Farming red tape to be unravelled


W


ork will begin immediately to cut red tape in farming, Agriculture Minister Jim Paice announced today.


The bureaucracy-busting promise was made as the independent Farming Regulation Task Force presented its recommendations for reducing the administrative burden faced by farmers and food producers.


The report makes more than 200 recommendations following an extensive review of all regulations that affect farmers and food producers and the way they are implemented.


Agriculture Minister Jim Paice said: ‘We expect our farmers and food producers to maintain the highest standards, but the way to get them to achieve those standards isn’t to wrap them up in red tape – we need to free them from unnecessary burdens.


‘We must trust in the industry’s ability to produce our food, manage our countryside and contribute to our economic recovery.


‘I asked the Farming Regulation Task Force to challenge us and they have. This is an impressive piece of work with strong recommendations for reducing the burden that red tape has on the people who produce our food.


‘I asked them to explore how we can move from regulations that focus on process to those that achieve the best end result and they have done this.


‘This was never about a bonfire of regulations but about changing the culture of how we apply and enforce regulation.


‘We will continue to defend our high standards for environmental management, animal welfare and food safety.


‘I am particularly interested in the recommendations to allow industry to earn our trust and reward good practice with less frequent inspections.


‘We have already identified a number of areas from the report where we can take immediate action, such as reducing the paperwork required under Nitrate Regulations and moving towards reporting all pig and cattle movement online.


‘I’m also pleased to announce the creation of a new Strategic Regulatory Scrutiny Panel, tasked with challenging and advising us on the way we think about regulation.


‘In the longer-term my priority will be to cut the unnecessary paperwork that farmers and food producers have to deal with and, wherever possible, move remaining paperwork online.’


Other areas where early action will be explored include:


• applying the principals of simplifying and removing duplication to animal welfare inspections - Defra hopes to consult soon on options in this area;


• finding ways of improving record-keeping on farms in Nitrates Vulnerable Zones, for example by exempting organic farmers from record- keeping requirements;


• changing aspects of the six-day standstill arrangements so that they will no longer apply to animals moving directly between farms ;


• rationalising the allocation of County Parish Holding numbers (CPH), the system by which individual holdings are identified and allocated to farmers, so that the same rules apply to all species;


• moving away from paper-based movement reporting for sheep, through the introduction of an industry-owned database; and


• abolishing the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) links and Sole Occupancy Agreements (SOAs), which provide specific exemptions to movement reporting and six day standstills for farm animals, but add unnecessary complications to an already complex system.


The Government will now look closely at the Task Force’s other recommendations and publish an initial response this autumn with a full and final response early in 2012.


New diet for cows could cut climate emissions


C


hanging the diet of cows and sheep could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research funded by Defra.


The study, which aims to help farmers cut their contribution to climate change, shows that feeding these animals foods such as maize silage, naked oats and higher sugar grasses can reduce the amount of methane they produce.


Agriculture Minister Jim Paice said: ‘We are committed to supporting the farming industry as it faces the challenge of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.


‘It is very exciting that this new research has discovered that by simply changing the way we feed farm animals we have the potential to make a big difference to the environment.’


Agriculture contributes about nine per cent of all UK greenhouse gas emissions and half of this comes from sheep, cows and goats. Recent figures show that farming accounts for 41 per cent of the UK’s overall methane emissions.


The new research, which was carried out by Reading University and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), showed that it is nutritionally possible to reduce methane emissions and nitrogen excretion from cattle and sheep.


For example:


• increasing the proportion of maize silage from 25 to 75 percent in a short-term trial was found to reduce methane emission per kg milk by six percent;


• high-sugar grasses could reduce an animal’s methane emissions by 20 per cent for every kilo of weight gain;


• naked oats could reduce methane emissions from sheep by 33 per cent; and


• crushed rapeseed could reduce methane production from dairy cows by 20 per cent per litre of milk produced.


In the longer term the benefits gained by changing animals’ diets will need to be considered against other environmental impacts as well as how practical or costly they are for the farming industry to implement.


No ifs, it’s time for water butts


M


ore people than ever are getting involved with growing their own food but fruit and vegetables need plenty of water.


With summer upon us it’s time for gardeners to think about saving rainwater ready for their garden’s thirstiest months.


In an average summer gardeners could harvest nearly 640 litres of rainwater from a 7ft by 5ft shed – which, depending on the weather, could keep up to 50 tomato plants happy for three months.


The sooner you get a water butt installed, the more you can save.


Agriculture and Food Minister Jim Paice said: “More and more people are growing their own fruit and


vegetables and, in the process, learning about where their food comes from and what’s in season.


A water butt is a simple investment which can reduce the impact your garden has on the environment.


‘We know that many parts of the country are increasingly short of water so saving your own helps everyone.’


Many local councils have schemes to provide subsidised water butts, helping


gardeners to save water and reduce their metered water bills.


summer 2011 3


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