Govt warned not to take a 'piecemeal approach' to future UK farm policy

Farmers have warned the government not to address specific policy elements in isolation from the wider context within which farming operates.

The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has stressed the importance of government seeing "the bigger picture" in the development of post-Brexit agricultural policy.

The TFA's National Chairman James Gray, speaking at the organisation's AGM in London, said the UK has a "unique opportunity" to build a policy for agriculture on British terms rather than those which have been the result of compromise with the other 27 Member States of the EU.

However, he said the government must work "systematically" to ensure farmers can continue to provide consumers "safe and good quality" food.

The warning follows news of the wider farming industry highlighting its concerns over Defra Secretary Michael Gove's commitment to a "green Brexit", one which focuses on animal welfare and the environment over food production.

Despite the government's commitment to a "green Brexit", British poultry industry leaders have said they are concerned about a United States suggestion that the UK will have to accept lower-standard chlorinated chicken to secure a trans-Atlantic free trade deal post-Brexit.

US President Donald Trump's commerce secretary Wilbur Ross explained that any post-Brexit deal with Washington would hinge on the UK scrapping rules set by Brussels, including regulations governing imports of chlorinated chicken.

Because of the uncertainty, thirty-six food and farming organisations released a joint statement last month emphasising to government that the British agricultural industry will continue to have a "critical role" in providing a "secure and affordable" supply of food.

'Brave new world'

Mr Gray said the new policy framework for farming will be "complicated to deliver", however, he urged the government to be ready for the "brave new world" of a post-Brexit UK.

He said: “Put at its most basic, what the new policy framework must address is how to ensure that as a nation we continue to deliver to consumers safe, good quality food, produced to high environmental, ethical and animal welfare standards at prices they can afford and which provide adequate returns to the farming community to cover costs, provide a living and produce a profit which enables reinvestment.

“It is only recently that we have seen something of the Government’s intention to address this conundrum and it is fair to say that we are some way off achieving a solid basis for taking this forward.”

Mr Gray said the publication of the Government’s 64-page consultation document released last month is a "step along the way", but "lacks sufficient detail".

He said it focuses too much on the future of the Basic Payment and agri-environment schemes.

The TFA National Chairman said areas such as correcting market failures within supply chains, protecting animal welfare and environmental standards for food at UK borders, promoting structural change and dealing with the challenges of labour supply "all have equal importance".

Mr Gray added: “There will be much to do over the coming months to hone the future policy environment to ensure that we are ready for the brave new world beyond any implementation period agreed with the EU; notwithstanding the possibility of leaving the EU without a deal.”