Food security vital for farmers says MEP
Editorial Department • Published 17 Sep 2010 09:00
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Dr David Llewellyn, principal of Harper Adams with Jim Nicholson, MEP, guest speaker and Joe Lawson, Chairman Harper Adams in Ireland at their biennial dinner in the Killyhevlin Hotel.
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Food security will be key to maintain stable prices for farmers within the agricultural sector, according to Jim Nicholson MEP, addressing the Harper Adams in Ireland Association in Enniskillen at the weekend.
He said that as an MEP for 21 years, he has seen how everything had to change with the times but he has also seen changes which lowers the priority of funding for agriculture within the EU. For example the CAP accounted for around half of the EU budget, but now with 27 Member States instead of 12, it will account for just 39 per cent of the Budget by 2014.
“We have to ensure the industry fights back and takes the lead. The first tool is food security,” he said.
He said with droughts, harvest shortfall, etc, there are many challenges ahead.
He also spoke of the importance of the Single Farm Payment. As a member of the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, he said farmers in Northern Ireland relied heavily on the SFP for their imcome. It accounts for 54 per cent of their income here, compared with 52 per cent across the UK.
“We must take our case to the consumers. We have to be more pro-active to argue that Europe needs the CAP,” he stated, adding that if the EU puts farmers through hoops for cross-compliance, they could not accept inferior food from other countries that were not so tightly regulated. He said all those in agriculture must play the strong card to keep the agricultural industry high on the agenda.
He also said that if there is to be more environmental protection, it will have to come at a cost.
It was in these times that he said they needed more well trained graduates and research and development was essential to help the farming industry deal with the changes that were coming.
Mr. Nicholson, with a farming background, first went into politics in the 1970’s and was elected MP for Newry and Armagh serving on the Agriculture Select Committee. He was first elected as an MEP in 1989 and has successfully being re-elected in every European Parlament election since, winning his most recent seat this year.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 16 Sep 10
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