customer and the government needed to achieve a free trade deal. A former Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year, Mr Poskitt grows
vegetables and potatoes over 6,000 acres of owned, rented and shared land in East Yorkshire. He started his business more than 40 years ago and now employs nearly 300 people. Addressing the 60-strong audience, he said: “Nobody really knows
what Brexit means for us in the future or what the government is going to deliver for us. The only thing we do know is we’re coming out. “So, what about funding? What about labour? What about trade and what about plant health? These are all really important challenges we’ve got in front of us.” Mr Poskitt said farmers need to be profitable, productive and
progressive if they are to drive their businesses forward, adding that he thought funding would be cut beyond 2020. “Currently, £2.3bn in BPS (Basic Payment Scheme) is paid with a total of £3.2bn through Countryside Stewardship,” he said. “Will this continue? I would like to think so as it’s so important to
agriculture, but there is no doubt the mechanism will change and the values may reduce. What I would like to see is that we get less funding, but more opportunities for funding to grow our businesses. We all want to take agriculture to a place where we no longer need support because I don’t think any farmer is proud of the fact they get support, but to get from A to B, sometimes you need a lot of funding.” He said Brexit was a great opportunity to strengthen British
farming’s brand abroad. “We need to promote British products,” Mr Poskitt said. “You look at the Irish, they are a massive exporter and they’ve promoted the brand of Irish – Irish butter, Irish milk, Irish beef – I think it is a big opportunity for us to do the same.” Describing labour as a ‘hot potato’, Mr Poskitt said horticulture
employs 80,000 workers, but he pointed to other industries to emphasise the importance of migrants to the UK economy. “Migrant workers are so important, not just in agriculture but throughout our community,” he said. “A lot of the press have said to me ‘what are you going to do if you
don’t get your migrant workers?’. I say simple, I’ll change my business and become an ordinary arable farmer growing cereals, but tell Mrs May how she’s going to run her care homes and health service without migrant workers, because you don’t do it. “The government needs to control immigration but this myth of
just send them home won’t work because this whole industry, our food industry, would stop.” Mr Poskitt also called on the government to deliver a pesticides framework that was ready for Brexit. He said the industry needed the right chemistry and right research in place to enable it to grow. “If you look at glyphosate, there’s a lot of noise about banning glyphosate in Europe,” he said. “So if it gets banned, and we’re out of Europe, will we be able to
use glyphosate if we’re going to export to Europe? Probably not. We need a common-sense approach. You can’t feed people organically, that’s a lifestyle choice. GM; everyone this side of the pond seems to worry about GM and run for the hills. So, you’ve got to look at sensible pesticides that are safe and that people understand.” Mr Poskitt added that coming out of the EU was an opportunity to
tear up some of the legislation that blighted UK farming and start again with a blank sheet of paper. Pointing to the controversial three-crop rule, he said: “In the UK we have plenty of diversity without bringing in that rule. All it does is
make an efficient farm inefficient. You can have a brassica grower in Lincolnshire or a carrot grower in Yorkshire, suddenly they have to grow other crops to satisfy the three-crop rule. Is it going to change the diversity of the countryside and is it going to change the mix of crops? Absolutely not.”
EUROPEAN FREE TRADE IS VITAL DURING BREXIT
TRANSITION – AIC BOARD Given the complexity surrounding agricultural trade arrangements, the Agricultural Industries Confederation Board, believes a priority in Brexit negotiations is to set the framework to allow a detailed Free Trade Agreement with Europe to be negotiated during a tariff free transition period. This was the overriding message coming from the AIC Board April.
meeting on 5th “We recognise that agriculture has both complexities and sensitivities,
in terms of both imports and exports - which will require time and space to resolve. An FTA negotiation would ensure all aspects are dealt with properly and fairly” said AIC Chairman Nick Major. “We understand there is a willingness from the Commission to adopt this approach, which we believe offers an opportunity to deliver positive outcomes for the sector both within the UK and the rest of the European Union. “Like many organisations, AIC is engaging widely, not only with its
UK stakeholder base (including new contacts where common issues exist) but also with its five European trade associations (CELCAA, COCERAL, European Seed Association, FEFAC and Fertilizers Europe) . On both sides of the Channel we have met with a very constructive and determined attitude that business is best served by a trade agreement which offers continued access to UK and EU markets for a range of products which are of high quality; known provenance and familiar to the customer base. AIC’s Board is actively supporting the maintenance and expansion of this level of contact. “As the negotiation period begins, we are encouraged to hear from
Commission sources of a real desire to negotiate a constructive outcome for agriculture which delivers the mutual benefit business is seeking. AIC aims to do all it can to bring that process to a successful outcome.”
ARTICLE 50 MUST BE ‘STARTING GUN’ FOR DUAL
DIALOGUE – AIC With Article 50 triggered, the Agricultural Industries Confederation supports the UK Government’s determination that trade negotiations need to commence alongside the exit debate to avoid jeopardising Britain’s vital food and farming industries. Failure to address future trade arrangements, at an early stage,
could undo all the good that has been achieved in recent years in terms of the assurance of food and animal feed safety and quality throughout supply chains in recent years. “Without clarity on future trade, UK agriculture could become one of
the most significantly affected areas of the British economy,” says AIC’s Head of Policy, Paul Rooke. “It could put at risk all the systems that have been developed over the past decade or more to deliver the assurance, traceability and high standards that the UK public has demanded.” AIC will not only lobby with the UK negotiating teams, but will also
look to its counterpart trade associations, within the EU, to add their voices within the EU on the need to maintain standards across the continent.
FEED COMPOUNDER MAY/JUNE 2017 PAGE 55
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