Under the Rural Economy Strategy, a five-year initiative from the Economic Development and Environment Departments to grow the rural economy,
instead of money being handed out according to the area of land farmed or the quality of milk produced, farmers have to join Linking Environment and Farming (Leaf).
This is a UK-based agricultural accreditation body, with members worldwide, that is committed to sustainable food production and environmentally-friendly farming.
Throughout this week dairy and arable farmers have been attending workshops at Jersey Dairy which have been organised by Environment. The training has covered a number of topics such as soil management and fertility, pollution control, animal husbandry, energy efficiency and nature conservation.
Scott Meadows, Environment’s director of the rural economy, says the industry has responded very positively to the Leaf scheme.
‘Farmers are up to speed with a fair few of the requirements already because they had to comply with them under a previous rural support scheme, but Leaf covers subjects in more depth and has a broader set of requirements,’ he said.
‘It gets farmers thinking about how they can farm to the best possible standards, with biodiversity, public goods, and sustainability being held in equal regard to profit.’
At present there are six local Leaf members, including the Island’s biggest potato growing group, the Jersey Royal Company. In addition to joining Leaf, the 20 farmers that supply milk to Jersey Dairy already belong to Red Tractor, the
UK’s biggest farm and food standards scheme.
To comply with the Rural Economy Strategy requirements, all farmers must be must be Leaf-accredited by 2019.
Members of the organisation are entitled to use the Leaf Global Standard marque on their produce to show that food has been grown sustainably with care for the environment and wildlife.
‘I’m pleased to see the new scheme beginning to deliver what it set out to do – to grow the rural economy while safeguarding Jersey’s countryside and environment,’ Economic Development Lyndon Farnham said.
‘To do this, we’ve had to re-write the contract government has with farmers, and I think that it produces a more sustainable future for the agricultural sector.’
