Charles Clover can be irascible. I well remember, long ago, phoning him to try to persuade him of the newsworthiness of an RSPB story and hearing him growling ‘Boring boring, boring boring, boring boring, …‘ down the line at me. But he is worth listening to, and reading, even when wrong, and in his column…
Category: Farming
Your taxation – who is representing your interests?
The NFU is indeed a union working for the interests of its members and we should always remember that. And we should always remember that the money for which they are negotiating is our money, but that they do not negotiate directly with us. Unlike most unions who negotiate directly with an employer, whether public…
Income support for farmers
The argument that Pillar 1 income support for farmers keeps food prices low for all of us is pretty far-fetched. In the bad old days, subsidies were tied to production – you got paid by the taxpayer for every tonne of wheat you produced whether the market wanted it or not and that led to…
CAP reform – CLA statement and a crying killdeer
I’m grateful to the CLA for sending me their statement on CAP reform, a matter of great importance to their membership: A CLA spokesman said: “There has been comment on a rumour that Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is proposing to cut the funds for the Rural Development (second) pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)…
EU CAP cuts – it’s your money – what are they saying?
I heard my former colleagues Martin Harper and Gareth Morgan spelling out the threats to Pillar 2 of the CAP early this morning. Doesn’t it sound dull? Pillar 2? CAP? But it’s about the life in our countryside and how our money is spent. The losses of wildlife in the farmed countryside have been huge…