Farmers sue Defra for £40m.....

[runaway]

In the aftermath of the foot and mouth crisis 6 farmers are suing the Government (Defra) for £40m. Is this "fair" or not?

Farmers Weekly article

The amount does seem a lot but I suppose if put in perspective these farmers had their livelihoods taken away from them, for something they didn't do, and will have had to find employment elsewhere etc. I more than likely would do the same.

My thought is if they win their case do all the farmers that were affected not have a case? Should they sue too?

 

[vivhewe]

Seeing as it isn't farmers but swill producers who haven't lost their livelihoods the same as farmers then they can sod off LOL!

Had it been farmers who because of F&M lost their livestock and had since found reason to sue the government I'd be in favour.

I reckon F&M was a fluke anyway - I had it from a reliable source that the government were buying loads of railway sleepers etc. for pyres from Germany before F&M was even 'discovered'

 

[Patches]

As a farmer who was under Form D restrictions during Foot and Mouth (ie it was very close but we kept our stock whereas farmers a mile or so away lost theirs) I can't begin to explain to you anyone how terrifying Foot and Mouth was for us. We didn't sleep properly for months worrying about the stock and of course our income should we lose them. Not to mention worrying about how it would have upset the children to see the whole herd killed and then burnt on a pyre.

My understanding was that the Government were very quick to pay out compensation to farmers who had lost their stock. Animals were valued before being killed and paid accordingly in the early days.

As it dragged on, and the expense of compensation became apparent, I'm sure there was a single fee per head depending on age, in lactation etc. This meant those who were breeding top showing stock that sold for "silly money" were only getting the same as farmers who weren't breeding pedigree holsteins for milking or other pure breeds for beef. I don't know if they went on to seek compensation for the loss of their prime stock though.

The problem with a claim like this one, is where does it stop? So many businesses lost their livelihoods through foot and mouth....hoteliers, restuarants, tourist locations, riding schools and trekking centres....the list was endless. I think everyone affected should have a fair crack at the whip, not just farmers, in terms of compensation payouts.

We were so convinced our stock would be affected as we farm with the M6 running through our land. M6 corridor to Cumbria where so many cases were detected. The Government didn't act swiftly enough to stop the national spread of the disease in the early days. I simply think they failed to grasp the severity of it initially and there must've been infected animals transported passed us along the M6 before there was a national movement restriction. We saw the sealed wagons taking stock for rendering in Cheshire pass along the motorway after the pyres started to be phased out too. It was a very worrying time and I can't even begin to imagine what it felt like to actually have your stock victims to foot and mouth.

It was one of the blackest times for farmers and has and always will have dramatic impacts on farming in general. Far more red tape and paperwork since foot and mouth.

 

[runaway]

Do you think the Gov. have 'shut the door after the horse has bolted' though Patches? I appreciate hind sight is a wonderful thing and all that.

Found the points you made really interesting, especially re the payouts/compensation. Breeding, of any animal, takes years to reach what is the aim and of course farmers breeding pigs sheep or cows would go through the same process as horse breeders.

Hope the topic hasn't refreshed the feelings, not that they are likely to disappear totally, and thank you for giving your first hand thoughts.

 

[Patches]

I simply don't believe that the Government thought it would ever become such a widespread problem as it did. Initial televised news reports were quite nonplussed with regards to the implications about foot and mouth. We were struck with panic when we first heard the mention of foot and mouth! When the first suspected case of Foot and Mouth was found and acted upon there had been countless movements in and out of the abattoir since those animals arrival (if I recall it was Pigs). Bio-security which is commonplace now, was non-existent back then. The local middle man running the service that would collect from varying farms and take to slaughter didn't clean out their vehicles after every run. Cross infection of any sort was waiting to happen. In the last epidemic of F&M in the 60's infection was far less widespread as animals never used to be transported the way they are today. Local slaughter houses, sometimes on farm, were the norm.

After confirmation, I believe movement restrictions were limited to just a 3km radius around infected farms. That was it. A national restriction should've been imposed from day one. In the height of F&M we could move cows going directly for slaughter, under a movement licence. Even with strict bio-security it was still a concern but a necessity for those with stock that needed to go for beef before reaching 30 months as well as fallen and casualty stock.

We (farmers collectively) had to bang on councillors doors (so to speak) before they would close footpaths running through fields. We had walkers coming through our land that had walked here from areas we knew had lost stock to foot and mouth! It was crazy.

I seem to remember that the standard payout was £1000 per lactating cow and yet people had cows that would fetch thousands of guineas at sales and other pure breeds that were part of an entire breeding programme and line that would be lost.

Farmer local to us lost his entire heard of prime Jersey Cows. The breeding line, through closed breeding, had been in his family for generations. That can never be truly replaced.

 

[runaway]

It is just incomprehesible what it must have been like to be like yourself, a farmer. My dad's a retired farmer now and we only ever had stock for the house, never a herd, so I can't really put myself in the situation, but your desciptions are certainly vivid enough to give me an idea. The news was the only place I really learnt anything about it all. Think my new found interest in farming issues influenced by the Gov has appeared due to a job interview I've got at the end of the month and the course I'm doing at uni. Been doing alot of research into policy and the like. In particular the CROW Act!

 

[vivhewe]

[ QUOTE ]
I seem to remember that the standard payout was £1000 per lactating cow and yet people had cows that would fetch thousands of guineas at sales and other pure breeds that were part of an entire breeding programme and line that would be lost.

Farmer local to us lost his entire heard of prime Jersey Cows. The breeding line, through closed breeding, had been in his family for generations. That can never be truly replaced.

[/ QUOTE ]

So so true. Our milk cows were all born at the farm except one which we called Robert (don't ask

) and they were wiped out overnight. A few years prior to F&M we sold half of them off, and it was awful to hear how one by one they were all being culled too. I think in the end there were about 3 of them left

I felt gutted at the time, and guilty that I didn't cry until a couple of months later when I was dreaming they were all alive on the hill where they are buried. I still do sometimes, but we weren't the only ones. It's just so sad that so many years work went like that, but (quoted) 'farming's buggered'. Those two words seem to sum it all up I think

 

[Patches]

we'd have been the same as you had we lost our stock. I really sympathise with all that lost theirs, you included. All of our followers are born through a closed herd. I can only remember once in the last 8 years where we had to buy in young heifers. That was after a year of getting only 12 heifers from 102 calvings!!!! The Holstein bulls and angus crosses that are born(we put the heifers to an angus stock bull for the first calving so they have an easier delivery) are sold on to beef herds.

Several of our neighbouring farms got out when farmers had the all clear to re-stock after foot and mouth. They sold them to the highest bidders when stock were rare for sometimes tripple their actual value. We have said many times over, with the way farming has deteriorated of late, that we should've sold ours then whilst there was a prime market for them. Problem is, so many got out of dairy farming at that time that there's no one left to rent your land. What do you do with 230 acres if you don't farm it?

People outside of farming cannot ever comprehend the lifestyle sacrifices involved when you're farmers, more so dairy farmers I believe as there is the daily tie to twice milking. So many people think we must be "loaded" because we own a farm. Yes, we don't live on the breadline, but I'm not sure the nice location is worth the working hour week with no time off for holidays, sickness, wedding, or paternity leave. The profit we make stays in the bank as we don't have the chance to spend it!!!

(well I'd find a way....horse box, new car....manège etc etc, but that's far too extravagant for my farmer hubby to comprehend!)