AGRICULTURE

OR THE DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION THEREOF



21st November 2007
Farmers are currently struggling to feed animals that should have gone to market many weeks ago, yet are prevented by the restrictions on animal movement due to the Foot & Mouth outbreak, Blue Tongue, and now Avian Influenza.

And what does this ghastly Labour government do? It wants to fine farmers for not taking sufficient care in their "biosecurity"! The ministers responsible should be fired for this! (At least!)

Though farmers have made substantial losses this year as a result of not being able to sell livestock, the government is determined to push ahead with its plan.

Dealing with bluetongue, foot and mouth, and avian influenza - which struck a farm in Suffolk last week - is proving expensive for the government because of compensation packages, veterinary costs, and the need to set up surveillance and protection zones to prevent viruses spreading. Millions more are also being spent on controls against bovine tuberculosis and BSE in cattle.

The move comes as the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) faces making £300m in emergency cuts. It has been asked to draw up a savings plan to help balance the books after recent outbreaks of foot and mouth and bluetongue. The savings could hit a wide range of Defra responsibilities such as recycling, nature protection and animal welfare.

But there will also be anger among some farmers over a levy, because the foot and mouth outbreak in Surrey last summer came from material which escaped from a government research laboratory in Pirbright. Some disease outbreaks, however, have been caused by clear lapses in biosecurity on farms. The bird flu found at a Bernard Matthews plant last year was traced back to its plant in Hungary. Other disease outbreaks are acts of nature - such as the arrival of bluetongue, an illness carried by midges from across the Channel last summer and transmitted to sheep and cattle.

There are also the knock-on effects of diseases. As many as 250,000 healthy Welsh hill lambs will be culled and incinerated in the next few weeks in order to avoid a welfare disaster. The restrictions imposed during the latest foot and mouth outbreak meant that none of the young animals could be brought down from the hillside for slaughter and would otherwise starve to death.

The concept of farmers sharing the costs of tackling animal diseases emerged from the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 2001, which saw nearly seven million animals slaughtered. The final bill came to around £3bn.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn is determined to push ahead with the moves, partly as a way of reforming all the other costs and levies that farmers face. One Westminster source said: 'There is a general acceptance that the introduction of a levy would not only be fairer for taxpayers, but also give farmers a much bigger incentive for taking the right biosecurity measures necessary to prevent disease spreading.'

Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth said: 'Defra has become a byword for incompetence and financial mismanagement.'

Kevin Pierce, of the National Farmers' Union, said: 'This is certainly not a good time to be talking about levies, particularly when so many in the beef and sheep industry are suffering.'