Harvest2008

Your produce needed for British Food Fortnight

Year-round inspiration for garden lovers at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Article and pictures page 15

20 September - 5 October This most popular annual event, created to enable everyone to sample the delights of the very best of British food, is fully supported by The Farmers Club.

To enable the Club to provide maximum backing for this great food fortnight, Head Chef Don Irwin needs donations of British farm produce from members.

Your donations will be used by Don and his team to create dishes that reflect the very essence of British culinary delights for serving to diners at the Club during the Food Fortnight.

In return for your generosity, you are invited to display your own promotional material at the Club over the two-week period.

Beyond that, all you have to do is help the Club spread the word that this best of British food - in special dishes representing as many areas of the country as possible - is being served throughout the Fortnight.

Sample this best of British food by dining at YOUR Club To donate produce call Head Chef Don Irwin on

020 7925 7103 To make Dining Room reservations - for lunch or dinner - call

020 7930 3557

inside…

Application form for: • Club lunch and visit to Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms (Friday 5 December) Details in Ramblings (p20) about: • Harvest Festival and Buffet Supper (Tuesday 7 October) Please note your individual Club membership number, printed on your Journal envelope. You will need it to access the members’ section of the Club website at www.thefarmersclub.com

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CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • Julian Sayers

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS • Julian Sayers

THE FARMERS CLUB Over 160 years of service to farming

Confusion still exists about Government’s attitude to the food and farming industry

3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL

contents

Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

2 Chairman’s Comments Julian Sayers writes about farm shows, commodity prices, lack of Government guidance, ‘Food Matters’, David Bellamy, and Hampton Court Flower Show.

4 Shortage of energy Mark Griffith gives a thoughtprovoking account of the problems and opportunities the world faces in its search for essential energy supplies.

6 Moral Practicality Henry Fell explains why it’s time to stop worshipping the anti-science culture and to surface out of deep dreams into a world of Moral Practicality.

8 African Horse Sickness Lindy Margach looks at the threat of AHS to Britain’s equine population.

This most devastating horse disease wipes out 90% of animals infected.

10 NZ wine production Chris Foss, of Plumpton College, used a Club Charitable Trust bursary to visit New Zealand and find out what makes its wines so popular back in Britain.

12 Summer farm shows Don Gomery catches the atmosphere on camera as the Club again goes out from Whitehall Court to meet members face-to-face at summer farm shows.

14 Beware of avian ‘flu Under 30s member Tristram van Lawick warns of the steps farmers will be forced to take if hit by the highly-pathogenic H5NI avian ‘flu virus.

15 Magical Flower Show Don Gomery reports in words and pictures on the Club visit in early July to take in the magnificence of the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

16 Farmers Weekly Awards Debbie Beaton gives an update on the search to find farmers who have done most, within their specialist fields, to illustrate all that’s best about UK farming.

18 Under 30s 20 Whitehall Court Ramblings 22 Information and Diary Dates Disclaimer: The articles published in The Farmers Club Journal do not necessarily reflect the views of The Farmers Club. No responsibility for the quality of goods or services advertised in the magazine can be accepted by the publisher. Advertisements are included in ‘good faith’.

All rights reserved.

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face farmers and their advisers from other directions.

To start with, there seems to be no end in sight so far as rising costs are concerned.

In the case of certain inputs, sourcing a supply is proving to be just as challenging as paying the price being sought.

THE PAST few weeks have seen a hectic tour of the UK attending agricultural shows and hosting the associated Club dinners.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to visit these important events and to meet the organisers, Club members and their guests. Long may the industry’s tradition of holding shows at a national, regional and county level continue.

Clearly, such events provide a valuable opportunity to display the very best of British agricultural produce. This includes the superb livestock, despite this year’s bluetongue restrictions, as well as fresh and processed food. These products are displayed alongside the latest machinery and equipment, which is once again in demand, together with technical information, all of which are of interest both to farmers and the wider community.

The shows attract people of all ages, from school children through to those who have retired, and I’m sure they benefit from the education process which permeates through in different ways. In some cases this is via specific educational features, which draw many visitors and are worthy of the investment which has been made.

Indeed, now is the time to capitalise on the heightened interest in the issues surrounding food production and supply, as the era of cheap and plentiful output from around the world is, perhaps, coming to an end.

I just hope the weather will improve over coming weeks - and certainly by the time this article is being read - in order to ensure that the arable sector has a dry and speedy harvest, given the current price of fuel.

Guidance needed At the moment there appears to be a mismatch between what the Government is seeking to achieve on the one hand, by encouraging farmers to produce more food in light of the world supplies, while, on the other, the approach being adopted towards issues such as TB, other animal diseases, NVZs and countless new regulations.

While the ground rules need to be clear, farmers must be in a position to run their businesses without undue external controls and unnecessary financial burdens. We need to see positive decision making from our policy makers, which will support the industry and not hinder our entrepreneurs at this critical time. We must avoid the risk of limiting their ability to produce food by reducing the number of farmers still further and, in particular, our headage of livestock, be it in the dairy, beef, sheep or pig sectors.

Food Matters

Commodity prices

The recent Cabinet Office ‘Food Matters’ Report, published after a ten-month project looking at food policy across Government, has made a series of recommendations.

These include public engagement in a more joined-up approach to UK food policy that pursues fair prices, safer food, and better environmental performance, along with help for consumers to access healthier choices when eating out.

On the farming front, commodity prices remain higher, across the board, than 12 months ago, although many challenges still

This is all very laudable, but the Government needs to work with the farming industry to achieve these objectives.

I would, therefore, like to record my thanks to all those who give of their time so freely to organise and steward these shows, year in year out. Long may this commitment continue for the benefit of our industry.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

The report goes on to say that 18% of UK greenhouse gas emissions come from the food chain, with half being generated by farming and fishing, and that this needs to be reduced. Maybe, but at what cost in terms of our agricultural businesses, food processing and the price of food itself?

There is also reference to the vast amount of food waste, which, I would suggest, in part reflects how cheap the commodity has become in recent years.

If the report is to have any real impact, those responsible for the delivery of the outcomes must first recognise exactly what the farming industry can achieve in terms of food security and, secondly how cost effective production can be if producers are given the freedom to farm.

Superb speaker One of the highlights of the show season was to host the Club dinner at the Cheshire County Show, with Professor David Bellamy as our guest speaker. David must be one of the most energetic and enthusiastic people ever to address Club members, expressing his views on a wide range of issues surrounding farming and the countryside at large.

Despite his numerous appointments and achievements, David claims never to have done a real day’s work in his life, because of his love for everything with which he is associated, be it our wildlife, flora or fauna.

It was interesting to learn that of all the posts he has held the one which makes him feel most privileged is being Patron of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, because he believes the members love and want to protect the environment in which they work. They also, in his view, have a deep knowledge, understanding and an entirely pragmatic approach to conservation, from which others can learn important lessons.

David touched upon his thoughts regarding global warming and how we might feed the world in the future. He has clearly been influenced by Michael Pollan’s book ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’, which he described as “the most frightening book I have ever read”.

HRH Prince Philip visits Club for Honours Lunch HRH Prince Philip again graciously accepted an invitation from event organiser and past Club Chairman Eric Wilson to attend a reception and lunch at the Club for those who have been recognised within the Order of the British Empire. He attended this same function, at Eric’s invitation, in 2006.

Pictured with HRH are (left to right): Club Chief Executive and Secretary Stephen Skinner, Club Chairman Julian Sayers, event organiser Eric Wilson and guest lunchtime speaker The Earl of Home, Chairman of Coutts Bank.

David also drew our attention to the fact that 97% of the gases which are harmful to the planet are produced naturally, the remainder being man-made, and, as a result, he contended that CO2 was not the enemy.

Sincere thanks must go to Charles Notcutt for passing on his expertise while we travelled to the show, which enabled us to visit the very best exhibits without wasting any time.

He concluded with his trade mark exuberance, saying that, with even more pressure on the earth’s food supplies, we as a nation must learn to feed ourselves. Let’s hope others will hear and take on board this important message.

Future events

Hampton Court I thoroughly enjoyed the day spent with 60 Club members visiting the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, which was quite a contrast to the agricultural events of the previous two months. Having said that, the displays included the hot topic of food production in a different way.

Many congratulations to Club member Gillian van der Meer, who masterminded the excellent display of crops and vegetables in the educational exhibit entitled ‘School’s In – School’s Out’ as part of the Growing Tastes marquee, which won a Silver Gilt Medal after five months of hard work.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

Looking to future events, I hope that members will join me at this year’s Harvest Festival Service to be held in the wonderful surroundings of recently restored St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. The preacher will be The Rt. Rev’d.

Stephen Venner, Bishop in Canterbury.

After the Service there will be a buffet supper back at the Club, which everyone is welcome to attend (see Ramblings, page 20).

I am pleased to report that, for the first time, the Club will have a presence at the Dairy Event and Livestock Show, to be held at Stoneleigh Park on 17-18 September. We will be hosting a Business Lounge in conjunction with the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, where you can be assured of a warm welcome and the opportunity to sit and relax or the chance to conclude that all important deal!

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ENERGY SECURITY • Mark Griffiths

ENERGY SECURITY • Mark Griffiths

Mark Griffiths is a Chartered Surveyor at Dreweatt Neate in Hampshire and a member of the RICS Countryside Policy Panel, where he leads on energy. Here, he gives a thought-provoking account of the problems, as well as the opportunities, the word faces in its search for essential energy supplies.

Although, like other sectors, agriculture is vulnerable to energy shortages, it is also a potential supplier.

Biofuels not the only energy source which are facing serious challenges

Where growing biofuels displaces existing carbon sinks, such as rain forest, clearly this is counter-productive for climate change mitigation. Ethanol and biodiesel from British farmland (where the trees have long since been removed) is potentially a much better option.

China and America must collaborate on energy research and development “before the race for oil becomes as hot and dangerous as the nuclear arms race between the US and Soviet Union”.

AT THE 2006 opening of a new pipeline bringing gas from Norway, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that “In the future, energy security will be almost as important as defence”.

Three years earlier ExxonMobil had warned that, by 2015, the world “will need to find, develop and produce a volume of new oil and gas that is equal to eight out of every ten barrels being produced today”.

In 2007 the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned of an oil and gas supply ‘crunch’ by 2012. By 2015, its chief economist told the Financial Times, the world faces a daily oil supply deficit of some 13.5 million barrels… a figure equivalent to 15% of current consumption.

Self-sufficient in oil and gas until recently, Britain is not the only nation with faltering production. Sixty out of 99 oil producing countries have already peaked. In April, Russia potentially joined the list, prompting the Financial Times headline: ‘Preparing for the age of peak oil’.

Global discoveries of conventional oil have been falling since the 1960s, lagging behind consumption for more than 20 years (Fig 1).

Iraq’s geological potential to quickly provide major new flows is unrivalled, but as yet unrealised, following post-Saddam chaos.

The gas situation is also precarious. By 2020 more than 80% of British consumption will need to be imported (Fig 2). Blair has described the situation as “stark”.

Supplies from Norway will not match declining domestic production after 2010.

We will have to look elsewhere.

Russia stands accused of playing geopolitics following gas price rises sought from NATO-aspiring neighbours in Ukraine and Georgia. Yet, in ending Soviet era discounts, Russia says it has simply demanded European market rates, and is applying similar principles to ally Belarus.

Russian gas production suffers from lack of investment and 70% comes from fields already in decline. The European Commission anticipates coming shortages, and last year Moscow’s Ministry of 4

Unconventional oil One alternative energy source is ‘unconventional oil’, particularly tar sands and oil shales.

These exist in very large quantities, especially in North America. Slow and expensive to extract, however, the IEA believes unconventional oil will make “some positive contribution, but it is very limited”.

Industry and Energy warned Russia may be unable to service even its own gas needs as early as 2010.

Besides North Africa, that leaves mainly the Middle East, and the IEA says it is “far from certain that all (gas) investment needed beyond 2010 will in fact occur”.

With rising domestic demand, BP estimates Gulf countries may have a 7 billion cubic feet per day deficit of their own by 2015. Meanwhile the EU has been courting Iraq and Turkmenistan.

Net importer With rapid industrialisation in Asia, China became a net importer of oil in 1996, subsequently overtaking Japan as the world’s second largest. China is building energy alliances around the globe, including with Canada, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, as well as in Africa and Central Asia. This sets it on a potential collision course with the United States.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs Of Staff, addressed a meeting of non-commissioned officers in April.

Alongside ‘extremism’, he said changes around the world associated with energy and resources make today “the most uncertain and potentially the most dangerous time since [the 40 years] I’ve been serving”.

Senator Joe Lieberman, Al Gore’s former Presidential running mate, has warned that

Another difficulty is that because these solid deposits have to be mined or melted, and then heavily treated, production is much more CO2 intensive than conventional oil.

Tar sand oil production is already the biggest contributor to Canada’s rising emissions… by 2006 a staggering 35 percentage points above its Kyoto target.

Carbon capture may be introduced, but this will slow down an industry where delays and cost overruns are already endemic.

Global competition is not only for oil and gas. In addition to huge investment in coalfired power, China plans a major expansion in nuclear generation.

But how great a role might this play in addressing energy security?

Former Chairman of the Government’s Biomass Task Force, ex-NFU President Sir Ben Gill, estimates that to supply 5.75% by volume of UK road fuel would require around 1.45 million hectares of arable land, or approximately 23% of the total.

However, these biofuels would only account for 4% of the energy requirement due to their low energy density. Producing 18% of the requirement would, impractically, require all arable land.

Where would the remaining 82% come from? And that is besides the needs of aviation, shipping, and diesel trains.

Food production and biodiversity impacts are inescapable when seeking to replace energy-dense subterranean resources (fossil fuels) with low-density alternatives needing extensive areas of fertile land surface (farm crops).

Second generation biofuels from crop residues and woody materials could help.

However, these will not make a major contribution within the next five years, and some think much longer.

Meanwhile the total contribution from biofuels projected by the International

Panel on Climate Change (including second generation biofuels on the supply side and non-road transport fuels on the demand side) is 10% of global transport energy demand in 2030.

So if energy security is becoming “almost as important as defence”, how is this reflected in Government spending priorities?

First, that ‘business as usual’ cannot continue.

As the largest consumer of oil (24% of the total) the United States spends well in excess of $1 billion every day on defence.

Much of that goes in securing the very global flows of oil which are increasingly proving inadequate.

Second, supply pressures are likely to force change faster than longer-term concerns about climate change.

But what might the world look like if sums of that magnitude were spent on developing an alternative energy model?

Third, bold action is required.

Sir David Manning, personal Foreign Policy Adviser to Mr Blair and subsequently British Ambassador to Washington, spoke at Stanford University in 2006. He reviewed a sequence of energy security issues dating back to Winston Churchill’s decision in 1911, as first Lord of the Admiralty, to power the British Navy using Persian oil instead of domestic coal.

What does all this tell us?

Fourth, that energy conservation and nonbiofuel renewables should not be treated as Cinderellas. Per square metre solar panels are able to produce many times the energy yield of a biofuel crop. Where they are installed on building surfaces, or even in the desert, there is little or no additional requirement for productive or biodiversity rich land. Nor is there any requirement for fertiliser, or continuous field operations.

Electric future Wind, wave, tidal, and ground heat also have low or zero land use requirements.

These don’t provide oil, but many think the future of transport is electric. The efficiencies of the electric motor greatly outperform the internal combustion engine, in which most energy is lost as heat.

The degree to which we will end up having to change the way we live, and the degree to which we can expect technology to come to the rescue, is, of course, unknown. But one thing is already clear… the required investment in the latter runs into the billions nationally, and trillions globally.

“Nearly a century later,” Manning said, “the challenge of energy is more than ever at the forefront of foreign policy. It is central to national security. Wherever we look, problems are energy-driven.”

Having examined the twin threats of climate change and global oil production peaking perhaps as early as 2010, Manning stressed the urgent need for developing alternative energy sources, stating “This is not a problem that can wait ten years”.

He added: “If we get these decisions right we open up the prospect of a new technological revolution that will create opportunities and transform our world in ways just as profound as the first industrial revolution.”

• Mark Griffiths can be contacted by emailing mgriffiths@dreweatt-neate.co.uk

Nearly 60% of mined uranium comes from Australia, Canada, and Kazakhstan. In the IEA’s 2006 ‘World Energy Outlook’ the strongest forecast is for 6.9% of global energy from nuclear by 2030. This, however, requires a major expansion in planned uranium production, without which the IEA forecasts a supply shortage by 2020.

In January the Kazakh government said “shortage of uranium will reach critical level in 2014”, and announced a proposal for a major expansion of its own production.

But it can take a decade or more to launch a uranium mine. The largest currently under development, at Cigar Lake, Canada, is several years behind schedule due to severe flooding.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Fig 1: World Discovery And Production Of Conventional Oil - Billion Barrels/Annum. (Source: Association For The Study Of Peak Oil And Gas, 2007). Daily global production is expected to peak when only half the total has been produced.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

Fig 2: UK Gas Production And Demand – Billion Cubic Metres/Annum. (Source: Parliamentary Office Of Science And Technology, 2004) Previously self-sufficient the UK will need to import more than 80% of its gas by 2020.

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MORAL PRACTICALITY • Henry Fell

MORAL PRACTICALITY • Henry Fell

Never one to pull his punches, Club member and Lincolnshire farmer Henry Fell, founder Chairman of The Commercial Farmers Group, gives his reasons why it’s time to stop worshipping the anti-science culture and to surface out of deep dreams into a world of Moral Practicality.

Time to surface out of deep dreams into the world of Moral Practicality But that was not how her work was received in the UK market. Under pressure from a whole variety of high-minded NGOs, our supermarkets banned the import of GM bananas.

I shall never forget Dr.Karembu’s passionate reaction: “How dare you do this to undermine my work, which aims to counter the poverty and hardship which is widespread in my country, when you live in such a pampered and spoilt society.”

So, what has changed during these six years? Or, perhaps more to the point, during the past 12 months ?

SOME six years ago, I sat in the audience at London University and listened to a scientist from Nairobi by the name of Dr Margaret Karembu. She was telling us about her work with bananas and the benefits of genetic improvement.

Dr Karembu cited, as an example, the case of a peasant African woman whose income and livelihood depended on banana growing. As a result of her work, she had managed to lift this woman’s annual income from 60 US$ to no less than 300 US$.

That may sound like pretty good news. Just what was, and is, needed so much in the developing countries.

A great deal, actually. More than anything, all of a sudden, the realisation has dawned that the world is no longer “full of cheap food”; that our powerful supermarkets can no longer buy where they will at knockdown prices. And our pampered society now moans about the cost of a loaf of bread.

Oh dear!

But the implications are far more widespread and serious than that. And this is especially so in those countries where deprivation, hardship and true hunger are the real issues.

Our Ethiopian friend tells me that the cost of living has shot up. That is the global

market in action and it illustrates why Free Trade is not necessarily an effective universal solution. We have got the money to buy food, albeit at the cheaper supermarkets, but that is not true in the poorer countries.

What has definitely not changed, at least here in the UK, is the Anti-Science culture in which we live. It drowns in emotion and is starved of logic and fact. And this extends way beyond the subject of Genetic Modification, important though that undoubtedly is.

I find it quite incredible that a supposedly intelligent and sophisticated society should so shut its eyes to reality. A tragically laughable example of this is when the PM criticises people for the waste of food… and then approves of the slaughter of thousands of cattle at a cost of £millions, all to avoid the selective cull of the TB-infected badger population.

Allow me to summarise the facts of the situation. And, first of all, to begin with a quotation from the UK Dept for International Development: “Hunger sows the seeds of conflict… scarce food, water and land lead to environmental damage, poverty, conflict, and migration. Improved agriculture is a powerful and effective means of promoting peace. When food is plentiful, hunger-driven conflicts and civil unrest are less likely.”

Blindingly obvious common sense.

Why, then, is the world running into global food shortage? There are a number of well known factors: • The unstoppable increase in global population, going up by at least 50% in the next 40 years.

• The industrial revolution in the Far East, increasing standards of living and consequent change from cereal diets to a greater reliance on white meat (for pity’s sake don’t tell the Chinese to become vegetarians!).

• The increasingly serious shortage of fresh water for the irrigation so necessary for crop yield.

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THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

• Climate change, whatever that may, or may not, be.

It is worth pausing for a moment to reflect on the implications inherent in two periods in our history.

The first was during our Industrial Revolution, from the mid 1700s into the 1800s, when sectors of the population moved from the countryside to the towns and, in consequence, the country changed from subsistence farming to commercial production.

The demand for food grew and this triggered an Agricultural Revolution, science based… remember, it was in the 1840s that the RASE (‘Practice with Science’), Rothamsted, the Royal Agricultural College and The Farmers Club were born. That transformed British agriculture, until cheap trans-Atlantic shipping and trans-continental railways flooded Europe with cheap grain.

The second was after the last War when, after years of food shortage and severe rationing, the British public demanded to be better fed. What was true of the UK was just as true of the whole of Europe and of America.

This led to the so-called ‘Green Revolution’, in the days when Green had a different meaning. Led by Norman Borluag, this produced big investment in agricultural technologies of many types… notably plant breeding and the development of shortstrawed cereals varieties, as well as the greater use of fertilisers and pesticides.

The rewards were more than significant, they were great – an increase in global cereal yields of 240%, involving a 220% increase in the use of water for crop irrigation. It also has to be said that those were the days of a world population of 4 billion; today, of course, it is more than 6 billion.

Comparisons with today cannot be exact, but the central lesson to be learned is common to all three situations. To ignore science; to put advanced technology on the back burner; is to shut one’s eyes to the increasingly pressing needs of the world.

And, like it or not, that ‘world’ includes us, the UK. The desperate need is for a new, high-tec, Green Revolution. So, is it happening, and where, and how?

Globally, yes, it is happening, especially with GM. The statistics are startling. The total acreage in GM crops increases by something like 20% a year. Around 85% of all soya is now GM.

Hand weeding in cotton and tomatoes (above) is carried out mainly by women Demonstrating improved maize varieties to African farmers (right and bottom left)

How much longer can our retailers guarantee GM-free products? Cotton is fast becoming GM… can you be sure that your underclothes are GM free?

within the industry are getting fewer and older. And UK average wheat yields have remained virtually static over the past 20 years!

China is the country with the fastest growing area and now has more than 20 different crop species. Africa, however, more than any other country, needs GM to protect crops from devastating attacks by Boll Weevil.

All that would be bad news if we were living in a stable world and a stable economy.

But the EU, and particularly the UK, remain resolute in their determination to remain GM free. But for how much longer is that in any way feasible?

GM, though, is only one part of the story.

In June 2008, the Commercial Farmers Group produced a detailed report on ‘The Need for a New Vision for UK Agricultural Research and Development’. This exposes the reality that, since the mid 1980s, there has been a significant decline in the rate of growth of UK agricultural productivity and its competitiveness with other countries.

The major reason for this is that Government support for agricultural R&D has moved away from ‘production science’ towards basic ‘blue-sky’ research. There are no longer career opportunities, in either universities or research institutes, to attract young people interested in agricultural R&D. In consequence, the number of scientists conversant with the needs and the potential

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

But we are most definitely not living in that sort of world. We are living with the curtains drawn; living in a dream.

Can we, in the UK - once world leaders in innovative science and development in agriculture, but now falling way behind many of our competitors - really believe that it makes any sense at all to continue to worship the anti-science culture, either in our own interests or, even more, in those of the global economy?

There is a desperate need for leadership… the kind of leadership that is prepared to do the right thing even if it is unpopular (badgers and TB again). It should, of course, come from Government, but am I becoming ultra pessimistic when I doubt the prospects of that?

Or do we have to wait for really severe economic and food shortage problems to develop, in order for politicians of all Parties - to say nothing of the eco enthusiasts - to surface out of deep dreams into the world of Moral Practicality?

• Henry Fell can be contacted by emailing henry.fell@tiscali.co.uk or by calling 01652 618329.

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AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS • Lindy Margach

AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS • Lindy Margach

Club member and freelance agricultural journalist Lindy Margach looks at the threat from African Horse Sickness to Britain’s equine population. Called the most devastating horse disease on the planet, AHS wipes out 90% of animals infected.

After bluetongue, could AHS reach Britain and wipe out our horse industry overnight?

AFRICAN horse sickness (AHS) is the most devastating horse disease on the planet. Up to 90% of infected horses die, sometimes within 48 hours of infection. It has been known since horses were introduced to southern Africa in the 17th century, with large sporadic outbreaks occurring since then.

Related to the bluetongue virus of sheep and cattle, AHS virus is carried and transmitted to horses by certain members of the Culicoides family of midges (C. imicola, and the northern forms C. obsoletus and C. pulicaris, which flourish in the UK).

So far AHS has not been seen in this country. However, because sheep and cattle have been infected with bluetongue, it is now believed that, contrary to previous thinking, AHS could also spread if it arrived in the UK. In the 1960s an epidemic of AHS spread from Africa to Cyprus, Israel and the Middle East, India and Pakistan, leading to the death of an estimated 300,000 equines.

In the mid-1960s it broke out in Spain, where it was controlled by a rigorous slaughter policy, only to appear again in both Spain and Portugal in 1987-90.

It is considered endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and, since the year 2000, has been recorded in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

However, climate change - especially higher winter temperatures - means that it is probably now possible for the disease to spread to and thrive in northern Europe… including Britain.

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This is because current European legislation specifies that AHS must be controlled by the slaughter of infected animals, destruction of the carcasses, and the establishment of a protection zone of at least 100 kilometres radius around infected premises. This, together with a further surveillance zone of at least a further 50 km, remains in force for at least 12 months, meaning that an outbreak at, say, Newmarket, will result in a surveillance zone encompassing virtually all of England and Wales south of Stoke on Trent and Nottingham!

Current controls also mean that all horses imported from outside the EU must either come from countries free of AHS and, if imported from the AHS-free zone in South Africa, must be tested for AHS before being allowed into the country.

Culicoides are common biting midges, occur throughout Britain and are more usually infamous for causing sweet itch. They travel on the wind like aerial plankton and, in laboratory conditions, have been known to fly for 10 hours at a time.

Culicoides require only small areas of water to breed… a water-trough overflow or even a cowpat will suffice for some species. An area of standing water just 2m x 1m can produce 5,000 Culicoides midges a day.

Its appearance in the UK could, overnight, wipe out the £4bn horse racing industry as well as all other forms of equestrian sport and leisure riding… gymkhanas, showjumping, three-day eventing, horse breeding and sales, even movement of ‘pet’ horses for daily exercise on bridleways.

If there is an outbreak in the UK, the international trade of UK horses will cease immediately. Horses will not be able to be sold for export or be able to participate in equestrian events in other countries.

AHS virus requires a period of maturation at a critical minimum temperature within the carrier midge before it is secreted in the midge’s saliva. A midge carrying the virus may arrive on a plume of wind, or may be ‘imported’, possibly on pre-packed fruit, flowers or vegetables from a source country.

There is also the possibility of a breakdown in the controlled movement of horses allowing an infected or carrier animal to import the virus or, as happened in Spain, a carrier zebra or other susceptible zoo animal can be brought into the country and be bitten by a resident midge.

Once a horse has been bitten by a vector midge, the incubation period of AHS is usually seven to 14 days, but may be as short as two days. Although not directly contagious (ie it is not transmitted directly between horses), it can remain in infected horses for a few weeks, enabling it to be transferred via blood-sucking insects or even contaminated hypodermic needles.

There is no effective treatment.

There are nine distinct types of virus (serotypes) which cause AHS.

In southern Africa, where the infection is persistent, two polyvalent live vaccines are used to prevent infection by the nine serotypes. But this vaccine is unsuitable for Europe, where we want to eradicate infection, because there is no means of differentiating a vaccinated horse from one exposed to infection and because it is likely that the vaccine virus can infect and be spread by midges. A ‘dead’ vaccine which was used against the virus in the Spanish outbreak of 1987-90 is no longer available.

(which is the reference laboratory in the UK for both bluetongue and AHS), the Animal Health Trust, British Horse Society, Donkey Sanctuary, the racing industry and the British Equine Veterinary Association, it will also help to increase awareness of the threat among horse owners and the veterinary profession; develop a control strategy using the UK’s experience of bluetongue disease in cattle and sheep; and pressure European governments to support the development and stockpiling of a safe, effective vaccine which would be crucial in controlling an outbreak..

Horse owners will be encouraged to reduce the midge populations around their stables by cleaning up damp muddy areas around leaky taps, cattle troughs and dung heaps where the Culicoides midge breeds. They must look out for signs of serious illness, particularly profuse nasal discharge, excessive salivation and swelling of the eyes and/or head.

In the event of an outbreak, owners should protect their horse from midges by housing in closed stables at times of peak midge activity (from late afternoon until the sun is fully up); by providing protection such as sweet itch rugs which cover the whole body and head, and by screening stables with pyrethroid protected mesh.

The equine industry, led by The Horse Trust, has set up an AHS Working Group to review these regulations, possibly submit some proposed changes to the European Commission in the light of the latest scientific discoveries, and establish a fastresponse task force to work alongside government in the event that AHS is diagnosed in the UK.

These measures are unlikely to entirely remove the threat of infection but will reduce the risk.

Including (among others) representatives from Defra, the Institute for Animal Health

In 10 years time, AHS may have become a terrible fact of life. We must be prepared.

The AHS threat to the UK and Europe is being taken very seriously. Ten years ago, no-one would have imagined that bluetongue would pose a threat to our livestock industry.

Research institutes and vaccine manufacturers are working to develop more effective and safe vaccines using proven genetic engineering technology to tag the AHS antigen to a harmless carrier virus. A monovalent vaccine is now on trial in South Africa, but as yet there are no products with commercial licences.

THE World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recognises four principal forms of AHS: • Subclinical form: fever (40-40.5°C) and general malaise for one or two days.

• Subacute or cardiac form: fever (39-41°C), swelling of the supraorbital fossae, eyelids, facial tissues, neck, thorax, brisket and shoulders. Death usually within one week.

• Acute pulmonary form : fever (40-41°C), difficulty breathing, spasmodic coughing, dilated nostrils with frothy fluid oozing out, redness of conjunctivae, death from respiratory failure within one week.

• A mixed cardiac and pulmonary form occurs frequently: pulmonary signs of a mild nature that do not progress, oedematous swellings and effusions, death from cardiac failure, usually within one week.

Because AHS has never been seen in Britain, it is also probable that, in the early stages, its more dramatic signs may be misdiagnosed as, for example, anthrax or purpura haemorrhagica.

Samples will be taken from animals suspected of being infected with AHS

by Defra vets and sent to the Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright, for analysis and confirmation.

However, because of the severity of the disease, in most cases it is likely that the affected animal will have to be euthanased on welfare grounds before the tests can be completed. Stable companions will have to be held in isolation pending the results of tests or the possible manifestation of signs of infection.

AHS is included in the Infectious Diseases of Horses Order 1987 and the Specified Diseases (Notification and Slaughter) Order 1992. This means that any suspicion of the disease must be reported by the horse’s owner or vet to Defra, which will implement control regulations.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

What happens next?

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

9

NEW ZEALAND WINE • Chris Foss

NEW ZEALAND WINE • Chris Foss

Chris Foss is Head of the Wine Department at Plumpton College, University of Brighton. He used a Farmers Club Charitable Trust bursary to study wine production in New Zealand. Here is a précis of his report.

Learning what makes NZ wines so popular back here in Britain Needless to say, I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to go to New Zealand by The Farmers Club. My main objectives were to increase my knowledge and understanding of wine production and to develop links between colleges and universities in New Zealand and Plumpton College, UK.

David Moore, Senior Lecturer in Oenology at Eastern Institute of Technology, Hawke’s Bay, with vines trained to the Sylvoz system

BEING born into a family of wine producers and having worked with wine most of my life, you can well imagine my passion for the subject. Fortunately, I am currently Head of the Wine Department at Plumpton College, the centre of excellence in wine education in the UK. I have visited many wine producing countries, including France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Australia and the USA, but had never visited New Zealand, one of the most important wine producing countries in the world.

New Zealand has a highly successful wine production industry, with a constantly growing export market to the UK, and produces the wines with the highest average price in our wine shops. Much of this is due to the professionalism of those employed in the industry and to a dynamic attitude to training and research.

The country has a good range of climates, but, being temperate and maritime, some areas bear a considerable resemblance to the UK. This means that some of the wines are similar in style and quality to our own, so the study of their production is very relevant to my work at Plumpton.

After what seemed an interminable flight I landed in Auckland, North Island, the capital of New Zealand. Having explored the city a little, I visited the Wine Research Unit at Auckland University to meet Dr Laura Nicolau and her research team, who are working on the characterisation of the exceptional aromas of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine.

Next stop was Gisborne, the Chardonnay (and surfing!) Capital of New Zealand, and the world’s most easterly vineyard. I was particularly interested in visiting Tairawhiti Polytechnic, which offers a very practical course in wine production, and see its facilities. Some of the technology being used, such as tipping grape receival bins and must clarification by nitrogen sparging, I had read about but not seen before.

I then drove south to Hawke’s Bay, the country’s second largest wine area, on the Eastern coast of North Island. Here I visited the Eastern Institute of Technology, with which we had just established a joint correspondence course, allowing European growers to study wine production in English without having to leave their precious vineyards. In the past, they had to go for a short residential course at summer school in New Zealand, but now this can be done at Plumpton College.

Visiting the site and meeting the team was really useful; they were very professional

and I could see that we were going to work well together and offer a world-class course.

I also visited Craggy Range vineyard (100 ha), situated on the Grimley gravels, an old river bed, which produces excellent wines. Their ‘hands-off’ winemaking approach was reassuring, but they still had the most up-to-date technology. For instance, they could monitor the changes in fermentation temperature of a batch of wine continuously and, if the wine was successful, recreate the exact temperature curve in subsequent vintages.

I was really sorry to leave the wonderful hospitality of my hosts in Hawke’s Bay, but carried on south on the North Island to Wellington, a very high quality region producing the world-famous Martinborough Pinot Noir.

On my way, I stopped off, by chance, at the Mount Bruce conservation park, which was a real eye-opener. After miles and miles of grazing and agricultural land, here was a patch of New Zealand as it used to be: huge tree ferns and flightless birds such as the kiwi, the kaka and the hihi. A welcome break from thinking about wine!

On arrival in Wellington, I was lucky to catch the end of the wine festival there and visit Murdoch James Estate, one of the best producers in the area.

I spent the following week in Christchurch, South Island, attending the 6th International Cool Climate Symposium for Viticulture and Oenology. This symposium is the major international gathering of the wine producers in the English-speaking world and only occurs every five years.

The theme that year was ‘Winegrowing for the future’.

Items of particular interest to me in the programme were integrated production strategies, grape and wine flavour management, and vine disease management strategies. The presentations and workshops were fascinating, and I also enjoyed talking to the other participants… major growers, researchers and wine lecturers from all over the world.

Next to Christchurch is Lincoln University, which offers excellent wine production courses. I was very pleased to be able to meet with its staff, visit the campus and discuss possible co-operative ventures.

In particular, we discussed the possibility of one of our students completing her PhD at Lincoln.

I then spent a few days in Central Otago, New Zealand’s highest and the world’s most southerly wine region. The climate here is exceptional: it’s semi-arid, but just a few miles from New Zealand’s Fiordland, one of the rainiest places in the world.

Imagine the Lake District, but higher and drier, with abandoned gold-mining towns dotted around! Pinot Noir is the dominant variety here, and the wines are said to have a purity and intensity of flavour that reflects the pure mountain air of the region.

I stayed with Steve Farquharson, a former student of ours, who owns a vineyard on the outskirts of Cromwell. If you’re ever in that region, look out for a statue of some massive fruit (pears, peaches, grapes and apricots), and you’re there. It’s called Wooing Tree Vineyard, as in the middle of the vineyard is an old oak where lovers meet. Steve took me around the whole region, where we met some excellent growers and tasted some fantastic wines.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

First stop was the Marlborough Wine Research Centre, where we received a presentation by Lead Scientist Dr Mike Trought. Topics under examination include an extensive environmental and soil monitoring study, to see if they could explain the origin of the region’s wonderful wine.

This was followed by a visit to Allied Domecq Wines (Montana), New Zealand’s largest winery, given by Regional Winemaker Patrick Materman. The size of the fermentation tanks and the level of organisation required to run this sort of operation was truly awe-inspiring.

We then Visited the Allied Domecq Squire Estate, in the heart of the Marlborough vineyards, with research staff and Andrew Naylor, Regional Viticulturist, Allied Domecq. The rate of growth and extent of planting of this area is truly astonishing; a viticulturalist’s heaven. In fact, their most important problem is a shortage of manpower to manage the vineyards. I imagine that Plumpton College should be able to help out there…

At the end of the afternoon, I managed to squeeze in a visit to the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, thus completing my visit to every viticultural college in New Zealand. The day was completed with an evening cruise on a sailing yacht on the picturesque Queen Charlotte Sound, complete with an excellent barbecue cooked on board the boat.

points I discovered is that Marlborough is not only the New World home of Sauvignon Blanc, but also produces some stunning Rieslings and Pinot Gris wines.

Another interesting vineyard visit was at Seresin, an organic vineyard that produces a very distinctive oak-fermented sauvignon using naturally-occurring yeasts.

They are also involved in biodynamic viticulture, which is rapidly gaining international popularity.

I spent my last evening in New Zealand at a restaurant in Blenheim, with some of our former students who have become successful winemakers out there. Meeting up with happy, successful alumni must be the best part of my job!

All in all, a highly successful trip. I learnt an awful lot, not just about New Zealand, but about wine production and education, and increased the links between Plumpton College and wine colleges in New Zealand.

The joint correspondence course between the college in Hawke’s Bay and Plumpton College is under way, and our first student to study a PhD at Lincoln University flew out there in January 2007.

My sincere thanks to The Farmers Club for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

• Chris Foss can be contacted by emailing chris.foss@plumpton.ac.uk

The next day comprised of several vineyard and winery visits, including the worldrenowned Cloudy Bay and Wither Hills vineyards. One of the most interesting

One of the things that impressed me most about New Zealanders was their capacity for innovation, not just in production techniques, but in promotion and sales.

For instance, we visited a restaurant in the vineyards that offered wine tastings from the region, introduced by video projections of the winemakers who had made the wines and a wine shop where you could taste more than 50 wines by the glass, by putting a form of debit card into gasblanketed and temperature-controlled wine-dispensing cabinets.

I was sad to leave Otago, but had a flight to catch to Marlborough, the most important winemaking region in New Zealand.

Marlborough’s wine production is growing explosively due to the massive popularity of its Sauvignon Blanc, with its characteristic aromas of gooseberries, box-wood, tomatoleaf and cat’s-pee.

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For the last part of the trip I joined an organised tour, along with growers and lecturers from all over the world.

Chris Foss, inset at Hawke’s Bay started his NZ tour in Auckland, the capital

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

11

CLUB AT SUMMER SHOWS • Don Gomery

CLUB AT SUMMER SHOWS • Don Gomery

Club goes out to members around the summer shows THIS SUMMER the Club once again went out from its Whitehall Court headquarters to meet members face-to-face around the summer shows.

As well as having its ever-popular Pavilion open for the duration of the Royal Show, the Club held events as a host of other shows across the UK, including pre-show dinners at the Royal Ulster, Royal Bath and West, Cheshire, Royal Highland and the Royal Welsh shows, as well as a reception at the CLA Game Fair and Berkshire still to come.

Indeed, it was impossible to be at any of the summer shows, with or without an official Club presence, without meeting a myriad of Club members out supporting their industry, as well as thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The pictures on these pages give a taster of what a super summer show season it has been.

Lord Salisbury presents the Pinnacle Award to Andrew Woollacott of the Royal Agricultural College

RWAS Chairman of Council Alun Evans (left) asks President Trebor Edwards to invite HRH The Princess Royal to open the show

The Royal Welsh Show

John Kerr, Paul Heygate, Gordon Gatward and Stephen Skinner had an informal discussion about food and farming with Lord Salisbury

John and Sue Nix arrive at the Club Pavilion

The Royal Show Hwyell Richards, Carla Colombani and Aled Griffiths

Ionwen Lewis with Lord Plumb

Don Gomery receives his ARAgS certificate from Lord Salisbury

John Reynolds chats with Malcolm Stansfield

The Club Pavilion was a popular meeting place

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Philip Hoare (left) and Gerald Osborne (right) chat with friends

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Club Chairman Julian Sayers welcomes members to the Club’s pre-show dinner

Philip Bolam and Ken Young

RWAS President Trebor Edwards

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

Guest speaker at the Club dinner was Malcolm Thomas 13

U30 TOPIC: AVIAN INFLUENZA • Tristram van Lawick

HAMPTON COURT PALACE FLOWER SHOW • Don Gomery

Steps you will need to take if hit by highly-pathogenic H5N1 avian ‘flu sparked fears of a new human ‘flu pandemic. According to the Department of Health, as at 30 June 385 people had been infected by the H5N1 virus, 243 of whom had died.

As a result of the outbreaks, and in an attempt to control the spread of bird ‘flu, the EU Member States agreed to increase surveillance of wild birds and impose biosecurity measures. In addition, the Avian Influenza Directive (2005/94/EC) was adopted in December 2005 to make provisions for the possibility of an outbreak of bird ‘flu.

The key points to this directive are that if a bird ‘flu outbreak is detected in a member state, that state must put into place a series of control measures in line with the directive.

FOR THE past couple of years avian influenza, or bird ‘flu, has been a regular topic and headline-grabber in the national press. With the most recent UK outbreak near Banbury in June, bird ‘flu has moved back into the forefront of people's minds.

While the strain of bird ‘flu found in the poultry flock at Banbury proved to be the H7N7 virus, the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain has been spreading through poultry and other bird flocks since 2003.

Although the outbreak began in the Far East, due to avian migration patterns the ‘flu virus has spread throughout bird populations in Eastern Europe, North Africa, parts of Western Europe and other parts of the globe.

“If a bird ‘flu outbreak is detected in a member state, that state must put into place a series of control measures in line with the directive.”

The H5N1 strain affects all birds. However, some species, notably poultry, are more susceptible to infection than others.

The World Health Organisation says there is increasing evidence to show that the H5N1 ‘flu virus has a unique capability to cross the species barrier, which has 14

Farmers may well be concerned about the consequences of a bird ‘flu outbreak on their business, including what obligations they would be under if they have poultry or captive birds on their land. Defra has said that a mass shutdown of the countryside, as happened during the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak, would not be necessary, due to the nature of bird ‘flu. However, there will still be a number of points about which poultry and bird owners and keepers should be aware.

The provisions for the discovery or suspicion of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian ‘flu are contained within the Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian Origin in Mammals (England) (No.2) Order 2006, which puts into effect the provisions of the directive.

On discovery of a suspected outbreak, the occupier of the holding must immediately notify Defra and also do the following: • Make and keep a daily record of all poultry, other captive birds and mammals on the holding, whether dead or alive.

• Ensure that all poultry and captive birds are housed, or kept in accordance with any recommendations by the State Veterinary Service Inspector.

• Ensure that no birds, animals, people or anything else that may cause the spread of the disease leave the holding.

• Ensure that there are disinfection sites

at all entrances and exits to the holding and any building housing poultry or captive birds, in accordance with the inspector's instructions.

A State Veterinary Service inspector will come to investigate the holding and will also impose various provisions and restrictions, as necessary, on arrival.

If an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian ‘flu is confirmed, further measures will be taken, including the culling of all diseased poultry and captive birds and the destruction of eggs on the holding. The occupier of the holding will also have an obligation to arrange for the disinfection of the premises in accordance with Defra guidelines and to assist the veterinary inspector in reducing the risk of spread of the disease.

“Following an outbreak a protection zone (PZ) and a surveillance zone (SZ) will be set up.”

In terms of the impact on the surrounding area, following an outbreak a protection zone (PZ) and a surveillance zone (SZ) will be set up.

The PZ must encompass an area with a minimum 3km radius from the outbreak site. Any holdings that have poultry or captive birds on them within the PZ will be subject to various provisions, including, among others, movement restrictions, biosecurity measures and the prohibition of releasing game birds.

Club member Gillian van der Meer masterminded a display of vegetables which won a Silver Gilt Medal in the ‘School’s In – School’s Out’ exhibit

Year-round inspiration for garden lovers at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show SOME 70 members and their guests took part in the Club visit to Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in early July, travelling by coach from Whitehall Court to this historic venue for an event that expresses nature at its most stylish, crammed with beautiful and accessible ideas for not just gardens but for outdoor living as a whole.

Alas, space here doesn’t permit a full account of the show’s most intriguing history, as related by Charles, save to say that it was started in 1989 (the year he joined the RHS Council), and sponsored by British Rail for its first four years, until being taken over by the originally-sceptical RHS in 1993.

Hosted by Club Chairman Julian Sayers and his wife Sarah, members were privileged to benefit from, and have their coach journey made all the more enjoyable by, a history of the event and a pre-show ‘what-to-see guide’ from garden and horticulture expert Charles Notcutt, Chairman of Notcutts Nurseries.

Now in its 19th year, attendance has gone from 127,000 in 1993 to now more than 250,000 annually. It’s easy to see why…

The SZ must have a minimum10km radius from the outbreak site. The provisions for holdings within the SZ are similar to those of the PZ, although they are less restrictive: for instance, there will be no movement restrictions on poultry meat and carcases.

There are also provisions for a restricted zone to be declared, which could cover the whole or part of the UK, when movements of poultry and eggs would have to be by licence.

• Tristram van Lawick is an agricultural solicitor with Lodders Solicitors LLP in Stratford-on-Avon. He can be contacted by calling 01789 206152 or by emailing tristram.lawick@lodders.co.uk

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

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FARMERS WEEKLY AWARDS • Debbie Beaton

FARMERS WEEKLY AWARDS • Debbie Beaton

Monday 27 October should be a date that everyone with an interest in recognising the value, commitment and innovation of UK farmers puts in their diaries, writes Club member and Farmers Weekly Awards Director Debbie Beaton.

Your chance to nominate the

Industry get-together to publicise all that’s good about UK farming

FARMING needs champions: individuals who are passionate about UK farming and willing to go beyond the call of duty, and their own business self-interests, to champion British farming.

FORTY-TWO farmers – some of them Club members – will be in the spotlight in London for all the right reasons on 27 October, when the winners of 14 Farmers Weekly Award categories are revealed.

This is the night when the whole industry comes together to celebrate the value that UK farmers play in today’s society and to applaud 42 outstanding individuals for their achievements, commitment and vision. Fourteen of these finalists will pick up the prestigious and distinctive silver ‘ploughshare’ trophy.

The judges found the task of teasing out three finalists for the 14 different categories exceptionally difficult from the outstanding number of high quality entries. They now have the even harder job of finding a winner (whose name is not revealed until the Farmers Weekly Awards Night) during their visits to each of the farms this summer.

Farmer Club member Roger Mercer showing the FW Awards judges around his farm earlier this summer.

The Awards Night is a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in British farming to applaud the innovation and commitment of some outstanding individuals, as well as mix with an audience of key influencers and supporters of British agriculture. Farmers Club members should be there!

2008 Farming Champion That’s why the NFU and Farmers Weekly have come together to acknowledge the important role that a few outstanding individuals have made to build business opportunities, or simply promote farming values, that benefit all UK farmers.

Jilly Greed, who runs a beef herd with husband Ed near Exeter, was the 2007 Farmers Weekly/NFU Farming Champion. She has been tireless in her efforts to build a regional south-west beef brand that will benefit many local producers, as well as being a business model for other regions to emulate.

Ian Piggott, in 2006, was recognised for the huge impact of his Farm Sunday initiative in bringing the general public onto farms and helping to bridge the gap between consumers and producers.

Who do you think deserves the Farming Champion accolade in 2008? Could this be a Farmers Club member?

FARMERS WEEKLY AWARDS NIGHT Monday 27 October Great Room, London Grosvenor House Hotel More than 1,000 guests, including 42 of Britain’s top farmers, industry leaders, politicians and celebrity guests Well-known BBC presenter hosting awards ceremony Entertaining cabaret performances Four-course British menu Champagne reception and half bottle of wine per person Dance to Dark Blues, fronted by Herts farmer Nigel Tully A table of 10 costs £1,495 + VAT

Nominate who you think deserves to their selfless achievements in serving e-mailing debbie.beaton@rbi.co.uk or www.farmersweeklyawards.co.uk where the nomination.

be recognised for British farmers by going online to you can complete

Book your table by ringing Pamela Wilkinson on 020 8652 2181 or go to www.farmersweeklyawards.co.uk/tables

2008 Awards Finalists Beef Farmer of the Year (sponsored by McDonalds): Bridget Borlase, Hertford; Philip Heard, Devon; Stuart Hutchings, Hereford.

Arable Farmer of the Year (sponsored by GrowHow): Richard Hinchliffe, East Yorkshire; Poul Hovesen, Norfolk; Andrew Ward, Lincolnshire.

Young Farmer of the Year (sponsored by Massey Ferguson): Nick Baird, West Sussex; Adam Metcalfe, North Yorkshire; Adrian Ivory, Perthshire.

Local Food Farmer of the Year (sponsored by Farmshop.uk.com): Richard Stirling, Hampshire; Douglas Wanstall, Kent; Jane and Brian Down, Dorset.

Contractor of the Year (sponsored by Michelin Exelagri): Jane Targett, Somerset; Duncan Maughan, Cumbria; Gary Short, Berkshire.

Dairy Farmer of the Year (sponsored

by DairyCo): Charles Whittingham, Denbighshire; Martin Evans, Shropshire; John Round, Gloucestershire.

Sheep Farmer of the Year (sponsored

by Footvax): Crosby Cleland, Northern Ireland; R J and A C Hawke, Wiltshire; Stuart Davies, Brecon.

Countryside Farmer of the Year (sponsored

by Environment Agency): Ian Waller, Buckinghamshire; Andrew Brown, Leicestershire; Keith Siddorn, Chester.

Farm Manager of the Year (sponsored by Claas): James Thompson, Lincolnshire; Matt Solley, Hertfordshire; Mickey Daly, Lincolnshire.

Poultry Farmer of the Year (sponsored by EB Equipment): David and Helen Brass, Cumbria; Robert and Ethel Chapman, Aberdeenshire; Adrian and James Potter, North Yorkshire.

Diversification Farmer of the Year (sponsored by James Miles-Hobbs): Roger Mercer, Staffordshire; Charlie DaviesGilbert, East Sussex; Tim Barton, Wiltshire.

Livestock Adviser of the Year (sponsored by Silotite): Mark Hawe, Northern Ireland; Graeme Surtees, Lancaster; Jonathan Statham, North Yorkshire.

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Arable Adviser of the Year (sponsored by Crops): Rob Hughes, Agrovista; Bryce Rham, independent agronomist; Andrew Cotton, independent agronomist.

Pig Farmer of the Year (sponsored by Waitrose): Andrew Freemantle, Exeter; Kevin Gilbert, Aberdeenshire; Mark and Paul Hayward, Suffolk.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

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17

U30s • Lizzie Benson, Chairman; Luke Paterson, Vice-Chairman; MaryAnne Salisbury, Secretary

Chairman’s Jottings…

WE HEADED east for our Spring Farm Walk, which saw many new and some more familiar faces enjoying very interesting visits, including the opportunity to explore the historic city of Norwich. My thanks go to Luke Paterson for organising such a super weekend.

Unfortunately, I can’t report on a convincing win in our cricket v The Forty Club, as the weather was against us… but there’s always next year.

The U30s joined forces with the Oriental Club in the Inter-Club quiz hosted by the Savage Club. Success eluded us, though members enjoyed a competitive and social evening.

U30s members gathered on the third day of the Royal Show for a Pimms reception and barbeque at The Farmers Club Pavilion. After a relatively dry day, the rain came just in time for our BBQ. Yet again, though, members had an enjoyable evening, albeit spent inside, catching up with friends and relaxing after a day at the show.

With harvest upon us, we look forward to a busy U30s calendar to come, including a dinner on 19 September, when Jim McCarthy - who has one of the largest grain farming operations in Ireland and is involved in farming in Australia, New Zealand and the United States - will be our guest speaker.

Turkeys, butchery and feed milling on fact-and-fun-filled Spring Farm Walk THIS YEAR’S Spring Farm Walk took place in Norfolk at the end of May. With most of our group arriving on the Friday evening, we were able to enjoy dinner and drinks in the hotel after what, for some, had been a long journey.

On Saturday morning, 31 May, we headed off for our first visit, to Peele’s Norfolk Black Turkeys. Peele’s is owned and run by James Grayham and based at Rookery Farm, Thauxton.

large incubator used on the farm had been rather aptly named the turkeybator!

Delia Smith is among the company’s customers and James is a former Rick Stein food hero. The business is also mentioned in one of Hugh Fernley-Whittington’s books (call 01362 850237 to order a copy).

Lunch was taken just a few miles down the road at Café Verde, which is part of the South Green Park Enterprise Centre, set up by a local free-range poultry producer. The

The farm is a traditional mixed farm, consisting of the turkeys, a suckler herd and 159 acres of land. Much of the feed for the livestock is grown on the farm, while grassland produces silage for the suckler herd.

Peele’s was established in 1880 and still has turkey bloodlines dating back to this period, which is thought to make it the fifth oldest turkey producer in the world.

Members were amused to see that the

U30s • Lizzie Benson, Chairman; Luke Paterson, Vice-Chairman; MaryAnne Salisbury, Secretary

centre hosts conferences and runs many different training courses. U30s members were shown round the butchery training area, which included a meat preparation area, kitchen, and farm shop counter for sales training.

The afternoon saw a visit to Duffields Feed Mill at Saxlingham Thorpe, just to the south of Norwich. The mill, which is still run by the Duffield family, has been operating on the same site for the past 125 years and now produces in the region of 100,000 tonnes of various animal feed per year.

Chris Walker gave members a very extensive tour of the site and explained about the large variety of feed that is produced in both pellets and meal. It was surprising to learn how much electricity and heat is used in the mill, especially to form the small pellet-shaped feed. A coalfired boiler is used to produce the heat, while electricity bills are often around £40,000 a month. Chris said the company is always looking at ways of becoming more energy efficient and harnessing some of the lost heat.

Despite a salmon supper quiz success eludes U30s

Saturday evening was spent at the Last Wine Bar in the Centre of Norwich, where members enjoyed an excellent dinner.

Following a slightly later start on the Sunday morning, we embarked on a guided walking tour of Norwich City. Starting at the Forum, a modern building finished in 2002, we covered most of the historic part of the city - including the Royal Arcade, which was Norwich’s first indoor shopping centre, built in 1899 - and finished just outside the entrance to the cathedral.

After a relaxing Sunday lunch, members started to head for home after what had been an unforgettable weekend. Thanks must go to Luke Paterson for doing such a fantastic job with the organisation. I look forward to seeing more U30s members in the future at these most enjoyable weekend trips.

Ross Williamson

THE FARMERS Club joined up with the Oriental Club to compete in the fourth annual inter-club quiz. Last year’s winner, the Savage Club, had the privilege of hosting this year’s event.

After welcoming us all for drinks in the Savage Club bar, we moved through to the National Liberal Club for the dinner and the quiz. We were given a delicious supper of seasonal asparagus, followed by salmon - which we ate most enthusiastically, largely due to our understanding that fish is good for the brain - and finished with strawberries and cream.

Our attention then moved to the focus of the evening… the quiz. With 10 clubs participating, the competition was fierce.

Each round took its theme from the various genres that make up membership of the Savage Club. As such, we had everything from law to live music. Unfortunately, though, an agricultural round didn’t feature.

Even teaming up with the Oriental Club, we still managed to come last, with the Savage Club again being declared the winner. Still, we had a very enjoyable evening, even though we felt a little less intelligent than when we arrived.

Gloucestershire beckons for the Autumn Farm Walk on 10-12 October, which promises to be a great weekend. Indeed, pencil in the above dates and, if you’ve never been to an U30s’ event before and would like to know more, do please contact me or MaryAnne Salisbury and we’ll be happy to help.

Hopefully, next year, we might be able to bribe the quiz leader into asking some agricultural questions!

Future Events

Wishing you a good summer - be it filled with harvest, holidays or a combination of both - and look forward to seeing you in the months to come.

Friday 19 September Social Evening and Dinner with Jim McCarthy The Farmers Club

Lizzie Benson

On Saturday afternoon the group visited Duffields Feed Mill at Saxlingham Thorpe and on Sunday had a walking tour of Norwich

Friday 10 - Sunday 12 October Autumn Farm Walk Gloucestershire

The Under 30s Spring Farm Walk included a visit to Peele’s Norfolk Black Turkeys 18

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

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RAMBLINGS • Stephen Skinner

RAMBLINGS • Stephen Skinner

Leading restaurateur John Torode helps Club rethink its many menus I HAVE to say that I am still enjoying myself immensely as your now not-so-new Club Secretary and Chief Executive. The staff are excellent and the members unfailingly polite, as well as highly interesting.

The Club is clearly still thriving, although we cannot rest on our laurels as margins are necessarily tight. To that end, while the occupation rate of our rooms during the week remains outstanding, we need to work on improving the utilisation of the rooms at weekends. The income generated by the accommodation is crucial to our finances, with a dip of 5 to 10% having a surprisingly (to me at least) large impact.

number of the ‘hardy perennials’ (roast beef, etc), we will also put on some lighter, quicker meals for those who do not want to sit down to a three- or four-course lunch.

To help us, we have been picking the brains of John Torode (of Masterchef fame and to be next year’s RASE President). John runs a highly successful and quite wonderful restaurant, Smiths of Smithfield, and most certainly knows a huge amount about food, wine, kitchen design and much else besides. He also has more energy than almost any man I have met!

However, while the rooms are doing well, the dining room is not producing the returns it deserves. We have great staff, a wonderful setting and access to the best produce in the UK. We should, to my mind at least, be a shop window for British food.

During the summer closure it is our intent to start improving the bathrooms as I perceive them to be an area of weakness. This work will mainly concentrate around improving the tiling, replacing some of the showers and putting in larger mirrors where we can. Clearly we can only do a relatively few at a time but we must make a start.

Unfortunately, while, as many of you would acknowledge, Don Irwin and team can produce great food, we have not been getting the numbers through the door and, thus, there are some changes planned.

We will also be improving lighting in some areas - the bar springs to mind - and rearranging a number of the pictures. The Shaw room will undergo a few changes as well, as we try to develop it into something more of a small library-come-reading-room.

In the first instance, from the beginning of September there will be a new, less complicated menu. While we will, of course, retain a

Happily, our membership continues to grow, albeit slowly, and that is a wonderfully reassuring fact… particularly for a new Secretary!

Business Lounge at Dairy Event AT THIS year’s Dairy Event and Livestock Show, to be held at Stoneleigh on 17-18 September, The Farmers Club and event organisers the RABDF are teaming up to create a Business Lounge in the Ayrshire Pavilion.

Our Super Six WHILE I was driving to Builth Wells, on Sunday 2 July, prior to the Club dinner on the eve of the Royal Welsh Show, six of our wonderful lady members of staff were taking part in the ‘Race for Life’ around Regent’s Park.

Not only did they complete the 5km course, they told me afterwards, they limbered up by walking from the Club to Regent’s Park… and were still fit enough to walk back again after the race was over! Proof, indeed, that all their very hard training paid off.

I’m sure members would like to join me in congratulating the ladies on this magnificent achievement on behalf of Cancer Research. You can show your appreciation, if you wish, by sponsoring the ladies for up to 10 weeks after the event… that is, up until 28 September. Any money sent via the Secretariat at the Club will be most gratefully received and passed on.

Our picture shows the ‘Super Six’ taking a most well-deserved rest over a glass (or two!) of Pimms on the Club balcony. They are, from left to right: Angela Gaughan, Zman Tekie, Lynne Wilson, Lauren Wade, Serena Norton and Evelyn O'Donoghue.

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Our intention is to provide an environment where members can bring friends, colleagues or associates to discuss business or where they can work on their own. A wireless network, meeting rooms and light refreshments (sandwiches, snacks, tea/coffee, soft drinks and, of course, the odd alcoholic beverage) will be available.

If this proves a success, we may look to expand the idea to other events… but one step at a time, of course.

Harvest Festival Service We will be holding our annual Harvest Service at St Martin in the Fields on Tuesday 7 October, starting 5pm.

Our Preacher this year will be The Rt. Rev’d Stephen Venner, The Bishop in Canterbury.

Do please come and join us for this very important occasion in the newly restored St Martin in the Fields. All Club members and their guests are most welcome.

Our traditional Harvest Festival Supper will be held afterwards in the Club from 7pm, costing £24 per person, including wine.

Members wishing to attend the Supper should send a cheque (payable to The Farmers Club) to the Club Secretariat, The Farmers Club, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL. THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

Congratulations…

TALKING of RABDF, I was delighted to hear that Club member Tim Brigstocke was presented with the organisation’s The Princess Royal Award, by HRH herself, for “outstanding achievement of benefit to the United Kingdom dairy industry”.

Tim, who manages a livestock consultancy specialising in advising the Government, the supply sector and farmers, has spent his 30-year career dedicated to the livestock sector, including being RABDF Chairman.

Congratulations, Tim. Everyone at the Club tells me that your award is most highly deserved.

history, including gaining degree awarding powers, its University College title and, more recently, research degree awarding powers, as well as many major awards and recordhigh student levels. His departure will, I’m sure, be a great loss to Harper.

100 years of NFU history I CAN heartily recommend Club member and Essex farmer Guy Smith’s new book, ‘From Campbell to Kendall: A History of the NFU’, which was launched at the Royal Show to celebrate the organisation’s centenary.

As its title suggests, the 208 -page, lavishlyillustrated hardback charts the union’s 100 years of history by focussing on the 33 men who have occupied the presidency, from Colin Campbell, through Colonel Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith (who went on to become Minister of Agriculture during WWII), “our ‘enry”, Lord Plumb, to today’s incumbent, Peter Kendall. Fascinating stuff, I promise you.

Published by Halsgrove and available through the NFU website www.nfuonline.com - the book costs £14,99 for NFU members or £19.99 for non-members.

Coffee morning IT IS our intent to take part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on 26 September 2008, run in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. There’s talk of cakes and biscuits being baked, with as many of the staff as possible mucking in, so if you’re in or near to London that day, you’ll know where we are!

Wynne to retire ANOTHER Club member in the news is Professor Wynne Jones, who has announced his retirement as Principal and Chief Executive of Harper Adams University College, a position he has held since 1996.

Happily, Wynne was telling me at the Club dinner at the Royal Welsh Show, this won’t happen until September 2009, during which time he will further a number of new initiatives, as well as helping the University College find a new Principal.

Art Exhibition I HAD a sad but defiant note from wellknown artist and Club member Beth Cooke, saying “I miss the Club so much, but am almost housebound now with osteoporosis. However, I’m determined to make the old folks’ (honorary members) lunch on 6 August”.

Beth goes on to say that there will be an exhibition of her work - landscapes, flowers, trees and woods - at North House Gallery, The Walls, Manningtree, Essex, starting with a private viewing on Saturday 3 August and open every Saturday for the following month.

Those who have seen Beth’s work - and it’s been displayed widely, including at The Farmers Club - will know how fantastic it is. You can find out more about her Manningtree exhibition by visiting www.northhousegallery.co.uk or by calling 01206 392717.

New Year’s Eve

After that, although he will be retiring to Aberystwyth, Wynne assures me that he will remain active within the farming industry, so we’re bound to continue to see him around.

THE SUCCESS of the Club’s New Year’s Eve parties has led to a re-evaluation of how they should be run. As most of the staff take a well-deserved break over Christmas and the New Year, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to cater for large numbers.

During his 13 years at Harper Adams, Professor Jones has led the institution through an extremely successful period in its

Consequently, it has been decided by the Club Committee that, in future, attendance will be by the Chairman’s invitation only.

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

My sincere regrets to those who had hoped to repeat the experience of years past.

Meeting rooms AT THE June Committee meeting it was agreed that the hire charge for each meeting room would be increased by £10 per session from 1 July this year. The cost of hiring a meeting room was last reviewed in January 2007, and I’m sure you will agree that our rates still represent very good value for central London.

Room bookings AS MOST will be aware, during the week the demand for rooms is high, which inevitably brings with it disappointment for some. To that end, there are rules in place that have been found to work, as long as they are applied fairly and across the board.

The rules are that reservations are restricted to two months in advance for Monday to Thursday bookings and six months for Fridays, weekends and bank holidays. These rules are found on our annual Members Information Sheet and I would ask you to abide by this guidance and not pressurise the staff on Reception unduly.

Of course, the edges can end up a little blurred and there will always be exceptions, but I would ask that any problems or variances are addressed directly to me or, when I’m not available, to Robert Buckolt, my deputy.

Jumping for research I’VE HAD a plea from Club member Vanessa Phillips, who tells me that she and her husband Richard are celebrating their birthdays, and her being a decade older, in September by doing something “more memorable than having a huge party”.

Instead, they’ll be doing a parachute jump on 19 September to raise money for Leukaemia Research - this dreaded disease having twice hit their family - and wonder if Club members would be prepared to help.

To make their jump even more awesome, Vanessa says she’s “absolutely terrified” of heights and gets “giddy at the top of a ladder”. Leaping out of a plane 15,000ft above the wilds of Norfolk will certainly be an experience to remember… and for the most worthwhile of causes.

Members who would like to help Vanessa and Richard achieve their aim of raising £2,500 for Leukaemia Research can do so online at www.justgiving.com/outsec Meanwhile, from me, good luck for 19 September.

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Club Information & Diary Dates

THE FARMERS CLUB

The Secretariat 020 7930 3751

THE FARMERS CLUB Over 160 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL

Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

Diary Dates 2008 These dates are reviewed for every Journal. Please read them on each occasion, as they are sometimes revised and additional dates included.

Details of events circulated in the previous issues are available from the Secretariat at the telephone number shown above.

Club Information 020 7930 3751 Further information is available on The Farmers Club Website: www.thefarmersclub.com To register for the Members’ Area, enter your membership number as shown on the top line of the address label of your Journal and then create your username and password.

Obituaries It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members: D L Armstrong R Bee C R Brown A Cronk T J Duke R J G Freeman J P Jackson B J Kennedy R MacPherson A McAlister MBE D R Stuckey

Sussex Devon Banffshire Gloucestershire Hampshire Suffolk Hertfordshire Cumberland Ross-Shire Antrim Berkshire

New Members The following were elected on 4 June 2008: S M Akhtar Mrs S Bell Mrs E Brierley C Brooke M J Butler C M Clark R S Conn D Crisp A E Down J C Drake N Everington J S Feilding P A Fenton P G Franklin A Fullerton L Gillen Mrs R Goddard B R Good Mrs E Grierson Mrs J Griffiths Dr R J Heaton J R Holt P Lampard T D Livesey D McGowan C F McKeown A D Morris J L Padfield N W Parry D N Peake M Read A T J Roberts A E Salvesen 22

Hertfordshire Surrey Dorset Devon Devon Fife Northamptonshire Lincolnshire Gloucestershire Cornwall Hertfordshire Warwickshire Gloucestershire Gloucestershire East Lothian Durham Yorkshire Cambridgeshire Yorkshire Yorkshire Montgomeryshire Staffordshire Kent Leicestershire Essex Cheshire Lincolnshire Sussex Oxfordshire Cumberland Hampshire Surrey Midlothian

Dr A N Tutt D S Varey G K Verity Revd. C N R Wallwork Dr P R Walpole G D Whittaker

Surrey Cheshire Yorkshire Gloucestershire Norfolk Essex

Overseas P H Belling H Joos Miss L L Kossoff

Denmark Belgium France

Under 30s R W H Antrobus M W Boyd D Griffiths Miss P F Hartley G L Hemus D Moore Dutton

Warwickshire Kent Nottinghamshire Yorkshire Staffordshire Shropshire

Honours and Awards The Chairman and Members of the Club congratulate the following members whose names appeared in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List: CB His Grace the Duke of Westminster Cheshire

Entrance Fees £240.00 for all categories except Under 30s Life Membership Age 31 – 36 36 – 41 41 – 46 46 – 51 51 – 56 56 – 61 61 – 66 66 – 71 Over 71

Amount £6400 £5800 £5300 £4650 £4100 £3600 £2900 £2200 £1550

Members who have completed Direct Debit Mandates need take no action.

Dress Code Members are requested to advise their guests of the following: • Gentlemen must wear formal jackets and ties. Polo-neck jerseys, jeans and trainer shoes are not acceptable. Between 1 June to end of September, Gentlemen will not have to wear jackets at breakfast.

CBE Prof Randolph H Richards Clackmannanshire

• There is a Club jacket and a selection of ties at Reception which may be borrowed in an emergency.

OBE Alan M McCulla John N Page

• Ladies should be dressed conventionally.

Trousers are permitted but not casual slacks, jeans or trainer shoes.

County Down West Sussex

• Weekends: smart casual but no jeans, t-shirts, rugby shirts or trainers

Subscriptions 2009 The Committee has decided that the rates of subscription due on 01 January 2009 will be as follows: Annual Subscriptions Town Single Town Family Country Single Country Family Under 30 Single (26-29) Under 30 Family (26-29) Under 30 Single (18-25) Under 30 Family (18-25) Overseas Single Overseas Family

£310.00 £340.00 £220.00 £250.00 £110.00 £120.00 £68.00 £78.00 £220.00 £250.00

Associate – Whitehall Court Single Family

£310.00 £340.00

Associate – Forty Club Town Single Town Family Country Single Country Family

£310.00 £340.00 £220.00 £250.00

Royal County of Berkshire Show Reception Saturday 20 September.

Application form was in the Summer journal

Lunch in the Club with a visit to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms Friday 5 December Application form in this journal

Harvest Festival Service at St Martin-in-the-Fields followed

by Buffet Supper at the Club Tuesday 7 October at 5pm Preacher: The Rt. Rev’d. Stephen Venner, The Bishop in Canterbury Details in Ramblings

Annual General Meeting Wednesday 10 December at 12 noon in the Club

Mobile phones must not be used in the Public Rooms. Briefcases should be left in the Cloakrooms and Business meetings must be conducted in a private room. Members should speak with the House Manager for details.

IT Facilities There is an IT Room with a PC (Broadband connection) adjacent to the Secretariat and an email booth for laptop connection; both can be accessed via Reception. Laptops must not be used in the Lounge but are now permitted in the Shaw Room, adjacent to the bar. Their use is restricted to single users only and must not be used in conjunction with a meeting. Reception can provide a password if you need access to the Club’s wi-fi connection.

THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008 • www.thefarmersclub.com

PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN Julian Sayers TRUSTEES Mark Hudson (Chairman), Barclay Forrest OBE Mrs Susan Kilpatrick OBE, Norman Shaw CBE VICE-CHAIRMAN John Reynolds HONORARY TREASURER Paul Heygate IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Tony Pexton OBE COMMITTEE Elected 2003 Richard Holland (Chairman Membership SubCommittee), Julian Madeley

Elected 2005 Charles Notcutt OBE, Mrs Nicki Quayle

The Not Quite Under 30s Dinner will be held in The Farmers Club on Friday 7 November, starting with drinks in the Bar from 7pm and then dinner in the Eastwood Room at 7.45pm.

This very successful event is now an annual fixture in the Club diary. Last year we had 30 members and guests attend a most enjoyable evening at the Club, with quite a few staying on to take advantage of the excellent weekend package of two nights bed and breakfast and dinner on the Friday evening. It’s excellent value for money.

Dinner, bed and breakfast for one night costs £68.00 and for two nights (dinner on Friday plus bed and breakfast on the Friday and Saturday) £93.00. Dinner only on the Friday is £38.00, including two glasses of wine with the meal.

This year we thought we would organise a trip to the theatre on the Saturday evening to see ‘Hairspray’. If you would like to attend this, I will need to know numbers well in advance to book tickets. Please email or ring me, ASAP, to let me know.

A letter and application form, with full details of the event, will be sent to all members on the event mailing list. Having looked at the Club membership list, we have more that 500 members between the ages of 30 and 40 and we are keen to encourage as many of those (and of course the over 40s) as possible to get involved with the Not Quite Under 30s.

If you would like to come to the Dinner, or have any ideas about future events for the Not Quite Under 30s, we should be delighted to hear from you and will, of course, add your name to the event mailing list.

You can contact me, MaryAnne Salisbury, by emailing u30s@thefarmersclub.com or by phoning 020 7930 3751. I look forward to hearing from you.

MaryAnne Salisbury – Event Organiser

Mobile Phones, Briefcases and Business Meetings

John Parker THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB FOR 2008

Elected 2004 Ian Lindsay, Mrs Jill Willows

NOT QUITE UNDER 30s DINNER

• Children should conform with the above guidelines.

VICE PRESIDENTS John N Harris OBE MC, Peter Jackson CBE Roddy Loder-Symonds, Sir David Naish DL

Elected 2006 Stewart Houston CBE (Chairman House SubCommittee), Meurig Raymond MBE Elected 2007 Tim Bennett, Mrs Anne Chamberlain, James Cross Richard Harrison, Campbell Tweed OBE Mrs Teresa Wickham (Chairman Journal & Communications Sub-Committee) Elected 2008 The Reverend Dr Gordon Gatward OBE Jimmy McLean, David Richardson OBE, John Wilson Co-opted Miss Lizzie Benson (Chairman Under 30s) Luke Paterson (Vice-Chairman Under 30s) THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST TRUSTEES John Kerr MBE JP DL (Chairman), James Cross Stephen Fletcher, Dr Tony Harris CBE Mrs Stella Muddiman JP, The Chairman and Immediate Past Chairman of the Club (ex officio) Chief Executive and Secretary Air Commodore Stephen Skinner Deputy Secretary Robert Buckolt Club Chaplain The Reverend Nicholas Holtam 020-7766 1121 Secretariat 020-7930 3751 Accounts 020-7925 7101 Membership 020-7925 7102

Parking There is no parking in Whitehall Court and metered parking in the immediate area is extremely limited. The nearest public car park, open 24 hours a day, is situated in Spring Gardens off Cockspur Street, approximately 5 minutes walk from the Club. Telephone: 0800 243 348. The Congestion Charge payment is available at this car park.

Envelopes Sponsorship The Farmers Club would like to thank Monsanto for its kind sponsorship of the Journal envelopes.

Monsanto is an agricultural company focused on applying innovation and technology to assist farmers around the world to be more successful.

For information about the company, visit www.monsanto.co.uk.

Bedroom & Dining Room Reservations 020-7930 3557

CLUB CLOSURES 2008 3.00pm Friday 8 August to 3.00pm Tuesday 26 August Monday 22 December – no afternoon tea, bar or dinner 3.00pm Tuesday 23 December to 3.00pm Monday 5 January 2009

www.thefarmersclub.com • THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Harvest 2008

Private Function & Meeting Room Reservations 020-7925 7100 Personal calls for members only 020-7930 4730 Fax 020-7839 7864 E-mails secretariat@thefarmersclub.com accounts@thefarmersclub.com membership@thefarmersclub.com functions@thefarmersclub.com meetings@thefarmersclub.com reception@thefarmersclub.com u30s@thefarmersclub.com Website www.thefarmersclub.com THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Editor and Advertisement Manager Don Gomery 01892 610628 Email: don.gomery@btinternet.com Printed by Pureprint Group , Brambleside, Bellbrook Park 23 Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 1PL Tel: 01825 768811