Cereals in focus for South West Down
UFU commodity committee chairmen and members at Hillsborough for the launch of the farm safety campaign. Picture: Cliff Donaldson
FOLLOWING a difficult and challenging year for farmers, the South Down winter programme is already in full swing, discussing issues that beat right at the heart of the agricultural community.
The 2012/2013 programme kicked off with an excellent presentation from Philip Johnston and Ian Moore on animal health issues, and how members can easier identify problems early, as well as the necessary steps that can be taken to avoid spread of disease on farms.
The meeting was well attended with refreshments provided, and as remarked by one of member, “A cup of tea hurts nobody!”.
The issue of Health and Safety is obviously at the forefront of all thoughts at the present time, with recent events highlighting the dangers that our farmers face in their day to day duties. In light of this a number of groups are running a Farm Health and Safety Day on Tuesday 23rd October at AFBI in Hillsborough. This is a meeting that farmers should make a priority of attending, as we work together to ensure safety becomes integral to the operation of our businesses.
The next local meeting is on 6th November, focussing on cereals. The speaker at this event will be Malachy Mason, who works as an agronomist for UAP. This should be an excellent meeting, and you can be sure that a cup of tea/coffee will be available on the cold winter nights. Again this meeting will be in the new venue at the Old Town Hall in Banbridge.
Finally, members are reminded that they can still pay Union subscriptions by Direct Debit, and in return obtain a free body warmer or waterproof jacket.
If the weather remains the same as at present, the body warmer could come in very useful. Not forgetting all the benefits, you can avail of being a member of the Ulster Farmer’s Union.
Group leaders trust that members are looking forward to the winter programme and that the meetings will be well attended focussing on a wide range of topics from across the entire farming spectrum.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
