- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Because it’s a vulgar subject, it’s best to avoid talking about money. Funnily enough though, I find when it’s a bit scarce, it tends to be on your mind more. And as you may have heard, the EU subsidies with which us feather bedded farmers are showered are running somewhat behind schedule. And however vulgar it might be, it’s become something of a talking point. The nitty gritty is that the UKs method of organising these payments crash landed last spring amidst the smoking ruins of another attempt by Government to computerise everything, and DEFRA have been playing catch up ever since.
Up in the hills where many of us share common grazing, a row over how DEFRA share out the cookies has led to a further delay. A court case in Gloucester went the way of the commoners, and the decision is relevant to the whole country, which has got dozens of RPA staff trying to resolve the legal and financial fallout.
Such farmers, whose payments are known to be some way off, have had so called ‘letters of doom’, warning them not to expect payment anytime soon. I’ve had 2 such letters, and calculations within the industry suggest it could take until mid-May to process everyone. And where I’m sitting, mid-May is a long long way off.
Now I’m not proud that my farming relies on the payments- I would much prefer the value of my outputs covered the cost of my inputs and left me a profit. As you know, I’ve other strings to my bow –thank goodness- and I’m quite at ease living off the universal recipe for success…. a bit of nouse, a sprinkle of luck, and plenty of graft. But farming isn’t like that, and hasn’t been for decades. It still takes all the above- and more-, is hamstrung by complicated regulations for good measure, but is unprofitable without the support payments. So I take the payments……or I would if they ever show up.
What does it actually mean on the ground? I’m generally a very conservative businessman, maintaining a healthy reserve and cutting my cloth according to my situation. As it happens though, for reasons I won’t bore you with, we happen to have been sailing a bit closer to the wind than normal. Knowing the DEFRA cock-up was developing, I kept paying for extra TB tests so I could sell youngstock and old cows right through last year, in case we went down on the main test. That proved provident with another reactor last week meaning we’re locked down and can’t easily sell youngstock to pay bills. Ironically, it’s a tax demand due any day which we’re going to struggle with.
Alison has long since put the cheque book in a place of safety. Several machinery replacements and maintenance jobs are deferred. And since it surely isn’t just me, the knock on effect must be showing up in the wider community. Apart from a complete stop on major renewals, comparatively minor stuff has to be stopped.
I’m spending more time with the welder repairing gear than I ordinarily would- it probably isn’t economic or a good use of my time, but what choice do I have? Amongst items being nursed along are a 15 year old dungspreader, a telehandler bucket new in 1998, and a bale trailer I converted from a seized up Bedford TK in 1989. All are past their retirement dates, but the ‘necessary’ simply isn’t there.
Natural England and Animal Health staff are shocked and upset when we have to explain the bottom line. By about the middle of March, we’re going run out of cash, and will have to start slaughtering in-calf cows, or laying people off. The on-going complications of being unable to sell hairy yearling Galloway bullocks, and how to play my hand into spring are already worrying me. The TB problems are on 2 of the 3 blocks of ‘off land’ we’d expect to be putting these yearlings onto. Neither are catastrophic, giving rise to odd sporadic reactors…but it only takes one doesn’t it.
I could borrow my way out of difficulty in the short term, but I don’t trust my own haphazard abilities to recklessly risk my family’s security. Something else frustrating is widespread media stories from one particular accountancy firm, saying it’s easy to go to the ‘Revenue’, and get a bit of grace on those tax demands. It blessed well isn’t easy. Alison has just spent 5 hours solid on the phone, speaking to numerous operatives of varying ignorance and unpleasantness before she spoke to a lass who knew all about this national problem, effecting 10’s of thousands of farmers, and how to set up an instalment plan.
Here’s hoping eh?
About the author
Originally published in The Western Morning News, these articles are reproduced for the enjoyment of TFF members World-wide by kind permission of the author Anton Coaker and the WMN
Anton Coaker is a fifth generation farmer keeping suckler cows and flocks of hill sheep high on the Forest of Dartmoor and running a hardwood and mobile sawmill.
A prodigious writer and regular correspondent for The Western Morning News, NFU and The Farming Forum, Anton’s second book “The Complete Bullocks” is available from www.anton-coaker.co.uk
Up in the hills where many of us share common grazing, a row over how DEFRA share out the cookies has led to a further delay. A court case in Gloucester went the way of the commoners, and the decision is relevant to the whole country, which has got dozens of RPA staff trying to resolve the legal and financial fallout.
Such farmers, whose payments are known to be some way off, have had so called ‘letters of doom’, warning them not to expect payment anytime soon. I’ve had 2 such letters, and calculations within the industry suggest it could take until mid-May to process everyone. And where I’m sitting, mid-May is a long long way off.
Now I’m not proud that my farming relies on the payments- I would much prefer the value of my outputs covered the cost of my inputs and left me a profit. As you know, I’ve other strings to my bow –thank goodness- and I’m quite at ease living off the universal recipe for success…. a bit of nouse, a sprinkle of luck, and plenty of graft. But farming isn’t like that, and hasn’t been for decades. It still takes all the above- and more-, is hamstrung by complicated regulations for good measure, but is unprofitable without the support payments. So I take the payments……or I would if they ever show up.
What does it actually mean on the ground? I’m generally a very conservative businessman, maintaining a healthy reserve and cutting my cloth according to my situation. As it happens though, for reasons I won’t bore you with, we happen to have been sailing a bit closer to the wind than normal. Knowing the DEFRA cock-up was developing, I kept paying for extra TB tests so I could sell youngstock and old cows right through last year, in case we went down on the main test. That proved provident with another reactor last week meaning we’re locked down and can’t easily sell youngstock to pay bills. Ironically, it’s a tax demand due any day which we’re going to struggle with.
Alison has long since put the cheque book in a place of safety. Several machinery replacements and maintenance jobs are deferred. And since it surely isn’t just me, the knock on effect must be showing up in the wider community. Apart from a complete stop on major renewals, comparatively minor stuff has to be stopped.
I’m spending more time with the welder repairing gear than I ordinarily would- it probably isn’t economic or a good use of my time, but what choice do I have? Amongst items being nursed along are a 15 year old dungspreader, a telehandler bucket new in 1998, and a bale trailer I converted from a seized up Bedford TK in 1989. All are past their retirement dates, but the ‘necessary’ simply isn’t there.
Natural England and Animal Health staff are shocked and upset when we have to explain the bottom line. By about the middle of March, we’re going run out of cash, and will have to start slaughtering in-calf cows, or laying people off. The on-going complications of being unable to sell hairy yearling Galloway bullocks, and how to play my hand into spring are already worrying me. The TB problems are on 2 of the 3 blocks of ‘off land’ we’d expect to be putting these yearlings onto. Neither are catastrophic, giving rise to odd sporadic reactors…but it only takes one doesn’t it.
I could borrow my way out of difficulty in the short term, but I don’t trust my own haphazard abilities to recklessly risk my family’s security. Something else frustrating is widespread media stories from one particular accountancy firm, saying it’s easy to go to the ‘Revenue’, and get a bit of grace on those tax demands. It blessed well isn’t easy. Alison has just spent 5 hours solid on the phone, speaking to numerous operatives of varying ignorance and unpleasantness before she spoke to a lass who knew all about this national problem, effecting 10’s of thousands of farmers, and how to set up an instalment plan.
Here’s hoping eh?
About the author
Originally published in The Western Morning News, these articles are reproduced for the enjoyment of TFF members World-wide by kind permission of the author Anton Coaker and the WMN
Anton Coaker is a fifth generation farmer keeping suckler cows and flocks of hill sheep high on the Forest of Dartmoor and running a hardwood and mobile sawmill.
A prodigious writer and regular correspondent for The Western Morning News, NFU and The Farming Forum, Anton’s second book “The Complete Bullocks” is available from www.anton-coaker.co.uk
