Today was the first day of the NFU 2012 conference, which is taking place at the ICC in Birmingham. The day saw the union’s president Peter kendall addressing union members to push the NFU’s line on policy reforms, Defra chief Caroline Spelman sharing her view for the future of agriculture and EU commissioner Dacian Ciolos speaking on the future of CAP.

Mr Kendal, making his speech before the assembled delegates, said he wanted to see a policy landscape which is favourable to industrial agriculture. He claimed the revised planning laws would benefit the farming industry and unlock its potential to deliver growth. He urged the government to “stick to its guns” over the highly controversial planning reforms it is attempting to push through.

The red tape challenge currently being undertaken by the government has been heavily criticised by conservation groups who have expressed concerns that it could lead to environmental degradation, though the NFU believes it could help farmers cope with future issues such as water scarcity and facilitate the erection of polytunnels and on-farm pack houses for vegetables.   

He said the £100 billion British food and farming industry will be instrumental in helping kick-start economic recovery, but said government needed to match its rhetoric with action in deregulating planning laws, supporting formers and negotiating favourable outcomes in debates on Common Agricultural Policy reform.

Kendall on CAP reform

Mr Kendall also asserted the need for a “market-orientated, simplified CAP that recognises existing environmental efforts,” pushing for ‘greening measures’ to remain in pillar 2. He said current CAP reform proposals risk impinging on Europe’s ability to boost agricultural production and meet the challenge of food security and that Commission proposals would, if enacted, “inevitably damage the productivity and competitiveness of Europe’s farms.”

However, scientists have suggested Europe’s biodiversity, which is in freefall, currently poses a greater risk than food security, which is largely a problem of supply chain inefficiencies and inequitable distribution.

Ciolos takes the stand to make a stand

European agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos responded to Kendall’s assertions to defend the commission’s recommendations. He said that tighter environmental regulations are an imperative as farmers have a responsibility to the natural environment, which they need to maintain in order to secure a future for their industry.

Mr Ciolos revealed that there has been political pressure to reduce the CAP budget, which accounts for around 40 per cent of total EU spending. He said that, for this reason, capping payments and ensuring support goes only to ‘active farmers’ is essential.

The commissioner insisted that some large subsidies are "publicly impossible to defend" in a period of economic crisis, and that, if direct payments are justified as a support to farmer's income, future payments must be dealt with in an atmosphere of "Transparency and accountability.” He said, “If we want these payments to continue, they have to be socially acceptable,” though offered the caveat that “this is not a Robin Hood operation. The CAP will not take money from the big farms to give them to the small ones.”

Spelman on future of agriculture

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, who also spoke at the conference, lauded farmers’ efforts and said the government intends to work in closer partnership with them; she said it is her intention that, through the ‘red tape challenge’ deregulatory process Defra could be “on your side, not on your back.” However, there are fears that this ideologically driven deregulation will extend to removing environmental protections and subsidies on which farmers rely to remain afloat in the current financial climate.

Ms Spelman supported Mr Kendall’s calls for ‘greening measures’ to remain in pillar 2, as a stronger pillar two creates better ‘competitiveness’. She said that the government is making efforts to support farmers in the UK, but also to increase competitiveness in the industry.

She used Defra’s new Green Food project and the drive to help producers in the UK find new export markets outside of Europe, where she claims there are lucrative opportunities for Western goods, as examples of initiatives launched by a government which is sensitive to farmers’ needs.

Delegates attending today’s conference were met by around 50 protestors, who were demonstrating against the acutely controversial decision to pursue a badger cull in trial areas in England. NFU president Kendall pledged his continued support for the measures during his speech.

Tomorrow will see the results of the NFU elections.

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