The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Pressure on industry to secure deal on support
The triggering of Article 50 has put new pressure on agriculture to secure a deal on future support arrangements.
There are few signs that the UK farm unions are finding ways to work together on this, with the NFU in England coming out with its own priorities.
The Brexit announcement coincided with a report from the Demos cross-party thinktank, which concluded that agriculture was one of the UK industries most exposed to a fall in revenues as a result of Brexit.
This is based around reduced support and the fallout if there is no tariff-free access to the single market.
A campaign to remove EU red tape has also started, with a claim that scrapping farm support could reduce UK food bills by £10 billion a year.
That could only be delivered if tariffs against cheap food imports were dismantled, which is what many in government would like to see happen.
There has been no simplification of the greening policy.
Despite Brexit, farmers are stuck with all the frustrations of greening until the UK leaves the EU and the CAP.
Member states have been given some additional controls over the features that contribute to greening, but the policy remains complicated and a potential source of disallowances.
This coincides with a report which, conveniently, shows that greening has delivered benefits for the environment.
Meanwhile, the EU food safety commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis, has said after a visit to Brazil that the meat industry there will have to do more to reassure the EU and others that its meat inspection systems are now satisfactory.
This follows allegations about bribes and unfit meat being exported.
The European Commission says that more than 25,000 people have submitted views on the future of the farm support.
The consultation covered support measures and rural development, and it is due to run until May.
While this is a good exercise in allowing the public to have a say on policy, it adds a further complication to drawing up CAP reform proposals for the autumn.
Given the scale of the response, it is likely pressure groups are using the consultation to organise submissions that fit with their thinking.
This is something environmental pressure groups are better at than farmers. The farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, has already said that the environment will play a greater role in the post-2020 CAP.