- Location
- Lincolnshire.
I absolutely didn’t say all the criticism in this thread was childish. If you can read you can obviously see that.
Minette Batters NFU president
- Thread starter warksfarmer
- Start date
we have a house of commons where democratically elected individuals of opposing views hold each other to account
mp’s and ministers are called out on conflicts of interest or failure to represent and even personal behaviour historically many have left or been dismissed
we have no opposition in agriculture, nothing holds NFU to account beyond its council which apparently it now also chooses to ignore
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- Location
- Essex
Challenging policy cannot be seen as bullying. If the NFU is squirming because it can't tell it's members or the wider industry what is behind its policies, those questions are going to keep coming.
We all know there is no coherent defence of Red Tractor and we all know why. The corporate sponsorship of the NFU is just too important to the organisation. I suspect that Guy Smith left when he realised that the farmers he thought he had been representing came second at the NFU.
So you get the situation where everyone can see what's wrong but those at the top keep saying otherwise. That inevitably leads to questions about why are they pursuing these ridiculous policies, which are clearly against the interest of their supposed membership.
They, and I include you Ollie, can't answer truthfully because the truth is so embarrassing.
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How dare you presume gender 'man up' very offensive bullying
Will Blackburn
Member
- Location
- Cheshire
Liz with her lower tax, smaller state.
MB with her larger bureaucratic RT.
MB is more Bojo than Truss, pie in the sky Net Zero promises.
- Location
- Lincolnshire.
You don’t have to be a member of the NFU. The House of Commons is a good parallel in other respects.
SilliamWhale
Member
I do understand why you were saying what you were. That said I'm not surprised how the anger and cynicism is manifesting, most of it is self inflicted I'm afraid
Then call out individuals who are. They may surprise you with reasons to back up what you don't like. BFU needs to marshall arguments to contend the might of corporate power and the NGOs sat in their pockets. The more TFFers who put forward ideas the better the case for BFU.
matthew
Member
- Location
- Cornwall, SW England
We are not members. But decisions made by this organisation, or the top end of it apparently, affect all farmers.
Arable with the unrestricted, unregulated imports dragging down prices, and livestock keepers with the current heist on carbon rich grassland. The latter being in the ‘too difficult ‘ file to even attempt a calculation as to its value.
Except of course to processors / retailers who will use it within their proposed Greening module.
That seems a very unhealthy situation for this industry.
- Location
- Lincolnshire.
There’s no point calling out individuals. Where I agree with you is that consistency in ideas is necessary to effectively change public opinion.
boris was elected leader in much the same way as minnette so I agree "just look"
reminds me of the war threadDid I say that? If it was down to a populist vote then I dare say Handley would have walked in a few decades ago.
Anyone that has looked at, let alone attempted posting anything remotely questioning, on the FFA Facebook page will surely see what folly that would have been? Thou shalt not disagree.
All we here is green this and net zero that its all a load of drivel and will do no good.
warming is here to stay best get prepared because fiddling will not stop it
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
i expect someone in the BRC will find her a job as a way of thanks for services given , they are all on the roundabout
- Location
- Suffolk
I’m pretty sure the answer is money. I went to a talk where the guest speaker was an NFU bod and unless my memory deceives me, I got the impression that implementation of Net Zero policies was one of the only ways that farmers were going to get any cash out of the Treasury, hence the NFU latched on to it.
Will Blackburn
Member
- Location
- Cheshire
Ruthless bunch will walk away after this carry on, that’s why the independent review has been launched, this is intended to take 6 months, past MB’s replacement, and subsequent appointment somewhere else.
- Location
- Northumberland
Until cheap, large-scale Carbon Capture and Storage becomes a reality (if ever), Net Zero is a fairytale. We can reduce our carbon output per capita but not eliminate it.
How many industries can you name that take carbon out of the air?
How many of those industries are absolutely essential to modern life on Earth?
If any industry is to be prioritised in terms of its carbon use it’s agriculture and yet we are currently being lined up to be the future whipping-boys for the whole food industry. Make no mistake; once we become ensnared in RTs GFC plans and handed over our carbon data and ‘greener commitments’, it will be decided that the food chain’s carbon balance should be looked at in the round. In other words any carbon we sequester will be nabbed by supermarkets and processors who will do a little fancy maths on it and come up smelling of roses, while we are made out to be the carbon-polluting bad-guys.
Minette etc are being bullied? Threatened??
I don’t think I’ve seen any posts here that do that. A lot of genuine anger and a bit of slightly puerile name-calling but I haven’t seen any bullying.
The top table hiding behind this is merely an attempt to shut down dissent and debate while they basically say “I’m sorry that the majority of people we claim to represent disagree with us, but we are right and we will proceed whatever our members say”.
If this is the attitude of the top level at the NFU, the results of the upcoming RT reviews are a foregone conclusion; a way to deflect the heat so a new president can continue with the current direction of travel next year.
It stinks, frankly.
How many industries can you name that take carbon out of the air?
How many of those industries are absolutely essential to modern life on Earth?
If any industry is to be prioritised in terms of its carbon use it’s agriculture and yet we are currently being lined up to be the future whipping-boys for the whole food industry. Make no mistake; once we become ensnared in RTs GFC plans and handed over our carbon data and ‘greener commitments’, it will be decided that the food chain’s carbon balance should be looked at in the round. In other words any carbon we sequester will be nabbed by supermarkets and processors who will do a little fancy maths on it and come up smelling of roses, while we are made out to be the carbon-polluting bad-guys.
Minette etc are being bullied? Threatened??
I don’t think I’ve seen any posts here that do that. A lot of genuine anger and a bit of slightly puerile name-calling but I haven’t seen any bullying.
The top table hiding behind this is merely an attempt to shut down dissent and debate while they basically say “I’m sorry that the majority of people we claim to represent disagree with us, but we are right and we will proceed whatever our members say”.
If this is the attitude of the top level at the NFU, the results of the upcoming RT reviews are a foregone conclusion; a way to deflect the heat so a new president can continue with the current direction of travel next year.
It stinks, frankly.
warksfarmer
Member
Not when all the top tier are sacked as well
I have a confession to make…..
I AM A NFU MEMBER… and if any NFU person wishes to check I can provide my membership number on request. And on that point I feel my following comments should be taken on board by the organisation I pay into and have financially supported as a farming business for many many years.
Now it’s no secret that I’ve been a massive critic of red tractor from long before this all started, I also think the AHDB should have been doing a lot more to support levy payers and have said so in my various ramblings. And I will admit I’ve not been particularly polite about either organisation at times.
However to date I’ve not really said a lot about the NFU. But it’s got to the stage where I think the management and president especially have read the mood very badly and are doing an awful lot of things wrong. Their attitude stinks and they should be ashamed of their selves. The President claims to be a tenant farmer, one of the hardest sectors of agriculture, yet seems happy to allow more cost to be piled onto the industry for no return. She claims to have an inbox full of people saying get GFC done, who are these people? It’s not from members like myself we’re aghast at the thought of all this happening and would expect the body representing us to be in the same mindset.
As for non members of the NFU how can the president agree to negotiate away things like GFC without consulting them as well. Regardless of wether the farmer is a NFU member or not a lot of us are tied into the shackles of red tractor and to give these things away from people your not even representing is wrong on so many levels. Is it even legal to force non members into these things?
As a NFU member I feel now is the time for the President and the rest of the upper management to apologise to the whole agricultural community unreservedly and sit down with all of us and work out how the hell to get out of the mess they have created. Cut out the bleats about bullying, that’s just pathetic from a group of people who willingly put themselves in the spotlight in a job they’re been paid for.
NFU you need to grow up, stop whinging and start listening to the farmers. Without us your all stuffed!
I AM A NFU MEMBER… and if any NFU person wishes to check I can provide my membership number on request. And on that point I feel my following comments should be taken on board by the organisation I pay into and have financially supported as a farming business for many many years.
Now it’s no secret that I’ve been a massive critic of red tractor from long before this all started, I also think the AHDB should have been doing a lot more to support levy payers and have said so in my various ramblings. And I will admit I’ve not been particularly polite about either organisation at times.
However to date I’ve not really said a lot about the NFU. But it’s got to the stage where I think the management and president especially have read the mood very badly and are doing an awful lot of things wrong. Their attitude stinks and they should be ashamed of their selves. The President claims to be a tenant farmer, one of the hardest sectors of agriculture, yet seems happy to allow more cost to be piled onto the industry for no return. She claims to have an inbox full of people saying get GFC done, who are these people? It’s not from members like myself we’re aghast at the thought of all this happening and would expect the body representing us to be in the same mindset.
As for non members of the NFU how can the president agree to negotiate away things like GFC without consulting them as well. Regardless of wether the farmer is a NFU member or not a lot of us are tied into the shackles of red tractor and to give these things away from people your not even representing is wrong on so many levels. Is it even legal to force non members into these things?
As a NFU member I feel now is the time for the President and the rest of the upper management to apologise to the whole agricultural community unreservedly and sit down with all of us and work out how the hell to get out of the mess they have created. Cut out the bleats about bullying, that’s just pathetic from a group of people who willingly put themselves in the spotlight in a job they’re been paid for.
NFU you need to grow up, stop whinging and start listening to the farmers. Without us your all stuffed!
warksfarmer
Member
Amen
On another note regarding carbon credits and the trading of etc, As a tenant there is a clause in my tenancy agreement forbidding me from doing so. Quite obviously my landlord sees a value in them which is fair enough,
I wonder if the NFU president has checked her tenancy agreement? It would be quite ironic if she’s giving away something she doesn’t actually own in the first place!
I wonder if the NFU president has checked her tenancy agreement? It would be quite ironic if she’s giving away something she doesn’t actually own in the first place!
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