Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 11:56 AM THIS IS FROM A FIREND OF MINE WHO LIVES AND OWNS A DAIRY FARM IN ANTRIM Subject: Re: Gordon COUNTY, N. IRELAND. DEREK CAME OVER FOR A VISIT SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND I TOOK HIM ON A TOUR OF FRANKLIN COUNTY AND HE STAYED IN GREENCASTLE FOR TWO DAYS HE WAS KEENLY INTEREST IN THE FARMS AND THE PEOPLE HE MET. DEREK IS A MEMBER OF SEVERAL HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES. GORDON CROOKS > Hi Gordon, I have 146 acres of land , 10 acres across the road on the > townland of Heagles and the rest here at the Bootown or Booten as we > would pronounce it. about 12 acres of it is just Peat Moss / Scrub and > full of birch trees. > I have 100 head of cattle, 74 Milking Cows, about 6 Beef Cattle, one > Limosine Bull and the rest is replacement Freisian Heifers. > My Milking Barn or Parlour is a 6 point which only milks 6 cows a time. > It is a Gasgoine Herringbone Parlour. > > I always meant to answer an earlier email you sent me about the price of > milk and how the Supermarkets are ripping off the farmers. Its the same > over here. We are now getting 27 pence By right we should be getting > about 35 p per litre. > This past year Dairy farmers have been getting as little as 15pence per > litre of milk, The average price has been around 18 pence per litre. It > costs between 14 - 16 pence to produce. Yet price of fuel, Fertilizer, > Animal feed and other farm needs was rapidly rising in price which was > making it very hard to make ends meet. > Recently, In order to get a special meeting with our Co-Op "United Dairy > Farmers Ltd," we needed 110 signatures from United Members, I and my > comrades gatherred 200 signatures. > Read this Link to see who the main Principle Requestor was;- > http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/08/20/117271/low-price-explanation-demanded-by-ni-milk-producers.html > > Once we posted the signatures, I was called by United Management and > threatened with Legal action, other members were also threatened and > intimidated. This was a disgrace, we only wanted a meeting to try and > get a better price. We also had the backing from Dairy farmers across > the whole of Britain, as our milk was so cheap in N Ireland that the > Supermarkets was buying it, instead of Milk on the Mainland thus further > hurting the Dairy Industry there. > Funny thing is that in the run-up to this meeting our milk price rose by > two pence making it 20p per litre. There is nothing like buying off > votes from farmers !! > We had our meeting, I had to speak for the first time in front of 500 > people, I managed to make a very good speech and was told that I got our > points across very well. > Unfortunatly, another FFA member who was to be taking the questions in > regards to the Marketing. This man didnt turn up which went against me. > Then the vote for our Resolutions which included Proxy Votes (Which I > have not seen yet) was defeated by a large margin. So much for relying > on our N Ireland Farmers. But there was about 4 members of the UFU who > said they were against us, once that hapenned the rest of the farmers as > usual followed suit. > Although we lost, I was glad that I had done my job to "Rock the Boat". > I was even praised by a few Members of the Board for having the courage > to do what I did even though they did not agree with the Resolutions. I > was even asked if I would like to stand for election to the Board as I > was praised for the great speech I made. > The next milk auction saw another price rise which is now 23 pence per > litre, So it is going in the right direction.This proves that "Pressure > Works". > As for me, I now know that I have Courage and good Speaking abillities > to do it again if I need to. I also received a congratulatory phone call > from David Handley to founder of Farmers For Action. > > So there you have it, I dread to think just what 2010 holds for us > Farmers. > > Anyhow, hope you had a good Christmas. > > Best Wishes. > > Derek. > > > > Gordon Crooks@verizon.net wrote: >> Derek: I have been meaning to write you since you wrote about your >> farm and it raised some questions with me. >> >> How many milking cows do you have ? How many acres of land ? How many >> heifers and how many beef cattle. Any other animals? I know that you >> have just one farm hand, so how do you manage milking all of those >> cows, how is your milking barn equipped? >> >> Gordon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.431 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2594 - Release Date: 12/30/09 07:27:00