http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/ Country and farming columnists en-gb http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/how-to-cut-cost-of-raising-heifers-91466-20865388/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/how-to-cut-cost-of-raising-heifers-91466-20865388/ DAIRY farmers spend an average of £1,090 on rearing replacement heifers, but could slash costs by changing their system. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/finding-a-hot-spot-is-a-struggle-in-cold-weather-91466-20865389/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/finding-a-hot-spot-is-a-struggle-in-cold-weather-91466-20865389/ THE 2008 fishing season has not had a very auspicious opening two months, although there have been a few highlights. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/farmers-must-be-in-tune-with-customers-needs-says-minister-91466-20865409/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/farmers-must-be-in-tune-with-customers-needs-says-minister-91466-20865409/ IT CAN be easy to forget sometimes that farming is not about the production of animals or the growing of crops – it is about the supply of food. When a farmer sells a fat lamb, that is not the finished product. The final product is the lamb chop on the dinner plate. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/boy-wonder-rhys-flint-bags-his-first-hat-trick-91466-20865413/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/boy-wonder-rhys-flint-bags-his-first-hat-trick-91466-20865413/ WALES’ Rhys Flint, 17, continues to make the racing headlines. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/down-to-earth-liz-shankland-91466-20865459/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/down-to-earth-liz-shankland-91466-20865459/ There comes a time when even the best of mothers has to get tough and let the youngster cope http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/bacon-doesn-t-come-from-sheep-91466-20865479/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/bacon-doesn-t-come-from-sheep-91466-20865479/ PRIMARY schools across Wales are to get a new DVD, but rather than the latest fantasy blockbuster it is a practical film about farming and where our food comes from. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/proof-that-farming-progress-can-safeguard-tradition-91466-20865481/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/05/06/proof-that-farming-progress-can-safeguard-tradition-91466-20865481/ IT IS often claimed by people outside the industry that farmers are reluctant to change their traditional style of farming and slow to grasp new challenges. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/help-the-countryside-by-reporting-the-fly-tippers-91466-20832232/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/help-the-countryside-by-reporting-the-fly-tippers-91466-20832232/ AS YOU read this, my face is in one piece and all my teeth and bones are intact. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/stagefright-is-a-worry-for-show-91466-20832234/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/stagefright-is-a-worry-for-show-91466-20832234/ The clock is ticking as our smallholder columnist prepares to venture into the showring for the first time http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/feeling-the-pain-of-soaring-inflation-91466-20832370/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/feeling-the-pain-of-soaring-inflation-91466-20832370/ THERE have been increasingly frequent criticisms of inflation statistics, with unfavourable comparisons between the official Consumer Price Index and the experience of particular groups. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/the-government-should-realise-farm-potential-91466-20832372/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/the-government-should-realise-farm-potential-91466-20832372/ IF THE Government is serious about helping to tackle the developing world food crisis, it should be doing much more to realise the potential offered by its own farmers and growers. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/nicola-finds-a-new-partner-for-beijing-91466-20832376/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/nicola-finds-a-new-partner-for-beijing-91466-20832376/ WELSH dressage star Nicola Tustain has started her Beijing Paralympic campaign in earnest. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/stallion-needle-gun-could-be-sharpest-around-91466-20832379/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/stallion-needle-gun-could-be-sharpest-around-91466-20832379/ DAVID BRACE, who is well known in horse-racing circles, is the proud owner of Needle Gun, a top-class stallion who is standing at his Dunraven Stud, Llanmihangel Farm, near Bridgend. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/early-birds-will-catch-the-dawn-chorus-91466-20832534/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/early-birds-will-catch-the-dawn-chorus-91466-20832534/ IF you sleep with the bedroom windows open, you’ll already be well aware that the dawn chorus is in full swing. By the time the sun rises each morning – currently just before 6am – little feathered alarm clocks in gardens and parks all around the UK have already begun singing. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/leth-them-do-what-they-do-best-91466-20832539/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/leth-them-do-what-they-do-best-91466-20832539/ LET farmers produce food. That’s what my Conservative colleagues and I have called for in the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, last week. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/take-a-leaf-out-of-dai-s-book-91466-20832540/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/29/take-a-leaf-out-of-dai-s-book-91466-20832540/ ONE always derives a certain amount of pleasure after succeeding in doing something in the correct way. The old adage “practice makes master” is often quoted and doing something in the right way does bring its benefits. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/horse-show-gets-ready-to-a-take-a-leap-91466-20797115/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/horse-show-gets-ready-to-a-take-a-leap-91466-20797115/ ONE of Wales’s largest show jumping events will take place on the outskirts of Cardigan next weekend – at the same time as the Barley Saturday Stallion Show and Parade in the town centre. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/more-youngsters-are-reeled-in-by-the-lure-of-fishing-taster-days-91466-20797118/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/more-youngsters-are-reeled-in-by-the-lure-of-fishing-taster-days-91466-20797118/ THE numbers of young people taking up fishing had declined in the last few decades but thankfully this seems to have been arrested and the graph line is once again pointing upwards. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/early-race-meeting-blessed-with-sun-91466-20797120/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/early-race-meeting-blessed-with-sun-91466-20797120/ WALES & Borders are the only race promoters holding harness racing meetings in Britain so early in the season, and they were rewarded on Sunday at the Tairgwaith all-weather track with a glorious day of sunshine, with good competitive racing and some exceedingly close finishes. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/brilliant-rhys-wins-grand-national-on-little-ed-91466-20797121/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/country-farming-columnists/2008/04/22/brilliant-rhys-wins-grand-national-on-little-ed-91466-20797121/ EDDIE FORD’S Little Ed, brilliantly ridden by Rhys Hughes, landed the Welsh Point-To-Point Grand National Volkswagen Touareg Men’s Open Race at the rainsoaked Pentyrch Hunt Steeplechases.