One wonders what drives 407,000 country folk to trek down to our capital to march through its streets in protest.

Could it be the contempt with which this government treats the rural communities of this country has finally awakened a sleeping giant? Surely a protest of such magnitude, the largest in history according to the media, cannot be shrugged off even by this thick-skinned administration?

We have just experienced one of the most open autumns for many years, enabling the harvest to continue uninterrupted. The planting of next year's crop has been completed earlier than I can remember and with less hassle. This time last year we were trying in vain to work in a sea of mud.

The media were quick to inform the public that the good old supermarkets were going to pay 2p per litre extra to hard-pressed dairy farmers. While we are very grateful for any rise in our commodity price, it isn't quite what it seems.

The price rise offered is on liquid milk. Only about 25 per cent of the milk produced is sold through supermarkets in liquid form, the rest is processed items, such as cheese, butter, yogurt etc. So, by the time the 2p on liquid-only is distributed fairly to all producers, it equates to something less than p per litre.

Again, while grateful for the move in the right direction, I'm not sure that it will slow down the mass exodus from dairy farming we are seeing, or prevent the meltdown of the dairy industry in general.

The late autumn sees the annual round of NFU branch AGMs and informative meetings. This year, the main topics seem to be the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU and the effect of the nitrate vulnerable zones, which cover 55 per cent of England, and how it will infringe on the way we farm.

The proposals put forward in the mid-term review are quite frightening for British agriculture. It would seem that British farmers will, in essence, be subsidising the ten new entrant countries to the CAP by having payments skimmed off us to set up the agriculture in these countries to put them in a position where they will be able to compete in our markets. Considering that their costs will be a fraction of ours i.e. labour, assurance schemes and a lot less bureaucracy and red tape this could put us at a severe disadvantage.

We must not get down in the mouth. Look at what we farmers are doing for the employment figures. For every one of us, there must be a dozen employed to shovel the paperwork down our throats.

PAUL THOMAS,

vice-chairman, Hereford NFU.