Fossil fuels can be phased down, but not phased out

Iattended our West Sussex NFU AGM last week at Arundel where our guest speaker was NFU President, Minette Batters; on her farewell tour, as she steps down in February. David Exwood our local farmer who also holds high office in the NFU as Vice-president was there and is standing to be elected as Deputy President in February. Minette listed the umpteen Prime Ministers, Secretaries of State and Farming Ministers during her three term reign at the top in her address and was unsurprisingly pretty scathing of almost all of them.

I attended our West Sussex NFU AGM last week at Arundel where our guest speaker was NFU President, Minette Batters; on her farewell tour, as she steps down in February. David Exwood our local farmer who also holds high office in the NFU as Vice-president was there and is standing to be elected as Deputy President in February.

Minette listed the umpteen Prime Ministers, Secretaries of State and Farming Ministers during her three-term reign at the top in her address and was unsurprisingly pretty scathing of almost all of them.

Not at a personal level, but the chaotic and terrible governance of the last few years with the desperate need for farming and food production to be taken seriously. Launching the NFU manifesto which is asking for £4 billion from government in order to reach the food and farming targets set out by its own agricultural objectives, she said that this is what is needed in order to deliver the productivity, sustainability and environmental measures needed.

The NFU manifesto states that £2.7b would be used to meet the government’s environmental goals, £615m to drive productivity and £720m to support the stability of agricultural businesses; reflecting the move away from the basic payment scheme.

It all makes sense and it’s a good, well thought out document, independently costed by Andersons. However, whilst this is the sort of investment government should be making in agriculture, it is difficult to see how any government can come up with the money in the short term, given the dire state of the things.

In the meantime Natural England one of its quangos, has been ordered to change its attitude towards Dartmoor farmers following a new report which has painted a damning picture of its failing policies.

A Defra commissioned study recommends that a series of measures are needed which will back farmers, following the row over grazing rights, flock numbers and the accusation that this is re-wilding by the back door. The report states that vegetation management which includes cattle and pony grazing, controlled burning alongside exploring the management of sheep grazing over the winter should be supported.

With Tony Jupiter appointed as chair of Natural England a few years ago, this column amongst

others in the industry warned that things would go wrong and a drive towards irresponsible rewilding would take place.

The failing policies on Dartmoor are a good example of how ignoring farmers and their cultural heritage, riding roughshod over all the people who have vastly more experience and knowledge of the area, is a big mistake.

Let’s hope we get more sense from Natural England now they have had a punch on the nose.

The COP 28 summit in Dubai according to campaigners and extremists was a total flop and it’s a fudge, which will see everyone suffer as we have not committed to stop fossil fuels. Is that right?

Rational thought tells us that fossil fuels are hard to beat, which is why we are so reliant on them and it will take time to replace them in a way that does not cause chaos, disruption and serious economic hardship and a massive decline in living standards.

Looking at the facts, it is in fact the first time that the annual climate negotiations have agreed to reduce our reliance on coal, oil and gas, despite their importance as a source of energy.

More than that they are a brilliant source of chemicals; we still rely on gas to produce nitrogen fertilizers without which half the world would starve; various plastics which surround us at home, in our cars, hospitals, schools, offices and so on, will take time to replace and serious people acknowledge that we will still be using fossil fuels in 2050 and beyond but in diminishing quantities; even the most optimistic plans admit we still need fossil fuels.

Whilst global carbon emissions are far beyond where they need to be to keep below the 1,5c threshold, they are considerably lower than they were projected to be back in 2015, thanks to technologies such as wind turbines, batteries and solar.

We are getting better at generating clean energy, faster than expected and as we wrestle with the difficulties of transition, future challenges are huge and highlights the difference between what is possible in phasing down fossil fuels and what is not; phasing out fossil fuels.

With the pressure building over many months of failure, Mark Drakeford has resigned after five years as First Minister of the Welsh Parliament.

A Corbynite before the term was coined; Drakeford is of the hard left and has overseen the sort of mess Michael Foot would have made of things.

He has presided over the decline of education in

Wales which was once held as the best in the country, NHS disaster as health in Wales declines and waiting lists grow despite greater spending per head.

His default position has always been to blame Westminster for everything, grandstanding with the now

disgraced Nicola Sturgeon during covid, indulging in petty point scoring whilst the data now tells us that their record is no better.

Whilst his nanny state approach causes problems for motorists and bus time-tables alike with the

lazy and unnecessary blanket 20mph limit in all towns and villages in Wales; his greatest feat was to

enrage every farmer in Wales with his ridiculous demand that every farm must have 10% tree cover.

Whilst he asks why farmers think they cannot grow trees, farmers cannot understand why he is so

stupid not to see that trees do not grow everywhere and that this sort of blanket approach is just ridiculous.

Unfortunately, Wales will keep on electing Labour governments and it is unlikely that the great

potential of those who are running great businesses in Wales and could assist in bringing about change will be allowed to do so.

The economy is hampered by the high percentage of people working for the government in one form or another and the socialist blanket of doom and gloom and the default position of keeping people down and dependant.

Scotland of course is in a similar mess and Keir Starmer needs very different policies (which I think he has) and the courage to see them through (which is unknown at this point).

Meanwhile we have umpteen Tory tribes or families parading around Westminster showing that despite Rishi Sunak’s best efforts and improvements in many areas, they want to go to war!

They can do that to their hearts content in opposition and it will be many years before we forget the last

3-4 years.

Families, it looks like various incarnations of the Addams family to me and with the likes of Bill Cash and Nigel Farage still calling the shots we have not moved on?

Italy has come up with the answer! Brazzale dairies founded in the 18 th century are only employing people on their 60’s and 70’s as they know how to work and have no hang-ups.

They have experience, energy and passion. Unimpressed with 20 and 30 year olds, they are replacing them with ‘real star players’; ‘professional and with real communication skills. Bravo.

Merry Christmas to all our readers and enjoy your food!