READERS LETTERS
READERS LETTERS
Publicising British pork by roadside
While travelling along the M180 motorway, I was delighted to see a large brightly coloured sign proclaiming the benefits of high welfare British pork and bacon. The impact and positioning were wonderful.
It made me realise the, as yet, untapped advertising resource we farmers have. The potential to reach millions of people every day is awesome.
So with the intention of establishing national coverage of prime locations, I would like to hear from, not only just pig farmers but arable farmers (you need our pigs to eat your feed wheat and barley) who have suitable locations close to motorways, busy main roads, towns, cities, and airports; anywhere that is seen by large numbers of people daily, to proclaim the virtues of British pork and bacon.
The aim is to provide eye catching pointers/signs to make an impact across Britain. Think of traffic as customers.
If any other business or organisation could help in any way, Id like to hear from them as well.
Andrew Green
High Grange, Kirton Road, Waddingham, Gainsborough, Lincs.
Imported pork denies choice
On a recent visit to my local Sainsbury supermarket, I stopped at the loose meat counter to look at their meat selection. Imagine my horror when I saw only Swedish pork labelled in tiny writing.
I was not satisfied with the answer I received to my question "Why no British pork in the loose meat counter?" So I completed one of their customer comment forms.
I have now received a written explanation from the branch. I have been informed firmly that Sainsbury does stock British pork but only in pre-packed form.
Can you believe its response that it is trying to give customers an alternative to British pork by not offering it at its loose meat counters?
Is that customer choice? If you dont want its pre-packed offerings, its Swedish or nothing. Thats the alternative. Some choice. So much for the support British farmers attitude it likes to portray.
I call on all shoppers to ask awkward questions, write on the comment forms and make a nuisance at Sainsbury until it understands that we want British-bred meat available in loose and pre-packed form.
The store has lost my business. I buy most of my meat from our excellent local butcher anyway. I shall contact Sainsburys head office for their comments.
Tracey Fountain
15 Penfold Cottages, Holmer Green, Bucks.
Too many pig interest groups
Since my Talking Point (April 10), the problems and depression in the pig industry have grown considerably worse. Many producers are in a dire situation. They are not only battling with the problems of surplus pig meat in Europe and the strong £ but also with extra costs as a result of welfare legislation and feed regulations.
Due to the severity of the problem, various producers have formed the Pig Industry Support Group which has been extremely successful in getting its message across to the supermarkets and the industry in general. It should not have been necessary to have formed yet another representative body. The industry already has the British Pig Association, the NFU, Ladies in Pigs and the Meat and Livestock Commission. In fact, it has far too many bodies.
We need one representative body in control of its own funds with one pig assurance scheme that can act swiftly and decisively when the need arises. The events of the past few months have really highlighted the need for this.
Roger M Mercer
Blakenhall Park, Barton-under-Needwood, Staffs.
New Labour kills farmers
Heres a sound bite for Tony Blair: "New Labour kills farmers physically, mentally and literally."
John Redman
Clapton Court, Clevedon Lane, Clapton-in-Gordano, Bristol.
Retailers make killing on lamb
I have put pen to paper to say how pleased I was to see our local Safeway promoting British lamb. But that pleasure was short-lived when I saw the ludicrous price on the meat.
Although I am no butcher, I believe that diced meat is next to mince at the lower end of the quality market for meat. The price for a 350g pack of diced lamb was £3.69p which is the equal of £10.51/kg. So an average lamb, weighing 40kg, has a killing out percentage of about 50% which gives a value of £210/lamb.
Farmers receive £35 if they are lucky. Of the remaining £175, the costs of slaughter, packaging etc could add up to about £50/head (I have no idea about the precise figures) leaving a profit of £125 on one lamb.
There seems to be a large discrepancy between what farmers get and the supermarket price. Surely, supermarket buyers can pay a little more to the farmer without great hardship to their profit margins? If not, they should drop the price to the consumer.
As a salesman selling direct to farmers, and calling on more than 300 farmers a month, their backs are against the wall. So many farmers are getting out that the countryside the public loves to see will change out of all recognition.
To the government, I say only 3% of the population are directly employed in agriculture but 25% probably rely indirectly on the farmer for their living. That is not just reps and the companies they work for but their suppliers. The list includes the local builder, who works on most of the local farms, the mechanic that services the vans and cars, the tyre-fitter and tyre suppliers etc. Its like dropping a stone in a puddle. The further out you look the more people are affected.
So act now while there is still an industry to save and support the farming industry. Put pressure on Brussels to lift the beef ban and press for the enforcement across Europe of restrictions on animal welfare that we have had to endure here. UK farmers can compete favourably with others in the world given a level playing field. Perhaps, that is what our European agriculture, with a lot of part-time farmers, cant cope with.
A J Cole
656 The Knapp, Charlton Horethorne, Sherborne, Dorset.
Censure the sensationalists
I have just sent a letter to the BBC to complain about how it reported the subject of BSE in sheep.
We all have to let the media know how we feel and how it can virtually wipe out an industry overnight by scare-mongering just to sensationalise its programmes. I compare the way it portrayed BSE to a typical Sun newspaper headline. Both have no thought or intelligence. BSE is a government issue, we all want to know the true facts.
We eat our own meat and we feed our children on it. Isnt it ironic that the same government advisers who said it was safe to put carcasses in animal feed now question it? Do they not have some response for what has happened, and will it affect their income? I doubt it.
Keep letting the media, government and public know how we feel. We have been unfairly treated.
Jane Brake
Dilton Court, Westbury, Wilts.
NFU just cant do it all alone
Henry Fell makes a good point (Talking Point, Sept 18). Give the NFU leadership a secure period of office and better leadership of the industry is probable. But theres no guarantee that, within an acceptable time-scale, all the other benefits including commercial strength, retail partnerships, alliances and soundly based co-ops will flow. Our industrys history does not support that view. Political initiatives, on the one hard, and neglect, on the other, have continued to influence farming more than anything. Wars have also been important factors, but as Henry says, are not so likely in future.
We have ongoing economic warfare between national groups battling for market share. Such warfare, epitomised by the infamous WTO rounds, require political engagement at the highest and most sustained level. That will never go away. The WTO agenda is driven by pastoral and prairie economics where land is cheap and exploitation of resources environmentally questionable.
UK farming needs time to re-adjust. A change in the NFUs electoral procedures is one useful suggestion. The disappearance of the small family farm is probable and with it much of the landscape and bio-diversity associated with mixed farming.
A revitalised NFU cannot rescue British farming on its own. And there is still no alternative to a modified CAP which remains our best mechanism for survival in the global market.
Keith McDougall
Hill House, Stiffkey, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.
Trouble starts after ferry trip
I am writing to urge sheep and pig farmers to think again and stop exporting animals for slaughter abroad.
Exporters say they insist on high welfare standards on the new ferry service. Good. Nonetheless, they are side-stepping the main problem. Our opposition to live exports is based not so much on the Channel crossing, but on the dreadful transport and slaughter conditions awaiting UK animals once they reach the Continent.
Most of the animals are sent to Holland or France. From there, many are trucked on very long journeys to Greece, Italy and Spain where often they are killed in abattoirs using cruel slaughter methods. On the long drive south, the animals are often given neither water nor food even during journeys of 30 hours or more. Recently we tracked down UK sheep which had been sent all the way to Greece. By the time they arrived some were in very poor condition, others were dead.
We have filmed in an Italian abattoir which has been used for the slaughter of UK sheep. The interval between stunning and sticking was so long that the animals were in danger of regaining consciousness during bleeding-out.
Farmers claim the EU directive sets high standards. It does not. Under the directive sheep can be trucked for 30 hours (with a one-hour mid-journey break), rested for 24 hours and then transported for another 30 hours. The directive is systematically flouted on much of the Continent. In France much of it is not even in force, since the French government has not transposed the main parts of the directive into French law. Nearly all UK animals go to, or through, France.
We are sympathetic to the plight of farmers. Compassion in World Farming was founded by a farmer. But we do not believe that farmers should be trying to solve their problems by stepping up their involvement in a trade which leads to widespread animal suffering. Nor do I believe live exports to be economically necessary.
Most sheep exports are already in meat form. With vigorous marketing on the Continent that could be converted into 100% meat exports.
I urge UK farmers to abandon live exports.
Peter Stevenson
Political & legal director, Compassion in World Farming, Charles House, 5A Charles Street, Petersfield, Hampshire.
Grain overdose health threat
Do trade grain buyers realise what they are doing to us? Wheat recently harvested, dried at fairly high temperatures, dressed with a proprietary brand of insecticide is quite often rejected for mites. One buyer in the north-west Midlands demands standards of hygiene which are virtually impossible to attain and its grain goes into pet food.
We are grain storage contractors and store on behalf of local farmers. Our customers sell their entitlement at any time to whoever they please. We apply the accepted product pirimiphos-methyl which contains organophosphorus to ensure grain is not rejected for infestation problems.
If we were to avoid further rejections at this particular pet food manufacturer, we would have to apply much greater concentrations of product throughout our stores.
Is it right to put our pets at risk, all livestock, let alone ourselves, by grossly overdosing with the appropriate products?
E J Watts
John Watts Farms, Rye Farm Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands.
Boycott Hovis products
As we all know, our pig industry is in the worst state that it has been for many years. I am therefore horrified with the latest Hovis bread promotion in which the company has teamed up with Danish Bacon. I am encouraging as many people as possible to boycott their products and I hope that you will do the same.
Mrs Ellie Hobill
Freeby Lodge, Freeby, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
Assurance OK in theory, but…
Like most farmers, I would gladly join an assured produce scheme if I thought that it would benefit my business. As a previous scheme member, I have come to the conclusion that although the theory may be admirable, when it comes to marketing produce, it is quality and price that matter; both of which are self evident. In our case, the additional expense could not be justified.
What I find dishonourable, are the double standards of companies which boycott unassured British produce while using huge amounts of unassured imported produce. That forces farmers to join a scheme which allows these companies to impose their own ideas and inspection costs on the business, while being free to take their custom elsewhere.
When the rest of industry talks constantly of becoming leaner and more competitive, British agriculture piles on the bureaucratic fat.
Andrew Blagg
1 Mill Cottages, Sheffield Road, Creswell, Worksop.
Fair rent from utilities
For generations, farmers have been forced to allow electricity, gas, water and telephone concerns to place their poles and equipment on our land for peppercorn rents. Sometimes they are as low as 298p per annum for a telegraph pole.
That could possibly be acceptable when our neighbours were receiving some benefit from low charges, but not any longer. Now with all the profits going to fat-cat directors on million pound salaries, I see no reason for farmers to subsidise the rip-off.
We need a sensible rental sum and I suggest £5,000 per pole per annum. If you think its too much, I suggest you ask Mr Vallance, the BT chairman, how much he would like to have a big ugly pole in his front garden.
E Evans
Pentyla Farm, Port Talbot, West Glamorgan.
Stable staff to be proud of
I write regarding your Opinion (Sept 4) "Stable staff get the best of both worlds". Your article on stable staff lacking in shovelling skills sums up the image that is often portrayed.
As the leading equine college, we pride ourselves on the practical skills and academic underpinning our students receive.
Yes, practical skills are important, but so too is the ability to understand the reasons why tasks are undertaken. And the ability to carry out these tasks in a thorough and friendly manner.
Our students are very employable, get good jobs and are the ones the industry should be proud of.
Michael Wells
Curriculum co-ordinator, Warwickshire College, Moreton Morrell Centre, Moreton Morrell, Warwick.
Store refused to stock rural disc
Have other people had the same unfortunate experience as me when attempting to obtain a tape of Guardians of the Land?
I visited my local Woolworths store, the only record shop in the town, to obtain four copies for friends and family, to support the campaign. I was thrilled to hear that the first 30 copies had already been sold and ordered my copies, expecting to collect them in the near future.
However, when I next called, I was told, that a re-order was not possible.
A great deal of discussion with the salesperson took place as I could not understand how senior management could decide that there was no demand for a record and refuse to supply it when it had already been ordered for specific customers.
I am still not clear as to the motive. Was it a deliberate decision to block the sales or was it another case of a faceless manager sitting in a city office deciding what customers in a rural area should be able to purchase?
If the decision was taken for all Woolworths stores, it must have had an enormous impact on the final sales of the record.
I telephoned the Countryside Alliance office to inform them of the matter.
I hope they will be taking the matter further. I have also written to Woolworths stating my dissatisfaction.
Mrs S D Harrison
Sturdys Farm, Main Road, Saltfleetby, Louth, Lincs.