Category: News

This poster summarises some impacts of the scheme for peer recognition of outstanding contributions to agricultural progress within the UK begun in 1970.

Peer recognition of excellence in Agriculture – Caras survey

 

Brexit is triggered. Below is a brief digest of thoughts distilled from those Fellows and Associates who kindly responded to the invitation in the July 2016 Newsletter to comment on agricultural policy matters. Lord Plumb, FRAgS quoted Churchill who said in 1953: “Thirty million people all living on an island where we produce enough food for, say, fifteen million, is a spectacle of majesty and insecurity this country can ill afford.”  David Richardson, OBE, FRAgS, founder chairman of LEAF wrote: ‘Caring wildlife conservation and environmental management can be balanced alongside and integrated with the priority of food production.’ What we have now with Brexit on the horizon, and the safety net of UK Government support until 2020, is an opportunity to shape a policy recognising that the needs of farming and of conservation are reconcilable. Sustainable agricultural policy must surely encompass the triple imperatives of viable farm livelihoods, integral environmental care and optimal UK food production.

It is now almost seventy years since the Economic Prebisch-Singer hypothesis was proposed, allowing some confidence in the validity of its assertion that the price of primary commodities declines relative to the price of manufactured goods over the long term, which causes the terms of trade of primary-product-based economies to deteriorate. John Lampitt, FRAgS concludes that there is thus an argument for a measure of public/government support for UK farming, simply because of the fundamental economic imbalance referred to in the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis, and the inherent difficulty for agriculture to survive entirely through private enterprise, especially in marginal areas. The public benefit of agriculture must be clearly articulated and, as ever, informed and motivated consumers are our best hope for justifying and achieving some such use of public money. However, the agricultural community represented within our fellowship is averse to ‘feather-bedding’ with undeserved hand-outs. Robert Campbell, MBE, FRAgS considers that farmers need to be seen as responding to public demands. We then need to outline the consequences of those demands in terms of their effect on inter-alia landscape and food supply, modify them appropriately and finally we then need to develop a ‘market’ to deliver these demands. Patrick Wrixon, ARAgS advises that we need to listen to our customers/the taxpayer before formulating policy: We need to recognise the power of the environmental/wildlife/biodiversity/human well-being benefits that farmers can provide. Both Defra and the NFU need to take a more integrated approach to policy. We will not win a battle of words with the ‘green NGOs’. Let us change our language and attitude to sell our stories (and produce). Collaboration not confrontation will get us a lot further. Negotiating/leading ‘fairer WTO policy for trading’ terms would help.

If the agenda of ‘Natural Capital’ is pursued with due sensitivity, it will result in farmers and land managers being rewarded for good management rather than subsidised. Natural Capital is to be harnessed on the basis of integral management incorporating conservation rather than unfettered exploitation. Policy emphases will be on rewards and enabling return on investment made by the landowner and manager, rather than on support and subsidy. In this connection, for the sake of UK agriculture’s competitiveness, there needs to be UK government’s revived investment in funding independent Research, Development and Extension based on due recognition of the vital role of agriculture in the real UK economy (e.g. contributing some £46 billion and employing 475,000 in 2015 according to Development Economics). Colin McGregor, FRAgS notes that the ‘UK currently imports half our food, making us extremely vulnerable. We must grow, process and buy more of our own Foods.  ‘Buy British’/‘Fortress UK’ must be the mentality!’ John Latham, FRAgS stressed that competitiveness will be critical to agricultural policy. All current and future regulation will need to be critically appraised for the impact on our competitiveness. We will need a viable science-based, practitioner-informed agriculture. Consumer led and collaborative supply chains are needed to help protect and develop the agri-food sector. Environmentally sensitive practice is crucial. In addition, as Hugh Oliver-Bellasis, FRAgS points out, the UK government needs to understand the influence of inheritance and capital gains taxation policy on land prices, ownership and farming.

Professor Sir John Marsh, CBE, FRAgS offered the following key practical points to consider post-Brexit:

1. At what price in sterling will imports be available?

A. Since prices are set in dollars we need a perspective on $/£ rates & on world market prices.

B. We know that prices will be volatile.  In real terms they seem more likely to rise modestly in the long term.

2. At what price will UK farmers be able to access resources?

A. Barriers to immigration are likely to raise costs for labour intensive sectors (unless seasonal worker derogations are implemented)

B. Capital access will depend on the state of the economy.  Attempts to shore up growth are likely to raise land prices – a relatively safe haven.

I. Environmental policies that may restrict land use and impede some production systems (but new payments for Ecosystem Services need to accrue also…).
II. The market demand for land outside farming – not only housing and roads, but leisure, heritage, industrial growth.
III. The prices farmers are able to pay for rent depending on their profitability and the risks involved in making investments that have a long life in a market that fluctuates.

3. This provides a basis for assessing the likely equilibrium level of agricultural production.  There then follows other questions?

A. Does this amount to a secure food supply? If not what options exist e g.

I. Public policy that takes a share of the risk of price fluctuation
II. Public policy designed to increase output beyond the level the market will support.
III. Public policy focussing on the food chain – making sure that there is a supply – whether from home or overseas sources – that can deliver basic nutritional needs,  possibly including some rationing scheme.

B. No UK government will want to allow food prices to consumers to rise.  Bargaining power outside the EU could provide leverage for highly competitive external supplies.

In this last connection, banker Nigel Davies FRAgS wrote: ‘We need to make sure that Agriculturalists are among the Trade Negotiators.  We need to understand the value of UK Agriculture’s products to those from overseas that we are negotiating with, so that it doesn’t get given away too cheaply as part of a package tied in with other goods. The more the value of UK Agriculture can be heightened as a bargaining chip within the whole, the better.’ Christopher Jones, MBE, FRAgS wrote, ‘the UK’s priorities and objectives in negotiating  agreement should be enhancement of the common good on both sides of the Atlantic, rather than an increase in the wealth and power over food and environment of a handful of huge companies. The Prime Minister is not alone in thinking that many have felt little benefit from increasing world trade. Agriculture, practised by large numbers of comparatively small businesses, is peculiarly vulnerable to trade deals if they are not negotiated with food and farming in mind. Statistically it may look like a small percentage of UK consumption, but it is a percentage that is peculiarly difficult to manage without.’ Legislation in the USA protects the right of local authorities to procure food locally, and so should be done in the UK. George Dunn, FRAgS concluded that we must make the most of our new found freedoms on issues like public food procurement, import substitution, labelling and export promotion while retaining the current farming expenditure but delivering it through a new three-pronged policy providing public goods, achieving farm business resilience, and developing domestic and international markets.

The Report produced for the English Panel and edited by Chris Bourchier, FRAgS summarised the strategic leadership we can offer in a rapidly changing world: ‘The Fellowship has the opportunity to make a real and positive difference for the benefit of ‘UK plc’.  Guiding principles should include:

• Adding real value by targeting intellectual ‘gaps’.

• Encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, catalysing positive change.

• Delivering holistic perspectives to inform and educate, but never lobby (as an organisation).

• Motivating and inspiring a positive attitude in all generations.

• Ensuring independence at all times.’

Advocacy is not the same as lobbying! Let’s advocate for agriculture! We can also take encouragement that between us we are strategically placed to influence agricultural policies, and sometimes to formulate them.

Compiled by Prof. E. John Wibberley, Hon.Sec. of CARAS

At the CARAS AGM held in Llangollen on 7th April Terrig Morgan FRAgS was appointed Chairman of CARAS for the next two years. Terrig took over the role from previous English Chairman Rosie Carne.

The chairmanship of CARAS is held for a two year term by each Country, Rosie having taken over from Will Taylor of Northern Ireland in 2015.

The CARAS Council congratulated Terrig Morgan on his appointment.

Dear Members,

I feel so privileged to have been the Chairman of CARAS and look back over my two year term with great affection. The highlights have undoubtedly been the Awards presentations at – in calendar date order- the House of Lords for England, the Balmoral Show for Northern Ireland, the Royal Highland Show for Scotland and the Royal Welsh Show for Wales. Reading the applications and citations for our newly recognised Associates and Fellows should give our industry great confidence in the wealth of creative talent we have in the farming industry. Talent which needs to be harnessed to effectively impact the public, policy-makers and the research and development agenda.

It is very worrying to read that so far there has been a lack of farming representation in the meetings arranged with the UK Department for International Trade (DIT). A real fear that new trade deals could be at the expense of domestic producers. When choosing to buy British food, British consumers can have confidence in the safety, quality and high standards of animal welfare in the production of that food. Food grown with environmental responsibility. This confidence in safe food could be diluted if trade liberalisation and a move to global commodity trading and the reduction or elimination of trade barriers is encouraged to: “get a deal”.

I know that each National panel has arranged a 2017 programme of visits, meetings and conferences-  please support them and think how best to promote the findings to take our industry forward – vital, if current agricultural productivity is to flourish to feed the needs of the future.  Recently Professors’ John Wibberley and Malcolm Stansfield undertook a survey of the membership to evaluate the impact of these Awards in motivating excellence for UK agricultural progress and public benefit. CARAS has yet to distil the findings but what I can share with you in advance is: “In all cases, the aspect of enjoyment of their membership rated consistently highly!”

Many of you are industry leaders already actively involved in our industry’s future – please mobilise our network of members – who were “recognized for personal contribution – to the understanding, further efficiency and well-being of agriculture, and land-based industries within the UK”. The Secretary of State Andrea Leadsum has declared five Government Principles: Trade, Productivity/innovation, Environment, Animal Welfare, and Resilience. It is crucial these principles are integrated and not allowed to exist in separate silos. We all can be part of delivering the best solution.

In April 2017 I pass the Chairman’s ‘baton’ (actually a beautiful enamel badge) to Terrig Morgan to lead our organisation for the next two years. As I write, Article 50 has not been triggered but by the time you read this it probably has been and we are in the uncertain times of BREXIT negotiations.

Talk of fractured relations between Westminster and the other National administrations can only make things worse….. It is so important the UK food and farming industry remains together, speaking with one voice.

Best wishes 

Rosie Carne BSc FRAgS  FGAJ

Chairman of CARAS 2015-2017

Recently Professors’ John Wibberley and Malcolm Stansfield undertook a survey of the membership to evaluate the impact of our Awards in motivating excellence for UK agricultural progress and public benefit.

A simple, one side of A4 questionnaire was sent out in January 2017 to all Fellows and Associates of Royal Agricultural Societies in the UK (just over 1200), with a stamped addressed envelope for ease of reply. Members were given over three weeks to respond. Almost 600 responded.

CARAS has yet to distil and consider the findings but what I can share with you in advance is:

• In all cases, the aspect of enjoyment of their membership rated consistently highly!
• There is a strong sense that this pool of talent needs to be harnessed to impact the public, policy-makers and the research and development agenda more effectively. With BREXIT LOOMING YOU COULD SAY THIS HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT. AGRICULTURE & THE FOOD & FARMING INDUSTRY MUST BE AT THE BREXIT TABLE.
  • Though it is recognized that many who hold CARAS awards are already engaged through many other agricultural and rural organizations and thus exert their influence, and already maximize the ‘reach’ of CARAS.
  • Also – collectively – members of the Fellowship across the UK do act as independent custodians of the cause of agricultural and rural progress.

At the recent NFU Conference Defra Secretary Andrea Leadsom reiterated the 5 Government Principles: Trade, Productivity/innovation, Environment, Animal Welfare, and Resilience. Crucial these principles are integrated into policy and not allowed to exist in silos.

• Our activities stimulate and encourage further excellence of contributions from its recognized members
• The ‘public understanding’ category – about the understanding of the CARAS scheme by outsiders – was considered deficient by all. Given that applicants are invited – one might question how important it is for outsiders to know about the scheme….?
  • On the other hand- if its existence can inspire people in agriculture to aspire to contribute significantly to agricultural progress, then its existence and standards need to be better known.

This is a challenge and your CARAS Council will be considering how to address the findings. Watch this space!

Rosie Carne – Chairman of CARAS

 

It might be thought unashamed advertising that I choose this title since it belongs to the School of Agriculture, Policy & Development at The University of Reading – my alma mater where I am now a Visiting Professor. However, the linkage of these three words is especially crucial at this time as we review and chart our way forward as an independent country post-Brexit. Agriculture comprehensively defined must remain foundational to our rural and national economy through environmentally astute land management. Ways must be devised of financially rewarding and recognising farmland and forestry’s overall contributions to ecosystem security, not simply related to traditional farm production alone. Policy must take account of all factors relevant to the long-term public good and provide due reward for those who deliver it within agriculture. Development must be duly scrutinised in terms of unfettered encouragement of proper enterprise but with due regard to precautionary principles in terms of the long-term interests of the nation and of our grandchildren.

Within our Fellowship of Royal Agricultural Societies, we have members whose experience and contributions already encompass all three aspects of progress – in agriculture, policy and development. Practitioners, researchers, policy-makers and influencers of policy-making can all make a contribution to the formulation of agricultural and land-based policies during the forthcoming transitional phase of two years or so as the UK develops new arrangements. These arrangements must include maintenance of the highest standards in our own agricultural produce while filtering out from our imports anything produced in sub-standard ways in terms of animal welfare or cropping practices. Between us, we have a responsibility to raise the voice of rural realities and to promote factors influencing viable rural livelihoods in a predominantly urbanised society. We need to allay the fears of those who have assumed that Britain without EU countries having a higher proportion of farmers in their populations will ignore or marginalise farming support. Some years ago now, the Women’s Institute published posters announcing ‘Farming is Everyone’s Business’. That case has to be made strongly now in an independent UK. Communicating it effectively, as does Hamish Dykes ARAgS in Scotland through TV and other means, is vital for all and there are many innovative ways this happens via members, including Tractor Ted by David Horler ARAgS in England, and at Pennywell Farm in Devon run by Chris Murray FRAgS with its farm-based activities business. Engaging with our local authorities in their food-sourcing is part of this process, as done by Kate Morgan FRAgS in Wales, and by championing local food as does Michèle Shirlow ARAgS in this Northern Ireland’s inaugural Year of NI Food & Drink. Parallel work is being led by Ray Jones FRAgS in Scotland. We need to go further with the past decade’s efforts to ‘build the middle’ in the food chain by adding value to farm produce and providing more local foods. Innovative marketing of vegetables led to the recent award of Tracy Hamilton ARAgS in Northern Ireland with her highly successful Mash Direct since 2004 with its turnover of £15 million through both local and global sales. Our members who own land and farm have done much to enhance the countryside in outstanding ways, including the late Tecwyn Evans FRAgS in North Wales. I was privileged this past summer to again visit the estates within the North Wessex Downs AONB in England managed by Chris Musgrave FRAgS where he was instrumental in catalysing the only private initiative towards nature conservation across whole landscapes by collaboration among neighbouring farms in response to the challenge fund put out by Richard Benyon MP, ARAgS while he was Minister.

John Wibberley
Professor of Comparative Agriculture & Rural Extension

2016 is the UN International Year of Pulses – more later. 2015 had all year to hail soils as The UN International Year of Soils! Since soils yield 95% of our global diet, plus many other ecosystem services (carbon capture, water filtration and storage, ‘culture’…) it is self-evident that they’re the basis of all farming systems and ‘where the answers lie’ gifting true sustainability. Towards the close of 2015, Defra sought contributions to its separately announced consultations seeking views on a 25 year Vision for Agriculture, and another 25 year Vision for Environment (2015-2040). It seemed to me that these could not and should not be treated ‘in separate silos’. Accordingly, I submitted a concise Paper, which is summarised below. Of course, Members of the CARAS Fellowship will have different Visions of the future and would express these in other words than those below. However, this was offered to promote among us: thought, discussion and – hopefully – progress.

1. In a world of some 7.25 billion; 1 in 8 hungry; up to 500 million farming families, these are hopeful times for farming when our UK and each country’s Agriculture must again become central in Ecosystem Security including landscape, livelihoods and rural communities
    People are integral to global environmental management & Civil Society needs to be mobilised accordingly
2. An enabling, simple and understanding governance framework is needed both within the UK and in taking international leadership with Defra alongside DFID in raising agriculture’s world-wide profile.
   International issues require concerted leadership:- climate change mitigation & adaptation, soil & sea care
3. Further encouragement of Food Chain linkages is merited from ‘land to mouth’ in all countries.
   Whole systems approaches need analysis & monitoring for environmental impacts, both negative & positive
4. Relationships between farmers and government need to nurtured. Better TB control is vital in this, as are initiatives to catalyse Farmer Networks and to strengthen Farmer Sovereignty in decision-making and voluntary collaboration for resilience.
   Environmental good practice is only deliverable through positive relationships with farmers & local people
5. Reintroduction of Regional Advisory Panels/Fora of Farmers and objective rural Practitioners would help to harness the pool of experience, professionalism & good will for UK agricultural progress.
   Engaging with over-arching experience & wisdom of communities is vital + specialisms alongside to inform
6. Great caution needs to be exercised regarding GM technology. A principal issue is its potential to erode farmers’ control over their natural resources, including timely availability of seeds & intergenerational selection from a wide gene-pool of crops & livestock breeds. Research on GM needs to be independently and not commercially funded (NB. USA RR soya & maize issues). Other improved technologies within agro-ecologically mixed frameworks offer much greater scope e.g. use of gene markers, composite crosses; precision aids, low ground-pressure, less oil-dependent farming; conservation agriculture (globally adopted more than yet in UK).
   Agro-ecological approaches are sustainable; technology innovations need objective, precautionary research
7. Energy-efficiency needs to become the accepted baseline technical criterion for comparing alternative agricultural systems and in encouraging & evaluating integrated rural development & resilience.
   Energy-efficiency on a planet ‘big picture’ basis needs analysis, monitoring, & ‘best practice’ guidelines
8. Renewable Energy sources notably micro-hydro need an enabling planning environment but beware biofuel crops & solar-panelled arable when reasonably-priced food is increasingly important worldwide.
   Renewable energy contests with priority land uses need cataloguing, strategic appraisal and management
9. Encourage special schemes for family-worked farms and ‘territorial succession’, including using revised National planning laws that once unduly restricted housing retired farmers on their own farms.
   Cultural heritage is a vital part of ecosystem services and environmental integrity for future generations
10. Explore modulation using satellite-maps based on real land area to take account of the greater costs and difficulties of farming uplands & steep slopes. Retain, simplify & improve upland support from 2015.
    Conserve Family farms & coastal/marine communities retaining those ‘there to care’ vs. displacement costs
11. The UK needs to assume a clear leadership role in reform of WTO trading rules and versus land-grabbing so that genuine, private enterprise of smaller farms and rural micro-businesses is not ruined.
    Fairer International Agricultural Trading (FIAT) is required to counter adverse environmental impacts
12. The UK needs to lead in improving sustainability of global farming practices/farm livelihoods, rewarding farmers for ‘comprehensive Ecosystem Security’ i.e. food, timber plus clean water, carbon capture, and other income streams from therapeutic, recreational/touristic & heritage/cultural values of land.
    Ecosystem Security needs to be embraced & templated as over-arching Environmental Management Vision.

Whatever the outcome of the June 23rd 2016 EU Referendum here in the UK, future policies will need to pay due regard to the imperatives of agricultural livelihood viability and associated environmental management care. This is crucial for the public benefit that all of us in agriculture must surely strive to serve. While it is the clear mandate of CARAS to seek to recognise outstanding contributions to UK agricultural progress, our Awards of ARAgS and FRAgS are intended to spur us on to further effort for the common good.

E. John Wibberley, April 2016