The challenges faced by today’s farming industry is the topic of Robert Sturdy’s latest report for the local press and highlights many real concerns, do let us know what you think:
People have become used to the headline: ‘British Farmers Get a Raw Deal’, but despite regular press reports about the agricultural community, many people are still ignorant of its important role in our everyday lives.
Food and energy production, tourism, environmental protection, employment, land management and international trade are just a few examples.
Agriculture in the UK accounts for only 2% of our employment, but with agricultural exports reaching £9.9bn, total consumer expenditure on food and drink totalling £156bn, and agricultural land accounting for 18.7 million hectares, agriculture deserves much more support from our government too.
It is currently facing many challenges. The disappointing summer is over, but while this may mean for some that they are returning to work a paler shade of grey rather than sun kissed and bronzed, these unpredictable conditions have real repercussions for others. Farmers are constantly adapting to changing and extreme weather conditions which this year saw vast acres of the countryside under water - a sharp contrast to the droughts of last year. Farmers are in a unique position to tackle climate change. They offer practical solutions in not only in adapting to the changing climate, but they also help reduce or store emissions of greenhouse gases and are actively diversifying into bio-energy production.
Weather conditions are not the only factor to influence crop yields. New European proposals regarding pesticides are currently going through the parliament and could also have a real impact on farming practices, and therefore the food and fuel production capacity of the whole community. While I support any initiative aimed at protecting our environment, and more importantly our health, I refuse to support European led interference into an area when the UK already exceeds the standards of many other EU countries. Yes, we need to reduce the use of harmful pesticides but any reduction needs to be based on risk and not on unmanageable, unrealistic volume targets. Pesticide use is crucial to crop management and in ensuring our demands for food and fuel are met and at the quality we desire.
Since the establishment of the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy, farmers have received a great deal of criticism about financing, subsidies and food pricing. Over the years various reforms have moved us out of the subsidies trap- and thankfully so. But last week, farmers had to defend themselves yet again against those who have suggested food prices are on the rise due to price hikes at production level. Increases in retail prices and in wholesale prices do not necessarily result in a jump in the prices paid to farmers. In the last 20 years, food retail prices have increased by over 50 per cent, while farm gate prices have stagnated. The NFU stated that in the last 20 years food has become 20 per cent cheaper in real terms and that 60 years ago, the average British family spent more than one-third of its income on food. This has now dropped to less than one-tenth. Increases in global commodity prices are due to global demand and supply conditions. Why shouldn’t farmers profit from a rise in farm gate prices? At the end of the day, it is not just farmers that benefit but consumers, the rural community and the economy as a whole.
Various bureaucratic reforms of the agricultural sector, the shambolic handling of the rural payments scheme, weather conditions, and international competition all make farming a complicated and at times unsettling business to be involved in. Yet farmers keep on pushing; taking on voluntary environmental initiatives and expanding into organic produce. Some have sensed the high profile opportunity of bio- fuels and moved into energy crops. But, yes you guessed it, more headaches as critics say the demand for bio-fuels in the UK will put too much pressure on our land, limit our food production capacity and consequently force food prices to rise. In fact, we have more than the required land to meet our bio-fuel targets and, together with 3.5m tonnes of surplus feed wheat, and 750,000 hectares off newly re-acquired set-aside land, the British farming industry is more than equipped to meet the demands for home-grown British products.
*The shock earlier this summer that foot and mouth had reared its ugly head in the UK really brought home the high level of vigilance that is needed in bio-security measures. In 2001, approximately 7 million animals were slaughtered costing the UK nearly £8 million. Thankfully, we learnt from our mistakes and can now heave a huge sigh of relief that a greater outbreak was avoided. What now for the agricultural community? Estimates suggest this year’s outbreak, which resulted - quite rightly- in a full export ban being imposed by the EU, cost the UK an estimated £1.5-2m a day. The cost of the knock-on effects resulting from the movement restrictions will probably never truly be known but are expected to have run into 100’s of millions of pounds.
Climate change, EU reforms, and animal diseases are only a few of the ongoing challenges facing farmers. Some are natural, and to a certain extent unavoidable. However, others have political roots and it is in this instance that our national interests need to be protected; interests not just to the agri-community, but to the 60 million consumers who every day rely on the sustainability and security of this vital industry.
