http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog A blog about rural life in the UK, our countryside and my country life. It's all here, farming, gardening, wildlife, animals and rural dating. Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:31:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/petting-farms-and-e-coli/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/petting-farms-and-e-coli/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:28:49 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=706 To date, there have been a reported 64 cases of people infected with E Coli 0157 bacteria from Godstone farm in Surrey and four petting farms have now been closed (either by health officials or voluntarily). So far there are no known links between the four farms and one petting farm has two different strains [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/petting-farms-and-e-coli/feed/ 6 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/red-tape-forcing-farmers-to-quit/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/red-tape-forcing-farmers-to-quit/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:08:48 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=698 Have a read of this: “This means farmers will have to calculate the level of available nitrogen already in the soil, the N requirement of the crop, the available N from planned spreading of livestock manures and calculate the remaining level of manufactured nitrogen they can apply. Accurate record keeping is also a requirement.” Is [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/red-tape-forcing-farmers-to-quit/feed/ 4 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/new-food-and-farming-minister-for-uk/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/new-food-and-farming-minister-for-uk/#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:01:09 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=654 Since I’m in cynical mood today I thought I’d have a browse around to find out about the new Minister for Food and Farming, Jim Fitzpatrick. For those of you who don’t know the former UK Government Farming Minister, Jane Kennedy, resigned last week (read that as asked to leave) after refusing to vow her [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/new-food-and-farming-minister-for-uk/feed/ 1 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/receivers-called-in-by-dairy-farmers-of-britain/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/receivers-called-in-by-dairy-farmers-of-britain/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:17:45 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=645 Another sad day for British farming as the Dairy Farmers of Britain call in the receivers. The news of receivers being called in happened on the same day the Farmers Weekly reported that farming industry leaders called for retailers to pay a fair price for milk. I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but the [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/receivers-called-in-by-dairy-farmers-of-britain/feed/ 4 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/eu-and-cap-robbing-peter-to-pay-paul/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/eu-and-cap-robbing-peter-to-pay-paul/#comments Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:55:30 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=634 Isn’t the EU and CAP just a way to rob Peter to pay Paul, leaving the UK billions poorer so we can have a badge saying we’re in the gang? Sorry but I was looking up a statistic regarding the common agricultural policy and came across an article about the UK and EU and felt [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/eu-and-cap-robbing-peter-to-pay-paul/feed/ 9 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/farming-safety-message-not-getting-through/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/farming-safety-message-not-getting-through/#comments Sat, 09 May 2009 22:21:01 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=564 Having just returned from a week with food poisoning I was so saddened to be informed of yet another tragic fatal accident in the farming community. A father of three was killed on his farm while fixing his Kramer loader. My deepest sympathies go to his wife and young children. There are two tragedies here, [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/farming-safety-message-not-getting-through/feed/ 10 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pig-flu-pandemic-the-next-farming-related-crisis/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pig-flu-pandemic-the-next-farming-related-crisis/#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:48:58 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=551 What does the new strain of pig flu mean for the world farming community. Will pig flue blow itself out or is this new strain of flu virus going to be the one which results in a pandemic? I’m not one for scaremongering usually but I am worried about the speed this is travelling and [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pig-flu-pandemic-the-next-farming-related-crisis/feed/ 9 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/can-organic-food-survive-the-uk-recession/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/can-organic-food-survive-the-uk-recession/#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:30:05 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=368 The media reaction to the 2009 Organic Market Report by the Soil Association, which was released yesterday, has been quite dramatic. I read the report and felt quietly confident that the UK’s organic food market would survive the recession and yet the first headline to hit the internet, 15 hours ago as I type, was [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/can-organic-food-survive-the-uk-recession/feed/ 15 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/is-british-farming-necessary/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/is-british-farming-necessary/#comments Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:04:38 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=359 I would really like to thank a reader of this blog for her recent comments on the post about the Welsh badger cull to stem the spread of bTB in Wales which was recently announced. It is difficult to sum up this blog or why I do it but these comments have given me the [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/is-british-farming-necessary/feed/ 6 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/welsh-badger-cull-gets-go-ahead-to-fight-bovine-bt/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/welsh-badger-cull-gets-go-ahead-to-fight-bovine-bt/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:52:13 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=342 Just a week after Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced a test vaccination project in six areas of England, beginning next year, the Welsh Assembly Government have announced that Wales will go ahead with a badger cull. In England farmers and vets will be trained to trap and inject badgers with a test vaccine for bovine [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/welsh-badger-cull-gets-go-ahead-to-fight-bovine-bt/feed/ 9