Minister's five-point plan for farming and rural economy

Royal Show at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, yesterday.

She promised new initiatives to help improve the marketing and

promotion of British farm produce; to slash red tape; protect British

farm interests in the European Community; maintain consumer confidence;

and extend environmental measures in EC farm policy.

In her first major indication of policy since taking over as Farm

Minister a month ago, she pledged her support for a stronger rural voice

throughout the country.

There should be no conflict between producers and consumers, she said.

''The farm gate is more linked than ever before to the supermarket shelf

by a continuous and necessary chain of economic and social

inter-dependence.''

Farmers would have to become better organised, said Mrs Shephard. This

would be aided by marketing grants, and she hinted that the Food From

Britain marketing agency would also have a role. The decision on its

future is expected by the end of this month.

The Minister shied away from giving precise examples of red tape

slashing. Instead, she promised that a strategy would emerge in the

autumn once she had considered all the options, including suggestions

from the industry.

''I am determined that we should exercise as light a touch on

regulation as possible. That is not to say we will jeopardise food

safety -- or forget the needs of the consumer.

''But it does mean that the Government needs continually to ask

whether all the existing bureaucracy and control is necessary in all

circumstances -- to ask whether the action is proportionate to the

problem.''

Progress was being made in agri-environmental measures, including less

intensive farming, and she hoped for broad agreement on the principles

of the EC regulation on this at this month's Council of Ministers

meeting, with formal ratification by the end of October.

But both she and her predecessor John Gummer, now Environment

Minister, rejected the ''green tokenism'' accusation from the organic

farmers' lobby at the show. They claimed that the potential #1.2m

earmarked for this sector was a pittance in comparison with a figure

roughly 1000 times more for land set-aside, arable compensation and

livestock at premier payments.

Patrick Holden, chairman of the umbrella organisation British Organic

Farmers, said that the ''green courtship,'' started with Mr Gummer and

continued with Mrs Shephard, was now over -- and it was now time to

build on earlier promises. His message to Mrs Shephard was: ''Tokenism

won't do. We want to see your green credentials.''

The organic movement took a major step into the mainstream yesterday

with a wholehearted endorsement from the English National Farmers'

Union.

Speaking on the BOF platform Sean Rickard, the union's chief

economist, said there were three reasons for this sector being due a

higher profile -- its positive effect in environmental terms, its role

in curbing food surpluses, and the need to satisfy a growing demand.

But Mr Gummer, who performed the official show opening ceremony, said

that set-aside was the only means of cutting food production quickly,

although it should not be regarded as an everlasting concept. In

addition, he said that consumers had not, in general, been prepared to

pay the extra for organic produce.

As well as backing the organic sector, the English NFU also announced

a new agreement on a ''pesticide protocol'' with multiple retailers to

assure consumers of the quality standards of home-grown food.

Farmers' leader David Naish warned during the show that privatising

the railways and Post Office counter services could harm rural areas.

Farmers had a particular interest in British Rail, because it was

landlord to many, and a neighbour to others.

''Any new company that replaces British Rail must honour the

commitments and obligations that have been established for many years,

covering accommodation crossings, coastal defences, and the control of

rabbits, other pests, and weeds,'' the NFU president said.

He also stressed that rural post offices were a vital lifeline for

many people, and almost half of Britain's 20,000 post offices could be

described as typically small rural businesses.

It was essential they continue to operate, especially as many were

part of the local village shop.

''If the counter services were to disappear, many people are likely to

go elsewhere. To the world at large, the loss of a particular post

office or shop will be just another statistic -- but for those who live

there, this would lead to further isolation.

''Cutting certain services to balance the books or save on the

paperwork may be expedient in the short-term, but is likely to cause

lasting damage to the fabric of our rural communities,'' he said.

He spoke also of the ''grim reality'' of some rural life -- ''cutbacks

in local transport and medical facilities, the closure of schools and

shops, and the tentacles of lawlessness spreading out from the urban

areas because of the difficulties of policing such areas.''