The farming press has only one major preoccupation these days – disease. Bluetongue is the hot topic at the moment, but it is only weeks since the last case of Bird Flu and only a few months since last years Foot & Mouth fiasco. All this is underlined by the ever present threat of TB (Bovine Tuberculosis), which gets less prominence in the press, but is ever on the increase – especially here in the South West.

In the good old days our chief moan was usually about European red tape (followed closely by those hardy perennials – poor prices and the bloody weather); then at least you knew who to direct your anger at, and spending the odd rainy day in the office wasn’t all bad. These current threats are altogether more stressful and you feel helpless in the seemingly futile fight against various bacteria and viruses.

The advice we receive is less than inspiring:

• Spray the wheels of incoming vehicles with disinfectant – Foot & Mouth
• Keep your chickens away from wild birds – Bird Flu
• Keep your cows away from badgers – TB
• Attend meetings and talk to your neighbours – Bluetongue

None of the above instils you with much confidence in our ability to cope with an outbreak and for a farm which prides itself on extensive free-range livestock, attractiveness to wildlife and openness to the public we don’t know where to begin.

Bluetongue is a particularly nasty one which debilitates animals and led to a 25% increase in livestock mortality in the Netherlands last year. The good news is that there is a vaccination currently being developed. The bad news is that it won’t be available until May, while the disease will be a threat from mid-April (earlier if warmer - as it is carried by midges).

Meanwhile, here on the farm, we have just reached closure on BSE – the curse of the 90’s. Currently the only cows now that are not allowed to enter the food chain are those born before 1996 (pretty old for a farm cow), and these may be sent on the governments Older Cattle Disposal Scheme. This means that the cows will be humanely destroyed and the farmer paid 292 euros in compensation.

There are estimated over 200,000 such cows left at the moment on farms and even when the scheme closes at the end of the year there will still be in excess of 100,000 kicking around. We had to wait several weeks for a slot in the scheme our two remaining geriatrics, and anyone left with older cows after December will be faced with a bill to slaughter them. This will then draw a line under BSE forever and confine our experiences of Mad Cows to the history books. Lets hope it doesn’t take a decade to sort out Bluetongue!

Three years ago I joined the membership of the National Farmers Union. You might wonder why it took me a couple of decades of farming before signing up; well I suppose it was mainly the influence of my late father, who had a slightly different interpretation of what the initials NFU might stand for - (it involved the words ‘no’, ‘use’ and another that, even in these days of lax moral values, I shan’t repeat in mixed company). They were seen in his time as very much representing the interest of the old barley barons with not much to offer the subsistence hill farmer.

Things have changed over the years, and above all they now have an excellent insurance arm which can offer any farmer a very competitive whole farm insurance with just the sort of no-nonsense, common-sense approach to claims that make them a joy to deal with.

They are also much better at recognising the needs all farmers and have even paid lip service to embracing the organic movement as having something positive to offer. However, they still do take a very black and white view of modern agriculture, maintaining that all farmers are doing a fantastic job while suffering under poor prices, unseasonable weather, bad press and unreasonable bureaucracy.

We liberal, eco-friendly, lily-livered organic souls tend, on the other hand, to be full of doubt and self-awareness and we regularly tie ourselves in knots on issues with which we can have very little influence over - such as air freight, fair-trade, global warming and human rights. This can, if you let it, get you down rather and I sometimes wistfully wish I was as self-assured as some of my colleges in the NFU appear to be.

As it happens, the latest copy of their trade magazine – British Farmer & Grower – has a fascinating article in it, comparing farming today with 1908 (it is the NFU’s centenary celebration this year). Written by their chief economist – Carmen Suarez – it is full of statistics that I for one would have hardly credited were true, and shows perhaps why the NFU feels that British agriculture has much to be proud of.

Back in 1908, farmers produced only 40% of the food needed by the then population of 40 million – we now produce 60% of the food required by the 60 million or so on our crowded Isle today. This actually represents a fall since the mid-eighties, (the height of production subsidies), when we reached the giddy heights of producing 80% of the nations needs.

This has all been achieved with a workforce which is now only a fifth of the size of the million or so workers employed in 1908 (fairly amazing efficiency), and also the actual number of farms has been steadily falling as they have grown in size. Interestingly though, this has been lately reversed with the ‘Good Life’ factor finally kicking-in and producing a rise in small holdings, part-time, and lifestyle farmers.

I would have to say, that we are probably slipping into this category, as most of out real income now comes from the campers and Cathy’s job as a nurse at the local hospital. The necessity for this is evident from the last set of stats, which reveals that in relation to the cost of living, farmgate prices have fallen steadily over the last hundred years so that they now only represent a paltry 20% of their 1908 level. Food for thought indeed.