MEPs agree on CAP reforms to help the environment and reward farmers properly but worry new legislation may be late.

MEPs push for new farm policy on time

A new dawn for farmers?  Voting in the Agriculture Committee

dealt with 1700 amendments on  the Common Agricultural Policy reform,

but MEPs still fear  it won’t be ready on time.

We want to see environmental measures  but no more red or green tape.

We want to look at  the whole food supply chain,

and maybe look at  an ombudsman’s role there

to ensure fair trade  and fair prices for farmers.

MEPs want the legislation to give farmers  a future and protect the environment

eg. by linking farm payments  with conservation measures.

We face a huge challenge of how to feed  an extra two billion people by 2050

and a huge increase in demand for food  from countries like China and India,

and the current model of agriculture  based on cheap energy

and cheap input will no longer be able  to meet that challenge.

A key aim is to encourage more  young people to stay on family farms

Too many are leaving the land  because they see no future.

All the agricultural sectors which demand  a certain degree of personal commitment,

an investment of energy,  are at risk of being lost.

Farmers would rather  we left them alone to get on with it,

but this should hopefully make the CAP  easier to interact with,

while still directly supporting  Scottish and EU farmers.

But MEPs are convinced that the EC  is listening and that the final farm policy

will reflect their concerns,  however long it takes.