news story

2nd October 2006

MP Up Before Dawn To Milk Cows!

Steve Webb at the wheel of a tractor at Brook Farm, Tortworth

Northavon MP Steve Webb had an early start last week when he spent a full day at a local dairy farm to find out more about the concerns of local farmers. On a visit co-ordinated by the local NFU, Steve Webb spent a day at Brook Farm, Tortworth shadowing farmer Graham Hook. The MP arrived at the farm at 0530am to help with the first task of the day - using flashlights to bring in the cows for milking. The MP then worked alongside Mr. Hook, helping to milk around 100 cows in the following two hours.

Steve Webb was given the opportunity to connect up cows to the milking machinery and to operate the computer controls which ensure that each cow is given just the right amount of feed while they are being milked. He was also given the opportunity to help clean out the milking parlour after the cows had all been milked, and later saw the milk tanker on its daily visit to collect the fresh milk.

After breakfast, the MP met a vet who were visiting Brook Farm for a routine animal welfare visit, and visited another farm to see cows having routine 'pre-movement' testing for TB. Bovine TB is an issue on which a number of local farmers have contacted the MP and is a particular problem for farmers in South Gloucestershire. The MP also saw Mr. Hook filling in paperwork and registering online to apply for registration for two calves which had been born in the farm within the last couple of days. He also saw the way in which new calves have to have ear tags fitted soon after birth under DEFRA regulations in order to track their movements throughout their lives.

Later in the day, the MP had the opportunity to travel around with Mr. Hook as he checked up on the animals on the farms in the neighbourhood operated by Mr. Hook and his family. This also involved helping to stop the traffic on the A38 so that cows could be moved from fields on one side of the road to the other!

Later on, the MP met another of Mr. Hook's farm workers and was given the chance to try his hand behind the wheel of a tractor, harrowing a field in preparation for later sowing of crops. Finally, the MP went back to the milk parlour to see the second milking of the day and had a brief opportunity to try milking cows by hand. He concluded that milking machines make life a great deal easier.

Speaking at the end of his day on the farm, Steve Webb said:

"I am enormously grateful to Graham Hook for generously allowing me to spend the day on his farm. I'm not sure that I contributed much to the smooth running of the farm, but I do know that I learned a lot about the day-to-day issues faced by local farmers. Many of them have received a poor standard of service from Government departments, particularly having to wait many months for the farm payments to which they are entitled. I hope that my visit will have deepened our mutual understanding and that I will be able to represent the concerns of local farmers still more effectively in future".

Farmer Graham Hook said that he was happy to have the local MP on his farm for the day and appreciated the opportunity to make him more aware of some of the issues that face farmers in their daily lives.