The Land


UK agriculture 1990 – 2010


‘Gummer Enlists Daughter in BSE Fight’ (May 1990) was one of those iconic headlines that characterized the start of two very turbulent decades for UK agriculture. A 20-year period representing a marked shift in perceptions as the industry has progressed from being seen as central to the problem to being acknowledged as essential to the solution.


There is even some evidence that the perception of farmers has also evolved from them being demonized, almost to the extent of the modern banker, to hard working custodians of the countryside on whom we are very dependent. The concept of food security having been dismissed by some senior politicians as irrelevant is now regarded as essential to the nation.


Economically the roller coaster ride has been equally volatile. The high levels of profitability of the early 1990s, were due in large part to UK withdrawal from the exchange rate mechanism in 1992. The despair and depression experienced by many in the nadir of the early part of this century, was exacerbated by the foot and mouth catastrophe and other animal disease outbreaks. This was by any definition a time of crisis


28 www. countryway. org. uk


characterized by a loss of hope and self-esteem, and times when the Farming Help charities, including Farm Crisis Network and the ARC- Addington Fund were almost over stretched. During these two decades many have left productive agriculture, particularly in dairying, once regarded as the backbone of the industry but now with an increasingly dysfunctional market. This process of rationalization and re-structuring continues apace as agriculture seeks to become increasingly ‘fit for


agriculture …


essential to the solution? purpose’.


Policy drivers such as the timely Curry Report (Farming and Food – a sustainable future January 2002) have been influential. One of the most important developments has been further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, implemented in 2005, which decoupled payments from production (of crops and livestock) and brought in an area based payment (in England the Single (Farm) Payment Scheme). This


process, which despite some pain, has shifted attitudes to a more market orientated approach. The single payment scheme, the continuation of environmental schemes and the concept of ‘public good’ (the benefits accruing to the wider public from agriculture, such as landscape), have highlighted the potential central role of agriculture in contributing to climate change alleviation. Delivering the holy grail of sustained production with environmental balance and climate change mitigation, will give a blend of both threats and opportunities to the industry.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32