‘There is so much to gain’
TODAY’S Autumn Budget marks an opportunity to invest in the future of British farming so that it can deliver “meaningful, widespread and long-term” benefits for the nation, industry leaders have told the Chancellor.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, will present the second UK Budget and Spending Review of 2021 to the House of Commons this afternoon, in which he is expected to announce a series of measures as he seeks to rebalance the books after the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a pre-Budget submission sent to Mr Sunak, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) highlights how, by choosing to invest in the nation’s food production system, ministers can capitalise further on the benefits British food and farming delivers for economic growth.
reference to its Levelling Up report, launched in February, NFU president and Wiltshire farmer Minette Batters said it shows how investment in British farming “can bring huge benefits across the board, with rural Britain at the heart of realising many of the Government’s ambitions”.
Mrs Batters, who runs an arable and livestock farm, said: “British farming supports the health and wellbeing of the nation; whether that’s by working towards achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040, protecting and enhancing our treasured landscapes, delivering worldleading animal welfare, or as the backbone of the UK’s £120 billion pound food and drink sector which provides jobs for around four million people.”
As British farming prepares to embark on what the NFU describes as the “biggest transformation of agricultural policy in generations”, with progressive reductions to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) due to start in December, ahead of being phased out completely by 2028, Mrs Batters said the NFU has written to the Chancellor to explain how future farming schemes have the potential to deliver “meaningful, widespread and long-term benefits” for Britain, the environment, and for food security.
“But the transition from current schemes to new needs to be done right,” she said. “There is a huge amount at stake but there is so much to gain if we work in partnership to get this right.”
In its Budget submission, the NFU has asked for:
■ Government to develop its export strategy to help UK farmers grow their markets overseas, including funding for dedicated agricultural counsellors to boost agri-food exports and market access;
■ Defra to receive adequate resources and funding, and more time to deliver its plans to support the essential transition to a new agriculture policy;
■ More engagement with farmers to ensure the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is fit for purpose;
■ For the ELM payments to offer far greater incentive for participation, to give farmers the confidence they need to invest, for ELM to provide fairer market returns as well as reward environmental delivery.