Britannia Radio

Politicians who talk farming have neve never left their urban 
fastnesses actually to DO this, quite apart from ruining the sheep 
rearing industry.  I'd like to watch the commissionmer responsible 
himeself rounding up a flock and doing it himself, prefeably on a 
hill farm.  The sheep don't like it and their cooperation is not 
possible!

Why is everybody everywhere apparently completely devoid of 
commonsense?.

xxxxxxxxxx cs
===============================
TELEGRAPH 15.4.09
EU tells farmers to tag every sheep in Britain
Farmers will have to spend £65 million tagging every single sheep in 
Britain under new EU rules.

 From January 1 next year Britain's 30 million sheep will be required 
to wear a hi-tech tag which can monitor their movements.

European commissioners claim the electronic ID (EID) tags will help 
contain an outbreak of disease such as the foot and mouth epidemic in 
2001.

Farmers will have to burden 92 per cent of the cost themselves at a 
cost of £5,000 for an electronic tag reader and up to £1.50 per tag.

They have criticised the proposals as "crazy" and "unnecessary" and 
say the extra costs could force them out of business.

John Hore, a farmer from Pilning, near Bristol, said: "We are 
prepared to fight this to the bitter end.
"The strength of feeling is such that it is quite possible we will 
see farmers taking to the streets. We are just not being listened to. 
And we need our government firmly behind us.  [Our government hates 
farmers and is much too busy libelling its opponents anyway -p don't 
rely on help there -cs]
"We have 30 million sheep in this country - probably more than the 
rest of Europe put together.
"They want each one of those sheep to be individually identified. And 
farmers are saying 'No, it's just not possible'. This could do to the 
sheep industry what TB is doing to the cattle industry."

John Mercer, chief livestock adviser to the National Farmers' Union, 
said: "It's a crazy rule. It's not wanted. It's not needed. And it 
could, potentially, devastate the sheep industry. We really need 
political pressure now."

Farmers also claim the technology is flawed and will be dogged with 
technical faults in field conditions, particularly on hill farms 
where flocks are several thousands strong.  [The eurocrasts should be 
told to tag a hill-flock themselves as an experim ent.  They'll soon 
know it's not possible. -cs]
The regulation to tag every sheep in Europe at a cost of £109million 
was adopted by the EU in 2003.

The original start date was January 1 2008 but this was delayed by 
two years after objections from farmers.

In Britain, farmers will be expected to carry out 92 per cent of the 
expected £65 million costs, markets and collection centres five per 
cent and abattoirs three per cent.

Farmers are still lobbying for the scheme to be made voluntary before 
the scheme is introduced.

The UK is home to Europe's largest flock and, in a report complied by 
the Joint Research Centre - which advises the government on technical 
issues - they have warned farmers here will be hardest hit.

Farmers Union of Wales' hill farming committee chairman Derek Morgan 
said: "I dread to think what the full costs to the EU sheep industry 
will be.
"This report simply adds to the already overwhelming evidence that 
shows that costs of EID are completely disproportionate, while the 
benefits are negligible, and could actually be negative in the case 
of a disease outbreak.
"We are committed to fighting this ridiculous legislation to the 
bitter end and this is yet more evidence which totally undermines the 
basis on which the Council of Ministers has made their decisions.
"However, the industry must also brace itself and start planning on 
the assumption that it will come in next year, because the majority 
of member states are hell-bent on ignoring the evidence."