CFE and NFU

Last week’s Farmers Guardian had a couple of short pieces on the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, answering the question ‘Is it working?’. I was asked to write the piece saying ‘No’ and this is what I wrote: “The CFE is a Big Society approach – ironically one set by the last Labour Government. Would…

Gone and forgotten?

‘Farmland birds in Europe fall to lowest levels‘ is a terribly sad headline.  And we should be raging that things have got so bad. The grey (or ‘English’) partridge is in free-fall right across Europe with a decline of two thirds in numbers since 1990, and of 82% since 1980 according to the European Bird…

Game Fair

I was at the CLA Game Fair on Friday and Saturday.  In a previous existence I used to spend three days there but I’ve given myself Sunday off for good behaviour. A couple of days at the Game Fair could provide the inspiration for a year’s blogs, and much of this coming week’s blogging will…

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…

It’s your money

I’m picking up very worrying rumours that there are cuts afoot in the funding for farming, and the impacts of these cuts could dramatically affect how much wildlife you see on your walks in the countryside. The way that farming is funded, by you, the taxpayer, is not completely straight forward and varies across the…