South West NFU team blog: Dec 2014

24 November 

CAP updates make progress
This week was focused on updating Wiltshire members on the changes to the CAP from January 2015 onwards. The late October update from Defra on the scheme has given us more information on the rule surrounding the ‘Active Farmer’ definition and some more rules on greening alongside an update on the online application process. The week began with another breakfast meeting up in the ‘north’ of the county, just outside of Malmesbury and ended with a day of one-to-one sessions in the Marlborough NFU Mutual office and had some great discussions about individual situations. More one-to-ones will be held over the winter period and we will be working on some more road-shows and local sessions to help members get to grips with the new online system. 

Beaver trial resisted by NFU
Working with HQ colleagues we have helped to develop the national position statement on the reintroduction of beaver. A population of beavers are currently present on the River Otter having “escaped” from captivity; their presence is illegal and they are being removed by the AHVLA. Devon Wildlife Trust has applied to run a 5-year trial in the river Otter catchment. If it were successful then beavers could become resident again in England. The NFU is looking at this issue from a national perspective and has taken the view that without the ability to fully manage and control beaver through changes in the legislation we cannot support any trial. This is because the risks of potential damage to farmland and beaver acting as a new disease source are too high. On 19 November the NFU President wrote to Natural England and Defra explaining our position.

17 November

CAP meetings and a spot of public speaking

It’s been another busy week for the team, with well attended CAP roadshows taking place across the region. Part of the Gloucestershire meeting was filmed as part of the BBC Midlands politics show. NFU Vice President Guy Smith had busy days in Dorset and Gloucestershire, where he attended meetings at Cirencester, Gloucester and Tetbury. The county chairman, council delegate and vice chairman joined Guy to meet members on a farm within the pilot cull area when he was able to hear about all aspects of the cull and the desire for national rollout. Following an invitation from the APHA (formerly the AHVLA) Gloucestershire members were also able to share their views with two EU auditors responsible for evaluating TB and other health measures. They went away in no doubt that we want to see the UK government take action to control the disease in wildlife, alongside the cattle movement and biosecurity measures farmers undertake.
Gloucestershire’s vice chairman Simon Pain joined county adviser Colin Downey at the AGM of the Gloucestershire Federation of Young Farmers and wished Katie Hall well as the new chair.

Meanwhile, Devon adviser Andrew Butler was invited to speak at a public meeting and this is his report: Every now and then I speak to groups of people across Devon about the farming industry and last week I had one such occasion.  I always enjoy these opportunities as it is a fascinating opportunity to engage directly with our industry’s customers and see what topics they are interested in. Quite often they are driven by what has been in the headlines recently, so this time we had a good discussion around milk prices; impact of retailers and GM.  There is always at least one slightly odd question, this time it was ‘Why do you feed artichokes to cows?’  I have to say this flummoxed me, as I have never come across an instance of cows eating artichokes!  I was pleased with the knowledge that they had about the Red Tractor and their desire to support Devon and British farmers in general, which confirms some of the recent survey work the NFU has done showing the vast majority of the public support British farmers.