LANDLORDS of tenant dairy farmers have been urged to review how much they charge in rents.

The NFU Tenants Forum made the call after recent rounds of farmgate milk price cuts and First Milk’s announcement that it was delaying its milk payment by two weeks.

Chris Cardell, Forum spokesman, said: “I want all landlords to be understanding towards tenant dairy farmers in regard to rent, particularly those hard pressed First Milk suppliers who are under extreme financial pressure at this time.

“Obviously some of these will be on very high rents and may need some consideration from landlords in these times of trouble. Indeed some may be in a very good position to issue a rent review notice to the landlord this spring triggering a rent reduction negotiation."

The Forum has asked for any reviews to increase dairy farm rents are postponed and for landlords to provide any other assistance they can to their tenants.

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A new service offering bespoke veterinary advice for cattle keepers on how to reduce the risk of bovine TB on their farms is being offered to farmers within the licensed badger cull areas.

The service will be offered within the cull areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) over the next two years. Cattle keepers will receive a summary of the local level of TB this month.

APHA will provide keepers with tailored reports for each of their holdings, showing the number of incidents of TB recorded over the last five years; the cattle movement history and other risk-related information. They will also have the option of receiving a farm visit from a vet, who will discuss the tailored report and provide bespoke advice and guidance on preventing TB.

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