Funding pledges will CAP it all

For farmers, the issues at the forthcoming election are practical ones. Above all, the goal will be to secure a commitment from the major parties that they will stick to the pledge that support will be maintained at Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) levels until 2022, a promise which lapses with the end of the current parliament.

Will the election bring certainty on Brexit, or will it open another set of challenges as the EU and UK debate trading terms?

Election manifestos will highlight how the parties will shape what was promised to be a less bureaucratic farm support system, tailored to UK conditions.

A report for the European parliament’s agriculture committee on how to increase food production for a growing world population says the goal should be to make land more productive, rather than bringing more land into production. This supports the concept of “sustainable intensification”.

The report, prepared by European Commission officials, looks at “megatrends” in farming and food. It underlines the importance of sustainability and warns that climate change means management of water resources will become a bigger issue.

On the consumption side, it calls for a radical change to make diets less dependent on animal products and for targets to reduce waste.

Meanwhile, the European Court of Auditors has said that in 2020 its priorities will include Commission efforts to reduce pesticide use and cut back on plastic waste in agriculture.

The European Commission has an ambitious annual programme to review the threat from plant diseases and pests, and in its latest review it has warned that exports from 11 countries to the EU do not meet its standards.

The countries identified are in Africa, Asia and South America.

The threats range from diseases and pests that could cause damage, to those that could have a significant impact on agricultural productivity. It says that in most cases poor compliance is down to the manner in which some countries implement EU regulations.

Agriculture’s economic importance in the EU is falling, according to a report from the European Commission.

Over the past 20 years the economic importance of farming, forestry and fisheries has fallen by a third.

However, the report underlines that the picture is more complex. Agriculture is the basis of a the food industry, it employs 4.3 million people – often in rural areas – and food employment is the EU’s largest manufacturing sector.

Threats to agriculture in the EU include African Swine Fever which can be spread by wild boar.