Vets to go on strike in Northern Ireland
Vets working for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland are set to strike for 5 days from the 30th October in protest over low pay.
It is expected that disruption will be caused at abattoirs and ports. The vets serve as inspectors at abattoirs and are legally required to be present when animals are slaughtered.
The pay award of £552 to all civil servants in Northern Ireland is likely to be far less than the pay award for vets in England and Wales where the Food Standards Agency has allocated an additional £29.5 million for veterinary contractor costs.
EU fails to reach a decision on Glyphosate rules
EU member states failed to reach the required 55% majority for the adoption of the new rules which would approve the continued use of Glyphosate for the next 10 years.
The current approval runs out on the 15th December and the proposal to renew the approval of Glyphosate use is now due to go before the Appeals Committee in the first half of November.
Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the EU and in the event of a decision not being reached by 15 December it is likely that the current agreement would be temporarily extended.
Cereal yields lower in 2023
A provisional report published by DEFRA has indicated that all the main cereal crops saw reduced yields in 2023 compared to 2022 with areas also falling, with the exception of winter barley, which saw a 5.2% increase in area in 2023.
The provisional estimate of the 2023 English wheat harvest is 12.8 million tonnes, a decrease of 10% on 2022. The provisional estimate of the 2023 English barley harvest is 4.8 million tonnes, a decrease of 5.8% on 2022. In 2023 oats production fell by 18% and Oilseed rape production is estimated to have fallen by 14%.
Full UK results will be published on 14 December 2023 and will include the final harvest figures for England as well as those for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.