CARA Wales

As of midnight on the 1^st of September the whole of Wales has been included in the bluetongue protection zone.  This means that the area that covered the South East of Wales has been extended to cover the whole country.

The extension to the zone means that farmers are able to move their stock from Wales to all areas of England that are in the protection zone. Stock can only be moved to a “free” area if they have been vaccinated under a vet’s supervision, subject to a 60 day standstill or 35 days if a blood test establishes immunity. Stock can be moved into Wales from all areas in the protection zone as well as the free areas which will come as good news to many people wanting to purchase animals at any forthcoming Autumn Sales.  Farmers are however urged not to move animals from areas of higher risk unless needed.

Farmers have been urged to vaccinate their stock as soon as possible as September is a month of high risk for the disease and it was the month when the first case was reported a year ago. The vaccine is available by ordering it from your vet.

The vaccine comes in 50ml and 20ml bottles, and is available through private veterinarians via veterinary wholesalers.

The wholesale “list” price is reported to be £22.02 for the 50ml bottles and £13.10 for the 20ml bottles.

The final on-farm price is likely to be around £27.50-£33.00 for the 50ml bottles (55-66p per ml) and around £16.35-£19.65 for the 20ml bottles (82-98p per ml) plus VAT, to cover the overhead, handling and administration charges throughout the distribution process.

Farmers are reminded that the vaccine will require a 1 ml dose in sheep and two separate 1 ml doses in cattle.

From September 2008 tax codes for many employees are going to change. The personal allowance (free pay) in 2008/09 for people under 65 will increase from £5435 to £6035.  This means that employees are now able to earn £116 per week or £503 per month before tax and N.I. are applied.  The new emergency tax code will be 603L. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will be sending out a revised Employer CD-ROM; 2008 (August), which will include updated tools for calculating payroll.  If you use a payroll system, you should be sent an update in August.  If you have not received the update yet, contact your payroll provider. 

The new tax codes must be used from the first payday on or after 7th September 2008. The table below (taken from HMRC website) shows the changes that will need to be made to your employees’ tax codes. 

 More information can be found on HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/epa-basicrate.htm

Thanks to everyone who entered our prize draw at the Pembrokeshire Show.  The winners are:

1st place (winning £50 worth of lab analysis) - Mr. and Mrs. Coney, Lower End Town Farm

2nd place (winning £20 worth of lab analysis) - Sarah Jane Thomas, Treventy Farm 

Click here to see pictures of our stand at the show.

From May 2010, fruit and vegetable producers in Wales will be eligible to apply for Single Payment Scheme (SPS) entitlements for the first time. This will include potato farmers.

The direct payments to fruit and vegetable producers will be at the average level per hectare of the SPS in Wales and will be based on production hectarage in 2007. The projected entitlement value is €249 per hectare or approximately £80/acre but is subject to change in the light of further work.

Applications would need to be lodged in May 2010 with payments due from the following December.  The Welsh Assembly Government is now working on setting up the scheme and needs information on potential claimants - in order to prepare IT and to make the Single Payment on the SAF in May 2010 without delays.

If you think you may be eligible, please contact the office for guidelines on how to proceed.

After what for most people has been a difficult silage season, we are seeing a huge variance in silage analysis. There are some high D-Value, high energy silages, along with some very fibrous, late cut silages. One common factor, with the lack of decent sunshine, appears to be low sugars in silages. This means that silages will have a poor fermentation and could therefore be unstable, or give low animal intakes.

In order for farmers to get the best performance out of their animals, be they beef, dairy or sheep, the first step has to be to get the silage properly analysed. This is something that we at CARA can aid with, along with our relationship with Frank Wright laboratories. We can send the sample away and have an accurate result back within 72 hours.

Using the analysis, it is then possible to device the exact requirements for the animals. With feed prices as they are, it is crucial to purchase and feed the correct ingredient at the correct rate in order to promote performance. Feeds can be compared several ways, most notably on a cost per tonne of dry matter, cost per megajoule or cost per percent protein basis. A good way of comparing is by using Relative Feed Values, (RFV).

RFV takes the energy value of cereals, and the protein value of soya, and compares this to other feeds to see which offers value for money. The table below shows a few examples of what different feed ingredients are worth. For more information please do not hesitate to contact the office.

From 11th January 2008, new legislation means that all lambs born after this date, that are intended for breeding will need double tagging. The two tags used must be identical - unless a tatoo is used. All lost tags must be replaced within 28 days, and entered into the holding register. All movements must be recorder within 36 hours of the event. The same rules will apply for goats.

The time of year has come around again to complete the SAF. There are a few changes to note to the forms, the largest being the move towards “one form for all schemes”. Basically, all payments for Tir Cynnal, Tir Gofal and the Organic Farming Scheme will be applied for on the SAF form. This will mean that a greater deal of cross checking is required by applicants to ensure all records cross match and correspond.

If you require assistance in completing your form please contact the office.

A very good article in Farmer’s Guardian regarding the WiRE conference at Harper Adams, reminded me of a few salient points that we should all bare in mind!

• For business analysis a pen, paper and calculator are all that are required
• Understanding profit is essential
• The results of your annual accounts should never be a surprise - you should have an idea what the answer will be
• Spending more than you take in is not sustainable
• Improving profit doesn’t mean necessarily working harder - it may mean selling for a better price, or spending less
• Don’t be afraid of money, or your bank statement