Paul Millard of the CLA writes . . .

Central to this whole debate is the fact that few farmers make money from their business yet most farmers provide goods the public demands such as landscape, environment, habitat biodiversity and so on.

Food production is – and must remain – the principle role of farming but farming is strongly dependent on public payments, and those payments are under threat.

If we want farmers to continue to deliver food for which the market pays and public environmental goods for which the market will not pay, then payment for the public goods has to come from the public purse – in this case via the Common Agricultural Policy.

Farming must be efficient, competitive and viable in the long term – because without a viable farming industry we’ll get neither the food nor the environment we want.

The CLA argues that the UK government needs to make the case for food security, but not for income support, as this invites payment capping. We need to continue to promote the need for a stronger Common Agricultural Policy to European opinion formers by making the case that food and environmental security are inextricably linked.

The twin challenges of food and environmental security can only be met by European policy with commensurate budget resources – and this is the task for a reformed CAP.

The benefit for the public will be a more sustainable farm system that provides environmental benefits including cleaner water, reduced global warming and more biodiversity.

In a recent paper, the CLA and Bird Life International, the European equivalent of the RSPB, set out seven key points for the CAP reforms due to take place in 2012.

Both organisations agreed that the sustainable management of Europe’s land requires continued active intervention by farmers and landowners. The paper also identified the fact that there is a particular need to ensure the maintenance of extensive livestock.