Farmland is abandoned to the floods (From Gazette & Herald)

Farmland is abandoned to the floods

11:43am Thursday 20th March 2008 in Farming comment By James Stephenson

I DID warn you last week the council was due to debate the Environment Agency's radical, and frankly unacceptable, strategy to abandon rural flood defences; and the worst has now happened.

To refresh your memories, the Environment Agency is trying to evade its responsibilities for maintaining our water courses and flood banks under the pretence of safeguarding our townships.

They intend to implement the policy by blocking up drains, allowing rivers to meander, and abandoning flood defences.

In a heated debate last week Ryedale Council accepted the Environment Agency policy and an amendment to object in principle was defeated.

I would like to think that the farming fraternity is due an explanation.

One councillor tried to make it a choice between flooding "in fields or lounges" but the option is not as stark as this.

Those of us who work and live in the countryside know full well that all water courses and rivers must be maintained and cleansed if they are going to do the job.

Since the old Rivers Authority was closed down, there has been little attempt to keep the water flowing especially in the River Derwent and what was once a wonderful major drainage channel has now become a sluggish, slow moving puddle.

The answer to the Environment Agency's proposed strategy should have been an outright rejection combined with a call for more remedial works, not less.

I am afraid I don't understand our council's decision.

The 2008 budget

As far as I can see the budget said very little that we didn't know already know despite the 270 pages of this paper trail.

The main points for the farming fraternity to note are as follows:

• Capital gains tax - the changes involving the abolition of indexation and taper relief together with the introduction of a single rate of 18 per cent tax will go ahead as previously announced.

In addition there will be the entrepreneurs' relief which reduces the rate of tax to 10 per cent for the first £1 million of gains over a lifetime but this is only available on disposal of business assets.

None of the above applies to companies where the old rules will continue.

The new CGT regime penalises the farming fraternity but to me it is more sinister because once again this Government has introduced retrospective legislation.

By that I mean that all those of us who have owned business assets for a period of time have done so in the expectation that we should receive at least indexation and relief to reflect the intervening inflation. This is now cut away from under our feet.

• Agricultural buildings allowances - The tax allowances on agricultural buildings is to be phased out over the next four years in steps of 25 per cent annum.

Again this is a miserable piece of legislation in that those that put up buildings a year or two ago in anticipation of receiving tax allowances will lose it.

• Inheritance tax - The changes proposed last autumn are to be implemented namely that the nil rate band can be doubled up between spouses.

This apparent concession is pretty empty as most families already make provision for using up their nil rate band.

• Fuel duty -The pre-announced increases are to be deferred until October but from the price I am paying on the pumps it seems to have been implemented with a vengeance already.

Double tagging of sheep

I thought it might be helpful to clarify the double tagging issue.

• The new regulation to double tag only applies to lambs born after January 1, 2008; and then only animals sold for breeding purposes need to comply.

• Any lamb intended for slaughter before 12 months of age does not need to be double tagged.

• Any lambs coming to our market on a Tuesday will be presumed to be going for slaughter and if there is any uncertainly the keeper will be given the benefit of the doubt.

The real red tape mountain

For those farmers that have suffered, and for those public who are ignorant, I report some Government figures released recently about red tape.

Since the year 2000, Defra has implemented more than 1,000 new regulation at an administrative cost alone of more than £500 million. If you add to this cost the expense that the farming fraternity have to go to in order to comply then the real burden is more than £1 billion.

James Paice, the shadow agriculture minister, has said that he will introduce a "whole new approach to regulation which will make unnecessary form filling and multiple inspections a thing of the past".

We can't wait.

What a BT mess you've got us in

Laurel and Hardy fans will remember Ollie's legendary lines to Stan, "That's another fine mess you've landed us in".

Defra seems to have inherited its unhappy knack for creating trouble and its latest achievements over bluetongue have been remarkable even for them.

• Bluetongue is spread by midges and it is the climate that will dictate the progress of the disease not Defra. The ludicrous lines drawn across the country to represent surveillance zones and free areas do nothing but hinder business and cause a lot of heartache to those in the livestock industry trying to make a living.

• The only remedy against BT is going to be a vaccination policy and it must be clear even to a child that to be effective all animals need to participate. Defra has chosen to introduce a voluntary scheme for vaccination which will mean inevitably that there will be pockets of livestock unvaccinated and exposed to the BT midge.

• The EU has said it will fund the cost of vaccination provided national policy is compulsory; so once again we have been placed outside of any potential funding and will have to stand the cost ourselves.

• Now the EC has announced its plans for 72 million Euro to fund the vaccination programme but the UK cannot apply because of it's voluntary policy. Even the European Veterinary Federation is critical of the UK approach describing it as "probably driven by a strong desire to cut costs" and has little to do with animal health and welfare.

Bits and pieces

My Kiwi son-in-law sent me an email with some signs spotted around the globe:

• On a podiatrist's office door "Time wounds all heels"

• On a maternity room door "Push, push, push"

• In a vet's waiting room "Be back in five minutes. Sit! Stay!"

• On a plumber's van "Don't sleep with a drip, call your plumber"

Market report

Forward 69 cattle including six bulls and 12 cows, 2,134 sheep including 10 lambs and 275 ewes, light steers to 134p G D Warters, Flixton, med steers to 148p, M D Medd, Sawdon, ave 141p; heavy steers to 144p, C F Beal, Yedingham, ave 128.2p; light heifers to 161p, Mrs M Towse, Welham, ave 149p; heavy heifers to 170p, J & R Waind, Brawby, ave 146.5p; light bulls to 163p, C R Quarton, Hovingham, heavy bulls to 145p, J Greenheld & Son, ave 139.9; standard lambs to 221p, C Mudd, Brompton-by-Sawdon, ave 206.9p; med lambs to 213.9p, C Dougherty, Kirby Misperton, ave 209.3p; standard hoggs to 163.1p, Leigh Fowler, Stokesley, ave 135.4p; med hoggs to 162.5p, C F Beal, Yedingham, ave 145.8; heavy hoggs to 155.4p; D Stark, Coulton, ave 141.8p; over weight hoggs to 154.7p; C F Beal, Yedingham, ave 136.6p; OTM to 99.5p, C T Stonehouse, Brawby, ave 87.9p; ewes to £86, M T Bulmer, Salton, ave £57.70p.