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Agricultural Policy

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point, but he of course overlooks the fact that the Farmers Union of Wales—great union though it is—is not the only representative of farming in Wales, and plenty of farmers are represented admirably by other organisations. Might I also, in the former Secretary of State’s absence, mention the Minister who was here this morning, the Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Mr Paice)? I have spent a lot of time with the Minister in Wales, and last time he visited south and west Wales he had a broken leg and was in plaster most of the time. It is refreshing to have a Minister who really does have an interest and knowledge. I do not think that any of us, on either side of the House, could doubt the commitment he attaches to agriculture, not only in a UK context but in a Welsh one too. I suppose I should start, although I do not think that I am obliged to, by declaring some sort of an interest. My father and uncle were dairy farmers, as is my brother-in-law, and my wife is the daughter of a dairy farmer. I am steeped in dairy farming in Wales and elsewhere, and during 28 of the 30 years that I have been employed I have been involved in the rural sector in one form or another. Whether that gives me any qualification to talk in this debate, I do not know. Some might say that it almost makes me too close. I think that it gives me an insight into the trials and tribulations and the pleasures and delights of rural Britain, and of rural Wales in particular. I want to touch, as have other Members, on what, to me, makes farming and agriculture in the rural community so special. Of course, I can speak only for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, but I think that what I say will resonate with Members around the room and beyond. There can be few people making a more significant contribution to rural employment than those in our farming and agriculture industries and their related offshoots. Few people can be so central to tourism, particularly in south and west Wales, and I say that knowing how many farmers, partly through desire and partly through purely economic circumstances, have been forced to get involved in other diversification industries—tourism in particular. And don’t they do it well? Sometimes we hear, as we did this morning from the former Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Neath, a rather gloomy assessment of agriculture, food production and farming in Wales, but there are plenty of examples that are far from gloomy. The enthusiasm, professionalism and entrepreneurship shown by farmers in embracing new skills and industries, particularly tourism, in south-west Wales, should be cherished and recognised, and the former Secretary of State ignores it at his peril. All of us also ignore at our peril the contribution that our farmers have made in terms of environmental stewardship. For so many people, environmental stewardship is an expression invented by the European Union, or by politicians. In fact, environmental stewardship, with a small ““e”” and a small ““s””, has been part and parcel of farming, and in the DNA of farmers in Wales, for hundreds if not thousands of years. The idea that we suddenly have to tell people that they have to become environmental stewards is a mystery to those who view the management of their farms as an absolute responsibility, notwithstanding the economic and legal pressures. They see it as an absolute, fundamental responsibility to steward the land, not only for their own benefit and the benefit of their families, but for the wider benefit of anybody lucky enough to visit our country. Once in a while, I suspect it would do the House no harm to recognise that contribution, which is made largely at no cost whatever to the taxpayer. Purely and simply, the important contribution of food production in Wales is all too frequently overlooked. There is a bumper sticker in the US that says simply: ““No farmers, no food.”” That is a clear indication of the importance the US attaches to its farming industry. Of all the stewardship schemes and environmental projects that farmers are required, and occasionally want, to engage in, none is more important than producing good quality affordable food; not only for our citizens, but for export too. They do it pretty well, often despite, rather than because of, the contribution of politicians and Government. Lastly on this point is the social and cultural value that we should attach to farming, food production, environmental stewardship and communities that are often bound together by the great sense of history and tradition that is afforded by our farmers and landowners, large or small. There is not a rural community represented by anybody in this room, or indeed by anybody in Parliament, which is not enhanced and glued together by the contribution of our agricultural sector. Are we actually helping our farmers, landowners and food producers with the policies of the UK Government and of Governments from further afield, or are we hindering them? I want to echo the comment—sadly, I cannot remember which hon. Member made it—about the spirit of co-operation that exists between our colleagues in the Welsh Government, the Wales Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which was represented by the Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for South East Cambridgeshire, this morning. There is a sense of positive co-operation. I hope that the Committee will forgive me if I touch on just one small, detailed part of common agricultural policy reform. In Wales, the idea that a one-size-fits-all European solution might apply positively and fairly to our farmers is met with a rather quizzical look, particularly the proposal for permanent pastures. I can point to a number of farmers in west Wales who, as part of their farming regime, look to replace their grassland approximately every seven or eight years, which they would be unable to do under proposals that would render it as permanent pasture after five years. I can see no argument to justify that. It will impose an unnecessary and non-evidence-based regime on farmers who already conduct their crop rotation or grassland management in a perfectly sensible, sustainable and creative way. There is also the proposal that a farmer who owns or occupies in excess of three hectares may have to have three different crops. I will not quote the exact statistic, but the idea that small producers in parts of west Wales will be required to grow crops, when they are capable of assessing for themselves whether it would be effective, is nonsense. The idea that they will have to alter their entire farming practice, often introducing practice that is simply not suitable for some of the topography and geography of west Wales, is one of the suggestions that I hope the Wales Office and the Government collectively can argue with our colleagues in the Welsh Government to alter. Almost finally, there is the question of the grocery adjudicator, which has been raised by a number of hon. Members on both sides of the House. We need to be careful about being accused of inactivity in that regard because it was, of course, an election pledge that we made with great clarity in the run-up to May 2010. Although these things always take longer to implement than we think, we need to recognise the fact that time is ticking on and that very clear commitment has not yet found its way on to the statute book in a way that benefits farmers and producers. The dairy industry is particularly anxious to see that matter resolved as soon as possible. I mentioned my interest in the dairy industry, for which I gain no financial reward. However one considers the Welsh dairy industry, one inevitably recognises that despite the enthusiastic defence supermarkets make of their marketing, Welsh farmers producing milk or other dairy products are significantly disadvantaged as a result of the current regime. Unless we change that, even more good producers with great potential will decide that it is simply not worth the candle. Looking around the two counties with which I am familiar, it is a tragedy to see that people who want to stay in farming, who have the skills to stay in farming and the desire to produce good quality products for the nation simply cannot do it because they are being slowly strangled. They may not be strangled today, but they simply cannot obtain the finance necessary to invest the amount of money that they need to bring their businesses to the environmental and hygiene standards necessary in the 21st century. Those people will go out of farming, and it will be a loss to farming and Wales.