As always we are in the hands of politicians – they shape policy
What can I say about the weather? Wintry and pretty awful with heavy rain this month again, but by the time you read this it should be better. We need a good warm dry spell to make up for what has been a wet and disappointing summer so far.
I’m not sure what we have done to deserve this government. Of course, we did have that vote and as a result, this is a single-issue government, where just like any other singleissue movement, adherence to the cause trumps ability and competence. We have a populist Prime Minister. While in Scotland last week on a trip to ‘win people over’, he thought it would be a spiffing idea to call on Margaret Thatcher’s environmental credentials; how she gave us a lead in the race to cut emissions by closing all the coal pits.
Not exactly the banzai vote winner he thought it would be, but the fact that he could joke about such things shows how out of touch he is with reality, never mind ordinary people. The quality of politicians and their lack of judgement constantly disappoint; it applies to all parties as no one seems to be exempt. Lack of judgement is pretty serious and affects us all and I would like to dwell on this from an agricultural perspective.
Over the past 80 years or so, successive governments have always made sure the population is fed and that the cost of that food is affordable in the guise of a cheap food policy. How on earth after the Second World War, with Europe starving and severe food rations in this country, could a government at that time bring such a policy to fruition? Everyone was an organic farmer in those days and crops grown from basic seed were poor and ‘shared’ with insects and diseases which could completely ravage yields in a bad year.
Governments around the world invested in technology and science which resulted in plant breeding for the best traits and yields, artificial fertiliser which revolutionised germination, survival, plant growth and yields. Insecticides to kill the pests eating the crops were developed as were fungicides to keep the plants healthy; machinery was developed to better prepare seedbeds, harvest and dry the grain. Fields were put together in order to allow bigger machinery to operate and farms over the years have also become bigger; all of this to create scale and efficiency which resulted in lower food prices.
Given that these technical revolutionary methods transformed the way we farm, it was deemed a resounding success and I remember the car industry being berated in the 1970s for failing to get near the huge productivity gains in agriculture. In dairy farming, milking parlours, bulk tanks, cow cubicles, the change from haymaking to silage, the perennial ryegrass plant, nitrogen fertiliser and proper grassland management together with cow genetics and the introduction of the Holstein cow revolutionised the sector, driving productivity through the roof.
Modern pig and poultry farming revolutionised production, delivering food at a fraction of the price it used to be; that is how the nation now spends less than 10 per cent of its disposable income on food, compared with over 50 per cent in the 1950s, when a chicken for Sunday lunch was a real treat. The food processing and manufacturing industry also played a huge part in all this, with innovation and scale, but never compromising on food safety which is why citizens do not even think of food safety when shopping.
All this has not been for free, as successive governments and latterly the EU have supported the industry; it has also had an impact on the environment of course as we no longer share much of our crops with pests which are an important part of the wildlife food chain. Fewer pests means less food for those who feed on it and while more hedges have been planted than were ever removed and conservation strips and wildlife areas on practically all farms, it is no longer enough as consumers, the majority of whom will not pay more for their food, want their cake and eat it too.
The government think they can provide both by playing the environment card and I can see serious trouble ahead for farming as radical change sweeps through our industry and I can envisage another Prime Minister at some time in the future bragging that our environmental credentials are five-star having got rid of big chunks of agriculture and food production in the 2020s.
Actually no, there will not be another Prime Minister like Boris Johnson; his place in history is assured! Secondly, way before then a giant hiccup with food production will have happened somewhere in the world and this country will have had a taste of serious shortages. That will banish the current proposed increased reliance on imported food overnight. The present hypocritical policy direction conveniently ignores our current leadership in reducing antibiotics in agriculture, our high welfare standards and of course food security; it ignores the fact that we now operate some of the most sustainable farming systems in the world.
Trade Secretary Liz Truss stated last week that imported foods can actually be more environmentally friendly than say lamb produced in Wales or Scotland. UK Board of Trade advisor Lord Hannan chipped in to agree and has been accused of talking container ships while we talk of landscape and sustainability. Trade minister Greg Hands has said that Australia can put up a halfway reasonable case for animal welfare as it (unlike the EU) bans foie gras production. Heaven help us if we are in the hands of such folk for any length of time, but this is the direction of travel.
Just to show that all parties have a problem with agriculture, Labour’s Welsh minister Lesley Griffiths last week said that she would have no qualms in shutting poultry units if they were found to be polluting rivers; no shred of evidence that they are as yet, other than the Rivercide documentary by environmentalist George Monbiot. Politicians are not only cloth-eared at times but they frighten easily when faced with campaigners; a dangerous combination.
Fortunately for farmers, new research by the Food Standards Agency shows we are the most trusted in the food supply chain as 88 per cent of respondents put their trust in us. How would politicians fare? But as always we are in the hands of politicians as they shape future policy and this one is set to export large chunks of our production.
In this country at present we have a shortage of HGV drivers and labour to ensure our food is produced, processed and delivered. Any sensible government would be greatly concerned by that, I would suggest.
Christmas planning is underway and the labour shortage is likely to drive a shift from fresh to frozen turkeys. The poultry giant Avara Foods’ CEO Andy Dawkins has said that the lack of experienced seasonal staff and a shortage of key skills in butchery will affect volumes and prices in the fresh category this Christmas. This is just one small example of the current crisis.