Daily Research News Online no. 2923 - British Farming Two Years On

British Farming Two Years On

February 13 2004

Two years after the publication of the Curry Commission Report on the Future of Farming and Food, a survey by food and grocery think tank IGD finds consumers very patriotic about Britain as a farming nation, but farmers themselves mostly unaware of any effect the report has had.

The Policy Commission Report on the Future of Farming and Food, otherwise known as The Curry Report was published in January 2002 and set out a clear vision for the farming and food industry with recommendations for farmers, food producers, government and other agencies.

In IGD's consumer survey, 9 out of 10 people consider it important that Britain remains a farming nation. Older people are much more likely to think it 'very' important - 69% of 65+ year olds vs only 23% of 18-24 year olds. 96% also think that it is important that home produced food remains widely available, and 98% that farming is conducted in a way that encourages a wide diversity of wildlife.

Looking forward over the next ten years, 54% of people are confident that Britain will remain a major farming nation. The older and younger generations are the most optimistic - 58% of 18-24 year olds and 60% of 65+ are confident - whereas one in five 35-44 year olds have very little confidence.

A parallel survey asked farmers what they know about the Curry Report and what impact they feel it has had on their business. Whilst 43% feel more optimistic about their farm business than two years ago, 70% of them are still unclear about the strategy or direction for English farming.

Only 58% were aware of The Curry Report, and when asked to characterise their knowledge of the report, 46% of these had minimal knowledge. Of those farmers who were aware of the it, 32% felt positive about it, but the majority (77%) said that they saw no overall impact from the report on their business. The remaining 23% were split evenly between those seeing a positive impact and those seeing a negative impact. However, over the longer term nearly a third of farmers thought there would be a positive impact from Curry.

Question/Type of farmer*	Arable	Dairy	Beef	Pig	Horticulture	Sheep

Feel more optimistic about your farm business	49% Yes 38% No	28% Yes 67% No	37% Yes 53% No	44% Yes 53% No	57% Yes 38% No	63% Yes 25% No

Clearer strategy or direction for English farming than 2 years ago	19% Yes 65% No	18% Yes 75% No	19% Yes 71% No	6% Yes 88% No	23% Yes 69% No	16% Yes 71% No

Aware of the Curry Report	64%	57%	59%	35%	44%	59%

Read part or all of the report	19%	2%	11%	42%	15%	21%

Know about & feel positive about the report	33% Positive 15% Negative	20% Positive 23% Negative	42% Positive 23% Negative	11% Positive 56% Negative	33% Positive 25% Negative	24% Positive 35% Negative

Long term impact of Curry	35% Positive 14% Negative	27% Positive 20% Negative	28% Positive 9% Negative	33% Positive 11% Negative	11% Positive 8% Negative	25% Positive 13% Negative

How do you expect the de-coupling of CAP direct payments to affect your farm business	28% Negative 12% Positive 60% No Impact	18% Negative 19% Positive 64% NoImpact	28% Negative 8% Positive 65% No Impact	38% Negative 12% Positive 50% No Impact	2% Negative 98% Positive 1% No Impact	25% Negative 12% Positive 63% No Impact

Farmers are also non-committal about CAP reform. When asked if they expect de-coupling of CAP direct payments to affect their farm business 66% estimated that on balance it would have no impact.

Speaking at the 'Curry Commission - Two Years On' Conference, Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive, IGD said the consumer research showed 'a dramatic contrast between what consumers want and their confidence about the future of farming. What is important is that they are whole-heartedly behind our farmers'. From the farmers' survey, Denney-Finch pointed to the 'huge discrepancy between the people involved in the process and the people the Curry process is there to help. The Curry Report set out a long-term strategy and an awful lot of good work has gone on. The main challenge now is to bring this to life for the people on the ground so that we offer practical support that really makes a difference. There are no quick fixes, this requires long term commitment'.

The consumer survey was conducted on behalf of IGD by ICM Research Ltd. 1008 adults were interviewed by telephone.

The survey of farmers was conducted on behalf of IGD by Associa (previously known as NFU Services). A sample of 1032 English based farmers was interviewed, drawn from the NFU/NPA membership database. The sample was stratified, in order to achieve a representative split of farmers.

IGD's web site is at www.igd.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.