READERS LETTERS
25 June 1999
READERS LETTERS
Stitched up by the big businesses
The BBCs Countryfile programme (June 13) raised some pertinent points about blatant profiteering by multinational drugs and chemical companies.
We are constantly reminded that we must be more efficient and businesslike to cut our dependency on EU handouts. Who then can blame farmers for sourcing identical products from other EU countries at a fraction of the UK price? Haulage companies are doing the same with diesel and new vehicles.
It seems to me that British farmers will pay any price deemed necessary by the big manufacturers.
So much for the good old Common Market where 30 miles from my yard gate a whole range of goods can be purchased for a good deal less than here even after discount.
The fairly limp excuse given in the programme by the chemical company representative, about exchange rates and VAT, does not add up when we are talking about a seven-fold price differential. Even those of us who are not good at maths can see we are being stitched up somewhere along the supply line.
These anti-competitive practices must be curbed otherwise there will be no industry left in this country, for we will all have been driven out of business, sacrificed on the high altar of greed and short-term gain.
Alan Olley
Pines Farm, Tenterden Road, Appledore, Kent.
Milk can beat bone disease
How pleased I was on opening farmers weekly to see your comments about school milk (Opinion, June 4). I am increasingly concerned for our young folk and osteoporosis.
Some time ago I wrote to Frank Dobson, and sent a copy to David Blunkett, on this matter. I had an acknowledgement which was later followed by a reply from the Education Department stating this was a Health matter. I duly returned the letter with a note saying, that was why my initial letter had been sent to the Department of Health.
No one in the government wants to know, or shows any interest whatsoever. Surely, prevention is far better, especially when there is no cure for osteoporosis and, as you state, the cost of school milk is minimal by comparison.
What a desperately sad situation for those who are, and will, suffer from this disease and for our milk producers. Looking at the number of dispersal sales advertised, the UK dairy farmer could soon become a rare breed.
We are not dairy farmers and my family are grown up, but I do care about our younger generation and understand on very good authority that this disease is beginning to appear in the 20-year-old age group.
Mrs S Percy
Spring Hill, Jervaulx, Ripon, North Yorkshire.
Selections not modification
Henry Fell (Talking Point, June 11) says he has been involved in genetic modification for 40 years or more, but what he has been practising is genetic selection.
Genetic engineering involves combining genes in a way which could never happen naturally. Even genetic selection, while not so risky, has produced some undesirable results. The cow, which Mr Fell describes as "cheerfully" producing 8000 or 9000 litres, may well be suffering from digestive disorders, metabolic disease, ketosis and so on, and has a shortened life.
The manipulation of nature to serve the purposes of mankind is rarely without problems, and genetic modification of animals and plants is not likely to escape these. Early this year the European Parliament voted for the provision for liability of harm caused by the deliberate release of GMOs.
There could be benefits from genetic modification, but it is a daring leap into the unknown and once introduced, GM crops will be with us forever. Extreme caution is obviously needed, and to let the fear of competition overcome this is not only foolish, it could prove culpable.
J Bower
The Farm and Food Society, 4 Willifield Way, London.
Is it only the west that cares?
Since my article about the hurdles facing new entrants (Talking Point, Mar 26), I have been very pleased to see the support we have received from the Family Farmers Association and the Farmers Union of Wales. The only problem is that this poses a more serious question.
Is it only farmers who live in the west of the British Isles who are concerned about the long-term future and structure of our industry?
Where has the support been from the large-scale farmers of eastern England and does anyone who lives north of the Wash really care? Is it that the West Country people try to solve the bigger issue in times of difficulty, whereas the rest just curl up into a ball and concern themselves only with their own plight?
This summer the NFYFC is collecting signatures for a petition to lobby the government for specific policies for Young People in Agriculture in the Countryside. I would hope that every farmer in the country would make it his or her business to sign it. It would really be a sad reflection on our industry if after the Royal Show, we found the signatures came from only Wales and the South West.
Jim Powell
Chairman, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Steering Group, National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, YFC Centre, National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warks.
Let the young make decisions
It was with disbelief that I read your reasons for the lack of young people entering agriculture (Opinion, May 14). Yes we have a crisis, farming is growing old, but it is not a recent problem. There has been a lack of young blood entering agriculture for 20 years, but only now is that being highlighted.
Surely, the blame lies at the feet of the unions, politicians and those who make decisions about agricultures future. For years we have heard the rallying call to get the young into agriculture, but no action has been taken.
The first step should have been to provide the opportunity. There are people out there who would have loved to have entered this industry, but had little or no chance to get a foothold on the farming ladder. There has been no fair system of agricultural support and marketing to enable the young to climb the ladder. We have seen the opposite because of high land values, high quota prices, few council holdings and few rented farms coming forward.
Those lucky enough to get established have been faced with a system of support which does the opposite to what it was set up to do. It is a system which has enabled the big to get bigger.
The way forward lies in a dramatic restructure of the industry. How? By putting young people into decision-making positions. There are youngsters out there capable of it, and who just might have what it takes to provide agriculture with the revolution it so badly needs. The unions, politicians and other opinion formers have talked long enough: It is time to implement ideas to save what we love.
R C Thomas
Pontypentro, Llansanffraid, Powys.
Know when its time to get out
Im glad you provided the Samaritans phone number for the anonymous reader who had found the current farming situation too much to bear (Letters, Jun 11). Having myself been badly affected, the following may be of help. When the full force of the crisis kicked in two voices tended to speak to me. One said: "Carry on at all cost." Another said: "This is simply all pain without gain and whats more it is jeopardising the welfare of my family."
My wife thought I treated farming like a religion, which annoyed me, probably because it was true. But in the end one should recognise that even with religion it is possible to let go when you stop believing, and the same is true with farming.
Once I came to realise the cost the farm crisis had inflicted on me, (impaired physical and mental health, together with deteriorating personal relationships) I just stopped believing that farming was the only way of life for me.
Now I have a part-time job fixing gravestones and will shortly be selling my cows to go full-time. Lets face it, 98% of the British population are non-farmers so it cant be all that bad!
So take note fathers and mothers who have sons of daughters that have taken on the farm, if theyve had enough then dont make them feel bad about giving up. When the odds become impossible in the way they have in recent years, a farmer who has been beaten should not in any way be made to think that he or she has failed.
You can be sure that there are those who will try and tough out current difficulties (and I hope they will be rewarded), but equally there will be those who say, "enough is enough". Whichever it is, take it from me, while farm life offers a good deal of pleasure and pain (sometimes in equal measure), at the end of the day its not worth putting a gun to your head or a rope around your neck, life is short enough already.
R * Collins
Downhayes, Lewdown, Okehampton, Devon.
Hysteria about young drivers
Michael Meacher, MP, is being pressed to raise the age of children operating farm machinery from 13 to 17, yet probably 100 times more children are killed or injured in horse riding accidents than in driving tractors.
My own observations suggest that youngsters are surprisingly careful and skilled at tractor driving and that they rarely get involved in accidents.
Most fatalities seem to be caused not by operating machinery, but by slipping into grain or slurry pits, being crushed by objects falling on to them, or being run over by adult drivers.
Before banning young drivers on farms, which will have a catastrophic effect on recruitment into agriculture of school leavers, a careful study should be made to see whether there is any connection with accidents and age.
Maybe this is just one more example of public hysteria and media shock-horror stories leading to the wrong decision being made and no improvements being made to safety.
Nobody would dare suggest banning children from riding horses until they are 17. But on the available figures that would save many more lives than banning them from driving tractors.
W F Kerswell
Sallins Cottage, Pickles Cott, Church Stretton, Shropshire.
Larger farms undercharged
In seeking to justify the unjustifiable, J Feron (Letters, May 28) for Soil Association Certification Ltd is in danger of tying himself in knots.
If the excessive fees charged to organic smallholders and part-timers reflect the costs involved, then the much larger farms, charged the same fees for a much greater amount of inspection and administrative work, are being undercharged. Who is paying for undercharging? The smallholders, of course. There is no money coming in from anywhere else.
My allegations that smallholders are being ripped off under the revised SA charging scheme so that large farm businesses can be certificated at a subsidised rate has not been refuted.
Stuart Pattison
Church Lane, Calstock, Cornwall.
HND change is for the worse
I would like to comment on your recent correspondence regarding college graduates. When I started my HND in 1987 it was a four-year course that did not require a pre-college year. The college taught us basic tractor and livestock skills before a full year on a farm. We were, therefore, more used to the farms than if we had gone to them pre-college.
The rest of the course, which was taken by those from both farming and non-farming backgrounds, gave us a good academic and practical education, the hallmark of a good HND.
It is very wrong that the same course can now be taken in two years or less with no pre-college or middle-year experience. This is true of all colleges as they compete for student numbers. The result is a devalued HND qualification. Students now cover a fraction of the practical element we experienced with the result that when they leave college they have gained little useful practical experience.
This is the fault of colleges, which are trying to keep student numbers up at the cost of quality. Students are also to blame because they appear to be interested only in a quick education, not how attractive they may be to future employers.
Something has to change if we, as employers, are to respect modern HND students and the colleges that teach them.
Simon Gibson
Farm Manager, Pallingham Manor Farm, West Sussex.
Not so easy to start in France
As a young farmer living in France and wishing to farm here in my own right, I am writing to warn other UK young farmers of the pitfalls involved. Setting up here is not as easy as you might think.
First, I suggest you try to avoid French agents who say they are bilingual and provide an installation service. Many, but by no means all, know little about installing young farmers.
Having suffered this experience myself and having recently completed the 40 hour induction course – which is compulsory despite any qualifications you might have – I would advise you to contact the appropriate French government agencies first. Those include the SAFER, the ADASEA, the Chambre dAgriculture, the CFPPA or the Guichet Unique Accueil-Installation.
I would be willing to help anyone thinking of going down this road in whatever way I can including supplying the appropriate phone numbers. Not a lot more, as I am still learning myself. Meanwhile, be warned: There are crooks about!
Peter Mayo
Haras du PrÇ Nonette, 60270, Gouvieux, France.
Veggie minister is an insult
As a meat producer in the less favoured area of Wales, I protest strongly about the appointment of Ms Gwyther as cabinet member of the newly formed Welsh Assembly.
I take it as a direct insult to the Welsh agricultural industry that it should be represented in the eyes of the world by a known vegetarian who is now about to preside over the launch of the Welsh Food Strategy. It is a slur on farmers, the farming industry and associated businesses.
She should resign her position immediately.
J W G Evans
Crugcwn, Salen, Llandeilo, Dyfed.
Ladies sheepdog trial not a first
I was surprised to note that you repeated an error made previously in The Telegraph and on BBC2 TV programme Country File.
Reference was made to a sheepdog trial organised in the south of England as being the first ever for ladies. This error does much injustice to a lady who has probably done more than anyone else to further the cause of ladies sheepdog trialling, and the lady shepherd in this country.
About 16 years ago I attended the first ever ladies trial; organised by Mrs Barbara Carpenter at her farm in Bream, in the Forest of Dean, Glos. It has been held every year since.
The event has been a catalyst in encouraging more ladies, both those involved in farming already and those from a different background for whom such an activity would be just a dream, to become involved in the sport. Some of the competitors have gone on to achieve considerable success at the highest level in national and international championships – which are open to both men and women.
I have attended many of these trials, which in effect constitutes an unofficial championship for ladies. During the 80s, and this year I was one of the people giving assistance to running these trials. The event has also received coverage on television, both local and national, and some of this years trials are to be shown on network TV later this year as part of a programme about Mrs Carpenter.
E T Taylor
37d Heathfield Road, Wandsworth Common, London.
Sticking with Brit Herefords
After your article, "Herefords to look to their British roots" I wrote a letter of congratulation to all breeders with the stature of Peter Symonds. He and people like him are prepared to stick with the quality of the pure British Hereford.
So I was pleased to read your recent articles (Livestock, Apr 30) on crossing the pure British Hereford with the pure British Friesian. I can remember in the early 60s, advice given by NAAS that the best beef suckled cow was bred out of a British Friesian by a Hereford bull and then to breed this Black Hereford, as they were called, back to a Hereford bull. That was before the influence of the rangey Canadian-type cattle had been felt here.
Anyone can buy beef in any so called superstore but can they buy quality with taste?
Dilwyn Hughes
October Cottage, Broad Street, Lifton, Devon.