INCREASED funding for farming and fishing has been described as “a game changer” by sector leaders.
States Members recently overwhelmingly backed a proposition from Deputy Steve Luce to double financial support for agriculture and fisheries to £6.7 million next year, and to restart the Agriculture Loans Scheme with a £10m injection.
Jersey Farmers’ Union president Peter Le Maistre said: “I am a lot more optimistic for farming today than I was before”.
Commenting on the extra funding, Mr Le Maistre said: “It was hugely important in two respects: firstly, in comparison with our neighbours, the existing support we receive falls way behind; and, secondly, if you look at the last three years, the increase in the minimum wage has significantly impacted farmers’ labour costs compared to other sectors. The difference has been striking.”
He added: “People have been saying regularly for 30 years that the decline of the industry couldn’t get any worse, but it has. Just a few years ago, we had 17 herds but now we have 12. We now have 30 farming businesses in the Island. If we lose a couple more, we will lose our critical volume.”
Another indicator of the health of the industry was the level of investment into it, Mr Le Maistre said, adding that had “been very low over the last couple of years”.
“If you do not invest, you then fall behind and it then it makes it even harder to catch up,” he said.
The JFU president said the new Rural Support Scheme – which was launched last December and introduces “credits” for farmers for the first time, rewarding them for providing a “public good”, such as minimising waste, creating conservation areas and managing hedgerows – would help newcomers to the sector.
“We obviously want young people to enter farming and the new Rural Support Scheme is designed to help new entrants, as it is decoupled from production and mostly decoupled from land,” he said.
“I was heartened by the speech of [Assistant Economic Development Minister] Alex Curtis, who himself has bought a field and wants to start farming. A very successful farmer in St Ouen, who recently passed away, started with just one field in the 70s and built up his farm into one the Island’s largest, which is now run by his sons. It can be done.”
He added: “The recapitalisation of the Agriculture Loan Scheme is also a hugely important development. It is not easy for a young person to borrow money these days.
The loan scheme was a game-changer in the 70s – it was for me when I bought my first field in 1974 – and I’m sure it will be again today.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Luce said he was very pleased that the Assembly had thrown its weight behind his proposition, which was amended by the government to remove a provision which linked funding to 1% of total revenue expenditure, as is the case for arts and heritage.
“I very much hope it does save farming and fishing,” he said. “I have consistently been told by the industry that it will make a massive difference on profitability because, at the end of the day, the sector has to make money to survive.”
He added: “For me, one of the biggest things is the guaranteed long-term commitment. For young people thinking about going into farming, they have that extra certainty that there are long-term schemes in place and they can borrow money at favourable rates. Hopefully now there is a much brighter future.”
At Friday’s Jersey Farming Conference, Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel called farming an “intrinsic part of Jersey’s identity”, which had shaped the landscape.
Commenting on the Agriculture Loans Scheme, Deputy Morel said: “This injection into agriculture aims to ensure the continued long-term development of the rural economy to enable the sector to adapt, evolve and thrive.”
Don Thompson, president of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association, said that the States vote had sent a “very strong message of support”.
He added: “We don’t have the same funding frameworks in place as the farming community, but I hope we can tap into a little bit of money for important short-tomedium-term projects to ensure we operate on a level playing field with the French boats licensed to fish in our waters.
“One of the priorities should be improving the outdated facilities on the Victoria Pier. Our competitors can command a better price because their fish is landed in state-of-the-art facilities. It is time our building, which is nearly 100 years old, is brought up to standard.”
Ports of Jersey recently announced its St Helier Harbour Master Plan, a longterm development of the Elizabeth Harbour, which is intended to support the subsequent transformation of Victoria Pier, Albert Pier, La Collette, the Old Harbours and La Folie, as well as the New North Quay.
