Do you ever feel like you are in a state of limbo? It feels like that has been the case for the last 18 months, with COVID-19 casting uncertainty onto everyone’s lives. Whilst we wait to see whether restrictions will be eased later this month, we are also in limbo when it comes to trade deals.
While a free trade deal has been made with Australia, we are still unaware of the nitty-gritty content of that deal. It is so important the government gets this right as it will pave the way for future trade deals.
So far, we have seen no detail with regards to animal welfare and environmental standards, net-zero and biodiversity, which is concerning.
These are all points the government puts increasing pressure on our farmers to meet by imposing high standards, yet there are no specifics laid out on what standards milk and meat products entering from Australia will have been produced to. There is a huge worry, we could end up with products of lesser quality flooding our supermarket shelves and undermining the hard work of our farmers.
There is also no information on the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, and this is something that needs addressing going forward.
We are also in limbo with regard to exit payments and how future environmental schemes will pan out for our producers. A consultation on changes to the basic payment scheme and specifically exit payments for farmers in England was launched last month by Defra and is running until 11 August.
Views are sought on who should be eligible for lump-sum payments and how they should be calculated as well as how delinked payments should be worked out. You can read more here https://www.rabdf.co.uk/latest-news/2021/5/19/farmers-views-sought-on-exit-payments-consultation
What we do know is the Government promises the payments will support farmers through the agricultural transition period from now until 2027 to deliver a better, fairer farming system in England. Let us hope that is the case.
On a brighter note, we hope with some certainty our Gold Cup event will be taking place next month at the 2019 NMR/RABDF Gold Cup winner’s farm, the Sloan family farm in Ayrshire. Due to Covid regulations, it is a MUST the free tickets are booked in advance at https://www.rabdf.co.uk/gold-cup-open-day . The open day will offer one of the first opportunities the industry has had to come together, share ideas and hopefully, take home some learnings from experts and from this award-winning farm.
We hope you see you at the Gold Cup event and at other events the RABDF is planning for later this year.
Wishing you all the best,
Matt