‘I hope Sussex farmer lasts longer in NFU role than I did’
February done and dusted; a stormy month this year with Dudley, Eunice and Franklin doing the best they could to disrupt things. They followed each other in rapid succession, which stretched the utility companies as they fought to keep power and services in as many houses as they could. Following a dry January, February was wet as relentless depressions rolled in from the Atlantic, putting rainfall above average for the month; a bit of a washout.
It’s been a very busy week, dominated of course by the Russian invasion of the Ukraine; something many of us did not believe could happen and has brought the long period of peace in Europe to a crashing halt. Whilst not for a minute comparing or detracting from the immediate suffering and horror there, it will have repercussions in the UK as well and certainly the sanctions involved will hurt our economy and citizens too.
It is of course the right course of action, but as always I do wonder if many realise how hard this will be on top of the challenges we have now and the near future; should government explain the extent the sanctions will hit everyone’s pockets? One thing is for sure, there can be no winners here, it’s a matter of how soon can it be brought to an end and at what cost in human lives and suffering and economic damage. It seems that as soon as one issue is dealt with that a far worse one comes along.
Talking to processors and retailers it is clear how disruptive this is going to be as Ukrainian workers want to go home which is quite understandable. Latvian, Hungarian and Czech workers also want to go back as they fear the Iron Curtain coming eastwards and they want to be with their families. In Poland where some meat processors operate, they are finding it is very difficult as people queue for petrol and are generally pre-occupied with what is going on in Ukraine.
There are several issues which will affect farming here too, energy, fuel, fertiliser, feed raw materials prices and disrupted trade flows. Wheat prices have risen sharply given that Russia and the Ukraine are major exporters of wheat on world markets and this will affect most foods as well as animal feed. Our dependence on oil and gas in Europe will be a major issue for citizens as prices as likely to spike again and the cost of living will now increase further as all this plays out.
Beer companies are warning that the increase in price of malting barley will drive up costs with Heineken, the world’s second largest brewer announcing it will increase prices on the back of malting barley prices doubling. Milling wheat prices are also driven up by poor quality following poor growing weather in Canada, USA and many parts of Europe, which is driving up bread prices.
Three weeks of heavy rain in New Zealand has caused what is called the harvest from hell as arable crops are damaged. Farmers are calling it the worst harvest in living memory as combines stand idle and the crops turned black. Pea crops have been ruined by flooding in parts Canterbury and the Wairarapa region, with drying space at an absolute premium as the wet soil hinders the natural drying of seed crops.
The NFU Conference last week (before the Ukraine invasion) majored on the uncertainty of farming, with labour issues in dairying one of the biggest problems, with many changing from three times a day milking to two and others thinking hard about their future.
At last there is better news for pig farmers as prices increase, carcass weights come down (although still heavier than last year). The National Pig Association welcomed Defra’s change of heart in the Slaughter Incentive Payment Scheme, which will now allow pigs slaughtered under the scheme to be sold in this country. When the scheme was set up the pigs slaughtered could only be exported and as processors had little interest given the demand for British pig meat in this country, it was not taken up. Some common sense at last and long overdue!
George Eustice received the usual grilling by NFU president Minette Batters over Defra’s approach to agriculture and it’s seemingly lack of interest in food production as it obsesses itself with re-wilding and nature. The Secretary of State faced a grilling from pig producers, access to labour by horticulture and other sectors and many other issues. Such was the grilling from Minette that many were asking themselves if the relationship between Defra and the NFU has completely broken down. In her closing speech the president reassured farmers that this was not the case and Eustice seemed to brush off the attacking time as part of the day job, commenting that he had a harder time in 2020 after the flooding. He put up a spirited defence and told the audience that following the Covid pandemic that of course there would be disruption in global markets and of course we are affected by the spike in gas prices.
Whilst some farmers felt he had not lived up to industry expectation in the top job, others felt that he is less powerful than he was and has to toe the line in cabinet, where the free-marketers and those with little interest in commercial agriculture in this country hold sway. A few said that they were coming around to his way of thinking and others said that farmers have to do more than complain.
At the elections for the top jobs at NFU, Minette was unopposed as president and looks forward to another two-year term and following Stuart Roberts’s resignation, Tom Bradshaw moves from vicepresident to Deputy. The new face as vice-president is David Exwood, from a beef and arable farm in Horsham, which is very good news indeed in the South East. He defeated John Davies from Wales and Tom Wornham, a poultry farmer in Hertfordshire, and is now in the hot seat. I hope he lasts longer than I did in that job (one term) and most importantly that he enjoys his time at the NFU. It’s a demanding job and as soon as you are elected you are nolonger in charge of your own diary and you are set on a whirlwind of engagements and conferences where you are expected to speak coherently on all matters and regional and local appointments where farmers make their demands as NFU members.
Following the Panorama programme there has been a hotly contested debate over Red Tractor and the way it suspended and then removed the dairy farm featured on the programme from the scheme; without which the farm cannot sell its milk. The complaint is that it stands as judge and jury over a farmer, removing his livelihood.
So many farmers have said to me over the years that Red Tractor has no teeth and does not throw anyone out of the scheme which means that it is a toothless organisation which fails to uphold standards. It seems to me that Red Tractor cannot win here and if it fails to act after such terrible footage on a leading programme on national TV, where is the credibility?