Food, Farming and the Environment

I appreciate the Secretary of State's good intent. However, there is no use in trying to reskill an industry such as dairy farming, given that the number of dairy herds has halved in the past 10 years. That represents a massive erosion of the farming skill base. Recently, I met local farmers at their office in Weekley village in my constituency of Kettering. They said that the introduction of the nitrate vulnerable zones will be the last straw; already, only two dairy herds are left in the borough of Kettering. Given all the slurry costs and gold-plating regulations that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is introducing, there is no use in talking about reskilling—the economics of farming are going down the pan.