Testing time in prospect as Paterson sets out stall

‘CONFIDENT FARMERS — delivering for society’ is the theme of the Oxford Farming Conference, which opens this morning.

For the host of speakers over the next two days it is bound to be a tougher case to make than it would have been 12 months ago.

A year of horrendous weather and increasing costs will have done nothing to increase confidence, and many farmers will be more concerned about survival than delivering for society.

Nonetheless, Defra Secretary Owen Paterson can be expected to make the case for delivering what are now known as ‘public goods’.

This will be his first major platform since his appointment in September and it is likely he will espouse in equal measure his distaste for production subsidies and his enthusiasm for environmental and rural development.

These views are not new and reflect those of predecessor Caroline Spelman at Oxford on her debut speech in 2011.

It may be that Mrs Spelman’s removal from office was linked to a softening of her position.

Owen Paterson is seen as being much more hard-line on the need for the market to decide what crops farmers might grow and what livestock, if any, they might keep.

But if Mr Paterson’s approach is quite predictable, the reaction to his speech is less so. The 450-strong Oxford Farming Conference audience can be unpredictable. There are farmers present but they are outnumbered by industry professionals, bankers and academics. If they warm to Mr Paterson’s free-market approach he will have gained considerable support. If not, he will face an uphill struggle during the forthcoming CAP reform talks.

He is already opposed by the UK’s devolved administrations, Scotland included, and their farming unions. They argue that without direct production support for active farming there will be a huge loss of confidence, and critical mass will be lost.

Numbers of suckler cows in particular continue to decline, with severe supply repercussions for the meat processing sector.

Mr Paterson is bound to touch on a number of issues including GM production.

He will also have no option but to explain his position on bovine TB and the proposed badger cull.

As a backbencher representing a rural Shropshire constituency he was a vociferous supporter of the dairy industry and an advocate of a cull of badgers in disease hot spots.

Now that he is in the driving seat at Defra the decision about starting the cull this summer will ultimately be his, but it is the proverbial political hot potato.

One thing is certain this morning — he will not be able to fudge the issue. At any farming meeting in England, tackling bovine TB is guaranteed to top the agenda.

Failure to tackle the issue head-on has seen a succession of Defra ministers, notably Hilary Benn, booed at Oxford. That is an indignity Mr Paterson will be keen to avoid.

Picture: Frances Durward. Turning a new furrow: the Oxford conference gives Owen Paterson his first major platform.