Mrs Downs Diary July 28 2009

THE first draw on this year's lambs has just gone off to market. Fit and fat. These lambs are not yet required to be tagged with the new electronic ear tags. But the whole affair has been a very close call. The rules have just been changed meaning that we will no longer have to buy equipment to scan electronic ear tags on our sheep, although we will still have to buy the new tags. But, unfortunately, it may be only a respite. In two years time the whole nightmare scenario could be on the ag

There has been a real mix up with our so called protector, DEFRA, considering itself powerless to stop the European commission bringing in new regulations to force all sheep farmers to buy expensive equipment to scan electronic identification tags on sheep onto computerized systems on the farm. Presumably this is all a result of a lot of expensive wining and dining of commissioners by ear tag producers.

Fortunately the Scottish NFU has nagged and hammered DEFRA to do something about it and the rules have been amended. Now we will not have to buy tag readers, but instead the tags will be scanned at markets and abattoirs rather than on farms. But it is only a postponement for two years and DEFRA have weakly agreed not to bring the matter up again with other member states of the EU. It was a compromise to get this initial delay to the implementation of electronic identification proposals. They would rather have done nothing at all to stop it happening.

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At least we had not invested in any of the scanning equipment, although some farmers may already have done so. So many things change at the last minute in farming. Last year we jabbed all our stock with the blue tongue vaccine as recommended by DEFRA, who insisted there was going to be an outbreak. There was'nt. This year we did the same again. Only to find that after we had bought the vaccine, because there was such a low uptake, it's cost had halved.

There is currently a competition running in the Farmers Weekly for the Greatest Farming Cock- up of the last 75 years and the main contender so far seems to be the formation of DEFRA. A department of government that managed the release of foot and mouth from its own laboratory and whose employees "must sit in the office all day wondering what other stupid rules and regulations to bring in." Ear tags for suckler calves is another proposal for the most monumental cock-up. Our suckler cows are fiercely protective mothers and to quote another farmer "putting in one tag is bad enough, but two is suicide. Not to mention trying to tag a 5 year old beef animal who has lost his tag for the umpteenth time and now barley fits in the crush...assuming you can persuade it to go in the crush in the first place."

So that is just a flavour of what farmers think they are up against. Now the biggest worry for society and really big potential cock-up of the next year is that DEFRA might think swine flu falls within their remit, and be put in charge of eradicating it.

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