Learning from others at anniversary conference
Recently I attended the Comite de Droit Rurale’s (Association of Rural Law) 60th anniversary celebration in Brussels.
I have been fortunate to have participated in a number of their events and congresses over the past 15 years and it was a privilege to attend the celebration at which land use and ownership across the world was discussed and the various models such as tenancies, and so on, that were utilised to govern those relationships.
We can always learn from how other countries have approached an issue and it was interesting to learn from the Netherlands representative that they are seeing farmers who want to invest in infrastructure on their farms, selling the freehold ownership of their farms to investors preferring to utilise that cash to invest in their businesses as opposed to the land.
A constant theme in the presentations of all contributors at the event was their difficulties in ensuring succession in farming businesses and enticing a younger generation to become involved.
With Brexit, I was particularly interested to hear the presentation by the Swiss delegate and he made it very clear that farmers in Switzerland would not be able to farm without subsidies - Switzerland, of course, being a non-EU country which has a free-trade agreement with the EU.
There was also a vibrant speaker from Columbia and we clearly have a lot to learn in the UK about trading in a global market under the guise of the World Trade Organisation. He spoke about how Columbian coffee has achieved country of origin labelling and status within the EU market and the difficulties they had incurred in progressing that application. It is also clear that in a post-Brexit world, those who endeavour to learn and master other languages from across the world will be important members of our rural communities.
A figure who has been constant in my relationship with the CEDR was sadly not with us in Brussels. Our previous President, Donald Rennie, who hailed from Scotland, sadly passed away last month and his wit, and intellect will be sorely missed by me and others. There are not many who can chair a meeting with delegates from umpteen different countries, all speaking a variety of languages and that can keep a sensible order and also crack a joke and get everyone to laugh, Donald was one of those few special people.
Nerys Llewelyn Jones is managing partner at rural law firm, Agri Advisor
