General Matters

My constituency is a highly rural one in which agriculture matters a great deal. It matters for jobs on farms and in the processing and distribution sectors—and of course farmers are the stewards of our land and promote tourism too. Food matters. In terms of food security, there are pressures on our population worldwide, with 6.8 billion people today, rising to 9.2 billion in 2050. The amount of land per person that was available for cultivation in the 1950s was 0.5 hectares—it is now just half that amount, and it will be down to a third by 2050. Global warming will also make farming more problematic, as will changes in dietary habits as we get wealthier and eat more meat that requires more land to produce it. That is a huge challenge. I wish to address one or two important points regarding the challenges that face my farming community in Central Devon. Bovine TB has led to the slaughtering of 25,000 cattle, last year alone, at a cost of £63 million—something that scars the farming families who are affected. I am afraid that the previous Government sat on their hands when the Independent Scientific Group's report was published. We now await with great interest the Government's announcement, which is due shortly, on whether action will be taken on the provision of badger control licences. I urge them to take positive action in that respect. Incidentally, that has the support of the British Veterinary Association and the British Cattle Veterinary Association. Milk prices are a huge issue, particularly for dairy farmers in the south-west. As recently as this February, the National Farmers Union reported that the cost of milk production was 29.1p per litre, which is above the farm-gate price that farmers are receiving. Much has been said in this Chamber about the importance of restraining the power of the supermarkets and creating an ombudsman for that purpose. I urge the Government to make good on their commitment for a groceries code adjudicator. On red tape, we said in the coalition agreement:"““We will reduce the regulatory burden on farmers””." I welcome Richard Macdonald's report and urge the Government to respond to the 200 recommendations that he made by bringing forward as many of those changes as possible, including moving towards risk-based inspection of farms to reduce their onerous nature to as limited a number of farms as possible. My final plea is for hill farmers. Hill farm incomes in 2008-09 were just £25,700 compared with over £50,000 for other farms. Hill farming is one of the most difficult forms of farming in our country; it is very tough. These are proud, resilient, hard-working people who need our support by continuing to support the higher level stewardship arrangements and stock rearing and suckler cows on the moors. I ask the Minister to let me know what the Government's thinking is on section 68 funding from the EU, which could be directed specifically into hill farming. I am anxious that other Members have an opportunity to speak, so I will leave it at that.