FOCUS
MAGAZINE
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CONTENTS scroll down the page to read: or click on the article 1) Farming in the Community 2) Non - farming in the Community 3) Pottery in the Community |
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Bob Carter was a radio operator on the Murmansk convoys during the last war and also the ship’s projectionist. The ship’s company was able to watch lots of films as Bob was paid one pound for each showing. He had met Betty, a farmer’s daughter from Donhead, and he was saving up for a farm. They started with 40 acres of bare land at Charlton milking cows by hand. The wildlife sounds very interesting but only the mosquitoes are threatening and they are selective in their targeting. Ornithologists should visit. The robins are as big as our blackbirds. We have enjoyed the family’s visit to the Carters and Wrens this Christmas and wish them all the best. Perhaps Tom and Laura’s descendants will earn the right to attach a centenary plaque on the old house in 2103.
Martin
Shallcross
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NON FARMING IN THE COMMUNITY
a letter sent by a hampshire farmer
Secretary of
State.
Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
16 May 2007
Dear Secretary
of State,
My friend, who
is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the
Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now like to join the
"not rearing pigs" business.
In your opinion,
what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best
breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in
keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common
Agricultural Policy. I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is
not the type you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers.
Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or
Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing
these?
As I see it, the
hardest part of this programme will be keeping an accurate record of how
many pigs I haven't reared. Are there any Government or Local Authority
courses on this?
My friend is
very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years
or so, and the best he ever made on them was £14,222 in 1968. That is -
until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.
If I get £3,000
for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100?
I plan to
operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs
not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the first year As I become
more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps
increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I
should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I
wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all
these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases? Another point:
These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I
understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify
for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don't rear?
I am also
considering the "not milking cows" business, so please send any information
you have on that too. Please could you also include the current Defra advice
on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual
fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares)?
In view of the
above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore
qualify for unemployment benefits.
I shall of
course be voting for your party at the next general election.
Yours faithfully
……
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Our ancestors who lived on Salisbury Plain 4000 years ago knew all about
pottery. Clay was dug locally and the communities lit great bonfires to fire
their everyday pots for storing food. Craftsmen fashioned beautifully
decorated pots which the Beaker folk buried in their graves.
Martin Shallcross
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