Politics

Farmers who do not receive proper support during the Brexit transition period may face serious identity crises, the chief executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission has said.

The food security reviews Government is legally obliged to carry out by the Agriculture Bill will inform future farming policy, Defra Minister Victoria Prentis has confirmed.

Farmers are being urged to explore the opportunity of making money on private natural capital markets as Government spending on the coronavirus pandemic continues to spiral.

Farm groups are very focused on trade policy, but their time would be better spent pushing for farmers to get a fairer price for their food, says Cornish lamb and beef farmer Rona Amiss.

The Conservatives have been clear – they will not allow our food standards to be undermined in trade deals, says Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Tory Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Agriculture Bill contains much good, but I hope we in the Lords can improve it in the areas of transition, productivity, support for tenants, food security and health, says Lord Donald Curry.

The UK is the world’s third largest exporter of sheep meat and provides a range of environmental benefits, but in order to retain this stellar record, we need a trade deal with the EU, says NSA chief executive Phil Stocker.

Farming Minister Victoria Prentis has rejected the NFU’s call for a Trade Commission to explore ways to protect food production standards in UK trade policy.

An agricultural think tank has warned commercial farming is being ‘written out’ of emerging post-Brexit policy, despite the fact that fewer than 10 per cent of farm businesses produce over half the UK’s agricultural output.

EU farm and food chain groups have called for temporary arrangements to be put in place to protect trade with the UK in the event that a free trade deal cannot be agreed by the end of the year.