Petition launched to stop EID in sheep

10:54am Thursday 18th September 2008

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LAST week I was in the company of the MEP, Robert Sturdy, who represents six million constituents in East Anglia, but not many of them are sheep farmers so I took the opportunity of firing some pretty hefty broadshots about the impending legislation on sheep identification; and the disastrous implications for Britain’s sheep producers, especially those in the Uplands where returns are small.

Robert is a Yorkshire farmer and was more than happy to listen but he does need feeding with the arguments against EID and the problems we are going to face.

I promised to put down some of the questions provoked by EID and the costly answers that will be set in the legislative stone tablets.

1 What are the new regulations? All sheep born after December 31, 2009, have to be individually identified with an electronic identification device and individually recorded on a movement document.

2 To whom does this apply? It will apply to all those involved in the production chain including farmers, markets and abattoirs.

3 What is the cost of an EID tag? We are told that the manufacturers will be charging around 60p per individual tag and two are needed for each sheep; but don’t forget on top of this you will need a reader and additions to your farm computer software in order to transmit the information.

4 What is the slaughter derogation? It is proposed that for all lambs destined for slaughter under 12 months of age that they need only carry two flock tags as now but not be electronically identified.

5 What is wrong with the derogation? The derogation simplifies the movement process for those producers who sell direct for slaughter but are a potential nightmare for all those who fatten sheep and this will destroy the structure of our sheep industry.

6 What happens if I sell some lambs at Malton? Under the derogation you need to read every tag manually and record every different flock number.

You need to complete your movement document and your flock register.

The auction mart staff repeat the process once you have divided your batch of sheep into lots for selling. The auction mart needs to record both movements and maintain a market holding register.

The whole process is then repeated when the lambs arrive at the abattoir.

7 If I want to keep a lamb for breeding that has been identified with a single flock tag can I retag it with an EID tag? No – it would be illegal and, worse, if one of your hoggs gets in lamb it would have to go to slaughter.

8 What about hoggs that have put up a permanent incisor tooth? The derogation only applies to sheep under 12 months of age and the presumption is that an incisor tooth indicates they are over 12 months old; thus the answer is not clear.

With all the above rules I am not sure one can reasonably expect any farmer to feed lambs in the future and don’t forget that 30 per cent of all our sheep are bought for further finishing and not fattened on the holding of birth.

The EID legislation and the proposed slaughter derogation are largely unworkable and it is essential as many people sign the petition as possible.

All the auction marts over the next few weeks are gathering together signatures to demonstrate the total opposition of the farming fraternity to electronic identification.

If we are to have any influence over Robert Sturdy and his fellow MEPs then we need to show some solidarity and opposition.

The petition together with an expanded version of this Question and Answer paper will be in the market office both at Malton and York.

DEFRA suspends cross compliance

MOST people outside of our industry will be unaware of the extent to which DEFRA controls farming practice.

If we wish to receive our Single Farm Payment for example, we have to comply with a booklet known as GAEC3 (Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition) and one of the multitudinous clauses prevents farmers from using mechanical equipment and vehicles on waterlogged land.

To be honest it is an insult to our intelligence and expertise to suggest that anyone would use machinery in such conditions unless it was absolutely necessary but it is now written down and therefore part of the DEFRA bible.

Because of the dreadful weather, Hilary Benn has made a temporary concession until October 4 to allow farmers to get their harvest in. Isn’t it pathetic?

Buzzards increase prey on hens

TEN years ago one hardly ever saw a buzzard in Ryedale unless one had been pushed here by bad weather; but now, with its protected status and the conservationist’s fashionable obsession with raptors, they are enjoying a mini population explosion.

There have been anything up to seven birds in the air at one time around Howsham and they have refined a technique for picking off young ducks just put out onto ponds.

The buzzard circles above the pond frightening the ducks into flight who stay in the air until one or two flop to the ground exhausted; whereupon the buzzard pounces.

Such a natural activity may not evoke much sympathy but the problem has spread to free range chickens where one egg producer has recorded five buzzard nests adjacent to his farm and has recently lost 42 hens to their talons.

Another egg producer was in the middle of a farm audit inspection when a buzzard flew past carrying one of his hens.

As much as we all love to see these aerial raptors in the sky, there has to be a balance which sometimes the conservation purists fail to appreciate.

More Bluetongue in imported cattle

HOW stupid can we get in allowing cattle to be imported from Europe without rigorous pre-movement testing and in the knowledge that the continent is riddled with Bluetongue.

So far we have managed to keep the disease at bay following last year’s anxious flurry of infection but DEFRA seem determined that we should get a full dose.

Over the past six weeks we have received reports of BT being detected in various animals that have been imported from Germany, France and the Lowlands and all of which put us at risk.

The latest case is on a farm near Worcester where six cows from the Germany have been put into isolation.

I cannot understand why we do not protect ourselves and one has only to look at Holland’s recent ban on British calves going into their country to see what should happen.

Bits and pieces

* In another sad comment on our safety-conscious State, Chichester Council refused to clear a dustbin from a four-inch deep stream because none of its staff was qualified to wear the necessary safety equipment comprising Wellington boots and a harness to stop them being swept away.

The spokesman for the Council’s fly tipping department is reported to have spoken the immortal words: “We don’t have anyone qualified to wear Wellington boots”.

* And now a one-liner from our Sinnington correspondent who recalls that in the good old days a ‘blunderbus’ was the vehicle which took unmarried girls to the maternity hospital.

Market report

81 cattle including 18 bulls 28 cows 507 sheep including 96 ewes heavy steers to 166p C F Beal Yedingham Medium heifers to 183p C F Beal Yedingham ave 147.6p heavy heifers to 208p T J Maw Thornton le Dale ave 165.2p light bulls to 161p I D Watson Farmers Fadmoor ave 149.1p heavy bulls to 171p I D Watson Farmers ave 147.3p OTMs to 127p J Lund & Son Kirby Misperton ave 89.2p standard lambs to 126.3p J S Thornton East Lutton ave 113.2p medium lambs to 129.5p C G Harper and Son Newton on Rawcliffe ave 118.2p heavy lambs to 135.1p P Bannister Butterwick ave 118.3p overweight lambs to 122.7p D A Milner & Son Leavening ave 116.8p Ewes to £57.50 Lehman Bros Great Barugh.