Rising to the challenge of new-look
agriculture
HOW can the Westcountry and its farmers respond to the challenges of 2007 and beyond?
The range of challenges faced and the pace of change seem to be escalating each year. The restructuring of CAP support, increased world trade, climate change and a UK farming policy switching from Sir Don Curry’s reconnection of food producers and consumers to David Miliband’s environmental agenda bring a more complex and less secure future.
You could be forgiven for thinking that once upon a time farming was simple and that all it had to do was concentrate on food production. But think again, there was a time before that, a time before tractors and mechanisation, when agriculture produced food and the raw materials for clothing and was itself self-sufficient in fuel and energy. It seems we are heading back to the future.
May we be heading back towards a more complex, more balanced and more environmentally-friendly farming structure?
If we are, there may well be farming techniques and practices from the 19th century that will re-emerge in the 21st century – but there are also some significant differences.
The most apparent is that knowledge, capital and products can now be transported around the globe in a fraction of the time.
While the environmental implications of this movement of food may be rising up the political agenda, the short term is dictated by commercial and economic reality.
UK producers of commodity raw materials are now competing head-to-head with farmers in South America, Asia and elsewhere in an increasingly competitive global market.
In this economic pressure cooker good Westcountry farmers, however technically efficient they become, are unlikely to be least-cost producers.
To survive and prosper in this brave new world they will have to look beyond commodity food production. Fortunately there are an increasing number of opportunities for them to do so and the South West has a range of unique qualities that offer hope and commercial advantage.
The landscape, its rolling hills and valleys, its patchwork of fields and farms, compliments its coastline – and the natural beauty of the country will remain one of its greatest assets.
Tourism (and tourists) will continue to offer real opportunities to its farmers. On-farm diversification into accommodation, leisure facilities and recreation is already a mainstay of many farming businesses and is likely to remain so. A major challenge for Westcuntry agriculture is how to market high-value local farm products to these consumers for 365 days per year – not just when they are on holiday.
There are an increasing number of niche products and producers that are doing just that, but more relatively small farms will need to work together, to invest together and to find the brand image and the marketing clout to pull it off.
Concerns over climate change, food miles and the provenance of good-quality food can help. It will also require increased support from bankers, professional advisers and retailers.
Predicted climate change is now a major threat to the world and its ecosystem, but it is likely that this will also bring new crop opportunities in the Westcountry and Cornwall in particular.
Vineyards are already established in the county and olive groves, specialist orchards and exotic salad crops are likely to follow. Investments in these projects bring with them significant risk, but also the chance to generate significant income from relatively small-scale farming operations.
In this changed global climate keeping warm in the winter may be less of an issue, but I would expect biofuels will be more prevalent across the UK.
In Cornwall it is more likely that this will be in the form of biomass for local heating projects, and possibly combined heat and power projects, rather than large blocks of cereals or oilseeds for bioethanol plants. There may also be the chance to produce on-farm biodiesel for use in farm machinery and vehicles. Again I see that a number of farmers working together is the most likely business model for success in this area.More change, more risk and more diversity will prove a real challenge but the region has the resources and the climate to respond.
It seems unlikely that Westcountry farmers will be able to compete on the world commodity market – but providing they can finds ways to work together and invest beyond the farm gate there is every opportunity for relatively small farms to remain in business, and for family farms to be the backbone of the local economy for generations to come.
