The Gaia Trust Working towards a healthy and sustainable world through education, encouragement and example Press Release Public Meeting The Festival Hall Market Rasen Friday, June 16th, 7.30pm Free admission Licensed bar Farming For The Future (1): Which way forward for Lincolnshire? Lincolnshire has the best agricultural land in the world. Our farming industry should be the envy of other counties and other countries yet many of our farmers are struggling to survive. Agriculture is Lincolnshire’s only real industry. Directly, and indirectly, it provides most of the employment in this county. It is very easy for the rest of us to sit back and say that what happens to the farmers is no concern of ours, that it is just a farming problem. However, if our agricultural industry goes into further decline it will not just be the farmers who suffer the consequences. It will affect thousands of local businesses, their employees and local communities as a whole. It is the responsibility of us all to identify the problems our farmers are facing and then to work together to find solutions. The recent GM contamination is just one more problem our farmers could have done without and we must ensure that it never happens again. Advanta, the company responsible for the contamination, has finally decided to compensate any farmer who decides to dig up his crop and replant with a GM free crop. On the surface this seems a very fair action – however – if they had acted quickly then the farmers would not have planted it in the first place. Neither does it address the problems of the ‘volunteer’ oilseed rape from last years contamination – will they be paying compensation to the hundreds of farmers who unknowingly grew GM oilseed rape last year and have now lost GM free status? Will they be paying for the monitoring that is required to ensure that these ‘volunteer’ crops are destroyed? Because they must be destroyed or they will continue to cross-pollinate and contaminate all future crops. The government and Advanta are saying that this particular GM rape is male sterile and that it cannot cross-pollinate with anything else. This is true – up to a point. What they are not saying is that other rapeseed plants can cross-pollinate with it – and that any seed produced will be viable and it will be GM. Unless monitoring goes into place immediately we will have a very serious problem in the near future. Supermarkets want guaranteed GM free produce. If they cannot buy it here then they will have to look at alternative markets – abroad. What of our agricultural industry then? What will happen to our farmers – and our communities – when there is no market for their crops at all – or they have to take a reduced price? Neither is the industry or government releasing information about contaminated maize yet between 5 – 15% of this years British maize crop contains GM material. This is a particular serious problem for any farmer, whether conventional or organic, who is growing sweetcorn. The bee farmers association has recommended to its members that they move their hives to a distance of 6 miles from any GM crop. This is especially important now that there is evidence that GM DNA does transfer to the bacteria in the gut of young bees. How do beekeepers ensure their hives are not near any GM material when there are volunteers and unidentified contaminated crops? Even if we knew where these crops were it still poses a problem for any growers, particularily fruit growers, who are within the six-mile area. Bees are necessary for pollination – they could be looking at reduced harvests. It is now accepted that cross-pollination between GM and non-GM crops can occur over distances of almost a mile. We have at least 7 farm scale trials in Lincolnshire with totally inadequate separation distances of only 200m. Would it be in Lincolnshire’s economic and environmental benefit to become totally GM free? This first of a series of meetings will be asking this question and will be looking at the issues involved – and then seeking solutions. Speakers invited include, David Handley, Chairman – Farmers for Action. Alestair Smith, Farmers Link. Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher, independent scientist. Kate O’Connell, The Gaia Trust. NFU, (tbc) Farmers Crisis Network (tbc). Advanta and MAFF were invited but have declined to speak. Other issues to be covered (though not all at this first meeting) include setting up farmers markets and co-operatives, the practicalities of reducing pesticide use, increasing research into conventional and organic crops, WTO, the potential of growing alternative high protein crops, increasing crop and livestock sales and farmgate prices, readily assessable agricultural training, organic conversion and more. We feel sure that you will appreciate the importance of this meeting and that you will give it your full support. The Festival Hall will be open from 4pm for anyone wanting further information and the meeting begins at 7.30. If you would like more information then please contact us on the numbers below. Best Wishes Kate O’Connell On behalf of The Gaia Trust