2011 is the year for the UK arable industry to work together more than ever before

2011 is the year for the arable industry to work together more than ever before - this was one of the key messages from a range of industry representatives at the recent Association of Independent Crop Consultant’s (AICC) annual technical conference.

CAP Reform and the role of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment

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Based on the close relationships that agronomists have with their clients, Mr Kendall urged the attending agronomists to encourage their farmer clients to support the campaign, underlining that this year will be the make or break of the voluntary campaign, and that Europe was watching closely. The NFU Chairman warned that the UK cannot afford to find itself in a similar situation to the French with compulsory setaside “which could be as high as 5%”.

Continuing on the theme of CAP Reform, Robert Gooch consultant with Smith Gore communicated his understanding of the reforms that may occur before 2014. Mr Gooch believed that gradual reform would be most likely and that consequently: “direct payments would continue in some form but that SPS would be rebranded and values would most likely decline in the non-SDA areas in order for economic and environmental sustainability to continue in  areas with natural constraints (SDAs).”

 Mr Gooch added to this that “whilst intervention will be replaced by some other safety net, new cross compliance measures could be introduced by the Commission across the whole of the EU, so we must ensure the success of our voluntary CFE schemes now.”

Sustainable Intensification

Representing the R&D community at the Conference,  Professor Ian Crute, Director of the ADHB, encouraged bodies both commercial and independent to work closer together to develop a sustainable intensification framework. “This means that we need to be producing as efficiently as possible from the smallest area of land.”

Professor Crute reiterated the need for dialogue across the industry stating that ‘the drivers for science have changed and we need to revisit the basic requirements for growers rather than just a future focus – but this needs the input and co-operation of all R& D partners; commercial and independent.”

The role of the independent agronomist

Against this backdrop, incoming AICC Chairman Mike Warner, expanded on the importance of the role of the independent agronomist, and reminded the attending agronomists that: ”with responsibility for walking over 3 million acres of the UK arable area, they were in a unique position to work with growers and that more than ever before the highly technical and independent role of the independent agronomist and the close relationships with growers will be a crucial link in this process.”

Mr Warner also urged for some caution saying that: “Whilst grain prices are high and the industry is in optimistic times, it is critical that we carefully monitor and manage all our resources, and we respond to the pressures from Europe and global opportunities in a positive and defined way.”