Guy Smith's response to FW article on AIC rules.

[warksfarmer]

If you are uncomfortable about cancelling your NFU membership at this time, then make sure you tell the Rep that he is on borrowed time anyway!

I genuinely have no idea why anybody wouldn’t be comfortable cancelling their Nfu membership.

They dont do anything and are in fact anti U.K. agriculture. 4/5 of their membership are NOT farming and in fact just rural dwellers.

Their annual wage bill is £23 million.

Come on guys wake up for Christ’s sake.

 

[steveR]

without going off topic there is nothing special NFU insurance and it was FAR more expensive than better more comprehensive alternative even when I was still a NFU member, in 6 years since moving away from NFU will have saved me well over £100,000 via F&M and now Acres insurance, both are very keen and my claim experience with both is far better than it was with the NFU m

The one minor plus of using NFUM and having NFU membership, is the ability to apply more pressure through Group Reps.... I hope!!

 

[Vader]

I wasn't going to be quite as direct as some posters on this thread, but we already seem to have some common thoughts.

That Guy is a turncoat tw*t ?

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

As a buyer of 00s of tonnes of feed, it feels like a hell of a premium to me ...

Which makes it look even more of a scam: no premium for farm assured if you're selling but £20 a tonne if you're buying. Great value to all concerned except for the farmers of course...

 

[teslacoils]

We want farmers on the RT boards, to help fight our corner.

If someone like Guy isn't going to support the farmers, then he's the wrong farmer to have as chairman, and imho it would be better if he went.

There's a majority retailer, processor, AIC board members, we don't want the farmer board members also hell bent intent on not standing up for the farmers.

From a farmers perspective, he's seemingly working against us. So as a farmer, he's no use to me as a chairman. In the FW article, he was just sticking up for RT and their income. Maybe not surprising of someone who's taken the RT shilling.

So,I've never met @Guy Smith . I've read his stuff in the fw and it was always interesting. I'm less bothered if he actually sits in the tractor seat etc.

But I've been on the forum long enough to know that those who are into the NFU often say "if you don't like it's direction, then get involved and change it from within".

Guy must sense the growing hate of RT from growers now, and now he's both

A) inside and
B) proports to speak for normal farmers

I'm just a bit confused how the change from inside seems to have morphed into just accepting the dogma.

Come on, let's at least get an acknowledgement that there is real anger now at the current situation.

 

[graham mc]

Come on, let's at least get an acknowledgement that there is real anger now at the current situation

youll be lucky in their eyes were the stupid ones

 

[Grass And Grain]

So,I've never met @Guy Smith . I've read his stuff in the fw and it was always interesting. I'm less bothered if he actually sits in the tractor seat etc.

But I've been on the forum long enough to know that those who are into the NFU often say "if you don't like it's direction, then get involved and change it from within".

Guy must sense the growing hate of RT from growers now, and now he's both

A) inside and
B) proports to speak for normal farmers

I'm just a bit confused how the change from inside seems to have morphed into just accepting the dogma.

Come on, let's at least get an acknowledgement that there is real anger now at the current situation.

He did say, easier to change things from the inside, but seems to just spout the RT line, and no hint of looking at change, but just defence of RT.

It's bleeding obvious everyone wants something done about this.

He's boiling my blood and losing credibility imho. Don't think anyone has said anything supportive.

 

[ploughman1963]

Not strictly relevant to this thread but seems as good a place as any to ask.

I thought I saw (but may have imagined it or got mixed up) something about asking RT related questions at insurance renewal time with the NFU.

I have a meeting next week. Is there any value in this?

I understand that the NFU insurance is not the same entity and NFU.....but I thought I saw somewhere on here that they were linked, the message that farmers are willing to insure elsewhere due to RT would help the fight?

I and several others I know of have cancelled our membership and our not inconsiderable insurance policies. The insurance policy loss won’t worry the nfu but it sure concentrates the minds of the group secretaries who I know pass back the reasons why they have been cancelled.

 

[ploughman1963]

Slightly off topic, and this has been discussed elsewhere, but would be a bugger to find!

In common with quite a number of Farmers, I cancelled my DD for my NFU subs (last March, I think) and was contacted soon after by HQ finance, then my local Rep to ask why. I explained my reasoning and I had a bit of pressure along the lines of how NFU membership allowed the Mutual to offer additional benefits etc etc. blah blah....

I also was contacted by the Regional bod and also had an email exchange with a sympathetic County Chair. All good, although the Regional guy would I suspect, have RT engraved somewhere in his bones! Pity, as he a sold chap otherwise!!

I told them all, that my renewing the NFU Membership, would depend on some real movement from the NFU hierarchy on pushing back against RT and the like. My Renewal is up in November. I am "abstaining" for this year, in the hope of some sense coming to the fore...

However, I had my Insurance renewal meeting this week, and I was asked again my thoughts. I suspect I am by no means alone in leaving the NFU! I again had the pushed message on the "linkage" between the NFU and NFU mutual and the benefits to my Insurance of being an NFU member. I reminded him that there are many other companies out there looking for my business and support. My insurance is renewed for 12 months now, and I will look again next July, in plenty of time to get an alternative quote.

So to @theboytheboy, my suggestion would be to cancel your DD before your meeting and explain why! You can still go ahead with your Insurance, but leave it hanging that there are alternatives. Maybe leave a brochure from one of teh competition on the table If you are uncomfortable about cancelling your NFU membership at this time, then make sure you tell the Rep that he is on borrowed time anyway!

Incidentally, I spoke to the county chair as you suggested- ‘busy lambing’ - fair enough, ‘call you when I’m finished’ - but not heard a word since

 

[tullah]

He did say, easier to change things from the inside, but seems to just spout the RT line, and no hint of looking at change, but just defence of RT.

It's bleeding obvious everyone wants something done about this.

He's boiling my blood and losing credibility imho. Don't think anyone has said anything supportive.

Remaining a member so as to be able to change things from the inside was Bliars excuse for remaining in the corrupt EU. Don't buy that one.

 

[Bald Rick]

TBF, NFU Cymru are doing an ok job vis winning a judicial review of the All Wales NVZ and helping me win against my local LA Highways Dept

Should be one man, one vote and the conference is just an excuse to lube each other up

 

[MrNoo]

£5 now and reducing.

£16/t for the last lot of feed wheat I sold

 

[DRC]

Lorry driver I was loading this week, had been at a neighbours for a load of wheat . Neighbour had stuck a 2018 sticker on the passport. Turned out that was the last time he was assured and was trying it on. Lorry still got tipped at the same mill though , so much for the credibility of the system .

 

[tullah]

Lorry driver I was loading this week, had been at a neighbours for a load of wheat . Neighbour had stuck a 2018 sticker on the passport. Turned out that was the last time he was assured and was trying it on. Lorry still got tipped at the same mill though , so much for the credibility of the system .

But it was uk quality grain way better than the stuff RT fraudulently market with ticked boxes that mean absolutely nothing. In fact worse than meaning nothing it's just a lot of paper.
Real farmers who grow quality don't need RT behind them to make false claims.

 

[steveR]

Incidentally, I spoke to the county chair as you suggested- ‘busy lambing’ - fair enough, ‘call you when I’m finished’ - but not heard a word since

Fed up with all the complaining farmers....

 

[steveR]

I and several others I know of have cancelled our membership and our not inconsiderable insurance policies. The insurance policy loss won’t worry the nfu but it sure concentrates the minds of the group secretaries who I know pass back the reasons why they have been cancelled.

Apparently, the new CEO of the NFUM really does not want to lose the core of their business from Farmers, which is... reassuring... I hope.

 

[steveR]

Lorry driver I was loading this week, had been at a neighbours for a load of wheat . Neighbour had stuck a 2018 sticker on the passport. Turned out that was the last time he was assured and was trying it on. Lorry still got tipped at the same mill though , so much for the credibility of the system .

I am sure he had locked the internal doors and kept the load separate...

 

[MrNoo]

Apparently, the new CEO of the NFUM really does not want to lose the core of their business from Farmers, which is... reassuring... I hope.

Well, they'll be losing my business, renewal Dec and wont be going with them and will in no uncertain terms be explaining why to them

 

[theboytheboy]

Slightly off topic, and this has been discussed elsewhere, but would be a bugger to find!

In common with quite a number of Farmers, I cancelled my DD for my NFU subs (last March, I think) and was contacted soon after by HQ finance, then my local Rep to ask why. I explained my reasoning and I had a bit of pressure along the lines of how NFU membership allowed the Mutual to offer additional benefits etc etc. blah blah....

I also was contacted by the Regional bod and also had an email exchange with a sympathetic County Chair. All good, although the Regional guy would I suspect, have RT engraved somewhere in his bones! Pity, as he a sold chap otherwise!!

I told them all, that my renewing the NFU Membership, would depend on some real movement from the NFU hierarchy on pushing back against RT and the like. My Renewal is up in November. I am "abstaining" for this year, in the hope of some sense coming to the fore...

However, I had my Insurance renewal meeting this week, and I was asked again my thoughts. I suspect I am by no means alone in leaving the NFU! I again had the pushed message on the "linkage" between the NFU and NFU mutual and the benefits to my Insurance of being an NFU member. I reminded him that there are many other companies out there looking for my business and support. My insurance is renewed for 12 months now, and I will look again next July, in plenty of time to get an alternative quote.

So to @theboytheboy, my suggestion would be to cancel your DD before your meeting and explain why! You can still go ahead with your Insurance, but leave it hanging that there are alternatives. Maybe leave a brochure from one of teh competition on the table If you are uncomfortable about cancelling your NFU membership at this time, then make sure you tell the Rep that he is on borrowed time anyway!

Thanks for that.

We are not NFU members, just currently insured with them.

 

[DRC]

I am sure he had locked the internal doors and kept the load separate...

No it was a full 29 ton load , just picked up from next door the day before. I’m saying that once they found it wasn’t assured, they didn’t tip it back off at the farm. It was wangled into the mill