Some of the over 1,450 people brought by AG Recruitment owed thousands to unlicensed brokers
A British recruitment agency that brought Indonesian farmworkers to the UK who had debts of thousands of pounds to foreign brokers has lost its licence as a seasonal worker sponsor.
More than 1,450 Indonesians were brought to Britain last year by AG Recruitment to pick berries and other fruits to supply British supermarkets.
Continue reading...Moree Plains company found guilty of knowingly taking water with faulty metering equipment for crops such as cotton
A Moree Plains irrigator has been ordered to pay a record $350,000 in fines after pleading guilty to knowingly taking water, using an under-recording meter system and constructing an unlawful dam.
It is the first time a “tier one” offence has been successfully prosecuted by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR).
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Continue reading...Major environmental plan includes tackling sewage spills and restoring wildlife habitats but critics question lack of funding
Every household will be within a 15-minute walk of a green space or water, under a major environmental improvement plan for England set out by the government on Tuesday.
The long-awaited measures will include commitments to restore at least 500,000 hectares (1.2m acres) of wildlife habitat, and 400 miles of river. This will include 25 new or expanded national nature reserves and 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of new woodland along England’s rivers. A new species survival fund will target some of the most threatened wildlife, including hedgehogs and red squirrels.
Continue reading...Scientists identify parts of ocean suitable for seaweed cultivation and suggest it could constitute 10% of human diet to reduce impact of agriculture
An area of ocean almost the size of Australia could support commercial seaweed farming around the world, providing food for humans, feed supplements for cattle, and alternative fuels, according to new research.
Seaweed farming is a nascent industry globally but the research says if it could grow to constitute 10% of human diets by 2050 it could reduce the amount of land needed for food by 110m hectares (272m acres) – an area twice the size of France.
Continue reading...Study measured glyphosate in urine and found high levels associated with signs of oxidative stress
New research by top US government scientists has found that people exposed to the widely used weedkilling chemical glyphosate have biomarkers in their urine linked to the development of cancer and other diseases.
The study, published last week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, measured glyphosate levels in the urine of farmers and other study participants and determined that high levels of the pesticide were associated with signs of a reaction in the body called oxidative stress, a condition that causes damage to DNA.
Continue reading...Toxic pesticides used to eradicate grain-eating quelea may harm the country’s endangered raptors, say conservationists
A drive by the Kenyan government to kill up to 6 million red-billed quelea birds that have invaded farms will have unintended consequences for raptors and other wild species, experts have warned.
The continuing drought in the Horn of Africa has reduced the amount of native grass, whose seeds are queleas’ main food source, causing the birds to increasingly invade grain fields, putting 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of rice under threat. About 300 acres of rice fields have been destroyed by the birds.
Continue reading...Final agreement could bring better protection for vital ecosystems and big reforms to agriculture
A potentially transformational agreement for nature is close to being reached at Cop15 in Montreal, which could bring better protection for Earth’s vital ecosystems such as the Amazon and Congo basin rainforests, big reforms to agriculture, and better protection of indigenous territories and rights – but there are concerns that key issues are being overlooked.
After four years of negotiations and 12 years since the last biodiversity targets were agreed in Japan, the Chinese president of Cop15 put forward its recommendations for a final agreement after two weeks of intense negotiations at the UN biodiversity summit in Canada.
Continue reading...Warning comes as more than 130 people who ate range of contaminated fresh food items suffer symptoms including hallucinations and delirium
Australians are being urged not to seek out contaminated baby spinach products for a recreational high after more than 130 people who ate a range of fresh food items suffered symptoms including hallucinations and delirium.
Authorities were on Sunday night testing the weed believed to be responsible for the widespread recall of products containing spinach thought to have come from a farm in Victoria.
Riviera Fresh – Riviera Farms Baby Spinach
Fresh Salad Co – Fresh and Fast Stir Fry
Woolworths – Chicken Cobb Salad and Chickpea Falafel Salad
Continue reading...Post-pandemic relaxation of restrictions could weaken animal protection and pose a hazard to public health, say experts
China appears to be weakening its post-Covid restrictions on the farming of wildlife such as porcupines, civets and bamboo rats, which raises a new risk to public health and biodiversity, warn NGOs and experts.
Before the pandemic, wildlife farming was promoted by government agencies as an easy way for rural Chinese people to get rich. But China issued an outright ban on hunting, trading and transporting wildlife, as well as the consumption as food, after public health experts suggested the virus could have originated from the supply chain.
Continue reading...The environment secretary tells MPs it is ‘not the role of government to provide free food’ or to intervene in markets
The government has ruled out making any intervention in the market to help farmers or consumers with high food prices, the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, has said.
Food prices have soared in the past year, in part owing to higher input prices such as energy, fertiliser and animal feed. Last month, food price inflation hit a fresh high of 12.4%, with poorer households hit hardest.
Continue reading...Lack of funding identified as biggest obstacle to planting and maintaining hedgerows
Farmers are urging the government to include hedge creation in its nature-friendly farming subsidy scheme in an attempt to increase biodiversity.
Details about the post-Brexit replacement for the EU’s common agricultural policy have been scarce, with land managers simply told they would get payments for providing “public goods” such as protecting nature.
Continue reading...Ministers urged to act as study shows average block of cheese or loaf of bread makes farmers less than a penny
UK farmers are receiving negligible profits for many items as food prices rise and supermarkets boast record takings.
An average block of cheese or loaf of bread produces less than a penny for farmers, and fruit producers do not fare much better, making just 3p from each kilo of apples.
Continue reading...State attempts to push through plans to shut hundreds of farms to cut nitrogen oxide emissions
The Dutch government is offering to buy out up to 3,000 “peak polluter” farms and major industrial polluters in an attempt to reduce ammonia and nitrogen oxide emissions that are illegal under EU law.
The nitrogen minister, Christianne van der Wal, said farmers would be offered more than 100% of the value of their farms to quit. For the first time, the government has said that forced buyouts will follow next year if the voluntary measures fail.
Continue reading...Tassal and Huon Aquaculture did not announce use of antibiotics, which may contribute to growth of antibiotic-resistant superbugs
More than a tonne of antibiotics was used to control a potentially deadly fish disease at two salmon farms in southern Tasmania earlier this year, but the companies and government made no public announcements at the time.
Reports submitted to the Environment Protection Agency by Tassal and Huon Aquaculture revealed wild fish had scavenged antibiotic-laced pellets below the salmon cages. One sample of three flathead caught off Coningham beach, 2km from the boundary of Tassal’s Sheppards lease, revealed antibiotics in the flesh of the fish above the reportable threshold. The monitoring reports were not made public until months after the disease outbreak.
Continue reading...Nepali workers who quit jobs and borrowed cash to come to UK are out of work just weeks after arriving
Nepali workers hired to pick fruit on British farms say they have been left thousands of pounds in debt after being sent home only weeks after they arrived.
The fruit pickers were recruited under the government’s seasonal worker scheme and say they were offered work for six months. But less than two months after arriving, they were told they were no longer needed and instructed to book flights home.
Continue reading...Project promises to create jobs and restore biodiversity, but locals say it is taking food-growing land out of production
The rolling fields south of Grantham are scenic, but these huge expanses of wheat and beans are almost bereft of insects in summer. In autumn, a few skylarks sing and the occasional buzzard soars, but there is precious little life in the landscape.
But soon a 1,525-acre swath of this productive Lincolnshire farmland will be brimming with wildlife, according to a new company that aims to restore biodiversity and make money by rewilding farmland.
Continue reading...Exclusive: charities say animal abusers are not being held to account as figures show small number of inspections
Just one in 300 complaints about animal welfare at UK farms led to a prosecution over the last four years, with half of the accused holdings not even inspected, analysis has shown.
A report by Animal Equality and the Animal Law Foundation also said that fewer than three in 100 of the UK’s estimated 291,000 farms had an annual inspection by a public body between 2018 and 2021.
Continue reading...Martinsgans – or martin goose – is eaten around 11 November, but restaurants are dropping dish to save cash
Soaring inflation threatens to cast a shadow over one of Germany’s most popular cultural festivities, which culminates in eating roast goose.
A Martinsgans, or martin goose, is eaten on or around 11 November – St Martin’s Day – when the 4th-century Roman soldier-turned-saint who shared his cloak with a poor man is remembered throughout the country in lantern parades, song, bonfires and theatrical reenactments of his life.
Continue reading...Scientists have long sought to farm the scarce seafood staple, but critics say animals are not suited to intensive methods
Scientists in Japan say they have developed a groundbreaking method of farming squid that could solve shortages of the seafood staple, amid warnings from environmental groups that aquaculture is incompatible with the animal’s welfare.
Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) say their system produced a reliable supply of squid and has the potential to be commercialised.
Continue reading...Carbon-neutral farmer says use of offsets from Armoobilla project ‘outrageous’ but company says they meet ‘rigorous requirements’ of government standard
A farmer who was assured by Coles that it would look for better carbon offsets for its “carbon-neutral” beef has described the supermarket’s continued use of credits from the Queensland Armoobilla regeneration project as “outrageous”, claiming the project is a “greenwash”.
When carbon-neutral sheep and cattle farmer Mark Wootton called on companies to ensure the integrity of farm offsets used for carbon-neutral products back in April, Coles staff had assured him that the supermarket would “look for a better alternative” once their contract with Armoobilla finished in July.
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