In or out?

By the time you read this column, you will probably have recorded your vote on whether to remain or exit the EU and the consensus of feelings will already have been announced.

A French correspondent looking at British farming considered that those involved in the industry here will have faced a crucial choice: the United Kingdom has 187,000 farms (three times less than France) and our agriculture barely accounts for 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

With retail food costs being kept artificially low by successive governments farmers have been obliged to depend largely on Common Agricultural Policy for a significant part of their income.

Every year, the CAP has transferred four billion euros to the UK and the question was posed: If Britain voted for Brexit, will the British government step in and provide farmers with financial support?

Two-thirds of UK agricultural exports go to Europe, so what will happen if it takes a very long time to renegotiate regulations (and new tariffs) to gain fresh access to the EU market?

Just a reminder

In an article attributed to Brexit campaigner Michael Gove, published in 2001, he claimed that townies no longer have sympathy for farmers and called for an end to the addictive culture of subsidizing agriculture.

His story also recalls: “Modern farming subsidies began with the Agriculture Act of 1947 but, when Britain joined the EC in 1973, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) raised the prices paid for arables, milk, beef and sheep to European levels - and land prices more than doubled.

“Established in 1962, the CAP worked too well, with Europe’s farmers producing enormous food surpluses. Export subsidies, meanwhile, made good the difference between high internal prices and low World prices, allowing Europe to dispose of surplus products outside the EC.

“The McSharry reforms in 1992 reduced guaranteed price levels and compensated farmers with direct subsidies but, because payments were still (in part) tied to farm size or numbers of animals, the biggest producers continued to receive hefty sums.

“Agricultural support accounts for £5.2 billion of an industry with an annual turnover of £16 billion. If the figures for the unsubsidised sections of agriculture - pigs and potatoes for instance - are excluded, the figure for subsidies rises to nearly half of the agricultural market’s turnover.

“Government foot and mouth disease compensation [£926 million to date in 2000] has softened the blow to many suffering severe hardship as a result but the strength of the pound has cost the farmers dear as European subsidies are paid in euros.”

When is ‘milk’ not milk?

The milk trade in the United States (probably worldwide) faces a dilemma.

Organisations like the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) have been petitioning for the US Food and Drugs Authority to crackdown on what it says is the misappropriation of dairy terminology used on non-dairy products for over a decade.

In 2000, NMPF registered a trade complaint about what they referred to as the rapidly expanding misuse of the name of the standardised food term ‘milk.’ The organisation’s argument is that the definition clearly goes against the standard identity defined under the USDA Code of Federal Regulations 131.110 (a): Milk is the lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows. Milk that is in the final package form for beverage use shall have been pasteurized or ultrapasteurized, and shall contain not less than 8? percent milk solids not fat and not less than 3.5 per cent milkfat.

The GFI says that the FDA’s lack of consistent regulatory enforcement of the word ‘soy milk’ has ultimately resulted in ongoing consumer confusion and uneven competitive landscape.

For GFI, the institute’s attorney, Nigel Barrella, said: “Ultimately, we would like to see FDA take a clearer position on this issue.

“Everyone calls it that (including FDA and (US Department of Agriculture) at times), but then suddenly you see warning letters like these and that creates uncertainty,” Barrella wrote in the court document.

According to the court document filed by the ‘the underlying issue regarding the labeling of soy milk is the interesting part.’

FDA spokesperson Lauren Kotwicki has said that the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.

Quality entertainment

I am reminded of a gala performance to be given by the Music Hall Players at the Folly Farm theatre tomorrow (Saturday) evening commencing at 7.30 pm.

The show is billed as a celebration of the 2016 Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society presidency of Dennis Reed, of Trevayne, Saundersfoot, who, for many years, has been the Players’ main comedy act.

Popular professional performer David Hughes is also on the programme together with two of Pembrokeshire’s most talented young singers as the guest artistes: baritone Aaron Pryce-Lewis, of Haverfordwest, and soprano Sioned Llewelyn, of Efailwen, who are both making big names for themselves in the world of vocal music. Aaron, who has performed with the Players on several occasions, is studying for a BMus in classical voice at the Royal College of Music in London, and has already achieved a long list of theatre credits and awards while Sioned, in her third year as an undergraduate at Cardiff’s Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, has also earned wide acclaim with a formidable record of awards and appearances.

The Music Hall Players celebrate their 40th birthday this year and, in over 600 Palace of Varieties-style concerts throughout South and West Wales, have raised tens of thousands of pounds for various charities since they were founded.

Proceeds of the concert are in aid of the Dai Rees Foundation Charity, whose Saundersfoot- born founder died in a tragic drowning accident in the Maldives, where he had set-up the charity in 2013 to help provide specialised training for paramedics in emergency services in one of the world’s most isolated and remote regions.

The concert is generously supported by Folly Farm and Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society and tickets, priced at £12, are available at Folly Farm Box Office, Musicians’ World, Haverfordwest and Trevayne Caravan Park, Saundersfoot.

Well said

“In my youth, I set out to prove to myself, and to the world, that I could achieve anything I put my mind to. This was something I had to do again and again.

“One day, I won’t be around to answer people’s questions, or advise young aspiring athletes. What I want to say is for the people whom I’ve never met; It is for the boys and girls whose hands I will never hold; It is for the champions to come. These comments are for every spirit on the downside of advantage.

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something deep inside - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will - but the will must be stronger than the skill.

“When I was boxing I would set a goal for myself to demonstrate to other people what could be done, and to prove to myself that anything was possible when I set a goal then worked to achieve it. We create our own realities according to our thoughts and beliefs. The critic who told me what I couldn’t do didn’t know as well as I what I was capable of!

“Everyone wins and everyone loses now and again. If we didn’t experience a loss we would never know what we are capable of.

“The important thing to remember is this: You don’t really lose when you fight for what you believe in - you lose when you fail to fight for what you care about.”

- Muhammed Ali.