Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help farmers maximise cereal production for export to offset global supply shortages due to the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
To support our farmers we are bringing forward half of this year's BPS payment as an advance injection of cash to farm businesses and have delayed changes to the use of urea fertiliser until at least spring 2023. Farmers will be further supported through new slurry storage grants as of this year, helping meet the Farming Rules for Water and reducing dependence on artificial fertilisers by improving storage of organic nutrients.
UK cereals are mainly produced for the domestic market, and whilst the UK is 88% self-sufficient in domestically produced cereals, we do also export. It is not for the Government to dictate to famers, who are free to react to market signals, what crops to plant, or where that produce should be sold or exported.
We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. We have also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real-time intelligence and to identify where mitigations are available.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the three crop rule in agriculture as part of the UK's withdrawal from the EU; and what plans they have to inform the farming industry of any such rule changes by the end of June to enable planning for 2021.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We are looking to take the opportunities which leaving the EU presents to make further simplifications for the 2021 Basic Payment Scheme. This could include removing some or all of the burdensome greening rules which have failed to deliver for the environment such as the 'three crop rule' which tells farmers how many crops they must grow, regardless of the demands of the market. Relevant regulations will be subject to Parliament's approval. We will announce the new rules to farmers in due course.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any evidence that unrestrained depredation by cabbage stem flea beetle of oil seed rape prevents the growth of that crop; and what plans they have to review the ban on neonicotinoids following any such assessment.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Oilseed rape is a valuable crop for farmers and there is a greater risk of crop loss due to cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) since the restrictions on neonicotinoids came into force in 2014. Some growers have been heavily affected while others have not experienced similar problems. Defra has monitored the incidence of CSFB on untreated oilseed rape through the Crop Pest and Disease Survey. In autumn 2019, average numbers of CSFB were higher than levels before the ban on use of neonicotinoid insecticides. Out of 82 sites assessed, however, only eight had levels that exceeded the recommended threshold for spray application. Six of these eight sites were in the East of England.
The Government supports restrictions on neonicotinoids because the clear advice from scientific experts is that these seed treatments should not be used on flowering crops, such as oilseed rape. There is clear evidence on the toxicity of neonicotinoids to bees and their persistence in the environment. We are not prepared to put our pollinator populations at risk and so we will maintain the current restrictions on use of the three neonicotinoids when the transition period ends. We will only take a different position if the scientific evidence changes.
The Government supports a major, long-term research platform for Crop Genetic Improvement. This includes OREGIN, which is a dedicated programme on oilseed rape breeding to improve the resource use efficiency, sustainability and resilience of the crop. The research is carried out in close partnership with growers and breeders and determines beneficial traits to be included in breeding programmes to offer improved resistance to priority pests and diseases. The work is helping to reduce reliance on agrochemical inputs and also improve the overall resilience of crops.