Agriculture

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 8:28 pm on 8 March 2000.

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Photo of Baroness Byford Baroness Byford Conservative 8:28, 8 March 2000

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, has introduced this debate at an opportune moment. He referred to the potential of non-food crops, which we debated in this House last Friday. They have a role and a future, but although this is welcome, they still form only a comparatively small part of the overall farming scenario.

The contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, clearly emphasised the continuing crisis that faces farmers today. However the Government try to portray life in rural areas, they cannot but accept that many farmers and their families face problems of unacceptable proportions. I declare my family farming interest.

As other noble Lords have said, farm incomes have plummeted. The NFU mentions an average of £16,250 for 1997-98, of which £5,000 is pensions, benefits and off-farm earnings. The figures for 1998-99 have halved to an average income of £8,000. I believe that they are due to halve again. Today one of my noble friends mentioned a farmer's income of 72p an hour. Where is the minimum wage there? For many there is little farm income, and for some, none.

On Wednesday of last week I attended a meeting of the Church Synod, where the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Hereford moved a debate which recognised the current crisis in agriculture and how that was reflected in the wider rural community. Speaker after speaker spoke from personal experience. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Carlisle, who is not in his seat, spoke of the bleakness of his diocese; of farming at an all-time low; of Sellafield under threat; of the shipbuilding industry under pressure. Where will alternative jobs come from if employment in agriculture continues to shrink? Many noble Lords have given similar examples today.

While the Church Synod was meeting at Church House, the pig farmers had their meeting in Westminster--not across in Parliament Square--to raise the issue of their demise with parliamentarians. I was somewhat anxious when I understood that no one from the Government was able to attend. Why? At a time such as this that was very unfortunate. However, like other noble Lords, I am pleased to have heard today that the Prime Minister will be meeting leaders of the industry. One hopes that the issue of its demise will at least be discussed and matters moved forward.

We were asked what we would do. What should the Government do? They can do several things. They can act immediately to implement all the recommendations of the three reports which have just been completed--Looking into Red Tape, IACS Payments and the Future of the Intervention Board. This would be a welcome move and would ease many burdens on farmers.

The Government can look at all proposed legislation and calculate the implementation costs for our farmers. The Prime Minister has announced that there will be no pesticide tax at present. We welcome that. But when the government moratorium ends, IPPC charges will impose extra costs on our pig and poultry producing farmers. This charge does not have to come into force across the EU until 2007.

Will the Government think again about applying the climate change levy, which will obviously have great implications for our fruit and vegetable growers? Are other countries imposing such charges on their horticulture businesses? There is also the question of battery hen cages and the feedstuff regulations, to which my noble friends have referred. Our farmers follow the highest standards in animal welfare. If these same high standards are not adopted simultaneously by all countries, our farmers will become uncompetitive and will surely be forced out of business.

Moreover, often our Government seek to impose new standards in advance of agreed EU implementation dates. I queried the IPPC charges with the noble Lord, Lord Whitty. In his reply he said:

"Existing installations will be phased into the IPPC on a sectoral basis until 2007"--

I looked again and I did not believe what I was reading--

"in order to spread the workload of the regulators".

Is that right? Is that fair?

I turn now to the effect that the farming crisis is having on families. Many noble Lords have mentioned this. The burden is carried by the whole family and very often especially by the farmer's wife. Many of these resourceful ladies have taken on extra jobs, created value-added businesses and, as other noble Lords have said, some have taken on outside work. The strain on the whole family is enormous. This is evidenced by the work of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute which between 1994 and 1997 helped some 15 working farmers each year. Since April 1998, when the RABI launched an emergency appeal, it has helped some 231 farming families--an alarming increase.

As other noble Lords have pointed out, when a farming job goes it affects not only the family farm. Once a family farming job is lost, 15 allied jobs go with it. It affects suppliers, vets, agricultural businesses, services and processors. Some 18,000 farmers--indeed, my noble friend Lord Ferrers said the figure was 22,000--left the industry last year. What are the costs in benefits, in welfare payments, in retraining? What are the costs of trying to service bank loans when the value of the stock is plummeting?

We posed these questions to the Government but we were given the standard answer that such statistical details are not available. As the debate is about the economics of agriculture, perhaps the Minister will have some information for us today. If not, perhaps she can ensure that we receive further information later.

In human terms, the farming crisis cannot be overstated. I believe that there is a great future for our farming and horticulture industries, but to safeguard them the Government must have a clear, long-term strategy. I totally agree that if we do not have a short-term strategy soon, there will be no long-term farming needs anyway. But let us accept that the Government are putting their minds to addressing the short term and looking to the longer term. Many points have been made about this and I shall return to the matter later.

As has been echoed around the Chamber today, I believe that the industry faces five major problems: the whole question of tenant farmers; lack of succession; no retirement funds; still falling prices; and unfair overseas competition.

The 1995 Agricultural Tenancies Act has obviously freed up the market-place as the decline in the supply of tenanted land has been reversed in each of the past four years. Moreover, the figures from the Central Association of Valuers show that 50 per cent of new tenancies for 1999 were for more than five years. This is most encouraging.

But the typical tenant farmer picture is far from upbeat. He and his wife are working horrendous hours to earn a sum that has halved and halved again in the past three years. His children do not want to follow him into farming because they see no future in it. The value of his livestock, his milk, his barley, his sheep, his savings, his pension is almost gone; he owns nothing--and the Government have refused a retirement package to enable him and his wife to get out with dignity.

However, there are other farmers who have been able to move forward--as, indeed, have some tenant farmers. They have pooled resources with their neighbours; they are sharing machinery; they are learning more about marketing; and they are adapting to the computer age. Even then, their products must compete with imported foods which do not match the UK animal welfare standards, hygiene standards and environmental standards. No matter how much we wrap the Union Jack around our products, the consumer still buys foreign goods because they are not clearly labelled. Many noble Lords have mentioned that point today. The suggestion of my noble friend Lord Selborne that the industry should have an independently led promotional group is a very good one.

In the time available it would be impossible for me to reflect on the many excellent contributions that have been made to the debate. I should, however, like to comment on a few of them. Honesty in labelling is very important. I, too, am very disappointed that the Government did not accept Stephen O'Brien's Private Member's Bill last Friday. The strong pound is crucial to the problem. As other noble Lords have said, the Government must apply for the agrimoney, and they must do so urgently. Several noble Lords mentioned the issue of GM trials. They must go ahead because we need know their results. Small abattoirs must be protected. The regulations which make trading difficult for them must be eased, otherwise we will lose our organic markets and niche markets. Questions concerning regulations and bureaucracy have echoed around the Chamber, one after the other. When is a subsidy not a subsidy? In Europe we call it a subsidy; in America they call it something else. It is high time that we agreed certain standards and a language in which we can understand each other. I, too, would encourage the MoD to buy British. We have the best; for goodness sake, let us buy it. Other countries would certainly do the same for their farming industry.

At the other end of the scale, new people--young farmers--are coming into the industry. I am pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, mentioned this. They are there, they are enthusiastic, they want to get to grips and to take an active part in farming. But they need to have direction and a long-term view.

To me, security of our basic food needs is essential. I welcome the environmental schemes that the Government are bringing forward, but the security of our basic food needs is something for which I would fight and try to secure.

I believe that there is a future for our farming industry. But the Government must take a much more robust stand to enable it to thrive. I welcome the announcement that the Prime Minister will be holding a meeting with those from the industry. But he has to stop consulting--and, yes, he has to start implementing clear, fair, helpful steps in a strategy aimed at long-term economic stability within this important industry.