'˜Farmers need help to do more than grow food'

THE REPLACEMENT system for European Union subsidies should support farmers to carry out valuable work beyond food production, a former Yorkshire MP has told ministers.
Anne McIntoshAnne McIntosh
Anne McIntosh

Baroness Anne McIntosh said it was important future financial support helped farmers carry out tasks such as managing land used to hold flood water and maintaing the countryside.

Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has prompted a major debate over how farmers should be supported once they are no longer the subject of the Common Agricultural Policy.

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Speaking in the House of Lords, Baroness McIntosh, the former Thirsk, Malton and Filey MP, asked the Government to promise that “those farmers who farm in upland areas, in particular smaller farmers and those in less favoured areas, will attract the main support and that any farming support will be linked to active farming but will also recognise the work that farmers do in public good for the local community, such as retaining flood water”.

The Government is about to begin consultations on the future of support for farming and the environment.

Environment Minister Lord Gardiner said: We are looking forward to farming interests and all other interests making a contribution.

“We absolutely want a world-leading agricultural industry and an improved environment.

“The two can work hand in hand.”

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A recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies argued Britain’s departure from the EU was a major opportunity to shape a subsidy system better suited to the needs of British farming than CAP.

However, it also warned that Britain’s ambition to strike trade deals around the world could pose a challenge to UK agriculture because of the concessions other countries could seek which, in turn, could drive down the prices of British produce.