The number of animals travelling around that week must have been enourmous. We are talking tens of thousands of animals. About 5,000 sheep went through Longtown market on the 22nd alone. Mr Brown certainly hopes so and intends to convince opinion-formers that markets are esential to the overall good of the industry. He believes they have offer many services which farmers will not want to lose.
Markets ensure transparency and certainty of payment.
If you do away with markets the buyer has total control. Right now, meat companies won't tell anyone what are the're paying. They're in business to buy cheap and sell dear-naturally. It's no surprise that while the cattle price ought to be going up, it's going down, because the buyer has all the power. We are the only people to walk down a farmer's drive with the intention of increasing the value of his stock.