AS the week has rolled by, and the various industry pundits get their teeth into what meat there is on the mid-term review skeleton, it has become apparent that the more productive and intensive farmers in Severely Disadvantaged Areas (SDA) are real losers.

The well-intended division of England into our upland areas (SDAs), which include extensive grazing and moorland; and the lowlands, which are rolled up into the rest of the country, has resulted in economic discrimination against the hill men.

Although the rates are not yet declared, it is thought that the final single payment on an area basis will be around £70 to £90 per acre for most of the country but will drop to £25 to £30 for the SDAs.

The more productive suckler cow and beef men could already be receiving £100 per acre or more in subsidies which will melt away under the new regime; and without which they cannot survive.

The boundaries of the SDAs have been well defined for many years, and there is no provision in the proposals so far to make any exceptions.

If this situation continues, then there will be real hardship for many of our upland men who are stewarding areas of the country that the public most want to see maintained.

I rang the National Sheep Association (NSA)earlier this week and officials there are equally concerned at the injustice.

My only suggestion, I am afraid, is that anyone who is caught up in this upland trap should press for a realignment of the boundaries through the NSA or the National Beef Association or the NFU.

Alternatively, you could buy a farm in Wales and have all your historic entitlement!

The Farm Assurance agencies are courting the dairy farmer to persuade him to join up to a beef assurance scheme, but is this yet another unnecessary expense?

The promotion is based upon the impending demise of the OTM, scheme which has suffered a series of pretty inexplicable delays since it was first announced last summer.

As far as I understand it, our ultra-cautious health ministers are still looking at the various aspects of the safety implications, which include the logistics of BSE testing thousands of animals before allowing them into the food chain.

The probability is that these Whitehall men, detached from agricultural reality, will be persuaded that all OTM cattle destined for the food chain should come off Farm Assured premises.

If this happens, the dairy men will have to pull up their beef socks pretty rapidly.

The National Dairy Farm Assurance Scheme (NDFAS) is offering a joint inspection to cover beef animals as well, so if your renewal date is coming up, it may be worth while considering both for the coming year.

From an industry point of view, in many ways I hope that they delay the introduction of OTM cattle onto the market until early 2005 when we will probably have a shortage of supplies.

If they bring cows back before the end of the year, this could compound the pressure on the slaughter market in November and December when a lot of beef men will be rushing to claim the slaughter premium before it vanishes.

I heard a sanitary tale from Gordon Inman about the facilities offered to clients at the Rural Payments office at Northallerton, where many of us have waited for hours to get help with IACS forms and the like.

There used to be a full range of toilets just off the foyer, but on Gordon's last visit there was just a blank wall.

I understand that one elderly and irate farmer threatened to use the wall unless he was allowed access to the staff toilets!

It seems a strange way to me to show goodwill towards one's clientele, especially when the nearest alternate public facilities are half a mile away up the high street.

I keep banging on about proper labelling whilst the supermarket giants would rather not discuss the subject.

It amused me when, last week, Janet Wallbank walked into the Asda store at Preston, and bought a half shoulder of New Zealand lamb clearly carrying the Little Red Tractor logo.

The label also stated that the New Zealand product was a "British Farm Standard" and "Produce of the UK".

When asked for a comment, the Asda spokesman said that it was a one-off labelling error; but the same person had also seen John Prescott driving a mini and forecast that France would win the Six Nations Rugby!

Now who do you believe?

Forward on Tuesday were 157 cattle including 63 bulls; 1,441 sheep including 216 ewes.

Light steers to 121p from J E Remmer, Pickering (average 115.5p); heavy steers to 131p from J L Gray, Grindale (99.7p).

Medium heifers to 135p from G I Marwood, Harome (108.6p); heavy heifers to 133p from G I Marwood (101.8p).

Light bulls to 112p from T D Butterworth, North Grimston (110.3p); medium bulls to 116p from T D Butterworth (101.5p); heavy bulls to 121p from M Brown, Folkton (100.3p); black and white bulls to 96p from M Brown (86.5p).

Standard hoggs to 138.1p from A Cussons & Sons, Kirbymoorside (124.7p); medium hoggs to 151.1p from J L Gray, Grindale (129.6p); heavy hoggs to 141.4p from T Midgley & Son, Painsthorpe (125.6p); overweight hoggs to 124.1p from Wytherstone Farms, Beadlam (120.6p).

Ewes to £81 from J Byas, Knapton (£51.80).

Updated: 10:18 Wednesday, February 25, 2004