Issy Anstey

NO ORGANIC MILK? You might’ve seen it; Pret a Manger have pulled organic milk from some stores. Not because they wanted to, but because their supplier hasn’t enough to go round. That’s not a supply chain hiccup - it’s a warning light. The truth is, there is an organic milk shortage in the UK - it’s not some freak event, it’s been brewing for years, and there’s a few reasons: Some organic farmers have either quit or been pushed out in recent years. Despite financial returns for organic milk finally being where they need to be for organic farmers to farm sustainably, it hasn’t been like this for a long time. It’s taken years of serious graft by so many to make it work and for some it’s been too late. Proper organic herds rely on grass. Grass needs rain. No rain, no milk – and there’s a drought in the UK South Climate change vibes? We’ll let you debate that one. BIG DAIRY treat organic as an ‘add-on’ to win contracts for wider non-organic sales, not something they genuinely believe in. But here’s the worst bit… Some smaller dairies, the ones who genuinely focus on organic, work with the same farmers every week, bottle the milk themselves and can guarantee supply are being pushed out of the supply chain. They have contracts pulled because BIG DAIRY have undercut them. We’ll give you an example of this next week… Then a few months later, those same big processors tell their customers, “Sorry, there’s a shortage… we’ll just send you non-organic instead.” – and THEY GET AWAY WITH IT! It’s no wonder we’re in a mess. We need more organic farmers and plenty want to convert but the process is slow, expensive and stacked against them. The ‘conversion period’ means detoxing land and animals from years of chemical use. It means risk, it means getting paid less while doing more until Organic day and with the bank manager lurking just around the corner with the farm deeds as security, it takes gut and support. We believe organic can be the future for the planet, for our health and for farming but it needs help. For now, if your flat white’s missing organic milk; It’s not a glitch in the system. It is the system.

@SteveReedMP If you managed to get into an SFI before it was closed by you...

Real pleasure to visit Martin Lines’ Cambridgeshire farm to see how nature-positive farming is more financially as well as environmentally sustainable

@pete_ar_fryn You've missed the point, the value of the assets and business will be high (which for some reason people think its criminal to have business & assets) and the net profit won't afford the tax. Imagine the goverment taxing your pay slip 200% tax, how do you pay?

Would Govt. prefer us to sell the workshop, yard, offices, stock or staff room to pay the ludicrous BPR IHT if my mum dies? 45 years of unimaginable graft, risk, sacrifice (& paying taxes) - but then shafted simply because we run a good family business & provide good stable jobs.

@heritage_surv @MerryAlbright They do, they're just highlighting the fact this tax is an unaffordable and illogical one. Imagine the government tell you to pay 10% the value of your house in tax every year for 10 years and your job doesn't make enough to pay it?? What are you going to do? Sell the garden?

@MerryAlbright Just pay yer taxes like everyone else. Tough isn’t it ?

@MerryAlbright They would prefer your acres, actually

@StuartMaggs 4.3m self employed in the UK apparently, it's a huge number!

The fact that the Government does not regard the self-employed as working people is just shameful.

@NoFarmsNoFoods Trouble is people see the asset figure and think the tax can easily be paid based on value of those assets

Inheritance tax on family farms. Here is the real financial impact assessment on family farms facing IHT rather than what the Treasury disingenuously stated…

The University of Nebraska has called out the misleading narrative on cow burps & methane on climate change: “They have not accounted for the capture part, they only account for methane being released. Carbon capture in soil and grass - helped out by cow grazing and manure - can far outweigh the emissions from cattle. Grasslands can take up more CO2 and carbon in the soil and plants, that offsets the CO2 that cattle are producing but it also offsets the methane.”

Ultra-processed food as a % of household purchases (Europe). The UK is the only country on this map to be over 50%. And look at the huge difference between UK and France/Italy/Spain.

“I buy avocados grown in Mexico and shipped to the UK.” “I buy tomatoes grown in Morocco and shipped to the UK.” “I buy Tofu grown in Indonesia and shipped to the UK.” "Red meat from local UK farmers should be reduced. It’s bad for the planet.” 🤷‍♂️

Natural gas prices have plummeted since the tariffs talk, if our energy prices do not fall very soon, it’s a clear indication of how much we are being fleeced and taken advantage of in this country.

So they are closing all the steelworks but opening a Universal Studios Theme Park. That seems to encapsulate the fools' paradise of UK politicians.

@UKLabour *But not if you're a farmer, then we want to make your industry more unstable

Security in an era of global instability. Renewal for our country.

@stats_feed anxiety

What was the fastest way you lost weight?

@DawnButlerBrent And 5.5m SMEs had huge cost increases

No April fools joke... 240,000 hardworking people across London are getting a pay rise today. Labour raising the National Minimum Wage!

@loosecollie Intensive farming for big farmers, very few medium - small sized farmers

Farming is changing, and fast. Where do you see the future? More regulation? Less funding? A lot less farms? A lot less toys? Collaboration to compete/survive? Or, all of the above?

So as you can see here is one of my tractors when working hard it burns 400 litres a day so it costs £280 to fill it currently if they axe red diesel it will then cost me £580 - would be nice if I could double the price of my wheat but we simply can’t I really fear the future

Half of UK horticulture firms consider their businesses to be at serious risk of failure. UK fruit/veg consumption at its lowest in 50yrs. Only 1:10 kids eat 5 a day. Cost of diet related disease to NHS is over £6 billion. This is a national tragedy youtu.be/FHdkgd8zNlI?si…

@Slug_95 and how do they continue to produce keys that always break

Key broke on the handler. Genuine JCB replacement £20, non genuine pair of keys £3. How do JCB make any part sales?

I am starting to get quite angry about what's going on atm. We have those in power who have never risked a pound of their own money running a business & are doing their level best to harm business owners & farmers with umpteen daft policies & broken promises. #Reevecession