Ministers share different visions

This week’s Oxford Farming Conference saw agricultural ministers from England, Northern Ireland and Wales sharing their different visions for future agricultural policy and how new support payments can help achieve climate targets.
Minister Edwin Poots. Photograph by Kelvin Boyes /  Press Eye.Minister Edwin Poots. Photograph by Kelvin Boyes /  Press Eye.
Minister Edwin Poots. Photograph by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

Edwin Poots, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, said that their Future Agricultural Policy Proposals focused on farming with the environment.

“Enhancing our peatlands and hedgerows and enabling more tree planting are all key elements in how we want to address the issue around climate change. We also want to be smarter in how we farm.

“Instead of just being a producer of milk or meat, we need to look at that animal as a producer of renewable energy. The methane currently going into the environment needs to be captured and reused and we need to have more anaerobic digestion on our farms.”

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice, said that to meet climate ambitions change will be needed.

“Put simply, our vision is for a more sustainable agricultural industry where we produce a significant amount of our own food.

“Domestic food production is a critical part of our food security and that’s why we will be monitoring it every three years. 

“Our policy will be putting in place powerful incentives to support sustainable farming. This includes sensitive hedgerow management allowing hedgerows to recover, recognising them as the single most important ecological building block in the farmed landscape, and good stewardship of soils with a focus on soil health and biodiversity. But we must also note that there will be some land use change.”

The changes to land use includes targets of 10,000 hectares of new woodland creation per year and ambition to restore 300,000 hectares of habitats to their natural state.

With 50% of farmers already in some sort of countryside stewardship, Mr Eustice announced that the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) payment rates will rise by up to 30%. In addition, any livestock farmer who is currently a claimant of BPS will be entitled to a funded visit from a vet once a year to put in place an animal health strategy.

Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, outlined their plans for Welsh farmers to be leaders in sustainable food production.

“For us, we will create a new system of farm support so that we can really maximise the power of nature throughout farming. Our agricultural bill is key to meeting these ambitions. 

“Welsh farmers can continue to produce high quality food, whilst maintaining those very high production standards, but what we’re proposing is to ask our farmers to go further and we will provide support – both financial and advisory - through the Sustainable Farming Scheme to target outcomes in relation to environmental issues. At the moment, farmers are not currently rewarded for clean air, clean water and flood mitigation, so that’s what we’ll be looking at as part of our sustainable farming scheme.”

Meanwhile, Edwin Poots has issued a New Year Message detailing his priorities for the period ahead.

He explained: “Agriculture is the cornerstone of our rural economy - feeding our people and many more beyond our shores with the sector generating over £5 billion for our economy and the entire food supply chain employing over 100,000 people. It is vital for everyone that we succeed sustainably and globally.

“I recently launched a consultation on Future Agricultural Policy Proposals for Northern Irelandwhich offers for the first time in almost 50 years, a unique opportunity to collectively redefine our agricultural policy and target support to meet our local priorities more effectively.

“I want us all to work together to develop a sustainable agricultural industry in which all farmers are supported on an equitable basis to make best use of the assets at their disposal, and to invest in all forms of capita; physical, human and environmental; on their farms.”

Edwin Poots continued: “I also want to continue to further develop support schemes that provide opportunities for all of our farmers to become more efficient, resilient and environmentally sustainable and to maximise the returns for themselves and for society from the assets at their disposal.

“Climate change is the defining crisis of our time on a global and national scale and is a key priority for my Department and the Northern Ireland Executive. In 2021, the spotlight fell on Glasgow with the COP26 conference.

“Helping to showcase Northern Ireland at COP26 was a privilege. It enabled us to share our experiences including the development of the cross-cutting, multi-decade NI Executive draft Green Growth strategy. This sets out our long-term vision and a solid framework for tackling the climate crisis, helping us meet our targets, and making our fair contribution to the UK’s goal of achieving net zero by 2050. I also launched a consultation on our first ever overarching Environment Strategy at COP26.”

You can see the full article on page 37.