With the industry social calendar well underway, I have greatly enjoyed, in particular, the hospitality of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, Liverpool Wholesale Market and the National Farmers’ Union at the Grower of the Year Awards over the last month. These functions afforded a great opportunity to meet with friends and gauge the general mood of the industry. I noticed with interest that, in spite of the trials and tribulations of the recession, people remained upbeat and stoical about the future.

At the FPC, we continue to challenge and liaise with the legislative forces on your behalf. It is good to see that a number of you have signed up to the ALV pilot scheme. Your input is key to the development of this system and it is crucial that you take this opportunity, which is provided specifically so that users can try and test this final phase prior to going live.

Following your support for our initiative to fight the EU proposals to remove crop protection products by lobbying your MPs/MEPs, we were extremely disappointed to note that while we received a positive response from the vast majority of MPs/MEPs, member states voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposal. I believe this action to be extremely short-sighted and somewhat naïve, in my opinion, largely due to a lack of joined-up thinking and a notable complacency about the long-term future of the industry. On this basis it is now critical, to avoid a major crisis in the UK, that we influence the derogations. We continue to engage government departments and we are looking to develop a crop-by-crop risk assessment as we continue our efforts to influence to prevent the potential destruction of an industry unique in the UK. We believe that the impact of this legislation will drastically affect our vegetable crops, along with top fruit and soft fruit. As we move forward into the year with big debates on food security and sustainability, the ramifications of this legislation have to take centre stage and we welcome the invitation from Hilary Benn’s office to present our case to senior DEFRA officials later this month. We will keep you informed.