The combinable crops breakout session of #NFU14 this afternoon gave that question some thorough consideration.
Sector board chairman Andrew Watts and chief adviser, Guy Gagen, set out the NFU’s thinking, stressing the importance of coping with volatility, encouraging diverse markets, identifying export opportunities and lobbying towards the regulation of speculators and greater competition in input markets.
And fertiliser and crop protection were two of the areas of particular discussion.
Know your germplasms, molecular marker technologies and metabolomics? Find out why guest speaker Stuart Knight (NIABTAG) thinks these are exciting times for crop science here.
“On fertiliser we had a quiet period to 2008 and then the market went absolutely mad,” said Mr Gagen.
“There’s been lot of volatility ever since, mostly upwards. We do discuss with manufacturers what goes on and have been asking intense questions about the model by which ammonium nitrate is supplied.
“That has made it very difficult for farmers and in many other countries forward pricing models are available.”
Mr Gagen added that the NFU has recently argued for an increase in competition in fertiliser markets which would remove import taxes valued at between £8 and £40 per tonnes on P and N from outside the EU. A formal request to the UK Department for Business and Skills was made earlier this month.
On pesticides, Mr Gagen added: “We have to start to wonder about how subjective the process in Europe is when it comes to active ingredients. In 1993 there were about 800 actives, now it’s down to about 300 available to European farmers. Of those, the number available to arable farmers is considerably less and it looks like quite a lot of those products could be lost in next six to eight years.
“We could lose 80% of what we had in 1993 by 2020."
Top issues from the crops session
Fertiliser market volatility - “We do discuss with manufacturers what goes on and have been asking intense questions about the model by which ammonium nitrate is supplied.” NFU chief adviser Guy Gagen
Restrictions on active ingredients in pesticides - “We could lose 80% of what we had in 1993 by 2020.” NFU chief adviser Guy Gagen
Seeds, and the stalling at EU level of the first new seed proposals in 40 years - “It’s very frustrating from our point of view because we’ve been working very hard to get the legislation changed. The proposals have been hijacked by an amateur sector seeds lobby.” NFU chief adviser Guy Gagen
Wayleaves - “We’re being underpaid for providing a valuable service for the community. When commercial companies are making every penny they can out of the supply of electricity, and you’ll know about that if you’ve ever tried getting new supply to farm, we’re entitled to fair return.” NFU crops board chairman Andrew Watts
Stubble burning - “Clearly with fewer chemicals to control black-grass we’re going to need control measures. The point is you need to stack them together. The declining number of products means we need to have all cultural tools available to us which may include stubble burning.” Stuart Knight, NIAB
The CAP and the ‘three crop rule’ - “We are where we are and one of the things about the NFU is that our efforts help our farmers punch above our weight in Europe. On the three crop rule our view is that we just have to get on with it and let it be exposed for the nonsense it is. It impacts particular on smaller farmers. We argued for an implementation based on average farm size and we haven’t given up on it.” NFU crops board chairman Andrew Watts
Seed quality and availability - "Farmers need good quality seeds and that was never more evident than last year. We really saw the difference between 2012 and 13 seed. We need access to materials, that can mean conventionally bred, but we do need to look to other areas. And that means breeding programmes and flexibility when it comes to royalties. Our business models have moved on and rest of the industry needs to catch up." NFU crops board chairman Andrew Watts