Farmers are protesting green reforms but a win-win is possible for farming and nature

Farmers in the UK and across Europe have been protesting against the introduction of new green reforms which will see existing agricultural subsidies phased out and replaced by support for nature-friendly farming.

Demonstrations have been taking place in the Czech Republic, with tractors blockading the ministry of agriculture building; in France, where farmers tried to block Rungis, the largest food market in the country; in Germany, where farmers are up in arms about the proposed cut in red diesel subsidies; in Holland, where the Dutch Government's introduction of payments to farmers to get out of dairy farming, led to the emergence of a new political party and change in government; and in Wales, where there is opposition to the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme and its requirement to plant trees on 10 percent of farmland.

Although the EU and UK policy frameworks which precipitated the protests are marginally different, in essence, the preconditions are similar. For fifty years, the entire European farming community has been receiving social security payments in the form of an annual subsidy cheque, to which few conditions have been attached. At the same time, the availability of chemical fertilisers and pesticides has enabled increased production, whilst retailers and food processors have relentlessly driven down the prices of the commodities they buy, often to below the cost of production.

Presented with this combination of unrestricted financial incentives and downward price pressures, farmers have, for perfectly understandable reasons, responded accordingly - adopting what they perceived to be the only way to stay in business, namely, intensification, enlargement of their farming operations and, in the case of livestock, increasing animal numbers.

In recent months, both policy and market signals have abruptly changed. Post-Brexit policymakers and the European Commission alike are promoting the proposition that farmers must now change direction, de-intensify their production and move away from intensive, fossil-fuel reliant systems. It is hardly surprising that the farming community are confused, dismayed and even angered. After all, many of them have borrowed heavily, investing in new buildings and technology. On top of that they are being asked to voluntarily adopt farming systems with which they are not familiar.

The images of 5,500 wellington boots on the steps of the Welsh Parliament in Cardiff Bay yesterday (March 7), are a poignant reminder of the sense of betrayal felt across the farming community.?

And yet, no one can deny that intensive farming has had a devastating impact on climate, nature and society, including damage to public health, and something urgently needs to be done to resolve this. The truth is that although change is often difficult, it’s also necessary – especially in a world that is changing more rapidly than we could ever have imagined.

To many farmers, the proposed changes seem to favour the environment over food production. However, this must be seen as a false choice. Biologically based farming systems which produce high-quality, nutrient dense food can go hand-in-hand with environmental protection, not just to the habitats around the edges of fields, but in the middle of the fields as well! As a farmer who has been applying sustainable principles for over fifty years, I know from direct experience that farming in harmony with nature can work in practice. Our yields are going up and biodiversity is increasing.?

The good news is that there is actually a win-win here for farmers and nature, if we get this right. To achieve this, three key things need to happen:?

1. Regenerative farming must pay better than industrial and intensive systems, with payments to support both the transition and maintenance of the environmental and social goods they provide society.

1. Subsidies should be redirected to ensure that farming and nature can co-exist in-field, rather than encouraging land to be taken out of food production.

1. Farmers need to be financially rewarded for the delivery of so-called ‘public goods’ relating to the positive climate, nature and social benefits that truly sustainable farming systems can deliver.

To access this new income, the Government should require all farmers to undergo an annual sustainability audit, using a common harmonised framework of measurement. This can then be monetised and used as a basis for rewarding farmers for improving food quality, addressing climate change and improving public health, something that Sustainable Food Trust is currently trialling through Global Farm Metric .??

Farming has the potential to go from being a part of the problem to being a huge part of the solution to the challenges we face – addressing climate change, restoring nature and improving public health and food security. If we all agree and get behind this idea, then we can re-shape the food and farming model so that food production and the environment are no longer in competition but working together.