Growth?
On behalf of the SAI Platform team, I wish all of you a very happy, healthy and sustainable year.
2014 was a good year for SAI Platform. Our membership has again grown to over 60 members. Ahold, a retailer based in the Netherlands, joined in December as our first retailer.
This is not to say that I am a growth believer, at least not in terms of ‘producing ever more stuff’.  I believe we are on a quest for a better… Read more at: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=2abe36a5-4a68-4d92-9270-a4d0d6c7a037&c=d1b07ac0-7844-11e3-9212-d4ae52733d3a&ch=d28704a0-7844-11e3-928a-d4ae52733d3a

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014

Farmer: Top Job of the Future

How do we create and maintain jobs and employment in the countryside? With only 14% of Europe’s farmers under 40, and 95% of its farms structured as family holdings, there are serious questions to be asked about who will be the next generation of farmers and farm workers. The way forward is to make farming as modern, as efficient, and as green as possible; we have to show young people that a countryside career is not just spiritually rewarding, but that it come with a good salary and opportunities for growth. Read more…

Almost all crops which grow on the fields throughout Europe
can be fermented in digesters and then be transformed into
either electricity and heat or fuel. Besides maize as presently
most efficient energy crop, also sugar beets offer interesting
options for the biogas sector.
Since 2012 at the latest, and following the German Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG – Renewable Energy Act), which restricted the use of maize to a maximum of 60% of the total input in digesters, operators and owners of biogas plants increasingly opt for alternative energy crops. Read more…

September / October 2014

We are witnessing an undercurrent of excitement and renewed energy in the sustainable food and agriculture sector. For two decades we have seen many new and ambitious initiatives popping up, created with all the best intentions. The unwanted yet undeniable side effect of this is confusion, duplication and, quite possibly, lack of scale and impact. This fall we see a unique movement coming alive, bringing pieces together. SAI Platform is, and wants to be an active partner in these types of efforts. Read more…

10 September 2014
RUMA (UK) has published a wide ranging position paper on antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use in livestock
Announcing the publication, RUMA Secretary General, John FitzGerald, said that understandably there is much debate at present on antibiotic resistance in human medicine and antibiotic use in human and veterinary medicine.
(Read more…)
(Photo: FNL)

25 July, 2014
One key to sustainable arable farming
Soil is one of the most important agricultural resources.
High yields and qualities can only be harvested on fertile
soils. Protecting and enhancing soil fertility therefore is an
indispensible prerequisite to produce sustainably in the
long run. Read more…

(Photo: K+S KALI GmbH)

Abstract:
Insect pests and vectors of animal and plant diseases are a major constraint to the improvement of agricultural productivity, and a continuous threat to food security and livelihoods, particularly in less developed countries. The excessive reliance on broad-spectrum insecticides as the prevailing strategy to control pest outbreaks for over 50 years worldwide has showed some limitations with the increasing number of documented cases of field-evolved resistance and re-emergence of pests or vector-borne diseases that had been previously placed under control. More widely, agriculture intensification has contributed to the erosion of crop and livestock genetic diversity and fragmentation or suppression of natural habitats supporting biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services such as insect pest regulation. These concerns are being exacerbated in a context of … Read more…
Authors: Brévault, Thierry; Bouyer, Jérémy
Source: Outlooks on Pest Management, Volume 25, Number 3, June 2014, pp. 212-213(2)

Paul Hayward, farms Cold Harbour Farm, at Bishop Burton, East Yorkshire and was one of the first LEAF Demonstration Farms, engaging people with Integrated Farm Management since 1993, soon after LEAF was founded. Paul recently took part in an EISA (European Initiative for Sustainable Development in Agriculture) visit to Germany and here he tells us more about what he saw and learnt. Read more…

(photo: Adrian Legge)

8 July 2014:
EPRUMA has produced a short video featuring its Chairman, Gwyn Jones, who explains the work of EPRUMA and what the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines means.
Gwyn Jones is a UK dairy farmer and a strong advocate of the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines on farm.
See the video by following this link

No 151 – MAY-JUNE 2014
BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE
For many years now, we have argued that private landowners are a vital part of maintaining habitats and biodiversity throughout Europe. We have said that the participation of landowners and managers, when given the right incentives, can foster a new atmosphere of cooperation and good will between different stakeholders. We have pointed to many examples, like our Wildlife Estates, where our members are protecting and enhancing biodiversity.
This is why I am so proud to say that our LIFE+3water project has won the first ever Natura 2000 award … Read more