Mark Casci: If we are to feed future generations, politicians must listen to the farmers

The food spikes of two years ago, the outrage over food miles and the growing awareness of just how ethical and professional our nation's farmers are in comparison to the rest of the world, have made

agriculture one of the country's most respected professions.

Indeed, a poll conducted last year showed that only doctors and nurses were more highly thought of and that farmers had a higher job approval rating then the recently sworn-in Barack Obama – high praise indeed.

Retailers are now falling over themselves to label all of their products as being "Made in Britain" and "Produced on British farms" as increasingly savvy consumers continue to demand that their food not be imported from half-way round the world when it can be produced to

higher standards of welfare, and taste, just down the road.

Politicians, too, are beginning to take notice.

Rewind just five years and British farmers, who have proudly and ably fed the nation through good times and bad for centuries, were told that, effectively, they were no better than park rangers.

Britain, implied the Government, was wealthy enough to simply import our food from abroad, and farming should be relegated to keeping the countryside nice and tidy for tourism reasons.

Yet each of the main political parties will line up today and tomorrow to tell the nation's farming community how they can ensure a bright, profitable and sustainable future for British agriculture. They will stand at the podium and wax lyrical about the virtues of British food and emphasise the importance of the British farmer in modern society.

The change in attitudes has been staggering, and is in no short measure due to the fine and hard work and campaigning undertaken by the modern and dynamic figures from within the NFU itself and from other farming organisations. This was underlined clearly last year. Rather than adopting a system forcing farmers to devote part of their land to conservation, the NFU persuaded Defra to adopt a voluntary system.

The fact that Defra secretary, and Leeds MP Hilary Benn – unfairly maligned by many upon his appointment for his vegetarianism – listened to the views of the nation's farming industry, and took them on board, illustrated that our leaders are getting the point that farming really does matter in 2010.

The old political clich that politicians do not get to choose the issues of a campaign – voters do – is clearly and broadly illustrated by the changing attitudes our elected officials are showing to the industry. And with a general election due soon, this year's NFU

conference will inevitably be more political than ever.

However, rather than offer politicians the chance to simply gain free air time to extol the wisdom of their policies, the NFU is giving its members the chance to quiz them directly at a Question Time-style debate.

They will have a lot to talk about. One of the reasons farming is so crucial to politicians these days is because they have woken up to the fact that Britain's population is growing and that these people will need food to eat.

Simultaneously, Britain's farming industry is going through a drive to lower its carbon emissions.

It is a daunting task, and one that Britain's farmers are ready to take on. Officials and members of the NFU will talk at length about how to make sure that not only do we feed our planet well and ethically, but that this is achieved in a manner which ensures a vibrant and buoyant farming industry which forms a vital part of the economy.

They will tell the politicians that, as a country, the number of dairy farms in operation has halved in just 10 years. They will tell them that dairy farmers are quitting the industry at a rate of two a day. They will tell them that, despite just breaking even in many cases, dairy farmers are being told to invest in hugely expensive new

equipment to comply with new eco-laws.

Politicians will also be told that bovine TB is crippling many livestock and dairy farmers to the point where they fear each passing day will see their herd infected and wiped out, along with their livelihoods.

They will also hear about our uplands, places like the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, where farmers are expected to get by on 5,000 a year.

They will also be told that the Single Farm Payment system, subsidies from Europe to ensure that farmers' incomes are not wholly reliant on production and the whims of the weather, is malfunctioning badly and needs to be addressed. They will tell them what we all know – this situation cannot go on if we want to be self-sufficient in food production.

Britain's task of producing more and wasting less means agriculture is an area that will require keen attention, and the answers will not be found in a Whitehall think-tank or in Westminster village tittle-tattle over the caf lattes.

It will be found by listening to what farmers are telling them.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Earth looked to farmers to help feed and sustain a planet with rising birth rates and longer life spans.

The result was a green revolution, a transformation in agricultural production which increased yields by phenomenal levels and prevented famine and hunger on an unimaginable scale.

Today, that challenge exists again and it must be left to British and world farmers to lead the charge to meet the challenge, rather than be dictated to from the uninformed bunker of Westminster offices.

Let us hope that the politicians are listening intently, and that the next Government puts into practice the key conclusions of this week. The ability of us, and our children, to feed ourselves, will rest upon it.

Mark Casci is the Yorkshire Post's agricultural correspondent.