Memorandum submitted by LEAF (Linking
Environment And Farming) (Z03)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. LEAF sits on the steering committee of
the Voluntary Initiative and has been involved in the subgroups.
2. LEAF supports the VI and we believe that
the collaborative approach of the VI group has been successful.
3. LEAF has been involved in the development
and promotion of Integrated Farm Management over the last 13 years
and the principles of encouraging a voluntary approach to progress
environmental improvement and change have been at the heart of
our objectives. LEAF has just completed a report demonstrating
environmental improvement from farmers adopting best practice
voluntarily over the last 10 years and delivering meaningful change.
4. LEAF believes that the VI is a success
within the constraints of time and political complexities that
the industry faces. There is a significant level of understanding
and ownership among the industry and in the arable sector in particular.
5. LEAF is involved with other EU Member
States in the encouragement of best practice through the adoption
of Integrated Farm Management. In particular this relates to issues
such as crop protection, soil management, organisation and planning
and biodiversity.
6. LEAF's submission brings together comments
from farmers who are involved in the Voluntary Initiative and
other experiences among the industry.
INTRODUCTION
When LEAF started in 1991 the principles behind
our activities were geared towards a whole farm approach and encouraging
good attention through better risk of management—Integrated
Farm Management. Naturally this has included the protection of
habitats and the enhancement of wildlife potential on farms, alongside
better resource management and protection. LEAF now has some 70
demonstration sites and 2,000 members representing 10% of the
cropped area. At the heart of the Integrated Farm Management approach
is crop protection and advice offering many benefits for consumers,
the environment and farmers, below are some examples of IFM best
practice:
— Responsible methods of producing
quality, safe, affordable food.
— Improved farming and environmental
protection.
— Maintaining and enhancing the use
and value of key resources such as staff, soil, water, air, wildlife
habitats and landscape, capital and machinery.
— Targeting the use of agrochemicals,
medicines and fertilisers only when necessary, saving farmers
money and reducing risk to the environment.
— Maintaining and enhancing the wildlife
value and character of the countryside and landscape.
— Meeting the needs of the market place
by establishing and using an accurate system of records and procedures
to ensure informed decisions, traceability and accountability.
— Reducing the risk of pollution incidents
by identifying sensitive field areas and categories of risk (ie
no spreading, very high, high risk and lower risk), and adjusting
or avoiding the application of inputs on these areas.
— Ensuring farm staff are fully trained
to understand and implement IFM principles and enjoy the job satisfaction
in achieving these principles.
— Building up public confidence.
It is important to note that perhaps while the
Voluntary Initiative has not gone as far as embracing the whole
farm approach, the principles of Integrated Farm Management and
its aim to reduce the level of pesticides in water and improve
the precision of pesticide use are inherent. LEAF supports the
success of the VI in addressing these areas, through a mixture
of activities such as the development of crop protection management
plans, sprayer testing and farmer training. Alongside this has
been some interesting and again successful activities seeking
more detailed information and supporting evidence particularly
from catchments. We believe that these activities and a collaborative
approach of the VI group has been successful. However, in terms
of environmental improvement issues this is a difficult area to
assess. There are many drivers that contribute to change on the
ground and the compound effect of the collaborative approach should
not be underestimated. Furthermore, it is through working together
that these many initiatives create the impetus for improved best
practice. To bring together some of the general thoughts from
farmers and others, there is a consensus that:
— It would be fair to say in terms of
farmer perception that there was a sticky start with many saying
there will be a tax anyway, however, more and more have quickly
come round to understanding and supporting the VI.
— The VI has now been widely accepted,
especially in the arable sector and it has been useful to recognise
and improve the professionalism of sprayer operators.
— There are concerns about gaining
CPD points in terms of activities to get the points and also the
fear that they may haunt us in the future. The mechanism for recording
these needs to be improved.
— The sprayer testing has given
some genuine improvements
— More and more buffer strips are
being delivered which is good practice.
It is evident that there are some specific,
on the ground practical issues, which are resulting in change
of practice for an improved environment.
There is also a joined-up approach with the
activities recognising those farmers who are already carrying
out best practice. For example, if a farmer is carrying out the
LEAF Audit they will have an exemption from carrying out a crop
protection management plan. This is important for many farmers
who are frustrated by the increasing level of bureaucracy. Added
to this LEAF was contracted by the VI and the Crop Protection
Association (CPA) to carry out a study looking into the last 10
years of trends in the LEAF Audit and any meaningful change. The
executive summary is attached below.
We think it is important that we look to some
of the key strengths of the very many of groups, thoughts and
philosophies around the world in reducing the impact of pesticides.
The Voluntary approach is meaningful in that it creates a stronger
ownership and understanding of the issues and works closely with
stakeholders who have close working relationships with farmers
to ensure they have their messages right. A tax will not serve
to improve environmental performance and would not have the focus
of goodwill and the belief in improving the environment because
you want to, not because you have to.
What is critical is the partnership approach
the Voluntary Initiative is based on and we would propose that
government seriously look at what has been achieved in a very
short time. There is more to be done to achieve the targets and
we are aware of an ambitious element of expectation of meeting
quantifiable environmental targets and we believe we should be
cautious in this area and not too ambitious. Farmers are not averse
to change but raising awareness of the benefits of change takes
time. Seeing benefits in action from others who have implemented
change is key and the value of demonstration farms is essential
for knowledge transfer.
The impact of pesticides can be reduced through
good attention to detail and the creation and enhancement of habitats
is a critical part to improving biodiversity as part of a whole
farm approach.
We believe that more time should be put into
developing best practice examples and in particular utilising
work that is already happening on the ground. Such as the key
messages promoted through LEAF demonstration farms. We also believe
that the advisory services have a very important role to play
and indeed the advisory services have been a key part in encouraging
the uptake of the Voluntary Initiative among farmers.
While there has been a good uptake and rapid
acceptance of the Voluntary Initiative among arable farmers there
is still progress to be made ie, the livestock sector.
CONCLUSION
We believe that the Voluntary Initiative is
a success and there is a significant level of understanding and
ownership among the industry and the arable sector in particular.
With a background of new processes and decisions facing the industry;
namely the CAP reform, regionalisation and new directives, the
development of the Voluntary Initiative is important, particularly
the partnership and collaboration it promotes.
MEASURING CHANGE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
ON FARM
OVER 10 YEARS
DEMONSTRATED BY
ANALYSIS OF
THE LEAF
AUDIT DATA
To support the work of the Voluntary Initiative
(VI), the Crop Protection Association (CPA) commissioned LEAF
(Linking Environment And Farming) to analyse the LEAF Audit data
to establish if it was possible to demonstrate meaningful environmental
change from farmers carrying out best practice on farm.
Data from the LEAF Audit demonstrates how some
farmers have voluntarily adopted best practice over time across
the whole farm and provides an opportunity to relate findings
to the work of the Voluntary Initiative. The report shows that
changing behaviour on farm can be measured using the framework
of the LEAF Audit. The LEAF Audit helps the farmer set targets
for action and benchmarks for business, environmental and resource
management improvement across the whole farm.
The report illustrates that while farmers are
getting ready to adapt to a new approach to legislation introduced
in the Mid Term Review and supporting measures in the Voluntary
Initiative, this flexibility to change has been underway for a
number of years. The results are especially meaningful as they
are based on decisions and changes made on practical working farms.
The changes on farm achieved by the LEAF Audit process demonstrate
that action plans such as the Crop Protection Management Plan
(CPMP) stimulate change and encourage environmental improvement.
This is seen by the fact that 80% of farmers conducting the LEAF
Audit have a positive policy for managing wildlife and landscape
features.
This report focuses on those areas relevant
to the VI, that is: crop protection, crop health and biodiversity.
However, the LEAF Audit covers the whole farm, and comparisons
of change in other aspects of farming practice may also be possible
although not covered in this report.
The key finding from the analysis is that thoughtful
management by farmers and self-assessment through the LEAF Audit
can deliver improved practice on farm. Responses to the LEAF Audit
question "We consider cropping practices which encourage
biodiversity" shows a steady increase in the number of farmers
responding positively from 45% in 1994 to 70% in 2002. Clearly
farmer priorities are shifting to greater care for the environment.
On farm this change can be seen at the Manydown Company Ltd where
the introduction of Lapwing squares has resulted in an increase
from four Lapwing pairs in 2002 to 18 in 2004.
The importance of managing specific habitats
for wildlife improvement can also be seen in the performance of
other farms investigated for this report. Using uncropped strips
to protect hedgerows and water courses from field operations has
increased from 40% in 1997 to 65% in 2002. This type of activity
together with the use of conservation management and the adoption
of Integrated Farm Management (IFM) has resulted in the dramatic
increase in partridge pairs from 10 pairs in spring 2002 to 56
in spring 2003 on Sir Richard Sutton Settled estates. Demonstrating
again how following best practice can deliver a better environment
for wildlife.
Farmers who have completed the LEAF audit have
shown consistent, meaningful improvement and aspire to follow
best practice. The sample set of farmers demonstrate this commitment.
Some show early commitment through the higher percentages and
others a gradual trend to adopting best practice. This aspiration
for best practice is down to the level of awareness of the strengths,
opportunities and potential of the farm and the key areas for
improvement which the LEAF Audit helps farmers identify each year.
An interesting trend was recognised in farmers
responding in an over optimistic manner in the first year and
being more realistic with their responses in the second and improving
thereafter. It will be interesting to observe whether this behaviour
can be detected in the analysis of the CPMP results.
The common themes of the Voluntary Initiative,
education, training, management, action, planning, innovation,
identifying areas for improvement, best practice, attention to
detail and risk management are all embodied in the principles
of IFM which LEAF farmers have been demonstrating voluntarily
through the LEAF Audit since 1994.
This report illustrates that with the correct
management tools, farmers can identify their own journey of change
and improvement and manage it at a meaningful pace for their business
and benchmark themselves year on year and against others.
8 October 2004
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