Grassland Farming

EDM number 827 in 1998-99, proposed by Nick Harvey on 14/07/1999.

That this House notes the difficulties faced by farmers, in particular grassland farmers; welcomes the fact that the draft texts of the Rural Development regulations following the Berlin Summit allow support for planting costs of energy crops on grassland; regrets that annual maintenance costs for farm support are specifically excluded; applauds the contribution to the environment which can be made by short crop rotation of biomass crops on grassland; notes that biomass crops are low input, facilitate biodiversity and that they are an effective renewable energy source for combating climate change; and calls on the Government to redress the inequality of support between arable and grassland farmers.

This motion has been signed by a total of 23 MPs.