FARMING Minister Jim Paice has threatened to introduce compulsory set-aside in England unless more arable farmers get involved with the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE).
Mr Paice has sent an open letter to the farming industry signalling that he is losing patience with the lack of progress on the scheme.
The campaign urges farmers to renew Environmental Stewardship agreements and use them to target specific wildlife benefits, to leave land fallow and to undertake and record other environmental measures. But against a backdrop of soaring cereal prices, it appears that scheme targets are not being met.
CFE was heralded as a victory when it was introduced by the previous Government as a voluntary initiative to replace the environmental benefits of set-aside in 2009. But it always carried the threat of a return to regulation if farmers failed to deliver the required measures off their own backs.
In his letter Mr Paice praised the work of the Campaign in using targeted land management to deliver valuable environmental benefits.
He said: “The Government is putting food production back up the agenda, but we have made it clear that this must be done alongside protecting and enhancing the environment and farmers must show they can do both.
“We want the Campaign to be a success and don’t believe that we should regulate and impose more red tape if the farming community can achieve the same results through its own actions.
“The CFE is the farming industry’s chance to demonstrate that this voluntary approach can work better than regulation and that they are best placed to decide on, and tackle, their local environmental priorities, without intervention.
“But if the farming community cannot step up and achieve these results voluntarily the Government will have to consider a compulsory approach to deliver these same benefits.”
From next Monday, Defra will be sending out the annual survey of land managed under the CFE to 5,500 farmers and land managers across England. The survey will reveal what voluntary measures they have put in place to support the campaign and will help determine its future.
NFU president Peter Kendall applauded ‘those farmers and advisers who are ensuring that the Campaign has already had real impact’ but said compulsory measures were a ‘real threat’ unless more is done.
He said: “I urge those who are about to renew their Environmental Stewardship agreements or considering entering, to choose key target options, those that deliver most for wildlife and resource protection. The success of our industry’s campaign lies in our hands.”
CLA president William Worsley said: “We need to show what we in the industry already know - that England’s farmers can be relied upon to conserve the natural environment so long as we are provided with the right opportunities, information and incentives. We don’t need a return to the bad old days of top-down regulation.
“It is vital, particularly as spring approaches, that everyone supports the Campaign.”
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