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THE following story made me very angry.

A builder in the South West had a piece of land on which he kept a small head of Highland Cattle, about 12, and this was presumably his hobby, but for four years he has refused to allow vets to enter his property to test for TB.

There were no handling facilities at all, no pens or crush and they were not tested, until recently, when reality kicked in and with great difficulty about half of the cattle were actually caught and tested and were found to be absolutely riddled with TB.

This herd is about one mile away from a dairy farmer, who has been living with the nightmare of TB in his land for years with all the aggravation, loss of income and despondency entailed.

This tale begets so many questions: Why are so called "hobby farmers" not checked upon and allowed to get away with this sort of thing? They certainly have a certain "freedom" by not being in any DEFRA schemes or taking any subsidy.

Where was the "spy in the sky", which checks on the rest of us in minute detail?

It is so wrong that this man can get away with non-compliance of rules for so long, especially those to do with herd health, when genuine farmers toe the line and are inspected continually and also have to hold certificates for everything they do.

This man showed no concern for either the health of his cattle or for his neighbours problems and I sincerely hope that the "powers that be" throw the book at him!

Looking at the world food supply and demand, the way things are going it makes one think that in the not too distant future there will be food shortages. My husband, Philip, talking to an Exmoor farmer, said he could see a time when "urban man" will say: "Please Mr Farmer, will you give me some food?"

After a suitable pause the Exmoor farmer said: "Oh no, they will just help themselves like they did in the miner's strike."

I do not think it will happen, but it is a possibility when people get hungry, the thin veneer of civilisation breaks down and farmers, by the very nature of their business, are very vulnerable.

Our WFU spring conference is to be held at Bridgend, hosted by our Welsh members. They have an excellent line-up of speakers chaired by our patron Baroness Hazel Byford, with Mariann Fischer-Boel, EU commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, as the keynote speaker. It promises to be an interesting two days at the end of April. On June 10, we are visiting Richard Haddock in South Devon.

On July 9, we visit the vineyard at Shillingford St George. So two very interesting days out. Do come and join us. Phone Ann Cross 01398 361212 for details.

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