• Book Review
• Genetically Modified Food
• Orkney’s Washing Machine for Oiled Birds
• Orkney Wins FoE Recycling Award
• Scapa Beach Pollution
• The British Cattle Movement Service
• A First for Orkney Seal Rescue
• “Return to Farming Roots” says Prince Charles
• Animal Welfare
• Orkney’s Organic Salmon Farm
• Compassion in World Farming
• Good Old Jewson’s

by Stephen Jones

The Killing of the Countryside by Graham Harvey (218 pp)
Published by Jonathan Cape; Price £16.99 Hardback £7.99 Paperback

Graham Harvey’s book, brought out in 1997, presents a picture of rural Britain which ought to make most landowners and supporters of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) hang their heads in shame. The description of the book, inside the front cover, states that the author “discovers a landscape of lifeless fields and poisoned ditches, of vanishing meadows and silent empty hillsides; a landscape stripped of its wild flowers, butterflies, birds and animals”.

This indictment of rural avarice and political ineptitude provides a mass of evidence of a countryside in thrall to the farming lobby. In the chapter The View from the Hills, the Scottish Farm Minister was reported as saying that, in Scotland, aggregate farm income amounted to £612 million in 1995, of which no less than £400 million came as a direct subsidy from the taxpayer. The description of the degradation of habitat due to overgrazing in Environmentally Sensitive Areas in Wales and England could equally apply to farming activity closer to home.

The notes on the sources used to collate all the information run to fourteen pages and this shows how extensively the author researched the book. They also provide a good guide for further reading.

If nothing else, Graham Harvey might make us think while Environmental pressure groups identify high profile targets like Dounreay or Atlantic oil development, the insidious destruction of the countryside continues practically unchallenged. by Clive Strutt

On the 10th August 1998 both the B.B.C. and I.T.V. carried a report that genetically modified potatoes were experimentally fed to rats for 100 days and were found to have caused damage to the subjects’ immune systems. Although it was emphasised that this potato variety is not to be made available to the public, it is another pointer to the need both for much more research generally into the effects of genetic modification of food and clear unequivocal labelling of all food items for sale with respect to any genetic modifications incorporated into them. Orkney’s portable bird washing machine for treating oil-polluted birds - the only one in Britain - will be nominated for the Country Life Magazine ....... Product of the Year Award ...... in next month’s ceremony held in London. By reducing handling time and avoiding the need for transportation, birds’ stress levels are much reduced, which in turn greatly increases their chances of survival. This machine can wash a polluted bird effectively in just 6 minutes thus lessening further ingesting of oil into the bird’s system. Well done Orkney Islands Council!
OIC have been awarded a national award for their success with recycling projects in the county during 1996/97. A report by the Accounts Commission revealed that OIC had the top recycling record in Scotland,with nearly 20% of all household waste recycled. Local Councillor Fred Croy said on receiving the award on behalf of the Council, “Orkney’s clean environment is absolutely vital for our tourism, farming and fishing industries and our recycling programmes are an important element in our efforts to protect that environment.” by Stephen Jones

Windsurfers make more waves.
For years the Orkney Windsurfing Association has been complaining about the effluent and smell at the North West end of Scapa Beach. Letters have been exchanged between the Association and OIC Environmental Health, NOSWA and SEPA (one of whose officials described the Easdale Burn as the most polluted in Scotland).

More recently a local windsurfer approached SEPA’s Orkney Team Leader, Chris Matthews, to once again point out that the discharges from local distilleries and the Creamery were a public nuisance and that if Orkney’s distilleries were sited on Speyside (or anywhere else for that matter) the pollution would have been stopped years ago. Chris was well aware of the problem and said that by this time next year, the situation would have improved significantly.

However, a follow-up letter from SEPA on the 3rd September’98 stated that the time scale for any improvement in the quality of the effluent from Highland Malt Distillers would be influenced by the “engineering realities of the project”. Sounds suspiciously like 1999 will bring yet another summer of foul water to “enjoy” on possibly the most well used beach in Orkney. This service has been set up in Workington in response to directives from Europe. All newly born calves will be electronically tagged and throughout its life each beast will have a chequebook style passport which accompanies it everywhere, information from which will be stored on the central database system in Workington.

Each time the animal moves from the original farm, a page of the passport will go to Workington to update the database. This system is seen by the BCMS as a partnership between themselves and the Agricultural Industry. This partnership should be seen to offer protection to Public Health and show that the Health and Disease control policies have been followed in a transparent and open manner. They hope this in turn will offer traceability, hopefully a rise in public confidence and a better return for the farm. Essentially the British Cattle Movement Service is a central database offering full registration and tracking for all British cattle.

Apparently the Danes are already well ahead of other European countries; they have had a database of farm animals since the 1960’s. Their present database shows even more information than that requested by the BCMS. i.e. production quotas etc. Orkney Seal Rescue is the first rescue centre in Britain to start electronically tagging rescued seals with ‘animal coders’. Good luck, Ross and Co! ECO hopes this research and the exchange of information between yourselves and the Continent will provide us all with even more understanding of these wonderful mammals! The Prince of Wales said that he felt that agriculture had lost its roots but expressed hope that it could be saved by organic farming. “We have treated the land and animals as machines. Hopefully, we will learn from our mistakes before it becomes too late. The demand for organic produce is at an all time high. There are real opportunities for farmers at a time other avenues are becoming unprofitable.” He said the arguments for organic farming were not just economic, but across a whole range of environmental benefits. He lamented a “catastrophic decline” in once-common farmland birds.

Professor Ken Killham, head of the university’s department of plant and soil science, said the centre would build on Aberdeen’s renown for agricultural research focusing on agronomy and composting, crop protection and biological control,weed control and animal husbandry. SAC,Scottish Agricultural College, operates Scotland’s organic helpline, which has seen a surge in calls in recent months. Government help is available to farmers who want to take the lengthy route to organic production.

Tesco customers spend £40 million on organic products annually, with the figure increasing. The development comes as demand for organic produce continues to outstrip UK supply. Over 70% of the organic food sold in the UK is imported. Only 0.3% of the land area is managed organically.

(extracts from the Press and Journal (Aberdeen)- Wednesday October 14th 1998) by Clive Strutt

One of ECO’s aims is the promotion of high standards of animal welfare. The farming of living creatures for maximised profit inevitably leads to the overcrowding found in intensive rearing, which in turn results in stress leading to disease which is normally kept under control by veterinary intervention. We have recently had cause to focus on intensive salmon farming here in Orkney, as licences are being sought for huge installations up to 10 times the size of the small established farm sites already in existence. It is thought the reasoning behind this increase in demand is that such unnatural rearing practices have led to the collapse of the industry elsewhere, namely in Canada and Norway and “fresh pastures” are being sought for furtherance of this dubious business.

A recent article in the scientific press has concentrated on intensive pig farming. The southern Netherlands, often describes as the “closest place on earth to hog heaven - for the pig farmers, if not the pigs”, is home to 14 million swine, housed mainly in concrete barns as huge as hangars. Of course, the inevitable disease strike has occurred there, 1997 having seen the third outbreak since 1990 of classical swine fever (CSF). 6 million pigs died, mostly by the farmer’s hand rather than the virus. Governments, of course, dish out the usual compensation, at the European taxpayers’ expense, whether the taxpayer wants it or not (I suspect the vast majority neither know or care), and then the ghastly merry-go-round of exploitative cruelty starts all over again, as we suspect is happening with salmon farming.

Fears are growing that Europe’s crowded barns might be a breeding ground for human as well as animal disease. Evidence exists that pigs can breed new strains of influenza which humans can catch. The existence of influenza in pigs is closely correlated with the density of pigs in farms. Recent epidemics have struck at chickens, cattle and rabbits, but worst of all at pigs. “Europe’s pig industry is a recipe for disaster”. For farming economic efficiency, pigs are born on one farm, weaned on another and fattened on a third. In these specialised institutions thousands of animals are crammed together, all from different places. In the USA such vast units must be surrounded by a 30 - kilometre pig-free zone to curb the spread of disease, but in Europe no such requirement exists. These are the ideal conditions for explosive outbreaks of disease and traditional measures such as herd slaughter and bans on transport of animals are unable to prevent contagion. In these high density areas infections not traditionally airborne, can fly from farm to nearby farm, and foot and mouth disease, which does spread long distances in humid air, poses an even greater danger. A veterinary commentator spoke of a “horror scenario” with sick pigs sneezing out vast amounts of the virus which could reach almost anywhere in Europe where the wet wind blows. “There isn’t enough vaccine to stop it and how do you dispose of that many dead pigs?”

The Dutch are framing new laws to reduce the scale of pig farming, but elsewhere such moves have been blocked and now the pig industry is moving east to the former Communist bloc where foot and mouth disease is more common and where the biggest pig barns ever seen in Europe are now being built. “More sick pigs are inevitable and they could cost taxpayers their lives as well as their money” according to the journalist Debora MacKenzie.

(The full article “This little piggy fell ill....” appears in “New Scientist” Vol. 159 No. 2151 of the 12th September 1998). Robbie Rendall has decided to diversify his Westray farming activities, with his background originally in beef and sheep farming, Robbie has ventured into salmon farming using organic feed. This year’s salmon yield cannot officially be termed organic since they were commercially bred for the first 6 months. As of next year Robbie’s fish will be totally organic. Better welfare for the salmon and the environment includes lower stocking densities, no artificial colouring etc. This “organic” move has paid off and Robbie has a regular weekly order from Sainsbury’s who agree that organic farming produces better tasting fish. Do we know if our local produce is from an intensive farming regime?
How would we know?
There are some interesting web sites which relate to environmental and animal welfare issues and are well worth a look. This month’s related topic web is the CIWF site. I looked at the ‘Compassion In World Farming’ site and it lays out very clearly its manifesto for farm animals and its ‘Farm Animal Welfare Charter.’ For further details contact:

Compassion in World Farming
Charles House, 5A Charles Street
Petersfield, Hampshire GU32 3EH
Tel 01730 264208 / 268863
fax: 01730 260791
email: tmobrien@cifw.win-uk.net
website: http://www.ibmpcug.co.uk/~ciwf/manifest.html In May of this year, Greenpeace activists spent 48 hours occupying the crane of the ship the Saga Winds which was bringing rainforest timber and pulp into Greenock harbour. One of the climbers explained, “In Canada, 10,000 years of evolution is being clearcut for things like cosmetics, glue and doors”. Companies which have said they will stop buying timber from this unsustainable source include: B&Q, Sainsbury’s Homebase, Do It All, and - during the action after Greenpeace named them - Magnet, Jewson and Hacros also joined them. Well done!

The Greenpeace banner read:

Don’t buy Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest Destruction

Thanks to Kate and Roger for this info. from Greenpeace