Archive Article: 2000/09/01
We should all back FWs campaign…
FARMERS WEEKLY is to be applauded for its efforts in support of farmers right to choose whether or not to back fox-hunting. We should all take the trouble to cut out and sign the letter to Tony Blair and return it to FARMERS WEEKLY.
Although this may seem trivial compared with the general plight of farming, it is not. The same New Labour ignorance and arrogance, and refusal to listen, is at the root of both issues. The irony is that the Countryside Alliance, which speaks for hunting, is doing a far better job in fighting its corner than the NFU which is supposed to be fighting for farming.
A couple of years ago it would have seemed incredible that I should be giving up productive agriculture (in favour of conservation farming), while fox-hunting was still legal. That this will be the case, come Michaelmas, speaks volumes for the effectiveness of the Countryside Alliance. But it is also an indictment of the NFUs weak and confused way of dealing with a government, which is hostile to all aspects of the countryside.
Malcolm Read
Broadmead Farm, West Grimstead, Salisbury, Wilts.
Make a stand to save hunting
I am a hunt groom with the Biscester and Whaddon Chase. I am 15 years old and feel strongly about hunting. I am growing up in some of the most beautiful hunting country in the UK.
I love the place where I work because it gives me a lot of experience in the field. And I would be prepared to go to prison if it helps hunting survive. I wish you every success in your campaign and lets hope that Mr Blair backs off.
Name and address supplied.
Prime Minister anti-countryside
Good luck with your campaign Hands Off Hunting, Mr Blair. But I doubt Mr Blair will listen. He is anti-countryside and has said green fields should be built on. He is also championing greater links with Europe so there is no hope for us if he continues in office.
White and Partners
Peakhill Farm, Theberton, Leiston, Suffolk.
Anti-hunt fakes on a day trip
We farm in Cheshire and can confirm that some anti-hunt supporters are fakes. A yellow minibus from Liverpool University full of antis, who paid £25 a day plus a packed lunch, came to disrupt the Cheshire Forest Hunt plus the shoot on our land.
Cheshire farmers
Name and address supplied.
Magistrate will defend hunting
I will resign from being a magistrate and be prepared to go to jail to preserve hunting and the countryside and defy what I think would be an unenforceable law.
Gillian M Wilson,
The Grove House, Little Bognor, Fittleworth, Sussex.
Spare animals painful death
As you can see from my address, I have the right to decide if I want to allow the hunt here. Like more and more people, I choose not to.
But that is no guarantee that hunts will respect this right, as hundreds of incidents reported in newspapers have proved. The attitude problem of hunts is one of the major causes of their unpopularity.
The other major reason for their unpopularity is the public awareness, due to endless publicity in the press and on TV, of the cruelty inflicted on the deer, hare or fox.
Whether its a dog worrying sheep, a dog that has bitten someone, a fox that has been lucky enough to have chicken for lunch, or a hare or deer that has eaten someones crop, animals should be killed quickly, quietly and without pain or an audience. Anyone who has witnessed the death of a hunted animal knows that is not the case.
Drag hunting, which does not appeal to the hard core who hunt to kill, means no-one loses their job. In fact, even I might get interested enough to buy a horse.
Alan F Brooks
Yew Tree Farm, Billings Green, Cheshire.
Did we import swine fever?
I was told by a friend who regularly visits Holland on business that on a past occasion he was not allowed off the auto-routes.
He was told there was an outbreak of swine-fever and country roads had been closed to stop the disease spreading. At about the same time there was an accident on the A5 near us in which a lorry carrying pig carcasses from Holland overturned.
Why didnt we know they had an outbreak? Why when anything happens here, everyone seems to know and a ban is imposed in days?
If the import of Dutch pigmeat had been banned it might have given our hard-pressed pig farmers a boost at a crucial time. So why no ban?
The same applies to beef. Manufacturers and meat-packers are importing French cow beef, some of which must have come from animals in the late stages of incubating BSE.
But what does the government or the Food Standards Agency do? Nothing. It seems that the health and welfare of those living on the other side of the channel is more important than ours. We take great precautions to make our food safe, then allow anybody to send their rubbish over here.
Is it a coincidence that the outbreak of swine-fever started near the east coast, the main ferry route from Holland?
M W Fisher
Ivy House Farm, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton, Warks.
Nurse killing pig industry
I heard recently the most blatant hypocrisy ever. I could not believe my ears. If farm minister Nick Brown spins any faster he will start humming. I heard him say that he had been nursing the pig industry for the past two years.
If thats nursing, for heavens sake pull the plug on the life support system and let me die before I get any more nursing inflicted upon me.
Mr Browns nursing consists of a BSE tax of £5.26, a UK stall and tether ban but not in the EU and government catering establishments using imported pigmeat produced in stalls and tethers. Then, theres the outgoers scheme with so many hoops to jump through that he knows he wont have to spend a penny. Need I go on?
The Dutch had a classical swine fever scheme funded 30% by their government and 70% by the EU. Will he apply for such a scheme in time to save all the unfortunate farmers trapped in the surveillance zones? Not if it might cost his good friend Gordon a few bob. Mention money, and all his welfare and humanitarian principles disappear rapidly. Keep on humming Mr Brown.
David Graham
Ditchford Mill Farm, Moreton in Marsh, Glos.
Hard work no longer enough
I write regarding the letter (Aug 18) ostensibly from D Stubbs, Burtonhole Farm, Mill Hill. I disassociate myself with the content and suggest the writer use his or her own address.
My family, and many others, have worked hard over the years and succeeded in running an efficient businesses. But hard work no longer seems enough. Every sector of agriculture is regularly bombarded with additional rules, regulations and welfare standards. No expense is spared on the bureaucrats employed to police these rules.
If as much effort was put into protecting British agriculture, by ensuring imports were produced in identical conditions with the same stringent regard to inputs, our plight might improve.
Instead, we have vast quantities of imports using substances banned in the UK in conditions that would be unlawful here. The odds are stacked against British producers and many politicians and certainly consumers seem blissfully unaware of the desperate situation.
D Stubbs
Burtonhole Farm, Mill Hill, London.
Flax might be a staple product
The new proposals for the flax regime should encourage production of higher quality fibre. That is because a higher proportion of the subsidy will depend on processing and proof that the fibres have been placed on the market.
Taking a long-term view, if subsidy is equal for all crops, the value of the end product becomes very important. The textile market is a huge, expanding industry. Cotton supplies the lions share of the short staple textile market, but in future demand will outstrip supply. Flax could be developed to meet this sectors future requirements for an alternative short staple fibre.
Little UK produced fibre is used in the textile market. But research at De Montfort Universitys School of Agriculture and Textile departments, has shown that it is possible to produce short staple fibres from UK grown crops, that are compatible with textile uses. That work is still continuing, exploring novel techniques aimed at growing, harvesting and processing flax in such a way that the fibre is even more compatible with textile uses. Indications are that a cotton compatible or substitute fibre could attract prices of up to £100/t straw.
Trials have showed that it is feasible to produce 2.5t/acre of straw (and about 0.5t/ha fibre) using this technique. Although still in its infancy, it could lead to a crop that in future could vie with wheat for profitability.
Two important reviews are coming up over the next five years. If the huge potential of this versatile crop is to be developed, it is important that the current high level of interest is allowed to flourish.
Ian Booth
Research fellow, De Montfort University, Lincs.
k is answer to farmings ills
Can I be the only one who is tired of reading the constant stream of anti-European views in your letters page?
It is a fact that had Britain joined the k when it was established there would be no farming crisis. The uncompetitive value of the £ against the k is the cause of low prices in all sectors of agriculture.
Those who wish to leave the EU should ask themselves what would be the state of British agriculture if it were left to the mercy of British politicians, all of whom wish to reduce farm support and favour the free market.
The basic difference between British and European politicians is that those on this side of the channel are interested only in the urban majority whereas those on the continent value rural life.
RC Bevin
Rickyard Cottage, Willey, Nr Rugby, Warks.
Belief in spin is dangerous
Councillor Lodge (Letters, Aug 18), who professes to be "most worried about the leaders who are for and against joining" the k, expects the great debate before any referendum to be won not by the arguments, but by the side the majority feel "comfortable" with.
That is just what the government spin doctors want to hear. Never mind the pros (assuming some can be found) and the cons. Just spend a few £m of public money on flashy adverts assuring us that our future lies with Europe and that we will reform the EU if only we are at the heart of things and all will be well. What naive, dangerous rubbish!
Were this not a farming journal, I would describe the good councillor as a potential lamb to the slaughter.
Tony Stone
1 Home Park, Oxted, Surrey.
NZ way harms fertility levels
It is not surprising that there is increasing concern regarding the fertility levels of the national herd in farmers weekly and Dairy Update. Theres much finger pointing towards our choice of genetics instead of our choice of nutrition.
There appears to be two different schools of thought regarding feeding to optimise profit. First, the all-encompassing New Zealand system of trying to destroy the cow by feeding wet, high nitrate grasses under the pretence of cheapness. That system deprives the cow of starch, fibre and minerals to produce profitable volumes of milk and helps her get back in calf in a reasonable time so she can attempt to do it again the following year. In New Zealand it is not uncommon to have a replacement rate of 40% plus with fertility being the countrys main reason for culling.
Second, the high input American way of maximising use of capital and labour by getting ever increasing yields and using cows to produce large volumes of milk at lowest cost.
Both systems, if they lack nutritional balance, can be responsible for cows leaving the herd too early. It can mean more than 10%/year replacement rate.
All the farming press publish too many articles comparing our situation with New Zealand. That encourages farmers to go down the cheap is profitable route. Then we read articles about fertility; as if the two subjects were unrelated.
Why cant we get a more balanced view of management systems and the benefits of looking after our unique genetic base and climatic system the British way? We should stop trying to find the non-existent pot of gold under the New Zealand rainbow.
Steve Owens
Watergate Farm, Bainton, Bicester, Oxon.
Cheaper than French wheat
Last week, I read a report in the farming Press that French wheat was available at Dover for £77/t to satisfy any shortfall in the early wheat market. I am pleased to announce to the trade that I can offer my wheat ex-midlands for £76/t on a first come, first served basis.
M Pepler
Whetstone Gorse, Leics.
My co-op cant sell my grain
In April, Countrywide Farmers told its shareholders that subject to necessary approvals there would be a merger with SCATS.
Before any approval was sought we are now told that the merger is off. That racing certainty that bigger is better fell at the first fence.
The animal is lame, but was not shot. It may run again.
Unfortunately, there were other casualties, mainly among the shareholder members. Without getting shareholder approval Countrywide sold its profitable grain trading business to SCATS and bought their feed manufacturing business. No doubt as management has decided on a merger they could subsequently present it as the natural consequence of the two transactions.
Although the merger is off, shareholders do not get their business back. As a member of Countrywide I am faced with the farcical situation that my local farm co-op cannot service my tractor or sell my grain. That does not seem to be a sensible position for a co-op.
There will be an annual general meeting later this year when members can ask the chairman some pertinent questions. Do not miss it.
John Lumsdon
Mayhouse Farm, Hadley, Droitwich, Worcs.
Cheap milk ads negative image
Regarding the new advertising slogan for milk, I must congratulate whoever came up with the idea of brand new marketing for this product. It is high time milk was reintroduced into the nations diet.
But all advertising must be credible to reinforce the idea that there is a decent product. My own experience of the White Stuff campaign is a poster stuck to a barn door and a cheap sticker stuck badly on to the top of the milk bottle.
Although there needs to be a greater awareness of milk in this country, the marketing for it must move out of the cowshed.
Pauline Addis
The Old Rectory, Theale, Reading, Berks. wug@theale.demon.co.uk
Cant put that on organic food
Your readers might be interested in a recent conversation between a farmer friend and a local lady. Discussing her vegetables, she said how keen she was to produce organic crops from her garden. "They are so much better for you. We do so love organic tomatoes," she said. "Last month we found a little man who grows them and I bought three plants for the greenhouse, they are doing well."
My friend replied: "Very nice," and enquired what she fed them on. "They do well on Tomorite and they get a little every day," she said. The woman went away convinced that there really is nothing to touch "organic" food.
Nick Adames
Chessels Farm, Flansham, Sussex.