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AgroTourism Limited Home

AgroTourism Limited has been serving the European markets for many years as an independent EU company. We specialize in high-end investments for selected clients in real estate under the guidance of a widely experienced Licensed Real Estate Broker with many years experience in commercial real estate, and our staff offers quality and reliable investment services based on real estate especially land, large estates, farms which are unlikely to depreciate during an economic downturn. Investments are made through Switzerland and Liechtenstein using specially created companies.  The investment package  includes bank accounts and management services. This is a personal and confidential service. All funds must be proved legal and of non-criminal origin to our satisfaction and of our bankers. This is not a tax avoidance scheme and taxes will be paid where appropriate. Our accountants and lawyers will work with you to minimise taxes. There are non-refundable upfront costs to establish bank accounts and corporations and our fee for undertaking this work. Investments are secured by the property. In addition, our friendly and professional staff is here to answer any questions you may have about our company or our services.

Whether you need a total services package that includes property management services, or an specific service, we have what you need at a reasonable price. At AgroTourism Limited, our goal is to provide you with courteous, expedient, professional service of the highest calibre.

Browse our Web site for more information about AgroTourism Limited. If you have any questions or would like to speak with a AgroTourism Limited representative regarding our services, please e-mail us at agrotourism@xebec.demon.co.uk or call us at 01905 424719 or mobile 07924 520 973.

At AgroTourism Limited, the client always comes first.

 Bells for Alamein & Memories of Peel - Poems are now on the NEWS page click here

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My peripatetic page - Click any will take you to the NEWS page:

PASS THE BUTTER PLEASE - IT IS GOOD FOR YOU OR WHAT DAIRY FARMERS ALREADY KNOW

COWS EXPLAIN THE WORLD ECONOMY

ICE HOCKEY CURES ALL THAT AILS AMERICA

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Sudden Oak Death

In America it is called Sudden Oak Death in England and the EU Phytophthora ramorum or P. kernoviae. What ever the name it has and is likely to cause significant damage to oak and other trees. The disease was first identified in the US in 1995 and the EU in 2002. In the EU the fungus appears to be a more virulent variant of the fungus and has been named P. kernoviae after were the disease was first identified (Cornwall - Kernow in the Cornish language]. At present in England the disease appears to be confined to Cornwall and South Wales. Outbreaks of the disease have been reported throughout Northern Europe.

The disease is fatal to oak trees and infected trees die within a year. Other species in which the disease is usually fatal are redwood, sweet chestnut, horse chestnut, beach, magnolia and eucalyptus. In England rhododendron and viburnum and highly susceptible to Phytophthora but does not kill the plant and acts as a reservoir for the fungus.

If the disease becomes universally established in the US and EU the economic consequences could be devastating. Farmer and hikers should be aware of the disease and report suspect trees to DEFRA. Accurate diagnosis can only be made in a laboratory. It is not a legal requirement but ramblers in know infected areas are urged to wash and disinfect their shoes and vehicles before leaving travelling to other parts of the country. The right to roam does not carry a right to destroy! DEFRA must provide free wash points. DEFRA have produced a poster that can be downloaded showing how to recognise diseased plants and trees

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Common Ragwort

Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). Its that season again. A native plant but is poisonous to horses and some other animals. DEFRA has a website with instructions as to how best to control the plant.  There is no question of the complete eradication of this plant but control is essential. Well worth reading are DEFRAs recommendations

Meet the Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) - Good guy or bad?

Badgers are nocturnal mammals. They live in extensive underground earth works called setts.  The badger weighs less in southern, warmer areas and heavier in northern areas. In the north badgers hibernate in the south, including England, they do not. Badgers are territorial, each group is called a clan, is led by an alpha male and consists of about 10 - 14 mature animals. Usually but not always there is only one breeding female in each clan. After impregnation the female can delay implantation of the ovum until the most suitable time to produce young.  Males are called boars, females sows and the young cubs.

The Eurasian badger is widely distributed across Europe and Asian, including the islands of Iceland, Ireland, Japan, England and all the larger island in the Mediterranean. England has the highest density of badger per hectare. It is a ancient animal that has changed little in tens of thousands of years. Badgers are omnivores and eat earthworms, beetles, frogs, small mammals, fruit, nuts and berries. Its favorite food of earthworms are abundant in cow pastures that bring badgers in contact with cows and, indirectly, man.

Badges evoke strong emotions. Over the years they have been hunted, put with dogs for sport, hunted by foot by lamping and protected. They are presently protected by law and a license is required to handle the animal. Badgers are susceptible to Bovine Tuberculosis, so are cattle - Mycobacterium bovis or bTB. The organism is related to the human form of the disease - Mycobacterium tuberculosis - however, humans are only rarely infected by the bTB strain. Presently farmers believe that badgers spread bTB to their cattle causing substantial loss and are asking the English Government to cull badgers to prevent to spread of bTB. The many badger protection societies take the opposite view believing that badgers do not present a threat to cattle and that it may be the cows that spread bTB to badgers. DEFRA have recently conducted research to determine the danger posed to farmers and the results are awaited with interest.

P.S. The Royal Society in an independent report says there is evidence that a link exists between badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis 10,000 cattle, a growing number, are slaughtered each year in England that test positive to bTB. Apparently Mr. Hilary Benn still does not know what to do. Recently he has said that the feelings of the people must be taken into account when considering a cull of badgers.

March 2009 - Hilary Benn, Rural Affairs Secretary has announced that farmers in the six worst affected areas (South West, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire)  will start vaccinating badgers against Bovine Tuberculosis starting next year. Training of farmers has started who will catch badger in cages, vaccinate then release. Benn failed to say who pays for this programme.

2010 - Wales tried to cull badgers but were stopped by a High Court injunction obtained, I think, by an Animal Right Group. In any case it appears that the cull was ineffective. England, the coalition Government has announced that it will start a cull of badges in 2011. I wonder if they will be more successful than the Welch. Maybe the cattle are the reservoir of bTB and not the badgers or there is a third party reservoir that has still to be identified.

July 2011 - The latest development in this sage is that the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced in the Parliament that there will be a cull of badgers in England in two areas to be selected by farmers and landowners within the next nine weeks. It is widely thought that these areas will be Gloucestershire and Hampshire and that farmers in these areas will be allowed to shoot on sight any badger. It is anticipated that badgers in the selected areas will be reduced by about 95%. If the cull reduces the incidence of bTB in these areas the programme will be rolled out across the rest of England.

The programmes will be very controversial amongst non-farmers as the animal is greatly loved by the British and many protests can be anticipated. The country waits expectantly to see if a badger cull will reduce the incidence of bTB.

Butter Mountains, Wine Lakes is this the right way to go about solving these problems?

The answer according to the pundits of Brussels to the wine lake is to destroy years of viniculture by digging up long established vineyard. Vines grow overnight but take many years to mature and yield berries of vintage quality. Is it a serious move by the doyens of the EU to capitulate in the face of stiff competition form the New World and hand, on a plate, wine production to others? Is not the lasting solution elsewhere? I think that it is, let the industry fight back by improving the marketing of the product and educating the public as to how wines are labeled and classified. Changing the labelling to the system of the New World of wines only endorses their products. Cutting down the vines is a negative approach to the situation. To destroy the new vineyards of Kent that are winning global awards for their wines and fizz would be a national catastrophe. Improved marketing, developing alternative income streams and protection of the cultural heritage is better than paying compensation for grubbing up vines. I have yet to hear what alternative land uses are being suggested by the EU when the vines are gone and what help is being offered to develop the alternatives income streams.

Wine producers and consumers - what do you think? Why are the Americans and Russians buying French wine at record prices if New World style is the way to go? Anyway cheap wine from Australia is a thing of the past as two failed harvests have dried the wine lake. Will their wine be as popular when the price goes up?

Pest control.

Furry, nice, cuddly, a garden friend, pretty but it is a rodent that destroys our woods and forests and native species! Yes, it is a grey squirrel (sciurus carolinensis) imported from America. A number of black variant have been spotted in England. The black “grey” squirrel moves faster and is more disease resistant.

Recently a restaurant in Worcestershire announced that it was serving terrine of squirrel as a starter. The protests were immediate, vociferous and threatening so the dish was quickly remove. It will be interesting to see how the general public will react to the cull of gray squirrels by poisoning that will take place over the next three year. Whatever the reaction the cull is long overdue and will give our native red squirrel (s. vulgaris) and our forests a chance to recover. It may also stop the spread on squirrel pox.

There are other problems the ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), mink the New Zealand flat worm and so on. Shoot them and there are gun protests, hunt rodents on horses with dogs and it is cruel - so is birth control pills for animals the only solution? What do you think?

Here is another problem animal that was immortalized by Beatrice Potter. The RABBIT! Did you know that rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) cause British agriculture economic loss in excess of £100 million annually. One rabbit per ha can reduce production by 1% and where there are rabbits there is always more than one per ha. I seem to remember a wartime song that was something about run rabbit run and guns, get going with your guns as they are good eating - see the cookbook below for recipes.

Well Bugs Bunny seems safe (Bugs was actually a hare) as you can no long apply for an order from DEFRA to exterminate the rabbits on your neighbor’s property that are eating your crops.

Incidentally, squirrel is often on the menu in Spain - it is excellent and if we eat the problem it would quickly reduce the numbers. For example in Cairo, Egypt you do not see too many pigeons except in the pot. Is this a solution to unwanted specSo it is hard times again so get out your gun and a hunting we will go.

So man is the greatest predator ever so let’s make gray squirrel a delicacy and in no time we will have eaten all the grays leaving England’s red supreme. I would guess this will bring in the protest mail!

If you click below you will be redirected to a site that has some delicious recipes for cooking what you shoot

Need to know how to cook: Venison, squirrel, duck and other animals that you have hunted? Jerry’s Bait and Tackle shop has published some great recipes animals that you will not find in the average cook book.

Click here to access these recipes.

Herefordshire & Worcestershire