While the media are obsessed at the ability of a few athletes to run/
swim/ cycle/ dive/ sail/ jump a little bit better than someone else,
they are completely ignoring the real world of deaths still going on
in Georgia at the hands of the Russians, of economic crisis, of 'head-
in-the-sand' politicians. They look the other way from the Chinese
whose homes were expropriated without compensation to build the Birds
nest complex, they ignore the fact that vast tracts of northern China
have had their water supplies diverted to Beijing and their power
stations shut down (and their industry with it) to keep Beijing full
of smog.
Now go out in the country here and see what is happening to our
harvest. You don't have to be an agricultural expert to see
flattened wheat with fungus growing on its sodden ears. The
'Greenies' with their carbon footprint fetish will somehow blame it
it on us for not building more totem poles shaped as wind generators.
Our weather is behaving as it often does - unpredictably. It's now
in a cold and wet phase. That makes for food shortages and thanks to
the EU's insane Agricultural Policies it will be difficult to get
imports at a reasonable price to make up the domestic shortfa`ll.
Still i suppose we could melt down all those 19 gold medals and buy
some wheat from somewhere.
xxxxxxxxxxxx cs
===========================
EUREFERENDUM Blog 25.8.08
A perfect storm
One of the (many) stories sitting on my files to do was an article
picked up from the front page of The Yorkshire Post on Saturday,- - -
- - on the dire state of the UK wheat harvest.
Coincidentally, the story was picked up yesterday by the Mail on
Sunday and thence by Watts up with that.
This invaluable blog, quite rightly, got excited by the headline to
the Mail which proclaimed, "Awful August has delayed this year's
harvest but global warming is not to blame" - a distinct contrast to
The Daily Telegraph piece in early July which did indeed seek to pin
the wet weather on global warming.
But, while we can rejoice in sense returning to at least one
newspaper, behind both the stories of a bad harvest lies a disturbing
picture that could have serious consequences for British arable
farming - and thus the rest of us - amounting almost to a perfect storm.
The particular problem, as we pointed out in our last piece, is not
so much quantity but quality, especially with the wheat crop which
has deteriorated severely as a result of the bad weather.
As The Yorkshire Post reports, this means that much of the crop will
be fit only for animal feed. Yorkshire farmers alone could take a
"hit" of £10 million as their produce is downgraded.
If that gives temporary relief to hard-pressed livestock farmers, who
have seen feed prices escalate to record levels, it is bad news for
consumers as high protein wheat for bread-making will have to be
imported in some quantity, at a premium of £20 per metric ton.
However, the problem for farmers may be even worse than the headlines
suggest, as events elsewhere in the world take shape. Here, the
situation in the Ukraine is of special interest. The region, on the
one hand has enjoyed a record harvest, up to 43 million tons from
29.3 million last year, with expectations of exporting a surplus of
17.5 million tons during the coming year. On the other hand, the crop
has suffered what is described as "insect-related" problems, which is
forcing about 70 percent of it to be used for animal feed.
This surplus on the world market is expected to drive down prices of
feed wheat, creating an abysmal situation for British farmers. At a
time when input costs - from diesel and fertiliser to labour - are
all rising, they are now reconciled to prices which are unlikely to
cover the costs of producing the harvest.
Small wonder, the YP is retailing sentiment from farmers that many of
them will drop out of wheat next season. Some experts are saying this
could lead to a shortage next year.
It is here, of course, that an agricultural support system could make
the difference. Where prices have been driven below the cost of
production, there is a classic role for farming subsidies, if for no
other reason than to ensure the availability of supplies in the
following season and to take the edge of shortage-induced price
increases.
However, now that the EU - which has sole competence over our
agriculture policy - has opted out of production support and is
looking to cut subsidies over the next budgetary period, farmers are
on their own. They are looking at reduced prices, increased costs and
less state support.
Perversely, the cut in support will not filter back into reduced EU
contributions or lower taxes as the EU has siphoned off some of the
subsidies to pay for its vanity project, the Galileo satellite
navigation system, while it is also proposing to hand upwards of $1
billion to developing countries to promote farming there - reducing,
incidentally, export opportunities for British farmers.
The net result of all this is that British consumers will still be
paying huge sums for an agricultural support system, but one that no
longer functions, while also paying inflated costs for their bread
and other wheat-containing foods, costs which are set to go up even
further next year.
Somehow, this is not quite what either farmers or consumers expected
when we first joined the EEC but, as the implications of yet another
failed policy sink in, one wonders whether the farmers will finally
see the light and round against the EU, which is now doing nothing
but add to their woes.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Posted by Richard North
Monday, 25 August 2008
A perfect storm
Posted by Britannia Radio at 19:48