EU, Farmers , What next
Surly there is only one way forward for the farming industry to show its commitment to the long term future, That is to take full responsibility of the health of the land they have custodianship over. It is my belief we have to devolve power to the individual , and it then they who make the decisions on their future , not politicians who change with the wind.
We must however make everyone accountable for their actions and instead of providing subsidies , why not remove all taxes affecting farming and introduce a Natural Resource Tax based on how the land is managed , the more eco friendly the land use the lower the tax, like organics, mixed forestry etc and higher taxes for more concrete, pesticide use and poor productivity. how about all farm building must have solar panels on them ? not just a token amount , and a tax for solar forms for desertification of the land underneath? What a waste of good land? etc etc
We must however make everyone accountable for their actions and instead of providing subsidies , why not remove all taxes affecting farming and introduce a Natural Resource Tax based on how the land is managed , the more eco friendly the land use the lower the tax, like organics, mixed forestry etc and higher taxes for more concrete, pesticide use and poor productivity. how about all farm building must have solar panels on them ? not just a token amount , and a tax for solar forms for desertification of the land underneath? What a waste of good land? etc etc
Everyone seems to agree in principle to lowing fossil fuel use as we see with COP21, but action is very low on all sectors.
Climate Change H as not been caused just in the past 40 years , indeed it is the accumulation of hundreds of years of stripping the world bare of it resources, particularly forests and we often complain of the rain forests of the amazon , but we are equally guilty of forest destruction in the UK, where forests were the priciple coverage of all land.
As farmers we have the obligation to make best use of the land we have at our disposal, and as some land is often marginal is our duty to plant and actively encourage biodiversity there while maximising output from the remaining land in such a way as to improve and make any techniques sustainable in the short and long term
Climate Change H as not been caused just in the past 40 years , indeed it is the accumulation of hundreds of years of stripping the world bare of it resources, particularly forests and we often complain of the rain forests of the amazon , but we are equally guilty of forest destruction in the UK, where forests were the priciple coverage of all land.
As farmers we have the obligation to make best use of the land we have at our disposal, and as some land is often marginal is our duty to plant and actively encourage biodiversity there while maximising output from the remaining land in such a way as to improve and make any techniques sustainable in the short and long term
Farmers and indeed all landowners have this responsibility and it should be incumbent on them that penalty should be paid when this is not done , I suggest we call this a Natural Resource Tax , payable dependant upon certain criteria being met about how sustainable the soil is being maintained.
The EU referendum has now given us the opportunity to take control in our own hands , and I call on all farmers to really think hard about how viable their operation is without damage to the planet, we are like the fossil fuel industries , we extract from the land with help of sun water and air , all of which are free, and we then pollute with all the waste the industries cause to the planet , indeed Agriculture also employees the services of fossil fuels for all its action and we must rapidly develop wholesale new techniques that reduce the pollution footprint of farming upon the planet.
It is not until we are faced with this new EU scenario have we as farmers been able to really think out of the box , as the industry , as does all businesses follow where the easy money is , and if we can get it from grants from government or the EU we will always say yes please, but that is not always the best long term way forward.
All business must show its metal, and the farming industry must lead the way, as the industry often states.
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