Union demands ‘coherent’ policy on greening plans

Scotland’s leading farming organisation has called for the speedy publication of a major report into “greening” and other environmental aspects of the countryside to allow the industry to formulate a “coherent” agricultural policy tailored to the country’s needs.

With Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announcing at the NFU Scotland AGM in February that Professor Russel Griggs would lead a group looking at greening issues, the union yesterday called for the document to be delivered in time to be discussed before this year’s meeting.

NFUS combinable crop chairman Ian Sands said that publication of the report would allow further work to be done on formulating future support measures for arable farming in the post-brexit period – when the Scottish Government had the ability to determine its own agricultural policy.

“Protection of the environment will continue to be important post Brexit,” he said. “Instead of a ‘one size fits all’ policy, the Scottish Government will have the opportunity to target measures that are more appropriate to Scotland.

“This was something that both we and the Scottish Government pushed for during the negotiation of the last round of common agricultural policy reforms.

“We didn’t get it and instead ended up with a highly complex package that has satisfied no-one.”

He said the union wanted to see farmers rewarded for existing good environmental standards that protected Scotland’s countryside, including payment for measures which went beyond good farming practice–set at a level which encouraged uptake.

“It is vital that Scottish farmers can continue to be competitive in growing crops that form the raw material for so much of Scotland’s food, drink and feed exports. What we are lacking, however, is information on what the real environmental needs are,” said Sands..

The union also announced that it has been in discussion with Scottish Government officials about the positive changes to EU greening rules announced late last week in Brussels.

While Brussels had indicated that these would come into force at the end of the year, it was likely that the official publication of the details wouldn’t be completed until well into 2018 – leaving legal questions about applying the new rules prior to their official publication.

NFUS said that the main changes were in exemptions from greening for some and a change to the weighting factors for two ecological focus area (EFA) options.

The union said that these new changes were on top of the positive ones already included in the Scottish Government’s guidance for 2018 – which included allowing farmers to do some drainage work during the EFA fallow period and the new EFA hedges option.

Vice-president Gary Mitchell said these “positive changes” would still deliver on all the environmental and biodiversity requirements – while giving farmers some much needed flexibility.