Farm Diary: News from United States will have repercussions around the world

A comprehensive win for Donald Trump; unprecedented as he swept Kamala Harris aside. Huge reaction from the embarrassed media and pollsters, and those who have comprehensively lost this race.

It seems that ordinary people who were feeling the economic squeeze in the USA voted for change. The great survivor has swept all before him as he won votes from white, black and Hispanic people; indeed, securing the biggest share of the ethnic minority vote achieved by any Republican presidential candidate in the last 50 years.

The big question for us, is what effect will this have on our economy and the prospect for growth? It will certainly affect us according to experts, not just the potential tariff on British goods, but possibly more damaging are the subsidies he has been talking about. The USA is our biggest trading partner, and the effect of a Donald Trump presidency will be equal to the damage caused by Brexit, economists say.

Who knows? We don’t actually know what he will do once in power, and he has wrong footed most pundits so far.

Nearer home and overshadowed by the USA election, Kemi Badenoch is the new leader of the Conservative party with arguably the toughest job in British politics; galvanising and uniting the badly damaged party. She was by far the best candidate and whether one agrees or disagrees with her, it is refreshing to have a politician who is ready to speak her mind, offer opinions and most important, prepared to debate and argue her case.

She is more than a match for the big media personalities which is also good to see. We don’t know what her policies are yet as she sensibly wants to go back to principles and work from there.

Turning to farming, this dry spell is very welcome and will it enable the last of the autumn work to be completed. Its also warmer than usual for November and therefore little to complain about. The colours are amazing, and hedge-cutters are out in force, tidying up for winter.

Consumer confidence in farming is riding high according to AHDB Consumer Trust Survey, reflecting consumer positivity towards agriculture. As always, it’s the older generation have most confidence and I was encouraged to see that 74% of those surveyed feel well-informed about farming (73%). As the cost-of-living eases for many according to the survey, they are turning their attention quality and British produce, with fruit, vegetables and cereals top of the scores (77% and 71% respectively).

Dairy high at (68%), sheep (67%) and beef (64%), with pigs (59%) and poultry(58%) also doing well.

The livestock attack bill is back in Parliament, presented by a Cheshire MP Aphra Brandreth. It follows two livestock attacks within four days by the same dogs on a farm in her constituency, and the bill aims to give police powers to respond more efficiently, ensuring that evidence is collected effectively and if necessary, seize and detain dogs to reduce the risk of further attacks in the most serious cases.

Police say that 15 sheep were killed in this latest incident, with many more left injured. The dogs returned to the farm and killed a further 4 sheep four days later. The National Sheep Association ‘Take the Lead’ campaign urges dog owners to keep their dogs on a lead whilst on farmland where there may be livestock grazing.

The National Sheep Association CEO, Phil Stocker has been appointed as the independent chair of the Dartmoor Land Use Management Group. He was appointed by Daniel Zeichner, Farming Minister and as the Tenant Farmer Association national vice-chair and Dartmoor farmer Helen Radmore said, ‘Phil is an inspired choice as chair for this new group’.

I know Phil Stocker well and he will be an excellent chair for this group and the challenging task in hand, bringing a wealth of experience to the role.

Whilst we wait for the report into farm assurance which will be available in December, Red Tractor Chief Executive Jim Moseley has challenged a report by the Social Market foundation (SMF), criticising what it calls the self-regulation of farming. Jim Moseley challenged researchers at SMF to leave their desks and join him at an assured farm to see how the scheme really works and the hard work the farming community puts in.

The report End Self-regulation of Farming to Reduce Animal Suffering, criticised Red Tractor’s welfare assessment without any consultation or right to reply, he said. The SMF report, a cross-party think tank, which aims to bring markets and governments closer together for the benefit of society, makes several false statements in its report according to Jim Moseley.

The reports suggests that Red Tractor is owned by farmers, that there is a lack of transparency on inspection data, and biased assessments due to being dependant on revenue by signing up farms; in effect providing a façade for animal abuse.

In fact, as we all know, most of Red Tractor’s revenue comes from the consumer end of the market, where demand for good standards is high. The Red Tractor website openly provides data on farmer suspensions and revocations due to non-compliance, demonstrating accountability.

The SMF have backtracked somewhat since the report was published; a spokesman stating that the report simply highlights evidence that the current system of enforcement is unable to ensure that enough farmers operate to legal minimum animal welfare standards. The report does not accuse Red Tractor of misconduct, our argument (the spokesman said) is that the government should not rely on private assurance schemes as a substitute for state inspection; we contend that this outsourcing of regulation has not served the interests of farmers, consumers or farmed animals.

This is absolute nonsense. Local governments have no money or resource for such a scheme and whilst we used to have local authority’s inspections, unlike farm assurance inspectors they knew little about farming and struggled to begin to make any difference.

Many farmers are up in arms about Red Tractor, does the SMF think that is due to them being lenient and in the farmer’s pocket? This also sends a real warning to those farmers who think we don’t need farm assurance; how would you defend yourself against the SMF and the many other groups and bodies that are against livestock farming without farm assurance? Time to think on.

I was pleased to see the announcement of 11 new hydrogen generation projects, putting weight behind this fuel source as a direct replacement to diesel engines. This column has always maintained that hydrogen, and not electricity will be the long-term answer for agriculture as well as many other industries.

UK research by JCB and Toyota now presents this as a genuine alternative to diesel, providing the power and torque required for agricultural and industrial machinery. This is lead by excellent engineering and to this point has been free of government interference, unlike electric cars which seem to be a disaster for most major car companies as they discount heavily to promote sales and counter China’s subsidised production.

There is an opportunity for this country to lead this technology and make a great success of it.