The last nail in the coffin (British agriculture)

Member Name: wishywalshy

Product:	British agriculture
Date:	19/03/01 (290 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Satisfaction for growing your own produce, and keeping Britain Farming

Disadvantages: The decline of the industry, higher rate of unemployment, suicides etc

British Agriculture has been on a downward spiral for many years; with farmers seeking Government subsidies to enable them to continue with their lifelong occupation and to continue providing quality produce for the home and export market.
In many circumstances being unable to claim these monies in time to prevent their businesses going belly up resulting in the loss of their livelihood and industry.

Since world war 11, the average farmers income has been on the decline, having gone from being sought after and needed during the war effort to breaking even in the 80s, to operating at a loss in the last decade.

Population expansions mean fewer homes for society, and more agricultural land being purchased for housing development.
Many farmers us included are unable to sell their land due to agricultural ties, covenants or trusts placed upon the land.

Some have branched out and are offering bed and breakfast and farming holidays for the fortunate few.
Sadly many farmers have neither the time nor the money to take that chance.

Others have gone into Organic conversion, which in itself is financially draining, affiliation of the recommended organisations costs from £400 per annum and extras for certified products seeds and fertilisers etc.
Of course if you go down the organic trail, everything must be documented and proved that everything about your farm is organic, with plans for crop rotation, animal husbandry feed and suppliers available for inspection.
Even the inspection does not come cheaply.
Some grants are available, but these are very quickly sucked up from the small kitty, and they are designed to assist the farmer to convert, not to pay for it.

Then there was BSE (Mad cow disease), which had an almighty financial loss on the already impoverished farmer, causing him/her to cull all animals over 30 months that were destined for the table, and passports and records to be kept on the remaining beas
ts concerned.
It is believed and proven that contamination of meat by offal and spinal cord of the offending animal was to blame for the human strain of the virus CJD.A debilitating disease rendering the sufferer incapable of most anything, and always resulting in certain drawn out painful death for the victim.
The farmers were compensated for their losses on a pittance scale, which was barely sufficient for restocking.
People are continuing to die from this terrible disease.

The ban on exporting young live calves also has its role in this decline.
A farmer is obliged by law to dispose of his stock before the 30-month deadline.
Whilst I do not agree with exporting live creatures I do believe that it was a viable financial option for the farmer.
But lets be serious, no country is likely to import British meat these days, especially live animals.

The last nail in the coffin has obviously got to be the recent epidemic of Foot and mouth disease, which affects cloven hoofed animals, and is carried by every other animal and mammal.
Even a human can carry this virus that can survive in the nasal cavities of its host for 48 hours.
This disease is believed to be harmless to humans but devastating for livestock.
Evident by blisters in the mouth and on the hooves this virus is virulent and airborne.
The disease will probably kill younger animals, but older beasts that recover will be carriers increasing the risk of further outbreaks in the future.

There are indications that poor animal husbandry could be a contributory factor to this outbreak.
When the farms were manned by many workers there was the manpower to ensure that animals were inspected on a daily basis, and vets were called as soon as a problem occurred, these days when the farmer is kept poor they are more likely to treat it themselves, then employ a wait and see approach, because the vets visit would cost more than the animal is worth in prime c
ondition, so the instance of isolation is highly likely, only finally calling the vet/slaughter man at the last possible moment.

Currently at the time of writing there are over 320 reported cases with many more pending.
However, the Governments recent stance on culling even healthy animals inside the exclusion zones has brought the remaining farming communities to their knees.
I do wonder whether farmers will not report suspicions of outbreaks amongst their herds.

I believe that there will be occurrences of farmers hiding some of their stock in order to prevent their cull, as all farmers have their favourites.

10 years ago vaccination was deemed to be uneconomic by the powers that be, due to the varying strains, now it seems that this option is one of the few that is left.

There is talk of the Army utilising their sniping skills, but I find that this is quite distasteful, are they going to be shooting all of the airborne creatures as well!!
From where I am sat there is no easy option, this disease will run its course as the wind takes it, we can disinfect people and vehicles, but it will not be eradicated for some time.

Mass culling and funeral pyres a now an everyday occurrence in the country, as are sheds full of dead and decaying carcasses, whom it is believed no longer carry the disease. Experts insist that rigormortice kills the disease outright, which leaves me with a big question, why are these animals then carted off to rendering plants and funeral pyres in sealed containers? If the disease is gone, why the need for sealed containers.

MAFF(Ministry of Agriculture for Farms and Fisheries), really has their work cut out for them this time
I do not know what the timeframe concerned in obtaining tests and results is, but by all accounts people power is strained.
The veterinarians involved also have a real problem in the fact that they cannot visit farms under suspicion for a certain amount
of time for fear of transmitting the disease further.
The farmers are informed that they will be compensated, but there are many unique breeds of beats which will be eradicated from the planet, many of whom have been treated with respect and friendliness by their owners, in some instances having been hand fed and weaned since birth, and who were not reared for profit, merely to continue that breed.

This epidemic, and I will call it an epidemic even when the politicians wont will not only crucify the remaining farmers, it is likely to create the downfall of many tourist industries, haulers and livestock markets, all of whom are currently not likely to receive compensation for their losses.

The "drop in ocean " donation by Prince Charles will not go far either.
In my humble opinion the unemployment figures are about to take a steep hike upwards, as are the suicide rates amongst the farming community, which are already at the forefront of all suicide rates.

I am not pointing the finger at anyone in particular, but there is the fact that subsidies obtained under the previous Government to support the farmers were withheld, are only now being released.
Have the farmers been kept poor on purpose?

Personally I believe that there is no real way forward for British Agriculture, the compensation claims will be submitted and the animals will cost twice the price to replace, rendering some farmers incapable of replenishing their herds and flocks.
This industry will not only continue to decline but it is surely the end for many small farmers and certainly the end for tenant farmers, many of whom cannot afford to pay the rent on their empty and deserted farms.
No amount of subsidies will compensate them for the years of work that they have put into their farms, nor for the friend of the family stock that have had to be exterminated.

I am also not sure whether a complete cull or vaccination system would ac
tually work, the vaccinated animals would still have to be eradicated in the near future.

As the case count now stands at over 600, and is rising daily, the end of british farming could be nigh.

Summary: