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JR Bayley, Cheltenham
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How much pain will farmers get from Defra cuts?
How much pain will farmers get from Defra cuts?
Balancing the mismanaged UK budget is apparently going to rely on a 4:1 ratio of spending cuts to tax rises. Whitehall efficiency savings are said to take up some of the slack, but there is absolutely no doubt that cuts will be deep in some departments. The determination in 10 Downing St to roll its sleeves up came on day one, when all Cabinet Ministers accepted a 5% salary cut for themselves. Will Defra escape?It seems highly likely that Defra budgets will be slashed in the next review, and this is bound to hurt farmers. The policy of protecting, or ring-fencing 'front line' budgets such as health, law and order and education means that other departments will have a greater burden to bear. If we look at Canada, where a similar financial crisis occurred in the 1990 and 91, we can see how the correction was achieved. Canada's national debt spun out of control as almost unlimited funding was given to hospitals and schools, transport and defence. A change of government heralded a change in policy, and within three years to budget deficit was cut to zero, and Canada remained in the black with surplus budgets until the global recession in 2008. The Conservative Prime Minister Jean Chretien targeted cuts carefully, calling on departments to make a different scale of sacrifice. Agriculture and fisheries was cut 22%, transport 50%, international aid 20%. Spending on the elderly was actually increased, as was that for children.
So how is this likely to shape up in Britain, 2010/11? Maybe the figures won't be so different to those achieved in Canada, which will mean a considerable shock for farming and fishing. Funding for much of the farming budget comes from Brussels, and is therefore outside Defra, apart from it's administration and distribution. Other parts of the farm budget, such as environmental stewardship, hill farm allowances, woodland support and diversification have a UK government component. Then there are some other aspects which are financed totally by Whitehall, animal health, slaughter compensation for bovineTB and other diseases, which the previous government had wanted to become self financing through an insurance scheme.
If Canada is to become a template for the UK recovery, we will see huge changes in government staffing in some departments, and far less money spent on government information.
The issue for farmers
Farmers should begin looking at the Single Farm Payment in the way suggested when it was introduced - as a windfall rather than a necessity. For many it has become an essential part of their income, often spent before it was paid. No farmer should underestimate the potential changes to the CAP in 2012. Fewer political parties in Europe are interested in supporting whole industries in the way the CAP has been doing for so long.
Changing farming methods
Stripping costs from farm businesses can mean a painful examination of sacred cows, including machinery ownership and farming methods. This week I was, for example, talking to a farmer with 650 ewes who was making round bale silage for them. "We've been doing it this way for years, and the system suits us, but the job is getting more expensive every year."
At what point does he stop and take stock? Of course the system suits - over the years they have the obtained the right kit to handle and feed out wrapped bales. He's paying £4 an acre for mowing, and the same again for rowing up, and £8 for baling and wrapping each bale with a McHale Fusion. That works out at around £100 an acre, for a job which he could do for £25 (see Farm Ideas Vol 18-2 pg 15 http://www.farmideas.co.uk/online_shop_p.php?product=134 ).
The worst case scenario over farm spending cuts could look grim indeed.
If you like the view, don't sell the field
The Woolley Valley is an area of outstanding natural beauty located a mile from Bath, overlooked by Solsbury Hill. The valley is heavily protected from development, with an Article 4 direction. It's a desirable place to live, which is probably why the broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby has an organic farm there. So does the rock legend Peter Gabriel, former lead singer of the pop group Genesis.Dimbleby, who among other things was Chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, decided to sell 55 acres of the valley in 2005, and is now up in arms because the new owners have decided to push the planning rules to their limits and use the land for intensive agriculture.
Why, one asks, does a man of such wealth as Jonathan Dimbleby sell 55 acres of agricultural land in front of his des res if he wants it to be kept a pastoral scene? Why not just enjoy the land, take some rent off it, and forgo the few ££thousand it puts into the bank? It is, after all, a fraction of his £multi-million contract with the BBC.
Speaking from his Los Angeles home, Peter Gabriel said that the farm development "made a mockery of our (that is Britain's) planning and environmental policies". He comes back to Britain in time for a press conference on the issue.
Maybe greater regulation is needed over intensive farming developments - but the arguments need to be heard on both sides, and quasi-farmers like Dimbleby are not the best advocates.
Mobile phone cancer dangers
Could mobile phones be as or more dangerous to health as asbestos? Surely not - someone has surely tested them.A recent report by the World Health Organisation suggests there are serious risks for 'frequent users' of mobiles, which they define as more than 30 mins a day for 10 years. The ten year study using material from 13 countries shows a greater risk of brain cancer for these heavy users - but the study, which was heavily funded by phone operators and manufacturers, excluded anyone under 30, prompting scientists to say that further research is essential.
The EU has backed a new research study into possible links between brain tumours and mobile phone usage. Others might ask whether our proximity to radio waves has any effect on health.
Practical Farm Ideas was onto Bio-gas long before the experts
Readers of Practical Farm Ideas might remember our 'Farm of the Future' piece in Winter 2006-7, showing how a home built anaerobic digester plant fed slurry from a 70 cow herd was saving the farmer £7,000 a year in energy costs.It's taken time for others to wake up to the possibilities of AD, despite the huge progress made just a few miles away in Germany, where thousands of plants are producing significant quantities of gas for domestic and industrial use. But better late than never. Maybe our new government can look again at the advantages of gas production and compare tis with the vagaries of wind energy. Both have their place, but need to be coupled intelligently for maximum benefit, as was explained in our article.
Alpacas make useful Trojan Horses for planning applications
The South American alpaca is an sheep like animal with a prized fleece, which makes each animal both expensive and exotic, and so needing close management. It makes the alpaca a useful Trojan Horse for farmers wanting to gain planning permission for a temporary agricultural dwelling such as a log cabin which is close to where they are grazing. This is the technique which has been used by Marc Willis who is the agent for Golden Valley Paddocks, who told the Times journo Simon de Bruxelles that he has used the technique to get permission for more than 35 farmhouses. Alpacas are ideal because they look cute, are rare and exotic, and planners know nothing about them. Try the same with dairy cows or a flock of sheep and the results are likely to be negative.Do we need to have huge sea eagles in Suffolk?
Natural England, the Government's wildlife advisor, and the RSPB are spending £600,000 to introduce sea eagles to East Anglia. In the past few years some have been introduced on the west coast of Scotland. Their claim to being 'native' goes back a long while. The last one was killed in the Lake District in 1724, and a breeding pair was last seen on Skye in 1916.The huge birds have an 8ft wingspan and a body that's 4ft long and males weigh around 4kg (9lb) and females 5.5kg or 12lb.
The main farming concern is they scare livestock, both outdoor pigs and chickens, and the stress they cause will reduce production of eggs. Chickens are jungle fowl and hate slow moving objects overhead, reacting by running together to find shelter, causing some to be smothered in the clamour. Pigs are equally spooked, and the danger is going through paddock wires.
Tom Tew, chief scientist at Natural England, has said the concerns are valid and that there will be consultation - one suggestion is that lambing is done in poly tunnels - but he says evidence shows that sea eagles have little impact on farming. "They are hugely charismatic and when people see them they draw breath. They are a magnificent bird and emblematic of a healthy wetland ecosystem", he told the Times.
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