World News and Trends: The plight of British farmers

Jun 15, 2001
2 minutes read time

According to government figures, British farmers' incomes dropped by almost 75 percent in five years.

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Their average annual income stands at about £7,500 ($12,000). This decline of farm income in Britain is so marked that the situation has come to the attention of newspaper columnists such as William Rees-Mogg, who wrote in a recent column that "many farmers feel trapped in a financially sick industry in a morally sick society. They feel that society has lost its sense of reality." Observers cite several causes for the malaise among farmers: the failure of an urban-oriented government to recognize the scale of the economic disaster plaguing agriculture; unpopular European regulations emanating from Brussels; the marked rise in rural transportation costs and weather disasters of recent years ranging from droughts to floods. In a time of supermarkets overflowing with groceries, it is easy to forget where food originates. Most comes from seeds grown and plants cultivated by dedicated farmers. The vast majority in the business do not expect to get rich quick from agriculture. As Rees-Mogg remarks: "The disciplines of farming are those of long-term patience and hard work. All farmers have to plan for the long term. It takes a full generation to build up a well-managed farm." For more details of problems plaguing (literally) British farmers, be sure to read "Foot-and-Mouth Disease: A Virus With Global Reach" in this issue. Perhaps it is time for city dwellers to show more appreciation for the agricultural industry-the one that provides the food that graces our tables. (Sources: The Times [London], Daily Mail [London].)
agriculture
farming
Britain
World Regions
News and Prophecy

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John Ross Schroeder

John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.

Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.

John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.

In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.

John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world. 

Melvin Rhodes

Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.