The government is failing UK farmers and the environment by neglecting to invest in skilling the younger generation, a cross-party group of MPs have warned.
The House of Commons EFRA Committee has today written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson for a second time on the issue of dwindling skills.
They criticised the government's 'long-standing failure' to provide leadership and support to the land-based education sector, calling on him to set out a national strategy.
It follows the closure of Cumbria's only specialist land-based college, Newton Rigg. Earlier this year, a community attempt to keep the 125-year-old agri college open failed.
The Committee expressed concerns that current policy lacked the necessary safeguards to prevent valuable assets being sold by education providers to make ends meet.
This 'selling of the family silver', the MPs noted, can only be addressed by a clear national strategy which placed the importance of specialist local provision at the fore.
Neil Parish MP, Chair of the EFRA Select Committee, said the farming industry would 'fail' if the next generation of farmers and land managers were 'not properly equipped with the skills they need'.
"There are important questions that the Secretary of State still needs to answer about the sale of Newton Rigg to prevent this happening elsewhere," Mr Parish added.
"A robust national strategy is urgently needed to address the shrinking number of agricultural colleges, particularly in rural areas like Cumbria, where these skills are needed the most.
"Therefore, once more, our Committee is calling on the government to demonstrate the value it places on our farming sector and countryside by investing time and money in land-based education."
