Farm diary - February 24

THE miserable weather continues, rain one day, snowflakes the next, a spring day after that, before drizzle sets in. It is already too late for an early spring, and it will need to change soon if we are to avoid a late one.

Our ground is still too wet to think of any action as yet, but it is March next week, and things ought to be both warmer and drier.

Our bio-digester is going well, with the engine running 24hrs a day already!

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We seem to get a surge in gas as we went over 39 degrees in the first tower, and we are delighted to be running on half power so easily from one tower, which has a lot of potential in it yet.

The second tower is now being heated and is over 20 degrees as I write.

With plenty of heat available from the engine, it will be easy to bring it up to full temperature over the coming few weeks.

We will then gradually turn up the power as more gas is produced. The Germans should be back on site this week to at last get the gas-analyzer to work properly and connected up.

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The engine is in constant contact with us (day and night), via our mobile phones, texting to highlight any problems, or operational difficulties.

One irritating problem is that we keep getting blockages in the machine that pre-mixes all the silages and muck, before mixing it all with warm substrate and pumping it into the tower.

All the various bits of metal look as if they once belonged on a forage harvester!

*Last week, I chaired the 'NFU Dairy Representative Summit' which was held at Stonleigh. Given how critical I have been of representatives and farmer Directors over the years, I did initially worry that anyone would register. We were in fact fully booked, and had to turn people away.

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This was a unique event, as no one had before brought the representatives together.

Defra Minister for Food and Farming opened the event with the first paper of the day, and he was very good in fact, having just returned from the South West, where he had once again seen the effect of bovine TB on dairy farms.

The questions after his paper were fair and of high standard, giving the Minister an opportunity to give his views on many subjects from CAP reform to the economic position of this country.

During the day, we then heard from farmers who had a great deal of experience in negotiating and in dealing with processing companies and retailers. The purpose of the day was to inspire, enthuse, and educate farmer representatives, giving them food for thought.

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We brought in the NFU 'sugar' team, who has huge experience in negotiating with British Sugar (a monopoly), each year on the price it will pay for sugar-beet.

The EU grants the NFU the right to negotiate on behalf of farmers with British Sugar, and we were told how things have progressed over the last few years.

The afternoon session was all about professionals, we had professional negotiators, mediators, dispute resolution experts and legal experts specializing in contracts.

All the people who attended were motivated by the day, and are keen to know where we go next?

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Circulating all their contact numbers, which will enable them to keep in touch with each other is something that we will do immediately.

I want them to actually tell me where they want to go next, and together, we can plan.

I think they need to think hard, identify the weak areas, and maybe the next gathering should be more of a workshop approach.

It is too easy to keep organizing a get together; we need to see real progress having initially brought them together.

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As you read this, the NFU AGM will be taking place at Birmingham. Once again, all the leading players and politicians will be gathered together to discuss and debate the present state of agriculture, and how we view the future.

No doubt, the budget deficit will feature largely at almost every level, and as I watch the gap between Labour and Conservative parties in the polls shrink, it is all to play for.

No doubt, CAP Reform will be the big political discussion, but I will be interested to see what the approach will be on the single farm payment.

I don't think that there is a farmer around that would not rather get his full return from the market, but as 80 per cent of stock farms and 50 per cent of dairy farms would be trading at a loss were it not for the direct payment, it tells us two things.

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The payment is taken into account by the market, and either the consumer benefits from lower prices or the money is being kept by the retailers.

When such payments were stopped abruptly in New Zealand twenty years ago, the biggest impact was felt by the supply industry, and I remember seeing these 'ghost' towns when I visited, which had been dependent on trade with the farming communities.

There was great hardship on the farms too of course, but after a shakeout, NZ agriculture emerged a much changed, and more competitive industry, although they were cushioned for some years by a very weak currency.

No one talks of such measures in the EU any more, it is more about how much should go to production and how much should go to environmental goods.

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It is a tricky balance, and we have seen various schemes (which are very expensive to run) go badly wrong, such as the de-stocking in the Lake District which led to under-grazing and a fire hazard, which that particular quango had not thought of.

*I listened to Nick Herbert (shadow Secretary of State again last week), and he keeps telling us that they want to rid the country of quangos.

Well I am all for that, and we have a list of quangos at the NFU that you can immediately get your teeth into if you are in position after the election Mr. Herbert.

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