TRAVELLING back on the Edinburgh train last Friday evening, I got chatting to a knowledgeable solicitor from Dickinson Dee, the agricultural specialists in Newcastle, and we discussed the implications of decoupling as its details are drip-fed to us.

Lord 'Witless' Witty confirmed last week that payment of the decoupled subsidy will be made to the owner of the animals which earned the previous "coupled subsidy" and not the owner of the land on which they were housed or grazed.

This in itself is a total sea-change from the original Fischler announcements last summer when it appeared that any decoupling would flow with land. It now appears that the new entitlements are transferable, as long as they are attached to land on which no other entitlements are claimed.

One may deduce from this that the new decoupling payments may be similar to milk quota and become a tradeable commodity.

This could lead to a speculative and wealthy occupier accumulating huge amounts of subsidy on a very few acres of land, but another provision was leaked in the last few days which prevents this "stacking" of subsidy.

The new decoupled payment can only be transferred to land on which no other entitlements have been claimed and, therefore, the opportunity for movement will be somewhat limited.

Whilst the implications for the farmer-occupier are beneficial, the effect on a landlord or landowner will be pretty dramatic and could rob them of any access to the new payment which would be crucial to the future farming capability of their land.

I hope all the professional organisations can have a reasoned input into the drafting of these European-spawned regulations

Fallen stock stalemate

From April 30 this year, DEFRA is required by the EU to have put in place a system for disposing of fallen stock which can no longer be buried on farms after that date. Currently, DEFRA wants farmers to meet the cost of the disposal of all dead animals, which is estimated at around £50 to £80 for cattle and £20 to £30 for sheep.

Other European countries are going to fund the disposal costs centrally but, consistent with their policy of rural destruction, this Government is insisting that farmers must pay. As usual, no one else in the industry agrees with DEFRA and the result is a complete stalemate.

The knacker yards, which will have to deal with the murky implementation of disposal, will not give the Government their backing because they are worried about investing capital in new equipment without any guarantee of repayment because farmers simply cannot afford the service.

If the Whitehall Wallies persist, I fear there will be a spate of mysterious disappearances on farms which must be the worst of all solutions.

New EU specification to go

After an enormous amount of pressure, the EC has now agreed that the iniquitous new EU dressing specification, which has been used by quite a lot of the bigger slaughter houses, has to go by December this year.

This harsh specification trims the carcass with gusto and results in 5-10pc less return to the farmer.

It doesn't take an Einstein to work out that the major abattoirs are kicking like mad against any suggestion that they might not be entitled to their ill-gotten gains, but they have been told that they must nominate a date in March to cease the practice, after which non-compliance could cost them up to £5,000 per week in fines.

If you are selling deadweight, watch the dressing specification carefully for the next few weeks.

Piggy football

Following the Brussels dictat that pigs are to be provided with material for "environmental enrichment" and their acceptance that toys will comply with their definition, there has been a flood of satirical comment in the press. Here is one Cheshire farmer's proposals for Piggy Playtime sent to me by my Ryton correspondent:

"As recommended, I have equipped all my 500 pigs with footballs. I have also arranged them into teams, fitted them with brightly-coloured collars, replicating the colours of leading football teams, and they are now ready for action. The only trouble is persuading my staff to referee the matches!"

Export lifts wheat price

David Shepherd has sent in a bit of good news about wheat prices, which have picked up recently as we have stepped into the export market to fill a void caused by the ice-bound ports in the Baltic and Black Sea where ships are unable to move.

Also, there has been more activity in the Australian and US markets which helps the UK as we still have a lot of stocks to move from last harvest and are now looking forward to next year.

It is important to do this business, but certainly the Baltic trade will only last as long as the ice does!

Looking forward to this year's harvest, there are reports that the Ukraine has suffered a large amount of "winter kill" in its wheat crop and will have to replant about 1.7m hectares with spring wheat.

North America is suffering from another problem, namely dry weather, and that is causing some concern there.

All these factors influence the UK market and again demonstrate how events around the world have a direct impact upon the prices paid to farmers here.

Market report

Tuesday's market saw 141 cattle including 40 cows and 23 bulls; 1,575 sheep including 391 ewes and rams.

Light steers to 102p/kilo, E Dodsworth & Son, Harome (ave 101.5p); medium steers to 104p, E Dodsworth & Son (92.6p); heavy steers to 119p, T F W Morley & Sons, Fylingdales (96.2p).

Light heifers to 129p, G I Marwood, Harome (105.96p); heavy heifers to 139p, G I Marwood( 98.7p).

Light bulls to 109p, D Sunley, Nawton (108.5p); medium bulls to 114p, D Sunley (96.7p); heavy bulls to 103p, B Thornhill, Nafferton (93.2p)/kilo; black & white bulls to 86p, M A Welford, Weaverthorpe (82.6p).

Standard lambs to 115.8p, D McNeil, Snainton (113p); medium lambs to 117p, P McPherson, Lilling (110.5p); heavy lambs to 114.8p, Harrison & Co, Yedingham (108.2p); overweight lambs to 110.3p, F C Stubbings & Sons, Wold Newton ave 101.6p/kilo.

Ewes to £64.00 L W Aconley & Sons, Cropton ave £36.77.

Updated: 11:13 Wednesday, February 12, 2003