Category Archives: Common Agricultural Policy
Book Review – Wild Fell by Lee Schofield
This review has been rather long in gestation. Lee originally sent me a copy in early February. I started reading it in March, then had to stop half way through. My Migraines (which I wrote about here) were returning as … Continue reading
Where’s the Beef? the UK Australia Trade Deal and the desperate search for Brexit Benefits.
There’s been an awful lot of media attention focussed on the idea that the Government’s Trade Deal with Australia will lead to the UK being swamped with sub standard Australian Beef, pushing plucky British Beef farmers out of business. I’m … Continue reading
Ten Years on – from Dark Days of Farming to a new Post-CAP future
Reading about yesterday’s launch of the Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme – the post-Brexit post-Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) farming support scheme for England we’ve been waiting for these past nearly 5 years – sent me off the archives, where I found … Continue reading
Hollow Promises: A Brexit impact assessment
Can it really be two years since the Earthquake struck and the UK voted to leave the EU? It seems both much longer, and no time at all. So, on this anniversary, I thought it would be timely to explore … Continue reading
Health and Harmony? Government consultation on future of agriculture reveals no new detail
Last week was a momentous one in the life of farmers and anyone who take an interest in our food. The National Farmers Union (NFU) took the historic step of appointing a woman to be its President – it’s … Continue reading
Where now for UK Agriculture?
The UK’s decision to leave the European Union has created a huge set of risks and threats, but also some opportunities. One opportunity is to change the course of farming policy and practice. For 40 years the UK was subject … Continue reading
Guest Blog: Agri-environment – a need for detailed scrutiny, by Steve Peel
As the process of changing from an European agriculture policy into a UK one starts, I’m delighted to publish a guest blog by former Natural England grassland specialist Steve Peel. Steve looks at how … Continue reading
The First New Agriculture Act in 70 years creates an opportunity for farming, food and nature
The UK is to have its first new major Agriculture Act since 1947. There have been minor Agriculture Acts which made amendments to the 47 Act (eg in 1970) and in 1986, but by then agriculture was governed by rules … Continue reading
Sheepwrecked or a World Heritage Site? Thoughts on the Lake District
As the inevitability of President Theresa May being crowned on June the 9th seems without doubt now, we are hurtling, possibly out of control towards the exit, or rather the hard Brexit. This means the UK tumbles out of the … Continue reading
A further peep behind the curtain of Defra’s thinking about Environment and Agriculture after Brexit
Thanks to the impending General Election, Defra has allowed us another peep behind the curtain to show their thinking about the Environment and Agriculture after Brexit. A hastily thrown together response to the House of Lords EU Environment and Energy … Continue reading
a new nature blog 