Editorial: Sense at last
OPINION: For the first time in many years, a commonsense approach is emerging to balance environmental issues with the need for the nation's primary producers to be able to operate effectively.
UK Environment Secretary, George Eustice has an unusual solution to improving the environment: paying farmers to retire.
Speaking at the National Farmers' Union’s 2020 Conference this week, Eustice said that some veteran farmers are 'standing in the way of change', reports The Telegraph.
He said that paying veteran farmers a lump sum would enable them to ‘retire with dignity’.
Eutice, who was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on February 13, 2020, said the lump sum would consist of several years' subsidy payments.
He says such a measure would offer better opportunities for new entrants with fresh perspectives for agriculture.
The average age of farm holders in the UK is 59.
Eutice’s recommendation comes as the UK government works to phase out £3 billion (NZ $6.13 billion) in subsidies from the EU Common Agricultural Policy basic payment scheme from 2021.
The scheme has been criticised for creating barriers to entry for newcomers by paying farmers on the basis of the land they hold, rather than their productivity, effectively discouraging innovation.
Eutice says new entrants are the lifeblood of all industries, with agriculture being no exception.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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