Agriculture Bill Mk 2 nearing law

The UK Agriculture Bill finally reached the end of its passage through Westminster this week, two years after the first version was published in 2018.

And yesterday farming groups claimed that the finalisation of the bill, which will now go forward for Royal Assent, marked a “landmark moment” for post-B rex it farming follo wing two years of campaigning on the issue.

While some of the key points of the legislation will be applicable to farmers in Scotland, the bulk will pertain to producers south of the Border, including plans for post-brexit policy.

The English NFU said that since the first version of the Bill was published in 2018, significant improvements had been made to ensure the importance of food production and food security were properly recognised.

“The final legislation also includes a requirement for a report to be presented to Parliament focusing on the impacts that future trade deals could have on the food and farming sector ,” said NFU president Minette Batters, referring to the legislative requirement for the Food and Agriculture Commission to report to Parliament. “As the first domestic legislation covering agriculture for over 70 years, this is a landmark moment for our food and farming industry. Simply put, the Agriculture Act will set how we farm in this country for generations to come.

She said the lack of any mention of food production and food security in the first draft had troubled many – but the new version gave “robust” acknowledgment of the role of farmers as food producers.