As a farmer in Australia I’ve said it for the last 2 decades……farmers need a farmers union, run by farmers. Cut the supply until people starve and end the governments/ supermarkets overreach. Team up with the port workers to stop inferior import. It’s simple really. I don’t like unions one little bit but if we done all stick together we are all out of business anyway.
I like the idea of that but i imagine the realities would be much different. If farmers cut the supply here in the UK, the supermarkets and Gov would just import to compensate (which they're doing more of at the moment anyway). "Sticking together" also seems to be a difficult thing for UK farmers to do.....
Supermarkets are quick enough to send in their own auditors to check standards and bring the big stick tk enforce but don’t want pay what it costs The only way farmers will get a fair price is if they bring back the old days where boards were set up by government to set base costs for milk and meat. Then the supermarkets could fight it out above that margin Farmers were protected
True. Things went downhill following the removal of the marketing boards. The supermarkets have now gotten too big and too powerful. It'll be a very hard battle to turn it around though...
@@farmstockofficial the main issue with going back to the marketing boards is the fight the supermarkets will put up. And the fear they will in stow on the government that if it happens prices will go up. And that would scare the shit out of the government in the middle of a cost of living crisis
That's true unfortunately. As a new tenant or renegotiating I would be looking to ensure some of the revenue from environmental action was going to the tenant (not the landlord) but I'm not sure of the legal jargon around that.
i did business with big supermarket chain.. i gave up as they knew they could control the price and they didnt have to worry if i got paid on time as they often delay payment and they knew they could get someone else to supply and i was trying to keep all my eggs in not same basket but supermarket knew it was my biggest client but after me saying to supermarket that if i dont get paid when they will have a problem as they also need me that i got paid but i went through middle man that pay me right away and he have to deal with being paid by supermarket.
Yep. I've dealt with the a major supermarket as well and they know where the negotiating power lies. There are very few who are able to stand up to them unfortunately and they know that.
Supermarkets would make excellent money selling raw milk via vending machines outside each store; you could charge £1.99/litre and I'm pretty sure the health food/gym crowd would go for it. £0.99 for the farmers, £0.99 for the supermarkets, and I reckon there'd be practically no need of middle men (i.e. the supermarkets could basically absorb the overhead of tanking it directly from the farms). Maybe that'd help.
@farmstockofficial Rome wasn't built in a day, if every region, village etc start farmers markets and or sell directly to fresh produce outlets, it can work, the old ways are the best ways, I pray the ALMIGHTY eases the affairs of us all so we can all benefit from Communal way and get to know each other more
The majority of us have all gotten far too big and played into the hands or fallen into the trap set out my the new marketing boards/big supermarkets. Trouble is now most of us are too far down the rabbit hole to get out or even reverse slightly as it would require cataclysmic financial turnovers drops and with us all having invested massively to become so big far too painful a choice to want to/have to make. So we lie stuck begging the supermarkets who sadly we had a massive hand in creating for a fairer deal. Solution is we downsize which yes is colossal change which we as farmers predominantly do not like as can be very set in our ways, but it is the only way to survive as bigger overheads squeeze our businesses specifically staff and availability. We downsize so we can sell our own product on a local level and control the price whilst still ensuring the general public get a world leading product at a sustainable maintained price so everyone wins going forward and cut out the multinational/global corporations of greed mongers and take back control of our food and markets. We the people have the power we just need to realise it. Yes it will be super painful in the short and medium term and there will be casualties along the way. But what’s the alternative we continue on the path we are on hoping these multinationals smell the coffee before it’s too late and throw us some more scraps before as the man correctly says British agriculture is permanently finished
Couldn't agree more. The dairy industry is a prime example - dairy farms getting bigger in size to get the price of milk down which requires huge investment and they're that far in with the bank they simply can't stop/back out. I would love to see it come full circle and we get back to smaller units selling locally but I can't see it happening unfortunately. I think a better alternative would be to diversify out of it altogether.
I think were foolish to think supermarkets will ever pay farmers a long term sustainable price........supermarkets are always going to put themselves first......they haven't got to where they are today by being generous to there suppliers. secondly i bet behind the scenes government is putting pressure on supermarkets to keep the price of food low because higher food prices causes inflation and government does not like high inflation.......low inflation is a vote winner. so that leaves farmers in a very difficult situation.......the EU looked after the smaller farmers quite well i thought with there subsidy's alright it wasn't perfect but it kept us in business, without subsidy's of some sort many farmers especially smaller family farms will go out of business
Exploitation by supermarkets is not a new phenomenon. I can remember the absolutely ridiculous things that M&S were demanding of the soft fruit processor I worked at during the summers at in order to supply them... back in the 1980's.
The public believe the PR pushed out by supermarkets- there is no voice for British Farming. Size is not the answer, we need to connect with customers direct. Open up our farms, talk to teachers and any other organisation . We need to stand up for ourselves and take on the supermarkets by talking to there customers direct. We are the custodians of the countryside, we know who are the Villains - Governments of any colour will always vote for cheap food to stay in power - FACT.
I'd agree with that. We need to be speaking direct to the consumer - that's where we'll make the biggest difference and have the most effect. Lobbying governments or fighting with the retailers is wasted time, effort and resource.
Yall got the supermarkets, we got the middlemen in North America. Grain is controlled mostly by 4 companies, packing by 4, milk coops are a racket, and most every other major and minor segment of ag has a few big wheels that control the majority of the market. Fresh produce and vegetables would be the only segment of ag that you could really point to here and say they directly set the rules to farming, well aside from gov regulations anyway. Too many horror stories, none of them good. There just isn't enough left to really fight for it, I don't think it takes anything short of a cataclysmic economic event to hit the reset button, and then I don't know if it will really matter.
Farmers work their back side off to produce. The products. The big stores dictate the prices and can pull out at any time leaving the farmer with the product. Farmers are the life of the country and the nation. No farmers. No food You die. Unless you bring it in from abroad. With food from outside the uk. Theirs no. Food standards like the British farmer has to adhere to.
Farmers need an independent market! Cut out all the middlemen! The money gets chipped away and leaves nothing for the farmers. Government get your heads out of your arses and help the farmers! Stop ridiculous policies and money wasting on BS referendums and support our backbone!
I agree with the get fair about farming idea but it is not going to happen , the self serving NFU narcissists will see to that , I think the more likely outcome will be the continued loss of skills from the industry to the point where there simply is not enough people with farming knowledge to farm the land and keep the industry wheels turning and most things will have to be bought in at huge expense at which point people will start to notice the huge swathes of land that produce nothing and think it might be a good idea to start farming it again , where we live you can travel dozens of miles in any direction without passing a single farm that relys on farming for its only income
In a nutshell.....yes, I think you're right. There has been so much said about this over the decades but nothing ever seems to change. There is far too much effort and resource used up in political wrangling to no avail. My preferred solution would be to diversify out of it.
Most farms have a bit of woodland that they don’t touch, could possibly be a avenue for some farmers, but it doesn’t seem like the help is there. I want to get into woodland work so speaking to farmers with a little bit of woodland is something I’m going to have to do in the near future. But if they don’t have someone like me willing to do it for them then they will need a hand, but that support doesn’t seem to be there for them. It’s either graze cattle or grow maize. No diversity and that’s not the farmers fault, I’m sure 99% would diversify into other crops/avenues of income if they were allowed.
As a farmer in Australia I’ve said it for the last 2 decades……farmers need a farmers union, run by farmers. Cut the supply until people starve and end the governments/ supermarkets overreach. Team up with the port workers to stop inferior import. It’s simple really. I don’t like unions one little bit but if we done all stick together we are all out of business anyway.
I like the idea of that but i imagine the realities would be much different. If farmers cut the supply here in the UK, the supermarkets and Gov would just import to compensate (which they're doing more of at the moment anyway). "Sticking together" also seems to be a difficult thing for UK farmers to do.....
Supermarkets are quick enough to send in their own auditors to check standards and bring the big stick tk enforce but don’t want pay what it costs
The only way farmers will get a fair price is if they bring back the old days where boards were set up by government to set base costs for milk and meat. Then the supermarkets could fight it out above that margin
Farmers were protected
I have been saying this, and we need to reinstate the annual price review. After all we are not obeying crazy EU rules --- or are we?
True. Things went downhill following the removal of the marketing boards. The supermarkets have now gotten too big and too powerful. It'll be a very hard battle to turn it around though...
@@farmstockofficial the main issue with going back to the marketing boards is the fight the supermarkets will put up. And the fear they will in stow on the government that if it happens prices will go up. And that would scare the shit out of the government in the middle of a cost of living crisis
Tricky for tenants to diversify. Especially when the landlords agents are horrible.
That's true unfortunately. As a new tenant or renegotiating I would be looking to ensure some of the revenue from environmental action was going to the tenant (not the landlord) but I'm not sure of the legal jargon around that.
i did business with big supermarket chain.. i gave up as they knew they could control the price and they didnt have to worry if i got paid on time as they often delay payment and they knew they could get someone else to supply and i was trying to keep all my eggs in not same basket but supermarket knew it was my biggest client but after me saying to supermarket that if i dont get paid when they will have a problem as they also need me that i got paid but i went through middle man that pay me right away and he have to deal with being paid by supermarket.
Yep. I've dealt with the a major supermarket as well and they know where the negotiating power lies. There are very few who are able to stand up to them unfortunately and they know that.
Supermarkets would make excellent money selling raw milk via vending machines outside each store; you could charge £1.99/litre and I'm pretty sure the health food/gym crowd would go for it. £0.99 for the farmers, £0.99 for the supermarkets, and I reckon there'd be practically no need of middle men (i.e. the supermarkets could basically absorb the overhead of tanking it directly from the farms). Maybe that'd help.
Not a bad suggestion at all....although I reckon they'd want the supply chain (farmers) to foot the bill for most things.
Yeah, that seems likely.@@farmstockofficial
Can farmers not start co-ops and sell directly to the public
Yes they can but the cost/energy/resources/time to get something like this up and running on a sizeable scale would be huge!
@farmstockofficial Rome wasn't built in a day, if every region, village etc start farmers markets and or sell directly to fresh produce outlets, it can work, the old ways are the best ways, I pray the ALMIGHTY eases the affairs of us all so we can all benefit from Communal way and get to know each other more
The majority of us have all gotten far too big and played into the hands or fallen into the trap set out my the new marketing boards/big supermarkets. Trouble is now most of us are too far down the rabbit hole to get out or even reverse slightly as it would require cataclysmic financial turnovers drops and with us all having invested massively to become so big far too painful a choice to want to/have to make. So we lie stuck begging the supermarkets who sadly we had a massive hand in creating for a fairer deal.
Solution is we downsize which yes is colossal change which we as farmers predominantly do not like as can be very set in our ways, but it is the only way to survive as bigger overheads squeeze our businesses specifically staff and availability.
We downsize so we can sell our own product on a local level and control the price whilst still ensuring the general public get a world leading product at a sustainable maintained price so everyone wins going forward and cut out the multinational/global corporations of greed mongers and take back control of our food and markets. We the people have the power we just need to realise it.
Yes it will be super painful in the short and medium term and there will be casualties along the way. But what’s the alternative we continue on the path we are on hoping these multinationals smell the coffee before it’s too late and throw us some more scraps before as the man correctly says British agriculture is permanently finished
Couldn't agree more. The dairy industry is a prime example - dairy farms getting bigger in size to get the price of milk down which requires huge investment and they're that far in with the bank they simply can't stop/back out.
I would love to see it come full circle and we get back to smaller units selling locally but I can't see it happening unfortunately. I think a better alternative would be to diversify out of it altogether.
Great videos! Did you forget to add the link at the end...?
Sorry....yes I did. Let me get it sorted! Well spotted.....
the political establishment are not the farmers friends.......you need to start your own party representing the countryside.
Agreed but i hate politics think there is already too much government intervention involved with farming.
Join reform. The other problem is in this country as opposed to France is they won't all work together .
I think were foolish to think supermarkets will ever pay farmers a long term sustainable price........supermarkets are always going to put themselves first......they haven't got to where they are today by being generous to there suppliers. secondly i bet behind the scenes government is putting pressure on supermarkets to keep the price of food low because higher food prices causes inflation and government does not like high inflation.......low inflation is a vote winner. so that leaves farmers in a very difficult situation.......the EU looked after the smaller farmers quite well i thought with there subsidy's alright it wasn't perfect but it kept us in business, without subsidy's of some sort many farmers especially smaller family farms will go out of business
Holistic land management by the Savoury Institute.
Highly recommend it to you
Thanks, will take a look!
Exploitation by supermarkets is not a new phenomenon.
I can remember the absolutely ridiculous things that M&S were demanding of the soft fruit processor I worked at during the summers at in order to supply them... back in the 1980's.
Nope. it's been around for decades and it changing any time soon unfortunately. They have too much of a monopoly...
@@farmstockofficial Agreed (unfortunately).
Time to pick one supermarket chain and refuse to supply , empty shelves , no customers .
That's one way of doing it although it's not as easy at it sounds!
The public believe the PR pushed out by supermarkets- there is no voice for British Farming. Size is not the answer, we need to connect with customers direct. Open up our farms, talk to teachers and any other organisation . We need to stand up for ourselves and take on the supermarkets by talking to there customers direct. We are the custodians of the countryside, we know who are the Villains - Governments of any colour will always vote for cheap food to stay in power - FACT.
I'd agree with that. We need to be speaking direct to the consumer - that's where we'll make the biggest difference and have the most effect. Lobbying governments or fighting with the retailers is wasted time, effort and resource.
Yall got the supermarkets, we got the middlemen in North America. Grain is controlled mostly by 4 companies, packing by 4, milk coops are a racket, and most every other major and minor segment of ag has a few big wheels that control the majority of the market. Fresh produce and vegetables would be the only segment of ag that you could really point to here and say they directly set the rules to farming, well aside from gov regulations anyway. Too many horror stories, none of them good. There just isn't enough left to really fight for it, I don't think it takes anything short of a cataclysmic economic event to hit the reset button, and then I don't know if it will really matter.
Interesting to hear your situation in the US and doesn't sound like it's much better than here. Far too much power in the hands of the very few.....
I buy local grass-fed produce
Farmers work their back side off to produce. The products.
The big stores dictate the prices and can pull out at any time leaving the farmer with the product.
Farmers are the life of the country and the nation. No farmers. No food You die. Unless you bring it in from abroad.
With food from outside the uk. Theirs no. Food standards like the British farmer has to adhere to.
Agreed. To much risk being placed on the farmer for too little reward. There needs to be a rebalance.
its every where in the so called free world!!
Always!!😂
Jeeeeez man always look for positives 😂
Hahaha! Ever the optimist!
Farmers need an independent market!
Cut out all the middlemen! The money gets chipped away and leaves nothing for the farmers.
Government get your heads out of your arses and help the farmers!
Stop ridiculous policies and money wasting on BS referendums and support our backbone!
Very well said and thanks for the comment!
I agree with the get fair about farming idea but it is not going to happen , the self serving NFU narcissists will see to that , I think the more likely outcome will be the continued loss of skills from the industry to the point where there simply is not enough people with farming knowledge to farm the land and keep the industry wheels turning and most things will have to be bought in at huge expense at which point people will start to notice the huge swathes of land that produce nothing and think it might be a good idea to start farming it again , where we live you can travel dozens of miles in any direction without passing a single farm that relys on farming for its only income
In a nutshell.....yes, I think you're right. There has been so much said about this over the decades but nothing ever seems to change. There is far too much effort and resource used up in political wrangling to no avail. My preferred solution would be to diversify out of it.
Most farms have a bit of woodland that they don’t touch, could possibly be a avenue for some farmers, but it doesn’t seem like the help is there. I want to get into woodland work so speaking to farmers with a little bit of woodland is something I’m going to have to do in the near future. But if they don’t have someone like me willing to do it for them then they will need a hand, but that support doesn’t seem to be there for them. It’s either graze cattle or grow maize. No diversity and that’s not the farmers fault, I’m sure 99% would diversify into other crops/avenues of income if they were allowed.
ii.agree
Thanks for the comment!