UK Lord seriously recommending turning veggie to save the planet

It really is frightening when British Government is influenced by the likes of Lord Nicholas Stern, a so called 'academic' and economist who authored the highly influential Stern Review on the economics of climate change.

The man is now suggesting seriously that we all turn veggie - and he has some support for his manic views.

This from Farmers Weekly UK:

People should stop eating meat to help the world conquer climate change, a leading scientist has warned.
"Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases," said Lord Stern of Brentford.
"It puts enormous pressure on the world's resources. A vegetarian diet is better."
Lord Stern's comments are significant because he is the author of the influential 2006 Stern Review on the cost of tackling global warming.
'A global agreement to tackle climate change would result in soaring costs for meat and other foods that generate large quantities of greenhouse gases, he said.
People's attitudes would evolve until meat eating became unacceptable, Lord Stern predicted.
"I think it's important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating," he said.
Lord Stern made the comments in a front-page interview with The Times.
The article has attracted more than 283 comments from internet readers.
"Eating a vegetarian diet is a lot cheaper than a meat one," wrote Jonte Jay.
"Let's face it - the most expensive foods on the average families shopping lists are meat and dairy."
Peter Radcliffe wrote: "Those who refuse to give up eating meat are contributing significantly to the destruction of the planet."
But most comments were far less sympathetic.
Nicholas Fox wrote: "Tell me I'm having a bad dream and not really living in such a ridiculous country."
Reuben Camara wrote: "Forget methane. There is far more hot air emitting from parasite Lord Stern's mouth than can possibly be good for the planet."

When this kind of myth starts to get traction you know that we are in trouble. It is now time to address some of the balderdash being spouted and to fight back. Our Government has already in principle agreed that agriculture is helping contribute to the problem. It really is only a slippery slope from there to what Lord Stern is suggesting. Why are we not standing up to this?

A bright side to the hype surrounding swine fever?

You would have thought that this morning's news regarding swine fever and its possible importation into New Zealand via Rangitoto College students was enough to put a damper on anybodies week.

Not so for all farmers, with one beaming cocky telling Farmgirl this morning that there could be an immeasurable bright side to the flu hysteria - increased lamb sales around the world as people baulk at buying pork meat.

He has a point. The poor old pig farmer is on a hiding to nothing when the media get involved and hysteria reaches historic proportions.

Yes swine fever is generally contracted from direct contact with pigs but in these circumstances the UN have been careful to publicise the fact that none of those infected have had direct contact. Alas this gets lost in the publicity siege.

The strain, H1N1, is the same strain that causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans, but the detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.

Regardless of the facts Farmers Weekly UK report that Governments across the world are considering tightening rules on pork imports while Russia and Serbia have already banned any pork products from entering their country.

You have to feel sorry for pig farmers who will once again be the focus of a panic backlash but as the farmer told Farmgirl this morning, 'always look on the bright side of life'.

Can't you just see wonderful advertisements on television and in the newspapers around the world now: "Eat Kiwi lamb and stay indoors this year if you want to avoid the flu." Mmmm....the bank account is increasing already...

Thank God for fertiliser competition

Yet again it has been brought home to us here how vital competition in the fertiliser market is with the grumblings coming from UK farmers about the monopolistic industry there.

The latest fall in nitrogen prices in Britain has been met with contempt by farmers who ordered early and are now footing an expensive bill for their trouble.

UK Farmer's Weekly reported many farmers had a perception that the UK fertiliser industry in the form of Growhow UK has excessively profited at their expense - a serious charge, but probably not that far wrong.

Growhow marketing manager Ken Bowler denied the monopoly his company enjoyed had caused the high prices, saying while Growhow was the one remaining manufacturing supplier they still have to compete with opportunistic sellers.

But farmers do feel cheated and it serves to remind us how lucky we are to have Ravensdown and Ballance battling it out for market share. It's true fertiliser prices have been high this season due to international prices - this is not a problem British farmers face alone.

Here we grew wheat when Urea was $1100/tonne and now we could grow that same wheat for $690/tonne. But unlike our English counterparts we can afford to be pragmatic about it, knowing that with the competition in our industry the co-operatives have to bring the prices down as quickly as they possibly can and not drag their feet for extra profit share as seems to be happening with Growhow.

Currently the UK depends on 60% of its fertiliser from imports so it could benefit immensely from having more competition.

Here are the current UK fertiliser prices for March 2009 (£/t delivered):


UK SP5 34.5% N
£265-270

Imported urea Imported AN (full analysis)
£280-300

Granular(dependent upon quality)
£240-270


All illustrated prices are based upon 24t loads for cash payment the month following. Prices for smaller loads and 50kg bags will vary considerably.

For further information go to: http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/03/11/114677/global-marketplace-sees-fertiliser-fall.html