Whilst dietary and land use change has already been called for by the Climate Change Committee, the National Food Strategy will bring health into the picture too and make high profile links between farming, food processing and diets, as well as their consequences for both health and climate change. Net zero plans in the food sector are progressing already; Morrisons has just become the first supermarket to announce that the British farms in its supply chain will all be required to achieve net zero by 2030. In Scotland, a National Development Plan for Crofting has just been published, which aims to increase active use of Scotland’s 750,000 hectares of croft land.

FOOD & FARMING

Morrisons to be supplied by net zero British farms by 2030
Morrisons has announced the most ambitious net zero plans for its agricultural supply chain of any UK supermarket. It intends for its supplies of British meat, fruit and vegetables to come from net zero farms by 2030. Over the next nine years, it will work with its 3,000 farmers and growers to create affordable, net zero emissions produce. A combination of emissions reduction and offsetting will be used. The supermarket expects that the first products to reach net zero will be eggs as early as 2022, followed by lamb, fruit, vegetables, pork and beef. The goal of 2030 is five years ahead of other major supermarkets, and ten years ahead of the NFU’s 2040 target for the farming industry to achieve net zero. Morrisons believes it is uniquely placed to achieve its ambition as it is British farming’s biggest supermarket customer, with its own livestock and produce teams, processing facilities and direct relationships with farmers. Morrisons intends to work with universities, vets, farming organisations and carbon experts, partnering with the NFU, Natural England and also Harper Adams University. It will set up the world’s first School of Sustainable Farming to offer training to farmers. Morrisons is taking bold and admirable strides to be a leading force in UK farming’s journey to net zero.

Butchers boosted - a silver lining of the pandemic
At the start of the pandemic, there was widespread concern about the impact on agriculture of the fall in demand for high value meat cuts that would usually feed into the restaurant and eating out sector. Combine this with the rise of veganism and the future of the meat industry looked challenging. However, sales data reveals that locked-down Brits are increasingly selecting premium cuts to create their own ‘at home restaurant experiences’. Beef steak volumes are up 36% compared to this time last year, whilst sales of beef roasting joints increased 26%. Lamb steak and chop volume also rose by 15%. Butchers have been on the cutting edge of this meaty resurgence, with 88% of butchers' shops seeing an increase in turnover during the first lockdown, as consumers chose to buy quality produce from their local butcher. A nationwide survey found that 33% of shoppers were now prepared to spend more money on premium cuts than before the pandemic. Many butchers had to adapt at the start of the pandemic, developing delivery services and educating customers on different cuts of meat. This has paid off, and hopefully the boom of the local butcher is a success story that will continue.

Apply for 2020 BPS now
Farmers in England can now make their 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) applications and will benefit from a number of simplifications including the removal of the greening requirements. The deadline this year is 17 May. England is now in its Agricultural Transition period, during which direct payments will be incrementally reduced year on year. In 2021 payments will be cut by 5%-25% depending on payment size. The budget released will be used to fund new initiatives such as the Lump Sum Exit Scheme, Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery. For more information see our briefing note on the Agricultural Transition. The window for Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship revenue claims has also opened. If you would like to discuss your application please contact Stuart Nicholls.

POLICY

National Food Strategy will call for radical change
The food sector eagerly awaits the publication of Henry Dimbleby’s main National Food Strategy report, which has now been scheduled for release in July 2021. Mr Dimbleby, the co-founder of the Leon restaurant chain, is leading the strategy to which the government will respond with a white paper of policy proposals within six months. There has been much speculation over the direction of the strategy, and leading industry figures say they were ‘shocked’ by the hard hitting presentation that Mr Dimbleby gave to the Food and Drink Sector Council recently, which laid out his views ahead of the main report. He suggested that the food system needs a complete overhaul, in order to steer producers and consumers away from unhealthy food that relies on intensive and high input production systems. He argued that our current level of meat consumption is excessive, which has consequences for the climate. It has previously been reported that Dimbleby has investigated the use of taxes to steer production and consumptions, but the topic was not revisited in his latest presentation. Although attendees said it was reasonable to assume either taxation or regulation was required to achieve the changes envisaged, and concluded that Mr Dimbleby is promoting radical, and fiercely ambitious change.

Scotland’s First Minister launches plans behind Scotland’s race to net zero
In just nine months’ time, COP26 will be hosted by the UK government in Glasgow. The UN Secretary General has said that “COP26 will be a make it or break it occasion for the planet”, as the commitments made six years ago in Paris are not enough to slow the current climate crisis. Whilst launching the Scottish government’s Global Capital Investment Plan, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister argued that “we have a responsibility to lead by example. As one of the nations which helped to create the industrial age, we want this year, to help to lead the world into the net zero age”. Scotland has one of the most globally ambitious targets for net zero of 2045, and Ms Sturgeon is placing emphasis on ensuring that the transition to net zero is a just transition for all. The Global Capital Investment Plan will generate new sources of investment to reach the scale of the country’s net zero ambitions. The plan is part of Scotland’s overall vision on its future trade and investment landscape, within which net zero is a fundamental priority.

Second round of Green Recovery Challenge Fund opens for applications
The second round of the Green Recovery Challenge opened on 9 March, it will award up to £40 million in grants to environmental charities across England, to help the nation ‘build back greener’ from the Covid-19 pandemic. Grants are available to generate new and maintain existing jobs whilst also tackling climate change and restoring nature. Projects must contribute either to nature conservation and restoration or to nature-based solutions to climate change or to connecting people with nature. The expression of interest deadline for large grants of up to £2 million has now passed, but applications for up to £250,000 can still be submitted until 14 April.

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL CAPITAL

Five environmental principles set to shape our future
The government has launched a consultation on the five environmental principles within the Environment Bill. Once the Bill becomes law the government will be required to ensure that all future policy making is guided by these five internationally recognised environmental principles. They are intended to support nature’s recovery and the UK’s journey to net zero. Environment Secretary George Eustice said “this will deliver our pledge to leave the environment in a better state for future generations”. The five principles proposed are the:

• Integration principle, ensuring policy makers look for opportunities to embed environmental protection

• Prevention principle meaning policy should aim to prevent harm

• Rectification principle which means that environmental damage that cannot be prevented must be tackled at its origin

• Polluter pays principle, meaning those who cause environmental damage are responsible for mitigation

• Precautionary principle which states that where there are threats or irreversible environmental damage, a lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason to postpone cost effective prevention.

All the principles could lead to policy which impacts the rural sector, but the most significant could be the application of the polluter pays principle to agricultural diffuse pollution. Back in 2018 the Farm Inspection and Regulation Review led by Dame Glenys Stacey (who is now the chair of government watchdog the Office for Environmental Protection) said “we have considered the relevance of the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle. We do not advocate a purist application of it. In our view, it would not be fair or even achievable, in most circumstances”. Defra acknowledges this point in the policy statement accompanying its consultation.

Land could be worth more if left to nature
A study, led by academics at Cambridge University and the RSPB analysed 24 sites in six continents and found that the asset returns of the ecosystem services such as carbon storage and flood prevention were greater than the returns from forestry or farming. The study suggests that these land uses which modify nature for human consumption (either directly or indirectly) could be costing society more than it benefits it, but the natural capital costs are rarely taken into account by decision makers. More than 70% of the sites were found to be worth more in economic benefits if left as natural habitats. The academics valued the carbon sequestration benefits of these habitats at a conservative £22 per tonne. It was found that for a saltmarsh on the Ribble estuary in Lancashire the future income stream from mitigating carbon emissions alone was worth £1,540 per hectare, which was greater than the future income stream from grazing livestock on it. The report echoed the findings of the recently published Dasgupta review, which warned that the failure of economics to take into account the depletion of the natural world is putting the planet at extreme risk.

PROPERTY & DEVELOPMENT

Scotland: Crofting national development plan announced
The Scottish government has published the National Development Plan for Crofting which it will use to help ensure that crofting remains at the heart of rural and remote rural communities in Scotland. As of 2020, there were 21,186 crofts recorded on the Crofting Commissions Register of Crofts, covering approximately 750,000 hectares, with 33,000 people living in crofting households. The plan takes into consideration crofting development, new entrants, common grazings, housing, financial incentives and the need to simplify crofting legislation. It also considers how climate change and the loss of biodiversity will affect crofting and how crofting activities can contribute to the enhancement of the environment, landscape and biodiversity. Within the plan, one of the top priorities is to increase the proportion of croft land that is used actively. The plan is far reaching, and represents an integral voice within the debate over the future of Scotland’s land use.

Business and residential tenant eviction protection continued
In England the government has extended the ban on commercial evictions until 30 June 2021, to ensure businesses are supported as they reopen. Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng commented “I know business owners will welcome this latest package of support and the breathing space it will give them to prepare for a safe reopening, and, ultimately, to build back better”. For residential tenants the six month notice period and ban on bailiff enforced evictions has been extended to 31 May 2021 in most circumstances. Whilst in Wales the ban has been extended until 30 June. In Scotland the ban on residential evictions has now been extended until 30 September 2021 for all properties in Level 3 and Level 4 areas except in cases of serious anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse.

Business & Economy

New schemes announced to increase connectivity
Both the English and Scottish governments have announced schemes to expand and improve rural mobile coverage and connectivity. Within Scotland, communities and businesses will benefit from the launch of a new toolkit from the Infralink programme which will help identify sites on public buildings for masts and antennae. The toolkit aims to break down barriers to the rollout of 4G and 5G infrastructure and makes Scotland the first part of the UK to have national pricing guidance for telecoms. The programme is led by the Scottish Futures Trust and funded by the Scotland 5G Centre. Within England, the government’s £500 million investment in the Shared Rural Network programme to extend mobile coverage is ready to proceed. This will involve new phone masts being built and existing masts being upgraded to end poor 4G signals, with the hope of delivering combined coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025. The government has also announced that more than one million hard to reach homes and businesses will have next generation gigabit broadband built to them in the first phase of a £5 billion government infrastructure programme called Project Gigabit which also benefits Scotland.

Defra accused of bias towards owner occupiers
Earlier this month, the Tenant Famers Association (TFA) accused Defra and the Welsh government of holding an “unconscious bias within the policy teams to assume that all farmers are owner occupiers”. The TFA urged government to address concerns about the future of Farm Business Tenancies and described their often short term lengths as a failure of public policy. The TFA argues that changes need to be made to the taxation framework within which landowners make decisions to encourage longer tenancy lengths.

UK – Canada trade deal ratified
The UK – Canada trade deal continuity agreement has been ratified and will be brought into force next month. The agreement supports trade between Canada and the UK which was worth £22.4 billion in 2019. The deal removes an estimated £42 million tariff burden on UK exports through zero tariffs on cars, beef, fish, chocolate and soft drinks. Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister for International Trade, also welcomed the UK’s interest in joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

OTHER RURAL NEWS

And finally…
Training wild birds to litter pick
Using his skills in artificial intelligence, a man has created a mechanism which rewards magpies for litter picking. The machine dispenses treats to the magpies when they drop bottle tops into a specific hole in the dispenser. This positive reward reinforces the litter picking behaviour in the birds and they bring more and more bottle lids to the dispenser. The magpies can be seen demonstrating their skills in this video.