No signs of refocusing policy in second bill
Anyone, including the English NFU, looking for any signs of a re-focusing of post-brexit farm policy onto food production would have been left disappointed by the second reading of the UK Agriculture Bill in Westminster yesterday.
With the spotlight remaining doggedly on environmental policy, the English NFU has called on farmers to lobby politicians to ensure that some key areas are addressed in the bill. These included gaining recognition of the wide role played by the industry in the countryside – including food production.
The union also argued that the bill should promote improvements in the competitiveness and financial resilience of farm businesses, helping farmers to better manage risk and periods of poor market returns.
A multi-annual budgetary framework that provided certainty for farmers and allowed them to plan and invest for the future was, according to the union another key element - along with the means to protect the country’s high production, animal welfare and environmental standards.
In one of the few spirited attacks during the debate, SNP MP Pete Wishart called the legislation “an agriculture bill without agriculture, a bill for farming with scant regard to food production” which, he said, took a “let them eat environmental strategies” approach to future food security.
Questioning the Conservative party’s apparent new-found enthusiasm for greening he said that in reality they would probably prefer to see the countryside fracked rather than farmed. Commenting on the debate, NFU Scotland said that a common theme had been the lack of focus within the Bill on agricultural production and food security and stated it would support an amendment to see these issues recognised as a strategic priority for the nation.
“Also important is enshrining the UK’S worldleading standards of agricultural production within any future agricultural policy and NFU Scotland is pleased that many MPS have called for the maintenance of standards in any future trade deals.”