The Government has proposed to cap the amount of crop-based biofuels used on UK roads at 4% in 2018, dropped incrementally to reach 2% by 2032 to encourage the use of waste for renewable fuel. However, this is one of the lowest levels in Europe, leaving arable farmers at a competitive disadvantage to their European counterparts, the NFU has warned. It is calling for the cap to be set at the maximum possible level of 7%. “The initial cap of 4% is a welcome increase from the initial Government proposals of 2% but the intention to decrease the cap sends mixed messages to industry,” says combinable crops board chairman Mike Hambly. The UK is currently capable of processing 2.2 million tonnes of wheat into bioethanol - 15% of UK wheat production.
Devolution settlements at risk
Scottish and Welsh ministers have accused the English Government of disrespecting hard-won devolution settlements in its EU Withdrawal Bill. Control over 175 policy areas will be passing from the EU to the UK – but Scottish and Welsh ministers want to see some control passed onto their respective nations and are recommending the Bill be rejected. Defra Secretary Michael Gove added fuel to the fire when he said Westminster would not hand over £160 million in convergence uplift money to Scotland, which was granted to the UK in 2014 because of low area payments in Scotland.
Scottish harvest delays continue
Harvest in north east Scotland has been so delayed by poor weather that many crops are virtually unsalvageable. Unharvested wheat and spring barley is sprouting in the ear, and ground conditions are so wet that machinery cannot get onto the fields in some areas. With little combining done since the beginning of the month, some farmers are still only half-way through harvest. In addition, straw remains in the swath, meaning some farmers have dropped oilseed rape from the rotation, while straw prices are also creeping up.
Gove stands firm on trade deals
Defra Secretary Michael Gove has pledged not to dilute British environmental or welfare standards by allowing chlorinated chicken to enter the UK under a US trade deal. Speaking in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee this week, he said any push to allow chlorinated chicken into the country would stop a trade deal in its tracks. “We cannot compromise high environmental or animal welfare standards in the pursuit of a trade deal,” he said. “If we think about British produce, we compete and sell on the basis of quality and provenance. If we were to undermine the high reputation British agriculture has by seeming to compromise on those standards … that would be counterproductive.”