Increased suicide risk amongst farmers in flooding aftermath

Fears of an increase in the number of suicides amongst UK farmers in the wake of spiralling debt caused by the effects of winter flooding, have triggered a joint nationwide initiative to help identify those at greatest risk. The Farming Community Network charity has joined forces with the Campaign for Awareness of Mental Illness Among […]
Land drainage firm invest £250k in new machinery

William Morfoot Ltd based in Shipdham has added a Tracked Gravel Cart and Trackway Recycling Machinery to its fleet and will be used primarily with the firm’s agricultural clients. The state-of-the-art Tracked Gravel Cart, which can carry up to 15 tonnes of gravel in a single load, will be used on land drainage projects. The […]
Defra flooding funding announcement
NFU President Meurig Raymond said: “The NFU welcomes the announcement by Defra with farmers hit by recent flooding being offered grants of up to £35,000. This funding is essential to help cover the costs of restoring damaged land following the unprecedented storms this winter. “We recognise that farmers have faced difficulties in applying for funding […]
Midland surveyors help flood affected farmers
The Midlands branch of the Surveyors RECAP Ltd ( http://www.surveyorsrecap.co.uk/ ) donated £2,000 to farming charity the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I.) to help support flood affected farmers in the South and South West of the country. Pictured is Nick Hansen, chairman of the Surveyors RECAP group who also runs the Ashbourne branch of Bagshaws, […]
FUW makes new appeal to transport forage to Somerset

A West Wales farmers’ leader today appealed for offers of help to transport much-needed forage to Somerset farmers still suffering the effects of flooding. After leading a delivery of 110 hay and silage bales -each weighing 800 kilos – to Sedgemoor market this morning for distribution to farmers struggling to feed livestock, Farmers’ Union of […]
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society helps Somerset farmers

In a unanimous vote of support for fellow farmers, the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Board of Directors last week agreed to donate £2,000 to the rural communities affected by the floods in Somerset. During their most recent monthly board meeting the Directors of the Society decided that the plight of the farming community on the […]
Ploughing the only way forward to repair flood damage to soil

Flood damage to soil and flood-repair is one situation that will benefit more from full tillage of the soil rather than no-tillage (or direct drilling), says the New Zealand specialist soil scientist John Baker. Any organic matter and soil microbial life in that eroded soil will have been stripped out and washed away, so it […]
‘I’d do it again’

A Yorkshireman who drove more than 200 miles in his New Holland T7 to help deliver 30 tonnes of forage for flooded-out farmers in Somerset says his action succeeded in highlighting their plight – and he was ready to do it again. Philip Rowbottom, who runs an arable operation at Mount Farm, near Woolley, Wakefield, […]
Receding flood waters pose new dangers to animals, warn vets

Vets at the British Veterinary Association (BVA) are warning animal owners in flood-stricken areas to be aware of the new dangers posed by receding flood waters. The water, which has flooded homes and land across the UK, is finally beginning to subside but vets are warning that the danger to pets and livestock remains. In […]