Farmer Focus: Farming rules for water are unworkable
© Jim Varney I’m going to make no apologies and go full-on Sir Geoff Boycott, and just tell it how it is.
I won’t go into details as to why the farming rules for water are unworkable – that is plainly obvious – but how have we ended up in this situation?
The NFU has put up a good fight, but was not listened to. Why do we have a union that is in continual tactical withdrawal? Draw a line in the sand, enough is enough. We now need to be on the offensive.
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As a double levy payer (cereals and livestock), I find it astonishing that the AHDB chose the way it did to interpret the results of nitrogen loading onto winter crops.
It seems to have a total disconnect to the industry that it serves, and whose hard work pays its staff’s wages. Its tenure can only be limited now.
See also: Farming rules for water: What’s in store?
The Environment Agency is an organisation that has a totally cavalier attitude, answerable to no one, bringing in directives at will. Next on the near horizon is maximum phosphate allowed, and we really need to get our ducks in a row for that one.
Ultimately, as an industry, we need to take some responsibility for our own actions. We have failed to show any improvement regarding diffuse nitrate pollution.
There is still a small minority abusing the system or bending the rules to the extreme for their own benefit, and now we have been legislated to the lowest common denominator.
At the end of the day, food production will always cause pollution.
Just starting up a tractor causes pollution. But if the government wants to legislate us out of existence, to shift pollution and food production to a third party, then so be it.
But how easily we forget history – it only takes a handful of U-boats to bring this country to its knees.
On a more buoyant note, harvest has been cracking, with all crops across the board doing really well.
This year we have an excellent harvest team: our latest recruit, Harry, joined us and never broke stride, jumping straight in like a wheel within a wheel, restoring my faith in young people.
They are clearly not all woke flakes.