DAVID RICHARDSON
DAVID RICHARDSON
Prince Charles gave a
top-class performance
at this years Royal
Show, his calls for
change making the
queen of DEFRA look
distinctly
uncomfortable
My first prize for best performance at The Royal Show went to Prince Charles. In his speech to open the event he summed up succinctly what needed to be said about the state of agriculture.
At times like that I hanker for the days when royalty was all-powerful. As it was, the queen of DEFRA, looking a bit like a refugee from Absolutely Fabulous in a beige creation that was a cross between a dress and a morning suit, and with whom the real power lies, merely listened. But her body language indicated that some of HRHs words made her uncomfortable.
In carefully measured tones, the prince listed some of the changes needed. Predictably, he mentioned the role of organic production ("well you would have been disappointed if I had not"). But his comments ranged much wider than that. He drew attention to the depths to which farm incomes have sunk and called for closer links between all parts of the food chain and a better deal from those buying from farmers. "Consider the effect on farming incomes," he continued, "if there was a public procurement policy which meant that, wherever possible, public bodies had to buy local fresh food."
He recognised the difficulty UK farmers have in competing with mass food producers in other parts of the world. And he urged participants in the food chain to promote the superior quality, service and assurances on standards that are so important to British consumers. For "there is a real gulf of understanding between those who live in the countryside and those who live in towns and cities. It is of the greatest possible importance that we find a way to bridge that gulf and to open peoples eyes to the fact that the countryside is only as beautiful as it is because of the care and management of generations of farmers".
It was not clear from the DEFRA stands I visited at the show that those responsible for designing them had assimilated HRHs contention – that production agriculture has created the British landscape and that stopping production will destroy it. For the record someone told me that DEFRA had no less than nine stands, although I only found seven. At least we know now where some of the departments scarce resources are going.
The lavish DEFRA exhibits dealt with pesticide safety, overseas aid, environmental improvement, pollution control and rural business development with a strong emphasis on tourism. On one massive indoor display a railway train and a narrow boat had been incorporated into the touristic theme.
That particular stand appeared to be mainly staffed by good-looking girls and well built chaps in tight tee shirts and slacks. I asked one what she did in DEFRA. She replied that she and the others did not work in the department, but were from a model agency employed for the week to man the stand. Perhaps the same team had drawn up the statistical information on the display, some of which was inaccurate. The production of food for the nation and the need for a profit from producing it were clearly furthest from DEFRAs mind.
As one farming friend said to me when I mentioned this: "Ill produce whatever society, consumers, the government, or whoever, want me to produce. If that happens to be butterflies and birds, so be it. I will plant the crops and create the habitats to encourage them. But, and it is a big but, those who demand such things must make it worth my while, because I need to make a living. And that is the bit that DEFRA cant seem to get its head round."
As NFU president, Ben Gill, made clear, most of the UK farmers still left in business are ready and willing to change to meet the challenges of the new situation in which they find themselves. But he went on to point out that compared with other EU member states, we were at a continuing disadvantage. And it is not just the discrepancy in the value of the £ and the k. Every regulation that comes out of Brussels seems to be "gold-plated" in Whitehall. Every aid granted to farmers in other member states is eroded by the Treasury before it reaches us. Rural Development aid in the UK, for instance, is one-third to one-fifth of that granted in most other EU states.
But Prince Charles had it right when he said the key to the industrys problem is that "society takes food for granted". This shows, he said "how frighteningly detached too many people have become from the reality of how it is produced". He conceded that price matters to many families. "But there is a real cost involved in cheap food, to the countryside, to those who live and work there and to animal welfare."
"Let us remember," HRH concluded, "that the line between too much food and too little is very thin. This country must retain the ability to grow its own food. Situations can change in the world unexpectedly and there could come a day when the UK might be reduced to relying on its own resources once again. Let us not sacrifice long-term security for short-term convenience."