NFU dismay as farmers face even more financial burden
The NFU has accused the Government of seeking to pile on the agony for the farming industry by looking to burden livestock farmers with additional costs for dealing with animal disease.
In a consultation published today, Defra has set out its plans for farmers to contribute to its budgeted costs for preparing for exotic disease outbreaks. It also suggests that it is still looking at ways that farmers could contribute to the unbudgeted costs arising from a disease outbreak such as foot and mouth disease, which has already cost the industry £100m.
NFU President Peter Kendall said: "I am furious that Defra is still trying to get farmers to contribute to their costs when the department doesn’t have a good enough handle on its own costs. It wants us to pay for exotic disease but we don’t think they do enough to keep these diseases out of the country.
"I have little confidence in Defra’s effective and efficient management of the current Animal Health Budget and the recent NAO report backs our view. It was very critical of Defra and said that its current procedures could not deliver a ’fair and equitable cost sharing scheme’. We have to remember that the costs we are being asked to cover relate to diseases that are not in this country and I do not think Defra treats the incursion of these diseases very seriously at all and nowhere near as seriously as other governments in places like the US, Australia and New Zealand.
"On top of this we have the 2007 FMD outbreak which clearly came from a Government licensed premises. I find it incredible that ministers can suggest that, in future, livestock farmers should pay half of the Government costs for an incident like this. The failure at these premises cost the livestock sector over £100m which the industry itself had to cover and they now have the gall to suggest that we should pay 50 per cent of their costs (est. £40m) as well.
"Farmers will be dismayed by these proposals and they have little confidence in Defra on animal health issues. We have bovine TB reaching epidemic proportions in some parts of the country, wiping out more than 30,000 cattle last year alone, and costing the industry millions. Meanwhile, Defra pins all its hopes on a vaccine which, while being a tool in the box for TB eradication, will never do the job on its own and all the while our farming families wait in despair."
The consultation also proposes that a new independent body for animal health should be established. Mr Kendall added: "I believe that a new independent body for animal health could deliver a more proportionate and effective animal health policy. However, it must be a genuine partnership between livestock farmers and the Government and must have real powers and be able to deal with the European Commission on animal health issues. Under the joint Government and industry governance I believe that an independent body should deliver better value for money for the tax payer and for livestock farmers. Furthermore, it should enhance the position of the wider industry, food retailers and food manufacturers, who all benefit from keeping this country free from animal disease."
