Farm Diary May 27 2009

That is just as well when I see the number of rabbits on the grass fields at Crouchlands, and once again we are having to cull them in order to keep some control of numbers. James shot 50 the other night, and although that falls well short of the 100 '“ 130 we used to shoot in a night years ago, it still shows that there are far too many about.

Too many rabbits is not good for me; or the rabbits themselves. The same goes for most species, if there are too many they either go hungry or suffer disease. Wildlife management is a fundamental part of living in the countryside.

We had the delightful experience of a visit from Plaistow primary school last week. A class of children of around 7 years old arrived at the bottom of our drive at 9.00am. We loaded them into our livestock trailer, where some small bales of hay (borrowed from a neighbour) had been placed for them to sit on.

They saw the cows having breakfast, the breakfast being prepared in the big mixing wagon, some other cows having their beds made whilst they were being milked, bales of straw being spread in the loose yard as fresh bedding and the cows on holidays. They loved the calf shed, where the calves took full advantage of willing hands, nice and soft for sucking!

The next stop was the dairy, where all hands were carefully washed, and then the highlight of the day; the milking parlour. Adrian too over tour duties at this point, organizing milking on one side of the parlour so that the children could stand on the other side, watching.

They found the whole process fascinating, and it's a great shame that these days, we can't give them fresh milk to drink in order to complete the experience. It was my turn again, and I took them to see the 'anaerobic digester' which is now nearing its final stages of construction. They were amazed at the 'amount of poo' we have on the farm, and I did my best to explain how we are going to extract gas from that 'poo' and turn it into electricity. After a glass of orange juice and a biscuit, they headed back for school along the bridlepath, on foot. We have invited them to come again.

Farming Minister Jane Kennedy revealed the extent of the exodus from dairy farming when questioned by Jim Paice shadow agriculture minister recently; since this government came to power in 1997, almost 15,000 dairy farmers have left the industry.

Over 600,000 cattle have been slaughtered due to bovine TB, which has played a major part in loss of production and the general feeling of hopelessness amongst dairy farmers in the areas affected. The effect of 'red tape' and poor regulation in addition to the sheer cost of the regulation burden is another reason for many to seek easier ways of making a living.

In West Sussex the number of dairy farmers have almost halved in the last 7 years, falling from 128 to 72 today. East Sussex 103 down to 54, Kent 111 to 71, Surrey 62 to 34, Hampshire 187 to 109, the Isle of Wight 41 to 23. Looking further west but still in the South East region, we see numbers in Buckinghamshire falling from 119 to 62, Berkshire 53 to 27, and Oxforshire 118 to 60.

At this rate, one has to wonder if there will be much dairy farming in the South East by the time those children who visited our farm last week have children of their own. Where will they find a dairy farm to visit? What effect will that have on the landscape? It will certainly be a poorer place for them to live without the dairy cow.

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State, who has done more than anyone I can remember to completely undermine farmers confidence by simply having the job, was attempting to answer questions on a wide range of topics, posed by members of the 'EFRA' committee, during a meeting of the 'Securing Food Supplies up to 2050:the challenges for the UK'.

Well, what challenges these are; with world population up to a predicted 9 billion people by 2050, food production needs to double! With a government in disarray, a vegetarian in charge of agriculture, massive amounts of beurocracy, brutal treatmet of suppliers by major retailers, and an attitude that we can import what we need; I put it to you that this country is in no position to feed itself, never mind worry about the requirements of the world.