Direct Payments to Farmers (Crop Diversification Derogation) (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Whitty Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Whitty (Lab)]

My Lords, I understand why Ministers and farmers want this derogation, and I certainly do not oppose the emergency intervention, but it worries me somewhat as a signal for the future.

One of the main criticisms of direct payments based on hectarage of land farmed, rather than the previous system of production subsidy, is that the land-based system failed to incorporate sufficient environmental criteria. In recent years, the EU has, somewhat belatedly, attempted to put greater greening conditions into the receipt of single farm payments. The main reason for the diversification requirement was that it was a way—admittedly a slightly crude way—to reverse the tendency of many parts of Europe to adopt a system of mono- culture, where a single crop dominates the landscape and the farming output. In England, this is most evidenced in eastern parts of the country with substantial arable farming. What were once mixed farms 30 years ago are now acres of single crops. That has effects on biodiversity, on the look of the countryside and on rural employment, and it is also often associated with the excessive application of pesticides and fertilisers, which, in turn, affect the soil and water quality.

I accept that not everyone agrees that the diversification requirement is a very effective greening measure, and that it can be particularly onerous on some smaller farms. But until we have a better mechanism, we should not lightly abandon it. I hope that we do not do so following the Agriculture Bill. I am therefore putting down a marker: I reluctantly accept these emergency powers, but—if I may use a wasteful agricultural metaphor —as a straw in the wind, I am a bit concerned.