Radio Opportunity for Scottish SmallholdersBBC Radio Scotland is looking for the new generation of people who have turned their back on the fast-paced life of the city to live the good life as a smallholder, or a greenshifter!
Have you been prompted by the credit crunch to swap the office for the garden?
BBC Radio Scotland is looking for families, couples or individuals who are either Scottish or have moved to Scotland to follow their dream in the last two years.
To pursue this please call Rebecca Smith on 01463 702728, or email rebecca.smith4@bbc.co.uk
Come and See Us at the Royal Welsh Smallholder Festival this weekend!The Smallholder Range will be attending the Royal Welsh Smallholder & Garden Festival this weekend, at Builth Wells, Powys. With plenty to do for all the family, the show is a real celebration of everything smallholder and is a great opportunity to learn about new breeds, gather information or just have a fun day out.
The Smallholder Range will be on hand to provide information on all of their feeds and answer any feeding queries you may have. This year we have also linked up with the RWAS to provide a servce to those coming to the show to learn more about poultry. Poultry Care Corner will be part of the Smallholder Range stand and will have experts on hand to answer any queries you may have about any aspect of getting started with poultry or waterfowl, and you will also be able to collect your FREE care pack to take home with you.
Have you heard of our new range specifically for Ex-Battery Hens? Come and visit our stand this weekend to find out more!
Royal Welsh Smallholder & Garden Festival, Builth Wells, Powys 16-17th May 2009
http://www.rwas.co.uk/en/garden-festival/
Hugh Challenges Chicken NumbersCelebrity chef, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Compassion in World Farming took the high profile Chicken Out! campaign to the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to expose the Government's plan of increasing the number of birds that will be forced into overcrowded chicken sheds from 2010. Despite growing public concern over the link between poor animal welfare and human health - reflected in a 42% increase in sales of higher welfare chicken from 2007-2008- the UK Government is finalising plans to allow even more overcrowding, with a staggering increase of up to 24% from its previous recommended standards.
This is the equivalent of adding more than 11,500 extra chickens into a large shed that already holds 50,000 chickens, or allowing up to 21 birds to be crammed into one square metre. Each chicken will have up to a fifth less floor space than an A4 sheet of paper - even less than the tiny amount of living space a battery hen currently has to endure.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall called on the Minister for Farming and the Environment, Jane Kennedy MP to exclude this huge increase from UK legislation. The celebrity chef delivered his animal welfare message to Mr Dan Skerten, Jane Kennedy's Private Secretary, in the form of a giant postcard signed on behalf of the 159, 613 Chicken Out! supporters, 216 MP's who signed the Early Day Motion 581 on chicken welfare and Compassion in World Farming.
Lasse Bruun, Head of Campaigns, Compassion in World Farming, said "The Government's proposals, if enacted, would undermine the most basic principles of animal welfare. Intensively farmed chickens are already suffering from lack of space, lameness, weak legs and lung failure, yet this proposal will only make the situation worse and goes entirely against the public's demand for higher animal welfare."
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall said " People have become increasingly concerned about the welfare conditions that their food has been raised in. Consumers, especially those on tight budgets, rely on the Government to ensure that the food they have access to is of an acceptable ethical standard. The Government's proposal to reduce welfare standards is not only wrong but ignores this increasing public opinion and most importantly, ignores public interest."
Mike Hancock MP, sponsor of the Early Day Motion 581, said "Stocking densities up to 21 chickens per square metre are simply not acceptable. The British Government should outlaw such extreme densities in this country. It is clear from the soaring sales of higher welfare chickens that the British public want to see better farming conditions for chickens. Compassion in World Farming and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are to be congratulated on their campaign against this extreme overcrowding."
The Chicken Out! campaign has already acheived 159,613 pledges of support (as of 22 April 2009) from consumers who demand higher welfare for chickens.
Sheep Going Nude to Help EconomyGrazing sheep used on conservation land are helping boost Bedfordshire's local economy by having their fleeces turned into wool.
Sheep need to be sheared every year, which is a costly process but the fleeces are usually worth pennies. The Nude Ewe project, supported by Natural England, spins the fleeces into wool and then sellls it to the public.
Money made from the project is given back to farmers to spend on maintaining and looking after the flock. So far the scheme has earned £1000. Grazing sheep eat bramble, shrubs and other coarse vegetation that would otherwise take over habitats such as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs).
Fleeces are already being spun from a small flock of Wensleydale sheep which have soft fleeces and produce sought after wool. Heather Webb, co-ordinator for the Bedfordshire and Luton Biodiversity Partnership, one of the partners in the project said ' The fleeces are only worht pennies, it also costs money to repair fences, maintain shelters and deliver medical treatment for the flocks. We are working to help conservation graziers recover these costs.'
Chicken Couple in Eviction ThreatA couple in Gateshead are facing eviction from their home unless they remove their chickens from their garden.
Elisabeth and Ronald Lewis, are tenants of Gateshead Housing Company, and their tenancy agreement forbids them from keeping livestock.
But Mr Lewis said the birds were doing no harm and that there ‘was no way’ they were giving them up.
A housing company spokesman said that the agreement clearly states that chickens cannot be kept at the property.
Mr Lewis said: ‘We’ll continue keeping the chickens. We’re not giving the chickens up. There’s no way. This is a garden that can easily cope with two chickens. There’s no health hazard, nothing except they (the council) have to have their rules.’
A spokesperson from The Gateshead Housing Company said ‘ Gateshead Council’s tenancy agreement clearly states that tenants must not keep livestock, such as horses, donkeys, goats, pigs, cattle , ducks, geese and chickens at the property.’
He added ‘Animals must not cause a nuisance, annoyance or concern to anyone in the local area including any employee or agent of the council or The Gateshead Housing Company’.
When asked about the possibility of being evicted, Mr Lewis said: ‘We’ll see to that when the time comes.’
As reported by the BBC News website