Norfolk Farming Conference: Time to ‘lean in’ or just ‘lean times’?

The minister for food security and rural affairs spoke of “world leading” research being carried out at the Norwich-based John Innes Centre and the potential for the Land Use Framework – which is currently in consultation stage – to provide the “most sophisticated land use data ever available”.

But he faced angry reactions from the audience attending the Norfolk Farming Conference with his reply to calls to hold a consultation on the emotive issue of inheritance tax (IHT).

“The Budget is not going to change, and part of the reason it doesn’t change is if you start untangling the Budget then you suddenly put the whole economy at risk,” was his stark message.

The refusal to hold further discussions on IHT was slightly at odds with the words of conference chair Dr Belinda Clarke, who earlier said: “the onus is on the farming sector to ‘lean in’, the government is in listening mode.”

Mr Zeichner set out the government’s vision for the future of farming, which comes in the form of the Farming Roadmap. Mr Zeichner described this as: “The most forward-looking plan that makes farming profitable and sustainable for the future. Food production is at its core, along with diversification and nature restoration.”

He acknowledged the tough time that farmers have been facing with outbreaks of avian flu and bluetongue virus.

“We know that facing animal diseases creates some deeply emotional experiences. We are determined to face animal health issues head on. Our approach is to work with vets, scientists and farmers to find solutions. Biosecurity is at the top of our agenda, it is so very important.

“This includes biosecurity in plants. Expanding global trade and climate change have increased the ways disease can get into the country. The government has set out a five-year Plant Biosecurity Strategy to tackle this.”

Biosecurity the dominant discussion

The theme of biosecurity was also high on the agenda at the Norfolk Farming Conference.

Ash Gilman is director of agricultural strategy at food manufacturing company Cranswick. Among its products are pork and poultry. “The threat of disease is top of our radar,” he said. “If producers are investing into getting high quality products into the supply chain, they deserve to be protected around border control.”

Meanwhile, a trio of experts in animal and plant health urged farmers and horticulturalists to use every tool in their arsenal to mitigate against diseases attacking crops or livestock – and that may well include gene editing.

“Plants are like detectorists,” said Professor Jonathan Jones from The Sainsbury Laboratory. “They can detect the presence of pests and have the ability to withstand thousands of attacks but there will inevitably be some plants that can’t detect and defend every attack.”

With the farming sector plagued with pests such as rusts, mildews, bacteria, viruses and eelworms, Prof Jones made the point that farmers need solutions that are not simply straight from a can.

Prof Jones is part of a team looking at introducing genes into plants that will add a layer of resistance. Much of the work is being carried out on potatoes and potato blight, with the latest strain of blight resistant potatoes complying with the Precision Breeding Act, which allows gene edited plants into the marketplace.

While England is pushing ahead with gene editing, much of the EU, and Scotland, are holding back. Prof Jones said: “The Precision Breeding Act enables biology to replace chemistry, but we need everyone on board.”

Richard MacIntosh is assistant chief plant health for DEFRA and his workforce are leading on the 2023-2028 GB Plant Biosecurity Strategy. This piece of work also involves the devolved governments and industry stakeholders.

Contingency planning

With billions of pounds being lost each year globally to disease and invasive species, Mr MacIntosh said a plant security strategy is vital.

Under the Plant Security Strategy, Mr MacIntosh explained there are a number of steps each time a threat presents itself. Behind the scenes, risk analysts are continually scanning reports from a host of sources, including social media, as they try to identify potential problems. This is called Horizon Scanning.

The next stage is a Pest Risk Analysis (PRA), in which the likelihood of the pest arriving and its potential impact is assessed.

At this point, scientists, policy makers and ministers get involved to make informed decisions based on horizon scanning and PRA.

If a risk is identified the next step is to create a contingency plan and management strategy and produce guidance for growers.

To give a sense of scale of the problem, currently there are 85 identified pests attacking apples, 90 pests attacking oak trees, 160 pests attacking tomatoes and potatoes face a threat from 165 different types of pest.

Replying to a question from the Norfolk Farming Conference audience, Mr MacIntosh said that no matter what trade deals were negotiated by the government, biosecurity would never be compromised.

If Mr Zeichner and his government really do want to work with farmers, then now is the time to ‘lean in’.

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