THE long-awaited final version of regulations for the reopening of markets arrived last Friday; and has been "condensed" from its previous 18-page volume into an 81-page serial killer.

Before any "gathering of animals" takes place, and that includes not only markets but also collection centres and agricultural shows, the operator has to obtain a licence from DEFRA; and the following key points must be addressed:

Detailed Operating Plan -

- A list of the licence conditions and procedures for implementation

- Systems for monitoring compliance and enforcement

- Details of DEFRA and every other agency involved

- A detailed site assessment for biosecurity

- A detailed site plan showing key control points which includes every vehicular and pedestrian access, the location of footpaths, scrubbing brushes, washrooms, cross-species control, disinfection points, boundary construction and so on.

Records to Support Operating Plan -

- Records of all maintenance and repair work to market

- Records of training procedures for all staff

- List of all site procedures within the market

- Dates of all markets and washing-out facilities

- Dates when equipment and facilities inspected.

Site procedures - There is a full section which deals with the site procedures necessary to meet the licence conditions together with details of each and every person's procedure at the key control points.

Contingency Plan - A detailed contingency plan has to be drawn up for any suspected case of a notifiable disease.

Staff Schedules - A full schedule of all staff involved on the site, detailing the identity of each person and their individual responsibilities.

As I have said before, the devil is in the detail and this time it really is; but the principle which is most unpalatable is the requirement put upon the licence holder to enforce the conditions. For example, here are a few of the policing duties imposed upon us:

- We have to have a trained person who records the registration numbers of every livestock vehicle attending the market and who must turn away any vehicle which is "unclean".

- If there are any irregularities on a licence form we have to report it to the trading standards officer.

- Every person attending the market should be wearing clean clothing and, if not, they should be turned away.

- We are required to monitor all drivers of livestock vehicles to see that they wash their hands before leaving the premises.

The regulations are as bad as they could be but to expect us to police them is way beyond the call of duty and should be properly left to DEFRA or the trading standards office.

We shall do our best but it will take a lot of patient work and understanding if the market is to reopen on Tuesday, February 19.

On the day of the publication of Donald Curry's report on future farming policy, BBC2 ran a programme late in the evening to gauge reaction.

The main thrust of the report is that 10pc of current farming subsidies should be redirected towards environmental projects. Sir Donald kept emphasising that profitability in farming was still the main target but that in future some of that income should come from a new role in environmental stewardship; and all the speakers seemed to agree except, of course, Sean Rickard, the economist, who kept perpetually bleating that there were too many farmers producing too much food.

I am afraid I get sick of Mr Rickard's old record which was top of the pops ten years ago but has no relevance today when we are faced with importing around 40pc of our beef and pork; and some 70pc of our white meat chicken.

I listened to Margaret Beckett speaking with little passion and perhaps an equal amount of enthusiasm about a food chain forum, supermarkets promoting local products and import controls. She went on to suggest that food that we import should only come from countries where our own high standards are enforced. I wonder sometimes if she knows where Namibia, Botswana and Uruguay really are.

My concern with the Curry conclusion is that the 10pc that we lose out of farmers' pockets in direct subsidies will vanish into the pockets of bureaucrats and consultants without a drop filtering through to the farmer.

Linda Bower and her Landbased & Rural Training group have put together an interesting programme for a short day's seminar on Wednesday, February 13, at Ryedale Indoor Bowls Club in Norton. The theme of the discussion will be around "Farming - Which Way Forward?", the answer to which we would dearly love to know.

A good selection of speakers will sow a few seeds from the platform and even I will be there to lower the tone.

Please come and heckle if you are able to - 10.15am to 3pm. It's free, but please contact in advance Linda Bower, Garth Cottage, Wintringham, Malton YO17 8HX or telephone (01944) 758379 by February 1.

- Pantomime YFC - On Monday night we had our annual pantomime pilgrimage to watch Berwick Kaler at the Theatre Royal. The performance was more enjoyable, if a little noisier, with the active participation of our neighbouring group in the dress circle, namely the Amotherby Young Farmers. It is good to know pantomime bridges the generation gap!

- Chaff-Hearted Councils - In the absence of a proper public enquiry into FMD, the National Parks Authority wrote to every North Yorks County Councillor asking if they would support a regional enquiry on the handling of the epidemic.

Regrettably there were only two responses and nobody offered to join in so the NY Parks Authority is going it alone to give its views to the Government.

- New BSE Countries - In 2001, the first confirmed cases of BSE were found in Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Japan, Slovakia and Slovenia.

- Imports Increase - The latest data up to October 2001 shows that there was a 14pc increase in meat imports on a weight basis with the biggest rises from Germany and Namibia.

- Store Cattle - Statistics, which we all know can show anything, do indicate a scarcity in store cattle supplies and distribution. According to the MLC, store cattle prices are roughly 20pc higher than this time last year.

Trade is volatile in all sections and great care must be taken in arranging fat stock sales. On the beef side I get the message that the wholesalers are finding it difficult to sell but shortage of supplies is maintaining the trade.

At the top end of the range, quality retail cattle are still making 180-195p/kilo. 'R' Grade cattle, both clean and bulls, are running from around 168-178p/kilo. The breaking-up end of the market is perhaps a little less buoyant as this is competing with some of the cheap imported cuts.

I have said for a while that the sheep trade would come back and the first signs appeared earlier this week when there was a regulation announced allowing export sheep to be drawn out of any batches at an abattoir that qualified. This seems to have provided the necessary boost and trade in some of the lead slaughter houses has jumped to 220p/kilo or more. It is important to get the terms of the deal right so don't forget to give us a ring .

Pigs are trying to climb out of the doldrums but baconers are still hovering around 90-95p/kilo with the quality light weights making 100p.

Help us to help you and phone our help lines at Malton on (01653) 697820/692151 and York on (01904) 489731.

Updated: 09:19 Thursday, January 31, 2002