Tag Archives: Defra

House of Lords warns of risk to farm support from Brexit

During a debate on the potential impacts of leaving the European Union on farm support in the UK, the House of Lords may leave farmers and growers lacking the support of their European competitors.

The debate was called by Conservative Baroness Anne McIntosh, a former shadow minister for environment, food and rural affairs and former chair of the EFRA Committee. She called on the government to reassure farmers in agri-environment schemes which are due to end prior to the conclusion of formal Brexit negotiations. She also raised the issue of the requirement for large numbers of season workers in areas such as horticulture.

Conservative Lord DeMauley, a former Defra minister and farmer, said, “It is surely unlikely that her majesty’s treasury, once it’s given back the ability to decide how UK taxpayers’ money is spent, will maintain the basic farm payment at anything like its current level.”

Lib Dem Lord Thomas of Gresford pointed out that comments made by Defra minster George Eustice at the Royal Welsh Show, when he said he could not guarantee that future agricultural support programmes would be as generous as support under the CAP, were contrary to assurances he had given during the Brexit campaign when Mr Eustice promised farmers would receive at least as much support funding as they currently do.

Photo Caption: Defra minister George Eustice MP was criticised for back tracking on his promise to maintain support for UK farmers.

Photo Credit: George Eustice

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Defra criticised for importing food

Despite its recent launch of the ‘Great British Food Unit’ to promote the sale of British produce, recent statistics have revealed that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) building in London sources 44% of its food from overseas producers.

The revelation came in answer to a written question from shadow environment, food and rural affairs minister Nick Smith who described the findings as, “Disappointing and surprising.”

According to Defra, between January and March this year just 56 per cent of the food sourced for Nobel House in London came from British producers, a rise of 4 per cent on the previous three months.

A Defra spokesperson said, “Defra is committed to buying British, which is where 100% of our bacon, sausages, beef, lamb, turkey, cabbage, cauliflowers, swede, carrots, milk and yoghurt come from. We also promote in season British fruit and veg. While there will always be foods we have to import, like bananas, tea and coffee, we know more can be done which is why central government have committed to buying fresh, locally sourced, seasonal food by 2017.”

Photo Credit: Nick Smith MP

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Defra refuses to back EU school scheme

According to a report, British ministers in Brussels failed to back EU plans to engage with children by encouraging farm visits and eating more fruit and vegetables.

Farmers Weekly said that the UK had abstained from the vote while delegates from Hungary and The Netherlands had voted against the proposals which would also promote the consumption of milk and which were passed at the meeting on 11 April.

The new scheme will have an annual budget of €250 million (£201 million) when it comes into force in August 2017 and will see selected agricultural products supplied to schools in a bid to promote healthy eating habits and local food.

The post Defra refuses to back EU school scheme appeared first on Hort News on 15 April 2016.

NFU meets Defra to discuss trickle irrigation

An NFU delegation from the key intensive horticultural areas in England met with Defra officials within days of the launch of a new consultation on abstraction licensing.

A Defra consultation ‘Changes to water abstraction licensing exemptions’, was published on 15 January. The deadline for responses is 8 April.

David Long, Kent soft and top fruit grower and a member of the NFU Horticulture Board said that to continue to flourish, growers need secure access to water to grow fruit, and labour to harvest it.

Paul Hammett, NFU water resources specialist, said that growers at the Defra meeting were promised a ‘light touch and risk based approach’ to the future licensing of trickle irrigation. Arguably the most contentious of the Defra proposals is that the Environment Agency will have powers to apply environmental constraints to protect the environment by applying abstraction restrictions at low flows or during drought conditions.

Marion Regan who represents the soft fruit sector at AHDB Horticulture pointed to the recent shift to the use of coir-type substrates which have little or no water holding capacity: “Modern growing methods mean that water shortages cannot be tolerated, even over short periods of time. Restrictions in water availability would have a major impact on crop growth and business profitability and so provision must be made to accommodate protected crop production in the new licensing regime”, she said.

Photo Credit: East Malling Trust

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Meurig Raymond: Farming can survive current crisis

NFU President Meurig Raymond believes that farming can survive the current crisis affecting key sectors including cereals, milk and vegetables, but that in order to do so it must utilise the very best information and technology, not only to improve productivity, but also to emphasise the importance of the sector to society as a whole.

Speaking at AgriTech East’s REAP (Realising our Economic and Agricultural Potential) Conference on Wednesday (11 November) Raymond congratulated the Government for its recently announced 25 year Food and Farming Plan and emphasised how the NFU is feeding into that process, but he also lamented the fact that UK self-sufficiency in food has now fallen to just 62 per cent.

He said that provided they were allowed to make a return, farmers were more than willing to invest in the future of their businesses. “Our top priorities must be tackling the barriers to growth and investment,” he stressed. “We need a fair, transparent and functioning supply chain.”

In conclusion Mr Raymond said that policy makers needed to recognise the long term cycles affecting farming. “I am confident that farming is going to find its rightful place in society, but it’s going to be a bumpy ride,” he added.

Photo credit: Richard Crowhurst

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New pollinator projects announced

A year on from its launch, Environment Minister George Eustice has praised the efforts of thousands of people to support the National Pollinator Strategy.

Speaking at a Bee Summit organised by Friends of the Earth and the Women’s Institute on Monday (9 November), Mr Eustice said, “Protecting our pollinators is a priority for this government. They are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production.”

As part of this Defra has published a new implementation plan for the strategy. Defra has also provided £20,000 in grants to five Local Nature Partnership projects in Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Durham and Surrey.

The NFU urged government to recognise the role farmers played in protecting bees. NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: “Farmers do fantastic work for pollinators covering thousands of acres of the British countryside. This substantial contribution benefits local biodiversity and brings valuable and vital pollination to crops.”

Photo Credit: NFU

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Defra to fight for UK farmers in Europe

The UK is committed to scientific evidence in the face of potentially damaging European legislation. That was the message from Kathleen Kelliher of Defra when she addressed the UK Onion & Carrot Conference on Wednesday 4 October.

“Most of these decisions are made in Brussels and while Defra uses science-based decision making, sadly we cannot promise that decisions on future EU approvals will be based on sound science, because in some cases the current EU criteria are not scientific,” she said.

“The UK has arguably been the leading member state in pressing for science-based regulation of these chemicals. Our calls for an impact assessment have at last been heeded by the Commission.

“Defra supports regulation to protect people and the environment from adverse effects from pesticides; however it is right for all of use to be aware of the costs and benefits of regulation. We agree that the EU regime has features that carry very significant cost for limited benefits.

“We think [potential pesticides]should be assessed by a proper risk assessment,” she added.

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7.5% jump in UK horticultural area

The latest statistics published by Defra and the Office for National Statistics suggests a 7.5 per cent increase in the area of horticultural crops in the UK last year. The main sectors which contributed to the rise included top fruit, strawberries, raspberries, carrots, onions and salads.

However, the statistics also revealed an 8.6 per cent fall in glasshouse space dedicated to flowers, foliage and other ornamental plants. Home produced vegetables were worth around £1.2 billion in 2014, 8.5 per cent less than 2013 due to lower prices caused by oversupply and lack of demand, with field vegetables worth £885 million and protected vegetables £348 million. The value of UK produced fruit rose in value to £620 million in 2014, 7.5 per cent up on the previous year thanks to increasing demand for soft fruit, together with larger yields and a longer growing season. UK ornamentals were worth £1.17 billion in 2014, 2.0 per cent lower than in 2013 but higher than the values seen in previous years.

Home production of vegetables contributed to around 57.6 per cent of the total UK supply in 2014, while the UK supply of carrots was 101.4 per cent, indicating that the UK exported more carrots than it imported: the highest level of carrot exports on record. Tomatoes also performed well, with home grown crop accounting for 19.4 per cent of consumption, the highest level since 2002.

 

New Permanent Secretary for Defra

Clare Moriarty, the current Director General at the Rail Executive in the Department for Transport, has been appointed as the new Permanent Secretary for following a civil service-wide recruitment process.

Clare will take up post over the summer and will replace Defra’s current Permanent Secretary Bronwyn Hill. Her appointment has been made by the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service and approved by the Prime Minister and by Sir David Normington, the First Civil Service Commissioner.

Commenting on her new role, Clare said, “I am thrilled to become Defra’s Permanent Secretary. The Department has a great role to play on issues that matter to everyone in the country, from the food that we eat to the future of the planet. I welcome the chance to work with Liz Truss and her Ministerial team on a fascinating agenda for the years ahead. I am looking forward to meeting colleagues in Defra and its partner bodies, and the many people and organisations that have an interest in the work of the Department.”

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Defra faces more cuts

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) faces additional cuts of £83 million during the first year of the new Conservative government under plans announced last week by Chancellor George Osborne.

According to reports the Department will make savings by cutting ‘low priority’ programmes, but has not yet identified exactly where cuts will take effect. It fared better in the most recent round of spending cuts than the Departments of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Communities and Local Government (DCLG) which face cuts of £70m and £230m respectively. However, according to the Institute for Government, proportionally Defra has been the second hardest hit by measures across all government departments.

In March, chair of the EFRA Committee, which oversees the work of the environment department, said, “The Department is worryingly vulnerable. Defra has not identified which specific policies and programmes will be reduced in future years, despite of repeated requests for clarity. We… need to know what the impact of cuts will be on policy delivery [and] where emergency money, such as winter floods response funding, [will be] found.”

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