Minette Batters on the Radio this morning
- Thread starter Jackov Altraids
- Start date
- Location
- Lincolnshire
The general approach reminds me of the old joke about the farmer who won a million on the lottery.
They asked him if it would change his life.
“No,” he said. “I’ll just keep on farming till it’s all gone.”
They asked him if it would change his life.
“No,” he said. “I’ll just keep on farming till it’s all gone.”
- Location
- Yorks
Don't think I ever heard Bob Crow say "it's our duty to provide cheap and plentiful rail fares, which means our transport workers must work for below the minimum wage".
More likely he'd have said "our professional train staff work early shifts, late shifts, work hard to provide a good service. So they should be paid a reasonable wage".
More likely he'd have said "our professional train staff work early shifts, late shifts, work hard to provide a good service. So they should be paid a reasonable wage".
- Location
- East yorks
As I said In another thread cannot see Unite asking P & O to sponsor their conference this year
I don't think that old joke is funny any longer Dr , that sort of attitude wont help us stop getting talked down to.
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
In WW2, each county had a War Agricultural Executive Committee, which had powers to force farmers to grow what they were told and even to evict the slackers.
- Location
- Devon
I think it was particularly frustrating that the interview set up the opportunity to make many important points, such as;
Only those selling direct to the public can try to pass costs on.
There are no incentives to produce food but lots of incentives to do anything else.
This government has increased the cost of farming and is removing financial support over the next 5 years which will only increase the cost of production further.
But the main point should be that farmers are NOT complaining about the current circumstances, but highlighting the discrepancy between the fact that food is going to be scarce and that production needs to be maintained or increased while the rational business decision is reduction. Therefore there needs to be a change of policy or intervention from government if food supplies are not to get worse.
And I can't believe Minette let the Defra's statement of the UK having a very high level of food security pass without criticism.
Havent we got something similar now - sort of working in the opposite direction though ?
icanshootwell
Member
- Location
- Ross-on-wye
I know what we have to do to tick all the boxes and increase production.
Plant trees in nice straight lines about 4 metres apart.
Drill wheat between the trees.
Replace lexion with mf 12 ft cut 525.
- Location
- Hereford
I can help there ......I got an MF 525 ..... but it's a 10' cut !! ........never thought I would ever be 'in fashion' in anything and once again I have missed it by being a bit too smallI know what we have to do to tick all the boxes and increase production.
Plant trees in nice straight lines about 4 metres apart.
Drill wheat between the trees.
Replace lexion with mf 12 ft cut 525.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
I wonder what they would have said about CF selling its forward bought gas for a profit then stopping fertiliser production until the taxpayer bunged it 50 million?
I could have drilled nothing this spring and sold my well bought fertiliser for a huge profit and gone on holiday growing nothing while still drawing BPS. But I didn’t. I carried on.
When CF sold off its gas everybody says they are just doing what good businesses do - acting in their own and their shareholders best interests, but when farmers even consider doing this, which was the question posed by the poll in this thread, we are considered to be slackers.
So there is one rule for global corporate business and another for us peasant serf farmers. Presumably we should “know our place” then and and crack on risking the very survival of our businesses while all other sectors without exception just work for maximum profit.
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- Location
- Lincolnshire
And this is why U.K. Ag will never have any self respect or be respected. The expectation even within our industry that we should personally subsidise others profits with our own time and capital must end.
I’ll do my bit but only if other industries do their bit. I won’t be suckered into some self flagellating feed the nation at any cost nonsense when all we’ve had is criticism and costly obstacles throw in our paths for decades.
I’ll do my bit but only if other industries do their bit. I won’t be suckered into some self flagellating feed the nation at any cost nonsense when all we’ve had is criticism and costly obstacles throw in our paths for decades.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
And I thought I’d never say it, but if the general attitude is that we should produce regardless of financial risk for the good of the nation then BPS needs to remain and be fully reinstated.
The NFU don’t support farmers, they support the ‘industry’.
Rather than begging for subsidy all the time they would be better spent actually working for farmers against the ‘industry’.
Some things they could do that affect me/arable….
Fight for a ban on serviced agronomy
Ban contracts which stipulate you must buy inputs from the company in order to acces the contracts (ie frontier and warburtons, this is a massive bug bear of mine)
Standard grain moistures should be bought up, 14.5% just allows extortion for NO reason
Rein in red tractor - zero value added
Actually disprove the stuff around urea that CF have been spouting for years - based on bad science.
look into the chemical supply industry and investigate whether it is actually fair
Loads more stuff, the list is endless
instead they are fruitlessly (or claim to be anyway) ‘lobbying’ government and standing for pictures with some back bench mp who doesn’t give a sh!t. Letting wider industry walk all over farmers again and again. Increasing our red tape and voluntarily calling for our standards to be higher whilst worthless demanding all imports are going to be the same standard (literally never ever going to happen).
Also busy running ad campaigns on social media, essentially telling British farmers how amazing they are. Pointlessly lobbying on socials to British farmers and farming people to #buybritish , what a complete waste of time.
- Location
- Essex
It's called agroforestry but generally the trees are set wide enough to get the sprayer down.I know what we have to do to tick all the boxes and increase production.
Plant trees in nice straight lines about 4 metres apart.
Drill wheat between the trees.
Replace lexion with mf 12 ft cut 525.
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Which is as indicated earlier, is why farm support and the CAP came about in the first place.
To guarantee a supply of food.
- Location
- Essex
If you do what's best for other people or your suppliers and customers, you won't stay in business very long.
This is what's been happening under the cap. We haven't been able to run our businesses under the current market conditions but the bps has made up for it.
It's sustainable until you take the subsidy away and then it's not.
- Location
- Carmarthenshire, West Wales
the way our politicians are talking/thinking now, it would force farmers to plant a percentage of their farm in trees to offset carbon!!!
- Location
- Essex
If farmers cut production, supplies will drop, prices will rise and farming becomes profitable. It's that simple.
Doing what Minnie wants, maintaining production while keeping prices low is commercial suicide.
Spending more on inputs because the price wheat or whatever might go up, is speculation.
Doing what Minnie wants, maintaining production while keeping prices low is commercial suicide.
Spending more on inputs because the price wheat or whatever might go up, is speculation.