TALKING POINT
France and Germany – shun them
How incensed we all were to hear that the Germans are refusing to accept our beef after the long awaited lifting of the beef ban. After all this time, with all the steps we have taken in culling older animals and creating the passport tracing system, how can the Germans do this?
The Germans do not have any reason to turn our beef away, so I would like to call upon the entire British public to turn their imports away. Let them see how they like it; after all we drink a lot of their wine, beer, salami and drive many German vehicles. If we took steps in this country not to purchase German and French products, I am sure they would soon market our beef with gusto.
I therefore urge all my fellow countrymen to avoid all German and French products until our, so-called, neighbouring European partners come to their senses.
Mrs Susan Burgoyne
Brynbuarth Farm, Pentrebeirdd, Welshpool, Powys.
Subsidise at own expense
I was intrigued by your comments under the headline US coughs up farming aid when it suits it (Opinion, Aug 6).
Why should the US not cough up aid? Of course, I know the answer: world trade, open access, level playing fields and no subsidies to be given at home lest they distort the market abroad.
Our old friend the EU (in reality, nobodys friend) also raises its ugly head in the same article. It then dawned on me what the difference is between the US helping its farmers and the EU doing the same. When American taxpayers help their farmers, all Americans reap the benefit in cheap food, assured production, protected employment and subsidised exports.
In the EU, farming and farm support is regulated by a corrupt bureaucracy where those who throw their weight around get most and those who play by the rules take the hindmost.
British taxes are helping farmers in other EU countries while our own farmers are driven to bankruptcy and worse. The system is loaded against us. Also, as so often reported in your columns, the governments of our partner states hand out subsidies at home as and when they feel like it.
Since international regulation is not working, why not let the whole thing rip? If a country wants to subsidise its home industries, then let it but not at our expense. The French have been doing just that for years. Thats why their cars rule our roads and their supermarkets stock almost nothing but French produce. But no country can afford to subsidise everything all the time. The madness of countries buying from others what they produce themselves, would decline. Even that supreme insanity, the trans-Atlantic mineral water trade, might eventually dry up.
Tony Stone
1 Home Park, Oxted, Surrey.
Street might lift spirits today
It was interesting to read David Richardsons account (July 30) of his tour of Canada and also how it reminded him of the writings of the late A G Street.
Mr Streets first and most famous book Farmers Glory was published in 1932 and was an instant success. It was in fact an account of A Gs life story, telling of his early days as the son of a prosperous tenant farmer, his four years as a hired farm hand in Canada before the First World War and his return to England to take over the family farm. Despite being run on the well proven system of rotational husbandry, by the late 1920s it was on the slippery slope towards bankruptcy.
A G abandoned arable farming and, much to the consternation of his farming neighbours, turned the whole farm over to grass and focused on low-cost, outdoor dairying and milk retailing. Farmers Glory was written when he was still not sure if the business would survive. In a later book he wrote: "Like the majority of British farmers I can and will do anything rather than permit the times to turn me out of my farm. When grain pays to grow it, I will plough my land and grow it. When it doesnt I will turn to grass and stock. When neither of these pays I will find some branch of farming that does."
As an admirer of A G Streets work and a collector of his many books, I often wonder what he would have made of todays farming problems. A couple of weeks ago, it dawned on me that if Farmers Glory could raise the spirits of rural communities in the grim days of the 1930s, maybe it could help today.
I have a spare copy and would be pleased to lend it to anyone (for a small fee of course) until the day that it ingloriously falls to pieces through being passed around.
I accept that this novel form of diversification idea is not going to make much money. But if it makes enough for me to track down and purchase a copy of A G Streets Land Everlasting published in 1934 it will have been worthwhile.
C Welford
Roxby Moor Farm, Scaling, Loftus, Cleveland.
IACS cap for doing too well
I was surprised to learn that only 75% of those replying to a MAFF questionnaire, were in favour of capping (Gordon Ascroft, Letters, Aug 6). If 80% of NFU members farm fewer than 200 acres, and a full IACS farm of 350 acres attracts the suggested non-capped limit, I cannot understand why far more were not in favour of capping.
Perhaps they had access to the latest Cambridge University Farm Costings 200 page annual report. It clearly states that the average per hectare returns (without area payments), were a loss of £74/ha for the average small farm (324 acres) in the mainly cereal sector.
With subsidies the average large farm will be about seven times better off than the average small farm, because it has seven times more money invested in it.
Does Mr Ascroft see any fairness for someone like me? I fought in the last war and was blown up three times, started with 47 acres and, over the past 52 years, have built the farm up to above his suggested no-capping limit. Should I be forced to take losses or sell off part of the farm? What a price to pay for having done well.
George Scales
Cobblers Pieces, Abbess Roding, Ongar, Essex.
Even our own turn against us
We have been tucked away in a quiet corner of south east England for five generations. Over this considerable period we have worked the soil through good times and bad to feed our nation and our neighbours abroad. The good times gave us profit and the bad times a loss. But through good times and poor times we had support from our own countrymen.
Now it seems that even our own are against us. Destroying crops, setting up enquiries, more restrictions, more paperwork. All the while we are dying on our feet. We farmers will run out of money to farm and consumers will be able to buy produce only from abroad. To whom would you rather trust your food production?
T Hollamby
Woodknowle Farm, Witherenden Hill, Burwash, Etch, East Sussex.
Assurance key to beef success
Its unfortunate that Simon Mead, of MLC, appears to have rather missed the point I was trying to make (Livestock, Jun 11). The MLC is to be congratulated for bringing consumption back to pre-BSE scare levels. However, the overall picture is still one of continued decline.
What I am talking about is taking a proactive step to improve consumption on the strength of taking "farm assurance" one pace further. That is into the realms of assurance of the eating quality of a product we strive to produce, but which can be ruined by shoddy post-slaughter treatment. We need to learn from the experiences of others around the world who are producing guaranteed eating quality by applying a mixture of new science and well accepted abattoir practices, such as reducing pre-slaughter stress and ensuring the meat is properly chilled and adequately hung. There is no secret to improving beef, all we need is an industry body, such as MLC, to re-adjust its budget to enable that process to be proven to the major supermarket buyer and the general public. At present, MLC spends just 3.6% of its budget on eating quality and none in ensuring that their blueprint is enforced. That is unacceptable.
Experience from other countries, such as Australia, has shown that if meat is produced within certain parameters, then eating quality can be guaranteed and consumers are happy to pay considerably more for the product. This is the direction in which we should now be heading.
We can produce some of the best beef from natural resources and we have the biggest consumer market in the world. Theres no shame in trying to ensure that this product is made more consistent and is tasty and succulent enough to make a consumer want to buy it again and again.
Pauline Adams
Park House, Watford Village, Northampton.
Reading course could be it?
I was interested to read the letters (June 11) from the chief executive of Lantra and from students seeking training and education in agriculture.
At The University of Reading we have developed a course in conjunction with our colleagues at Sparsholt College, Sparsholt, Winchester, Hants, which may provide what many entrants require. Students can study for an HND qualification (if they obtain a merit or above) with a further nine-month spell of industrial work before attending the four-term final year at Reading to obtain a BSc honours degree in agriculture.
Experience has shown that well trained HND students from Sparsholt, who have a wide range of skills in practical and academic topics, flourish at the university. They go on to obtain posts in a wide range of careers including farm management, marketing and consultancy.
This degree highway linking Sparsholt and Reading may supply the type of course that many young people want. It may also be what they need to ensure a successful career path into the agricultural industry.
Dr R J Esslemont
Admissions tutor and course director for BSc Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading.
Straw burn does not add to CO2.
I hesitate to argue with a "consultant in the waste management industry", but in his letter (Aug 6) Anthony Kenney-Herbert seems to make a fundamental error in describing stubble burning as a contributor to the greenhouse effect. When straw is burnt, it is returning to the atmosphere the carbon dioxide which it took out during the growing year. Net contribution to atmospheric CO2 levels? Nil. That is unlike fossil fuels which release CO2 trapped millions of years ago, thus actually increasing its proportion in the air.
Dont forget that this was one of the best arguments in favour of rape-derived fuels – an argument lost, for some reason, on the major oil companies. If straw is not burnt, it will still release its carbon dioxide through decomposition in one way or another.
There is one certainty: In stubble burning days, use of slug pellets, possibly the most unpleasant things ever to be spread on a field, were almost unheard of.
Of course, it helps if you believe the experts and their ideas about global warming in the first place, along with their theories about sunscreen and artificial sweeteners.
Charlie Flindt
Manor Farm, Hinton Ampner, Alresford, Hants.
How burning saves on diesel
Anthony Kenney-Herbert wrote scornfully of J Foulds suggestion that some limited resumption of straw burning should be permitted (Letters, Aug 6). He says that "in terms of greenhouse effect alone, burning is likely to outweigh the advantage of using fewer sprays".
In fact, the reverse applies. When straw is burnt, it releases into the atmosphere carbon dioxide locked up by the plants photosynthesis during the preceding 12 months. But if the same straw is incorporated into the soil, the additional cultivations required burn fossil fuel (diesel) locked up many millions of years ago. It is the release of carbon dioxide from such fossil fuels that contributes to the higher atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases. Straw burning had its problems but at least it saved on steel and diesel.
Richard Casswell
Priory Farm, Horbling, Sleaford, Lincs.
Late-harvested OSR seed best
Ben Freers comment that "late-harvested, naturally senesced oilseed rape germinates more vigorously than earlier harvested seed" (Arable, Jul 30) is spot on. It may puzzle those readers who are aware of the long history of comments in US seed production text books that seed quality for sowing is greatest at the end of the seed-filling phase and declines thereafter.
Research on seed quality development in the Seed Science Laboratory at Reading in many species (temperate and tropical, including cereals, pulses, brassica, vegetable crops, and even trees) has shown that seed quality continues to improve for some considerable time after seeds have reached maximum dry weight. That is several weeks in the case of UK-grown cereals.
In oilseeds, cereals and grain legumes, the seeds lose considerable moisture during this period. In such crops there is a natural association between comparatively slow desiccation and good seed quality.
However, it is only an association. In seeds that do not undergo maturation drying, such as tomato which mature within fleshy fruits, quality improves over several weeks after maximum dry weight is achieved.
Older, perhaps more cynical, readers will have realised that I am saying seed ripening serves a purpose. For grass seed producers, note that it does occur successfully within the swath, even when seeds shatter because the biochemical changes that occur during this period are not dependent on attachment to the mother plant.
This is environment-specific, but happily does apply in UK climates. In warmer parts of the world, with some varieties at least, seed quality development can end somewhat prematurely; the result being poor quality seed.
Prof Richard Ellis
Professor of crop physiology and head of department, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading.
Farmers helping out in Uganda
By chance, I was given a back copy of FARMERSWEEKLY last month and having read it through four times, I realise how much I miss the weekly delivery when farming in the UK.
I have now worked abroad for six years with Voluntary Service Overseas and am busy taking on another challenge to turn bush into productive land for a school for handicapped children at Masindi in Uganda. Its interesting work, despite all the problems of a clapped out Fergie 365 and farming on slopes where most of the better soil has already been washed to the bottom of the hill.
I have four Friesian cows which have seen better days and which will soon need dentures. The Friesian bull is not content with his four wives and regularly jumps my new four strand fence to go courting the neighbours cows, who of course are keen to have his services free.
I hope soon to start a poultry unit and also to get some goats. The latter are for lawn mowers and to provide meat for the children. They may at present get meat only once a term.
I have started a gardening competition and there is keen interest from all the children to win the cup and a prize each. Agriculture is part of the curriculum here and all take part, regardless of limb disorders.
All this is supported by a group of farmers and their associates from Worcester who give what they can to help the farm become self-sustainable.
I would like to thank Farmers Overseas Action Group for all the support it gives to both the school and the farm. Without this support, many of these children would not receive any education or have the chance grow up within a normal community.
Robert Walker
PO Box 104, Masindi, Uganda.
One can give all a bad name
You quite rightly (Opinion, May 28) encourage farmers to counter their negative image. Leighton Grove (Jul 2) says that this is the job of the NFU.
NFU publicity is just as good as the worst farmer. The best efforts of the NFU can be rendered worthless by the activities of just one farmer. We are not like other businesses tucked away from prying eyes; so much of what we do is open to full public gaze. We not only have to be responsible in what we do but, more importantly, have to be responsible in how we do it.
The end of the calf processing scheme to which you draw attention (Opinion, July 16) is a public relations disaster waiting to happen. If calves have to be disposed of, then invite your local MP to your farm the day you do it; you never know, he or she may help.
J W Buckley
Throstle Cottage, Aketon, Pontefract, West Yorks.
NFU needs to employ PR firm
When is the NFU going to spend some of its millions on employing a decent PR firm? In an age when most organisations have PR firms to promote themselves, British farming is conspicuous in not having one.
If the UK is to compete with other European countries and sell produce which is more expensive because of environmental and welfare restrictions, consumers need to be educated as to why they should buy British. Come on NFU, hire a good PR company.
James Dorse
Parks Farm, Kingston St Mary, Taunton, Somerset.
Dear, oh dear, harvest illegal?
I wish to thank P Dransfield for his letter (Jul 30), pointing out the heavy fines for cutting hedgerows and vegetation between Mar 1 and Sept 30. We have now postponed harvest until after Sept 30 to avoid such fines because I assume combinable crops are considered vegetation.
I now have eight weeks holiday to look forward to before getting stuck into it. I just wish I had known about this before I made hay in early June and cut the set-aside last month (in accordance with the rules).
George Renner
gjrenner@yahoo.com
NVZs – why are they doing it?
The governments proposal to designate more nitrate vulnerable zones (News, Jul 16) raises the question – why? It chose to do so, it need not do so immediately – just as it chose to enforce the present nitrate vulnerable zones one year earlier than required. Why does government try to impoverish our farmers, instead of helping them? What is its hidden agenda?
The proposed water framework directive (97) is due to go before the EU parliament this autumn. The proposed amendments include some to article 4 (4) which could have entitled our government to protect our farmers from the pseudo-scientific rubbish on which the NVZs were originally based. If our government chose to fight for farmers, the whole concept that natural nitrates are pollution can be discarded, along with the now discredited nitrate directive 91/96. Why does our government not know this? And, if it does, what is the urgency to create new NVZs?
Tony Preston said his co-op did not oppose NVZ restrictions in principle, if they were based on sound science. What a pity that he did not learn about that science before speaking.
A S Monckton
The Estate Office, Stretton Hall, Stafford.
Unite to secure Malton future
If the rumours I heard are correct, now is the time for British pig farmers to unite. Malton Bacon factory is reportedly up for sale and a Danish company is interested. If that is true how can pig farmers stand back and let it happen? We must form a co-op to buy Malton Bacon Factory for the benefit of the future of UKpig farming.
If no one will listen, I dont see much future for British pig farming should our largest abattoir fall into the hands of one of our main competitors.
If you are of like mind and feel like action, dont hesitate to contact me. Otherwise dont complain about your future or lack of it.
Mark P Thompson
Wicstun Cottage, Bridge Farm, York Road, Market Weighton, York, East Yorks.
Shows not just a social event
Participating at any agricultural event is a lottery. During the planning stages you have no idea how the vagaries of crop trading or consumer interests will affect farmer participation. This year, however, serious concerns about the fall in the value of oilseed rape and the possibility of extending the use of home-produced GM-free vegetable protein to replace imported soya, meant that more farmers than usual visited the PGRO/BEPA pulse demonstration in the arable area at the Royal Show.
For these farmers, there was serious business to be done at the show. Exchanging ideas with both arable and livestock farmers provided the stimulus for further developing the usefulness of pulses.
It would be unfair to these participating farmers to downgrade the Royal Show to a social event, even though the attractions are many and varied.
G P Gent
Processors & Growers Research Organisation, The Research Station, Great North Road, Thornhaugh, Peterborough.
Still a strong voice in Europe
In support of the reply by Lord Plumb (Letters, Aug 6) to your editorial (Opinion, July 23), may I point out that alone in the UK representation in the European Parliament, the Conservatives have appointed Struan Stevenson as a permanent representative of Scottish interests on both the agricultural and fishing committees. He is one of the Scottish MEPs and a mixed farmer from the South West of Scotland.
In the South West of England, which now incorporates Lord Plumbs former Cotswold seat, he has been replaced by Neil Parish and myself. Neil is a farmer in Somerset and a former county councillor and a former chairman of his NFU. I am an NFU and CLA member and run a mixed farming and sporting estate in West Devon. While I accept that the two of us have a long way to go to make up for our Henry, to claim that the voice of farming and the countryside in Europe has been diminished is nonsense.
The Earl of Stockton MEP
Glenthorne House, 131 Coronation Road, Bristol.
Advantages of using Ovatec
In reply to the letter (July 16) Lets be proud of UK first, from Tim Haywood, managing director of Cogent, I have the following comments to make.
Our company has been supplying the Ovatec Electronic Breeding Instrument to UK dairymen (Livestock, June 1998) for more than two years with considerable success. We are proud of the fact that we now have considerably more than three sexed heifer calves on the ground.
The advantages of the Ovatec over sexed semen are numerous. The main one is that whilst using our product, UK dairymen can use semen from any UK AI organisation, and still influence the sex of their calf with an 80-90% accuracy.
The Ovatec has unique abilities and we are researching and developing its use and application every day. Detecting cysts and endomitritis, pregnancy diagnosis, mineral imbalances and fine tuning ET work are attributes that the Ovatec possesses.
The instrument is already in the hands of forward thinking, progressive dairymen who would not be without it. The Ovatec is not programmed to work with any one companys genetics. It will work and we will work with anyone who has a genuine interest.
Steve Mumford
One Stop Genetics Shop, High Brow, Tirril, Penrith, Cumbria.
Cambac doing useful research
Further to Dr Marchants comments (Letters, July 23) about Cambac research, I believe strongly that the organisation is doing valuable research. It is carried out to a high standard and is not a waste of industry money.
His letter referred to the need for work to be done on farrowing systems allowing some confinement. That is being trialled by Cambac.
Dr Marchant also mentioned the need to confine sows before parturition. Research done on my own farm, with the Chiltern Farrowing System for the past three years, shows that sows benefit from being loose up to parturition. But they need confining during parturition and for a few days after, dependent on the weather conditions.
This has been trialled with 90 Chiltern crates and 90 conventional crates and researched by Cambac and Reading University.
Mrs C A E Beacroft
Chiltern Pigs, Greenlands Farm, Moulsford, Wallingford.
TALKING POINT
Theres no denying the current interest in organic production. Relative to a few years ago, a large number of farmers are now in conversion attracted by premium prices and grants. What a pity the Organic Farming Scheme for England has run out of money for this year.
It is not only economic pressures that are responsible for this change. Producers know organic food is valued and a feel good factor flows from knowing your customers are satisfied.
But the sudden interest in organic farming threatens the monetary value of organic foods. Those who have been involved in organic production for some time feel concern for the future of a sector they have sought to control carefully through specialist knowledge and marketing effort. Those in conversion may feel the same way.
Big business is now making its play for the new opportunities a growing demand for organic food has to offer. The danger is that all involved in the supply chain will be squeezed by the competition for greater market control and the threat of organic imports rising at an alarming rate.
The battle is fought at all levels, between supermarkets, between milk and other co-operatives, and some might say between certification bodies. Certainly, consultants are embroiled in the fight; some appear to be undeclared agents for various organisations wanting to build numbers and influence. Some farmers have said they feel advisers are pushing them to join this or that certification or marketing body. Others report they are becoming frustrated by delays or feel unsure whether or not the advice they receive answers their questions.
Given the ease with which it is possible to sign up to organic grant obligations, is the level of consultancy advice offered sufficient? Admittedly, free organic visits are available but an advisers brief to impart knowledge of cultural techniques and the markets will not provide an assessment of your options. There is danger of an advisory gap developing as information on the techniques and rules of organic farming stops short of strategic advice on wider issues.
An independent business assessment goes well beyond deciding in principle whether a farm is suitable for organic production or recommending a particular co-operative. Both technical and strategic business advice must go hand in hand. If in doubt producers should commission a business appraisal, otherwise many important questions may remain unanswered.
Are you suited to make the management changes required? Do you have other options? Would it be better to cease dairying now? What will be the impact on your business if premiums are halved? Organic conversion may sacrifice intensification and technical progress; is that important to you? Are there differences between certifying bodies you should know about?
What of market opportunities? Guidance and information should be sought about initiatives in different sectors. How do the co-operative and other market outlets compare and how do changes in a young, fast-growing market affect this comparison? Whether you are producing meat, fruit, vegetables or milk, co-operation stands the best chance of preserving premiums. And co-operative processing initiatives will add value. Is organic farming right for you and if so which organisation should you sign up with?
Answering such questions now, before committing time and capital to a new organic enterprise could save many headaches and a great deal of cash later on.