Key meeting about post-Brexit agriculture policy
Spring has finally sprung and much like you on the farm, we at the NFU are also all systems go.
We are just about to hold our consultation and briefing meetings on Defra’s command paper on agricultural policy.
The Shropshire one is on April 11, at Shrewsbury Town Football Club, at 7.30pm, and we’re delighted to welcome NFU President Minette Batters to lead the discussions.
The Government’s consultation paper, on a future agricultural policy post Brexit, is arguably the most significant report in decades and will have an impact on the industry’s future for generations to come.
The paper will set out the Government’s strategy for agricultural policy after the country splits from the EU and what will replace the Common Agricultural Policy.
Our sector commodity boards will have also met and discussed the consultation and a final position will have been put to the NFU’s policy board in Stoneleigh.
During the course of the consultation I have been approached by a number of organisations and elements of local government, seeking our views on a future agricultural policy and our thoughts on the impacts of different policy options.
What I find encouraging is the growing appreciation of the significance of our agricultural industry and recognition of the impact of such policy changes on farmers and growers ability to compete in the future.
LEPs, county councils, and MPs generally seem to have all shifted agriculture up their agenda.
This is in no small part, down to the work of the NFU and its members, engaging locally and nationally and setting out the value of agriculture and horticulture to society and the economy.
The deadline for leaving the EU is the only certain thing about the process at this stage. There is still uncertainty about the nature of trading, movement of people and management of borders and other issues. This is clearly a problem for farmers who now have goods to be sold post Brexit. Lambs that have been born this spring, crops that are currently receiving their spring fertiliser and crop protection applications and heifers waiting to join the herd, ready for an entirely uncertain market place.
It is testament to the professionalism and determination of farmers and growers up and down the county that they will continue, in spite of this uncertainty, to produce food to the highest standards of safety, animal welfare and regard for the environment.
At all the agricultural shows this year, we welcome your support as we engage with the public to make this known.
Rob Newbery, NFU West Midlands Regional Director
