Our Labour of love is lost on Blair, say farmers

FARMER Paul Lewis is not confident of the future.

Hamstrung by mindless Government rules, the father of two fears no one will be left to farm the land in 10 years.

"The problem is that we have got people in Government who have no practical experience of working in the countryside," he said.

"The job went wrong six years ago when Tony Blair came to power. Whether that is just a coincidence I don't know."

Mr Lewis, a former farm worker, is 44 and owns his own herd of 100 dairy cattle at Pickmere.

Among the latest rules to be introduced by the Government is one that forces him to count the amount of manure his cows produce and the amount he spreads on his field.

He doesn't know why he has been asked to do it.

What he does know, or fear, is that soon there will be no one with the experience to farm the land - or feed the people of this country. "I wouldn't have thought there would be any agriculture in Britain in 10 years time," he said.

Last year Mr Lewis took just three days holiday and made just £800 profit from his business.

He said some of his friends were moving to France after becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Government's contempt for the countryside.

"I really love what I do, but I can't find staff these days," he said.

"Who can blame them? It costs me money to work."

On Thursday Tony Garnett, a fellow farmer, warned that, with the threat of further terrorist attacks and war with Iraq, British produce was more important than ever.

He said imported food would be an easy target for terrorists who wanted to kill thousands of people with the least effort.

"There is always that threat with the Iraq situation that imported food is vulnerable," he said.

"If we have a lot of food coming into the country it could quite easily be contaminated and if there was war we could also be cut off."

Mr Garnett said his sons had always dreamed of following in his footsteps.

But he said life on their farm was getting more difficult every year.

Soon, he fears that they may leave the family business despite it being their way of life.

"They want to stay in farming and like their jobs," he said. "But they see other people working less hours for more money and it is hard to justify staying."

Over the past 10 years farmers have been hit by a series of well-documented setbacks.

BSE and foot-and-mouth crippled the industry and their effects are still costing Knutsford farmers time and money.

Every cow now has to have a special 'passport' and restrictions to prevent the spread of disease are still in place.

"If you buy an animal on to the farm you are restricted and still can't move anything off for 20 days," said Mr Garnett, of Allostock.

"It is annoying because there is no foot-and-mouth here. It is only because the Government are trying to make sure we get the blame when it was their fault it spread in the first place."

Mr Garnett's son Andrew has had to turn to inventing machinery to supplement the family's income. At 58, the father-of-three now represents the average age of a farmer. "Two years ago I was 56 and then that was the average age," he said.

Lecturers at Reaseheath College in Nantwich have taught many of those who tend the land around Knutsford today.

But this year they were forced to cancel a course in agriculture because only one student signed up.

On Friday head of agriculture Tony Blackburn said younger farmers were choosing to work while completing part-time courses.

"Although there was little demand for our full-time National Certificate in Agriculture this year, it has been more than counterbalanced by the 22 young people who are following modern apprenticeships," he said.

Mr Blackburn added that the college was adapting to cope with new demands in the industry.

"New farming practices, coupled with incoming legislation, is creating demand for a highly-skilled workforce with special knowledge," he said.

"To reflect these changes, this year we have recruited three lecturers who are all experts in their field."

On Thursday the Government announced its plan for a 'healthy future' in farming with a £500million handout.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett announced there would be rewards for farmers who protected the countryside, better business advice and training and more investment in food distribution.

"Together I believe we can promote all that is best in farming and food production in England, while enhancing our countryside and contributing to the health and prosperity of all our communities," said Mrs Beckett.

The National Farmers Union supported the statement, but said it was time for Labour to deliver.

Union president Ben Gill said the Strategy for Sustainable Food and Farming had to produce results.

"In the past year we have seen a further exodus of more than 15,000 people from farming," he said.

"The key word here must be 'action.' If all the many recommendations are not implemented - and soon - it will not be worth the paper it is written on."

In the past farmers rarely spoke to the public about what they did.

It was assumed that they would always be there to care for the countryside and provide food for the people.

Now, as the future looks more uncertain, Mr Garnett, as deputy chairman of the Cheshire NFU, goes out onto the road to spread the farmers' message.

"People we speak to are sympathetic and realise the plight we are in," he said."It helps, but doesn't put any money in our pockets."