A public "good" must be paid for from the public purse

[wrsni]

What do you want consumers to do?

 

Well not coming out with garbage like this would be a start!

 

I resent having farmers help themselves to the contents of my wallet and telling me its for my own good.

[wrsni]

You really are too generalistic.

 

Well that's about 99.9% of everybody's posts, including yours, rendered pointless immediately then!

[matelot]

Well not coming out with garbage like this would be a start!

 

Farm subsidies are for the benefit of farmers. It's dishonest for farmers to claim subsidies are for the benefit of consumers...

[wrsni]

My suggestion is to end all agricultural subsidies. I bet you don't consider that a "meaningful suggestion" as farmers are addicted to subsidies.

 

It has some merit I'll agree but you'd need to elaborate on how it would work it's way through the food chain.

 

You'd be quite happy with the increased food prices which you'd have to pay as a result, yes?

[matelot]

It has some merit I'll agree but you'd need to elaborate on how it would work it's way through the food chain.

 

You'd be quite happy with the increased food prices which you'd have to pay as a result, yes?

 

I don't accept that food prices would go up. Places like Africa are good for growing fruit. New Zealand is good for meat production. It's easy enough to can/ freeze food in these places and import it...

 

There is a real problem with obesity in the UK. If food prices went up I think there would be health benefits.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Crikes! 😳

 

That got lively while I've been busy....

 

I'll need some time to compile a comprehensive, entrenched, pointless and uniformed response!

 

But first..... 🍺

[Marko]

I resent having farmers help themselves to the contents of my wallet and telling me its for my own good.

 

As a farmer I want all agricultural subsidies scrapped. I do not think food prices will rise. I do not need to see subsidies scrapped across the EU; our post brexit import tariffs will level the playing field and put money back into the public purse.

 

If the public want a nice view as they drive through the lake district then they can pay for Rangers to manage the landscape and implement whatever environmental schemes that are deemed cost effective.

 

'Farmers' as we know them are all about to retire. What we will have left is industrial food producers who can afford to step in and buy up productive land as family farms sell up. With scale comes very much less dependence on subsidy - the efficiencies make it much less of a knife edge issue.

 

No doubt there will be a few artisan farmers who make a living in the margins but the changes are upon us and I don't think it to be all bad at all.

 

See - not addicted! Studies have shown that only 25% of the subsidies 'taken from your wallet' reach the producer and that is why it is not the issue it is made out to be. The people creaming off the other 75% are the ones who are going to scream.

[timberbear]

Why not offer salaries to farmers to take non profitable farms out of circulation and manage their farms for it's landscape and wildlife value. That way we could have large swathes of the countryside managed by people who know the land and will still have an income. This could be paid for by removing the subsidies from the larger profitable farms. If food prices creep up then perhaps VAT could be lowered as a compensatory measure.

 

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Edited May 4, 2017 by timberbear

[Mike Dempsey]

The only problem with the pricing is that vat is not charged on food.

[timberbear]

The only problem with the pricing is that vat is not charged on food.

Well it's a nightmare! Some foods have vat and some don't.

 

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