It's been a frustrating couple of days in the Farmers Weekly news room. We've been waiting for weeks for the set aside consultation announcement, which was hastily made yesterday. The team has tried to work with the DEFRA communications machine to ensure we have some advance warning of the launch of the document so we can do justice to it in print as well as online. Planning ahead editorially is crucial if we are to give the right amount of pages to the right things.
The soundings from DEFRA were entirely positive to this idea. They would tip us off when it was coming and we would ensure adequate coverage was given to this crucial consultation process. Well, it won't surprise you to know that DEFRA once again failed to play ball. We don't expect them to organise their schedules around the media but we do expect them to be mindful of the most effective ways of communicating these initiatives to the farming industry. Despite all the reassurances, promises, planning and negotiation, the set aside consultation came out of the blue yesterday morning with no advance warning when we had virtually wrapped up the issue of the magazine for this week.
That's why there's only one story and leader given over to the topic in print this week, although more to come in the weeks ahead. It's moments like this that the website comes into its own. We'll be running daily stories about the consultation process on the site and healthy forum debate with farmers about the nitty gritty of the proposals.
This is a one off opportunity for farmers to influence future Government thinking and policy on the thorny issue of marrying production and environmental needs. So everyone should be encouraged to participate in giving their views on the options. If DEFRA is to be convinced that the voluntary approach is feasible, we need farmers to engage enthusiastically with the environmental debate. Otherwise we will be forced down a road of compulsory set aside at great expense to the industry.
Natural England wants 70 per cent of all eligible land to be included in future ELS, while at present only 50 per cent is covered. This is a major ask and requires those farmers already involved to renew their ELS and many more to sign up. Communication of all this is a major challenge as ELS doesn't have the best PR at the moment and future changes to it make it sound even trickier to take on not easier.
One of the key planks of any future approach will be around more targetted ELS activity. This means farmers choosing the right options for their own geographical location ie the best approaches to deliver maximum benefit for the environment depending on individual circumstances. Sir Don Curry, who chairs the Government's set aside policy group, told me yesterday that this will require more agronomists and environmental advisers, well briefed in all new ELS options, to be available to guide farmers in the right direction.
The consultation lasts 12 weeks so there is plenty of time for us all to get our heads around the issues. Our job is to make sense of all the policy speak that overloads the process. Just the title of the consultation document is enough to put anyone to sleep. It reads: Environment Standards for Farming - Consultation on proposed changes to standards on cross compliance Good Agricultural & Environment Condition (GAEC) and related measures.
What a mouthful.
Talk about making Government more accessible to the people, this is an example of where the bureaucrats pay lipservice to the words user friendly. The document is heavy going and not that accessible for farmers. It will take the NFU and others quite a while to decipher.
Let us know your views on the forums.