Cheap food set to flood UK if we’re not careful
ONE of the region’s oldest agricultural shows is facing a bleak future unless it can recruit more volunteers, its chairman has said.
Peter Rutherford is determined to stage the North Wales Agricultural Show next year – but this may be the last without an influx of new blood.
He called on anyone with an interest in the countryside to volunteer their services at the show society’s AGM at NFU Cymru’s Caernarfon office on November 19, 7.30pm.
“I don’t want to be the last ever chairman of a historic show that’s been running since the 1880s,” said Mr Rutherford.
At one time up to 30 committee volunteers ran the show’s 15 sections, often with a waiting list for places.
Now there are just six volunteers. While all are dedicated, the demands on their time continue to grow, he said.
Alongside Nefyn Show, the Caernarfon event is one of the last to survive the decline of agricultural shows in north west Wales.
Since the 2001 footand-mouth outbreak, Pontllyfni, Pwllheli, Eifionydd, Criccieth and Trefor
Shows have all folded or merged.
A couple of years ago Caerwys Show faced a similar prospect but an infusion of younger farmers has since restored it to an even keel.
The North Wales Show, held on the first Saturday of July each year, was cancelled this summer due to equine flu curbs.
It was to have been run without livestock but Mr Rutherford said cattle and sheep classes will be back at the 2020 show.
“Whenever a show has a setback, as we did this year, it’s hard to keep the momentum going,” he said. “One of two people drop out and it’s difficult to replace them.
“We need support from younger people but they’re reluctant to come forward.
“Perhaps it’s generational thing but they no longer want to be involved.
“As we’re restoring the livestock sections next year, we need help in these sections in particular. But every section, including Home and Garden, needs your support.
“If none is forthcoming, the 2020 show may well be the last.”
No prior knowledge is needed to volunteer.
A HARD Brexit, with low import tariffs and a US trade deal, should “ring alarm bells” both for Britain’s farmers and consumers, industry observers have said.
Speaking during a farm visit in Meirionnydd, FUW vice- president Eifion Huws claimed the UK Government’s approach towards food imports was “utter madness”.
He fears Boris Johnson’s
Brexit deal will take the UK out of the Single Market and Customs Union, and pave the way for deals with non-EU countries.
Moreover, revised import tariffs published earlier this month leave most food rates at zero or, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a fraction of those for UK exports to the EU27.
“Sadly the picture is similar for most key agricultural products produced in the UK,” he said.
“Setting low import tariffs and high Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) before entering negotiations with other countries also undermines our negotiating position.”
Mr Huws spoke out after a survey commissioned by the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists found that 84% of consumers think imported food should meet British standards.
Older consumers were more likely to demand higher standards of animal welfare, the study found.
Just 16% would buy food they knew was produced to lower animal welfare standards if it was cheaper.
BGAJ president Baroness Rosie Boycott said it is possible to source
For details, contact the show secretary, Margaret Jean Hughes, on 01286 881345 or hugh.mjh@ gmail.com. Or the chairman, Peter Rutherford, on 07900 267638. cheaper food from abroad – but this comes at a cost.
“It could be the safety of the food, the farmer, an animal or the environment,” she said. “With Brexit on the horizon we’re on the brink of potentially seeing lower quality food imports flooding into the country.”
Experts believe British agriculture will among the sector hardest hit by deregulation, with food safeguards quick to fall by the wayside.
Often cited are two US production methods which are illegal in the UK – chlorine-washed chicken and hormoneinjected beef.
Tim Lang, professor of food policy at the University of London, said UK consumers were overwhelming in favour of safe, high welfare food – wherever it came from.
“Gung-ho supporters of yoking the UK to the USA post Brexit should note this,” he added.