Time to take stock.

We all need to eat to survive -  and for all of us to eat, farming needs to survive in the UK.  I wonder how many people think about the consequences of the numbers of farmers giving up each week in the UK?

If farming continues in the UK, this will allow us to eat food produced to high standards of welfare and traceability.  

The alternative is to rely on imported food with massive ‘food miles’ and little knowledge of what is really happening to livestock the other side of the World. 

At least here our farms are regularly inspected,  I have written previously about our farm’s annual inspections ‘Independant Assurance and Certification for Agriculture’ and every aspect of our farm is thoroughly assessed, how would this ever be aheived thousands of miles away?

If consumers support British farmers by buying British produce wherever possible then hopefully the British farmer and the good food he produces will survive.  If we can buy local produce or direct from the farmer then we know even more about where our food is coming from, we will be eating fresh local food with provenance. Not everyone can buy local produce, but if you can, please do so, because the farmer should actually then receive a more realisic price for the food he has produced.

On Country File on Sunday there was a report on farmers being the next super rich!!  How one sided was this report? Very.   Basically if you are a land owner and you choose to sell up, you would make loads of money at present.  But what of the hill farmers (some making as little as £10,000 per annum) who might own a patch of grazing land in the middle of nowhere, who is likey to want to buy the land and what would the farmer do for a living after that?   

The programme went on to talk about the price of wheat going up (it rose to £180 last September and is about £136 today and will be £122 for August 2009) but failed to mention that the cost of inputs have doubled since last year, so what profits we might have made on wheat are expected to be swallowed up by the soaring cost of fertilisers and chemicals.  

So I say to Gordon Brown, please sit up and take note.  This country needs food and you need British farmers.  Food security is a critical matter which needs action now, not something to think about in the future.  Listen to the farming industry, it does actually know what it’s talking about. 

It is blatantly unfair to leave the burden of cost of last year’s FMD outbreak with the farmers when it has been admitted that the virus escaped from the Pirbright site, even if they cannot decide (or it’s easier not to), whether it’s Merial or IAH who is ultimately to blame.  The site was badly maintained, there had been much previous debate as to who should be responsible for maintenance at the site and because nothing was done it resulted in a leak of the Foot and Mouth virus, they should therefore both take responsibility.

Don’t let last year’s FMD outbreak from Pirbright be brushed under the carpet Gordon.

Farmers suffered emotionally and financially last year and many businesses have still not returned to financial viability.  There was a lot of talk, or was it hot air? from the Government last year, but where are they now?

It’s  time for you to be bold Gordon Brown and stand up for farmers in every corner of this country.  Farmers must be compensated for this financial disaster and after that it really is high time to see full and sincere backing of British farming.  

We are proud to produce good quality British food. 

When will this Government start to be truly proud of home produced food and the food security this provides?