British Farming In Crisis
Harlequin | 13.10.2002 21:55
Here is the real issue the countryside alliance should be tackling:
Nearly 60,000 farmers and farm workers lost their jobs in the three years to June 2001. The NFU estimates that thousands more have lost their jobs in the first six months of 2002.
Nearly 60,000 farmers and farm workers lost their jobs in the three years to June 2001. The NFU estimates that thousands more have lost their jobs in the first six months of 2002.
It is estimated that 6% of premises infected by foot and mouth will not return to the industry - around 200 businesses. The latest figures show the average UK farmer earned just £10,000 for the financial year to February 2002. Current indications suggest that this will fall further in the coming year.
The "Total Income From Farming" in 2001 was down 71% on 1995 at £1.80 billion. This is more than two-thirds lower than 1996 when it was in excess of £5 billion.
Farmers are getting a decreasing share of the final value of their produce right across the industry. Many farmers are unable to even recoup the cost of production.
Suicides among farmers and farm workers currently stand at 59 a year - more than one a week. The average age of farmers is 58, with little indication of an influx of younger generations.
66% of farmers in Britain regularly work over 60 hours a week, compared to the national average of 38 hours a week.
Foot and mouth has cost farmers over £900 million after compensation, while losses to crops and farm buildings from flooding in recent years have been estimated at half a billion pounds.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF THE AGRICULTURAL RECESSION?
The high value of the pound against the euro encourages food imports and hits our exports. This lowers our internal market prices. This also means UK farmers lose out when support payments - made in euros - are exchanged into pounds. There has been an increase in indirect taxation, for example on fuel, vital to those in rural areas.
The foot and mouth crisis closed off export markets and left farmers with slashed incomes but massive extra costs due to movement restrictions.
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT FARMERS?
Farmers manage over 75% of the land area of the UK, maintaining a landscape that has been cherished for generations.
Around 25,000 farmers have entered nearly a million hectares of farmland into "agri-environment" schemes to care for the countryside. They have planted and renovated 23,000kms of hedgerows in the last three years and manage 230,900 farmland ponds, an increase of 12,200 on 1990.
Farming contributes £6.65 billion to the national economy or 0.8% of the Gross Domestic Product, employing 557,000 farmers and farm workers, or 2.0% of the UK workforce.
More importantly, it forms the basis of the whole food industry, the country's biggest employer, contributing 14% to the GDP and with retail and catering sales of over £100 billion.
Farming is the lynchpin of a countryside tourism industry worth £12 billion. Foot and mouth has highlighted the importance of this role.
Farming allows the UK to be 66.5% self-sufficient in all food and 79% in indigenous foods.
www.nfu.org.uk/info/farmcrisis.asp
The "Total Income From Farming" in 2001 was down 71% on 1995 at £1.80 billion. This is more than two-thirds lower than 1996 when it was in excess of £5 billion.
Farmers are getting a decreasing share of the final value of their produce right across the industry. Many farmers are unable to even recoup the cost of production.
Suicides among farmers and farm workers currently stand at 59 a year - more than one a week. The average age of farmers is 58, with little indication of an influx of younger generations.
66% of farmers in Britain regularly work over 60 hours a week, compared to the national average of 38 hours a week.
Foot and mouth has cost farmers over £900 million after compensation, while losses to crops and farm buildings from flooding in recent years have been estimated at half a billion pounds.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF THE AGRICULTURAL RECESSION?
The high value of the pound against the euro encourages food imports and hits our exports. This lowers our internal market prices. This also means UK farmers lose out when support payments - made in euros - are exchanged into pounds. There has been an increase in indirect taxation, for example on fuel, vital to those in rural areas.
The foot and mouth crisis closed off export markets and left farmers with slashed incomes but massive extra costs due to movement restrictions.
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT FARMERS?
Farmers manage over 75% of the land area of the UK, maintaining a landscape that has been cherished for generations.
Around 25,000 farmers have entered nearly a million hectares of farmland into "agri-environment" schemes to care for the countryside. They have planted and renovated 23,000kms of hedgerows in the last three years and manage 230,900 farmland ponds, an increase of 12,200 on 1990.
Farming contributes £6.65 billion to the national economy or 0.8% of the Gross Domestic Product, employing 557,000 farmers and farm workers, or 2.0% of the UK workforce.
More importantly, it forms the basis of the whole food industry, the country's biggest employer, contributing 14% to the GDP and with retail and catering sales of over £100 billion.
Farming is the lynchpin of a countryside tourism industry worth £12 billion. Foot and mouth has highlighted the importance of this role.
Farming allows the UK to be 66.5% self-sufficient in all food and 79% in indigenous foods.
www.nfu.org.uk/info/farmcrisis.asp
Harlequin
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