Farmers 'lose out to Europe' on subsidies

[Anthony Butcher]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...04/nfarm04.xml

English farmers will receive less in subsidies than those in Scotland, Wales or the rest of Europe because of the way the Government has botched agricultural reforms, David Cameron claimed yesterday.

The Tory leader re-ignited the debate about evolution at the Oxford Farming Conference when it emerged that ministers had asked the European Commission to let England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland proceed with the abolition of production subsidies at different speeds.

At the root of the problem, Mr Cameron explained, was the EU budget deal Tony Blair concluded in December 2005. It allowed countries to decide for themselves whether to move money from production support to "green" farming schemes. The agricultural side of this deal is not expected to be concluded before the summer because a majority of MEPs is thought to believe that the "greening" of the Common Agricultural Policy should not be done on a voluntary basis and the details of the regulation have yet to be published.
Mr Cameron told farmers: "The way the deal was done would hit English farmers in a particularly strong way. We don't have a 'common' policy. While support for English farming is rightly de-coupled from production, most countries in Europe still have some production support."

Officials from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed that the Government has asked Europe to allow it to operate the "voluntary" reforms on a different basis in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, instead of on a national basis as Brussels wants, because agricultural policy is devolved. England needs to move money from production support to fund green farming schemes, principally the entry-level stewardship scheme which Scotland and Wales do not have.


Peter Kendall, the president of the National Farmers Union, said: "If you stand on a hill in Wales, you can find a farmer who will be getting £600 a hectare, and over the border you will find someone getting £180. This difference is affecting the market.

"I want people to build successful farms and I do not want distortions in the market."

David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, said that this difference might well be made up by green farming payments. In his speech to the conference, he said one of his priorities was to break the log-jam in Brussels and get rural development payments back on course.
Officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed, however, that more money could end up being taken from English farmers' subsidies than from farmers in Wales and Scotland.
With the Scottish National Party gaining support before elections to the Scottish Parliament, the additional money is likely to be a bargaining counter for Labour.

Mr Cameron said the Tories would also improve labelling so consumers could identify British food. He also promised that a Conservative government would expect imported food to be produced to at least the Red Tractor standard or animal welfare standards farmers at home must meet.

Mr Miliband warned farmers that by 2020 they would have to deal with methane emissions from cows, identified in a recent UN Food and Agriculture Organisation report as a greater contributor to global warming than transport emissions.

Officials said research had just begun to find the breeds which best converted grass into milk while producing the smallest amount of the greenhouse gas.

[Anthony Butcher]

http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.va...itish_food.php

Cameron: buy British food
Witney MP David Cameron has called for Oxfordshire shoppers to buy more locally produced food.

In a speech at Oxford University yesterday, the Conservative leader welcomed the rising popularity of locally sourced produce, sold in farmers' markets and farm shops across the county.

He told the Oxford Farming Conference that the "long-term interest" of British farming was best served by people buying home-grown, quality food and praised farmers' markets, including those held in Chipping Norton and Charlbury.

But Mr Cameron accused the Labour Government of failing to stand up for local producers with the same fervour as leaders of other European countries.

He called for clearer food labelling to help consumers identify where products come from - and which are foreign imports masquerading as British.

Mr Cameron said: "I'm convinced that the long-term interest of British farming is best served by British consumers demanding quality British produce.

"A vital part of facilitating this shift in priorities is ensuring that this country has far more rigorous and transparent food labelling.
"Today, British consumers can find it difficult to back British farmers, because of inadequate labelling. Food can be imported to Britain, processed here, and subsequently labelled in a way that suggests it's genuinely British. That is completely wrong.

"I cannot overstate the importance of enabling informed consumer choice.
"Effective marketing can only be achieved if labelling is accurate and clear.
"Britain is experiencing a rise in so-called food patriotism. Many people want to eat British wherever possible.

"They're not just supporting British farmers out of a sense of solidarity or a desire to limit carbon emissions.

"They also realise that food that has been preserved and flown or driven long distances often tastes second rate."

The 61st Oxford Farming Conference is one of the main events in the UK farming industry's calendar and is being attended by more than 600 people. It continues today and tomorrow.

The MP committed a future Tory government to "take a leaf out of the book of other European Union members who have stood up more effectively for their local producers".