Morley's in the land of Nod

At least when Finn had completed his task I could pick it up and reel it in again, which is not the case with the latest missives from Elliott Morley and DEFRA which arrived on our desks this week and added to the interminable red tape.

I really don't know which part of the land of Nod Elliott Morley lives in, but somebody ought to tell him that it's 11 months since we had a case of FMD and the latest regulations on movement are frankly worse than we had during the crisis itself.

It would take a university professor to comprehend the goulash of rules that have been dreamt up for sheep, and a full-time secretary to implement them.

For a start, one leaflet pronounces that the new documentation is to commence from August 29 and another leaflet suggests September 6, but to be safe, we shall have to assume it is all in place from the end of this week.

Dealing specifically with sheep, they seem to have created an horrific form called AML 1 which has to be completed for every sheep movement, and I cannot find any exceptions to this. So it seems to encompass farm to farm, farm to market and farm to abattoir. What is equally frustrating from the markets' point of view is that we have to fill in yet another version of the same form for sheep to move from the market to an abattoir; and it is not yet clear as to whether we shall have to do this for each farmer's sheep or whether we can do it by purchaser.

If the former is to be the case, which would be logical as traceability is their declared objective, then one cull ewe can end up with a complete licence in three sections being completed by the farmer and then another one by the market. Bearing in mind the whole thing is in triplicate with one section to be returned to the local authority within three days, then you can understand why the arrangements look like being a nightmare.

Rest assured, as far as the market is concerned, we shall comply and maintain the appropriate documentation, which, as a final coup, has to be kept by all the parties for at least six months.

I am afraid I have written in anger to Elliott Morley asking him bluntly if he still believes we have FMD in the country and if not, I suggest that the only other explanation is that he has been a student of the Mugabe School for Agricultural Reform in his quest to exterminate the white farmer in this country also!

The second 32-page glossy that dropped on to our desks was the 'Guidelines for Farmers in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones'. It seems to me that this latest raft of red tape exposes not so much the vulnerability of our rivers from nitrogen, but the very existence of farming as we know it.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad, the public will have to decide, but I can no longer blame any of the younger farming generation for wanting to quit this country.

For the lay person, I can tell you that in response to an EEC directive about the levels of nitrogen in our rivers, this Government first of all identified about 6pc of the arable area in the UK which might be over supplied with manufactured nitrogen. This is now not deemed to be enough action by Europe and the next stage is to involve 50pc of the land mass of this country which would be subjected to the new NVZ rules.

These involve compulsory keeping of field record sheets for every application of fertiliser or organic manure.

The part you may find even comical is that every animal is given a rate of annual excreta which has to be taken into account when measuring nitrogen output.

For example, a dairy cow would produce 116kg of nitrogen compared to a broiler chicken which can only manage kg!

As far as FYM is concerned, each farmer in the NVZ area has to calculate the area of grassland available for spreading, the area of his farm available for spreading and, thereafter, the amount of manurial nitrogen capacity for the whole farm with a final link to the number and type of livestock he keeps.

If you manage to complete this part of the test correctly then you will be allowed to keep the records for a compulsory five-year period and be available for inspection by the Environment Agency at all "reasonable times".

This latest nutty programme starts December 19 this year and generally includes all the lower lying arable land, but, thankfully, at the moment the uplands of the North York Moors are exempt.

Reply to grain stocks

Another good friend, David Sheppard, trading director of Gleadell Agriculture, sent me an e-mail with hopefully the definitive answer to the question raised by my Bossall correspondent last week!

At the end of this season, world stocks of wheat will total around 140m tonnes compared to total world production of wheat at around 575m tonnes annually.

At 24pc, the stocks are historically low but not critical.

Wheat stocks are held across the world but in the UK there are no Government-held stocks, only those owned by private companies.

All the major exporters, such as the EU and the USA, regularly buy wheat for their food aid programmes.

For example, two seasons ago, Gleadells loaded 90,000 tonnes of wheat onto three boats out of Immingham destined for Ethiopia and Elitrea. The reality is, therefore, that grain stocks are being distributed to those in need and sponsored by the tax payer but the problem remains of ensuring that the grain reaches the starving millions.

I understand that Angola sold the last consignment it was given to fund their own Civil War!

Asda's Brazilian beef!

This week the Daily Mail has exposed what I believe is a fundamentally dishonest practice being carried out by Asda in its meat-selling section.

Their suppliers, ABP, have been selling through their 250 nationwide stores packs of beef under the 'Supreme Steak' label.

The only indication of the origin of the meat was the name ABP on the packaging and its address in Northampton.

It has since come to light that the 'Supreme Steaks' came from Brazil and the law does not require the origin to be labelled if some of the process has been carried out in this country - and all ABP did was to add a seasoning of salt and pepper!

This may not be illegal, but it's a pretty shameful trick to play on the public and the British farmers.

A wedding list at Yates!

Two young friends, Polly Farnsworth and Rich Pearson, are bringing their long courtship to an end with their marriage in September; and spurning the bright lights and high prices of Harrods, they have placed their wedding list with R Yates & Sons of Malton.

I am one of those who considers Yates should be on the National Heritage Trail and is a real local treasure of which we should be proud. But the youngsters' move does make a lot of sense.

Many more that are getting married could do well to think about spreading their wedding list around the local shop keepers instead of heading for the big multiples.

Best wishes to Polly and Richard and long life to their wellies and wheelbarrows!

Tuesday was also a fine harvesting day so we were pleased to get a respectable show of stock with some new faces and good prices.

There were 365 sheep and lambs were an excellent trade averaging 112p per kilo up to a top of 116p for a pen from John Jacklin at Yatts.

Doug Stark, of Coulton, made the top price per head, a staggering £59.50 for some heavyweight lambs.

Ewes were also a better trade making up to £47 a head for a pen from Jim Stenton.

There were only 42 cattle for sale, but it was a real pleasure to see George Marwood back rewriting the record books again with an outstanding heifer that made 137p per kilo before being bought by Frank Turner on behalf of Radfords Butchers of Sleights.

The best bull came from Raymond Baxter at 117p per kilo and the smartest steer from Bill Chambers at 113p per kilo.

The overall average price for cattle in excess of 100p per kilo speaks for itself.

Don't forget next Friday, September 6, is the special Malton Sheep Sale for which we already have an entry in excess of 2,500.

For advice or movement forms ring the Almighty or Paul Morse!

Updated: 09:36 Thursday, August 29, 2002