Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to commission research into developing a vaccine to protect livestock from the Schmallenburg virus.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A vaccine for Schmallenberg virus was authorised for use in the UK in 2015. The marketing authorisations are still valid for GB and NI, but the vaccine is not commercially available in the UK at present.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislation to ban (a) new dogs and (b) cross-breeds in addition to those dogs already banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is taking urgent action to bring forward a ban on XL Bully dog types following a concerning rise in attacks and fatalities, which appear to be driven by this type of dog. We intend to have the legislation in place to deliver this by the end of the year.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with the Health and Safety Executive to reduce (a) farm deaths and (b) farm-related work accidents.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responsibility for the regulation of health and safety standards on Great Britain’s farms. Agriculture has the highest rates of injury and ill health of any industry sector and the HSE is working with key stakeholders in the industry to change behaviours in order to improve the management of risks on farms. The HSE’s website - Agriculture health and safety - provides essential information and guidance on health and safety in agriculture. The industry, via the Farm Safety Partnership Farm Safety Foundation / Yellow Wellies - YellowWellies.org, is also a key partner in the HSE’s Working Minds campaign and supporting farmers to manage stress and mental wellbeing.
Defra works with the HSE to ensure that farmer feedback informs the HSE’s work.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects his working group on fertilisers to report; what assessment he has made of the impact of rises in fertiliser prices on farmers in Shropshire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 31 March Minister Prentis hosted the first meeting of the Fertiliser Taskforce with key industry bodies to discuss potential mitigations to the challenges which global supply pressures are causing. On 18 May I hosted the second Taskforce meeting. Ministers will continue to meet with key industry bodies for further Fertiliser Taskforce sessions in the coming months, to help identify and mitigate potential risks. Defra fertiliser blogs on gov.uk from 30 March and 11 May have reported on the Fertiliser Taskforce meetings.
Global gas prices have impacted production of fertilisers internationally and domestically. Some international companies halted or reduced production, and some countries such as China reduced the export of some fertiliser products to protect their domestic demands. However, supply of all fertilisers in the UK has remained available throughout the last 12 months although high prices reduced demand from farmers.
While global fertiliser prices have risen, the supply chain providing imports of fertiliser to the UK has remained dynamic. CF Fertilisers continues to produce ammonium nitrate fertiliser from its plant at Billingham.
Government actions, such as bringing forward half of this year's Basic Payment Scheme payment as an advance injection of cash to farm businesses, will help farmers deal with high fertiliser prices.
We are monitoring the situation closely, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group. Defra is in regular contact with key industry figures including the National Farmers Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and the Agricultural Industries Confederation.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to Harper Adams University to research the potential merits of automated farms.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Defra has developed an ambitious R&D package for England which will enable more farmers and agri-food businesses to become involved in agricultural R&D.
The Government's £90 million investment in the 'Transforming Food Production' (TFP) challenge, launched by UK Research and Innovation in 2018, is already supporting ground-breaking research and development to boost productivity and encourage technological advances. The Farming Innovation Programme was launched in October 2021 to build on this effort. The programme is made up of three separate but complementary funds, that will pull through innovation in different areas, from small farmer-led innovative research projects to larger industrial R&D projects that can transform the sector.
Harper Adams, in collaboration with Precision Decisions Ltd Agri-Epi Centre, was awarded a £1,577,964 grant through the TFP to support their Hands-Free Farm project. This seeks to operate a farm autonomously, whilst developing robotic skills and technology. Oats, wheat and beans were all successfully harvested autonomously in the last season. Through TFP, Harper Adams is also involved in the Dairyvision project which looks to develop autonomous monitoring and management of dairy cows to optimise their welfare and productivity.
As announced in December 2020, Defra has undertaken a review of automation in horticulture during 2021, covering both the edible and ornamental sectors in England. It is due to be published later in 2022. Defra Ministers engage and visit Harper Adams regularly.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many successful prosecutions there were in the West Mercia Police region for (a) attacks on livestock and (b) livestock worrying in 2020-21 or the last 12 month period for which figures are available.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications.
In West Mercia, the last 12 month period for which figures are available is 2018-2019. In that year, there was one prosecution for the offence of livestock worrying, and one conviction. Attacks on livestock and livestock worrying are both dealt with under the livestock worrying offence in the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953.
New measures to crack down on livestock worrying in England and Wales are to be brought in through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021.
The new measures will enhance enforcement mechanisms available to the police and expand the scope of livestock species and locations covered by the law. Improved powers will enable the police to respond to livestock worrying incidents more effectively – making it easier for them to collect evidence and, in the most serious cases, seize and detain dogs to reduce the risk of further incidents.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill includes a range of ancillary orders available to the court following conviction, such as control, disqualification and destruction orders. These orders are aimed at targeting and reducing reoffending.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to Harper Adams University to research the potential merits of automated farms.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to reduce the volume of low-value pig carcass imports from the European Union.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
There is currently no evidence that retailers or processors are importing more pork from Europe. At the present time, volumes of imports are at their lowest levels since 2017 and in 2021 were around 9% lower than those in 2020.
The UK is reliant on imports of around 40% to meet consumer demand for pork. UK consumer preference is also for cuts from the leg and loin and domestic production is currently insufficient to satisfy this demand.
On 10 February, I chaired a roundtable with pig industry representatives and retailers from across the UK to discuss the challenges that the sector has been facing in recent months. As part of those discussions, retailers have been encouraged to work closely with processors to access more of our great British food, providing a reliable and sustainable food supply to the British public and help to reduce the current backlog of pigs on farms. I have also been speaking directly with both retailers and the hospitality sector.
We are also launching a UK-wide review of supply chain fairness in the pig sector. We will be engaging with industry on this with a consultation expected later this year. We want to elicit industry views on improvements to fairness and transparency that could be made to ensure a profitable and productive future for our pig industry.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish an action plan to prevent divestment out of pig farming by farmers in England.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We continue to monitor the evolving situation and to work closely with the pig industry to help them respond to challenges caused by the pandemic, including the loss of exports to the Chinese market for certain pig processors, disruption to CO2 supplies, and a temporary shortage of labour in the processing sector.
We have provided a package of measures to help address these unique circumstances, which includes temporary work visas for up to 800 pork butchers, and Private Storage Aid and Slaughter Incentive Payment schemes to facilitate an increase in the throughput of pigs through abattoirs. Together with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and other Government Departments, we are working to both expand existing markets and to identify new export markets for pork, particularly lightly processed pork. We are also working with industry to support their efforts on the recruitment and retention of domestic workers.
On 10 February, I chaired a roundtable with pig industry representatives and retailers from across the UK to discuss the challenges that the sector has been facing in recent months. At the roundtable I announced that we will be launching a UK-wide review of supply chain fairness in the pig sector. We will be engaging with industry on this with a consultation expected later this year. We want to elicit industry views on improvements to fairness and transparency that could be made to ensure a profitable and productive future. Following the Roundtable I met with representatives of the agricultural banking sector. The banks confirmed that they are already being as flexible as possible to support pig farmers during this exceptionally challenging period and remain keen to be supportive.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect the pig industry from the affects of increases in feed prices.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Domestic feed prices are strongly influenced by global markets for feed cereals and soyabeans. These are currently trading at historically high prices due to tight global supplies. I recognise the impact that this is having on the UK agricultural industry including the pig sector. We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the pig sector on this issue and the other challenges they continue to face at the present time.
I recently met with representatives of the agricultural banking sector to discuss the current situation in the pig sector. The banks confirmed that they are working closely with impacted pig farmers during this exceptionally challenging period and remain keen to be supportive. They are encouraging any farmers, especially those who might normally be reluctant to speak to their bank, to contact them.