NFU silent on the bird licence ?

[matthew]

The NFU should have issued press releases/bulletins to firstly advise farmers of the situation & what to do about it, secondly to give the general public the reasons why farmers require the general license so that they can lobby their own MPs.

Is pest control really a subject for general consumption by those most uninformed and least affected?

NE should not have taken the alleged General License challenge by unnamed 'environmentalists' to the wire of the High Court hearing, before pulling the licenses of those involved.
This situation didn't happen overnight: the High court dates must have been booked months ago, but the decision at pull the GL was a last minute knee jerk reaction to gross incompetance by NE.
Heads should roll.

 

[willy]

Agree natural England and RPA are not fit for purpose.

 

[TheTallGuy]

Is pest control really a subject for general consumption by those most uninformed and least affected?

NE should not have taken the alleged General License challenge by unnamed 'environmentalists' to the wire of the High Court hearing, before pulling the licenses of those involved.
This situation didn't happen overnight: the High court dates must have been booked months ago, but the decision at pull the GL was a last minute knee jerk reaction to gross incompetance by NE.
Heads should roll.

The only way to counter the likes of Packham is to get the general public on side. At the moment, most folk think he's a nice guy doing nice things for the fluffy animals. Show him up as charlatan that he is & show how his schemes are going to make their lives harder & more expensive and he'll soon start loosing support.

 

[Clive]

Well who else is representing UK farming in Westminster and Europe? You may not agree with some of what they do, but I'm sure 90% of their policies and 'wins' you would agree with.
Who else holds the RPA to account for late payments and mal administration? Who else sits around the table and gives farming's point of view against the likes of Chris Packham and the RSPB? Several months ago the NFU strongly challenged the BBC regarding Chris Packham and other 'experts'. If nobody was holding our bat we would be even more stuffed than we are now. Red Diesel, Badgers/TB, transport weights, the list goes on. Helping members on an individual basis, BPS queries, Vehicle and other discounts, infrastructure issues (where incidentally the CLA seem to be absent).
Are you seriously suggesting that the NFU should spend its reserves on forage aid? I am sure they threw a huge amount of resources at F&M.
Its like me selling a few acres every time I make a loss and but still want that expensive holiday or tractor.
Red tractor was brought in as there was a real fear that there would be a raft of 'protocols' imposed on us by the supermarkets, as there is with higher value produce now. So you can either be proactive and do something or take whatever comes on the chin. Unfortunately it is only now that Red Tractor is upping the anti when it comes to promoting it to the consumer. A majority of consumers think that New Zealand has higher standards of food production than we do. There is a long battle ahead!
You don't have to be assured Clive, but you appear on this forum and on your website to be the kind of business that is doing everything that they ask anyway. Is your grain storage business assured? If you were contract farming my business I would expect only the best, and that would include being assured and a member of the NFU.

Let not take this off topic !

I beg to differ that all you list is being done well or effectively for us so as I explained that's why I decided I was no longer prepared to pay for it. Lets leave it at that and not distract from the title of this thread

And RT is compulsory- I’m a milling wheat grower and have no access to market without paying for it .......... unlike the imported wheat that is used in the same mills and in products on supermarket shelves. it’s nothing more than extra cost, it means nothing re standards and nothing to our customers - it was the biggest own goal ever scored by this industry ...........................and guess who kicked the ball !

 

[Clive]

The NFU's main way of dealing with issuing is by lobbying ministers. I feel this approach is no longer effective. 2 main reasons being that ministers who are in Ag related posts are so distant to AG that they already have Thier own agenda (Michael Gove a prime example) so you can try all you want to educate them our way, they will be very hard to change.

Also politics changes far more rapidly and so all this lobbying of one Minister can be wasted time very quickly ( I know Gove has been here for 2 years).

Also the top team at the NFU have been there for quite a while Not presidents et Al but the core and I wonder if this is not such a good thing judging by how badly government departments seem to view our sector. RPA hls payments a prime example along with disicions on key crop protection products and many other day to day affecting issues.

Minsters do what they feel the public want - if you want to lobby ministers it starts by influencing the perception of voters

You do that via social media these days

NFU simply do not accept or understand that

 

[Clive]

because I was naive enough, on the same day that I posted a suggestion as to action the NFU should be taking to counter Veganuary, to also email our regional office on the same issue. Silly me thought that NFU communications would be more interested in taking on board the suggestions that people had bothered to sit down and contribute, rather than threatening such people.

quite frankly (and a more fundamental question) why would such a organisation "threaten" any member ?

no wonder the coms team appear so negligent if this is what they spend their day doing

 

[Clive]

The only way to counter the likes of Packham is to get the general public on side. At the moment, most folk think he's a nice guy doing nice things for the fluffy animals. Show him up as charlatan that he is & show how his schemes are going to make their lives harder & more expensive and he'll soon start loosing support.

perception vs reality and the power of modern media right there

 

[Big-Al]

The NFU have been caught with their pants down, and we are being truly rogered by these namby pamby
hippy extremist eco warrior types, who will lie down and die for their cause,
This has put a huge strain on Farmers/growers and game keepers up and down the country,
to have enacted it so fast is a travesty for our freedoms and way of life
i do hope this debacle is over turned very very quickly.

So come on NFU bring out a statement to quell our fears.........Still nothing in my inbox !!!!!

 

[Grassman]

Clive. I didn't realise you were a freeloader. Benefitting from what the NFU does but not paying your share. My opinion of you has plummeted. If those that weren't members paid up then there would be more money in the pot to fight more arguments. If you got involved you could see what they do do and you could help it along. You might not agree with all that they do or don't do, but who else is fighting the cause of farming in the UK.

What a load of rubbish.
I also stopped paying my subs to the nfu a few years ago. I felt they were not doing their job effectively nowadays.
Farming does so much to benefit the country yet it doesnt get communicated to the public.
In 40 years I only used the helpline once and all they advised me was to speak to one of their recommended land agents. I felt I was paying hundreds of pounds a year for very little return.
If paying for 40 years for very little then I guess I am a freeloader also.

 

[snarling bee]

Please tell me which other organisation is fighting our corner. The NFU might not be perfect, but who else is there? CLA? GWCT? TFA? BASC? TFF? local Ag Soc? YFC? Open farm Sunday? Strutt and Parker? Abandon them all and go on Instagram? Lie down with the RSPB, Chris Packham, Brian May and get royally shagged.

Who stood up against the Govt. the press and a guitarist to get the badger cull approved?

I have got my annual membership back on rebate with tyres (over and above any other discount). I have also used their BPS advisors for advice that would have cost me probably 3x my membership from an agent. Plenty of others have got their membership back when buying a new car, or buying electricity. What alternative source of information do you use for BPS advice, pointing out the pitfalls etc? Oh yes I forgot - you ring the RPA?

Each to their own.

 

[Clive]

In case anyone is not aware of JUST how well resourced the NFU is vs these tin pot activists who manage to achieve so much to change public perception I attach their latest financial statement

A few highlights ..................

Income juts under 57 million


spent just under 38 million

so clearly right now there is no point investing in our industry ? 19 million surplus for the year ........................ taking reserves to near 129 million !!!


What exactly is that money being held back for ? with our industry under what seems like pretty serious attack is in not wroth investing just a bit of it in a some sort of fight back ?


you guys that are still members are you asking these questions ? and demanding to know why the entire coms team appeared to be on holiday yesterday when something rather significant happened ?

 

[Clive]

Please tell me which other organisation is fighting our corner. The NFU might not be perfect, but who else is there? CLA? GWCT? TFA? TFF? Abandon them all and go on Instagram?

I have got my annual membership back on rebate with tyres (over and above any other discount). I have also used their BPS advisors for advice that would have cost me probably 3x my membership from an agent. Plenty of others have got their membership back when buying a new car, or buying electricity. What alternative source of information do you use for BPS advice, pointing out the pitfalls etc? Oh yes I forgot - you ring the RPA?

Each to their own.

Don't abandon anyone - just stop patting them on the back and saying "good job chaps "

demand some actual results for you money maybe ? Demand some fundamental changes in how its run and who they are employing because its REALLY not working right now

 

[Big-Al]

Please tell me which other organisation is fighting our corner. The NFU might not be perfect, but who else is there? CLA? GWCT? TFA? TFF? Abandon them all and go on Instagram?

I have got my annual membership back on rebate with tyres (over and above any other discount). I have also used their BPS advisors for advice that would have cost me probably 3x my membership from an agent. Plenty of others have got their membership back when buying a new car, or buying electricity. What alternative source of information do you use for BPS advice, pointing out the pitfalls etc? Oh yes I forgot - you ring the RPA?

Each to their own.

Then why have they not contacted members, even a short email would be suffice, i am a paid up member, come on this is the most serious threat to the countryside since foot and mouth.

 

[Clive]

Then why have they not contacted members, even a short email would be suffice, i am a paid up member, come on this is the most serious threat to the countryside since foot and mouth.

coms team are on holiday .... its the only plausible explanation at this point

 

[Clive]

Lets face it any member who isn't on social media has no idea that the law has changed !

should the NFU not at least be warning their members that if they shot a crow this weekend or set a Larsen trap they could be prosecuted ?

 

[snarling bee]

I don't know is the answer

Could someone answer my question - What other organisation fights our corner? Farmers Weekly? Country file? Come on, who?

 

[snarling bee]

A very brief look at the accounts kindly posted shows an operating loss.
Would property revaluation be the answer for the surplus??.They obviously don' t have £10s millions surplus every year otherwise total assets would be £100s million.

You can imagine the headline - "NFU sells the family silver to spend on waste on an extra 50 staff at HQ"

 

[Clive]

I don't know is the answer

Could someone answer my question - What other organisation fights our corner? Farmers Weekly? Country file? Come on, who?

the question has been answered - none of consequence that i'm aware off there is no room for others and we don't need multiple organisations, I would settle for just one GOOD one

That doesn't mean the NFU are doing a good job - being mildly better than nothing isn't exactly a target to aim for in life !!

 

[Clive]

A very brief look at the accounts kindly posted shows an operating loss.
Would property revaluation be the answer for the surplus??.They obviously don' t have £10s millions surplus every year otherwise total assets would be £100s million.

You can imagine the headline - "NFU sells the family silver to spend on waste on an extra 50 staff at HQ"

really

..................they ain't short of cash ! I doubt packham or the vegans has access to anything like that kind of funding

 

[ajd132]

Please tell me which other organisation is fighting our corner. The NFU might not be perfect, but who else is there? CLA? GWCT? TFA? BASC? TFF? local Ag Soc? YFC? Open farm Sunday? Strutt and Parker? Abandon them all and go on Instagram? Lie down with the RSPB, Chris Packham, Brian May and get royally shagged.

Who stood up against the Govt. the press and a guitarist to get the badger cull approved?

I have got my annual membership back on rebate with tyres (over and above any other discount). I have also used their BPS advisors for advice that would have cost me probably 3x my membership from an agent. Plenty of others have got their membership back when buying a new car, or buying electricity. What alternative source of information do you use for BPS advice, pointing out the pitfalls etc? Oh yes I forgot - you ring the RPA?

Each to their own.

Getting some money off tyres is not their job.