Thursday, 19th January 2012
Debate on the Bové Report on The Farm Input Supply Chain: Structure & Implications
European Parliament, Strasbourg, 19th January 2012
I think this own initiative report answers some of the questions on how farmers might be able to comply with some of the complex greening proposals in the CAP Reform and I congratulate Mr Bové on his work.
Improving energy efficiency on our farms is an absolute imperative. And farmers should look at innovative ways of becoming self-sufficient energy producers through the installation of micro-hydro, biomass, biogas, photo-voltaic and geothermic systems. Current generous feed-in-tariffs ensure that surplus generating capacity can be fed into the national grid and farmers can reap rich rewards.
I would caution, however, against the race for erecting massive wind turbines on their farms. In Scotland right now, the modern equivalent of snake-oil salesmen are knocking on doors throughout the countryside trying to persuade hard-pressed farmers to part with vast sums of cash in exchange for having one of these industrial monsters erected on their land, with the promise of pots of gold.
But as the recent storms have demonstrated, these turbines are often subject to catastrophic failure and even when they are working, they only produce a trickle of electricity. As a result, many farmers in Scotland have found that they have rusting hulks on their land, which are earning nothing and costing them a fortune.
Instead of having signs on their farm gates that say 'Beware of the Bull', farmers should have signs that say 'Beware of the Bulls**t!'
STRUAN STEVENSON, MEP
