Ms Christine Tacon:

My understanding is that horticulture, pigs and poultry in the UK are, on the whole, unsubsidised and producers are remarkably commercial and professional in the way they do things, whether they deal in strawberries or potatoes or have a salad business with a turnover of €500 million. There are sweetcorn and squash businesses and most strawberry producers have a turnover of over €100 million. Some of them have got very big and the retailers have to work with them on proper long-term relationships, often investing in them to bring everything forward. Some have invested in large greenhouses and have effectively invested in the price to help people become professional. These people are unsubsidised so they are working on long-term relationships between retailers and suppliers. The wonderful thing about consumer pressure is that businesses are trying to become better at what they are doing and there is huge pressure from retailers in the area of packaging. Some are thinking of de-listing people who cannot move with them in this area and there have been good moves in the context of the sustainability agenda. The sectors work well and are moving in the right direction. The carbon agenda means producers are telling retailers how they want to do things in the area of carbon and packaging. They have solutions and can address these things.

The Senator suggested that there was an over-reliance on nitrogen in the meat sector and there is a glimmer of hope in the shape of the UK agriculture Bill. There is a lot of pressure in the UK for people to pay farmers for what they are doing for the environment, rather than to subsidise prices. It will be difficult but the will is there to do things in another way once we get out of the CAP. I would not, however, advise copying it until people here see how it works. The pressure is there to pay people for sustainable production. This is nothing to do with the price but with the exploitation of land and making sure land is kept in a good state for that purpose.