§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make a grant to Mr. Richard Smith of Sharpham, Totnes, Devon, to make good the failure of the Beef Assurance Scheme in relation to his cows and followers; and if she will make a statement as to the practices undertaken by her Department to help farmers rearing organic cattle. [78918]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 5 November 2002]: No grants are available for Beef Assurance Scheme members who are having difficulties finding local abattoirs willing to slaughter cattle aged 30–42 months because of EU requirements on testing and the removal of vertebral column. However, the Food Standards Agency will seek to put members in touch with abattoirs which will slaughter such cattle.
The Department seeks to promote all aspects of organic farming in line with the Organic Action Plan published on 29 July. Free advice is available to all farmers contemplating organic farming through the Organic Conversion Information Service. Aid for 592W organic conversion, delivered through the England Rural Development Programme, amounts to some £140 million. The Department also funds organic R&D, including projects on both organic dairy and beef cattle husbandry and it is providing a series of meetings to help organic cattle farmers maintain high standards of health and welfare in their herds.