Relief for farmers left with grain stash

A TEMPORARY ruling has brought relief to farmers who had been hit by severe delays in trading grain for the renewable energy market.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) had warned that the worstaffected growers were being forced to stockpile the commodity and that the “needless” situation had become “critical”.

It came after the expiry earlier this month of a scheme that allowed British grain which meets Red Tractor quality assurance standards to be sold on the European biofuels market.

No ruling was made by the European Commission on whether to re-approve the scheme, leaving British growers in limbo.

The NFU, which called on EU officials to address the situation, has now announced that the Commission has written to all EU-approved biofuel assurance schemes to advise that the Red Tractor scheme “should continue to be considered compliant with EU Renewable Energy Directive sustainability criteria until November 5, pending full five-year re-approval”.

Mike Hambly, the union’s combinable crops board chairman, said: “Just a day after the NFU publicly pushed for the Commission to take action and address an increasingly dire situation for arable farmers, this will come as very good news for many.

“This extension to the 2012 approval will end the severe disruption experienced by farmers recently in ex-farm grain movements,” the Cornish farmer added.

“We are pleased the EU Commission has been able to respond to needs for market certainty and avoidance of further disruption.

“The Commission confirmed that the Red Tractor standards, as expected, would qualify for approval. We look forward to full five-year re-approval early this autumn.”