No .	Title	Summary
193	A brief history of agriculture in the UK by Professor John Wibberley	This very brief history helps to explain the current state of farming. Not only does it tell the story but it makes important points about, what for many, is farmers’ strange connection to the land. For them it is much more than just a production resource.
192	Glossary of Rural Organisations	This glossary lists an extensive range of rural organizations. The main criterion for inclusion is their non-profit making role, or their involvement with rural policy, infrastructure and trade. With the exceptions of references to Regional Development Agencies, Government Offices and Rural Affairs Forums all have UK or England-wide remits rather than local or regional ones.
191	Fresh Start - Changing Times - farmers’ options for the future	This briefing summarises a leaflet for farmers it suggests how they can review different options and gives some useful checklists and sources of further information.
190	Fresh Start for new entrants	Fresh Start is an industry-led initiative which aims to signpost sources of help and support to new entrants, develop a mentoring scheme for them, to promote farming as an attractive career option, to develop a 'matching service' to link potential new entrants to those wishing to leave the industry and to stimulate existing farmers to think about how they might respond to CAP reform. This briefing summarises the leaflet for new entrants.
189	The Constructive management of change	FRAgS, the RASE and the Royal Smithfield Club feel that there is poor appreciation amongst farmers of the need for change.  Many are transfixed by uncertainty. As the pressure of work on farms continues to increase there is less and less time for farmers to find out what is going on and there is resistance to change. Although a significant number of farmers have made progress the mindset of some is locked in the past. This conference was about how we can produce necessary change.
188	Rural crafts	The crafts sector is in a better state of health than for many years. However there are some problems key among which is the potential loss of some crafts altogether within a generation. Also there is increasing competition from overseas, difficulty finding young recruits and persuading crafts people to take them on, alack of training and shortages of raw materials in some crafts industries.
187	Non-food crops	Agricultural crops are traditionally grown to supply food and animal feed but increasingly plants are providing raw materials for use in applications such as lubricants, surfactants, solvents, car parts and high value products for the health care and beauty industries. These applications are providing new outlets for some of the UK's traditional agricultural crops, opening up market opportunities for by-products and even introducing novel or alternative crops. The briefing gives some case studies of their uses.
186	Stress and health	Both rural and urban society is becoming more stressed. How does stress work and what does this mean for our health not just in psychological terms but our physical health as well?
185	Rural Car Clubs (R0905)	Car clubs can create access to a vehicle for people without one or where a second vehicle may be needed but is not affordable.  They need to be carefully set up and marketed to the community who will use them and need a local champion with the commitment to get them off the ground.  Details are given of pilot projects together with contact details of organisations that can help to run car clubs.
184	CAP reform - more clarifications	Land grazed by horses will qualify for payments. Orchards which can be grazed will also be included if the European Commission allows it.  New entrants and farmers whose businesses have changed since 2000-2002 will be able to apply for extra support from the National Reserve.  Fields with hedges or ditches and smaller than two hectares will not need to have 2m protected buffer zones round them and there will be exemptions from buffer zones for new hedges.
183	The Great North Meet	As usual the Great North Meet covered a wide range including the need to develop world trade and make it fairer, the difficulty is getting governments to think long term in tackling climate change, farmers lacking the confidence to plan ahead, CAP developments, farming in the uplands, tenant farmers, regionalisation - in danger of producing a hotchpotch of different standards, farming - over regulated, over inspected and over monitored, biodiversity and diet and health.
182	Rural Stress Review - Deprivation, social exclusion and rural service delivery (R0905)	Stress levels go down when causes disappear but where stress results from more deep-rooted problems there is clearly a need to address the causes.  Effective support needs understanding of places and the attitudes and needs of people. The initiatives reviewed show the successful combination of bottom-up, informal networks and sensitive, mobile formal outreach services.
181	Rural Stress Review - Depression and suicide among farmers (R0905)	There are higher levels of depression among farmers compared to the general population and they are consistently a high risk group for suicide. While this is partly explained by access to the means and possibly a familiarity with death, it can also be influenced by knowing others who have committed suicide and other stressors such as financial problems
180	Funding the Rural Voluntary Sector: Full Cost Recovery & the Rural Premium	The rural premium is the higher cost of working in rural areas. There is little evidence that funders make allowance for it. This report highlights recent policy developments designed to enable voluntary and community organisations to bid for the full cost of their activities.
179	Rural Stress Review – definitions, causes and symptoms (R0905)	Stress experienced by people in rural areas is frequently of a similar nature to that experienced elsewhere, although living in a rural area may add new dimensions to it. Surveys may under-represent the incidence of farming related stress
178	Climate change – what landowners could do (R0905)	Land managers can provide sinks for carbon dioxide, enable the substitution of bioenergy and windpower for fossil fuels and enable the greater use of timber instead of concrete in building but they need the government’s renewable energy policy to be expanded to achieve this.
177	Farm Incomes roller coaster	Returns from food production on Britain’s farms will become increasingly unpredictable as global factors affect markets for UK produce. 2004 results show that net farm incomes rose from just £43/ha to £200/ha but the bad harvest and poor dairy farming prospects mean a likely fall to about £84/ha for 2004/05. In contrast revenue from non farming enterprises continues to rise.
176	FIRM Survey report	The FIRM briefings are well appreciated and may be read by up to 1800 people. They go out sometimes with the LEAF-ebrief which reaches up to 4,000 people. The papers also go on at least three websites including the Defra and Citizens Advice staff intranets.  As the number of briefings accumulate finding particular bits of information is becoming difficult for some.
175	Farming Prospects - summary	It is difficult to envision anything other than a tough future for our farmers.  Buyers of their produce are big and powerful and will continue to drive prices down.  Farmers also have to cope with changes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the impacts of which are difficult to predict.  Those farmers who can boost the prices they receive by hitting quality specifications or working in niche markets will have the best chances of success.  Otherwise diversifying into other businesses will be the answer. Farmers who cannot survive need to take early decisions - delay will make change more difficult.
174	Rural Stress Review - summary (R0905)	This Briefing, taken from a review of rural stress research, lists groups susceptible to stress, notes that stress in rural women has been neglected and that are difficulties in locating stress in rural communities. Stress in farming is not only due to bureaucracy and the need for farmers to change their businesses it is also caused by changes in the perception of farmers and by farmers of their place in rural society.
173	Rural Business Summary	Facts and figures summarized from seven previous Briefings which covered different aspects of business in rural areas.
172	Helping Farm Businesses in England (R0905)	This review recommends more advice to help farmers decide how to change and apply for funding, a loan guarantee scheme, and more local initiatives which farmers can identify with.
171	Incomers (R0905)	Incomers to rural areas are more economically active than long-term residents and create local jobs.  This goes against their stereotype of being mainly retirees and commuters using the countryside as a dormitory.
170	The ARC - Addington Fund and this year's harvest	The ARC-Addington Fund is still in business, mainly engaged in its Strategic Rural Housing Scheme which is helping to house people who have left farming.  The tough harvest this year has put more farmers under pressure and the fund needs all possible support. The briefing updates their activities.
169	Farming Help (R0905)	First lines of support for farm people suffering stress together with a paragraph which sets out views about how this is still a problem and will remain a problem.
168	Rural Knowledge Economy (R0905)	Rural areas (and Britain as a whole) are developing as knowledge economies based on a ‘rising tide’ of skills and qualifications, innovation and technology and entrepreneurship. Overall, the proportion of total employment in knowledge-intensive industries is higher in urban than in rural areas but both employment and the businesses in the knowledge economy have grown faster in rural than urban areas.  However there are rural areas where the knowledge economy has been declining.
167	Rural Strategy 2004 - details (R0805)	Summarises a long document which covers policy about skills, business support, broadband, planning and protecting the rural environment including a summary of Defra’s view of the future of farming.
166	Entrepreneurial Countryside (R0805)	Rural businesses are not as backward as they are sometimes painted.  For instance they are more likely to communicate by email with customers and suppliers than urban businesses.  This is despite difficulties getting broadband which only 12% of rural businesses have compared to 30% urban.
165	Planning Statment for Rural Areas (R0805)	Planning Policy Statements (PPS) set out the Government's policies in England. PPS7 explains how planning decisions that developments which are likely to generate a large number of trips should be located close to towns. Other development in rural areas should be accessible by public transport, walking and cycling and priority should be given to re-using brownfield sites in preference to greenfield sites. Development in rural areas should be well designed, in keeping and scale with its location, and sensitive to the character of the countryside and local distinctiveness.
164	Glossary of rural terms	A regularly updated glossary with around 500 entries defining farming and other rural terms.
163	Harvest diary 2004	NFU estimates show that higher yields and an increased planted area put the national wheat crop 10% above 2003 but poor weather affected quality.  The average wheat yield in England was 7.9t/ha, but 2004 is exceptional in producing a wide range of regional results. Details of the oilseed rape, potato and sugar beet harvest are also given.
162	State of the Countryside report 2004:Affordable housing	The provision of affordable housing for both rent and purchase is vital as it helps to sustain the local workforce and maintain a balanced mix of residents.  Yet people on modest incomes, including young and pensioner households and first-time buyers, are being priced out of many rural districts. This results in the balance of communities being disrupted, families being separated, increased pressure on many rural services, and the local economy may be forced into decline.
161	State of the countryside 2004 Education and training	Agriculture particularly requires new skills, as businesses which use ICT a lot like retail and tourism. Transport – and lack of it – is often a problem as is access to advice and information about education, and there is sometimes a lack of curriculum flexibility. Despite these barriers a relatively high proportion of adults in rural areas are engaged in learning.
160	CAP clarification	Cross compliance standards are a mixture of common sense farming practice and support for existing legislation. The measure which might cause most difficulty is that which requires farmers not to cultivate a two metre strip around all fields. Farmers should now (Sept 04) know from the Rural Payments Agency what stock numbers and farm areas will be used to calculate the payments they will receive
159	State of the Countryside – roads	Motorised travel has enhanced personal mobility considerably over the past few decades. Along with increased distribution of goods by road, this has brought economic and social benefits to many people, and created greater opportunities for people to visit the countryside and to commute long distances to work from rural areas. However continued growth is causing problems with congestion, breaking up of communities, pollution and noise.
158	State of the Countryside – mobility	Households in rural areas spend £14 a week more on transport than those in towns; they also use public transport less.  Car ownership has increased faster in urban than rural areas though a fifth of rural households do not own a car or van. There are over 100,000 community minibuses operating in the UK.  Rural railways can integrate well with other modes of transport for both locals and tourists.
157	State of the Countryside – childcare	Most rural areas are well provided with childcare. Fewer children attend village group care sessions than in urban areas but village waiting lists are shorter.  Fees were lower in villages and failure of OFSTED inspections is less frequent.  There were more parent and toddler groups and lunch clubs in rural areas but fewer drop-in and advice centres.
156	Rural Strategy 2004	Summarises the government’s new approach to its Rural Strategy and sets out details of new organizations, devolution of decision making and timings.
155	A future for livestock grazing  (R0805)	An overview of grassland and the importance of profitable livestock production in sustaining it.  Grazing livestock numbers are declining and the CAP policy changes now in train may cause this trend to accelerate.
154	State of the Countryside – services	Over the years many settlements have lost important local services, in the process losing their distinctive character and resulting and gradually undermining the cohesiveness of smaller and more remote settlements.  Since 1999 the availability of rural services has been fairly stable except notably for the loss of rural post offices.
153	State of the Countryside – crime	The incidence of various offences and the fear of crime is much lower in rural than non-rural areas except for farm crime which is rising. Rural residents are concerned about their safety and property and feel that rural policing is not seen as a priority. There is concern about domestic violence and substance abuse but little available information about them.
152	State of the Countryside – health	On average, rural residents live longer and have better health than their urban counterparts but key aspects of rural life that have an impact on health; a higher than average proportion of elderly people, resulting in increased demand for particular services; lack of decent housing leading to poorer health for socially excluded households and dispersed populations can mean that small pockets of health need are missed.  Rural residents are less likely to seek medical help, and tend to delay consultation. This means that the use of services is not a reliable indicator of health needs.
151	State of the Countryside – concern and vibrancy	Some people are afraid that improvements to services could damage rural attractiveness so they find it difficult to see what the likely balance should be between conservation and development.  The public put conservation higher on the agenda than improvements to the farming industry, which decision-makers see as a more important issue. Families are the biggest cultural ‘community’ in people’s lives.  Country people see themselves as part of a rural community. The local residential neighbourhood and feeling part of the British community are also important.  These ‘communities’ affect whether and how people respond to expectations of community self-help. Work, religion, ethnicity and other community-types do not appear to have the same cultural force.
150	Environment and farming	Report of a RASE seminar at the 2004 Royal Show which served served mainly to underline how important environmental matters are becoming and the huge influence they will have on how farmers will run their businesses in future.
149	State of the Countryside – population & migration	The increase in rural population witnessed in recent decades shows no sign of abating as more and more people choose to move from urban to rural districts. Strains on services and rural resources are likely to increase, while house prices in rural settlements will continue to rise.
148	State of the Countryside – recreation	The Government is supporting countryside recreation to improve people’s health, reduce social exclusion, and benefit the rural economy.  11% of the population has fished in the last two years and there are 1.3 million shotguns in England and Wales. Hunting with dogs is thought to involve around 20,000 households and about 50,000 horses are thought to participate in hunts. Other activities, such as walking, are difficult to measure because they are so informal.
147	State of the Countryside – land management	The total farm labour force in England fell by five percentage points in the year to June 2003.  Nearly 17% of all farmers surveyed ran diversified enterprises other than agricultural contracting and rent from land and buildings but larger holdings are diversifying more than smaller holdings.  Fatality from farm accidents is the highest of all industrial sectors. Fewer farmers have academic or training qualifications. The UK organic market is now the third largest in the world with sales growing at more than 10% per year.  As a result of the Haskins report government aims to to make funding programmes more user-friendly. Most programmes currently delivered by Defra, English Nature and the Countryside Agency will be run by a new integrated agency. A smaller restructured Countryside Agency will act as an advocate across Government for rural people and communities.
146	State of the Countryside – biodiversity	Key species, habitats and river quality are showing gradual improvement, more land is going into agri-environment schemes and more people are volunteering to help with conservation work.  However plant diversity has declined in fields and field margins, river banks, stream sides, and woodlands and levels of nutrients in rivers have increased over the last decade.
145	State of the Countryside – natural resources	During the nineteen nineties 40% of landscapes changed in ways which were consistent with their character whilst 23% changed in ways which conflicted with their character.  These areas are mapped. There is a long term trend for both air and water quality to improve though diffuse pollution is still a problem in rivers, lakes, coastal and ground waters.  The area of woodland in England increased during the 20th century but has levelled off since the late nineties.
144	State of the Countryside – ICT	Different types of Broadband are defined and its low availability in market towns and the countryside discussed. The briefing also records that the use of email and the internet for doing business in rural areas is lower, but only slightly lower than in towns
143	State of the Countryside – incomes	Households in rural areas tend to earn more and their earnings have risen slightly faster recently than urban households.  Average weekly earnings per person however are higher in towns. The proportion of households in poverty is similar in rural and urban areas except that there are proportionately more poor people in remote rural areas.
142	State of the Countryside – employment	The largest sectors in both rural and urban areas are distribution, hotels and restaurants, public administration, education and health. There has been an increase in employment for women in both rural and urban areas but male employment has fallen except in remote rural areas.  Smaller settlements contain a higher proportion of self employed and retired people, larger settlements contain more students and disabled people.  Rural areas have more part time employment and less unemployment than urban.
141	State of the Countryside – market towns	Market towns are towns with populations between 2,000 and 30,000.  There are 1274 in England. 499 of these have enough services to qualify as local hubs. Overall, manufacturing and distribution, hotels and catering are slightly stronger than average in market towns than in the country as a whole. The growth sector of ‘banking, finance and business services’ is much weaker.
140	State of the Countryside – rural business health	Facts and figures about rural business from the Countryside Agency’s annual stock taking report. Apart from agriculture the mix of businesses in the countryside is very similar to that in towns.  Rural businesses are also very similar to urban businesses in various measures of entrepreneurship. There are over half a million rural businesses big enough to pay VAT and in 2002/03 their numbers increased by about 6,000 despite falls in agriculture and fishing.
139	State of the Countryside - Summary	Overall summary of latest key facts and figures about the English countryside, its people and places from the Countryside Agency’s State of the Countryside 2004 Report.
138	Externalities (R0805)	Agricultural externalities are side effects of farming whose costs or benefits are not paid for by or to farmers.  They may be of positive (landscape, places for recreation) or negative (pesticide contamination of water, reduction in biodiversity) impact or a mixture of both. We will hear more of them in future especially the tricky business of putting a financial value or cost to them.
137	Incomes and prospects for farmers	There were better incomes for farmers in year ending April 2003 and a continued improvement was forecast for 2004 for most farm enterprises.  However the weather-battered harvest and low prices being paid will spoil things for many arable producers. Over half of farms have diversification enterprises, the total labour force in agriculture fell by 5% in the year up to April 2003 and the sale price of land and farm rents have all stayed pretty steady.
136	Renewable Energy  (R0705)	Biomass, geoenergy, hydroelectric, hydrogen fuel cells, solar, tidal, wave and wind power are described with the contribution each could make to the Government’s target of increasing the electricity we get from renewable sources from the current 4% to 10% by 2010.
135	Soil (R0705)	This briefing explores the functions and some of the pressures on soil.
134	Soil Action Plan (R0705)	Contains 52 actions on soil issues, on farms, in the planning system, biodiversity, contamination and the role of soils in conserving cultural heritage and landscape. Includes public awareness, links with CAP payments for farmers, more monitoring and better knowledge about soils
133	Age of Farmers (R0705)	The average age is more likely to be nearer 54 than the often quoted 58 but the age of those holding the land is increasing and the proportion of younger farmers falling.
132	Dairy producers’ problems.	The market for milk is dysfunctional. Britain has amongst the best farm structure, achieves amongst the greatest efficiencies and has amongst the best of climates for livestock grazing and milk production in Europe yet farmers are paid a significantly lower amount for their liquid milk than their European counterparts. This briefing explains why.
131	Rural and Urban definitions (R0705)	Improved definitions of rural areas in England came in in 2004.  The previous definition included towns of up to 25,000 residents and implied that there are up to 14 million country dwellers. The new definitions are more complex but produce rural populations of 4.6 million if the limit of town size is set at 1,000 or 9.2 million if it is set at 10,000
130	Affordable Housing – Sussex discussion	This briefing outlines how the Addington Fund’s Rural Strategic Housing Scheme, Business in the Community’s Rural Housing Initiative and Rural Housing Enablers work and shows some grass roots reaction to problems and solutions of affordable housing.
129	Regional Spatial Strategies	Regional Spatial Strategies are being prepared by Regional Assemblies (or Chambers) and will replace Regional Planning Guidance and County Structure Plans. They will look forward over 15 to 20 years, have statutory status and integrate more fully with other strategies.
128	Regional Assemblies	English regions have chambers which provide a voice to influence Central Government and the European Commission. Regional Development Agencies are accountable to the chambers and they are responsible for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.  The government has offered referendums to decide whether people want elected regional assemblies. The North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber are now each progressing towards referendums but in November 2004 the North East voted against having a Regional Assembly. (R1104)
127	Disabled Web access (R0705)	The Disability Discrimination Act, 1999 says that it is unlawful to discriminate against a disabled person by not providing to them any or a lower standard of service than offered to other members of the public or failing to make reasonable adjustments
126	Machinery rings (R0705)	Machinery rings help farmers to use the machinery and labour they have more efficiently by hiring them out to others when they are not needed.  They can also hire help from other ring members when they need it.  Contact details of machinery rings in the UK are given.
125	Benchmarking (R0705)	Benchmarking is a way for farms to cut costs and improve their performance by exchanging information with other farms. Farmers join a group and each member contributes data. Members are given a summary, for example figures for the average, highest and lowest in the group. Each farmer can then compare performance with the rest of the group.  Contact details of some benchmarking organisations are given.
124	Consultation on CAP Reform - The National Reserve	A National Reserve will be set up as part of the new support system. Its purpose will be to minimise disadvantage to farmers who may have seen changes in their business that would adversely affect the their entitlement for the new Single Payment (SP). The National Reserve may also provide for those entering the industry after the start of the SP, and for those involved in restructuring.
123	The horse industry (R0705)	The horse industry’s gross output is approximately £3.4 billion (farming  £13.4 billion). It employs 50,000 people (farming 550,000), 2.4 million people ride and there are between 600,000 and a million horses (10.3 million cattle and calves).  There is scope for expansion in horse business but the industry needs to learn to work together more effectively.
122	CAP - Consultation on Cross Compliance	This briefing sets out the environmental conditions farmers in England are likely to have to comply with to receive their Single Payment (SP) as CAP reform comes into effect over the next few years.  Further conditions covering public, animal and plant health and animal welfare will become subject to cross compliance in 2006 and 2007 and will be consulted on later
121	Organic Farming	This briefing defines organic food and it’s labelling. Only 4.3% of UK farmed land is organic and the government action plan aims for 70% of organic food sold in England to be produced in England. Currently only 44% is homegrown. The process for converting to organic is given and the extra support organic farmers get described.
120	Rural railways consultation	The deadline for response to this consultation has gone but this briefing is still useful as an outline about how the Strategic Rail Authority sees the future of rural railways.
119	Bird populations	The 2002 index of all native species showed that the population of birds across the UK is 13 per cent higher than it was in 1970. The farmland index shows that bird populations almost halved between 1977 and 1993, but have leveled out since
118	The ethical basis for livestock production (R0108))	Livestock producers are criticized by those opposed to commercial animal farming who embrace the philosophy of animal rights and argue that they hold the moral high ground. Producers must show that in caring for their stock they work to high welfare standards that are based on firm ethical principles.
117	Genetically Modified Maize given the green light	Defra has decided to allow farmers to grow genetically-modified (GM) maize but will be recommending to the EU that GM sugar beet and oilseed rape are not grown.  They have decided that there is no scientific case for ruling out all GM crops; future consideration of GM will be on a case by case basis.
116	Water Act 2003 (R0605)	Under the Act most licensing exemptions will be removed; a threshold of 20 cubic metres per day will be established, above which an abstractor needs a licence and the Environment Agency will be able to revoke a licence without compensation if it has not been used for four years. Also water companies will be given a duty to agree drought and water resource management plans with the Secretary of State (or the National Assembly.
115	Water Framework Directive (R0605)	The Water Framework Directive splits England and Wales into River Basin Districts. A management plan will be drawn up for each District by the Environment Agency to ensure that all inland and coastal waters reach at least "good ecological and chemical status" by 2015. It is not yet clear what this might mean for agriculture but there may be further pressure in the future to prevent pollution, more protection for wetlands and greater use of agricultural land for flood prevention.
114	Challenging assumptions about countryside planning (R0605)	Professor Nigel Curry argues that tighter economic logic needs to be imposed on strategies for development of the countryside and this need not be at all at variance with the principles of sustainable development but entails a clear human welfare centred approach. On the way he challenges, amongst others, assumptions that we need to preserve farmed land, only build on brown field sites, that buildings impair rural environmental quality, that conserving the heritage is just about the past and that resisting development in rural areas will minimise travel to work.
113	Local Food – Govt policy (R0605)	Summarized from the Defra Policy paper on local food.  As well as policy it gives good definitions of local and regional food and a balanced view of advantages and disadvantages which is often missing from writings from those who are involved in promoting local food.  For instance, no one actually knows whether fresh food is better for us.
112	Preparing for a new GB strategy on bovine tuberculosis	Bovine TB is one of the most difficult animal health problems that we face in Great Britain, with incidence increasing by about 18% per annum.  This consultation is the first step in implementing the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy (AHWS) . It sets out the principles on which a TB Strategy will be based and opens the debate on the way forward. The next step will be the development of a draft strategy later in 2004.
111	Unlocking the potential of the rural urban Fringe (R0605)	The vision is for a rural urban fringe that is attractive, accessible, diverse and multi-functional and which serves the needs of both urban and rural communities, strengthens the links between town and country, and contributes fully towards sustainable development. The fringe is not just the place where town meets country but a collection of dynamic and productive environments set in inspiring cultural landscapes, meeting the needs of both the present and helping to change the way we live in the future. The consultation period is over but the details of the vision are still interesting.
110	Credit Unions (R0605)	Credit unions’ original main aim was to provide affordable finance to those who would struggle to obtain it from a high street lender, or who could only get weekly collected credit at extortionate interest. Nowadays they have expanded beyond this and UK credit unions now number close to 700 with 280,000 members, with £170m in assets.
109	Rural White Paper Review Chapter 5 – a vibrant countryside	This is the last of five briefings summarising the Review of the Rural White Paper 2000 (RWP).  The review charts Defra’s achievements and priorities for the future. This chapter focusses on a countryside which can shape its own future.
108	Review of the Rural White Paper Chapter 4 – a protected countryside.	This is the fourth of five briefings summarising the Review of the Rural White Paper 2000 (RWP).  The review charts Defra’s achievements and priorities for the future. This chapter focusses on protection of the environment and prudent use of natural resources.
107	Review of the Rural White Paper Chapter 3: A working countryside	This is the third of five briefings summarising the review of the Rural White Paper 2000 (RWP).  The review charts Defra’s achievements and priorities for the future.  This paper focusses on the linkages between agriculture and wider economic activity in rural areas.
106	Review of the Rural White Paper Chapter 2 – A Living Countryside	This is the second of five briefings summarising the review of the Rural White Paper 2000 (RWP) which charts Defra’s achievements and priorities for the future. It covers the section of the RWP which was about giving rural communities a fair deal on services.
105	Demonstration Farms	The Government set up a pilot network of demonstration farms, Forward Farming, in early 2003 in response to recommendations of the Curry Report. The aim was to test their effectiveness in improving the economic and environmental performance of farms and their integration into the food chain and rural economy. The project ended in June 2004 and is being evaluated.
104	Review of the Rural White Paper - overview	Defra has reviewed progress towards the vision it set out in the Rural White Paper (RWP) in 2000.  Its conclusions will be included in what it calls a ‘refreshed rural policy’ to be published in the Spring.  It’s a huge report, 99 pages, but some of the chapters are interesting with more detailed arguments and examples.  I will summarise these as separate notes over the next few weeks.  This briefing gives an overview of what the review says Defra has achieved and still has to do.  The full white paper is accessible at: www.defra.gov.uk/rural/rwpreview/default.htm.
103	Lessons from the retail jungle (R0605)	Extracts from the Frank Parkinson Lecture at the 2004 Oxford Farming Conference given by Sir John Banham, Chairman of Whitbread plc. Farmers are now business people who have to earn their living in a tough, competitive and (more or less) subsidy free world.  They need to meet customer needs, understand their competitive advantages, build brands, select, train and motivate their people, work in partnerships and embrace regulation.
102	Oxford Farming Conference 2004: Winning Customer Confidence (R0605)	Every January the movers and shakers of UK agriculture gather in Oxford for their annual chin-wag. Here are snippets, quotes and points which struck me as interesting. The conference was notable for an atmosphere of optimism and confidence.  It seems like the industry’s leaders are beginning to see the way ahead .
101	Consultation - Animal Health and Welfare Strategy Implementation Plan for England	A good summary of what is happening in all the areas of work on animal health and welfare which Defra are involved in including new initiatives.
100	TB  and cattle - the possibility of vaccination (R0605)	This paper discusses the possibility of developing vaccines for badgers or for cattle to combat the spread of bovine TB. If badgers were proved to be the main source of cattle TB there is a vaccine which would be worth trialling but even if it worked a cheap and effective means of ensuring a high take up among badgers would be necessary.  Delivering vaccine to cattle would be easier but none of the vaccines which have been tested so far are effective enough.  Work is also going on to improve the sensitivity of the diagnostics used in routine testing of cattle and is showing that new assays may be more effective in defining infection.

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