The FW team has been at the Royal Show, Stoneleigh for the last two days and it's been an excellent event from a news point of view but not necessarily the news we wanted to hear. Yesterday proved to be a critical day as we woke to leaked news on the BBC that the Government had made its long awaited decision on whether to cull badgers to control bovine tb. The news, as we had predicted, was not good. The BBC claimed a leaked source had said the decision, due on Monday, would be against a cull. Sir David King, the Government's former chief scientist was on tv and radio purporting dismay if this leak were true. It amounted to Government completely ignoring his own recommendations.
Leaked news can be tricky. Usually, it turns out to be true but until it is confirmed to be true journalists inevitably end up speculating. And that's what happened yesterday. The entire media crew at the Royal Show - from the BBC to Reuters, the daily nationals and regionals and Farmers Weekly - spent all day trying to substantiate the story.
I'm completely biased of course, but the FW team did a great job at covering the story with breaking news, farmer reaction and video interviews. There's also a video of Hilary Benn briefing the media at the show - although in reality he gave little away and kept urging everyone to wait until Monday for an announcement. He comes across as a man of integrity who cares about agriculture but recognises he still has a lot ot learn about it. I think his main problem on culling is that he isn't convinced it will stop the spread of disease and he's concerned about public acceptance of any actions. Two key practical issues which, in our opinion, can be overcome.
If it's true and Hilary Benn does make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday saying he does not believe a cull will control the spread of the disease, then it has far reaching consequences for farming families. Our view is that it is not only a travesty that Government has procrastinated for so long on this while farmers have suffered serious losses but it also risks damaging relationships big time.
Whatever farmers say about Defra and usually it's not complimentary, there have been significant improvements in the way industry and Government officals work together in recent years. We're at a fundamental stage in terms of co-operation, consultation and negotiation over cost and responsibility sharing on animal health in this country and one cannot imagine that issue going any further if a cull is not forthcoming.
There were farmers yesterday already threatening non co-operation and taking matters into their own hands. We fully appreciate how people are feeling but emotional knee jerk reactions now do not help farming one jot. It is essential that we get the right message across to the public about the consequences of no cull on cattle and the devasting effect on farming families. We cannot expect the masses to come with us but we should be able to communicate effectively the seriousness of the situation on livestock herds and help more of the public understand the issues better. The NFU is seeking legal advice and working on a communciation strategy to this end as we speak. There is a talk of action in the streets of London next week to manage the messages about the plight of farming families.
When I got home last night from the Royal Show, there was an email from an Angus Thomson. It read:
"There are those who believe that a cull of farmers would enhance the countryside, promote wildlife, improve nutrition, remove 15 minutes of snivelling a day from Radio Four and enable other people to get to the bar. It would certainly give bagders a laugh".
That's what we're up against..... and why we need to manage the messages very carefully. Have a good weekend.