The agriculture sector is calling for more clarity over the Government’s plans to improve nature by subsidising farmers, a representative for the Department of Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said it “will be a matter of learning as we go”… Ohhh I see they haven’t got a clue! And nor has the farmers and no wonder they are reducing sowing for 2022.
Defra announced the first part of its Environmental Land Management (ELM) package – the framework replacing the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidy schemes post-Brexit… The announcement concerned a basic payment scheme called the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Environmental groups and farmers alike have asked for more information on the likely environmental benefits of the schemes, given that farmers and landowners will be able to choose their own approach… Talk about opening up a system that could be abused so easily …Ohh I suppose many of the Tory charlatans have farms? Free money for their greasy mitts… I suppose…
Farmers have also been asking for assurances that England’s food production will not drop as a result of the new schemes, given that farmers may choose to set aside more land for things like woodlands and hedgerows… This will make the UK more reliant on imported food which, of course, comes with embedded carbon from international long distance transport…
When Gavin Ross of Defra, at the third round of Agri Sustainability talks at the Brazilian Embassy in London was asked how the plan would work…
Ross said: “It’s a complicated space that we’re in and we’re not going to be getting it exactly right, but the start is not where we’re intending to end…We’re not going to detail about things you must do “We’re trying to provide more of a grown-up relationship. ”Really?
“It will be a matter of learning as we go. We don’t have all the solutions, but we want to work with farmers, NGOs and others to get the optimum outcomes.” without giving any guidance on how to be carbon neutral by 2050…
On the concerns around productivity, Ross added: “In terms of land change, our expectation is that agriculturally productive land is likely to be removed from production and set aside for environmental benefits… If you ask me I believe their master plan is to make Britain green and lush…by moving UK CO2 production abroad… Just so these charlatans can say the UK is the Greenest country in the world…