PENRITH Farmers and Kidd’s are claiming a “dramatic financial turn around” after posting improved figures for the last year.

Accounts for 2003 show post-tax profits of £229,928 compared with a loss of £785,355 in the previous year. PF&K managing director Richard Morris said the results reflected “radical restructuring” of the company’s business over the last 18-months. The firm pulled out of its traditional farmstock sales last year selling its marts at Kirkby Stephen and Lazonby to Carlisle based-rivals, Harrison and Hetherington, and leasing its Penrith auction mart to the farmers consortium, Penrith and District Farmers Mart. PF&K also appointed a liquidator at Blackpool abattoir where it owned 75 per cent of the North West Foods Ltd business.

PF&K directors now plans to pay the company’s 689 shareholders a 20 per cent increase on dividends at 12p per share. PF&K’s annual meeting will be held at the Hired Lad at Penrith, at 11.30am on December 12.

Calming note for festive fowl TURKEYS will be shaking their tail feathers in the run-up to Christmas thanks to a CD of calming sound effects compiled by the NFU.

With the help of animal behaviour researchers from the Roslin Institute in Scotland, the NFU created a turkey top ten of sounds designed to have a “positive calming effect”.

The CD includes sounds of wind chimes, happy turkeys, Gregorian chant, the dawn chorus and whale song as well as sounds of seaside, forest and farmyard.

The disc is being sent to all farmers who have signed up to NFU’s Turkey Hotline to help shoppers find farm turkeys for Christmas.

NFU turkey spokesman Mike Bailey said: “It is well known among farmers that a background of constant sounds calms birds. Now we want to put the theory to the test and get a definitive answer which will help turkey producers in future years.” The Turkey Hotline is 0870-060-3436.

CAP on soil agenda...

THE effects of Common Agricultural Policy reform on organic farmers, and ideas to connect food to local people, will be under discussion at the Soil Association’s annual conference at Edinburgh. The organic organisation’s 16th conference on January 9 and 10 will include addresses from Sir Don Curry, of the Sustainable Farming and Food Implementation Group, Allan Wilson, of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and a range of international speakers from America, Malaysia, Italy and Ireland. There will also be workshops on subjects including CAP reform, getting organic food into schools and challenges for smaller organic producers. Tickets cost £352.50 or £258.50 for Soil Association members. For further details see www.soilassociation.org/conference or call 0117-914-2451.

Workers still leaving land THE exodus of workers from English agriculture continues. According to figures released by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, some 17,200 farmers and farm workers left the land in the 12 months to April 2003. The statistics represent a fall of 4.6 per cent in the industry’s workforce with 5,900 full-time and part-time farmers, 10,700 farm workers and 600 farm managers calling it a day - 80,000 people have now left the industry in England since 1996.

NFU president Ben Gill said: “These figures demonstrate just how incredibly tough it has been for the industry and that our future is still precarious.

“This is a message for us, for government and for all involved in the countryside and the food industry. We are resolved to strive to create a better future for farming.”