Farming Minister Jim Paice has appealed to farmers to support the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, claiming farmers’ support for the agri-environment scheme is vital if they wish to avoid mandatory regulations. Paice said that cooperation is more important than ever in light of the European Commission’s Common Agricultural Policy reform proposals.

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Earlier in the year NFU president Peter Kendall had said before a Defra committee that uptake and renewal of such schemes had dropped off, stating this was because farmers were unsure what the future held, in the face of CAP reform. However, Paice had said that farmers would be able to opt out of voluntary schemes without penalty if schemes have to change as a result of reforms to the CAP - he reiterated that this is no excuse for not taking part in an important scheme to improve the sector’s image.

Mr Paice responded, “Continued participation in the campaign by as many farmers as possible is vital at this stage in negotiations” and that “good use of our Environment Stewardship funding, including through participation in the CFE, is fundamental to our goal of persuading others that environmental land management is best achieved through a strong Pillar 2”.

The Commission’s proposals would see many conservation measures, traditionally the preserve of Pillar 2 being moved into Pillar 1, meaning farmers would have to make a variety of environmental considerations in order to receive their entire subsidy. There has been criticism that this blanket measure, as it currently stands, would not be sensitive enough to the vast regional differences which exist in Europe.

Victoria Hicks, national CFE programme manager, echoed the Farming Minister in encouraging uptake. She said, “The Minister's pledge to ensure that farmers can choose to withdraw from an agreement without penalty provides valuable assurance to farmers and advisers in the absence of legal certainty from the European Commission.”

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