Breadcrumbs
FARMERS ARE VITAL TO THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRYSIDE - BUT NOT JUST IN THEIR ROLE AS FOOD PRODUCERS - 6 December 2001
Speaking at the Royal Agricultural Society's Agrivision conference in Warwickshire today (6 December) Ewen Cameron said: "We need a complete move from subsidising over production to investment in the environment and rural development. Farmers need to become the rural entrepreneurs of the future. But, if the taxpaying public is to be convinced that the countryside is still worth funding, it must see what it is getting for its money.
"Taxpayers pay a heavy price for unwanted products, while farmers get insufficient support for delivering social or environmental benefits. Every year, more than £3 billion goes into production subsidies that most people, from farmers to consumers, now agree are damaging and ineffective.
"Let us be clear - the countryside is worth this investment, but its grants need to be redirected to buy public benefits that people will truly value, and on which farmers will get a fair return.
"Farming is vital to the future success of rural areas but not only in its role as producer of food. Eighty per cent of England's land is farmed and yet the direct economic value of farming in terms of the food it produces is less than one per cent of the gross domestic product. Foot and mouth has highlighted the interdependence of many of the key issues that affect the quality of our countryside. The real and potential economic value of farming to the nation is in the wider value of its product. It will continue to grow the raw material for our food industry, but can also produce attractive landscapes that are the setting for a rural tourism industry worth more than farming itself, energy crops for cleaner fuels, and public benefits like flood plain management." mf
Farmers are vital to the future of the countryside - but not just in their role as food producers /2...
"In short, we need radical reform of our rural policy and the Countryside Agency has already put this to government in our submission to the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food," said Mr Cameron.
"The challenge for this Commission is to set out an action plan which reshapes the food and farming sector to revive consumer confidence in food and give farmers the confidence to produce the range of goods and services that the public requires and other businesses depend upon. Redirection of the current £3 billion investment in production subsidies to buy public benefits will generate far greater economic rewards for the country as a whole.
"It is the only way we can achieve the goal of sustainable development for rural England and a vibrant and thriving countryside in the future. The general public will not accept anything less."
The Countryside Agency has already set out its vision for sustainable land management. In its Strategy for Sustainable Land Management in England the Countryside Agency outlines its goal of a profitable land-based sector that works for people who are employed in it, the communities in which they live and the people who visit the countryside and support it. It is available on our web site at www.countryside.gov.uk
Notes to editors:
Ewen Cameron is speaking at Agrivision, at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, in Warwickshire at 11am on Thursday 6 December.
The Countryside Agency is responsible for advising government and taking action on issues relating to the social, economic and environmental well-being of the English countryside.
