A Green MEP has accused the Environment Secretary, Andrea Leadsom of 'environmental irresponsibility' following her call to abandon a ‘greening’ measure post Brexit.
Ms Leadsom told the Oxford Farming Conference that the ‘three crop rule’, agreed unanimously by Agricultural ministers in 2013 as part of reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy, should be scrapped.
The rule applies to farms of over 30 hectares where farmers must grow at least 3 crops and was agreed in order to help conserve the environment and contribute to addressing greenhouse emissions.
Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West and a member of the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee, said her 'worst fears' about a post-Brexit farming landscape 'are being realised.'
She said: "Rather than using the opportunities offered by Brexit to encourage a move towards a diverse and ecologically sustainable farming system, this government seem determined to dive headlong into encouraging damaging monocultures.
"Leadsom has revealed she is set on shredding measures aimed at safeguarding our soils, protecting habitats and utilizing farmland for capturing and storing carbon. There is also a strong whiff of hypocrisy here since the greening measures that Leadsom is now vowing to rip up were agreed unanimously by all EU Agricultural ministers, including her own government's".
'Leaving farmers in the dark'
Dr Scott Cato has also accused the government of leaving farmers in the dark over future plans post-Brexit.
She said: "Farmers want to know, what’s the plan? For instance, what are farmers supposed to be planting in the spring when they don't know what will happen with relative price and exchange rates?
"Also, with uncertainty over whether the government will focus on staying within the single market, farmers don’t know if they will face tariffs on their exports. The government is creating an impossible environment in which to make decisions about future investments.”
The Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee has warned that British farming faces significant risks after Brexit. Farmers could face tariffs of up to 50% on exports to the EU if Britain leaves the single market, the Commission has warned.
