The Rural Bulletin: 22nd November, 2018

Andrew Shirley, Head of Rural Research at Knight Frank, explains how the selection of stories this week neatly sums up the dilemmas facing farmers and landowners at the moment: 

"The supply chain imbalance that makes producers price takers rather the setters; the ongoing uncertainty about Brexit that is hampering decision making, particularly in the livestock sector; declining confidence in environmental stewardship schemes; and the challenge of creating trust along the food chain without drowning in red tape.

"For the countryside to prosper after Brexit the government needs to get to grips with these issues, but ultimately it will be down to land managers and stewards, with the assistance of their trusted advisors, to develop business models that are flexible and robust enough to cope with all the uncertainty that the future holds."

Natural England ineffective, admits chairman

Delivery of stewardship schemes could be at risk after Natural England chairman Andrew Sells admitted the agency has lost its independence. According to a Farmers Weekly report, Government cuts have resulted in Natural England no longer working independently as many of its functions have been integrated with Defra. 

Addressing the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee on Wednesday (21 November), Mr Sells said the agency’s grant aid had been cut by 47% in the past five years and its annual budget was down by third. “I think within Defra we have suffered disproportionately. Five years ago, we could determine very largely what we did with our money. Now we can’t.” 

UK Unions comment on draft Brexit Withdrawal Agreement 

Presidents from the NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru and Ulster Farmers’ Union have issued a joint statement on the draft Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

“Farmers want clarity on what the future trading relationship with Europe will be,” it said. “We have argued for free and frictionless trade with the EU to continue, with no tariffs or non-tariff barriers.” 

The unions strongly believe that trading with the EU under WTO rules would rapidly destroy the industry. Although the draft agreement is far from perfect it does ensure the UK would leave the EU with no hard barriers in place, they added.

Sainsbury’s and Asda merger could increase pressure on farmers 

The proposed Sainsbury’s and Asda merger could put more pressure on farmers and immensely reduce the choice and innovation of consumer products, the NFU has told the Competition and Markets Authority.

Philip Hambling, the NFU’s head of food and farming, said that farmers are becoming increasingly concerned as to whether the company can deliver its proposed 10% savings for shoppers without passing additional pressure on to farmers.

“The consolidation of retail buying power is one of the biggest concerns farmers and growers have about the proposed merger,” said Mr Hambling.  “Continually squeezing margins can take away the ability of the food and farming industry to invest and improve quality, range and sustainability.” 

Defra’s ‘gold standard’ labelling system is not a new assurance scheme

Defra’s proposed ‘gold standard’ labelling system will give shoppers better information, allowing them to make healthier choices and drive more sustainable and environmentally friendly food production, according to Karen Lepper, deputy director at Defra.

Speaking at the Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum event she said the system would not replace other assurance schemes like Red Tractor or RSPCA Assured, reported Farmers Guardian.

It would instead create a high-level common framework to measure and value farm and food systems, and provide a common vocabulary between existing schemes.

However, Nick Palmer, head of policy at Compassion in World Farming, said shoppers were being confused by the number of different labels on food. “We need to look for a mandatory labelling system which commands fairly broad support.”

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