John Hughes pictured here with Robin Tait
Robin Tait BSc.(Agr.) Agricultural Research Officer from BRA (Botanical Resources Australia) was our guest speaker at last Thursday’s dinner meeting.
Robin recently returned from an 11-week study tour in the UK, sponsored by Tasmanian Alkaloids after she was selected from many other applicants by the Rural Youth Organisation of Tasmania. It was an ‘experience of a lifetime’.
Robin told us she was hoping for an educational holiday, but instead found herself immersed in an invigorating sleepless 3 months of farm hopping around the UK. Living with farmers in small communities, observing and participating in how people in the UK favour small scale, labour intensive farming. Dairy farming in the UK is mostly with tied stock in barns, requiring carting silage (a major part of farm life!) and collecting slurry which then needs spreading on the fields (as fertiliser). Cows are rarely kept outside as their hooves damage the wet and soft soil too much, not to mention the gale force winds that Robin did not take a liking to either. Robin reported that sheep flocks of 200 are considered massive in the UK, and hence shearing is just done in the paddock on a sunny day.
Farming in the UK is not a profitable business. In fact farms often ran at a loss. The UK government supplies Single Farm Payments, which often forms the only profit for the farms. Other government payments were obtained by setting land aside for nature, creating wetlands, planting for local birds and bumble bees, skylark-patches... Other than that farms need to be creative and earn extra income through alternative activities. Robin saw many farms which doubled as Bed and Breakfast Farm Stays, some with Maiz Mazes, some with petting zoos, Paintball, wedding functions, and then last but not least farmers can be paid for just setting-aside land, and ‘not farming’. In the latter cases the land is (sometimes) seeded for grain and left fallow. Even ‘keeping’ a willow tree on the farm attracts a £30 annual subsidy!
Most farms are leased in the UK, either from the councils or from estates, usually on generational leases where the farmer leases the land as long as he is capable of farming, and can extend the lease to the next generation if it can be proven that his offspring intends to and is capable of farming the land. Other farms are part of a co-op or another large farming estate. Few farms are privately/family owned.
Another major difference in UK farming was the participation of women. In Tasmania Robin is an exception to the rule being a woman, with many stubborn farmers requiring her to prove herself before accepting her as a fellow ag-worker.
Socially Robin also had a good time, participating in more tug-a-war’s than she can remember, the UK farmers appear to be dead set serious about their tug-a-war! She attended traditional fox-hunts and saw immaculately dressed hunt-masters wearing £800 boots (with £400 ‘bits of wood’ to keep them straight while not in use). Robin attended many charity events, climber four big mountains including Ben Nevis, Snowdon, and Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland.
In July of 2011 Robin returned as a well travelled, experienced public speaker and above all a confident field officer for BRA! She also briefed us on the cultivation of pyrethrum which was quite interesting. Pyrethrum is a naturally occurring insecticide, effective against a broad range of insect pests. It is used in homes and gardens, as well as for agricultural and commercial uses. Pyrethrum is fast acting against most insect pests, and is a repellent as well as an insecticide. As it has low toxicity to humans and animals it is a relatively safe product when used according to label instructions. Pyrethrum breaks down quickly, particularly in sunlight, and so there is no build-up in the environment.
Pyrethrum is grown from seed and gives its first yield 18 months after planting. After that it is an annual crop. Pyrethrum is only grown in a few countries (Tanzania, Rwanda, PNG, and only a few others). Tasmania, BRA in fact, is responsible for producing about 60% of the world’s need. Before the pyrethrum can be used in fly spray and other insecticides the seeds are collected by a combiner and the rest is left on the field as straw. The straw is also used in the manufacturing process which results in pellets which are then exported and used in the manufacturing of natural insecticides.
