Passing the torch: as Tom Bradshaw steps into the pivotal role, he faces the daunting task of upholding farming’s future. Andrew Livingston reports

I cannot describe how much I love the NFU Conference. Slightly sad, I know.
There just isn’t a year that goes by without something juicy to talk about. Who doesn’t love a politician being made to sweat by a collection of irate British farmers? Birmingham’s NEC is fast becoming the Ally Pally of the farming world.
This year was the first time since Gordon Brown’s tenure that an incumbent Prime Minister came to give a speech. Rishi Sunak’s appearance was appreciated by the NFU members – but don’t believe for a second that he has some deep love of doing what is right for the farmers. Rishi came for one thing and one thing only – votes.
Gordon tried the same tactic of winning the rural vote back in 2008, but in the 2010 General Election Labour lost power for the first time since Tony Blair won the 1997 General Election.
A sign of things to come?

A stormy decade
Despite my love for a bit of political schmoozing, the most interesting thing to discuss is that it was Minette Batters’ final NFU Conference as the organisation’s president, before being replaced by her deputy, Tom Bradshaw.
Minette runs her tenanted family farm in Wiltshire – a 100-cow suckler herd, sheep, arable land and now British flowers. For a decade, she has either been NFU deputy president or president, a position she has held since 2018.
I wouldn’t say that she ran the ship during the most tumultuous of times – I would argue the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001 was possibly a worse time to be president. Nevertheless, the 57-year-old has shepherded British agriculture through huge changes over the last decade.
In 2019, Minette Batters was the face of the NFU’s commitment to be Net Zero (carbon neutral) by 2040. The ambition of being carbon neutral a decade before the British government’s national pledge was a big step, but in an NFU report, Minette explained why: ‘Agriculture is uniquely placed to be part of the solution, as an emissions source and a sink. But we must and can do more.’
With the current financial climate, both nationally and in agriculture, there will be huge pressure on the new president either to renege on these environmental commitments or to emphasise that farmers must not falter from the Net Zero objectives. Unfortunately, being green isn’t the most financially beneficial way to run a farm. If it were, farmers would have done it for years.
In 2020, the UK officially left the European Union, which had been financially supporting farmers and keeping agricultural businesses afloat. Since then, Minette has battled hard for UK farmers not to be undercut by cheap imports from new trade deals, while also fighting for farm subsidies to be continued responsibly by our own government.
During all of this , there has been the little matter of a global pandemic, the worst ever Avian Influenza outbreak on our shores, about 50 different Prime Ministers and a war in Ukraine that has sent the costs to farming through the roof, making the whole industry unsustainable.
It’s not hyperbole to state that Minette was the most powerful woman in British farming. She was the first woman to be NFU president and she has been front and centre of the NFU throughout her time, fighting for farmers on every issue, no matter how big or small.
Over to you, Tom Bradshaw. You’ve got a big pair of wellies to fill.

Though there’s been TB testing at Rawston this month, James Cossins’ thoughts are fixed firmly on the national picture and finding a way forward

As ever with farming, the weather is having the upper hand here at Rawston Farm. The constant rainfall during February has meant that very little field work has been done – especially compared with last year, when February was one of the driest on record.
We have carried out another TB test this month and we are very nearly clear, with just one animal to retest. Yet again fingers are crossed that in 60 days when the animal is retested, we go clear and can start selling our beef cattle at sensible values.

Lose 20% of your income
It won’t have escaped most people’s attention that the NFU had their annual conference in Birmingham in February. After six years as President, Minette Batters retires from the post to be replaced by Tom Bradshaw. Minette has worked relentlessly during this period representing the farming industry to politicians, government institutions, supermarkets and many more. She has been the face of agriculture to the wider public through the difficulties such as Brexit, the COVID pandemic and the fight for British farming in the recent trade deals. I would like to extend my thanks to her for all she has done for our industry.

It was interesting that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attended the conference – the last time a Prime Minster attended (Gordon Brown) it was also an election year. We have had assurances from the Government that they are fully behind us, but it appears that the current financial incentives are the opposite, with encouragement being given to leave productive land empty, to rewild and not to produce food. Maybe on poor and unproductive land this is understandable, but it should not be encouraged on good food-producing land.
We only produce about 65 per cent of our nation’s food at the moment. Surely we don’t want to cut production further and rely more heavily on imported food?
Often the imported foods have lower standards of production and come from unsustainable sources such as removed rainforests. With the current insecurity in the world, we shouldn’t rely on imported food.

I have been asked recently why the English farmers are not out protesting with their tractors as farmers are across Europe. In the UK I believe the last thing we want to do is upset our customers by disrupting their daily activities. Across the channel, the European Union is trying to enforce certain measures which would make farming even more difficult than it already is. The EU want to reduce the amount of inputs that farmers can use to grow crops, meaning that the amount of food they would be able to produce would be dramatically reduced, consequently reducing their income.
Closer to home, in Wales there is a proposal put forward by the Welsh government that ten per cent of farmed land be planted to trees and a further ten per cent be left as set-aside.
Again this would have a dramatic effect on their incomes. The English government has produced a sustainable farming incentive scheme which rewards farmers for carrying out activities that benefit the environment. Farmers can choose from a wide range of options like hedgerow management, not putting fertiliser on grassland, not using insecticides on crops, sowing cover crops and planting unproductive parts of field with wild flowers or food for wild birds. Every farmer has the choice to enter the scheme and consequently be financially rewarded for doing so.

Well done George!
Finally, congratulations to my fellow BV columnist George Hosford, who was announced as the South West regional winner of the Meurig Raymond award at the NFU conference. The prestigious annual award is presented to the member who goes above and beyond as an NFU member. George was specifically recognised for the work he does in educating the public, especially children, on where their food comes from and what farmers are doing for the environment.
The judges said ‘George’s passion for education, the agricultural sector and the environment is second to none. His enthusiasm is infectious. An eternally positive voice, not scared to question and hold to account, he will ask the difficult questions in a constructive manor, holding policy makers to account and working hard to safeguard the future of the farming sector which he so clearly loves.’