IN common with many other sections of our agricultural community, auctioneers have been short of social opportunities and Tuesday night's association meeting brought together more auctioneers suffering from rostrum withdrawal symptoms than we have seen for many years in the county.

The main item on the agenda was the faxed receipt of the draft regulations for obtaining a licence to operate a livestock market. Our national team have spent nearly five months negotiating sensible conditions and this has been the more difficult because of the paranoid obsession with biosecurity and the perception that markets have been the root cause of spreading disease.

In the circumstances they have done pretty well and, apart from a few impractical requirements, we should be able to comply with the bulk of the regulations.

- Each market will be required to produce a comprehensive document called a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which will be signed, available and reviewed each year.

- Contingency plans in case of suspected disease.

- All persons attending markets must be clean and disinfected.

- Staff are dealt with quite strictly.

- The pens and facilities seem to be much as usual except wooden structures are now frowned upon.

- Disinfection facilities to be provided at loading docks.

- All livestock vehicles to have their tyres and wheel arches disinfected.

- No empty livestock vehicle can come onto the premises on a market day unless it is clean.

- Livestock is to be moved subject to a general licence with no requirement for individual journeys.

- Fatstock can be taken home from a market subject to the 20-day standstill.

- The 20-day standstill will apply to any stock coming onto a farm but it only affects breeding and store stock leaving the unit (not fatstock).

- There are certain special rules which are unclear about the separation of species within a market.

Despite its 18-page length, the draft conditions for obtaining a market licence do not seem insuperable but the devil may lie in the detail.

For Malton and York, we are getting straight on with our approaches to DEFRA and I will report each week on the progress towards opening, which is now forecast for February 11 or 18.

The 20-day standstill rule on the movement of livestock is at the heart of Government thinking but everyone else in the industry is convinced it will be disastrous.

Basically, it means that if any livestock comes onto your holding then nothing can leave the holding for breeding or store sales for a period of 21 days.

I realise it doesn't affect slaughter stock but it will be both unworkable and impossible to police.

This means, in effect, that bringing any animals back onto the farm from another farm or from market will sterilise the whole of the unit for the standstill period. For the farmer who may have a regular policy of buying in stock every few weeks, his holding may never be free for him to sell animals off it apart from through the slaughter market.

Two alternative suggestions have been put forward and I would urge you to promote one or both:

- A six-day standstill would give some protection on the whole unit.

- A 20- day standstill on just the animal that is involved in the movement but not the rest of the farm.

Our milkman is brilliant - delivering pintas every day along with paper, eggs, orange and cream.

Talking to him the other day, I understand that the daily round has ceased in Lilling and Sheriff Hutton, which is a real shame for a lot of old people.

Don't forget that the milk we get on our doorstep is guaranteed to be British whereas if you go into a supermarket there is every chance that this longlife stuff has come from overseas.

I am putting in a serious plea to support a peculiar British tradition, our local milkman.

- Northumberland County Council has struck a note of independence and it is having their own public inquiry into the FMD outbreak in the county. It will be conducted in open session and continue for five days. If only our national Government would do the same.

- Chester Brown picked some figures out of Willie Poole's diary which were a surprise. The November slaughter numbers have been published, and don't forget this was two months after the last confirmed case. A total of nearly 63,000 head of stock were slaughtered during the month, the vast majority of which were condemned because they were on contiguous premises, a term which has become all encompassing and with little legal base.

- The farmgate prices for milk seem to be a little chaotic with the spot market hovering as low as 15p/litre.

- There was a wonderful turnout for Dick Andrew's farm sale at Sledmere last Saturday to witness the sale of a very early Titan tractor which made £8,000.

Demand has been variable between the species over the past week.

Pigs, I am afraid, are still in their post-Christmas depression and there are a lot of baconers struggling to make much over 90p/kilo. The best lightweight gilts can still top 100p.

Sheep numbers are coming forward steadily but I do just wonder if there is any great depth and that we may run short again within a month or two.

Trade hiccuped slightly, with odd abattoirs bringing the price back to around 210p/kilo and lowering the weight maximum. Generally, we can get deals ranging from 210-225p/kilo, dependent on terms. Cull ewes are still saleable and, again, the price is negotiable, running from £1-£1.35p/kilo.

In the cattle section, demand remains buoyant with a mini auction going on between the abattoirs at times. Be very wary of the top prices as there may be other ways of making ends meet.

In my view, the current trade for 'R' grade clean cattle is around 173-180p/kilo with premiums for quality retail cattle going up to 195p/kilo.

Bulls are lagging behind a little but even they are running at 170-175p on an 'R' grade. Breaking-up black and white cattle are lifting with the general trend and the best can go up towards 160p or better.

There are still plenty of spaces on the OTMS scheme - please ring if you want to move some cows.

Help us to help you and phone our help lines at Malton on (01653) 697820/692151 and York on (01904) 489731.

Updated: 09:36 Thursday, January 17, 2002