New Year brings challenges and opportunities

The New Year is traditionally a quiet time for farm work, making January a good time to look forward as well as back.

Unlike many other industries, agriculture had a comparatively good 2009.

Margins tightened but farming still managed to shrug off the worst of the recession – not bad given the difficulties faced by the sector over the past decade or more.

This year will bring its own challenges.

Big issues facing producers during 2010 include Common Agricultural Policy reform and the future for farm support post-2013.

Then there is the General Election.

Two things are certain.

Money will remain tight and the need to increase food output while protecting the environment will continue to exercise the minds of policymakers – whichever political party wins power.

The biggest challenge will be achieving the triple goals of securing an adequate food supply, ensuring a decent return for producers and reducing the impact of agriculture on the environment.

Two key investments in the region’s food and farming sector will go a long way to achieving this.

And along the way, producers can help to promote a positive image for responsible farming by doing their bit for the environment.

In the run-up to Christmas, construction started in earnest on Gleadell’s £5m grain terminal at Great Yarmouth.

Due to be fully operational by this harvest, the facility will make marketing grain easier for the region’s growers.

Meanwhile, livestock producers are set to benefit from a £5m abattoir in mid-Suffolk.

The long-awaited project comes against the backdrop of eight abattoir closures over the past 10 years and the investment is seen as vital for the region’s meat industry.

At the same time, with 14,000 entry-level stewardship agreements coming up for renewal this year, farmers have an ideal opportunity to enhance their role as custodians of the rural landscape.

Supporting the industry-led Campaign for the Farmed Environment in this way will help to fend off the threat of a compulsory set-aside replacement that could take up to 5% of arable land out of production across the region.

As always, farming faces challenges but we start 2010 well-placed to meet them.