Stick your finger in the air ….

topground

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Somerset.
If things don’t change they’ll stay the same.
The local election results in May will focus the minds of the Tories who want to stay in Government. It’s all gone quiet from DEFRA on here, perhaps because someone senior in a policy advisory role has watched the news and remembers the Arab Spring when food shortages toppled governments. Green or a hungry population The choice the government has to make.
I think the Government will realise that suddenly their version of green is a vote loser and there will be a reverse ferret. I am positive about prospects but concerned that the extreme version of a crisis in food supply might mean a modern version of War Ag where civil servants decide what I will produce on my land and as we all know they can’t be relied on to run a Bath.
Here it will mean spending only on what is essential to keep things ticking over.
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
The government’s idea of food security isn’t growing more at home, it’s free trade deals with every corner of the world.
Seems smart. Relying on a relatively small country to provide enough food for 60 million is a disaster waiting to happen. There's already a "getting a bit dry thread" on here and a number of farmers are saying they can afford to park up and do very little for a year whilst they wait for more money. You have to look at other countries to help out don't you?
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Yawn.
Do Friends of the Earth set your milk price ? Do Greenpeace tell Govt to let US beef in ? I can show you report after report from environmental bodies setting out the case for increasing home production. The environmental movement is not your enemy.
agree with you, the majority are sensible people, but they don't shout louder than the green zealots, so its the latter that get listened to.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Seems smart. Relying on a relatively small country to provide enough food for 60 million is a disaster waiting to happen. There's already a "getting a bit dry thread" on here and a number of farmers are saying they can afford to park up and do very little for a year whilst they wait for more money. You have to look at other countries to help out don't you?
to be perfectly honest, looking back, with hindsight, l wish l had emigrated, been used as cheap labour, on the promise, one day, that day came, and l got stitched up by family.
If l had emigrated, it would have been down to me, how l got on, good or bad.
 

Muddyroads

Member
NFFN Member
Location
Exeter, Devon
Yawn.
Do Friends of the Earth set your milk price ? Do Greenpeace tell Govt to let US beef in ? I can show you report after report from environmental bodies setting out the case for increasing home production. The environmental movement is not your enemy.
Can’t say I've seen any such reports but I don’t doubt you that they exist. Unfortunately though there are organisations out there who shout much more loudly for reduced production, in fact no production from great swathes of land in some cases, and they’re the ones that really seem to get listened to.
 

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
Imagine how sh!t it must be to live in a mud hut foraging for anything to eat only to not know there are places in the world with such an abundance of food they don’t even make it.
Sadly this reminds of a quote from I know not where, “ Life’s a bitch, then you die.”
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Seems smart. Relying on a relatively small country to provide enough food for 60 million is a disaster waiting to happen. There's already a "getting a bit dry thread" on here and a number of farmers are saying they can afford to park up and do very little for a year whilst they wait for more money. You have to look at other countries to help out don't you?
Has the UK ever had complete self sufficiency & security of food supply ?
Hasnt it been importing food from the New World, the Colonies, the Commonwealth & more lately from the EU for at least the last 3 - 400 years ?

as for the “getting a bit dry”, that is just a recurring theme on TFF. A couple of weeks without rain, or a couple of weeks of too much rain, & some start squealing like their throats been cut. It strikes me ( looking at it from an international perspective & comparing to other countries around the world ) that there is very little resilience built into the UK system. But, I guess that’s what a subsidised industry gets you. A safety net can be a real hindrance at times . . .

on the other hand, we export 75 % of our agricultural produce, so obviously have no trouble supplying our domestic requirements but it does mean we are highly reliant on export markets & international transportation. Without our international trade most farm businesses would fail, as our domestic market is too small. We are also heavily dependent on imports of fuel, fert, chemicals, machinery etc etc . As is the UK.
Ultimately, we ALL require peace, stable financial systems, international trade & ease of transportation around the world for our farm businesses to survive.

it’s much cheaper, easier & more profitable to just trade with everyone than it is to fight wars . . .

the only model that is immune to world problems is pretty much small, local, “peasant” type operations, with minimal inputs, a micro - local market & probably a barter system that isn’t reliant on financial institutions. Not much room for shiny “toys” in that scenario
 
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Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
Yawn.
Do Friends of the Earth set your milk price ? Do Greenpeace tell Govt to let US beef in ? I can show you report after report from environmental bodies setting out the case for increasing home production. The environmental movement is not your enemy.

You missed my point.

As things stand, environmental NGOs are an exceptionally powerful voice set through lobbying & consultations and I would say that, yes they are currently heavily influencing the direction of travel.

The OP asks whether this influence will wane or grow stronger over the next 5 years.
 

delilah

Member
You missed my point.

As things stand, environmental NGOs are an exceptionally powerful voice set through lobbying & consultations and I would say that, yes they are currently heavily influencing the direction of travel.

The OP asks whether this influence will wane or grow stronger over the next 5 years.

What matters to your business and mine is the price we receive, the power we have in the marketplace. I see no environmental NGO's setting that agenda.
If you do think that environmental groups have a strong voice, are you criticizing them for that ? How about focusing on the reasons why our voice is so weak ?
 

delilah

Member
Can’t say I've seen any such reports but I don’t doubt you that they exist. Unfortunately though there are organisations out there who shout much more loudly for reduced production, in fact no production from great swathes of land in some cases, and they’re the ones that really seem to get listened to.

I will show you mine, if you show me yours.
 

bluebell

Member
A continual shrinking of the UKs farming base? from the national herds of pigs, cattle, sheep getting smaller as people pack up? to farms ending being working farms, with that the support industries that support agriculture will also continue to shrink? All very well saying prices are rising but out rising your out put is the inputs to produce?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,287
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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