Cash help diverted from south-east

1 June 2001



Cash help diverted from south-east

By Isabel Davies

FARMERS hoping a government scheme would help them ride out the rural crisis could be disappointed unless they are affected by foot-and-mouth disease.

The government has redirected money which provides free “restructuring” advice to farm businesses away from south-east England and East Anglia.

Instead, the cash has been diverted to help producers in areas worst affected by foot-and-mouth disease, such as Cumbria, Devon and Northumberland.

Rachel Potter, a farm business advisor for Hampshire, said her budget would cover only 40 out of the 100 farms she hoped to visit over the next twelve months.

Fred Jacobsberg, programme manger for the Farm Business Advice Service in the Eastern Region, said he was in a similar situation.

“We hoped to deliver advice to about 300 farms but now it will be more like 100. We wont satisfy our waiting list.”

Mr Jacobsberg said the Treasury had agreed to allow money left over from last year to be carried forward for a year.

But Ministry of Agriculture officials had diverted cash into a rescue package to help farmers who have had their stock culled as a result of foot-and-mouth.

The government has promised that producers in disease-hit areas will be eligible for up to five days of free advice rather than the normal three days.

People in the worst affected areas for foot-and-mouth would need extra help but farmers in other areas still needed assistance, said Mr Jacobsberg.

He added: “My view is that the government had clearly recognised there was a farming problem before foot-and-mouth came along.”

Andrew Clark, environment adviser for the National Farmers Union said he was concerned about the way that the budgets had been changed.

The new budgets were not revealed until the day before the election was called so it had been impossible to take up the matter with any minister, he said.

A MAFF spokesman said the ministry had actually managed to squeeze an additional 6m out of the Treasury to help fund the advice scheme this year.

“On the big picture we have an expanded scheme and more money in it. In terms of farming in general this is good news.”

The spokesman accepted that in some regions advisers might see a shortfall which would mean they could not see as many farmers as they would like.

But he added: “We would hope that this is something that is not all that common.”

• 15m of advice for disease-hit farms, FWi, 08 May, 2001
  

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