Oxfam report claims hill farming families 'going hungry to feed sheep' (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Link to report?
How much does a single working-age adult living in Kendal or London need, and how does this compare with what "some" people are earning in these places?

most public sector workers in around kendal earn around 13 till 15 thousand pounds a year , and mr farron is well aware of this and excepts it , its not only farmers that are going hungry

This report simply states farmers are cutting back on their shopping bills, it doesn't actually say they are going hungry. It may be in the past that they were overspending, or buying top brands and like anyone else is now having to budget.

One question I have is whenever they quote farmer's incomes do they allow for rent of the farm, or is this already taken out as expenses?Whereas most other people would have rent or mortgage costs to take from their salaries.

Oh and £19k is more than a lot of people earn living in the same area.

I hope the farmers that need the extra help, get the extra help and that wealthier farmers don't abuse this.

How can you go hungry when you have a flock of sheep? Organize a ram roast or an 'all you can eat' watch your fortunes turn around!

The whole of Cumbria has lower salaries and a higher cost of living than many other parts of the UK. £19,820pa would be quite a high salary for a job in the South Lakes. MP Tim Farron knows this, but does nothing about it! It's a shame that hill farmers are struggling again, especially as the poor weather has limited decent grazing. We need to see more animal feed, and human food, grown by farmers in Cumbria. So what if it doesn't look as nice as the cropped green hills, food is our most important basic need and we'd soon get used to the slightly different landscape.

Where's good old Timmy now that the poor residents of Holme House Farm need help.

So they've stopped buying Coca-cola and bought the own brand, they've given up the booze, etc etc? 'Cutting back' doesn't really explain a lot does it.
If someone can earn 19k in South Lakes then maybe they should sell the sheep and go and do another job. I've said it time and again about farmers; if you're not making money doing what you're doing then DO SOMETHING ELSE, don't expect Government grants to help you out! The country is obviously over-saturated with meat and dairy animals, we need to stop breeding them, then a higher price will be paid for them and their produce. And for what it's worth I would bloody love to earn 19k, I'm guessing those that do have a lot of 'disposable' income to spend in the area - that's what Mr.Farron is wanting. But then he's not worried, his salary alone is around 65k....without expenses etc.

tictoc1 wrote:
I hope the farmers that need the extra help, get the extra help and that wealthier farmers don't abuse this.

Why should they get 'help' though? I earn 4p more than minimum wage...can I get help from the Government? NO! But if I want more money I can just DO SOMETHING ELSE to help myself.

Cas220 wrote:

tictoc1 wrote: I hope the farmers that need the extra help, get the extra help and that wealthier farmers don't abuse this.

Why should they get 'help' though? I earn 4p more than minimum wage...can I get help from the Government? NO! But if I want more money I can just DO SOMETHING ELSE to help myself.

If anyone deserves help, then it should be available. So what point are you trying to get across? That they should do other things to bring in more money? Work more? The fact that they work 365 days a year anyway. There are available benefits for people on a "lower" wage, do you claim any of these benefits? Are you aware of what you can claim for?

Cas220 wrote:
So they've stopped buying Coca-cola and bought the own brand, they've given up the booze, etc etc? 'Cutting back' doesn't really explain a lot does it. If someone can earn 19k in South Lakes then maybe they should sell the sheep and go and do another job. I've said it time and again about farmers; if you're not making money doing what you're doing then DO SOMETHING ELSE, don't expect Government grants to help you out! The country is obviously over-saturated with meat and dairy animals, we need to stop breeding them, then a higher price will be paid for them and their produce. And for what it's worth I would bloody love to earn 19k, I'm guessing those that do have a lot of 'disposable' income to spend in the area - that's what Mr.Farron is wanting. But then he's not worried, his salary alone is around 65k....without expenses etc.

This comment actually makes me chuckle! You clearly have NO IDEA how much work goes into being a hill farmer. That 19k might be needed to buy feed, vets bills, keeping inline with health and safety and EU regulations, animal passports, up keep of machinery to farm the land and animals and all this is before they feed themselves. "if you're not making money doing what you're doing then DO SOMETHING ELSE", how many farmers have already done this...loads! Hence why more and more barn conversions are cropping up. We should be supporting our farmers and keeping Britain farming.

tictoc1 wrote:

Cas220 wrote:
So they've stopped buying Coca-cola and bought the own brand, they've given up the booze, etc etc? 'Cutting back' doesn't really explain a lot does it. If someone can earn 19k in South Lakes then maybe they should sell the sheep and go and do another job. I've said it time and again about farmers; if you're not making money doing what you're doing then DO SOMETHING ELSE, don't expect Government grants to help you out! The country is obviously over-saturated with meat and dairy animals, we need to stop breeding them, then a higher price will be paid for them and their produce. And for what it's worth I would bloody love to earn 19k, I'm guessing those that do have a lot of 'disposable' income to spend in the area - that's what Mr.Farron is wanting. But then he's not worried, his salary alone is around 65k....without expenses etc.

This comment actually makes me chuckle! You clearly have NO IDEA how much work goes into being a hill farmer. That 19k might be needed to buy feed, vets bills, keeping inline with health and safety and EU regulations, animal passports, up keep of machinery to farm the land and animals and all this is before they feed themselves. "if you're not making money doing what you're doing then DO SOMETHING ELSE", how many farmers have already done this...loads! Hence why more and more barn conversions are cropping up. We should be supporting our farmers and keeping Britain farming.

"We should be supporting our farmers and keep Britain farming"

Why?
Why are they are special case?
I don't remember the rural and farming communities up in arms calling for support for the UK textiles/steel/manuf
acturing sectors.
The market will decide if they survive. All subsidies should be removed immediately and let them sink or swim.
I don't remember the farming community getting together and only buying British tractors, machinery and 4 x 4's.
You reap what you sow!!!!!

Stick in the Mud wrote:

tictoc1 wrote:

Cas220 wrote: So they've stopped buying Coca-cola and bought the own brand, they've given up the booze, etc etc? 'Cutting back' doesn't really explain a lot does it. If someone can earn 19k in South Lakes then maybe they should sell the sheep and go and do another job. I've said it time and again about farmers; if you're not making money doing what you're doing then DO SOMETHING ELSE, don't expect Government grants to help you out! The country is obviously over-saturated with meat and dairy animals, we need to stop breeding them, then a higher price will be paid for them and their produce. And for what it's worth I would bloody love to earn 19k, I'm guessing those that do have a lot of 'disposable' income to spend in the area - that's what Mr.Farron is wanting. But then he's not worried, his salary alone is around 65k....without expenses etc.

This comment actually makes me chuckle! You clearly have NO IDEA how much work goes into being a hill farmer. That 19k might be needed to buy feed, vets bills, keeping inline with health and safety and EU regulations, animal passports, up keep of machinery to farm the land and animals and all this is before they feed themselves. "if you're not making money doing what you're doing then DO SOMETHING ELSE", how many farmers have already done this...loads! Hence why more and more barn conversions are cropping up. We should be supporting our farmers and keeping Britain farming.

"We should be supporting our farmers and keep Britain farming" Why? Why are they are special case? I don't remember the rural and farming communities up in arms calling for support for the UK textiles/steel/manuf acturing sectors. The market will decide if they survive. All subsidies should be removed immediately and let them sink or swim. I don't remember the farming community getting together and only buying British tractors, machinery and 4 x 4's. You reap what you sow!!!!!

I understand why you're only on 4p per hour over the minimum wage now ;-)

Come on TickyTocky, I realise it was early in the morning, but it wasn't even me who mentioned 4p/hour!! :-)

Still, I would be interested in why you think farmers are a special case, and why disagreeing with you would be in any way indicative of my salary expectations.
Best regards,
Sticky

Whoops...my apologies "Stick in the Mud", clearly my cup of coffee hadn't woken me up properly when I wrote that.
I don't think farmers are a special case. I do think alot work very hard (not that other people don't), but on average, how many people work 365 days a year in all conditions? The farmers I am talking about the "traditional" farmers (if that's the right way of trying to put it). Out in all weathers rounding sheep up on the hills, the farmers this article is relating too. Not the farmers that sell each Tup for 12k upwards and get grants for everything. I personally don't want to buy veg, meat and dairy from outside the UK, but if we don't help those that genuinely need it then that's what could happen.
May I ask why you think all subsidies should be removed? Also, for the non farming comunity, could you class any benefit of a kind of subsidy? If so, could we do away with them and see how many people sink or swim?