Trust the farmers??
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alan refail
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Cred air o bob deg a glywi, a thi a gei rywfaint bach o wir (hen ddihareb Gymraeg)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
YES TRUST THE FARMER BUT NOT THE BUYERS
Auctioneers at livestock markets are urged to be particularly vigilant for there is concern that breeding sheep are being bought up for meat.
The price of these animals has collapsed after the foot-and-mouth and bluetongue outbreaks and with the industry facing cashflow problems there is suspicion that some suppliers may be tempted to make quick profits by substituting cheaper breeding animals instead of buying lambs ready for the table. The price difference is about £6 to £8 an animal.
The National Farmers’ Union and the National Sheep Association are enraged. They need to maintain consumer confidence in the meat to deal with the glut of lamb on the market.
The Times has learnt that the alarm was raised last week when a trading standards officer who attended a number of Cumbria livestock auctions learnt that an abattoir buyer had bought up significant amounts of breeding sheep that were not intended for the food chain. The officer was concerned because he could smell sheep dip on the fleece of some animals and was worried that they would be slaughtered for meat in contravention of the law covering drug residues.
Treated animals can be sold eventually as meat after a safe period when drugs have passed through them. The officer was given reassurances that the animals were not being slaughtered for meat but nevertheless sent a general warning to the MHS.
A vet who works for the MHS at Welsh Country Foods in Anglesey picked up the alert and last Wednesday detected the smell of sheep dip on animals. She quarantined hundreds of animals, refused to allow them to be sold for human consumption and called in the local trading standards officers. A paper trail from the auctions showed they had been bought at Cumbrian markets. There was immediate concern because Welsh Country Foods is a subsidiary of Grampian Foods, a leading meat distributor that also supplies the bulk of Asda’s meat.
Officers visited farmers who reared the sheep and checks on farm records showed that some animals had been treated with organophosphate sheep dips, some injected with dormectin, an antiparasitic drug, and some had received both treatments. There was alarm because it takes 30 to 35 days after an animal is being treated with sheep dip for meat to be safe, and there must be a 70-day period before animals treated with dormectin can be sold as meat. Yet these animals were being slaughtered two weeks after being treated. The abattoir informed the FSA about the problem immediately and asked for advice. The company then supplied the agency with details of batches and consignments.
Auctioneers at livestock markets are urged to be particularly vigilant for there is concern that breeding sheep are being bought up for meat.
The price of these animals has collapsed after the foot-and-mouth and bluetongue outbreaks and with the industry facing cashflow problems there is suspicion that some suppliers may be tempted to make quick profits by substituting cheaper breeding animals instead of buying lambs ready for the table. The price difference is about £6 to £8 an animal.
The National Farmers’ Union and the National Sheep Association are enraged. They need to maintain consumer confidence in the meat to deal with the glut of lamb on the market.
The Times has learnt that the alarm was raised last week when a trading standards officer who attended a number of Cumbria livestock auctions learnt that an abattoir buyer had bought up significant amounts of breeding sheep that were not intended for the food chain. The officer was concerned because he could smell sheep dip on the fleece of some animals and was worried that they would be slaughtered for meat in contravention of the law covering drug residues.
Treated animals can be sold eventually as meat after a safe period when drugs have passed through them. The officer was given reassurances that the animals were not being slaughtered for meat but nevertheless sent a general warning to the MHS.
A vet who works for the MHS at Welsh Country Foods in Anglesey picked up the alert and last Wednesday detected the smell of sheep dip on animals. She quarantined hundreds of animals, refused to allow them to be sold for human consumption and called in the local trading standards officers. A paper trail from the auctions showed they had been bought at Cumbrian markets. There was immediate concern because Welsh Country Foods is a subsidiary of Grampian Foods, a leading meat distributor that also supplies the bulk of Asda’s meat.
Officers visited farmers who reared the sheep and checks on farm records showed that some animals had been treated with organophosphate sheep dips, some injected with dormectin, an antiparasitic drug, and some had received both treatments. There was alarm because it takes 30 to 35 days after an animal is being treated with sheep dip for meat to be safe, and there must be a 70-day period before animals treated with dormectin can be sold as meat. Yet these animals were being slaughtered two weeks after being treated. The abattoir informed the FSA about the problem immediately and asked for advice. The company then supplied the agency with details of batches and consignments.
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Primrose
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My first reaction is to trust Farmers rather than the Government, but on reading this, one realises that there will always be the odd maverick who falls outside the system.
But when I read that the "Farmers" want most of the badgers killed because they are infecting cattle with TB I no longer know what to believe, or who to trust.
But when I read that the "Farmers" want most of the badgers killed because they are infecting cattle with TB I no longer know what to believe, or who to trust.
Alan,
This has got nothing to do with farmers really because their only crime was to put them up for sale.
This is a perfectly normal practice and these Sheep were not sold by the farmers with the food chain in mind. It is some wideboy who has decided that he can make a fast buck. He will be traced because everything is accountable with animals irrespective if they are for slaughter or not.
So tell me why should you distrust farmers?
JB.
This has got nothing to do with farmers really because their only crime was to put them up for sale.
This is a perfectly normal practice and these Sheep were not sold by the farmers with the food chain in mind. It is some wideboy who has decided that he can make a fast buck. He will be traced because everything is accountable with animals irrespective if they are for slaughter or not.
So tell me why should you distrust farmers?
JB.
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alan refail
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Point taken, Johnboy. I was only asking a question and posting a story. I was brought up on farms and now live in a sheep producing area, so it upsets me to hear of such practices.
Alan
Alan
Cred air o bob deg a glywi, a thi a gei rywfaint bach o wir (hen ddihareb Gymraeg)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
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Geoff
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Wonderful post Paul, thanks for that.
You must be close to the subject to have so much detail so can you explain why a paper chase can clearly show how the problem arose but not prevent it? I thought there was a sort of passport system that released animals into the food chain, or is that only for beef? If the intermediaries, slaughterers and distributors have broken the rules are they going to be prosecuted?
I'm glad I buy my lamb from a farmer a quarter of a mile away, although it does have a round trip of forty miles to be slaughtered and butchered.
You must be close to the subject to have so much detail so can you explain why a paper chase can clearly show how the problem arose but not prevent it? I thought there was a sort of passport system that released animals into the food chain, or is that only for beef? If the intermediaries, slaughterers and distributors have broken the rules are they going to be prosecuted?
I'm glad I buy my lamb from a farmer a quarter of a mile away, although it does have a round trip of forty miles to be slaughtered and butchered.
Thats the problem sheep have no way of being traced where as cattle must have an individual tag which has a number which can be traced back to the farm that it was born on .On my fathers farm we have in individual "Herd Number " this number can only be used by us so that any animal with this number can be traced back to us . Each animal has an individual number which can be checked against a database to see when it was born thereby making sure that cattle over the age of 30 months can not enter the food chain .
Sheep farmers complained that the tags cost to much and that lambs for slaughter are all less than 1 year old.
As for tracability - I was watching next years fillet stake grazing a field of grass at my fathers on Sunday . Due to be slaughtered after Christmas. Food miles about 20 by the time it goes to the slaughterhose and on to the butcher and back home to the freezer.
Sheep farmers complained that the tags cost to much and that lambs for slaughter are all less than 1 year old.
As for tracability - I was watching next years fillet stake grazing a field of grass at my fathers on Sunday . Due to be slaughtered after Christmas. Food miles about 20 by the time it goes to the slaughterhose and on to the butcher and back home to the freezer.
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat
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strawberry tart
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and the world goes round and around..S.T.Johnboy wrote:Alan,
This has got nothing to do with farmers really because their only crime was to put them up for sale.
This is a perfectly normal practice and these Sheep were not sold by the farmers with the food chain in mind. It is some wideboy who has decided that he can make a fast buck. He will be traced because everything is accountable with animals irrespective if they are for slaughter or not.
So tell me why should you distrust farmers?
JB.
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strawberry tart
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Sorry Johnboy, a couple of slugs of scotch when I got home and I got a bit cryptic there by the look of things,Something to do with wideboy middle men making a fast buck but not really relevent on reflection Apologies again S.T.
Hi ST,
Some of my rants are induced by the 'Amber Nectar.'
What is really annoying me is that they are going to burn Welsh Hill Lamb rather than letting anybody buy it. I usually have a couple of WHL as they are the sweetest tasting lamb you could ever get. I understand that the Beaulah Lambs I generally have cannot be sold to the public this year.
They say that this would cause a flood of lamb on the market and prices would be affected. As it is Lamb is in short supply and the price has gone up!
JB.
Some of my rants are induced by the 'Amber Nectar.'
What is really annoying me is that they are going to burn Welsh Hill Lamb rather than letting anybody buy it. I usually have a couple of WHL as they are the sweetest tasting lamb you could ever get. I understand that the Beaulah Lambs I generally have cannot be sold to the public this year.
They say that this would cause a flood of lamb on the market and prices would be affected. As it is Lamb is in short supply and the price has gone up!
JB.