Pesticide protections should not be given away in trade talks

UK consumers are likely to be exposed to larger amounts of more toxic chemicals in their food if trade negotiators from the US have their way, warns a new report out from the Pesticide Action Network (UK).  You can read the key findings here: https://www.pan-uk.org/toxic-trade/#key_findings 

The warning comes alongside new YouGov polling which reveals that almost three quarters (71%) of the British public want the UK Government to resist US attempts to overturn bans on pesticides, even if this means the “best” trade deal cannot be reached.  

Authored by Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK), Sustain and trade expert Dr Emily Lydgate, Toxic Trade highlights that a rise in exposure to hazardous chemicals could be unavoidable for UK consumers because pesticides are not mentioned on food labels.   

While far from perfect, the UK currently has some of the most stringent pesticide regulations in the world, meaning that many agricultural products produced elsewhere can’t be sold here.  However, concern is mounting that in the wake of the UK’s exit from the EU, trade deals currently under negotiation with the USA, and planned imminently for Australia and India, will drive down UK pesticide standards.  This not only risks damaging public health but also the environment as trade negotiators push the UK government to allow currently banned hazardous pesticides to be used in UK farms and gardens.

  

The YouGov poll reveals high levels of concern among consumers, with 71% of those surveyed concerned that a US trade deal will mean larger amounts of pesticides in their food; 79% concerned about impacts to health if UK Government caves to US pressure to lower pesticide standards; and 77% worried about negative impacts on the environment.  

Josie Cohen, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Pesticide Action Network, said: 

“Much attention has been paid to the dangers of ‘chlorinated chicken’, but the UK public is equally concerned about weakening pesticide protections. We know that US negotiators have our pesticide standards firmly in their sights, and with the talks happening behind closed doors the public has no way of knowing if health and environmental protections are being traded away.”  

Vicki Hind, farm campaign coordinator at Sustain said 'If UK farmers are forced into using pesticides to compete with a flood of cheap food imports, their exports will no longer meet EU standards and they'll lose one of their key markets.'

Big scale farmers feel hard done by

A new report from the Commercial Farmers Group examining the role of commercial agriculture in the UK says farming has the potential to solve sustainability challenges, generate employment and boost the post-pandemic economy. Yet it warns that commercial farmers are being systematically ‘written out’ of emerging policy in the rush to push environmental enhancement above all else.

‘Commercial Farming: Delivering the UK’s new Agriculture Policies’ has been released today by the Commercial Farmers Group to coincide with the second reading of the Agriculture Bill in the House of Lords. As well as laying out the areas farming can impact positively, it argues that UK farmers should be ready and willing to compete with food imports – provided there is clear labelling identifying differences in production standards.

James Black from the group, who runs the family farming business producing pigs and arable crops in Suffolk, explains that commercial farming is important as fewer than 10% of farming businesses currently produce over half the UK’s agricultural output.

“These businesses are also ideally-placed to stimulate local economies, support wider industries and address pressing problems such as use of finite resources, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and biodiversity decline. However, they can only do this if allowed the chance,” he says.

“Unfortunately, UK history is littered with the results of so many great aspirational concepts which have been poorly delivered – because policy makers have not fully engaged with the people most involved in the implementation. We must avoid food and farming becoming a casualty of this too.”

Mr Black says commercial farmers should be seen as the solution, not ‘the enemy’. With their efficiency based on evidence-based decision making and best practice, they structure their operations to make optimal use of their natural resources – and where they are already engaged in delivering public goods, they do so with accountability towards the outcomes.

“In short, they can quickly bring about change through capability, data, scale and technology, to meet changing market demands,” he adds.

“This is the thrust of our report and why our group wants to be involved as the details for implementing new agricultural policy are identified – so that real public goods can be achieved alongside the imperatives of food security and economic viability.”

The report provides examples of areas where commercial farming can help to improve the success of future farming policy, such as: the ability to use resources efficiently with fewer emissions; provide land and capital to invest in renewable energy technologies; and deliver land improvement and biodiversity projects. These actions can stimulate rural development and the contribution of Gross Value Added arising from the food and drink sector. 

You can access the report here: https://www.commercialfarmers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Commercial-Farming-Delivering-the-UKs-new-Agriculture-Policies-June-2020-low-res.pdf

British workers challenged by picking tasks

In the past I have undertaken quite a lot of work which involved me talking to growers in the glasshouse and field vegetable sectors.  This included the work I did on biocontrol (ongoing) and a Defra funded project which looked at polytunnels among other issues.

I have seen this work being done and even with picking rigs in the field it is arduous, repetitive and requires high levels of concentration.

Everyone I interviewed was of the clear view that it was no use taking workers from the local unemployed pool.  They didn't turn up on time; they were less productive; and they soon gave up.  Anecdotally, this seemed to be confirmed by a programme that the BBC filmed in Wisbech.

It is therefore no surprise to learn from the Financial Times yesterday that although a local recruitment drive has been relatively successful, productivity among these workers is lower and in the case of one major grower a third have already left.  Half were not able to achieve the required picking rates.

This is a low margin business in which labour can account for 70 per cent of the costs.  According to the Pink 'Un net operating margins are just 9.5 per cent.

Normally there are 70,000 to 80,000 migrant workers in the sector.   A seasonal workers scheme this year let in 10,000 temporary non-EU farm workers.

Some crops such as asparagus have already been left unpicked this year because of the pandemic.  In the longer run, supplies could diminish and prices go up.   One doesn't have to be too impressed by food security arguments to realise that there is a case for having a good local supply of healthy fruit and vegetables.

Congratulations to Judith Evans who is a new FT reporter covering agriculture but has done some excellent reports.   I have spoken to her and she asks good questions.

Britain dangerously dependent on two countries for its food supplies

I have always been sceptical about food security arguments for farm subsidies, particularly as they have been framed by farming organisations.   They have always seemed to me to rather Soviet style in their domestic production targets and I am not fan of autarchy.  My classic response was that one should only worry about security issues if one was reliant on just one or two suppliers.

John Maynard Keynes is claimed to have said 'When the facts change, I change my mind' or something like that.  Presumably he didn't change his mind about supporting Aston Villa or disliking Ramsgate!   

I have been influenced by an important new study by the distinguished international political economist Tony Heron in.which he argues that Britain is 'dangerously dependent' on fruit and vegetable supplies from a small number of European countries with 60 per cent coming from the Netherlands and Spain.  The food system is not as global as we often suppose.

The Netherlands does, of course, draw some of its supplies from elsewhere because of its entrepot role. Many large scale fruit and veg producers up sticks and work from Spain in the British winter.  There is less carbon impact from growing tomatoes in Spain than using heated greenhouses on the Sussex coast.

You could read his article for yourself here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-0097-7

It certainly has implications in current circumstances given the pinch points provided by the Channel ports which could become a more serious issue after a no deal Brexit.  It also has implications for migration policy in relation to seasonal agricultural workers.

What I hope does not happen is that the article is used to back up the argument for blunt policy instruments of the kind represented by the EU's Basic Payment.   We need to be much more sophisticated and targeted in our policies outside the EU.

Battle of the lightweights

One of the big concerns of UK farmers is that at the same time as farm subsidies are reduced, the UK Government will lower tariff barriers to agriculture and food products in order to conclude trade deals that are beneficial to other sectors.

Earlier in the month the usually reliable Financial Times learned from government officials that the Department of International Trade was preparing to offer a 'big concession package' to US negotiators in the coming months to reduce the cost of some agricultural imports. 

It was hoped that this would ease the path to a deal with the US.   The aim was to secure a deal while the Trump administration was still securely in office as it was felt that an incoming Democratic administration would take a tougher stance.

Defra officials were reported by the Pink 'Un to be concerned that reducing tariffs could be 'the thin end of the wedge' leading to concessions on animal welfare standards.  UK farmers generally adhere to high standards and can be undercut by countries with lower standards.

A long-standing complaint of the US is that its beef, chicken and pork has been shut out of European markets because of high tariffs and restrictive regulations.   These are, of course, sectors that are already in some jeopardy in the UK.

Not all Conservatives are enthusiastic about selling out to the Americans, although deteriorating relations with China have shut off one strategic option available to 'Global Britain', i.e., cosying up to the PRC in the manner of Dave Cameron and George Osborne.

A battle of the lightweights has been taking place between Defra secretary George 'Useless' Eustice and Liz Truss, the international trade secretary.   Someone has been feeding stories to the Daily Mail and the Daily Express claiming that she was set to betray UK farmers despite being a Norfolk MP.

However, it now appears that Boris Johnson has come down on George Eustice's side in what had become a Cabinet split. The intervention of 'Mr Fixit' Michael Gove on Eustice's side may have been decisive.     Johnson may have been fearing another dagger in his back, but his partner's interest in animal welfare issues may have played its part.

It was alleged in court that Carrie Symonds intervened to stop an extension of a badger cull to Derbyshire, but the NFU lost its attempt to secure a judicial review.

Life was much simpler for Boris Johnson when he simply had to worry about traffic problems in London rather than badger culls and 'Hilton beef'.

Bozza declared 'We must not let our farmers down.   One of the reasons for leaving the EU is we can do things differently and better on things like animal welfare.'

Sharp fall in lamb prices

Coronavirus has seen lamb prices fall by as much as 25 per cent, although there has been a steadying of prices. However, the 30,000 lambs sold last week was a fifth of the level normally sold at this time of year.

Sales of meat to restaurants and fast food outlets disappeared along with large parts of the export market that takes 25 per cent of UK production. The Rungis food wholesale market near Paris which deals with a large portion of the UK export trade is shut.

Rerouting meat to retailers is not easy as processors used to dealing with the food service industry lack the equipment to cut and package meat for retail. In any case, consumers are switching to cheaper meats such as chicken. Meat intended for more expensive cuts is being used for mince.

The National Sheep Association has called for deficiency payments to make up the gap between a baseline price and the market price. However, the budgetary cost of this policy instrument is always unpredictable.

Some have argued that the disruption to supply chains will give a higher priority to food security as many farmers would wish. However, attention is likely to focus on logistics rather than the point of production.

The sheep industry was already in poor shape before the virus struck. Many farmers also fear a no deal Brexit which could lead to the imposition of tariff barriers on their exports to European markets.

Collapse in milk demand hits dairy farmers

The closure of restaurants, cafes and canteens has hit demand for milk. Some 10 million litres of milk would normally enter the food service industry. Retailers are absorbing about half of that, with consumer stockpiling cushioning the impact at the beginning of the lockdown.

However, there is now a surplus of 5 million litres out of a total daily output of around 35 million litres after people stopped buying milky coffees and other dairy products they would normally consume away from home.

As a consequence some farmers are dumping milk after processors halted collections. Spot wholesale milk prices have fallen from 20p a litre to 15p during the week. The National Farmers Union estimates that 2,000 dairy farmers are under severe financial pressure.

Dairy farmers are asking for state aid. It is unclear what form that would take, although the NFU has made some suggestions, including cash grants of up to £25,000 under the Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme: Saving iconic sector

The NFU has sought a meeting with the Defra secretary, George Eustice.