CLA hosts MP Julian Smith visit to Bolton Park Farm

THE CLA (Country Land and Business Association), held a meeting on 25 March 2022 with Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith. CLA members gathered at Bolton Park Farm near Skipton to raise various farming concerns and Government policy matters as it relates to rural areas.  Discussions specifically covered related issues and included:-

► Agricultural input costs - especially fuel and fertiliser costs.

► Agricultural Transition - Basic Payment Scheme reduction, replacement income streams, new entrants and retirement programme.

► Farming Productivity Funding - including slurry investment fund and animal health and welfare pathway.

► Environmental Schemes - scale up of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, evolution of the Farming Resilience Programme, the introduction and roll out of Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recover opportunities. Specifically how these programmes will fit with Local Nature Recovery Strategies and blend with private finance opportunities.

► Private Sector Natural Capital Investment - Carbon trading and Biodiversity Net Gain.

► Levelling Up the rural economy - focussing on the Government's recent:- 'levelling up report' and its omission of issues associated with the rural economy. 1 aspect related to the CLA's call for Northern Powergrid to invest in its grid network so the rural areas are prepared for the future demands for electricity (e-cars, air source heat pumps etc). The CLA has 323 members in Skipton and Ripon who collectively own and manage 121,000 acres of land, representing 1 quarter of the total constituency area.

MP for Ripon and Skipton Julian Smith said:- "It was great to meet local farmers and landowners along with the CLA last week. During the meeting, a wide-range of issues were discussed including the rollout of Environmental Land Management Schemes, environmental protection, domestic food production and fertiliser and energy costs. I continue to follow the rollout of ELMs very closely and I will keep engaging with farmers and landowners in my constituency as we transition away from basic payments. It is, of course, absolutely vital that the sought outcomes from recent policies in the agricultural sector have the support and participation of farmers and landowners."

CLA Director North Lucinda Douglas said:- "The CLA and farmers attending this event highlighted the very real pressures they currently experience. The economic volatility has led to drastic increases in fertiliser and fuel input costs, coupled with a reduction in Government farming support under the Basic Payment Scheme. This means that farmers are caught in an ever-tightening vice grip of increased costs and diminishing support. If not addressed, the UK's food security would be impacted, with food scarcity and higher costs to consumers. Replacing the existing Government farming support is mired in delays, and this needs to be addressed urgently. Farmers simply want to fill food baskets and look after the environment, but their mission to do so is compromised if they are not supported in this endeavour."

The genuine article? 1 in 3 internet users fail to question misinformation

THE UK Regulator Ofcom has published its annual research into children's and adults' media use and online lives. More than a third of internet users are unaware that online content might be false or biased, according to new Ofcom research. It reveals that 30% of UK adults who go online (14.5 million) are unsure about, or don't even consider, the truthfulness of online information. A further 6%; around 1 in every 20 internet users; believe everything they see online. Misinformation can spread quickly on social media platforms. More than 4 in 10 adults say they have seen a story on social media that looked deliberately untrue or misleading in the last year. Although 7 in 10 adults (69%) said they were confident in identifying misinformation, only 2 in 10 (22%) were able to correctly identify the tell tale signs of a genuine post, without making mistakes. The sais that they had found a similar pattern among older children aged:- 12 to 17 (74% confident, but only 11% able). The release of the Ofcom report, on Wednesday, 30 March 2022, has reveal an unfiltered picture of our lives online today. Other themes emerging in this year's research include:-

► Multiscreening TikTots - TikTok is growing in popularity, even among the youngest age groups. The popularity of short form content could also be linked to multi screening, with more children reporting difficulties in focusing on a single online activity.

► Concealing life online - Many children could be tactically using other accounts or 'finstas' - fake Instagrams - to conceal aspects of their online lives from parents.

► Scrolling over sharing - both adults (88%) and children (91%) are becoming more passive online; and are 3 times as likely to watch videos online, than to post their own content.

► Social Samaritans - Young digital natives, who have never known life without the internet, are sharing their technical skills and supporting others. They're also increasingly using the internet as a means of supporting their own wellbeing.

The following reports are also available to view on these website links:-

► Adults' media use and attitudes 2022:- link.

► Adults' media lives 2022:- link.

► Children's and parents' media use and attitudes 2022:- link.

► Children's media lives 2022:- link.

► Digital exclusion review 2022:- link.