its a rip off
 

I know this may upset some people (oops!) but why do we subsides farmers? During the foot and mouth crisis the farmers were paid massive amounts of compensation by the tax payers, why? If you are in business and your stock is lost you need to be insured up to the hilt (if not you could even face a prison sentence) not so the farmers. I do not see any difference between a farmer that receives thousands every year in subsidies and pays little or no tax, and someone getting benefits from the DHSS.. But people receiving benefits from social security are branded as scroungers! So what are the vast majority of farmers?

Re: its a rip off
 

Because farming isn't profitable anymore, and i'd rather have fresh British eggs/meat/etc than imported stuff

Re: its a rip off
 

Is that not becasue the Government allow us to import too much or, is it becasue of the way the farmers are farming?

Re: its a rip off
 

I reckon more of our money actually subsidises farms in France than in the UK. I have yet to see a poor French farmer. Farmers in New Zealand are not subsidised and manage to make a living. Of course the difference is that NZ people eat their own produce.

Re: its a rip off
 

I've no idea on specifics but i'd think the first one :p

the vast majority of farmers are hard working. are you?

Re: its a rip off
 

We want our food as cheap as possible leading to imports as they are cheaper. The subsidies paid to farmers in my opinion is no different than a low paid worker male or female getting say working tax credit reduced council rents and council tax reductions. over the years the money made from farming has dwindled as the prices have dropped to which we as consumers and with a little help from supermarkets have encouraged. A lot of wealthy people pay very little in tax because they work the system and its loopholes and farmers are right to try the same.

As for social security scroungers the is a minority that have never done a days work in their lives and we are the ones that do the subsidising yet the majority are not there by choice but due to circumstance. A comment was made a couple of weeks back by someone I know that throws things into perspective " Why work for the minimum wage when all my benifits means that I can sit at home and have the govenment pay me the equivilent of £10 an hour for doing sweet F A." Now this I would class as a rip off not some Farmer Giles working the system but actually producing something in the process. His predicament is Brussels induced in most cases.

Re: its a rip off
 

The reason they got compensation during F&M was that the goverment were destroying their animals even without any proof of any actual infection. It was a way of managing the spread of the disese.

As for why sunsidies are paid it is as others have said, we put pressure on teh supermarkets to lower prices who in turn have to lower their costs, this leads to cheaper imports as our farmers cannot grow the crops that cheap due to having to pay minimum wages etc where abroad there is no such thing.

Re: its a rip off
 

It did cross my mind that the supermarkets have a big role in this, have we come to the stage were we are giving subsides, via farming to Tesco,Asda ect? I should have stated I was questioning subsides to farmers thoughout Europe and not just the UK, but I do feel that vast amounts of compensation paid would not have happened in any other business.

Re: its a rip off
 

I'm an accountant who used to be employed by a large farming company who grew and packed fresh produce for various supermarkets. The supermarkets have been screwing them into the ground for years. They will go abroad to get cheap imports rather than pay a little more for 1st. class fresh British produce. So, they threaten the British farmer with that, and if he wishes to sell to them he has to do so at their price, often at a loss.

Re: its a rip off
 

Would you rather see John Prescott's vision of Britain, as one large housing estate from Lands End to John o'Groats? Many farmers have gone to the wall because of the low prices being paid by supermarkets, but do you want to pay more for your meat? It often costs a sheep farmer more to rear a lamb than he gets for it. Farming is a risky business, as anyone who suffered under the appallingly mismanaged foot and mouth episode will tell you. A day can wipe out a life's work.

Re: its a rip off
 

Famer kicks up a fuss because the supermarkets go abroad for pork, and the farmers start a buy british pork campaign, suddenly the supoermarkets do the right thing and buy slightly more expensive british pork, a few months on, the publicity dies down, public forget about buy british campaign, supermarkets dump british pork or make them sell it at a loss again. Back to the start. Aort from the public get bored of it and jsut choose to get the cheapest meat available once the farmer can't make them feel guilty any more.

Re: its a rip off
 

Afraid this is not only meat John, but most industries today >>> imports are cheaper, mainly 'cause of labour costs, we won't work for less than £ 1 per hour (or whatever) and the big boys in any industry are so competitive between themselves, sets the price for the smaller boys and even they push your prices down, 'cause you so glad of their orders at any price at the end of the day. Basically, we are starting to pay highly for our expected excellent lifestyle