Turkeys in demand as 2020 showed people shopping local

020 has been a horrible, chaotic year and seems to be going out on a high with more restrictions and chaos spilling into 2021. At the time of writing scores of trucks queue at the ports, everyone worrying about freight and supplies and we have not reached January 1 where things are likely to really hit the fan, so to speak! Defra says it’s a good trial run; lorry drivers don’t agree.

So what has 2020 taught us? It seems British consumers have rediscovered their enthusiasm for local food and produce in many areas, shopping more in village and local farm shops, reshaping their shopping habits. This is positive for British agriculture and the few local butchers left in our towns and villages report young people buying local and taking an interest in the provenance of their food and how it is produced.

Turkeys were in demand as Brits stayed at home for Christmas, but looking for crowns and smaller birds to serve smaller gatherings. Everyone seemed to have organised themselves early and eating at home, whilst outbreaks of avian flu kept hitting poultry farms, which included some turkey units.

Minette Batters, NFU President, showed her mettle in forcing the Government to introduce legislation which established the Agriculture Act, receiving Royal Assent in November. It focuses on food production and food security in this country, commits government to a review of the act every three years and provides for a multi-annual budget of no shorter than five years to fund support.

Farmers had been flexing their political muscles as they protested in 2020 against threats to British food standards in future trade deals – in particular with the USA. Twenty tractors or more drove in convoy in July together with Land-Rovers and other 4x4 vehicles through Parliament Square in London, sending a clear message to the Prime Minister and government not to sell the farming industry down the river.

The reality of Brexit hit home in 2020 as the likelihood of cheap imports not produced to similar standards hit home. Conservative MP Neil Parish who chairs the EFRA, tabled an amendment in May, seeking to outlaw food imports produced in ways that are illegal in the UK rather than relying on the government’s promises. He was defeated handsomely as only a handful of his fellow MPs had the courage or will to vote with him.

Baroness Lucy Neville Rolf, former Treasury Minister and later a board member at Tesco, had been chair of the Red Tractor Assurance Scheme until this year, where she sided with government and voted against amendments introduced in the House of Lords. She resigned immediately after as farmers were outraged at her actions.

Future cuts to farm payments have hit home and many are now realising that they will face severe hardship unless other government schemes assist them in their farming activities. No doubt as Wales has shown, the price of public goods money will be more extensive farming and all sorts of things to benefit the environment, with no doubt some well thought out and good, but I fear most will be pandering to NGOs and pressure groups resulting in big unintended consequences.

The extreme weather at the start of 2020 as storm Ciara caused widespread flooding, then storm Denis hot on its heels; a very dry spring with May the sunniest on record and also the driest. Here we are again with very wet weather in December and we hope for a dry and crisp January to put things right.

Public support for farmers rose significantly in 2020, as rural crime and fly-tipping increased, as did dog attacks. More column inches were given to mental health issues, which is a far bigger problem in rural communities and agriculture than people admit. I worry about this issue as we head into the huge challenges of 2021.

Some sectors will be far more badly affected than others, but no one in the agricultural community will escape what is to come.

Sheep farmers are alarmed at Secretary of State George Eustice telling them that the buoyancy of the current sheep market is such that they may not need compensation in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Rural Payments Agency has worked up two separate options for a no-deal compensation package in the form of a headage payment and a slaughterhouse premium.

Speaking to MPs at the EFRA Select Committee two weeks ago Eustice played down the scheme and made it clear that they would only be switched on if absolutely necessary. Lamb prices are higher now than they were five years ago he said and should tariffs be applied lamb prices would not be far from their normal historic levels.

This has prompted an angry response from the industry, citing a snapshot at the current market is reckless and wrong to reach such far-reaching conclusions. In short the industry is shocked at how quickly government has back-pedalled on a scheme designed to rescue the sheep industry should there be a no-deal exit from the EU.

At the time of writing, a new variant of Covid-19 has caused huge problems for most as government clamped down on movements and told us all to have a Christmas on our own. West Sussex seems alone, surrounded by Tier Four in London, Surrey and Kent; we are extremely lucky – so far. Will we vaccinate faster than the virus can spread? That is what the experts say is needed.

It’s a year since Boris Johnson won the election with a thumping majority, how that optimism and bravado has turned to dust. The oven-ready deal turned out to be half baked and government is in exactly the position one would expect as they try and forge a deal with the EU. It really was a miscalculation to assume the EU would not stick together and that big business in Germany in particular would ride to our rescue.

I still think that there will be a deal at the 59th minute of the 11th hour, but whatever it looks like we will suffer the consequences financially for many years, however we will have our sovereignty intact!

The only way to keep our sovereignty (whatever that is) intact is not have a deal with anyone! Sovereignty in this modern world is an oldfashioned notion and will be given away bit by bit with each new trade deal as it always is.

The Prime Minister’s bad luck is that Covid-19 has happened on his watch and according to many in his own party, and of course increasingly in the media, he is not up to the job. Government is disliked amongst many Conservative backbenchers and unless he delivers Brexit to the right wing’s satisfaction, he will be out.

Many think he is not going to last in this high office and once he has delivered Brexit he might go. Astonishing as that sounds, the pressure and the weight on his shoulders must be incredible and he has certainly failed the Churchillian test and is now compared to Neville Chamberlain and we all know what happened to him.

Happy New Year, everyone!