No one could forget the footage of the pyres of livestock during the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). The contiguous culling policy accounted for 10 million animals even though only 2,000 cases were confirmed. The Government even drafted in hunt staff  when it became clear the cull was being badly handled and carried out. The outbreak devastated whole families and communities and no one was really sure if the farming industry would bounce back.

Many farmers adapted to post-FMD farming. On-farm enterprises such as farm shops, tea shops, B&Bs, bakeries and wildlife nature trails have grown out of necessity - keep the farm going, make it viable. The way farming has moved on from FMD should provide encouragement. The British grit, determination and ability to pick ourselves up whatever the circumstances has proven invaluable.

British dairy farmers are facing a £330m deficit as the cost of producing milk far outweighs the price they are paid for it by the supermarkets.

A new report from the NFU shows that dairy farmers lose an average of over 3p for every litre of milk that they produce. According to the union’s report, about 11bn litres of milk are produced annually on dairy farms across the UK, meaning that farmers are looking at a £330m funding gap.

The gloomy figures will heighten fears that more dairy farmers will go out of business. The sector is already contracting at an alarming rate. According to new figures from the Milk Development Council, the number of dairy producers in England and Wales in December 2010 stood at 11,041, a decline of 461 on the year before. Farmers in Wales were particularly badly hit, with 103 dairy farms going out of business over 2010. As recently as 2002 there were 19,000 dairy producers in England and Wales (58% drop in 8 years!!).

The NFU report shows that the costs of feed and bedding have increased by 16.6% and 13.8% respectively over last year. The price of blended fertiliser rose by 50% between November 2009 and November 2010.

Mansel Raymond, the NFU’s dairy board chairman, said: “These stark figures reveal the very desperate situation on many dairy farms and won’t be a surprise to the many farmers out there who are trying to make a living.”

“The irony is that if dairy farmers had received their fair share of available market returns this year, we wouldn’t be faced with such a staggering gap between the price we’re paid for our milk and the cost of producing it.”

NFU figures show the average cost of milk production is currently 29.1p per litre, while the average British milk price is 25.94p per litre in supermarkets - a gap of 3.16p.

An influential new report into the cost of living in rural areas has confirmed what many have long suspected - living in the countryside is more expensive than in urban areas.

The report was launched by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Researchers used the charity’s nationally-accepted Minimum Income Standard to work out that a single person needs to earn £15,600 to get by if they live in a rural town, £17,900 a year if they live in a village and £18,600 if they live in a hamlet or in the remote countryside. A person living in an urban area needs £14,400 a year to meet the specified minimum.

People living in the countryside are hit by having to own and run a car. They face higher energy bills from heating older homes and are forced to use more expensive fuels if they are not connected to the gas network.

For many families in rural areas, it is a constant struggle to make ends meet, meaning they often have to spend up to twenty per cent more than an urban family to match their standard of living. This is despite the average wage in the countryside being much lower than the average wage of those who work in towns and cities.

A single person living in a rural area needs to earn at least £8.89 an hour, fifty per cent above the average minimum wage, just to be able to afford the minimum acceptable standard of living. For families with children living in remote areas the difference is even greater - to earn enough to get by, a typical two child family living in a hamlet needs to earn as much as £72 a week more than the same family living in an urban area.

The rising cost of living means many rural families are forced to move to urban areas. Long-established community networks are broken up as families struggle to set foot on the property ladder or move away to be closer to local amenities at no extra cost.

This report confirmed the fundamental reason behind the Countryside Alliance’s recent Rural Manifesto - people living in the countryside do not seek special treatment but they do want fair treatment. The Alliance will continue to campaign for improved facilities such as transport links, post offices and schools. We will also strive to work towards a countryside where local families are not forced out by rising property prices, a lack of social housing and the financial inability to live and work in the area.

Campaigning for a thriving countryside has always been vital to the Alliance’s existence. At the heart of all that we do are the people who live and work there.

Alice Barnard
Chief Executive
Countryside Alliance

The British pig industry is on the verge of collapse. Again thanks to supermarkets!!

In 2008 20,000 people supported the Pigs Are Worth It! campaign and signed the petition. That petition was presented to 10 Downing Street and played a significant role in helping pig farmers campaign for supermarkets to pay them a fair price for pork - and ultimately save the British pig industry. Since 2008 pig farmers have invested in more efficient systems and they have enhanced their environmental sustainability to deliver very high welfare, quality assured pork to meet growing demand.

Today, just as in 2008, rocketing feed prices have pushed up the cost to farmers of producing pigs. Farmers are losing more than £21 on every pig they sell. In the weeks before Christmas, pig producers racked up losses of nearly £25 million.

The situation for producers today is worse than in 2008. Unlike three years ago, current feed prices look likely to remain sky high for the foreseeable future. Pig farmers are now facing major financial losses and many are in danger of going out of business. But at the same time supermarkets are still reporting record profits. We need those supermarkets and processors to remember the lessons of 2008 and pay pig producers a fair price - before it’s too late.

All we want is a fair price for pigs, because Pigs Are Still Worth It!

Please register your support for the Pigs Are Still Worth It! campaign by clicking here and signing the online petition.