Time for government intervention

rick_chasey

bails87 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's not like people are loyal to particular milk brands!

I only buy milk that's come from cows called Daisy!

Explains a lot

Stone Glider

There is a piece in the paper today about a "Factory Farm For Cows" being proposed for Lincolnshire and opposed by some animal welfare group. It is very dificult to do anything in this country if it involves change. These delays and costs inhibit investment and make this country less attractive. We all want "green" electricity but at no cost and please site the windfarm elsewhere.

As has been seen by the Cadbury saga, this country is open to exploitation by other countries buying a company, selling the jobs elsewhere but retaining the market for the product in this country. Bad for the balance of payments but good for the financiers.

Please do not imagine that anything will change with a change of government.

Porgy

I was once lectured by a farmer about how his industry had been f***ked by the government when I was trying to get casual work back int he mid 80s.

I had to endure a lengthy rant - the upshot of which was he could not afford to take on any staff to help on his farm that year. Apparently the weather was conspiring against him too.

As he waxed lyrical about his lack of income I couldn;t help but glance at his expensive watch, his welll furnished 5/6 bedroom house, and the fleet of cars in his compound which included a Range Rover and a Porsche.

rake

Porgy wrote:

I was once lectured by a farmer about how his industry had been f***ked by the government when I was trying to get casual work back int he mid 80s.

I had to endure a lengthy rant - the upshot of which was he could not afford to take on any staff to help on his farm that year. Apparently the weather was conspiring against him too.

As he waxed lyrical about his lack of income I couldn;t help but glance at his expensive watch, his welll furnished 5/6 bedroom house, and the fleet of cars in his compound which included a Range Rover and a Porsche.

a lot of people make this observation but ive seen as many with string holding their trousers up. his personal wealth probably still only makes up for a small amount of the business turnover so doesnt really indicate the state of a large company. one of my emloyers had to liquidate and he had a jag and very large house so i was told.

Headhuunter

johnfinch wrote:

nolf wrote:

Maybe they should be better at what they do.

Let me put it this way, its cheaper to import milk on a ship from another country (so loads of travel costs, refrigeration costs, import taxes + hassle, plus the normal costs), than it is to take it from a farm nearby and put it in the shops.

I think that speaks volumes for how rubbish UK farmers are. They get huge enough subsidies under the CAP as it is.

British farmers aren't as well subsidised as some of their foreign counterparts. France gets 22% of CAP money, Spain 15% and Italy 12%, compared to the UK which gets 9%.

That's exactly why we used to get a rebate from the EU - we are one of the top contributors to the EU pot, yet we don't benefit from CAP as Spain, France etc do. Margaret Thatcher argued long and hard for the rebate however Tony Blair flushed it down the toilet a couple of years ago...

nipon

nolf wrote:

Maybe they should be better at what they do.

Let me put it this way, its cheaper to import milk on a ship from another country (so loads of travel costs, refrigeration costs, import taxes + hassle, plus the normal costs), than it is to take it from a farm nearby and put it in the shops.

I think that speaks volumes for how rubbish UK farmers are. They get huge enough subsidies under the CAP as it is.

Ahh so thats why i had to give up milking cows,because i was 'rubish' at it. Not because we were screwed by the government and the introduction of milk quota and the fact that we were spreading milk on the fields just to get rid of it because we weren't allowed to sell it and all the while still importing french milk.Not because we were leasing quota for 16p per litre and then were given 9p a litre for the milk.There were 6 dairy farms in our village,there are 2 left.This country now has a milk shortage as there are not enough farms left and when they're gone, they're gone. But hey ho if we were better at what we do we would have been ok.

passout

I've got a milk man.

I buy lancs cheese and meat.

Not for political reasons, it's the best available to me. But then I like my food...

pliptrot

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

We could & arguably should, produce all the dairy products needed, however EU regulations forbid it.

Which ones and how?

rick_chasey

dmclite-3.0

Rick Chasey wrote:

Dang, beat me to it.

Dog Breath

Blimey, how could you ever find a thread that you thought was relevant from over 2 years ago. I know milk prices have been in the news lately, but I never once thought, "I know, there was a thread on Bike Radar in March 2010 about this. A perfect time to bring it to the fore"..

I recall on another forum someone who was banned because they kept resurrecting old threads. A form of trolling me thinks.

Frank the tank

Got to say when I saw this thread and noticed I'd started it I thought fcuking 'ell, I'd better look what I posted.

DesB3rd

when they're gone, they're gone.

I like this idea - when a farmer winds up his business the ground opens and the land becomes a bottomless & perpetual void...

Farming like any other economic venture is open to entrepreneurial intervention; if milk prices spiral (as some fear in the case of greater foreign dependancy) then the business case for a dairy farm becomes increasingly viable & new entrants appear. Cattle & equipment is a major investment but if the margin is high people will invest.