Food for thought, but so little thought about food

Does anyone disagree that farming’s first role is to produce food? People hearing the debate over Michael Gove’s plans to reshape farming support post-brexit could be forgiven for thinking they do. The media is awash with ideas of payments to landowners for planting trees, reintroducing wetlands and capturing carbon. What I haven’t heard in more than a decade is any policy for food.

How to ensure public value for money in agriculture has long been debated, but simplistic debates which pitch sustainable food production against environmental or other public goods aren’t the way forward.

As deputy president of the NFU, I want to be clear: for farmers to stay on the land producing our food while maintaining Britain’s iconic landscape, they need to be profitable. Without resilient farming businesses there simply won’t be anyone there to look after the environment. Mr Gove himself has said there are very good reasons for supporting agriculture, not least that people want to eat food they can be sure has been produced to some of the highest environmental and animal welfare standards in the world. Here are my priorities for a new agriculture policy that delivers for both farmers and the public:

1. Be ambitious. Farming already manages 70 per cent of the UK’S land and is integral to its dynamic food chain, worth £109billion to the national economy, and employing 3.8 million people. With the right policies in place, based on sound science, we could do so much more.

2. Focus on trade. Any new farm policy will be dependent on the final Brexit deal. If ministers secure a free-trading arrangement with the EU, ensure UK farmers are not disadvantaged by future trade deals outside the EU, and make certain that the industry’s labour needs are met, then we can consider an ambitious new policy. If we get a bad deal for farming businesses, then measures to manage volatility – such as direct payments – will remain vital to help farms compete.

3. Ensure a fair and functioning supply chain. At present many farmers and growers are selling food below the cost of production. We believe the food chain needs legislation to achieve fair returns for farmers.

4. Work with the farming sector to effect positive change. We believe that farming should maintain current levels of public investment through this new policy framework, but recognise that in the future this may be delivered in different ways, directly or indirectly to farmers, for instance through fiscal incentives, environmental schemes or ensuring farmers benefit from cutting-edge research and development.

As a farmer, I know change and uncertainty are the new norm. Now is the time to act to ensure farming can continue to deliver all the benefits – for our well-being, for our economy and for our environment – that our country currently enjoys.