'Nitrogen Vulnerable Zone' (From Gazette & Herald)

'Nitrogen Vulnerable Zone'

FRIENDS of ours recently went on a New Year trip to Paris with the obligatory stop off at the ferry supermarket, on the return trip, to stock up on a few celebratory bottles of wine. During the wait to go through customs on their return to England, the coach load of passengers were surprised to hear a series of knocks and shouts from the bowels of the bus. It transpired that not only had they brought in wine and luggage, but two asylum seekers as well. The coach driver was furious, he, or his company, now being liable to a hefty fine but the asylum seekers were non-abashed and delighted to have reached a safe haven in Britain and the welcoming arms of the British police and customs officers. The two young men were keen to join friends and family already in London, but according to the customs officers, were far more likely to be sent to Aberdeen, Middlesbrough or Glasgow, from where apparently, 'they disappear and end up in London anyway so I don't know why we don't send them there in the first place'.

The Home Office is obviously employing the wrong tactics and also the wrong advisers on its tactics. What it needs to do, is get the brains of DEFRA on the job. If you want a range of inhuman solutions and callous ideas, the sort of people who dream up ideas for literally keeping tabs on the nations' sheep, and cattle, would be just the ones to devise a fail safe scheme for tagging farmers and asylum seekers alike. I'm sure even now that the ear tag lobby and manufacturers are working on a practical proposal for the human lug. Can you imagine how delighted they would be if they could keep track of a farmer's whereabouts: tally his stated trips to market with his actual movement record, ensure that if he says he is disposing of stock legally, he isn't secretly digging a hole somewhere in the depths of a wood to dispose of an aborted IACS form or dead subsidy application. An asylum seeker would be a doddle.

In our case, with having a half of the farm in a 'Nitrogen Vulnerable Zone' and the other half not, John could wear a nitrogen sensitive ear tag linked to a satellite tracking device so that DEFRA could see if he was exceeding his nitrogen quota on the vulnerable side of the farm, and staying within guidelines on the other. Think I'm rambling? You should read the guidance we get sent from the Ministry. Most of it is incomprehensible.

For the moment however, the ear tag manufacturers must be happy with the latest boost to their business, the lamb ear tag, which must now be inserted into the ear of every lamb, at birth. Even dead lambs must have an ear tag number as DEFRA wants to trace what happens to the carcases, which can no longer be buried on the farm, but must now be disposed off ex-farm.

This morning I helped John load up the last of the 2002 hoggs for market. Two of them had lost their ear tags and had torn ears. We spent more time grubbing around in the straw of the yard to find the tags than we did in getting the hoggs in the trailer. Can you imagine how long it will take to find tags in a field and then trying to match up which ear tag number matched which lamb? After all, lambs and sheep all look so different don't they? Shouldn't be a problem at all.

Updated: 11:36 Wednesday, January 22, 2003