BSE Case Confirmed on Welsh Farm

News broke yesterday that a case of classical BSE has been found in a dead cow in Wales.

The Welsh Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, said that the case posed no risk to human health, as no infected meat had entered the food chain.

According to OIE figures, this is the first case of BSE, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, identified in the UK this year.

Ms Evans said the last case to be recorded in Wales was in 2013.

"The case was identified as a result of the strict control measures we have in place," she said.

Explaining the testing procedures, she said: "All animals over four years of age that die on a farm are routinely tested for the disease under our comprehensive surveillance system.”

Welsh government officials are working with APHA and DEFRA to investigate the case – read more.

Denmark’s Cost of Production Calculated

Denmark’s cost of milk production has been calculated including a minimum “income rate” that self-employed farmers and farm workers should pay themselves, depending on their qualifications.

According to the European Milk Board (EMB), this sets the study apart from others, some of which do not include any allowance for farmers to be paid at all.

The results came in at 43.32 euro cents per kilo of milk produced in Denmark in 2014. After deducting subsidies of 4.33 cents the cost is 38.99 cents per kilo.

"The situation has significantly deteriorated again this year, as in Denmark as well milk prices are plummeting, reaching a level of currently only about 29 cents," said Kjartan Poulsen, President of the Danish dairy farmer association LDM – read more.