The most unpopular rules in agriculture look set to be scrapped as soon as the UK leaves Europe.
Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom told the Oxford Farming Conference that in future there would be no more “ridiculous, bureaucratic three-crop rule” and no “existential debates to determine what counts as a bush, a hedge or a tree”.
“By cutting the red tape that comes out of Brussels, we will free our farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food whilst upholding our high standards for plant and animal health and welfare,” she said.
“My priority will be common sense rules that work for you.”
Mrs Leadsom also called for an end to the six-foot billboards ‘littering the countryside’ which announce that farmers receive EU money.
Defra will launch a consultation later this year on the future of food, farming and the environment. Farmers, industry groups, scientists and politicians will be asked to contribute to all aspects of the negotiations to leave the EU.
Mrs Leadsom’s insistence that too much of farmers’ time and money has been wasted on keeping up and complying with EU red tape will be welcomed across the industry. But if conference delegates expected to hear more about the Government’s plans for the future of agricultural support or funding post 2020, they were disappointed.
In response to questions on every aspect of funding, trade and future access to a European workforce, Mrs Leadsom repeated her mantra: “you’re asking me to go into policy details which we don’t have yet”.
Instead she branded Brexit an ‘extraordinary opportunity’ for the industry to thrive with a policy that was fit for the twenty first century.
“But to make the most of this we have got to get three very crucial things right,” she said. “Firstly to equip the workforce with the right skills; secondly to take innovation in farming to the next level; and thirdly to get out there and export more of our great British food and drink to the world.”
Questioned later on the implications of trade tariffs if the UK does not secure access to Europe’s Single Market, she said Britain already exported successfully to many countries without the advantages of tariff-free trade.
She insisted: “We are 12 weeks away from triggering Article 50 and we will have a clear negotiating position.”
nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk
