The SVO thanked farmers who call in to advise that their dogs have been pilled on dog dosing days. Many are thankful for the reminder as some have admitted that if it wasn’t for the reminders they may have forgotten to treat their dogs on that occasion.
The press and public were excluded for the rest of the meeting.
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