David Cameron to back British farmers at show
David Cameron is expected to make a speech backing Britain’s farmers when he visits the North Devon Show.
The prime minister is due to visit the show, which takes place at Barton Farm, Umberleigh, on Wednesday (7 August).
Mr Cameron will be keen to show that the government has the best intentions when it comes to agriculture and the wider countryside, its rural businesses and communities.
The visit comes at a time of growing concern about the government’s policies – including CAP reform, bovine TB and slow broadband speeds.
Farmers continue to have strong misgivings about the way the government will implement CAP reform – in England at least.
The NFU has been at loggerheads with DEFRA over the government’s intention to shift 15% of support from direct payments to environmental measures.
In south-west England, there is also increasing anxiety among livestock producers over the government’s strategy to combat bovine tuberculosis.
NFU regional livestock board chairman and Dorset beef farmer Andy Foot has described the CAP settlement as a “disastrous outcome” and a “slap in the face” for producers.
The NFU has also warned of significant degree of concern and scepticism about government proposals targeting cattle in the fight against bovine TB.
Farmers have voiced concern that an ongoing consultation on the proposals is taking place prior to any visible evidence that progress has been made in tackling the disease in badgers.
The common perception is that additional cattle controls have been progressively ratcheted up alongside the promise of a badger cull which is still to materialise.
Furthermore, farmers outside two pilot cull zones in West Somerset and West Gloucestershire face an uncertain and possibly long wait before any cull takes place in their area.
Mr Foot said: “If we don’t get fair play on TB it could be the straw which breaks the livestock industry’s back in the south-west – with all the negative implications that could have for jobs and the wider rural economy.”
A recent poll by the Countryside Alliance found 85% of rural dwellers believe that better broadband would have a positive impact on the economy.
But many rural communities continue to languish on much slower broadband connections than their counterparts in larger towns and cities.
Earlier this summer, the government said it wanted 95% of UK properties to have superfast broadband by the end of 2017 – effectively postponing its previous target by two years.