Environment seen key to future of British farming

British farming, faced with competition from low-cost producers such as Brazil, must focus on the environmental benefits of production and the security local crops offer for energy and food supply, industry leaders said on Monday.
Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers Union, told a media briefing at the Royal Agricultural Show that farmers must focus on the environment rather than just try to maximise production. "It isn't about saying farming is so important now it is production at all costs," he said, adding that farming must not damage the environment.
Kendall backed a campaign for supermarkets to stock more locally produced food, with supporters pointing to the benefits of not transporting food over long distances.
Supermarkets needed to source more food from local suppliers or risk losing their customers, according to consumer research commissioned by industry magazine Farmers Weekly and carried out by polling company NOP.
The research, issued at the Royal Show, showed that 59 percent of consumers would consider shopping elsewhere if their usual supermarket was not committed to sourcing from local suppliers.
Other research issued on Monday, however, showed that consumer behaviour did not always reflect such preferences, with only 25 percent of consumers considering country of origin when making food purchases.
That study, commissioned by Stuart Hampson, president of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, showed 81 percent of the population considered it important to reduce so-called food miles, a term used to highlight the transport of products over long distances. "This report revealed the existence of a disconnect between consumer attitudes and behaviour for food miles," the study said.
The Hampson report called on British food producers to concentrate on taste and high animal welfare and environmental standards. Kendall also said countries had to consider alternative energy sources such as local crops. "I think there is a complete new dynamic here on what countries think their land area can be used for," he said.
Grains and oilseeds could be used to produce motor fuels and tall grasses and trees could be burnt to generate electricity. Kendall said making good use of waste and by-products also had an important role to play. Local crops were also seen as important for food security.
Kendall said rising world populations, the growing wealth of India and China and the prospect of climate change reducing production in some parts of the world would "draw the curtain on an era of cheap world food". David Cameron, leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, told a media briefing: "I think we need to look at food security."