10th May 2004
To All Livestock Owners and Farmers
Dear Sir or Madam
COLLECTION OF FALLEN STOCK
On the 2nd April I wrote to you all explaining our understanding of the Government scheme and the implications this had for us and the options we face. At the same time I asked for your input and feedback either by telephone or letter and also invited all farmers to a meeting which we held on the 22nd April in Binegar Village Hall.
I am pleased to say that a great many of you did respond or attend the meeting and we are grateful for the time and support you have shown us.
The meeting discussed the various options open to us, and the general consensus was that there was no guarantee that the Government scheme would get off the ground. I outlined the costs that the Mendip Farmers Hunt was going to incur in upgrading our flesh house and vehicles – up to £40,000 (whether or not we join the Government Scheme); and explained how we are hoping to raise the bulk of this money. This will only take us so far, and in my last letter to you I proposed a scale of charges that we might wish to introduce to cover the costs of offal and fuel.
At the meeting a proposal was made from the floor that all farmers agree to pay our proposed scale of charges until such time as the Government scheme starts. I asked for a show of hands, both in support of, and against this proposal. There were no votes against. Coupled with the feedback received before the meeting, we appear to have the support of about 98% of the farmers we have heard from, to go forward with our own scheme. Farmers would then have the option to either join the Government scheme when it starts or to continue with our scheme.
Accordingly please find below the scale of charges we will introduce with effect from the 21st May 2004.
Horses £150 Sheep/goats >12 months £20
Adult Bovine 12-24 months £45 Unfinished lamb £2.50
Reared Calf 6-12 months £25 Bag of Lambs (only collected if we are on the
Calves 3-6 months £15 Farm or delivered) £5
Young calf £5
We can not pick up or accept cattle over 24 months old. You will need to call the help line for these.
We are still not in a position to collect pigs.
Any farmers delivering stock to the kennels will be asked to fill out in their name and address on a board, as this is an actual legal requirement. Your help and cooperation on this will be greatly appreciated. Details of all stock delivered or collected will be recorded and accounts sent out monthly.
As before may I ask for your help in providing this service by:
1. Please leave all casualties, (dead or alive) in the same place and together in/by the farm buildings as our vehicle is not 4 wheel drive.
2. Please phone as soon as it is dead, so that we always have it fresh. This allows us to feed to hounds and keep offal charges down.
3. We offer a 24 hour service for emergencies. Other than that please phone before 10.15 am so that we can plan a short, cost effective journey.
4. In the hunting season, unless urgent, we will not be able to collect on hunting days, and we try to avoid Sundays if possible.
Please call Richard Standing with regard to all flesh collection queries on 01749 870 271
Several farmers expressed a view that they would consider making a donation towards the cost of the new flesh house or knacker wagon. If this is something you would like to do, any sum would be very gratefully received.
Yours sincerely
Rupert Firbank Richard Standing MFH
Chairman
28th February 2004
To all Livestock Farmers in the Mendip Farmers’ Hunt Country.
As you will all no doubt be aware, last year the government tried to set up a national fallen stock scheme. This failed through lack of take up by the farming community.
On the 25th July 2003 defra announced that a National Fallen stock scheme would go ahead, starting in January 2004. The charges advertised per annum are:
Producers with small numbers of livestock £50
Medium sized producers £100
Large producers £350
Very Large producers £1000
So far, nothing has been put in place for Poultry, Horses, Fish or Exotic livestock.
The scheme is now due to begin in the autumn having been delayed from the initial start date for this spring. In the meantime we are being forced to bring our flesh house up to European slaughterhouse standards and we have made initial moves to begin this costly process.
The Mendip Farmers’ Hunt would now welcome feedback from all livestock Farmers as to how they would wish us to proceed. At present, there appear to be two options:
1. For us, the hunt, to become a national collection center, and be paid by the scheme to provide the service. This would mean that you, the farmer, would need to be a member of the government scheme and pay the appropriate subscription, for us to be able to collect your fallen stock. You would need to nominate the Hunt as your preferred collector.
2. For us, the hunt, to start our own scheme with either a yearly subscription or a per head charge, to be paid by you, the farmer.
It may even be possible for us to operate a combination of the 2 options above but this is not clear and we would rather run one or the other.
There is a third option, which is to stop all flesh collection and feed meal. This is not our favoured option but one we may need to consider.
Whichever option we choose, we will need to make a substantial investment to upgrade our collection vehicle, buildings and drainage. As mentioned our flesh house has to reach European slaughterhouse standards for a start.
Charges to farmers for the disposal of fallen stock have been, and still are, a very emotive issue. In recent times The Mendip Farmers Hunt have always had some form of charging system in place to livestock farmers, to help us cover the ever increasing costs of the service that we provide. These charges have been accepted by farmers to varying degrees, some farmers have been very willing to pay and some not so keen.
The Mendip Farmers’ Hunt has never tried to make your loss into a business venture and has no wish to do so now, particularly with the farmers and landowners who allow us to hunt across their land, so that we can provide our primary service, that of maintaining and controlling fox numbers. Although we totally understand and appreciate the current crisis that farming is in, we are struggling to cover all the costs that we incur. These costs have increased quite dramatically, partly through increased costs of fuel and collection of offal.
Ministry regulations changed several years ago, so that it became impractical to feed any sheep or goat flesh, and the Mendip hunt has had a “No sheep policy” for some time. When the new regulations come into force, or possibly before, we may need to reconsider this.
Until such time as the new scheme starts, the Mendip Farmers’ Hunt would like to restart / improve the old charging system, with immediate effect with prices as follows:
Horses £150
Adult Bovine 12-24 months £45
Reared Calf 6-12 months £25
Calves 3-6 months £15
Young calf £5
If we were to start collecting sheep & Pigs the charges might be as follows
Sheep/goats >12 months £5 Sows and Boars >150kg £20
Unfinished lamb/goat £2.50 Porkers/baconers/gilts £7
Young lamb £0.75 Piglets <20kg £0.75
Deer TBC
All these charges match what the proposed Government scheme would pay the Hunt where as Farmers would pay the Government a subscription.
Alternatively a subscription could be negotiated, either yearly or up until the government start their own scheme.
Any farmers delivering stock to the kennels will be asked to bring the amount due, and also to fill in their name and address on a board, as this is an actual legal requirement. Your help and cooperation on this will be greatly appreciated.
We would also like your help in improving this service in the following ways.
1. Please leave all casualties, (dead or alive) in the same place and together in/by the farm buildings as our vehicle is not 4 wheel drive.
2. Please phone as soon as it is dead, so that we always have it fresh. This allows us to feed to hounds and keep future charges low by selling the skins.
3. We offer a 24 hour service for emergencies. Other than that please phone before 10.30 am so that we can plan a short, cost effective journey.
4. In the hunting season, unless urgent, we will not be able to collect on hunting days, and we try to avoid Sundays if possible.
We really would welcome your help and feedback with this. So please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the Masters, in order to give us your views on how we can improve this service yet further or how you think we should run the scheme.
Yours sincerely,
Rupert Firbank,
Chairman - The Mendip Farmers’ Hunt.
