I've bought a Suit...

[Chris F]

The Oxford Farming Conference has become an important part of our diary now that @Clive and I are asked for ours (and TFFs) views on farming in general. So I've had to buy a suit and become one of the people I've always said I don't trust (men in suits always seem to cost me money in my experience )

So, now I have caved in to tradition, I can attend the event and see how our industry is viewed from the outside (or fringe) and have a chance to influence those same people. Obviously I have my own views, coming from a small organic livestock farm and I've learnt a lot about Direct Drilling being a content editor of the magazine.

But if you were put in the same room as Theresa Villiers (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) what would you say to her about what you would like to see changed in farming?

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Disband AHDB.... it's a complete waste of money .
Look closely at what RT expects of a producer (rules and regs) and then re-design it or abandon it .

 

[Brisel]

Will you set us free of the shackles of bureaucracy so the government can help us to help ourselves?

 

[Hfd Cattle]

And make sure she knows TFF exists and make it her daily reading !!

 

[puppet]

Will you set us free of the shackles of bureaucracy so the government can help us to help ourselves?

Can you list the shackles which should be removed?

 

[AT Aloss]

I'd like to know why the government is obsessed with sequestering carbon in the biomass of trees rather than in the soil - is it because you can see trees and it looks like the government is taking action? Willow coppice and energy grasses sequester 1.1t/ha of soil carbon over 4 years, even mixed species leys sequester 0.75 t/ha. Many crops (especially zero till established) sequester soil carbon faster than tree plantations. There's evidence that the effect on sequestered soil carbon of planting trees on grassland is at best neutral. When Robert Goodwill was asked at Groundswell what the Government's opinion of low carbon farming was he responded by suggesting it was about using less fossil fuel. Surely there's got to be more vision than that?

When is the Environment Agency going to be broken up and maintenance of all inland waterways going to be handed over to the Internal Drainage Boards?

 

[Chris F]

Disband AHDB.... it's a complete waste of money .
Look closely at what RT expects of a producer (rules and regs) and then re-design it or abandon it .

Personally I get to see a lot of good that the AHDB do, but agree they are poor at communicating all that good.

100% agree that Red Tractor is a disaster - Defra could certainly scrap it and build a new system that delivers for the consumer and the farmer.

 

[Chris F]

Will you set us free of the shackles of bureaucracy so the government can help us to help ourselves?

You want me to ask the government to be less government like? They revel in bureaucracy!

 

[Jackov Altraids]

I would plead one point, that given the hard lobbying by many different groups that want to impose their agenda on British farming, that they seek the practical and realistic implications of any change from actual farmers before they are adopted.

 

[newholland]

Agricultural plastic recycling and agricultural waste disposal needs to be made easier for a farmer to actually do / get done.

 

[Tim W]

Stop rewarding landowners simply for owning land ---& do it NOW-

 

[unlacedgecko]

Stop rewarding landowners simply for owning land ---& do it NOW-

I just can’t see it happening unfortunately.

 

[topground]

Will Theresa Villiers survive the reshuffle expected shortly?
Ask her or her successor what DEFRA will look like when Dominic Cummings has finished with it.

 

[Chris F]

I just can’t see it happening unfortunately.

Isn;t that exactly what the new Ag Bill is going to do?

 

[db9go]

I just can’t see it happening unfortunately.

I would not get your hopes up very much as she only has a few weeks in the job left ( Valentine days Massacre 14th of Feb )

 

[Bald Rick]

But if you were put in the same room as Theresa Villiers (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) what would you say to her ....

“Shall I give @Bald Rick another 10 TFF points, Theresa?”

You know you want to

 

[2wheels]

when i saw the heading i thought you were up in court.

 

[Sharpy]

Level playing field please. In other words ensure that produce brought into the country is not produced with artificial hormones (eg bst etc,) nor in systems we are banned from using (eg sow crates ) and plant based imports (cereals/veg/fruit) are not grown with chemicals we are banned from using.
I will have missed a few I am sure but everyone else please chip in.

 

[Brisel]

Can you list the shackles which should be removed?

How long have you got? I just want a level playing field and to be left to get on with it. By all means encourage wild flowers and hedges but don’t increase our costs of production then allow unrestricted imports from systems and materials illegal here.

 

[Steevo]

Level playing field please. In other words ensure that produce brought into the country is not produced with artificial hormones (eg bst etc,) nor in systems we are banned from using (eg sow crates ) and plant based imports (cereals/veg/fruit) are not grown with chemicals we are banned from using.
I will have missed a few I am sure but everyone else please chip in.

How long have you got? I just want a level playing field and to be left to get on with it. By all means encourage wild flowers and hedges but don’t increase our costs of production then allow unrestricted imports from systems and materials illegal here.

Summed up nicely!

A level playing field with imported produce is where we would all like to be at.

Either jack up the standards of imports to what we deem "acceptable".....or drop the petty regulation imposed on domestic production to the level we deem imports to be "acceptable". I'd be happy either way, but double standards achieves nothing at all.