SWO SWENVO News

EA advice to South West dairy farmers on milk and slurry

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:01:41 GMT

The Environment Agency is urging dairy farmers in the South West to get in contact if they are running out of space to store milk and slurry on their farms during this period of extreme weather.

Some of the worst conditions for 30 years have prevented tankers in some parts of the region from completing their usual milk collections and are hampering farmers attempts to manage their slurry and manure stores. We’ve been in close contact with the NFU who tell us hundreds of farms in the South West have been affected. This is not surprising as the South West has 37% of England’s dairy herd. Normally, surplus milk and slurry are not allowed to be spread on frozen ground because of the high risk of water pollution. Milk may seem harmless, but if it gets into a stream or river it is more harmful than sewage. It takes all the oxygen out of the water and kills fish and harms other aquatic life. Farmers who are rapidly running out of storage space for either milk or slurry should use the Environment Agency’s helpline on 08708 506 506. Environment Agency staff are on hand to give advice on how to deal with the issue without causing unnecessary risk to the environment.

They can also go to the Environment Agency’s website at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/sectors/32755.aspx

In exceptional cases, the Environment Agency will temporarily allow some farmers to spread slurry and surplus milk on snow-covered or frozen soil, but there are strict conditions which have to be met beforehand. Farmers must speak to the Environment Agency first and be able to show:

action has been taken to prevent storage overflowing.
there is no alternative temporary storage available - including at a neighbour's farm - and there are no other environmentally acceptable options for disposal.
the activity is unlikely to result in pollution

‘We understand what farmers are going through at the moment. I used to be a dairy farmer and still look after livestock, so am well aware of the problems associated with storing milk, spreading slurry and ensuring cattle have water. I know the bad weather is causing big problems on farms across the South West. That’s why we’re temporarily relaxing the rules on spreading milk and slurry. Most farmers will hopefully have enough space to cope, but those who don’t, need to know that we’re here to help.’ Said Phil Shere, Principal Agriculture Officer for the South West at the Environment Agency.

Melanie Hall, is South West Regional Director for the NFU: ‘Due to the snow and ice farmers have been caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand many have not had milk collections creating a situation where their stores are literally overflowing and on the other hand they are prevented by regulation from spreading on frozen soils. What can they do in this situation? The pragmatic view agreed between the NFU and the Environment Agency is absolutely correct given the current situation and we hope that the matters return to normal in the next couple of weeks.’

Phil Cork, Membership Manager at Milk Link, one of the leading dairy businesses in Britain said: ‘We welcome the important changes and clear guidance that the Environment Agency has announced regarding milk and slurry disposal. At a time when the severe weather has had a major impact on dairy farmers in the South West, the Agency’s practical and farmer friendly advice will be greatly appreciated.’

Richard Davies, DairyCo extension officer and technical expert on housing and storage said: ‘These are exceptional conditions for farmers, and it’s welcome that the Environment Agency is looking to see how the problem of storage can be resolved. I would add a note of caution to farmers that they need to be careful to select a suitable site with the least possible risk.’

To find out more about what you can do, use the Environment Agency’s helpline: 08708 506 506 or go to the Environment Agency’s website at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/sectors/32755.aspx

Notes to Editors:

The Environment Agency takes it’s role of protecting the environment from pollution very seriously.
This temporary relaxation of the rules will only apply until milk collections return to normal and ground conditions and other rules permit land spreading of slurries and manures.

Milk Link

Milk Link is one of the UK’s leading integrated dairy businesses, owned 100% by British dairy farmers.
It manufactures a complete portfolio of dairy products including long life milk, cheese, creams, flavoured milks and milk powders supplying all the UK’s major multiples and the food services sector.

Dairy Co

DairyCo is a levy-funded, not-for-profit organisation working on behalf on Britain's dairy farmers.
It is a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

The Annual Population Studies Conference

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:06:41 GMT

PopFest is a celebration of the many applications and contexts of Population Studies.

It is open to postgraduates from all disciplines across the social sciences studying any aspect of population providing a supportive and stimulating environment for students to meet, present their work and exchange ideas. It is well established, having been organised by postgraduate students for the last eighteen years, and is this year hosted over three days by the University of St. Andrews on the beautiful East coast of Scotland.

PopFest is a great opportunity for postgraduate researchers at all stages to meet other students in the same area, practise presentation skills and get useful feedback from peers. You may share your work through either a short presentation followed by questions, and/ or a poster session. Even if you do not give a presentation of your work, POPFEST will give you a feeling for the research being conducted by others and allow you to make valuable contacts for the future.

Full details of the programme are still to be confirmed but will include: parallel sessions running over three days, poster presentations, keynote speaker addresses, and this year will offer an innovative panel session, allowing with contributors drawn from a range of backgrounds (e.g. public sector and charity) showing how aspects of population studies might be applied in different contexts.

The conference will run from Monday 28th - Wednesday 30th June 2010.

The first call for papers has now been made, and is open to all postgraduate researchers engaged in the study of human populations from any social science discipline. Submissions for works-in-progress or completed reports are all welcome.

Themes might include, but are certainly not limited to:

- Health and populations

- Migration

- Reproductive and sexual behaviour

- Social participation and active citizenship

- Fertility and contraception

- Childhood and youth

- Innovative data uses and methodological approaches in population studies

Oral presentations will be 15 minutes long with 5 minutes for questions.

Presentations from Land and Food Seminar Available

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:06:11 GMT

On Tuesday 8th December the South West Observatory (and inDevon partners) hosted a morning seminar to focus on land and food.

Speakers looked at the threats posed by climate and population changes together with the economic drivers of land stewardship and the opportunities for better land management. They spoke about maximising food security and avoiding muddy floods by safeguarding the quality and depth of our soil and they considered some sustainable farming practices. Finally the need to protect our landscapes as a resource that delivers a range of goods and services - cultural as well as provisioning – was explored.

Watch South West Sustainability Seminars Online Now

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:37:11 GMT

If you're unable to attend the series of sustainability seminars being run by Great Western Research in association with Exeter University, you can now access and watch these online by clicking here.

(You will find information on the seminars towards the bottom of the page). Please email questions and comments to Dr Matt Lobley (contact details below).

SWO Winter Policy Seminars and Annual Conference - Sign-Up To Attend

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:26:41 GMT

You can now sign-up to attend a series of four policy themed seminars taking place between November 2009 and February 2010.

The events, hosted by South West Observatory Local Intelligence Networks, will cover 'Population' (5th November, Gloucestershire), 'Land and Food' (8th December, Exeter), 'Energy' (26th January 2010, Plymouth) and 'Skills for the Future' (24th February, Bristol). To sign-up to attend these free events click here.

The Observatory Annual Conference will take place in Taunton on Wednesday 31st March 2010 and will focus on 'Health, Wealth and Happiness: What Makes a Prosperous Region?'. To register your interest in this event - before booking opens - click here.

Wind Energy Now Powers More Than 2 Million UK Homes

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:27:05 GMT

According to latest statistics from BWEA, wind energy in the UK now powers over 2 million homes. The country has 3.6 GW of wind capacity installed, up from 3 GW in October 2008. In European terms the UK is rated 5th, behind Germany, Spain, Italy and France. Germany has 23 GW of capacity and Spain 16.7 GW. Worldwide, according to the Global Wind energy Council, countries making significant progress in utilising their wind energy potentials, are the USA, China and India.

Electricity production from wind grew by 34% in 2008 compared to 2007, according to statistics from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The latest issue of 'Energy Trends' shows output going up from 5.29 TWh to 7.12 TWh annually. In 2008 this was enough to power up around 1.5 million homes, and the growth is set to continue as more wind capacity is added in 2009.

UK Wind Week - 13th to 21st June 2009

South West Observatory Looks into the Future for the Region

Thu, 07 May 2009 15:21:02 GMT

WITH economic, environmental and social challenges all around us, how well prepared is the South West to cope? How will the current recession, climate change, population growth and demographic change impact on the region? How do we plan for the best and worst case scenarios? These are just some of the questions a major Regional Conference hosted by the South West Observatory will seek to address when it convenes in Bristol next week.

The South West Observatory’s 6th Annual Conference, ‘Weathering Storms: Regional Resilience and Future Proofing’, to take place at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol on Wednesday 11th March, will bring together experts and policy-makers from across the region. The conference will demonstrate that although we cannot be certain about the future, strategy for the region must continue to be based on sound, reliable and up-to-date evidence.

According to the Chair of the Observatory, Professor Martin Boddy, in times of widespread change we must avoid knee-jerk reactions if we are serious about tackling these challenges now and in the future:

“The danger at the moment, particularly on the economy, is one of grand but ineffectual gestures, or quick-fixes. We must avoid short-term, knee-jerk reactions - or worse still, panic and despair! We must continue to look at the evidence, listen to the experts, weigh-up the alternatives, in order to forecast and plan for the next ten, twenty, thirty years. It will be our ability to keep calm and take the long view that will ensure the region stays on course to weather the storms ahead.”

The South West Observatory Conference will focus on the three major threats faced by politicians, policy-makers and the business sector right across the region over coming years - recession and the state of the economy, climate change and environmental threats, and the continued pressure of population growth and growth in household numbers which will re-emerge with economic recovery.

The South West Observatory network predicts that the recession could see unemployment rising for three, even four years with over 100,000 jobs lost across the region. Climate Change could see sea levels rising by more than in any other region in the UK - it now appears inevitable that the next thirty to forty years will be dominated by heavy storms, floods, heat-waves and droughts which have already begun to affect us. And over the past twenty years, the South West’s population has grown faster than in any other region. The number of older people in the region is also growing faster than elsewhere with an increasing proportion dependent on pensions and on health and other facilities. These challenges affect us all - from Gloucestershire to Cornwall, North Somerset to Dorset.

How do we 'future-proof' the South West? How do we meet the challenges ahead and ensure a prosperous and sustainable future for the South West for all who live or work in the region, visit or do business here? What lies ahead - and above all, what does the evidence tell us about how we meet the challenges.

PRESENTATIONS NOW AVAILABLE.

AMR 2008 Published

Thu, 07 May 2009 15:16:15 GMT

The 2008 AMR has been published. To download copies of the Report or individual, thematic datasets please see www.swo.org.uk/planning.

Searching for climate change film-makers

Thu, 07 May 2009 15:15:00 GMT

The Environment Agency and the South West Climate Change Impacts Partnership has teamed up with Animated Exeter to challenge film-makers to find innovative ways of conveying climate change adaptation through animation.

Film makers are being asked to construct a storyboard for a 2-3 minute animated film to show how climate change will affect the South West region and what people can do to adapt.

A £1,000 cash prize will be offered to the winning storyboard and should be put towards making the final film. The money could go towards paying professional film makers to complete the final film, or be used by production companies to finish the project.

The final film will be shown at next year’s Animated Exeter film festival.

The winning storyboard will be the one which not only hits home the message that climate change will affect us all but it will also be the one which most inspires anyone who sees it to change their lives to adapt to climate change.

‘We’re looking for a storyboard to show how people, places or wildlife in the region can adapt to climate change in a positive way. The storyboard does not have to be very long or complicated,’ said Alex Webb for the South West Climate Change Impacts Partnership.

‘We’re all going to face new challenges in how we live our lives as a result of climate change. It will also bring new opportunities for the region but we need to act now. We’re looking forward to seeing what people come up with.’

The deadline for entries will be Thursday, 30 April 2009 and the winner will be selected by a panel of judges from each of the organisations.

Notes to Editors:

South West Climate Change Impacts Partnership (SWCCIP) is a regional partnership set up to advise on the impacts of climate change in South West England, and develop and promote sustainable adaptation.

SWCCIP website: www.oursouthwest.com/climate

Environment Agency website: www.environment-agency.gov.uk

UK Climate Impacts Programme website: www.ukcip.org.uk

Animated Exeter website: www.animatedexeter.co.uk

Examples of short films about climate change in the South West can be found at the following YouTube link

Beachwatch 2009 finds the highest amount of litter ever

Thu, 07 May 2009 14:57:56 GMT

The amount of litter on Britain's beautiful beaches is at its highest level since records began, according to the Marine Conservation Society's (MCS) Beachwatch 2008 Survey Report - http://wwwmcsuk.org.

The Beachwatch 2008 results show that litter on our beaches has increased by a staggering 110% since the annual survey began in 1994. Average figures for the UK are now at 2,195 litter items/km of beaches surveyed compared to 1,045 items/km in 1994.

At present there is no Government-led plan of action for tackling marine litter in the UK. In order to turn the tide on rising litter levels, MCS is calling for a coordinated approach from Governments to develop a marine litter strategy and deliver it through appropriate Government bodies.

Marine litter kills wildlife, can be hazardous to people and costs millions to clear up. Over 170 species of marine wildlife including seabirds, turtles and whales have been recorded mistaking marine litter for food, which can result in starvation, poisoning and fatal stomach blockages.

The Beachwatch 2008 report is based on data collected by a record number of 5,219 volunteers on 374 UK beaches surveyed over one weekend in September 2008. Volunteers surveyed 175.7 km of coast and removed over 385,000 litter items. In order to tackle the problems of marine litter it is important to know where it is coming from. Our latest report identifies four main sources of beach litter - public litter (37.7%), fishing litter (13.8%), sewage related debris/sanitary waste (6.2%) and shipping litter (1.8%). The average density of UK beach litter in the Beachwatch 2008 survey was 2,195 items of litter per kilometre - an average of over two items for every metre stretch of beach!

MCS Beachwatch results are essential in turning the tide on litter. The results of recent surveys have helped MCS influence changes to laws on disposing of wastes at sea, and resulted in investment in better sewage treatment at the coast. While MCS lobbies for a national strategy to tackle this extraordinary volume of rubbish washing up on our beaches, it also encourages individual responsibility for litter disposal.

South West results:

The South West had the highest amount of beach litter found in the UK - with 4,783.6 items per km. Of these 4,783.6 items:

20.9% was litter from members of the public
15.5% were fishing related
4.8% wewage related debris
1.5% were from shipping
0.5% were fly tipped
0.2% were medical
46.6% were non sourced