Are the NFU fit for purpose

[milkloss]

Please nobody give up their membership go to the meetings & have your say , as @yellowbelly has just said we need a few mavericks to " tell em like it is " Or as one of our local representatives likes to say " chuck a grenade in now & then to liven things up"
The best way to change a organisation is from the inside.

They don’t like mavericks, plain speakers or anyone that fronts them up. You will get ignored, belittled and not allowed a seat of any significance. Welcome to the modern NFU.

 

[Treg]

Didn't a report come out while ago saying that less intensive production like organic was bad for the environment.....yet this report says we should be more extensive ?

No problem with keeping less stock.....as long as price rise to ensure farm income levels stay the same.

I think that report said European farms are more intensive but better for the environment than buying products from countries that are cutting down rain forest to provide land for extensive agricultural production ( usually soya then when the land becomes poor use it for extensive beef production )
I think the reports conclusion was Europe should encourage intensive production rather than importing animal / protein products & also encourage conventional production instead of Organic to increase production. ( I am a Organic livestock farmer )

 

[Clive]

Very true, but unfortunately most of those who would be better are too busy trying to make a living and can't spare the time.
It must be a galling job, sitting in endless meetings, listening to endless drivel and trying to be politically correct all the time.
The NFU needs a few 'mavericks' that will tell 'em like it is, in basic language - time to start upsetting a few academics and politicians and stop 'cow-towing' to them IMHO.

agree "yes men" never got anything changed or did any good deals

It strikes me as a organisation full of individuals more bothered about their personal career and progression within the organisation than the people they actually represent (there are notable exceptions however and a few very good guys amongst them)

It needs radical, ground up change, I REALLY hope it can do that ............... but I won't hold my breath

 

[Treg]

They don’t like mavericks, plain speakers or anyone that fronts them up. You will get ignored, belittled and not allowed a seat of any significance. Welcome to the modern NFU.

I went to a meeting a few weeks ago & my views were written down & passed on, I was invited to speak with the leadership about my concerns of a lack of positive response to climate change ( as in livestock are needed to eat the grass so the grass needs to grow taking Co2 out of the environment) but the following week they released a statement to the press ( from Stuart somebody I think ?) Which covered what I wanted them to say so I didn't take it any farther.
It's disappointing to say the least that they haven't kept pushing the positive message of livestock production so I would suggest e-mailing your local representative ( whether your in the NFU or not ) so they know our feelings.
Also at the meeting I went to Cornwall wildlife trust was there & said we're just not get our message out there & they're going to start a joint scheme between them & farmers to educate the public on food production , they seem genuinely worried where this is going.

 

[Dolomite]

It’s too late with the NFU. They are in the pocket of someone or some organisation as once they get into office, their noses are in the trough just like mp’s and councillors. The rot runs deeper than just a few people you vote in and out.

 

[hally]

As with any membership organisation the NFU are only as good as the people who stand for election.

It’s always easy to hurl muck from the sidelines.

Yes and no, I would like to think that a large wealthy professional organisation like the NFU have professional and skilled lobbyists working on our behalf in the murky corridors of power, be they Westminster or Brussels. A few farmer representatives are all well and good but the real good is done by the full time staff at the coal face, sadly I think this is where the NFU are lacking nowadays, they seem to react to every crackpot government initiative rather than influencing them. Therefore the old saying about a stable door and a horse is very applicable here.

 

[Clive]

They don’t like mavericks, plain speakers or anyone that fronts them up. You will get ignored, belittled and not allowed a seat of any significance. Welcome to the modern NFU.

yep

 

[Treg]

agree "yes men" never got anything changed or did any good deals

It strikes me as a organisation full of individuals more bothered about their personal career and progression within the organisation than the people they actually represent (there are notable exceptions however and a few very good guys amongst them)

It needs radical, ground up change, I REALLY hope it can do that ............... but I won't hold my breath

This was also discussed at the meeting I went to, the employees at the London office are saying that MPs are asking " why has the NFU lost it's bite"

 

[Granite Farmer]

Nothing worse then going to an NFU meeting and listening to a bunch of parochial farmers with no vision continuously barking up the subsidy tree and ignoring all over ideas because 'you'll get stung'.

Also I was at a meal the other day where there was a lot of environmental types and some of them mentioned that we would be better of farming the land we have well including reclaimed land rather then re-wilding or flooding it. As we would be better of saving the Amazon.

 

[Henarar]

The number of sheep and cattle in the UK should be reduced by between a fifth and a half to help combat climate change,

it won't make any difference as long as they are just farmed elsewhere
why hit out at what could be the most carbon sequesting farming there is ? why not spend their time and money promoting this ?
grassland can take in more carbon than forest it looks better for holiday makers etc and its better for the environment it also produces some of the best food you can get beef and lamb

these idiots are just short sighted farmer haters that seem to lack thought, and are challenged to see the fact that pollution does not stop at boarders
they will not be happy till the landscape is ruined and they end up burning more fuel in a vein attempt to get it how they thought it would end up
now if they produced a report that said people in the UK should be reduced by half to combat climate change then that would be something worth listening to as we are the plague that is doing the polluting but just sending half off somewhere else will not help as the pollution will still happen, production needs to be stopped or at least controlled

as for the NFU, yes they do a wonderful job

 

[Clive]

This was also discussed at the meeting I went to, the employees at the London office are saying that MPs are asking " why has the NFU lost it's bite"

I met with Gove and team last year, I mentioned the NFU (in a positive way believe it or not) and the room was full of rolling eyes. No words but pretty clear what they thought of them and how much they were listening to them

 

[stroller]

it won't make any difference as long as they are just farmed elsewhere
why hit out at what could be the most carbon sequesting farming there is ? why not spend their time and money promoting this ?
grassland can take in more carbon than forest it looks better for holiday makers etc and its better for the environment it also produces some of the best food you can get beef and lamb

these idiots are just short sighted farmer haters that seem to lack thought, and are challenged to see the fact that pollution does not stop at boarders
they will not be happy till the landscape is ruined and they end up burning more fuel in a vein attempt to get it how they thought it would end up
now if they produced a report that said people in the UK should be reduced by half to combat climate change then that would be something worth listening to as we are the plague that is doing the polluting but just sending half off somewhere else will not help as the pollution will still happen, production needs to be stopped or at least controlled

as for the NFU, yes they do a wonderful job

You'll never change it, sit back relax and muddle through the next few years until there is a food shortage, politicians never learn from history.

 

[Clive]

As with any membership organisation the NFU are only as good as the people who stand for election.

It’s always easy to hurl muck from the sidelines.

Old saying

"those that can.............. do, Those that can't ............ teach " (or become politicians !)

 

[Victor]

Well I joined early in year and was promised a free sweatshirt or something like that (So long ago can't remember)
Well still waiting
Doesn't give you much confidence does it
What's that proverb
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick"
I'm not really talking about an nfu freeby

 

[Werzle]

I didnt renew my membership this year, very liberating. Lost all faith in the nfu and think they should be renamed the national horticulture union

 

[Werzle]

Old saying

"those that can.............. do, Those that can't ............ teach " (or become politicians !)

Or farm assurance experts!

 

[Dolomite]

Or farm assurance experts!

Agricultural industry representatives of push overs?

 

[Grassman]

Very true, but unfortunately most of those who would be better are too busy trying to make a living and can't spare the time.
It must be a galling job, sitting in endless meetings, listening to endless drivel and trying to be politically correct all the time.
The NFU needs a few 'mavericks' that will tell 'em like it is, in basic language - time to start upsetting a few academics and politicians and stop 'cow-towing' to them IMHO.

So when Donald is finished sorting the USA he could come and sort the NFU

 

[Hampton]

Looks like the top brass are on bbc news today to put forward their views.
Apparently the BBC did not get a direct quote off Guy and the NFU do not support the reports findings

 

[Grassman]

Absolutely drives me up the wall.
Grassland sequests more Co2 than trees.
And wetland far more again.
Why is nobody pointing out these things?

So is there facts to back this up?
I often wondered about it. Forestry is good but it spends a lot of time bare ground between tree harvests.