to make significant changes if they are to remain profitable over the next decade. These changes may include completely different solutions such as introducing woodland onto previously cropped land. With no resolution to the Brexit situation the possibility of a ‘no-deal


Brexit on the 31st October could lead to tariff and non-tariff barriers, particularly as the Government’s proposed zero import tariffs in the grain sector would remove protection from world market imports of identity preserved (non GM) grains.


Volatile grain markets 31st October is also right in the middle of the grain marketing period and due to tariff, single market or no deal uncertainty, there aren’t many buyers willing to commit too far ahead on price and we’re probably heading towards increasingly volatile grain markets. Over 60% of cereals grown in the UK produce animal


feed; as livestock production and carbon reduction comes under increased scrutiny any decline in the demand for animal feed could have a major effect on both millers and growers. Historically the animal feed market has been a financial safety net for crops that don’t reach the specification required for the premium milling market so any contraction of this market will have a significant impact on farming profits. Talking of financial safety nets, many agricultural businesses


are dependent on Basic Payment, but changes will see direct support phased out over seven years from 2021, with the English Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) creating the possibility that famers may be expected to fund and deliver some public goods in order to receive payments, or chose not to participate in the scheme. The Government has committed to retaining present levels of


funding until 2022, however the payment changes have not yet been brought into law. As for the devolved administrations we are still waiting to see what future support they plan to offer farmers.


Tackling Waste Perhaps the NFU should spend more time looking at the treatment of waste, in particular plastics and their disposal after leaving the farm gate. Mountains of waste that tax payers pay the government to recycle end up in faraway lands. In fact earlier this year Malaysia said it would send back 3,000 tonnes of illegally exported non-recyclable plastic waste to several of its countries of origin, which shamefully included the UK. There is certainly pressure on the disposal of agricultural waste,


particularly in Wales. Earlier this year Pontardawe-based Birch Farm Plastics, the sole collection company across Wales, suspended its services for a year, blaming the recycling plant it uses introducing fees instead of paying for farm plastics. The Welsh Government’s pathetic response was “The disposal of


farm plastic is a commercial matter between the farmers, the collectors of the plastic film waste, and the plants that can and do recycle it.” Britain doesn’t have the infrastructure to recycle all of its own


plastic waste so much is sent abroad without adequate checks to ensure this material is actually recycled. It would seem that where government authorities are involved in the fight against plastic and other waste ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and remove from the UK’ seems to be the mantra.


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