The Small Farm Future Blog

STOP PRESS! DEFRA and the bleedin’ obvious

Posted on April 2, 2013 | 2 Comments

DEFRA are conducting an industry-sponsored consultation on why there is a lack of new entrants into farming, and what can be done about it.

I hate to be cynical (no, really I do), but here’s a few wild top of the head punts on my part as to the lack of new entrants: agricultural land costs way more than anyone can ever make back by farming it, old farm buildings have been converted into residences for people who don’t farm, the planning system prevents people who do farm from building new residences, many farmers get paid less than the costs of production for their produce and have to rely on the CAP subsidy regimen to stay afloat, the CAP subsidy regimen systematically favours large scale existing farms and farmers, global trading rules systematically favour areas of cheap labour, modern farming systems typically require huge investment in expensive and labour-shedding capital equipment, the food chain is structured so that farmers take most of the risks but gain few of the rewards, the county farm system is in ruins, with many councils selling off their farmland assets on the open market, and meanwhile farming faces persistent stereotypes of being back-breaking, menial or anti-ecological. The result of all this is that farmers generally have to work long hours for little reward, job creation is minimal, not many people want to enter the sector anyway, and there are few opportunities to do so for those that do.

Owen Paterson at DEFRA has gone on record as saying that he wants to do everything in his power to make it easy for rural businesses to thrive, but there seems to be very little policy movement on any of the above points which could actually make a difference. Still, there’s no point just moaning – fill out the survey and let DEFRA know your views. Perhaps collectively we can bring the whole rotten edifice of the existing farming system crashing down, making it possible to farm properly in Britain again and making farming an attractive career – at any rate, we have nothing to lose but our claims chains. You have until 5 April. Go forth!