Scrap the Cap

From a former government advisor and large scale farmer, this was quite unexpected.

Lord Haskins also told a conference in Glasgow that, after the purely farming parts had been scrapped, what was left of the common agricultural policy (CAP) should be re-nationalised. He told a slightly stunned audience at the Semex cattle breeding company conference: "I believe that phasing out subsidies will make farming more efficient and more profitable.

He went on to give a very good reason why:

"Subsidies sustain inefficiencies and encourage farmers to grow crops on unsuitable land. Without subsidies, the inefficient will have to pull up their socks or pass production to another grower, almost certainly larger scale. "Without subsidies, unsuitable land will go out of arable cropping. Either way, with less supply reaching the market, prices should rise."

I am very glad that he has made such statements, but couldn’t he have done so when he was still a government advisor? Nevertheless, its great to know that some farmers share our views on this.