Anne McIntosh: Helping the hill farmers in their uphill struggle

In its latest report, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, which I chair, has warned Defra that it must decide whether farming is to be maintained as the central activity for our upland communities and, if so, set out how this is to be achieved in their forthcoming ‘statement of intent’ for the uplands.

In its recent inquiry into Farming in the Uplands, the committee set out to examine many of the issues highlighted by the Commission for Rural Communities in its recent report, High grounds, high potential: the future for England’s uplands communities (published in June 2010). We hope our work will influence the approach taken by Defra in its uplands strategy.

Having grown up in the hills of Teesdale and now representing the uplands area in Thirsk, Malton and Filey, I am acutely aware of the challenges facing hill farmers.

As several of our witnesses made plain, upland communities need action from the Government. I want Defra to produce a robust action plan setting out the Government’s objectives and how it will achieve them, the resources to be made available and the timetable for implementation.

The challenge for Ministers is to find a way to reward landowners and tenants for delivering significant public benefits while preserving our upland communities and their farming way of life.

Some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes depend entirely on hill farming or else we risk seeing the significant decline of many valuable habitats What would the impact of our recommendations be for hill farmers in North Yorkshire, across the region or indeed for upland areas in other parts of the country?

The Government must find a better way to pay farmers to maintain our unique upland landscapes. Farmers in the uplands already do a huge amount of unpaid work that delivers environmental, social and economic benefits far beyond their immediate communities. The nation must invest in these activities or risk losing these benefits in the long-term.

Ministers should consider whether subsidies for hill farmers linked to the number of livestock they keep, might provide a simpler and fairer way to tackle rural hardship while preserving the nation’s most dramatic and cherished landscapes.

These headage payments would need to be coupled with appropriate environmental safeguards but could help provide a decent income for hard-pressed hill farmers,.

More intervention is also required to ensure upland communities gain better access to superfast broadband and affordable housing.

Farmers should be able to make money from managing the land in ways that provide benefits to society such as clean water. The ‘Slowing the Flow’ pilot scheme in Pickering is an excellent example of how this might work in practice.

Once the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) like Yorkshire Forward have been abolished, it is vital the Government makes sure that farmers can still access rural development funding. The committee has pointed out that a ‘one-stop-shop’ for rural funding would make it simpler and easier for upland communities to tap into the available funding, particularly from the EU.

We recommend that the Local Enterprise Partnerships could take over some of the delivery of grants in the future, once they have demonstrated that they have sufficient interest and skills to meet the needs of rural businesses.

National Parks are genuine treasures enjoyed by millions of local residents and visitors. They are also living, working landscapes created by farmers over many generations. The National Park authorities need to have greater regard for providing social and economic opportunities within their boundaries, alongside efforts to conserve their natural beauty.

This is not the end of the debate on the future of farming in the uplands. We also believe that reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is central to the prospects for upland farmers.

Our next piece of work is to consider the European Commission’s proposals for CAP reform. We appreciate there is a huge variety of agriculture within the UK. We hope the Government is similarly alert to the needs of all UK farmers.

We look forward to the Government’s announcement on hill farming and urge Defra to set out clear policies that will help uplands communities meet present and future challenges.

Anne McIntosh is the Conservative MP for Thirsk, Malton and Filey, and chairman of the House of Commons environment select committee.