Rt Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State,

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),

Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London SW1P 3JR

16 May 2007


Dear Secretary of State,


My
friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for
£3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now
like to join the "not rearing pigs" business.


In your
opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which
is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach
this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by
the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy.


I would
prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not
rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any
advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester
Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing these?


As
I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an
accurate record of how many pigs I haven't reared. Are there any
Government or Local Authority courses on this? My friend is very
satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years
or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968.  That is -
until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any. If I
get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing
100?


I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding
myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about
£240,000 for the first year. As I become more expert in not rearing
pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000
pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4
million from your department.


Incidentally, I wonder if I
would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs
not producing harmful and polluting methane gases? Another point: These
pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I
understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I
qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I
don't  rear?


I am also considering the "not milking cows"
business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please
could you also include the current DEFRA advice on set aside fields?
Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I
seem to have several thousand hectares)?


In view of the
above, you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will
therefore qualify for unemployment benefits. I shall of course be
voting for your party at the next general election.


Yours faithfully,


Nigel Johnson-Hill.