Cancel your NFU membership now

texelburger · Mar 29, 2021

Clive said:
i think the NFU have only started to take notice BECAUSE members are leaving

had social media not made so much noise about this the proposed RT gold plate would have been signed off and inevitable by now

Individuals are making a difference, my faith in UK farmers ability to act is slowly being restored !

Totally agree,they wouldn't have done anything if we'd all sat ,knees crossed and said nothing.They thought we were an irrelevance and regarded us with disdain.Not now.
However I'm pleased they are listening and taking action,it's not enough,but a start.So some credit must go to the NFU for this,it's just disappointing that it needed the threat of a mass member exodus to instigate any action.

SilliamWhale · Mar 29, 2021

So how about a "withdraw funding from Red Tractor" day

Firstly make sure everyone has cancelled their direct debits and then choose a day that we can promote much like 24 hours in farming where we announce that we ask everyone to start to withdraw funding from RT? It will be difficult but with a day set (maybe July) we can ask people not to fund the protection racket and have our list of say5 reasons why it should not be funded.

We can generate some press in advance, get it trending on twitter and then see what the reaction is. Could be a good initiative - farmers fighting for fairness in the markeplace etc

Jackov Altraids · Mar 29, 2021

I, like many farmers, am pretty bloody busy, pretty much all the time.
I have always been a member of the NFU and had hoped they were busy looking after my interests in my absence.
Why the hell has it taken all of us to point out how bad the RT situation is?
The fact that the NFU has merrily lead us down this path and been completely oblivious to the potentially horrendous consequences proves to me they are seriously failing as a union.

I stopped my direct debit many weeks ago and have heard nothing.

colhonk · Mar 29, 2021

For years and years so called `experts` have been telling use how to run our businesses better by getting rid of anything that costs and does not bring in a profit /// rt is a very big prime example of this.

SilliamWhale · Mar 29, 2021

Jackov Altraids said:
I, like many farmers, am pretty bloody busy, pretty much all the time.
I have always been a member of the NFU and had hoped they were busy looking after my interests in my absence.
Why the hell has it taken all of us to point out how bad the RT situation is?
The fact that the NFU has merrily lead us down this path and been completely oblivious to the potentially horrendous consequences proves to me they are seriously failing as a union.

I stopped my direct debit many weeks ago and have heard nothing.

I left 10 years ago and deliberately and clearly write a letter that I would not support an organisation that forced extra regulations and cost onto their home marketeers but not for imports. I just found it immoral from the start.

I did have a couple of people turn up and chat me round but as I said then wrong is wrong. NFU have plenty of bodies that could get their teeth into this issue if they wanted, but fundamentally they didn't care.

Its the age old issue, of if someone wants to take the pee out of you, they will if you let them. NFU have known about this for years but choose not to because its hard dry work and more appealing to shout about imports, climate, women in farming, brexit etc.

Clive · Mar 29, 2021

Jackov Altraids said:
I, like many farmers, am pretty bloody busy, pretty much all the time.
I have always been a member of the NFU and had hoped they were busy looking after my interests in my absence.
Why the hell has it taken all of us to point out how bad the RT situation is?
The fact that the NFU has merrily lead us down this path and been completely oblivious to the potentially horrendous consequences proves to me they are seriously failing as a union.

I stopped my direct debit many weeks ago and have heard nothing.

Don't just stop paying, write a letter explaining why

ollie989898 · Mar 29, 2021

Clive said:
no chance !

i think they are trying to do “just” enough to shut up the “angry social media crowd”. without spilling too much gravy !!!!!

we need to demand “equal to imports” option or continue to resign

what we have learnt today is the threat of loosing membership is taken seriously so those unhappy should use that “vote” until this has a remedy

You must admit that by agreeing to talk to them you are opening yourself up to the possibility of all kinds of spurious complaints/comments about being bought/palmed off etc etc etc- not that I mean to suggest they have done so but the possibility exists as we can all imagine how it might be desirable for them to get you onside.

If it was me I would be extremely hesitant to talk to them in any capacity except by email or maybe in conversation that I then documented in detail.

None of this 'unofficially' official communications lark.

warksfarmer · Apr 7, 2021

ollie989898 said:
You must admit that by agreeing to talk to them you are opening yourself up to the possibility of all kinds of spurious complaints/comments about being bought/palmed off etc etc etc- not that I mean to suggest they have done so but the possibility exists as we can all imagine how it might be desirable for them to get you onside.

If it was me I would be extremely hesitant to talk to them in any capacity except by email or maybe in conversation that I then documented in detail.

None of this 'unofficially' official communications lark.

Very true.

Old apprentice · Apr 7, 2021

ollie989898 said:
You must admit that by agreeing to talk to them you are opening yourself up to the possibility of all kinds of spurious complaints/comments about being bought/palmed off etc etc etc- not that I mean to suggest they have done so but the possibility exists as we can all imagine how it might be desirable for them to get you onside.

If it was me I would be extremely hesitant to talk to them in any capacity except by email or maybe in conversation that I then documented in detail.

None of this 'unofficially' official communications lark.

Probably record your phone call

curlietailz · Apr 7, 2021

Clive said:
could you detail examples of all the great work that is JUST down to the NFU ?

remember the annual payroll is £ 21 million a year alone - you would not be unreasonable to expect some serious results for that kind of spend would it ?

£21 million payrolldivided by 35000 farmers = £600 each farmer each year

tullah · Apr 7, 2021

curlietailz said:
£21 million payrolldivided by 35000 farmers = £600 each farmer each year

Half those resign, use membership fees saved as fighting fund for legal fees to take RT to the cleaners.
Saying that just £2 million would be more than enough. Then sue the criminals for costs etc etc.

warksfarmer · Apr 7, 2021

Old apprentice said:
Probably record your phone call

I’m happy for them to record me because I’ve told them what I think multiple times

warksfarmer · Apr 13, 2021

tullah said:
Half those resign, use membership fees saved as fighting fund for legal fees to take RT to the cleaners.
Saying that just £2 million would be more than enough. Then sue the criminals for costs etc etc.

I don't think it would cost that much to be honest. £50,000 would cover it easily.

steveR · Apr 13, 2021

Jackov Altraids said:
I, like many farmers, am pretty bloody busy, pretty much all the time.
I have always been a member of the NFU and had hoped they were busy looking after my interests in my absence.
Why the hell has it taken all of us to point out how bad the RT situation is?
The fact that the NFU has merrily lead us down this path and been completely oblivious to the potentially horrendous consequences proves to me they are seriously failing as a union.

I stopped my direct debit many weeks ago and have heard nothing.

Surprising that you have not had one of the "form"letters or emails by now... Any changes since the end of March?

Direct Driller Magazine · Apr 13, 2021

texelburger said:
Totally agree,they wouldn't have done anything if we'd all sat ,knees crossed and said nothing.They thought we were an irrelevance and regarded us with disdain.Not now.
However I'm pleased they are listening and taking action,it's not enough,but a start.So some credit must go to the NFU for this,it's just disappointing that it needed the threat of a mass member exodus to instigate any action.

Since the NFU helped design the consultation in the first place and signed it off for release, we are in an odd situation. Where they have turned on Red Tractor for whom they helped design it and laying all the blame at their feet. It seems there is some backstabbing going on in the organisations too, as everyone races to blame others.

warksfarmer · Apr 13, 2021

Direct Driller Magazine said:
Since the NFU helped design the consultation in the first place and signed it off for release, we are in an odd situation. Where they have turned on Red Tractor for whom they helped design it and laying all the blame at their feet. It seems there is some backstabbing going on in the organisations too, as everyone races to blame others.

Where have the Nfu turned on RT?

Jackov Altraids · Apr 13, 2021

steveR said:
Surprising that you have not had one of the "form"letters or emails by now... Any changes since the end of March?

I have had the stock letter that the direct debit had been stopped and that if I had changed banks I should remember to reinstate it but otherwise I have heard nothing.

I noticed this yesterday, shows how much RT adds value!!!...

SilliamWhale · Apr 13, 2021

Direct Driller Magazine said:
Since the NFU helped design the consultation in the first place and signed it off for release, we are in an odd situation. Where they have turned on Red Tractor for whom they helped design it and laying all the blame at their feet. It seems there is some backstabbing going on in the organisations too, as everyone races to blame others.

Look its nothing to do with blame etc. Its all about arsecovering. No one gives a stuff about the farmer in the scheme. Everyone, but everyone involved in the whole fetid business (Red Tractor, NFU, AIC, AHDB etc) is all about covering their own arse or sorting their own nest or their own ambitions out. Do not believe for one second any of these people involved give a sh!t about the producer - they don't

tullah · Apr 15, 2021

The time is coming when the NFU wish they had put their foot down with RT instead of encouraging them to defraud farmers on a massive scale and indeed be part and parcel of the fraudulent scheme themselves. Farmer members won't forgive them for this. Anybody still an Nfu member wondering when to leave?

traineefarmer · Apr 18, 2021

spin cycle said:
i was thinking about how a new farmers union could be started the other day....it's not that simple....i mean what would you want it to do?....once it starts doing stuff you need staff...they need paying etc
i came up with following options
1/ minimal membership fee but does nothing except be a 'vehicle' of protest against the union thats supposed to represent us
2/ try to get proper replacement for nfu.....difficult and expensive
3/ approach confederation of small business to form a farmers branch?.....get some membership benefits plus pay a bit extra to fund the political bit of farming representation

It's taking me a long time to catch up with this thread, but this post in particular caught my eye.

Option 1 - I feel that we already have this for free with the likes of TFF and those farmers who are active on other social media highlighting issues and engaging in sensible debate. The lack of action from NFU in this area means they will wither on the vine as they fail to keep up with progress in communication.

Option 2 - Non starter. Even the big players don't have the financial backup to start something to compete with the NFU's money pit from scratch.

Option 3 - This I feel is a very good idea. I was a member of the FSB for several years when I started a small engineering business. I was always impressed by their work and the support offered. Since re-entering agriculture, I haven't seen the need to rejoin as I hadn't seen a significant benefit to a farming business. But, if there are any members on here, it would be interesting to open communication with the FSB to see what they could offer the agricultural sector.

One of the big benefits from my membership were the networking events, putting small business owners amongst potential customers who were also small players. Much of the FSB membership will be end users of our products - small shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants, bakeries, butchers, etc. Being amongst them and forging direct sales may give us a route out of the current NFU/RT/Supermarket dominated hell.

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