09/02/2011

Minister for Agriculture Jim Paice has issued an open letter to the farming industry today. The letter is aimed at encouraging the uptake of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, under which farmers make environmental stewardship agreements and take measures to benefit specific wildlife. however, it would appear that the campaign's targets are not being met.

The voluntary scheme was introduced in 2009, but has always carried the threat of a return to regulation if farmers do not meet targets for environmental protection of their own volition.

The CFE scheme's impact thus far has been widely praised; CLA president William Worsley has said said, “We need to show what we in the industry already know - that England’s farmers can be relied upon to conserve the natural environment so long as we are provided with the right opportunities, information and incentives. We don’t need a return to the bad old days of top-down regulation. It is vital, particularly as spring approaches, that everyone supports the Campaign.”

In the open letter Paice says,

"The Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE) is just over one year old but has done much to raise farmers’ awareness of the environmental benefits that their land can deliver. I am grateful for the work that partners have been doing to make the CFE stronger but there is still some way to go.

Farmers cannot afford to relax. The Government is putting food production back up the agenda, but we have made it clear that this must be done alongside protecting and enhancing the environment and farmers must show they can do both. We want the campaign to be a success and don’t believe that we should regulate and impose more red tape if the farming community can achieve the same results through its own actions.

The CFE is the farming industry’s chance to demonstrate that this voluntary approach can work better than regulation and that they are best placed to decide on, and tackle, their local environmental priorities, without intervention. But if the farming community cannot step up and achieve these results voluntarily the Government will have to consider a compulsory approach to deliver these same benefits.

I will be looking carefully at the CFE’s progress during 2011 and I hope to hear more about the actions farmers are taking to protect our wildlife and justify the trust that we are placing in them."