Farm Diary December 17

THE frosty weather has turned rather cold, wet and nasty. If it continues to be frost-free for the week, there will be furious activity on the building site, as all pouring of concrete has been delayed. I am assured that the two 'plates' (bases for the concrete tanks) will be completed before everyone leaves for Christmas this Friday.

At the moment, the bases are a complex weave of steel mesh, intricate, symmetrical, and almost a work of art! There are several tonnes of steel in each base, welded together and forming several layers, in between which, is a labyrinth of plastic pipe, which will carry the water; providing under-floor heating. Underneath all this is a thick layer of extruded insulation material which is several inches thick. This will carry the weight of the completed tower, which when full of muck, slurry and silage, will weigh 4000 tonnes (each).

I've had to have the farm drive completely re-done, as it became almost impassable following its destruction by all the trucks arriving on farm to deliver equipment and materials for the build. The cows think that all this activity is very exciting, and the dry cows (on their holidays) very nearly ran on to the building site last Friday, having broken out, by snapping a 'D' coupling that holds the tension of the steel wire rope, under which they feed.

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Next week we will need to hang gates at each end of the feeding passage, so that if this happens again, at least they will be contained in their shed. Can you imagine the chaos, if these girls started running amok through the site?

It is time to have some honesty in retailing. For too long we have put up with at best misleading labelling, at worst dishonest labelling of food. Many products which are imported into the country are still re-packaged here and sold as 'British', and the truth is only there (at the back) in the smallest of print. Consumers deserve better, and they should demand it.

The simple way to recognise British food is to look for the 'Red Tractor'; only British food produced to 'Assured Standards' is allowed to carry this logo. At the moment, due to their dislike of such clear branding, many retailers place the red tractor at the back of the pack, where it is also very small indeed. For traceability, welfare and environmental standards which the general public care about, and integrity of product, this Red Tractor ought to be clearly placed at the front of pack.

After the melamine scandal in China, where the contaminated milk has killed many babies and made many more very ill indeed, Europe had to take measures to stop Chinese milk powder and dairy products entering European countries. No sooner than that had been done, that melamine was found in organic Soya; again prompting the EU to scramble into action. Now we have Dioxin in Irish pork, and Irish beef. How much longer are we going to put up with this? Where is the traceability of these imported products? Where are the standards of production? Where is the value?

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Real value is a good product at a fair price; it is not a poor product at a cheap price. I have seen some imported cheeses which are sold at a very low price, with very high moisture content, and should you accidentally drop the pack, it would bounce right out the door! Value?

Very poor value indeed, despite its low price. 80% of all pig meat imported into this country does not comply with our animal welfare standards. This is scandalous when our pig producers have been driven almost out of existence due to the consumer's concern over the welfare of intensive pigs. The retailers are depriving those consumers from choosing the higher welfare foods due to poor labelling.

The Food Standards Agency need to concern themselves more with this serious matter, rather than attempting to save people from themselves by advising them what to eat, making everyone suffer from an excess of tasteless low-fat foods. The FSA has an important job to do, and that is maintaining food safety; that is their primary job, and it is high time they took it more seriously.

Remember Edwina Currie? Not her fling with John Major (something I am still wrestling with in my own mind), but her devastating pronouncement on eggs. British egg producers moved swiftly to ensure that all British eggs carried the 'Lion' brand and are free from salmonella, but imported egg powder disappears into various foods with no clear labelling to assist consumers.

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The massive, multiple and often conflicting challenges of truly sustainable food production, are great and not to be underestimated. Agriculture is asked to produce enough safe food, of high quality, at a lower price, with fewer animals per acre, environmentally sound, with high welfare; whilst making a profit that provides a future.

British farmers are ready for the challenge, but proper partnership throughout the supply chain, with openness, honesty, and a fair distribution of margins, are essential if we are to maintain our food production in this country. We do not want to drop our standards; indeed we will continue to raise our standards in line with public demand. In return, the very least we can expect is that the consumer has labelling that allows informed choice. In the worst case, their lives may depend on it!