L12- Politics Of Farming

The Politics of Farming: Corporatism Undermined

• Introduction: changing politics

• Sections Covered:

  • The National Farmers’ Union & corporatism

  • Biosecurity crises

  • Conclusion: from ‘farming interest’ to ‘rural social movement’?

Introduction: Changing Rural Politics

• Understanding Required:

  • Post-war political consensus was prevalent.

  • Breakdown of this consensus began in the 1970s.

  • Subsequent impacts included animal health crises.

  • Transition from ‘rural politics’ to ‘politics of the rural’ (Woods 2005) reflects changing power dynamics in rural Britain.

Scott Report (1942) Legacy

• Farmers viewed as ‘natural stewards of the countryside’.

• Influences on Legislation:

  • Agriculture Act 1947 and its implications.

  • Farming largely overlooked in the National Parks Act 1949.

• Planners perpetuated ‘agricultural exceptionalism’.

• Reinforcement of the ‘sturdy yeoman farmer’ stereotype, tied to English national myths and representations in popular culture.

• Increasing challenges to these stereotypes.

The National Farmers’ Union & Corporatism

• NFU Overview:

  • Founded in 1908 during an agricultural depression.

  • Approximately 47,000 members (2023), covering around 2/3 of agricultural land.

  • Peak membership: 80% full-time farmers.

  • NFU is a powerful and effective trade union.

NFU Characteristics

• Key Characteristics (from NFU website):

  • Champions British farming.

  • Largest farming organisation in the UK.

  • Provides professional representation and services to members.

  • Acts as a strong, independent voice.

  • Regional offices in Stoneleigh Park, London, Brussels, Wales, and other English regions.

  • Funded by member subscriptions and non-affiliated to political parties.

Corporatism

• Definition: A ‘working partnership’ aimed at mutual benefit based on the Scandinavian model.

• To be seen as corporatist, NFU must be:

  • Prominent

  • Self-regulatory

  • Cooperative

Corporatist Development of NFU

• Active participation during 1939-45 amidst significant state intervention.

• Following the 1947 Act, NFU became the official representative of British farming.

• Continuous engagement with the state through:

  • Lobbying Parliament

  • Developing contacts

  • Volunteering for rural working groups

  • British Agriculture Bureau representing NFU post-Brexit.

Corporatism Undermined: Internal Strains

• Representative Challenges:

  • Strengthened via decentralized branches, yet threatened by dissent.

  • Example: Farmers’ Union of Wales established in 1955 catering to small farmers.

  • Less corporatist attitude—more vociferous in advocating policies to protect Welsh agriculture.

Tensions Within NFU

• Internal divisions characterized by conflict between:

  • ‘Corn’ (large-scale farmers) vs. ‘horn’ (smaller farmers).

  • Various specialist groups: tenant farmers, sheep, pigs, organic farming.

  • Rise of Farmers for Action (2000) and alternatives like the Small Farms Association and Land Workers’ Alliance.

Corporatism Undermined: External Pressures

• Emerging Pressures:

  • Activation of external pressure groups: environmentalists, animal welfare advocates, consumer rights groups, anti-meat campaigns.

  • Increased bureaucratic controls, weakening of focus on ‘farming’.

  • Growing concerns over agricultural support costs and influences of food producers & supermarkets.

  • Shift in political dynamics including urbanisation of the Conservative Party contributing to agriculture's re-politicisation.

Biosecurity Crises

• Pollution Regulation Context:

  • Pre-1980s view of pollution as non-rural.

  • The 1986 report on the River Torridge highlighted declining salmon catches tied to intensified dairying activity.

1980s Discovery of Farm Pollution

• Major Contributors to Pollution Acknowledgment:

  • National Rivers Authority (1989-96)

  • Environmental critics e.g. Body (1983).

  • Assistance from groups like Friends of the Earth and perspectives of counter-urbanising middle-class residents.

  • Efforts evident in the establishment of the Environment Agency (1996).

Farmers’ Threatened Status

• Farmers increasingly felt threatened by:

  • New neighboring residents.

  • Negative media coverage.

  • Campaigns aimed at environmental practices and new regulatory demands leading to court convictions.

BSE (1986-2000)

• Overview of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy:

  • Neuro-degenerative disease resembling scrapie and CJD in humans.

  • Identified in 1986, impacting 1/3 of British herds and requiring 4.5 million cattle to be slaughtered.

Tracking the BSE Crisis

• Key Events in BSE Timeline:

• June 1988: BSE made notifiable disease

  • July 1988: ban on ruminant protein (sheep) in cattle feed

  • August 1988: compulsory slaughter of BSE suspects, 50% compensation

  • February 1990: full compensation for slaughtered BSE suspects

  • April 1990: Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee established

  • March 1996: EU ban all products from British cattle

  • July 1996: cattle ‘passports’ introduced

  • December 1997: ban on sale of beef-on-the-bone in UK

  • March 1998: start of official BSE Inquiry

  • August 1999: beef export ban lifted

  • December 1999: beef-on-the-bone ban lifted; BSE Inquiry ends (cost £25m)

  • October 2000: Inquiry published – criticised; BSE in rest of Europe…

Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) (2001)

• Disease Characteristics:

  • Highly infectious but rarely fatal with significant yield impacts.

  • Initially detected in Essex before rapid spread via animal movements.

  • Government's ultra-cautionary approach was controversial.

FMD Incidence Numbers

• Outbreak Impact:

  • Lasted approximately 2/3 of a year with around 2000 cases, notably in Cumbria, Devon, Dumfries, and North Yorks.

  • Over 6 million cattle, sheep, and pigs slaughtered as a containment measure.

FMD's Economic Reveal

• The FMD outbreak revealed the rural economy's reliance beyond agriculture.

• Emphasized the need to reassess the role of farming in the rural economy and society, advocating for a shift from traditional farming to broader rural, social, and environmental objectives.

FMD as a Watershed Event

• Described by Woods (2005) as a critical turning point for British farming and its countryside, marked symbolically by devastation such as dead cattle and sheep.

Watchtree Nature Reserve

• Establishment and Context:

  • Created in 2002 at the site of a former WW2 airfield for the burial of livestock killed during the FMD outbreak.

Other Biosecurity Threats

• Emerging Concerns:

  • Tuberculosis in cattle debated due to badger culling.

  • Schmallenberg Virus causing congenital malformations in livestock.

  • Bluetongue in sheep and concerns surrounding avian influenza.

  • Ash dieback posing costly challenges for farmers.

Conclusion: From ‘Farming Interest’ to ‘Rural Social Movement’

• Continuing pressure on the ‘farming’ sector as observed through advocacy from movements like the Oxford ‘Real Farming’ Conference in 2020.

Eclipsed Single ‘Farming Interest’

• Material and Ideological Aspects:

  • Materially eclipsed due to loss of income and price drops of agricultural goods.

  • Recent challenges include the juxtaposition of the NFU’s influence diminished amidst policy changes and emerging alternatives.

Ideological Eclipsing Factors

• Challenges Within the NFU:

  • The transition and restructuring of farming authorities (MAFF to DEFRA) reduced NFU’s dominance.

  • Increased influence from alternative rural stakeholders and recognition of changing rural economies affected NFU’s role in agricultural policy.

  • Global markets & trade

‘Good Farming’ Undermined

• Definition and Challenges:

  • ‘Good farming’ defined by cultural practices and maintaining traditional rural aesthetics is increasingly threatened by:

  • Environmental land-use policies and biosecurity protocols, leading to loss of cultural identity without adequate compensation.

    • E.g. hard to balance new disease control rules with traditional cattle purchasing practices (Enticott & Little 2022)

More-than-Agriculture

• Conceptual Expansion of Rural Crises:

  • Rural crises stretching beyond agricultural discourse towards broader political engagement, described as moving from ‘rural politics’ to ‘politics of the rural’ by Woods (2005).

  • From politics located in rural space to struggles over rural meaning (representation) & regulation

  • Beyond party politics

Emerging Rural Social Movement

• Rural as Engagement Sites:

  • Highlighting emerging social movements which challenge predominant narratives and politics.

  • Calls for retaining the diversity of rural voices, emphasizing their struggles over place representation and control.