Farming subsidies

[nickk]

This is not a rant,a lot of farmers,particularly the hill farmers around here are on a very low hourly rate if you look at the hours they put in,even the more efficient ones,I know milk prices have gone up considerably,but fertiliser nearly £1000/t!
Noticed the last year ,an awful lot of new machines and sheds going up,and the fact they’re not moaning as much.

 

[addjunkie]

This is not a rant,a lot of farmers,particularly the hill farmers around here are on a very low hourly rate if you look at the hours they put in,even the more efficient ones,I know milk prices have gone up considerably,but fertiliser nearly £1000/t!
Noticed the last year ,an awful lot of new machines and sheds going up,and the fact they’re not moaning as much.

The moaning is genetic, and in bred! Theres a bit of a supplement shake up, money for trees, public access different breeds etc.

 

[Lewis_RX8]

The moaning is genetic, and in bred! Theres a bit of a supplement shake up, money for trees, public access different breeds etc.

Also squeaking when they walk

 

[frank horton]

I have no axe to grind but farming subsidies are kept top secret....

 

[addjunkie]

I have no axe to grind but farming subsidies are kept top secret....

Funding for farmers, growers and land managers

Apply for grants and other funding to increase productivity, manage your land to benefit the environment and support your agricultural business.

www.gov.uk

its all in the public domain, but you need to go looking for it. And then find someone to interpret in to laymen speak, or if you are a landowner understand it sufficiently to get you the best outcome.

 

[Ruffian]

Lots of grants are becoming available again as the last batch was European grants pre brexit.

Most the sheds we see go up are covering slurry courses to minimise water intake. (Yes grants were avalable)

As well as productivity and animal welfare grants.
To try and improve production to benefit everyone.

I was speaking to a client the other day and he was saying that some products have gone up over 200%.

 

[Fraserb]

Fert has more than tripled in price, fuel doubled and machinery jumped up as well. The price of the crop that's being sold has went up as well but its the risk that's involved now that's going to hamper production, the fact its a worldwide issue there could be some interesting food prices/shortages coming.

 

[Am333rcr]

hi

i think it was gov website on. It was possible to see exactly what our neighbour where getting and obviuosly everyone could see what we got.

cheap financance loaning against the farm.

atleast machinery makes money
not a like a fancy car going to the shops

 

[sako243]

Most the sheds we see go up are covering slurry courses to minimise water intake. (Yes grants were avalable)

This has been happening down here as well. There was new legislation brought in regarding slurry pits etc.

I helped level a site, we were moving 1500 tonnes a day and were there a month just to get it level for the new shed with integrated slurry tank. The farmer had had a warning from Defra as some of the slurry had seeped into a local watercourse so his options were either start work on a new slurry tank (and shed for cattle) and a new silage clamp to prevent run-off (costing about £750k) or pay a £50k fine and still have to spend £750k upgrading the facilities.

Speaking with him he said he'd been speaking with some friends in Ireland about the new slurry rules and they hadn't found a loop hole. He said if the Irish hadn't found a loop hole then they had no hope and would just have to comply.

 

[zzr1200]

This is not a rant,a lot of farmers,particularly the hill farmers around here are on a very low hourly rate if you look at the hours they put in,even the more efficient ones,I know milk prices have gone up considerably,but fertiliser nearly £1000/t!
Noticed the last year ,an awful lot of new machines and sheds going up,and the fact they’re not moaning as much.

Also I believe it was the last year of EU subsidies for some things, financial year probably making the most of it, can't blame them....

 

[merryman]

Lamb prices have been good for the last couple of years, milk prices too have increased, so farmers had more money, which they invest in plant and equipment, rather than paying tax. This year fuel, fertiliser and pesticide products have gone up dramatically, canceling the extra profits they were making. I would guess much less new equipment will be bought this financial year. Big problem was that agricultural machinery was in very short supply when those profits were made. I work on agricultural machines, and we had farmers pleading for new stuff before the end of the tax year, but just can't get it.

With fuel, fertiliser and pesticide prices so high, some growers are talking of putting land down to grass, so grain and vegetables may be in short supply this autumn, particularly as Ukraine won't be sending grain anywhere.

 

[Ruffian]

This has been happening down here as well. There was new legislation brought in regarding slurry pits etc.

I helped level a site, we were moving 1500 tonnes a day and were there a month just to get it level for the new shed with integrated slurry tank. The farmer had had a warning from Defra as some of the slurry had seeped into a local watercourse so his options were either start work on a new slurry tank (and shed for cattle) and a new silage clamp to prevent run-off (costing about £750k) or pay a £50k fine and still have to spend £750k upgrading the facilities.

Speaking with him he said he'd been speaking with some friends in Ireland about the new slurry rules and they hadn't found a loop hole. He said if the Irish hadn't found a loop hole then they had no hope and would just have to comply.

Especially as they are now requesting 6months of storage.
Which means it's a necessary not a wish list item.

 

[Keith 66]

A large farm locally has gone all agro ecological, huge grants to plant woodland over at least a quarter of the farm, steel fencing all round it, new plant & equipment, It seems like he is spending money like there is no tomorrow, plans are afoot to put a large solar farm on another third of the acreage.
So largely paid to grow nothing.

 

[brightspark]

hill farmers are not well off especialy if they dont own the farm .just look at the old machnery they use .a lot of farm machinery goes past my house all top of the range new tractors trailers combines and crop sprayers .95 percent are contractors and yes there is plenty of subsidy about

 

[addjunkie]

This has been happening down here as well. There was new legislation brought in regarding slurry pits etc.

I helped level a site, we were moving 1500 tonnes a day and were there a month just to get it level for the new shed with integrated slurry tank. The farmer had had a warning from Defra as some of the slurry had seeped into a local watercourse so his options were either start work on a new slurry tank (and shed for cattle) and a new silage clamp to prevent run-off (costing about £750k) or pay a £50k fine and still have to spend £750k upgrading the facilities.

Speaking with him he said he'd been speaking with some friends in Ireland about the new slurry rules and they hadn't found a loop hole. He said if the Irish hadn't found a loop hole then they had no hope and would just have to comply.

This is also down to the growth of European cattle breeds kept in sheds as they are more profitable over the traditional breeds that remain in a field all year, as well as diary herds of course.

 

[fizzy]

A large farm locally has gone all agro ecological, huge grants to plant woodland over at least a quarter of the farm, steel fencing all round it, new plant & equipment, It seems like he is spending money like there is no tomorrow, plans are afoot to put a large solar farm on another third of the acreage.
So largely paid to grow nothing.

Madness destroying good agricultural land to save the planet

 

[Keith 66]

Madness destroying good agricultural land to save the planet

Especially when we will be looking at worldwide shortages of wheat etc due to events out east...

 

[julianthegypsy]

Especially when we will be looking at worldwide shortages of wheat etc due to events out east...

Go back a hundred years, before combustion engines did all the work. What was half the land used for? Feeding horses. Thousands and thousands of horses. There's still plenty of land for growing things, it's only a question of is it profitable?

 

[fizzy]

Go back a hundred years, before combustion engines did all the work. What was half the land used for? Feeding horses. Thousands and thousands of horses. There's still plenty of land for growing things, it's only a question of is it profitable?

In the UK land that is uncultivated still has a lot of things growing on it. Grass, flowers, brambles, in fact a natural haven for wild life. Is it a good idea to cover it all with a solar farm?
In hot countries with scrub and desert it makes no difference.

 

[brewdexta]

Where I am its mainly marginal rough grazing, and you can mount solar panels and let the sheep graze around the panels as grass will still grow - so the two can co-exist.

We have acres of brown field sites but we still build housing estates in fields, two more fields just been developed in Burnley. So its not just solar PV taking up farming land.