1998 is the year that they have deemed as being "safe" from regarding the feeding stuffs regulations. Jj, where are you?
Zebra, many of the farms that are in "poverty" are those that have been farming for many years and those who went into farming in recent years, mainly rented farms, paying a huge rent and unable to now make ends meet. This is because of the price of - feeding stuffs, veterinary, dosing stuffs, price of machinery repairs, price of fuel, price of contractors (although it is now cheaper to buy in fodder), price of fertiliser, price of insurances (personal and commercial). Yes there are those who are flaunting it that they are better off than others, mainly because they can manipulate the system of subsidy, in that I mean in terms of livestock units cow to sheep if your livestock units in cows is more than 50% you get more in the LFASS system, where as those with nothing but sheep, are to be perfectly honest shit upon.
Another thing, many farms have farm workers, and in no offence to any farmers wifes, if some of them got out of their bloody Aga orientated kitchen and did some bloody work then there might not be as many poor farmers. Many wives go out and work, what for to pay the workers wages for the week!, makes no sense at all.
Contractors, make life for many of us a lot easier, they have the repairs and the payments on the machinery and we don't although we have our own mower and round baler, we only need someone to wrap the bales of silage, but it is now cheaper to buy in hay than make a second cut of silage. Some farmers do go out and contract, but many only do so to make enough money to make the payments on their tractors, not many of them do it through choice. We used to do contracting work, by relief milking, it was good money, but we had to leave things at home, and that does not work either, as the animals that are at home are the ones that at the end of the day put some money in our pockets.
Many farmers now go out of farming and get a good "handshake" if they have been in a rented farm, they get so much money for coming out of the farm, only if they are approached by the landlord, in that case the landlord is wanting to "break" the lease, not the tenant.
Organic beef is as safe as any other beef you will eat in Britain, as drug withdrawals HAVE to be strictly adhered to, anyway you can see the mark on the meat where the jag has been given, when the carcass is hanging up. As of next year Specially Selected Scotch Beef, will only be beef that has been born, raised and killed in Scotland.