A little more effort or a lot more red tape?
NFU Horticulture Board Chairman, Sarah Pettitt launched new Campaign information specifcally for growers and producers across the UK.
Speaking at the combined launch and growers' farm walk event at speciality leaf producer, JE Piccaver and Co's Norfolk House Farm, Gedney Marsh near Holbeach, Sarah said: "The Campaign for the Farmed Environment is an exciting integration of high value production with responsibility for farmland bird, farm wildlife and resource protection. Its voluntary approach is just like the Voluntary Initiative - it's a win-win for the industry and its about avoiding blunt regulation. If we don't make CFE work, compulsory set-aside with no flexibility, more record keeping and on up to eight per cent of land, will be imposed on us.
"Vegetable and potato growers already make an important contribution to the environment in many ways. By adding in some simple and practical measures on our farms, we will help the whole industry to achieve the Campaign's targets. What we need is a little effort to save us from a lot more red tape."
J E Piccaver and Co's production director, Phillip Hubbert, set the scene for the event by explaining the environmental policies already in place on the company's farms. The conservation work had had a positive impact on the business and even though some of the farm's area is rented to a neighbouring farmer for potato and combinable crop production to aid the salad crop rotation, the environmental features remain a high priority for both businesses.
Phillip Hubbert added: "I've been reviewing the farms' environmental policies and its interesting that I can still find bits of the farm that are outside the ELS and HLS schemes that I can record under the Campaign. It's important that growers don't get bogged down by thinking that the Campaign is yet another scheme. If you're already in the Assured Produce, Leaf Marque or Tesco Nurture schemes, you'll be doing most of what the CFE aims to achieve. By recording what you're already doing in terms of field margins, uncultivated land or by making slight alterations to game cover seed mixtures, the Campaign's options aren't difficult."
The main themes of the farm walk as explained by Mr Hubbert and Lincolnshire's CFE co-ordinator, Barney Parker included:
Enter the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme (ELS) if you can. It might mean giving up some land to achieve the required points, but that attracts a payment and may make cropping more efficient. Advice is available from county Campaign co-ordinators
Consider undertaking some of the in-field options to help achieve the Campaign's aims. There are six or seven that are practical and simple to implement on high-cost cropped land for vegetable and potato production
Record any un-cropped land (either rotational or non-rotational) on the record sheets in the back of the "Farmer guide to voluntary measures" booklet sent out in early 2010 to all growers with more than 10ha of arable land.
Talk to your local CFE co-ordinator or your agronomist or farm adviser about options on your farm to help farm wildlife, farmland bird and protect resources.
The new leaflet for Horticulture and potato growers is available here.
