Farmers were gathering today to listen to the NFU's deputy president. Catrina Dick talked to them about one of the most difficult periods in living memory.

BELEAGUERED FARMERS were expected to flock to Skipton today to quiz one of their leaders.

Tim Bennett, deputy president of the National Farmers' Union, was being put on the spot at the town's auction mart by farmers desperate to know more about the Government's £100 million aid package, unveiled yesterday.

The money could prove to be a lifeline for an industry which has suffered setback after setback since the BSE crisis blew up and beef exports were banned, costing it millions of pounds a year.

Livestock prices plummeted yet further at the mercy of the strong pound and tough new regulations requiring farmers and abattoirs to spend money upgrading facilities - a cost inevitably passed on to the consumer and making cheaper, foreign imports even more attractive.

Even the collapse of the Russian economy hit Britain's farmers who used to sell sheepskins there at £10 a time, only to see the price fall

to £2.

John Gullett, chairman of the Bradford and Bingley branch of the NFU, said he hoped farmers would turn out in force to today's open forum.

"They need to be turning up and making their feelings known," said Mr Gullett, of Millhouse Farm, Buttershaw. "We don't want to be seen to be asking for favours but we want a fair crack of the whip.

"We need aid immediately. We don't want to be waiting for six months."

He said farmers still needed to know what was in the small print. "But I feel for some it might be too late. There will be one or two smaller farms in the district who might call it a day because of the economic situation and the tremendous amount of paperwork involved.

"Then again, the aid might give people a bit more confidence that there are better times ahead.

"But it's difficult to see it making a vast improvement in the immediate future."

He emphasised that farmers were not whinging. "We have been a bit guilty of that in the past but we're not this time. I'm 61 and I've never experienced anything like it."

Mr Gullett said the farmers' would be likely to seek a further lowering of interest rates and put the case for making supermarkets label meat clearly with its country of origin.

"We're not saying if someone has a particular preference for New Zealand lamb they shouldn't buy it, but they should know what they're buying," he said.

Michael Rhodes, NFU Wharfedale branch secretary since 1966, said a succession of events had conspired to create an "appalling downturn" in farming fortunes.

In addition to beef, the milk, lamb, pigs and poultry sectors were also suffering. Typically, lambs were fetching as little as £2 each instead of £15 or £20, and pigs were selling at 20p to 25p a kilogram when producers needed to get about 80p to make a profit.

Mr Rhodes was also at pains to stress that farmers were not crying wolf.

"One of the difficulties is persuading the general public that this time we mean it, and if farming fortunes don't improve there will be casualties. I think a lot of people will call it a day because they can't go on losing money".

He said people stuck together in times of crisis and that was evident at present in the farming community.

"There is some comfort in knowing we're all in it together.

"Everybody is suffering. But it doesn't help to pay the bills."

Banter can't hide the fears

The mood at Otley's Bridge End Auction Mart was tense despite the banter flying back and forth between auctioneer Martin Lister and the assembled crowd.

Although they might have been putting on a brave face, it didn't take long to uncover the concerns of farmers trying to make ends meet during one of the worst periods in memory.

One woman, who farms with her husband in Leathley and asked not to be named, said: "You try to cut your expenses. You can't think about buying new stuff; just the bare essentials to keep things going.

"We might have considered putting a new roof on a building but just patched it up instead."

But she, and plenty others, say they have no choice, even if it does cost more to rear animals than they finally fetch at auction.

"You've got to try and keep going. The jobs are still there to do," she said. "You've been brought up with it all your life and you know nothing else."

Mr Lister illustrated how the farming recession has had a knock-on effect on related industries. The auction mart's income from commission on sales has suffered. Whereas 100 sheep used to be worth £6,000 on average, this year they will be worth £3,000 resulting in less commission but still invol-ving the same throughput of animals and number of staff.

And he's in no doubt that it is getting worse.

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