opinion WHERE NOW FOR AGRICULTURE?


As a matter of principle, this journal does not purloin headlines from other publications. However, on this occasion, an exception will be made. A recent headline in Farmers Weekly, penned by Philip Clarke, proclaimed that ‘Ministers and MPs need Educating in Reality of Agriculture’. To which Feed Compounder would echo a hearty ‘Hear Hear’. This and, indeed, other publications operating in the field of


agriculture and rural matters generally have, from time-to-time, commented wryly upon the name DEFRA – the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. No mention of agriculture where Great Britain is concerned, although it has to be said that Northern Ireland’s equivalent department, rejoices under the sobriquet of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. No food? Perhaps it should be remembered that food starts to a significant extent with agriculture. Mr Gove, the cerebral DEFRA Secretary of State has been in office for just over twelve months. So far, the industry has received little indication of the direction in which he would wish to go, apart from some comments related to capping the payments received by land owners under the Basic Payments Scheme, payments which have undoubtedly resulted in some very wealthy individuals becoming even wealthier. We readily admit that the Basic Payments Scheme as presently


constituted needs refinement, particularly as it is now set to run during a five-year transition period until 2024. The transition period is welcome but what is needed is a vision of what lies ahead for agriculture in the UK as we move beyond it. In particular, and as we suggested in this column following the


results of the referendum two years ago, what was needed was a consolidation of the views of those potentially most affected by Brexit – what we may call the agro-industrial sector. This objective has been initially secured by the welcome publication of the ‘UK Food Supply Chain Manifesto’, subtitled ‘For a Successful Brexit’. This manifesto is distributed by the NFU but signed up to by a formidable array of companies from across the animal feed, seed, agronomy services and fertiliser supply sectors, including the Agricultural Industries Confederation alongside other trade associations representing the interests of businesses across the whole agri-food chain. It calls for ‘unqualified government support for the UK food supply chain and the business of food production post-Brexit’. The publication calls for food production ‘to be firmly at the heart of UK policymaking after the UK leaves the European Union in March next year. In addition, the manifesto also seeks assurances on future trade, domestic agricultural


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policy, labour availability and sector regulation. Inasmuch as all these bodies have come together to put down a


collective marker as regards the future of the agri-food chain in the UK, it is appropriate to identify what may be on offer as an alternative. In this connection, the siren voices can already be heard. The


Common Agricultural Policy is frequently excoriated by a broad fraternity of interests on account of its cost and the fact that it is amongst the most high profile of all the EU’s manifestations. Why should the UK not trade, it is suggested, on its own terms with all those countries who could supply the food that the UK needs more cheaply? Certainly, beef from Argentina and grain from North America would constitute formidable competition for UK producers. Cheaper food: what could be a more attractive prospect for UK consumers? Of course, it must be admitted that readers of Feed Compounder have a clear vested interest in the current agri-environment. As suppliers to farmers, and as purchasers of a significant proportion of agriculture’s output, the agricultural supply industry is inevitably bound up to a significant extent with the fortunes of farming, however those fortunes may evolve over the years ahead. Some considerations will be linked to questions of what constitutes self-sufficiency, the proportion of total food consumed in the UK that is produced in Britain: a proportion that, according to many commentators, has been in decline over recent years. If it were to be decided that the future of food in the UK lay in sourcing its supply from wherever it could be derived most cheaply, the effects on the scale of output of agriculture in the UK would be enormous. And with it would come a concomitant reduction in the scale of activity in the agricultural supply industry. It needs to be remembered that, with the contraction of economic


activity, come knock-on effects. With the decline of manufacturing activity in some parts of the UK in recent years, came dereliction. Agriculture and its related economic activities form an important, indeed a vital hub to economic activity in the rural regions of the UK. Any decision to couch post-Brexit agricultural policy in terms of securing food worldwide at the cheapest possible price would come with deleterious consequences for the rural community. It is easy to talk of the ‘wonders’ of the British countryside. It is equally critical to remember that those wonders were not conjured into existence in an economic vacuum. The foregoing constitutes in part the ‘reality of agriculture’, as


defined in the first paragraph of this article. Make no mistake, agriculture is self-evidently and primarily about food production. But there is a great deal more that needs adding to the agricultural account.


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