Fresh determination for farmers

Michael Fordham, the East Sussex National Farmers Union chairman, says 'the year 2001 is one which farmers and rural business people would rather forget with the devastation caused by the foot-and-mouth crisis and a poor harvest.

But in his New Year s message to the industry he calls on farmers to be positive. 'We must begin the New Year with fresh determination and a new agenda that will secure a profitable and sustainable future for agriculture in Britain, said Mr Fordham, who has a mixed enterprise at Bradfords Farm, at Little Horsted near Uckfield.

He believes that 'co-operation will remain the keyword for 2002, with farmers pooling their resources to reduce costs, strengthen their trading position in an increasingly fierce competitive global market and claw back a greater share of the retail price.

'Every farmer I know is now looking at his/her business and trying to find ways of improving it as we can t carry on receiving such poor prices for what is actually world-class food.

'Some of the ways people are helping themselves is by working together, forming producer groups and turning a basic commodity into a niche market product.

'For example, in East Sussex farmers are working in partnership with district councils and the county council to set up an abattoir and improve local meat processing and distribution networks. This will help farmers tap into local markets in a modest way.

'We then have to consider the impact of National Park status on the South Downs, with challenging times ahead. Obviously we have to make the new authority work for us and take farmers views into account, but the clock can t be turned back for agriculture.

Mr Fordham explained the NFU would continue to support the High Weald Land Management Initiative and would press home to farmers ways of accessing funding from Rural Development grants. 'There is a need to capitalise on the area s natural assets and rekindle its once prosperous woodland economy perhaps through a renewable energy scheme such as a wood chip power station, he said.

He said that as the industry had been rocked by one crisis after another, political lobbying by NFU members was even more important to influence policy in local government, in central government and in Europe.