What is the Minor Crops Group?

The Minor Crops Group is an informal collaboration of members of the UK agricultural community with an interest in the development and commercialisation of arable minor crops*.

(*Definition: Arable Minor Crops = Crop species that are or can typically be grown by arable farmers in the UK, that are not defined as Major UK crops by HSE in their Crop Definitions List (e.g. grassland, barley, forage maize, oats, wheat, dry harvested field beans, oilseed rape, sugar beet and potatoes).

Background

The development and enhancement of a broad range of arable crop options for UK farmers is a key part of the Government’s strategy towards a cleaner, more sustainable and resilient future for British agriculture.

“Globally and in the UK, the dependence of agri-food systems on relatively few crops is a risk to food security and agricultural resilience. Climate change and weather extremes, intractable weeds, pests and diseases, agrochemical loss, market volatility, and the need for sustainable land management to protect the environment, mean cropping systems must change. Whether existing species that are underutilised, or novel to the UK, alternative crops offer opportunities to diversify food and forage production, or supply fibres, pharmaceuticals or biomass for energy” - Review of opportunities for diversifying UK agriculture through investment in underutilised crops Defra Project CH0224

As a key part of its 25 Year Environment Plan The UK Government’s Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMs) specifically aims for “farmers and land managers to deliver, alongside food production, significant and important outcomes for the climate and environment that can only be delivered by farmers and other land managers”

Meanwhile, there are government policies towards Variety Registration, the Registration and use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs), Seed Certification and Seeds Marketing, including Plant Health requirements for imports and exports, many of which are subjects of post-Brexit reviews. These reviews risk creating rules and regulations that, at best, create an inconvenience for the testing, development and enhancement of minor crops. Often resulting in systems and processes that appear to be contrary to the Governments’ own stated aims of a sustainable future for farming.

By their nature, many of the companies and organisations involved in the development of the individual minor crops are themselves relatively small or medium sized enterprises. When compared with companies and organisations involved in the major crops, many of these smaller organisations lack the scale to carry the same weight of influence with the authorities and/or lack the resources to engage in detailed and lengthy discussions or submissions about policy and regulation. Yet many of the various minor crops are facing the same or similar issues.

In order to work towards the stated goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and achieve great diversity in the cropping options available to UK farmers, an opportunity exists for these interested parties to share their experiences and pool their resources in order to act more effectively in promoting their minor crop interests.

Meetings

The first meeting of the Minor Crops Group took on Wednesday 26th April 2023. A copy of the notes from that meeting can be access by clicking HERE.

A second meeting was held online on the 15th August 2023 and minutes were circulated to the attendees.

At that second meeting, among other items, the members agreed to;

• Accept the Constitution of the Minor Crops Group - a copy of which can be found by clicking HERE.
• Assemble a formal list of members (see below)
• Elect a Management Committee
• Accept an offer from Premium Crops to sponsor the 1st year's membership of HCP Ltd

Membership

Membership of the Minor Crops Group is open to anyone with an interest in the promotion and development of Minor Arable Crops in the UK.

At present there is no charge for membership. As the group develops we do anticipate that a small membership fee will apply later.

There are two types of Membership: Individual and Corporate

• Individual Membership is intended for one person only, who will have all the benefits of membership with full voting rights and is eligible to stand for Committee membership

An application form for Individual Membership along with details of how to apply can be found HERE.

• Corporate Membership is intended for a Company or Group, who will have all the benefits of membership with full voting rights as a single member (i.e. 1 vote) and who's members or employees would be eligible to stand for Committee membership.

An application form for Corporate Membership along with details of how to apply can be found HERE.

By joining, all members agree to accept the aims and objectives of the MCG and to ahere to the agreed Consitution at the Privacy Policy (see below). They also accept to accept any Legal responsibilities that the MCG are obliged to follow e.g. Competition Law, Equal Opportunities, Anti-Slavery, etc.

Privacy Policy

The Privacy Policy of the MCG can be found HERE