Agenda item

·         National Farmers Union (NFU)

·         Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

·         Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA)

·         Bucks Council Update

National Farmers Union (NFU)

Alex Nelms thanked both Charles Kent and Chris Schmidt-Reid for their tributes to Gill as it summed up really well her contribution to the Rural Forum particularly helping to set it up which was a real testament to her and that her legacy lived on with the Rural Forum.

Alex explained that he was the Chair of the Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire NFU. He also explained that farmers were feeling the pinch currently as the output prices on farmers’ commodities whether it be milk or cereals etc. had fallen from the relatively recent record highs which were held prior to the war in Ukraine. In particular, milk prices had fallen some 30p from 50p per litre to the mid-20’s. However, input prices remained high affecting fuel, energy and fertiliser prices.

Alex went on to explain that the rollout of the new SFI, the Sustainable Farming Incentive, had been limited although the reason for this was not known.

Currently farmers were experiencing challenges with the weather which impacted on getting the autumn crops planted.

Alex then asked if anyone at the meeting had heard of the Red Tractor Scheme; about half the members indicated that they had. Alex explained that there was friction within Red Tractor and its board members. The NFU represented around 50,000 farmers nationwide who all had to fulfil a Red Tractor inspection annually in order to access the market and sell their goods. Red Tractor tried to manage the relationship between the farmers and the Big Four supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrissons) providing assurance and foods of a certain standard. However, with the ever increasing standards being required by the retailers which came at a cost, these costs were being met by the farmers but without an increase in payments.

Without going into too much detail, Alex explained that the NFU were carrying out two reviews, the first was on the governance of Red Tractor and the second on the wider place of assurance in the UK. When it came to producing food, the UK had very high standards but with new trade deals coming into force, there was concern that standards would being undermined by foreign imports, such as Australian beef.

Alex went on to explain that Buckinghamshire Council could support farmers and the rural community more when it came to planning issues. Alex cited Kenton Farms where 75% of their turnover was from agricultural production. Agriculture sales selling wheat for bread making 10% of our turnover is bps or SFI. This sort of subsidy or farm support for services that are not catered for by the market and the final 15% were diversifications. These other enterprises, using old chicken sheds that no longer house chickens, now housed joiners and paint sprayers and precision engineers. These are sort of craft, the one or two man bands, that did not want to work in their garage or do not want to work in an industrial unit, say, at Cressex or Sands. They wanted to have space to carry out their trade and farm buildings were a useful intermediary for that because a farm is where commercial activity takes place. At one time it was food production, and now it's moving on. Some research had been carried out by Ted Howard-Smith and Will Dallimore who worked out that there was up to £5 million worth of grants that had been issued for projects which were supported by the Council but that not come to fruition or been delivered as a result of hold ups in the planning system. It was hoped that these could be overcome so that schemes such as the one mentioned, could be delivered in a timely manner. Post meeting note – Further investigation has identified that the amount is approx.. £2 million of grant funding that was not applied for because of concerns that projects would not receive planning permission or that the process would take too long and funding would be lost.

Hayden Langford, the local NFU group secretary updated the Forum on rural crime numbers following an event recently held at the Grove Riding School where farmers, local residents and local businesses attended which was run by Thames Valley Police (TVP) and the NFU. It seemed that thefts of property from farms had sometimes been sent to Ukraine and sold there as it was easy to get goods out of the UK which therefore meant that thefts of equipment etc. was on the increase. At the event, the focus was on how to prevent these thefts, such as closing gates, removing keys from vehicles, parking machinery out of sight etc. Writing down chassis and serial numbers was helpful too. Doing this would help the police in returning equipment to the rightful owner, should the stolen equipment be recovered.

As well as equipment theft, there was a small rise in livestock thefts, around 8.7%. Having said this, thefts were down slightly in Buckinghamshire as focus by TVP had been on rural crime meaning the success rate of recovery had increased.

Hayden mentioned a WhatsApp group which has helped people identify local issues and can act as a warning to other members of the group. It was noted that this was not a replacement for dialling 999 in an emergency, but more of an informative for neighbours and the rural community.

Alexander Ash of Thames Valley Police stated that overall the trend was of an increase in rural crime rates. Neighbourhood teams were being populated as a visible force. In relation to the WhatsApp group, it was noted this was a very useful form of communication for the rural community and the police and as police officers now have the group on their work phones, engagement with the rural community would get better all the time. Alexander also encouraged farmers etc. with equipment on site, to make a note of chassis and serial numbers as this would help should items be recovered.

The Chairman thanked Alex, Hayden and Alexander for their input.

Concern was raised by Geoffrey Copas in relation to planning issues, citing an application he had submitted around 20 months ago, which still had not received permission due to various issues with staffing at the council. This meant that time was running out as planning applications were time limited. He hoped that the council and Councillors would address this situation to make submitting planning applications easier and decisions made quicker than currently.

Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

·      Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL)

This DEFRA funding programme has been widely seen as a successful means of providing extra support to farmers and rural interests within protected landscapes including the Chilterns.
Here is a link to a national report issued earlier in the year - https://www.nationalparksengland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/475080/0345-NPE-FiPL-report-2023-A4-WEB.pdf
The programme has been extended to March 2025 so my colleague, Gareth Clay (gclay@chilternsaonb.org), would welcome applications for suitable proposals.

Farming in Protected Landscapes | Chilterns AONB

·      Boundary Extension

Natural England led project still progressing though recommendations for any areas to be included are unlikely to go out for public consultation before summer 2024 at the earliest.
Besides offering opportunities for further protection of landscape areas, any extra areas included will be eligible for extra support and funding such as FiPL.

·      Access for All

Another DEFRA fund that has been extended and is looking to support public enjoyment, health and wellbeing within the AONB - DEFRA Access for All funding | Chilterns AONB

Our web page describes successful projects and how to submit expressions of interest.

·      Farm Clusters

We’ve previously mentioned our support for farm clusters in the past. Clusters gather farmers together, help them identify their own priorities, offer support through training and funding applications.

We have 2 established and 3 evolving clusters within the Chilterns, 2 of which are in Buckinghamshire:

Central Chilterns – still going strong and has now set up their own CIC.  CCB has offered support for whole farm plans, CS applications, soil carbon audits (with help from the Rothschild Foundation) and this spring completed the second phase of a large hedgerow restoration project.  My colleague, Nick Marriner, has also recently submitted an ambitious Landscape Recovery bid (the highest tier of ELM funding) on behalf of the group.
River Chess Farmers – the Thames Water funded Smarter Water Catchment project, looking to address water quality, sediment run off and other issues within the catchment, is also supporting a new developing farm cluster.

·      Beacons of the Past

Glad to report that Dr Wendy Morrison will continue to offer her expertise through the Chilterns Heritage and Archaeology Partnership (CHAP) | Chilterns AONB.

·      Chilterns Walking Festival

Latest festival currently running until the 29^th of October – full details available - Chilterns Walking Festival | Chilterns AONB

·      HS2
Although the second leg has been cancelled Bucks and the Chilterns still have to suffer the impacts and disruption of the route between London and Birmingham.  We are still looking to positively influence design and mitigation and wait to see the implications of a switch of projects between EKFB and Align.

·      Undergrounding of Electricity Infrastructure

A project to replace 8km of overhead line and 100 wooden poles in the Chess Valley near Latimer and Chenies is almost complete.  We are looking for other suitable projects within the OFGEM allowance for protected landscapes.

Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA)

Overall enrolment across the college is up to 1700 at BCA and up across the group.

Agriculture is increasing again in numbers. 

BCA introduced a Level 1 this year and enrolled 88 learners in agriculture, 17 in horticulture and 8 general farm worker apprentices.

BCA continued to attend the local county shows and ploughing matches.

From September 2023 T- level in agriculture would be offered which included a minimum of 45 days industry placement, had core business knowledge and occupational specialist practicals. There were exams and an employer set project.

A curriculum plan was being set up around the farming seasons so it was taught more holistically and would look to start the forums again where asking for advice and support from employers to make sure the curriculum had been planned right. 

If you would be interested in getting involved please do email Vicky at: Victoria.beckwith@windsor-forest.ac.uk

BCA continued to plan towards a variety of enterprises:

·         Apple juice, turkeys, calf rearing, breeding our suckler herd and sheep flock.

·         A tractor simulator was helping to increase driving skills safely and sustainably.

·         Working towards red tractor and leaf marque accreditation just to show that the college was meeting industry standards and were utilising integrated management plans to link farming and the environment.

Vicky explained that she had also taken over the management of the engineering department at Langley college which would enable a greater availability of resources and skills to share with the agricultural learners, so welding skills would be offered to these learners.

Additional funds to be able to offer certificates of competency to our leaving learners was a struggle, as this was an additional cost of approximately £400 per learner and was legally needed for anyone to use a tele-handler on farm.

Councillor Robin Stuchbury, a previous rural apprentice himself, asked whether the apprentices at the college get a chance to work on farms. Vicky responded that yes, they did.

Bucks Council Update

Chris Schmidt-Reid updated the Forum on programmes taking place. First Chris reported that from the 1 November the Buckinghamshire History Festival was starting, which was a celebration of history and cultural heritage across the county. The windmill at Quainton would be open a few times during the month and people can go and see grain being milled in the old fashioned way.

Earlier in October, the Council adopted a regeneration strategy for Buckinghamshire called Regenerating Bucks which was a blueprint for the future growth of Bucks towns and a framework setting out how people can invest in existing assets, make changes where needed and try to attract new investment to the county. Alongside this were three further strategies for the larger towns of Aylesbury, High Wycombe and Chesham where the focus would be to maximise the towns’ potential and enhance the strengths of the network of towns and villages. Chris also reported there was a Community Safety Survey for 2023 (link below). This had been commissioned by the Safer Buckinghamshire Board which was the local community safety partnership that brought together experts from the police, fire service, probation, health and social care services. The survey aimed to help the board understand the community safety concerns of people living and working in Bucks to help reduce crime.

https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/communities/safety-2023/

Chris also reported that there were a number of Neighbourhood Plans at various different stages with two currently out to consultation, Beaconsfield and Drayton Parslow. The Beaconsfield consultation closes on 9 November and Drayton Parslow closes on the 30 November. Any further consultations could be found on the Bucks website.