Putting the 'F' into the General Election

THE Tories want to put the 'F' back into Defra.

It was, after all, the present government that took it out in a highly symbolic gesture in 2001.

Actually, it was the letter 'A' but the effect was the same. In a post-election departmental revamp, Tony Blair replaced the disgraced Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff), with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

'Agriculture' out, 'Environment' in. The NFU had to fight hard to even get the word 'food' onto the Nobel House nameplate, it is said.

MAFF, long seen as an agent of the industry, had paid the price for the foot-and-mouth disease calamity.

Defra arrived with a new agenda. It placed the environment at heart of all it controlled, including food and farming policy - all-too-often, farmers maintained, at the expense of their ability to produce food.

The Conservatives pledge to put 'Farming' or 'Agriculture' back on the Nobel House nameplate, if elected on May 6, is a neat ploy to state their farming credentials against this backdrop.

In reality, farming will not be a frontline issue during this General Election campaign. It never is. The economy, more than ever before, plus the likes education, health, Europe and law and order will dominate.

But, politically, farming is now higher up the agenda than it has been for a very long time.

The events of 2008 - soaring food prices at home and food riots across the globe - focussed minds on food security, while farming's intrinsic links with the environment, biodiversity, climate change, energy security and nutrition are now widely recognised.  

The main parties are at least taking farming seriously, hence the Tories' judicious use of the 'F-word'.

"First and foremost we need to put British food production back to the top of the agenda," Shadow Agriculture Minister said recently, explaining the 'F-word' plan.

The Tories believe their traditional rural roots and current farming policies identify them as the natural industry allies.

It is not that straightforward, however. The events of 2008 led to a very real change within Defra, under Secretary of State Hilary Benn's leadership.  

In October 2008, Defra lost its cherished climate change remit but was given a brand new focus - to drive government policy on food.

Mr Benn and his Ministers began championing farmers and British food production in public, never more so than when Farming Minister Jim Fitzpatrick described them as the nation's "future heroes" at the 2009 Labour Party Conference.

Mr Benn's core message at the 2009 NFU conference was: "I listened and I changed our approach."

He reeled off a long list of policy initiatives intended to show how that 'change' has worked through to farmers on the ground. From better food labelling, to the supermarket ombudsman, investment in agricultural research, the voluntary approach to replacing set-aside and his overarching Food 2030 strategy it was as if he was hailing 'New Defra' in the way New Labour was born in the mid-90s.

Impressive as it was, the reality is that a large credibility gap remains as far as many farmers are concerned. His attempts to convince sceptics we really are seeing a 'New Defra' are constantly undermined by one issue where farmers are adamant he has 'not listened' - bovine TB and badger.

The Liberal Democrats will also have a very big say in this election and, if the outcome is a hung Parliament, its aftermath.

The party is strong in rural areas and its pro-farming credentials were highlighted at the NFU conference, where Lib Dem Shadow Defra Secretary Tim Farron's populist speech received comfortably the best reception among the three main Parties.

In Scotland, Alex Salmond's Scottish National Party will make the case strongly that it is able to deliver a better deal for Scottish farmers than any of the London-based parties. Plaid Cymru will do the same in Wales.

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) will argue that the nation and its farmers would be better off without the 'ineffective and cumbersome 'Common Agricultural Policy, while other 'niche' parties - too many to mention here - will have their say on issues affecting farmers.

This is the most important General Election for the nation for almost a generation. It is hugely important for farming, too.