Change and co-operate or go under - Lord Haskins

Lord Haskins, rural recovery co-ordinator for Defra, visited Skipton mart last week to meet the leaders of Rejuvenate, the self-help group for Wensleydale farmers set up at the beginning of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

He warned that the government would not throw cash at hard-hit areas to revive the industry. Farmers must learn to help themselves.

Major changes could include an end to the traditional system of auction marts and the establishment of giant farming co-operatives to deal with big businesses.

Lord Haskins heard from Rejuvenate how badly the virus had hit the rural economy in North Yorkshire before telling farmers they needed to co-operate if they were to survive.

"The interesting thing about coming here and talking to farmers is that they realise the need for them to co-operate is absolutely essential," he said. "If farmers and tourists and everybody in tourism get together and co-operate on how they run their affairs, governments are going to find it much easier to deal with them."

He cited farmers' markets as a classic example of co-operation bringing economic benefits, but warned that the system of selling livestock through auction marts could end.

"The question is whether there is a future for lots and lots of marts, badly organised and competing with each other," he said. He argued that farmers needed to cut out the middlemen and dealers.

"Farmers often complain that they don't get good prices from supermarkets, but they shouldn't be dealing with middlemen at markets, they should be dealing with the end users-- whether it's supermarkets or abattoirs - if they want to get better prices," he said.

He cited his own experience as chairman of Express Dairies and Northern Foods. "It's easier for corporations like mine to deal with large co-operatives than many, many small farmers," he said.

"They need to work together in the way they buy and sell goods. If farmers co-operate and organise themselves they have a much greater chance of survival than if they insist on being on their own."

He said the government would not put ideas forward but expected farmers to come up with their own initiatives.

Mr Phillip Holden, chairman of Rejuvenate, said his meeting with Lord Haskins had gone well but the message was bleak. "While this disease is still about, we are going to find it very hard to see any positive movement towards recovery, especially in the western dales and I think it is going to be a long, hard haul," he said.

"In the short term, we have got to get our heads together and communicate as much as possible. On a local basis we have to take the initiative and Rejuvenate has done that, but it is far too early to talk about long-term schemes. We have got to get rid of this disease before we can make a start."

He agreed with some of the measures proposed by Lord Haskins and accepted that farming must change. "People have to realise that we cannot rely on the government to come up with the solutions," he said. "Perhaps for a while there will be some financial help but in the long term we are going to have to co-operate, like it or not."

Lord Haskins also had bad news for those tourist-reliant businesses in North Yorkshire which have been dealt a severe blow by the foot-and-mouth crisis.

He said cases for compensation in the tourist trade were more complicated than that of farmers because it was difficult for the government to know who had suffered," he said.

"The government has already put money to one side to help people survive these difficult months, but that was based on the assumption that the disease would have gone away by June.

"The last outbreaks in North Yorkshire were not very long ago so clearly there is a case for helping the right people to survive."