JOHN CRAVEN

TOP-QUALITY FARMING NEEDS A CLEAR SHOW OF SUPPORT

avid Ellin looks across the hundreds of acres of rolling farmland he manages, where sheep and cattle graze, wheat and barley grows and corn buntings, lapwings and skylarks nest. This corner of the glorious South Downs would seem a perfect fit for the Government’s new plans to “pay public money for public good”.

For 10 years, a slice of the farm’s income has relied on a stewardship grant that helped transform swathes of “green concrete” grassland into an arable mosaic as David worked with nature to produce topquality food in environmentally friendly surroundings.

Yet with the post-Brexit era looming, David is worried. “Without Government support, what we have achieved would not have been possible,” he told me. “I worry that our Government is going to find alternative uses for those funds that could destroy what we have achieved. Farming always felt it had a bit of a ring fence around it with CAP [EU common agricultural policy] and now I’m nervous that the same level of support won’t be directed towards us. First and foremost, we are food producers and this we must not lose.”

This uncertainty about their future role is a common concern of farmers. At time of writing, the Agriculture Bill – which will change Government payments and will be skewed towards environmental protection – is expected to become law this autumn. Farmers fear that UK

DFarmers such as David Ellin and Annie Brown worry that good farming practices will be jeopardised without financial aid food production is not top of the Government’s agenda – and their concern is shared by many outside the industry. More than a million people have signed an NFU petition urging that food imports must exclude those that don’t meet this country’s legal standards for animal welfare. This would ban chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef from the US. The Mail on Sunday, which backed the petition, claimed that 70 chemicals used on US farms are prohibited here. their fridges and ovens. They also care about our countryside and they don’t want farmers to be put out of business by cheap imports produced to much lower welfare standards.” That worry continues, despite a Government pledge that it will not sign trade deals that compromise our animal welfare, environmental and food safety standards. “We are a world leader in these areas and that will not change,” said a DEFRA spokesperson.

Batters says politicians try to assure that all will be well for agriculture after the transition period but many details are still unclear. “We are living in a bubble with no idea whether we’ll be facing a no-deal Brexit.

“The new system can work if the Government gets it right. It can be a blueprint for sustainable food production and for green recovery after Covid-19. But people who have been in farming far longer than me can’t recall a time of such uncertainty. The mood of the industry is one of caution and concern.”

That mood is echoed by David Ellin. The son of a farmer, he says that, all his life, whenever a scheme or a government intervention has come to an end, there has always been a plan for the future. “I feel that at the moment there is no real plan. The financial strain is going to increase and we need direction fairly quickly.” He quotes this truism: “Farmers in the red can’t be green.”

Watch John on Countryfile, Sunday evenings on BBC One.