If we work together we could achieve a healthy industry
HAVE you attended a party fringe event? Unless you’re a diehard supporter or politically motivated, I doubt many farmers have.
It’s interesting, in as much you can get the vibe of the direction the party is inclined to travel, but usually no firm answers or clarity.
For many months
(probably years) farming organisations have been banging the drum for schemes, such as environmental ones, to be accessible, easy and practical and at the Conservative farming fringe event, organised by NFU, we heard it repeated by minister of state, Mark Spencer MP.
But the new schemes (SFI) are clearly not, as there has been low uptake so far, regardless of BPS reduction. No one wishes to be backward-looking, but when you had 65%-plus uptake of entry level and higher level stewardship previously, farmers obviously felt that the broad scope was more attractive to a farm business. The only flaw was the difficulty to access if you were a tenant.
With half of farmers being tenants in one form or another, this did provide a stumbling block.
And do we have the evidence to support the idea that rewilding, forest planting or solar farms outweigh the importance of food
Ultimately, the question is what do our customers (aka taxpayers) want. According to Yougov, they want sustainability.
production on farmed land? A good point well made by Sir Robert Goodwill, chairman of EFRA.
Ultimately, the question is what do our customers (aka taxpayers) want – bearing in mind that 50% of rural dwellers are not farmers?
According to Yougov, they want sustainability and they’re astute enough to
differentiate between the need for seasonal workers, crucial for the horticultural and livestock sectors and immigration per se.
Therefore policies which promote food would be a winner for a party that is losing, not only the redwall voter, but its core supporters too!
So, as has been asked for many times, work with farmers, not against us and together we could achieve a secure, healthy and productive (in all senses of the word) agricultural industry, which is profitable, sustainable and naturefriendly.