The NFU backs gene editing. Do you ?

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
And as fast as you improve it can go wrong just as fast
but that doesn't mean they will stop exploring the boundaries of science.

and we have to pay for the failures

l don't think there is anything, anybody can do, to control the mad professors from sticking their noses into places, they really shouldn't. They always want to experiment with the 'if' word, if we do this, what happens ?
then add 'if' to that result.
 

delilah

Member
But that is not a free market, the USA is heavily subsidized, producing corn for less than the cost of production, if you're gonna scrap the BPS then the US needs to scarp theirs, or you could import from countries that don't subsidize farmers....................

It was said in sarcasm in response to the comment by Guy Smith.
 

ladycrofter

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Highland
The big conundrum is African swine fever for me. I was lucky enough t go to a talk by the Dolly the sheep man years ago at Edinburgh uni. Me being anti GM.

I don't know anything about pigs but he said that western pigs, a different species from wild African pigs, have no immunity to it and don't have the ability to create immunity to it. He reckoned it wouldn't be long before all the pigs in Europe are wiped out save a very few that have a mutation to resist it. (Always some mutations in anything but unlikely to be enough to repopulate.)

So the only way to make them immune was to gene edit. It made me stop and think what is good and what is bad?

Should we let the pig industry die?
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
The big conundrum is African swine fever for me. I was lucky enough t go to a talk by the Dolly the sheep man years ago at Edinburgh uni. Me being anti GM.

I don't know anything about pigs but he said that western pigs, a different species from wild African pigs, have no immunity to it and don't have the ability to create immunity to it. He reckoned it wouldn't be long before all the pigs in Europe are wiped out save a very few that have a mutation to resist it. (Always some mutations in anything but unlikely to be enough to repopulate.)

So the only way to make them immune was to gene edit. It made me stop and think what is good and what is bad?

Should we let the pig industry die?
Don't get me wrong, I am not against Gene editing.

What I am against in
1/the removal of choice of whether we have a choice to have products with or without editing.
2/Ownership of the "rights"

Using your example, multinationals having the right to have payment on every animal bred will mean that farmers will be even more controlled.
Then you move onto GE in humans. Why shouldn't you edit humans to save lives and the health services trillions of pounds per annum.

Can you see the drugs companies rolling over and saying yep it's fine you no longer need our products.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Don't get me wrong, I am not against Gene editing.

What I am against in
1/the removal of choice of whether we have a choice to have products with or without editing.
2/Ownership of the "rights"

Using your example, multinationals having the right to have payment on every animal bred will mean that farmers will be even more controlled.
Then you move onto GE in humans. Why shouldn't you edit humans to save lives and the health services trillions of pounds per annum.

Can you see the drugs companies rolling over and saying yep it's fine you no longer need our products.
Sid
while l agree it should be free to use, without hindrance, l also accept it costs a lot of money to develop these 'things' into the market place, and suspect for each one that succeeds, several don't.

so someone has to pay for the research, marketing etc. lf the companies cannot see a financial gain, for doing it, they simply won't bother.

the next question, are the gains sufficient, from using a product, enough to warrant paying for it ? Or perhaps we 'subsidise', for the ability of poorer countries, in semi arid climates, who probably will benefit from them, to a vastly superior way, than us/those, in better countries ?

its a thorny issue, as a newer developing resource, l accept that it must have a financial gain, to those that develop them. Whilst seriously not wanting to be either 'trapped' into using a single supplier, or become totally reliant on them.

Unfortunately, its the way of the world, you don't get something, for nothing. And pretty certain the major benefits of these 'things', will help poorer countries, more than us. As time passes, and new developments become available, it may be of benefit to more, at less cost, hopefully.

And that's not saying l agree with it, some l most definitely don't, some not sure, and some which could help. But, it is the 'new' way, and once started, its to late to stop, all we can hope for, is sensible use.
 

delilah

Member
Everyone should read that article. That's what commitment looks like.

Whilst farmers are bellyaching about vegans, the BBC, the Moonbat, Carrie, Cwis, The Goldsmiths and the rest of the insignificants, there are people out there who are working tirelessly on the stuff that matters.

It's just another reason why the environmental movement is your ally. You need protecting from yourselves.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/rothamsted-welcomes-new-ge-law

GE grass that will reduce methane emissions. Give it five years, the cartel will be insisting that your milk and meat is reared on it. Gives them a green tick box. The takeover will be complete.

You all voted for this, with your acquiescence and your p!ss taking of those who fought to stop it.
the world is not ready to ditch fossil fuels, it simply isn't possible, everything moves by fuel.

yet at the same time the green zealots have convinced politicians that they have to do something, when in reality there is b-all they can do, except shift the blame elsewhere.

GM/GE has been presented to the public as 'Frankenstein' food, and successfully scared the public into demanding it is stopped. Some of the G word, is pretty disgusting, while some is very useful.

l don't agree with @delilah completely about a elite cartel, but the world is controlled by big businesses, it has no choice, without business, we would still be hunter gatherers, business drives everything. By the same token, to survive in business, you have to be pretty ruthless, compared to most, farming is benign.

Those businesses only operate by moving things about, so the further we go on the carbon reduction road, the more it affects them, and indirectly us. Neither business, or the public, are ready to ditch fossil fuels, so a whole new industry, has developed, into conning people into believing they can have 'carbon' saving, and fossil fuels, in truth they cannot.

Farming is an easy target, along with the 'G' ideas, its been easy to convince a public, who don't want to accept the truth, we are the big bad guys. And that has been very successful, a huge amount of people, are very jealous of the farming industry. The fact we can do huge amounts to reduce business produced carbon, is quietly overlooked.

@delilah is right about control, its done by business, who increasingly merge together, into megacompanies, which will become a cartel, just not quite yet.

What can we do about it ? I think its probably to late to do much at all, the die has been cast. How will it all end up ? Not sure anyone knows. If any one is pushing conspiracy theories, just as well chuck another one in.

The history of mankind, is a carefully chromicised time line, accepted by all. Except, that time line, is being shot down, with new discoveries every month, forget the pyramids, they are only 4,500 years old, all around Turkey, they are discovering archeologic sites, 11,500 years old, of sophisticated building techniques, when we were still in the stone age, and completely unable to build them, so they say. And withstood the recent earthquakes.

So this theory, states that we are not the first civilisation, to inhabit this earth, some go farther, and claim evidence of a nuclear explosion, that pretty well wiped out a civilisation, there is a lot of info about that.

True, or false ? Who knows ? Certainly not me. But looking at the world today, it is destroying itself, nuclear weapons are here, posturing, and conflict are here, sounds familiar ? The only certain fact, is that the accepted time line, of our evolution, is very wrong, and out of date.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 77 43.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 35.0%
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    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

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

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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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