Brexit

Food security, just a few weeks ago in happier times when Parliament was discussing the Agriculture Bill line-by-line, the Farming Minister and I slugged it out over food security, and frankly, very few people noticed, says Labour’s Shadow Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner.

2020 started badly, and has only got worse since, but it still has the potential to go out on a high, says Leicestershire arable and beef farmer Joe Stanley.

The coronavirus crisis has exposed the Government’s failure to think about food policy, and it needs to be properly considered now, says Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City, University of London.

When the coronavirus has been brought under control, politicians must take stock and recognise the importance of food security, says Robert Largan, Conservative MP for High Peak.

Defra Ministers are ‘in constant discussion’ with industry about delaying the phase out of direct payments, as the Agriculture Bill faces a fresh hold up due to the coronavirus epidemic.

No farm should face the prospect of losing more than a quarter of its direct payment before the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is up and running, the CLA has said.

With Brexit negotiations now effectively on hold as result of the coronavirus outbreak, NFU director of EU exit and international trade Nick Von Westenholz has warned the transition period must be extended.

Whatever seemed relevant two months ago, perhaps only two weeks ago, has been turned on its head. None of us really knows what’s going on now, but the impact on everybody and everything is impossible to second-guess, says Oliver Dowding, arable farmer and agricultural spokesman for the Green Party in the south west.

While farmers tend to experience isolation from the very nature of their lifestyle and work schedule, communication is key to tackling coronavirus and we must all reach out and show concern, says Baroness Anne McIntosh of Pickering.

With the current existential threat of the coronavirus pandemic, we must ‘pause for thought’ in considering our future policy for food and farming outside EU rules and regulations, says George Dunn, Tenants Farmers Association chief executive.