Is it time for a radically different group think for us all

[Full of bull(s)]

Looking at the various problems across all sectors currently, pigs especially and the imminent removal of subsidies for all I can’t help but think a new mindset is needed. Reject the calls from all that make a better living out of us than we do to produce more, more efficiently and concentrate on tipping the balance in our favour by producing far less. All the jumping through hoops with RT, eye watering machinery finance and rents could be stopped if we weren’t so keen to be bigger and therefore “better”. Better for who? Machinery dealers, fertiliser/chemical salesmen, land agents, middle men in general that’s who. A monster has grown behind our backs to behemoth size while our eyes have been fixed on producing more and it’s about to eat us all alive. The public have no regard for us whatsoever, why should we care if they go short sometimes. It’s a pipe dream I know but it’s the only solution I can come up with

 

[SilliamWhale]

I've stopped having stuff on finance to be honest. Never say never but I don't think my business needs to be paying out machinery finance costs. Sometimes its cheaper to pay someone else to do a job.

 

[traineefarmer]

Imagine if we had a union with the balls to organise such a thing.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Looking at the various problems across all sectors currently, pigs especially and the imminent removal of subsidies for all I can’t help but think a new mindset is needed. Reject the calls from all that make a better living out of us than we do to produce more, more efficiently and concentrate on tipping the balance in our favour by producing far less. All the jumping through hoops with RT, eye watering machinery finance and rents could be stopped if we weren’t so keen to be bigger and therefore “better”. Better for who? Machinery dealers, fertiliser/chemical salesmen, land agents, middle men in general that’s who. A monster has grown behind our backs to behemoth size while our eyes have been fixed on producing more and it’s about to eat us all alive. The public have no regard for us whatsoever, why should we care if they go short sometimes. It’s a pipe dream I know but it’s the only solution I can come up with

Absolutely spot on.

The trouble is, it has been the same for decades.

I really think/hope that the combination of challenges facing UK ag over the next few years will lead to this outcome.

But how long will it last.... farmers will soon get greedy again.

 

[RAF]

Human nature to always want more ! We can help it it’s in us

 

[ajd132]

Looking at the various problems across all sectors currently, pigs especially and the imminent removal of subsidies for all I can’t help but think a new mindset is needed. Reject the calls from all that make a better living out of us than we do to produce more, more efficiently and concentrate on tipping the balance in our favour by producing far less. All the jumping through hoops with RT, eye watering machinery finance and rents could be stopped if we weren’t so keen to be bigger and therefore “better”. Better for who? Machinery dealers, fertiliser/chemical salesmen, land agents, middle men in general that’s who. A monster has grown behind our backs to behemoth size while our eyes have been fixed on producing more and it’s about to eat us all alive. The public have no regard for us whatsoever, why should we care if they go short sometimes. It’s a pipe dream I know but it’s the only solution I can come up with

I caused quite a big stir on twitter recently saying something similar. There was some very mixed views and many were very aggressively anti what I was saying. Like they couldn’t comprehend it.

 

[teslacoils]

The mindset in many cases, unless you value family labour at nil and / or enjoy years of inheritance grief, is that non-intense animal farming and combinables are really part time jobs. It's amazing you can fit seven days of jobs into two in many circumstances.

Simplify, get contractors for stuff you can't afford or don't want the paperwork hassle. Do the rest with one tractor. Go earn £10,£20,£30 an hour elsewhere. Come back to your nice rural house in the evenings.

Be flexible.

 

[Jameshenry]

Human nature to always want more ! We can help it it’s in us

Speak for yourself

 

[DrWazzock]

The mindset in many cases, unless you value family labour at nil and / or enjoy years of inheritance grief, is that non-intense animal farming and combinables are really part time jobs. It's amazing you can fit seven days of jobs into two in many circumstances.

Simplify, get contractors for stuff you can't afford or don't want the paperwork hassle. Do the rest with one tractor. Go earn £10,£20,£30 an hour elsewhere. Come back to your nice rural house in the evenings.

Be flexible.

I’m coming round to that view gradually. Nobody thanks you for toiling away on stuff like beet all winter, scanning eBay for obsolete spares at eye watering prices so that enterprise can go. There might be a few hobby cattle and sheep coming back but I don’t miss trailing down to Newark in the dark with a tonne of beef stamping about in the back. Cancelled the livestock RT so that’s another whole load of aggravation and expense spared. I agree the message needs to be if you make it too hard we just won’t do it. We don’t actually need to do it at all.
I’m not buying phosphate either this year. Stuff it at that price. Our indices are good so we can do without it for a year or two.

 

[delilah]

It’s a pipe dream I know

Correct. For one reason: Imports.

but it’s the only solution I can come up with

then think harder .

 

[Full of bull(s)]

Correct. For one reason: Imports.



then think harder .

Imports...don’t get me started. The parasites that feed off us having been conning us for years preaching the opportunities that lie in free trade and exporting commodities when in fact all free trade is is a stick to beat us with. All the talk of export of pork and beef the last couple of years and whats happened? German pork flooding the UK while breaking contracts with UK producers, ruining them and when China bans beef instantly because of one case of BSE it turns out it won’t make any difference because we haven’t actually managed to send any anyway! How much of our money was spent on that triumph by EBLEX/AHDB?

 

[bobk]

Rocked from one crisis to another in the last 30 years , bring it on , seen it before

 

[DaveGrohl]

Looking at the various problems across all sectors currently, pigs especially and the imminent removal of subsidies for all I can’t help but think a new mindset is needed. Reject the calls from all that make a better living out of us than we do to produce more, more efficiently and concentrate on tipping the balance in our favour by producing far less. All the jumping through hoops with RT, eye watering machinery finance and rents could be stopped if we weren’t so keen to be bigger and therefore “better”. Better for who? Machinery dealers, fertiliser/chemical salesmen, land agents, middle men in general that’s who. A monster has grown behind our backs to behemoth size while our eyes have been fixed on producing more and it’s about to eat us all alive. The public have no regard for us whatsoever, why should we care if they go short sometimes. It’s a pipe dream I know but it’s the only solution I can come up with

I've thought this my whole career in farming. Not sure why today's any different really, apart from the fact there are bodies now that would actively put a stop to us co-operating as you wish.

 

[DrWazzock]

I’d imagine though if supply falls here and prices rise we will suck in ever more imports until farming here is just a hobby, ( if isn’t already).

 

[Nearly]

@Full of bull(s) it's an age thing to realise that keeping up with the neighbours only helps the dealers.

 

[wanton dwarf]

As regards imports it's something I said on another post.

Liz Truss has created all these trade deals because Westminster lost the use of EU imports and labour to keep the buggers down.

They wouldn't be able to crow about "Environmentalism" and "Grow Trees" unless they had a get out clause - imports.

 

[Sandpit Farm]

Imports...don’t get me started. The parasites that feed off us having been conning us for years preaching the opportunities that lie in free trade and exporting commodities when in fact all free trade is is a stick to beat us with. All the talk of export of pork and beef the last couple of years and whats happened? German pork flooding the UK while breaking contracts with UK producers, ruining them and when China bans beef instantly because of one case of BSE it turns out it won’t make any difference because we haven’t actually managed to send any anyway! How much of our money was spent on that triumph by EBLEX/AHDB?

I kind of agree and don't. German and Dutch pork could always flood the UK market while we were both in the EU. Much of the UK industry is Danish owned anyway as far as I am aware. The challenges on that front are to do with political trade with Europe. I would be more worried about making sure lobby groups ensure that Government level the playing field in terms of standards. Larger countries with higher production capacity are a bigger threat (e.g. US, Brazil, Uruguay etc) as they can match our standards if needed.

Surely opening new markets is exactly what EBLEX/AHDB should be doing if the Government are wanting to open doors to free trade. They opened Philippines and Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Benin for fifth quarter long before Brexit. They opened Hong Kong (the back door to China) and they took considerable volumes of beef 2 years ago onwards. When they opened China for pork, it propped up the price of pigmeat and was worth a fortune. This was all strategic and worked in our favour. USA, Australia, NZ etc perhaps will not work in our favour... but I still think the levy board should be looking for the opportunities there or we are missing a trick.

The alternative is to try and fail to sell more lamb to British people who have shown they want less and less of it.

 

[texelburger]

As regards imports it's something I said on another post.

Liz Truss has created all these trade deals because Westminster lost the use of EU imports and labour to keep the buggers down.

They wouldn't be able to crow about "Environmentalism" and "Grow Trees" unless they had a get out clause - imports.

Yes grow trees and reduce production.Then do trade deals all around the World with all and sundry and f##k the climate bringing in food via mass polluting ships and planes.Export one product to Country x and import the same product from country y.

 

[Suffolk Serf]

I kind of agree and don't. German and Dutch pork could always flood the UK market while we were both in the EU. Much of the UK industry is Danish owned anyway as far as I am aware.

The UK's biggest integrated producer/processor was Danish owned (by Tulip, ultimately a producer's Coop.) That was sold to JBS, a Brazilian/US outfit that owns rather a lot worldwide.

 

[roscoe erf]

Looking at the various problems across all sectors currently, pigs especially and the imminent removal of subsidies for all I can’t help but think a new mindset is needed. Reject the calls from all that make a better living out of us than we do to produce more, more efficiently and concentrate on tipping the balance in our favour by producing far less. All the jumping through hoops with RT, eye watering machinery finance and rents could be stopped if we weren’t so keen to be bigger and therefore “better”. Better for who? Machinery dealers, fertiliser/chemical salesmen, land agents, middle men in general that’s who. A monster has grown behind our backs to behemoth size while our eyes have been fixed on producing more and it’s about to eat us all alive. The public have no regard for us whatsoever, why should we care if they go short sometimes. It’s a pipe dream I know but it’s the only solution I can come up with

been saying this for f**king years