Fallen stock plans revealed (From Gazette & Herald)

Fallen stock plans revealed

As most farmers continue to break the law by burying stock on farm, the National Fallen Stock Company has, after 12 months' deliberation, announced its proposals to be implemented in the autumn.

All livestock farmers will be able to subscribe for a nominal annual registration fee.

The scheme will cover all species of farmed livestock.

Farmers may choose their preferred approved collector; and will pay the costs of collection, less the Government's contribution, by monthly direct debit to the NFSC according to the quantity of stock that has been collected.

All collectors operating from approved premises may register to join the scheme. Collectors will be required to provide the company with their proposed charges and the geographical area in which they operate.

Payments will be made to the collectors by the NFSC.

Collectors will need to comply with strict biosecurity regulations.

On the face of it, this seems a much fairer scheme, as farmers would pay according to their use of it and we all have a choice of whom we use to collect our fallen stock.

The problem, as I see it, is that the Government subsidisation runs out after three years and the full cost of disposal is going to be paid by our industry.

At rumoured levels of £20 per sheep and £70 per adult cattle, there is going to be a lot of heartache stored up for the future.

During the foot and mouth disease (FMD) crisis, DEFRA negotiated a whole series of contracts that were inappropriate, largely unnecessary and desperately over-expensive.

In quite a number of cases, they have refused to pay the bill when it came and some brave souls have taken the Government department to task. A couple of weeks ago, a court judgement ordered DEFRA to pay contractors in the south-west some £2m of outstanding dues, and I am sure this precedent will encourage others to take them to task.

On the valuation side, my profession has long promoted the two valuer system whereby the state appoints one and the farmer another but, supposedly in the interests of economy, DEFRA has chosen to use a single valuer, who is employed by the state, and yet it is the farmer who chooses that valuer off an approved list.

In the heat of the epidemic, local DEFRA officials panicked and allowed non-professional valuers to be appointed and I have no doubt that there would have been abuses of the system.

Nevertheless, it is DEFRA who made the contract and they should pay up the fees.

Castle Douglas in Scotland was one such auction mart whose valuers spent 15-20 hours a day trying to get round the farms in the required timescale.

Last week, the Kirkcudbright Sheriff ruled that the auctioneering firm should be paid its outstanding fees of £250,000.

I congratulate the Castle Douglas courage and deplore the disgraceful behaviour of a Government department.

Throughout the Second World War, food was subject to rationing and there was no free market for selling stock.

I well remember cattle coming into the old York Market, being assessed, graded, and allocated to various abattoirs for distribution around the county. It was feared that there would never again be a free market but, in 1954, decontrol was implemented by Churchill's Government and the auction markets burst into life again.

In that year, the Yorkshire Livestock Auctioneers' Association was born and my father Reg appointed as secretary, which post he held for the next 15 years.

In 1954, there were 52 markets serving the county from Guisburn in the west to Seamer in the east. Today, 50 years on, there are only 16 remaining, of which Malton, York and Ruswarp serve our area. On a nationwide basis, England had 455 auctions compared to 116 in 2004.

The YLAA celebrated its jubilee with a dinner last Friday in the Mansion House at York, where the main speaker was our own Richard Machin, whose family has been coming to Yorkshire markets for the past 125 years. Other speakers included Ian Halley, the chairman from Ruswarp, Ben Atkinson from Otley and Philip Place, who paid tribute to the ability and professionalism of Brian Wilkinson in a lifetime of service to the Ryedale agricultural community.

There was one repeatable Irish tale concerning two grave diggers having a break from their labours in a Killarney churchyard. They were inspecting the headstones trying to find the oldest resident.

92 years was the winner until Mick shouted that he'd found one aged 145. In amazement, Paddy ran across to look at the name on the headstone which read "Miles from Dublin".

I never cease to wonder at the unassailable sanctity of the freedom of the press, which allows arrogant megalomaniacs like Piers Morgan to put the lives of our soldiers at risk; while the rest of us farmers in particular are regulated out of existence.

The latest directive to be reviewed in Brussels is the one to do with the number of hours we work. They are proposing that no one should be allowed to work more than 48 hours in a week even if they want to.

There is a concession that the 48-hour rule be averaged over a period of months but during busy times such as harvest and on dairy units I am sure the limits will be unachievable goals.

From a personal point of view, I ought to be strongly supportive as my working week would be reduced to slightly less than four days.

There was a revealing article in the Telegraph on the consequences of allowing pet passports across Europe; and breaking down the quarantine rules which used to apply.

Around the Mediterranean, there are a host of exotic diseases to which our domestic pets have no immunity and, as a consequence of travelling abroad with their owners, hundreds have died.

There is a tragic tale of some little West Highland terrier dying miserably within days of returning to the UK from babesiosis, a blood disease spread by ticks.

My concern would be the very real danger of introducing one of these diseases into this country quite needlessly and further emphasises the urgency of stricter import control.

This week's funny - but I am assured true - tale from our Sinnington correspondent concerns a rather refined lady who came to stay at a Kirkbymoorside hotel to enjoy a weeks hunting with the Sinnington and Derwent Hounds.

It so happened that a wealthy man used to take his car into the hotel yard and, dressed in his old clothes, would wash and polish the vehicle.

One afternoon, a lady returned in full riding habit, spying who she thought was the odd job man, sat down on a bench, saying: "My good man, come and help me off with my boots."

Tongue-in-cheek, he obeyed, pulling off first one boot and then the other.

Turning to her, he said: "Noo then, that's thi boots how about thi britches!"

Forward were 142 cattle including 56 bulls, 1,484 sheep including 681 spring lambs and 208 ewes. Light steers to 106p (J E Remmer, Pickering), heavy steers to 127p (J L Gray, Grindale, ave 103.4p). Light heifers to 125p (W & L Thompson, Middleton, ave 112.3p), medium heifers to 126p (J L Gray, Grindale, ave 98.1p), heavy heifers to 145p (G I Marwood, Harome, ave 106.2p). Light bulls to 108p (J and M Craggs, Ebberston, ave 103.2p), heavy bulls to 116p (J and M Craggs, Ebberston, ave 99.5p), Black and white bulls to 93p (W Smith, Salton, ave 82.1p). Standard lambs to 139.4p (D Bulmer, Amotherby, ave 136.4p), medium lambs to 154.1p (E E Wilkinson, Langtoft, ave 141.1p), heavy lambs to 143p (T Midgley and Sons, Kirby Underdale, ave 134.2p). Light hoggets to 113.7p (P M Allen, Great Barugh, ave 105.6p), medium hoggets to 118.4p (J Malthouse, Hackness, ave 105.9p), medium hoggets to 116.2p (A Cussons and Sons, Kirkbymoorside, ave 107.6p), heavy hoggets to 108p (C Leckonby, Pockley, ave 102.2p), overweight hoggs to 101.8p (P Nicholson, Brandsburton, ave 92.3p). Ewes to £63.50 (R A Robinson, Hutton Buscel, ave £41).

Updated: 12:26 Wednesday, May 19, 2004