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Centre for Alternative Land Use

 

CALU NEWS - April 2006

 

NEW CALU PROJECTS FOR 2006
CALU has just announced its new project portfolio for 2006. The projects seek to provide either practical training in, or practical demonstrations of, alternative land uses.

Building on from the success of the Farm Woodland Training Events in 2005, we will be running a further series of woodland training days across Wales.

A new woodland project will look at the use of novel tree and shrub species in shelterbelts to enhance the economic, environmental and structural value of shelterbelts.

A novel crop demonstration project will demonstrate the agronomy of several easily grown crops with proven markets. Four demonstration sites will be established across Wales.

 

2005 POTATO TRIALS - REPORT NOW AVAILABLE
The report from CALU's 2005 blight resistant potato trials is now available - click here to download (pdf 903KB)

 

 

 

GROWERS WANTED FOR ENERGY CROPS IN SOUTH WALES
Pembrokeshire Biomass has been awarded a WDA grant to plant more than 100ha of Miscanthus. Director Graham Perkins said that they have around half the growers they need and are now looking for forward thinking farmers interested in growing energy crops.

For further information contact Graham Perkins - 01437 720730.

MONEY IN MUSHROOMS
Growers in Yorkshire are following in the footsteps of enterprising Welsh mushroom growers. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has started a pilot scheme growing exotic mushrooms. Reported selling prices in Yorkshire are between £15 and £20 for a kilogram of Shiitake mushrooms.
Source: Farmers Weekly

Two open days will be held at the Energy Grass demonstration sites which were established in 2005. The site at Glynllifon in north Wales has Miscanthus, Reed Canary Grass and a high sugar grass developed by IGER. Whilst the site in south Wales has Miscanthus, Reed Canary Grass and Switch Grass.

There will also be a second year of demonstrations trialling different varieties of blight resistant potatoes. This project will also look at the effectiveness of Caliente mustard as a method of controlling pests in vegetable production.

Visit the CALU Projects webpage for more information on our projects.

 

VENISON SALES SOAR
The Grocer reports that sales of venison in the week before Christmas 2005 were up 75% on the previous year. This has led to two north of England suppliers recruiting more deer farmers.

The upturn in sales reflects the public's growing awareness of the benefits of venison in a healthy diet.

SPROUTING SEEDS ARE SUPERFOODS
 Sprouted seeds and pulses are tipped to be the latest superfood trend. Although mung bean sprouts have traditionally been sold for use in stir-fries, the latest trend is for sprouted seeds to use in salads. Popular choices are sunflower, alfalfa, chickpea and wheat.

 

 


HACCP GUIDE FOR MEDICINAL HERB PRODUCTION
Increasingly stringent regulations cover the production of herbal products. A recently completed project, funded by DEFRA, has produced a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point guide specifically for herb growers. This guide will facilitate compliance with legislative requirements and also help to ensure a robust quality assurance process is in place. Click here to download a copy of this guide.

 

 

Contact us:

If you have a news item you would like to see featured on CALU's News page, please contact us:

e-mail: calu@bangor.ac.uk

 

BEE LEAFLET
Bees are an integral, but often overlooked, component of many agricultural and horticultural systems. In recognition of the importance of bees, the latest in CALU's series of technical leaflets is an introductory guide to bee keeping.



 

CALU exists to transfer technology to any business in Wales that is interested in horticulture, biomass, alternative crops, alternative livestock and/or farm woodlands.

CALU is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government