Farm Diary: Defra underspend should be used to help farmers

It seems that Defra are able to help Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer a great deal towards filling the black hole, much to the anger of the NFU and other industry leaders. The total amount of underspend at Defra since Brexit amounts to £358 million pounds! Money which could have gone a long way to assist farmers cope with the poor weather conditions and general hardship as the annual area payments which were gradually phased out after leaving the EU took their toll.

The NFU are demanding that the Labour government roll this money over into the agriculture budget and deliver an enhanced multi-year agricultural budget of £5.6 billion (up from £3.7b). Given the state of public finances and the infamous black hole, it is hard to see this being delivered as Labour faces severe criticism over the winter payments issue; the first hard decision taken. Defra Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner has of course criticised the previous government, but the question is what will he do?

Defra Secretary of State, Steve Reed promised to fight the corner for farming, but with the treasury demanding the return of £100 million (if not more), there is silence on the new deal for farming. The reality of government where you need to deliver is vastly different to opposition where you can promise the earth. Boris Johnson found that out when he continued to promise the earth with no idea how that could be implemented, whereas Liz Truss tried to take the earth away altogether and that did not end well (49 days I seem to remember).

Labour puts the underspend predictably and accurately at the door of the last government, accusing it of failing to keep its promises to farmers and withholding essential funds, but are tight lipped on what they will do and how much they will commit to agriculture. NFU President Tom Bradshaw is calling on the chancellor to value food security and match that with a budget which will enable its delivery.

Thousands of acres of farmland are being taken out of food production as the Labour government approves several major solar infrastructure projects. The largest solar farm in the UK has just been approved at some 3,500 acres in Lincolnshire, which follows the approval of three others in the East of England since Ed Milliband became Labour’s energy secretary. Another in Northamptonshire covering 3,000 acres is up for approval as these proposals by-pass local planning requirements.

There are concerns that the proliferation of solar farms will not only damage agriculture and food production, but also tourism as they change the landscape dramatically when built at this sort of scale. For farmers it offers low risk reliable income as support is reduced and, in some cases, enables them to continue farming. The financial viability of solar farms is much improved of late and that makes them more attractive, especially given the unpredictable weather and the seemingly general disinterest in food production.

Extreme weather events are in fact most likely to be the main drivers of food shortages and farmers say that is something we should worry about. Any government who puts a country’s reliance on importing food with an uncertain world and weather events takes a significant risk. Can you imagine if there was a genuine food shortage, even for just a few weeks? Our nation is not the same as our post Second World War one, where hardship and shortages were generally accepted as the consequence of such events. Life was harder then of course, but people could cook and generally manage on very little.

UK vegetable production was down 2.2 million tonnes (5%) last year, and we have less breeding sheep, pigs, and cattle than we did. The current UK harvest prediction is that it is set to be one of the worst recorded in 40 years, some 3 million tonnes (13%) down on our 5-year average, which would make it the worst harvest since records began in 1983. Heavy rain in Scotland is making things worse as farmers there struggle get on with their harvest with very little grain in the barns.

Bluetongue cases are on the increase and the restriction zone has increased to cover a part of Kent as well as part of Greater London East. New vaccines are available under licence in these areas which are suppressive rather than preventative and with the disease now on the Eastern coast of France, there is concern around Kent and along the South Coast. Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) Christine Middlemiss acknowledges that the restriction zones make life difficult for the farmers affected but are necessary to prevent the spread of disease.

This is echoed by Sheila Voas CVO in Scotland following the case in East Yorkshire. She is far more worried about Scotland now that the disease is circulating amongst livestock in East Anglia. She acknowledged that if the disease continues to spread and zones subsequently enlarged to cover greater areas, that there comes a point where the controls are harder to live with than the disease itself. Richard Irvine CVO for Wales stated that it would be a matter of weighing up the pros and cons of vaccination in Wales, urging farmers to keep Wales safe.

Trade is a big threat, and he urges Welsh farmers to seek advice and work closely with their vets before going to sheep sales and markets. Christine Middlemiss stated that markets should have little risk due to the control zones in place, but there is some unease in the industry as no doubt there could be some undetected or undeclared cases out there. The implications on breeding sales are yet to be seen, but I also hope that sheep farmers take every precaution to prevent this disease spreading any further.

The National Trust continues to cover itself in glory with its proposals increase its plant-based menu which would see 50% of its food across 280 cafes sourced from vegan or vegetarian menus (up from 40% currently). The National Trust owns over 600, 000 acres in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, of heritage merit in perpetuity and of this 80% is managed by tenant farmers. Those tenant farmers alongside farmers in general, must feel let down by such an approach.

The sad thing is that no one is surprised, as the National Trust lost its way a long time ago and until more intelligent individuals manage to steer it along a more sensible path, this ridiculous state of affairs is set to continue; of which the pursuit of veganism is but one.