AT our annual Auctioneers Meeting last Sunday it was revealed that TB was increasing at the rate of 30 per cent year on year and it would only be a matter of time before the disease spread to the North of England.

This is a complete disaster when you consider that only 30 years ago the country was virtually TB free and it is now escalating at such a rate that before long all livestock farmers are going to be affected.

Hilary Benn is but the latest in a succession of Agriculture Ministers produced by Labour who have absolutely nothing in common with our industry and very rarely even appear to be on the farmer’s side.

Mr Benn set up with a great fanfare the TB Eradication Group, but this much-welcomed partnership approach has been smartly kicked in the teeth by Mr Benn’s comments over the past week.

To a Parliamentary Committee he declared that “eradication” is only a long-term goal and the title for the group has been chosen because they could think of nothing better.

His immediate priority was to try to control and reduce the disease rather than eradicate it; and he certainly made it clear that he had not changed his mind about badger culling. He quite extraordinarily expanded upon this by saying that scientific evidence in support of badger culling was not the only argument which would find favour with him but there would be other factors to take into account. By this I presume he meant the probable reaction from Animal Rights Groups.

In answer to a question as to why TB has increased so dramatically this year, Mr Benn demonstrated just how far into the sand he has stuck his head: “I wish we knew”. When my children were young there was a TV programme called Bill and Ben The Flower Pot Men, in front of which they could be made to sit quietly for several minutes.

One of the characters was Little Weed and our Minister has much in common.

At present most of the farming organisations, including the auctioneers, are supporting the Eradication Group, but their patience will be severely tested if Hilary Benn continues to undermine their remit.

BT vaccination slows up

WE have been lucky in 2008 not to have found a single circulating case of bluetongue, although incomprehensibly Defra has done its best to reinfect by allowing imports from Europe which are not pre-movement tested.

Initially, in the early summer, the uptake of vaccine was very high at around 90 per cent in the south of England, but as the Protection Zone crept north and west so the urgency seemed to wane in the farmers’ minds, and certainly vaccination has been much lower.

I gather that there is still plenty of vaccine available, as only half of that ordered by the Government has been used. It has a limited shelf life and needs to be distributed by May next year.

Defra is bound to be somewhat disappointed at the vaccine uptake and if it doesn’t improve may impose onerous movement restrictions.

As auctioneers our official advice is to persuade clients to vaccinate their cattle to avoid further regulation.

The price per head is pretty minimal and now that cattle are inside it is a lot easier to manage.

Payments review

Defra has announced that it is going to review all Entry Level and Higher Level Stewardship Schemes, both with regard to the qualifying points and the payment rates.

You should be aware that the rates could go up or down and that there are currently 33,000 Environmental Stewardship Agreements in England covering nearly five million hectares.

Any changes will be implemented in 2010, but existing scheme farmers and those who join before the new rates apply will be unaffected.

You need to watch this space.

EU support growing

IT has been an interesting week following the findings of the Dutch EID sheep trial, which predicted that the introduction of electronic identification would cost the farmer an additional £5.40 per sheep. This equated to a third of his income.

This seems to have persuaded the Germans to turn against the proposals and hopefully the campaign to stop yet another bureaucratic nightmare will gather momentum. Even if the system is to be introduced, technology is such that it will only be 85 per cent accurate; and furthermore the Dutch trials found EID to be “inefficient and unworkable” as interference from electrical sources often meant the stationary readers were unstable.

To try to push this regulation through at a time when we want to increase home production is totally barmy.

New CLA Field Officer

MICHAEL Harrison has been appointed the new CLA Field Officer for the whole of East Yorkshire and part of North Yorkshire.

Mike will be known to all of you in his former life as principal Auctioneer for Cundalls and we wish him well in his new post.

Hills consultation

PAUL Jackson, who is the ANOB officer for the Howardian Hills, has put a draft Management Plan out for public consultation. Anyone who wants to make comment upon it must do so by Friday, December 19. Please contact Paul.

Liable for debts

I came across an interesting article yesterday on the extent to which a company director can be liable for the company debts. Apparently there is case law to support a situation where a director has assured a supplier that he will be paid for his goods despite the company being known to be in some financial difficulty.

The fact that the director has given his personal assurance to the customer can make him personally liable.

If you are in a similar situation with a company, you might consider asking the director to confirm that the company is in a financial position to fulfill it’s payment to you; and such a document would be strong evidence.

OTM stem cell costs

ALL cattle over 30 months old require stem cell tests for BSE and this currently costs in the region of £15 per animal.

Up to the end of the year some of this cost has been borne by the Government, but from January 1, 2009, OTM abattoirs will have to pay the bill.

The abattoirs have joined together to discuss deducting the charge off their farmer suppliers including Auction Mart Markets.

At present the auctioneers are banding together to make it clear no deductions will be accepted at all but you should be aware of the subterfuge afoot.

Bees hit by disease

LAST Friday we were entertained royally at the excellent rugby club sponsors’ dinner at Malton, where the beef was supplied by Peter Hogg from the market and the beer by Tetleys.

After coffee, the sedated gathering were treated to a comprehensive review of bee- keeping by Ryedale’s leading medical apiarist, Dr Owen Weatherill.

Bees play a huge part in our lives being responsible for pollinating a third of what we eat; and their very existence is threatened by a wretched little insect called Veroa which eats into the eggs and either kills the pupa or causes some life threatening deformity. I learned that the queen bee only lives for three years and that her drones are kicked out every autumn. My £1 jar of honey on the breakfast table has taken 24,000 bee journeys to produce.

However fascinating the talk, I was most touched by the way in which the rugby crowd, not noted for its monastic behaviour at dinner, kept silent out of respect for the man who had set such an example as Ryedale’s Senior Medical Practioner.

Market report

Forward 72 cattle including 7 bulls and 21 cows 753 sheep including 100 ewes medium steers to 192 p G D Nutt Thirtleby ave 182.05p heavy steers to 206p G D Nutt Thirtleby ave 154.3p light heifers to 199p J & R Waind Brawby ave 188.5p heavy heifers to 212p J & R Waind Brawby ave 164.2p light bulls to 156p J O Sturdy Old Malton ave 153.4p heavy bulls to 164p S Houlston Great Barugh ave 157.6p OTMs to 116p ave 92.3p standard lambs to 118.4p B Rickatson Harome ave 107.2p medium lambs to 123.3p L Jones Wrelton ave 114.2p heavy lambs to 127p W Smith Salton ave 116.6p overweight lambs to 118.1p R Tindall Yedingham ave 113.9p Ewes to £53 E P Richardson Langdale End ave £32.60