Hundreds of DEFRA officials are being offered early redundancy as part of the department's emergency cost-saving measures.

The package, which includes pensions of £40,000 a year for life, a lump sum of three times their pension and an additional lump sum of up to £30,000, is being used to tempt 300 staff over the age of 50 to voluntarily leave their jobs.

The cost of the retirement scheme will amount to £300m in total which, ironically, is the same amount DEFRA's budget is to be cut by this year. 

Now I know you guys will have plenty to say about this, and I encourage you to do so, as the best will go in the magazine this week. Undoubtedly this is a colossal waste of money which could be spent on, say, animal health (instead of implementing Benn's levy) or any number of measures. What do you, the farmers, think?

Emily 

I saw this a few days ago on the warmwell site and could not believe what I was reading. This country has gone totally mad. For anybody in government employment it seems the worse you are at your job the greater the financial reward. Now I know that among the staff who will be retiring there will be some excellent people and their departure will be farming's loss but it is the overall picture that most farmers will find soul destroying.

The sums of money involved are obscene. Most livestock farmers, the ones so badly let down by Defra, can only imagine what it would be like to earn as much as Defra staff, let alone be unnecessarily bribed to leave.

Of course, I also realise it is a complete waste of time having a moan on this forum, the only people who will read it will be other farmers who already know how bad things are. I envy the French their direct actions. I envy the people who can emigrate and I hate the government for making me feel this way.