March 2023
Updated Oct 2024
Farming is in my blood but I only ever worked on a farm in my youth. You used to hear “there aren’t any poor farmers” and that may have had some merit but over the past 40 years of EU membership a lot of farmers have had a rough deal, especially “Tenant Farmers“.
UK farmers can produce most of the food we need but the membership of the EU saw some farmers being paid to not grow food, unfortunately the “Tenant Farmers” didn’t see any of this, it was the “land owners” who benefited. In theory we are no longer members of the EU and our farmers are now able to start growing food again to feed the nation. Our farmers need to be respected and supported because they can grow close to 90% of our food requirements that we need in the UK. Our farmers could also provide most / all of the meat we need. Our fishing industry has almost been destroyed over the past 40 years but with a lot of investment, it could rise from the ashes. The main thing that would stop this is the “Floating Fish factories”, where huge ships / boats are used to catch huge amounts of fish and process the fish while out at sea. This rapidly depletes our fish stocks.
Our successful farmers have adopted the “new technology” and do some amazing stuff. Vertical farming and “hydroponics” (in addition to fish breeding) are becoming more used but using the land to grow crops is still the most used, they must be allowed to maximise the land to grow crops cost effectively and tenant farmers need to be protected from the greed of the land owners*.
Some of our successful farmers have looked beyond “growing food” and have instead concentrated on growing *non food” crops like Rape / Mustard that allows “Rapeseed Oil” to be produced. Sunflowers, again for oil and maybe bird food. Willow for things like fencing.
We need our farmers to get back to growing crops for food so that we don’t need to rely on imports but the farmers need to be suitably remunerated for the long hours they work and the financial risks they take. Our farmers need our support, they are special people that are amongst the most hardiest of us all.
I think it fair to say that farmers must have stupid streak (no disrespect) – why else would they want to get out of bed early in the morning in all weathers and work long hours in all weathers and work in mude and mire but have no guaranteed earnings!
The problem with farming is that it is a game of chance, its a gambling game.
In a domestic situation where a family decide to grow “crops” in the garden or even an Allotment. The soil is prepared and given nutrients and seeds are planted. It is then a waiting game and is subject to the weather, pests and disease. If all goes well, the family can stock their freezers with produce of the season. If things don’t turn out as planned it isn’t a major problem but the money they spent on seeds and nutrients is “money down the drain”.
Now look at it from a farmers view, they still have the same problems but on a very much larger scale and they need to make a living. The amount of money they have to part with for seed is astronomical and then they have the cost of nutrients and keeping pests and diseases at bay. If the weather is kind and a good harvest is obtained the farmers get to see a reward for their efforts but they then have to sell their produce to make a living. Currently supermarkets / food distributors appear to dictate how much the farmers can sell their produce for. This is bad enough with regards to “arable” farming but it is even worse when it come to “dairy” farming, in some cases the farmers are lucky to break even but the supermarkets still profit. Trying to earn a living by “Livestock” farming is very hit & miss these days, they have to sell many more animals for meat to get any return compared to years ago. Of course supermarkets and food distributors want to get “produce” as low cost as possible so that consumers will be able to buy the produce at a “cost advantage” but still give the supermarkets a profit.
Food retailers do have a big part to play in making sure that we can all have access to fresh and other produce to keep us fed but it is the farmers that should be making the profits because they put in all the hard work and take the most risks financially. They are at the mercy of the weather, pests and diseases but generally they don’t have the means to get their produce to the masses. Food retailers are able to source “food” from abroad to make sure they can supply goods and produce that their customers need or want and this allows them to make a profit. If the food retailers don’t make a profit, they go out of business and this could mean that we go hungry. Some people see “profit” as a dirty word but the whole point of a business is to make a profit otherwise what is the point of running a business!
Farmers (all types) are a sort of business. They obviously want to make a profit from all their hard work but they are at the mercy of the weather, pests and diseases so making a profit is more of a game of chance. In my book farmers are gamblers
Farming is definitely a numbers game and a game of chance. We can’t control the weather but we can support our farmers by not allowing them to be at the mercy of the supermarkets, yes that means we have to accept paying a little more for “locally produced” produce. By doing this, we can help reduce the need to import food that we can otherwise produce.
Growing most of the food we need would reduce the pollution caused by transportation and would potentially give us fresher food.
Farmers generally work long hours and its mostly a mucky job. Early morning starts and late night finishes, why they do this to try to earn a living beggars belief. The thing is, without our farmers; we would be hungry ! We NEED our farmers and we need to make sure they profit from all of the hard work they do. Harvesting is often very labour intensive, especially with fruit. Our farmers need our support in developing mechanised harvesting of labour intensive crops to reduce the waste.
We as nation and indeed we as a world wide population are growing in numbers and we all need feeding, housing and clothing. It would make sense to “look after” and support our farmers to make sure we don’t go hungry. Lets make sure that our farmers are suitably rewarded for the long hours that they work and the gambles they have to make. If our farmers decide “enough is enough” and decide to get away from farming, we will go hungry 🙁
We need to support our farmers and make sure that they are suitably rewarded for their hard work and long hours. They are at the mercy of the weather and other factors and quite often their harvests are not “bountiful”. We need to encourage our (Arable) farmers to use “new technology” for harvesting and to use such things as “vertical farming” and “Hydroponics” to make sure they have an adequate income to live on.
Our “dairy” farmers need to be suitably rewarded for providing milk and should not be selling milk at lower than the cost of production.
Our “dairy” farmers that produce eggs and cheese should be suitably rewarded.
Our “Livestock” farmers that produce meat (Pork, Beef, Lamb, Chicken and other) need to be suitably rewarded because we are mostly meat eaters that also eat vegetables 🙂
Without our farmers, we would go hungry.
Yes, we can import (often cheaper) food but our (Local) farmers can provide us with most of our needs. Unfortunately cost is often a big factor. Supermarkets and food distributors will always try to get the lowest cost, to make them more competitive. When we have a situation where the Supermarkets dictate the prices that they will pay for Produce, Milk and Eggs etc we have a problem. We should never be in a situation where we can import “produce” at a lower cost than “Locally Grown” produce. We need to support our local farmers, food is a basic need and should never be a “profit exercise” for non farmers. Food should be available to the masses at affordable prices and this is the same for housing but that is a different issue.
Currently the world population stands at about 8+ Billion humans and we all need feeding, housing and clothing. Farmers can help with the feeding and maybe the clothing but maybe not with housing. Feeding our ever increasing numbers is a job for our farmers and we need to make sure that our farmers are suitability rewarded for all their hard work. We need to make sure that we don’t have profiteers making huge profits while the farmers are living hand to mouth. We might need to have a situation where more farmers supply produce directly to consumers to cut out the profiteers but that won’t be easy.
Food is a basic need and our farmers should never have to sell their produce at a lower cost than the cost of producing it. They should be protected (financially) from poor harvests that they have no control over. Humans are naturally omnivore, meat and fish provides us with the best quality protein. Vegetables also provide us with other nutrients that are not obtained from meat or fish. A balanced diet is always the healthiest and this would include meat, “flesh”, fish and vegetables along with grains, legumes, seeds and fruits. Our farmers can provide all of this. We need to make sure that the profiteers don’t make a food a currency. Affordable food should always be available to everyone and there should never be any requirement for “Food Banks” in wealthy countries like Britain (UK).
Food should never be a Commodity where the profiteers make more profit than the farmers who do all the hard work and take all the risks.
Farmers are our friends, profiteers are not.