Defra does not seem to know why agriculture in this country is not competitive and wants our views on their website.

Hmm, well first I think they should realize that there are better places to consult. FWi is a perfectly good place to consult

defra should get out a bit, you know even come up the A12, and stop off at a few places along the way. .

defra have had time to produce a glossy 60 page document with the usual flat economics earth analysis . Apparently things are driven, things ain't driven. They have hijacked a method used in environmental science - resilience. Reading through the document only illustrates they ain't a clue. They ask what drives resilience? Resilience ain't driven it is an attribute of a system to absorb shocks. Economics doesn't do systems because it can only look at one thing and say all other things are equal. Systems are complex like squeezing on a rice pudding.

This document is very depressing, citing things that we have been working on for years, nay even generations. Asking why farmers don't benchmark for example. They (defra) have generated a plethora of benchmarking activities themselves. farmers don't benchmark because they hide behind performance figures on which no one agrees.

I can rant on, in essence British agriculture has been falling behind competitors for the last generation due to:

1. thatcher pulling R&D funding, now there is limited funding for a few environmental pieces of research, nothing of any serious intent.
2. increases in environmental legislation for chicanery of production
3. aged workforce and lack of new blood
4. Total lack of support for education
5. farmers working in a different place to government, the disconnect that Curry fingered. (cross purposes is another way of putting it, farming will be there when this bunch of policy wonks are history. Policy perverts)
6. the rise and rise of disease salmonella. BSE, CSF and FMD.
7. putting out things that they "think" farmers want and then are surprised that farmers don't use it
8. Beckett the worst minister ever to get anywhere near farming and the issuance of tape RED.

Get in the real world defra.

Don't just sit in London and put out flat-earth analysis. Defra have to  realize that it is people that come first, not the economics of the mad house "value of everything and the price of nothing economics". Get Ostrom over here and get her to give you (defra) a master class around her wonderful Nobel peace prize theory.

 

May I contratulate you on the phrase "policy perverts". You may have used it before but I have missed it if you have.

It amused me.

i am afraid my response is unprintable.

 

like what the f*** do they know about anything?

they know as much about economics as gordon brown

 

Maybe when the City of London got their "concessions"from the eu they had to agree,in return,to debilitate uk agriculture.And DEFRA have served their purpose well.

Well, I agree with you, Motley, DEFRA has been a bad thing for farming and, inspite of having some good individuals, is generally mistrusted.

I have noticed one small spark of hope re education in our area of the Marches. EBLEX have been running a Better returns programme here over the last two years. I can't speak for other regions but our meetings have been superbly run - mainly fired up by the enthusiastic sheep specialist people from EBLEX/ADAS and the veterinary profession. Oh yes - not forgetting the host farmers who have been generous with their time and honest in admitting their mistakes. I have learnt a great deal and am now not afraid to face my own production figures - with tremendous improvements. At the last meeting I attended a few days ago I noticed that there was a large age range in the people attending - from early 30's to well past pensionable age. All were keen to learn - you can teach an old dog new tricks!! So whilst I agree with your point 3 that the work force is ageing and new blood is needed (in all enterprises) - please don't write off the "oldies" in this (very small) part of the world - they are still up for new ideas! Nil desperandum!

Perhaps DEFRA should go on one or two of these farm courses - they might learn what a sheep was for a start!

 

My brother and i had started farming on a small scale on our family small holding last year when we were 15 (we bought 6 ewes) this year we have risen our small flock to 13 ewes,a pedigree Texel ram that we were given and a lamb we were also given.I have never seen so much paperwork for such a small amount of animals(ive done my GCSE's and there wosnt as much paper work)

Next January i have read that they(Defra)will slap an animal tax for disease cost sharing. the goverment have brought in most of these bloody diseases in  with inports.how are large scale farmers going to survive when paying 50pto a £1 per sheep and even more for beef and dairy cattle.

 

My brother and i have a keen eye in farming and want to go into farming as a career,and i hope they idiots wont stop us!

If I read the coverage of today's Queen's Speech correctly, they have shelved these plans for the time being.  Of course they will probably reappear after the election.

 

The pundits are predicting they won't even get much of what is in the Queen's speech though, never mind what isn't.  I wonder what the Tory policy is on creating yet another Quango?

ps.  farmerhill - I shouldn't worry too much even if the present plans came to fruition I think your numbers would put you outside the scheme.

Queen's speech? Seven minute suicide note, dreadful rubbish. They had to edit in extra bits on the website after, how pitiful is that?

He his-self:

They had to edit in extra bits on the website after, how pitiful is that?

I haven't looked at the website but I caught a minute or so of the Queen's speech labour broadcast last night.  They must have scoured the archives for every usable shot of Broon hobnobbing with other world leaders especially Obama.  He reckoned he had saved the world now I think he's hoping the world will save him!