By Brian Henderson

When it comes to foot-shooting exercises, last week’s ruling at the European Parliament to ban the use of pesticides on all environmental focus areas (EFAs) – including nitrogen fixing crops (NFCs), such as peas and beans – must stand only slightly behind Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election.

The verdict is a particularly bitter pill to swallow as the majority of MEPs actually voted in line with the parliament’s own agricultural committee’s recommendation to ditch the proposed ban, which was part of a larger ‘simplification’ package.

But because a fair proportion of MEPs seem to have knocked off early for their summer holidays, the vote failed to meet the technical majority required to overturn the Commission’s proposals.

So, as a result, not only for us in Scotland, but for producers across the whole of Europe, the viability of growing pulses and legumes as an EFA option has been severely compromised.

But while we might feel aggrieved that the move pretty much renders growing peas or beans non-viable on EFA land in this country, our continental cousins are likely to be a deal harder hit than us.

Now, you might have grown beans at some stage – most probably in 2015 when the EFA scheme first came in – but the late harvest of the crop that year (or, in many cases, the really, really early one in January or February, 2016) probably saw you give up growing this late maturing crop as a bad job.

Combining at 20-30% moisture in the few available hours of daylight and then finding out just how difficult it is to dry beans during that difficult harvest was, for many, a ‘never again’ experience.

But even if that wasn’t enough, Scotland’s subsequent gold plating of the regulations which meant we had to grow two types of legume to qualify for EFA might have knocked any remaining shine off the crop.

Even at its peak, though, growing nitrogen fixing crops only ever accounted for a little over 12% of Scotland’s total EFA area.

In the rest of Europe, however, where the growing conditions are very different and rules haven’t been given the same gold-plating, nitrogen fixing crops have accounted for an average of 43% of EFA cover – and in some countries it is close to 100%.

And there was a real hope that giving some encouragement to growing nitrogen fixing crops such as legumes and pulses would lead to more protein crops being grown in Europe, a long-term policy goal which has, sadly, met with little success over recent decades.

However, the ruling to ban the use of herbicides and fungicides will step on the throat of any desire amongst European growers to continue with the crop on EFA land. It will also go some way to pulling the rug out from beneath the feet of any development of a strong and stable market for protein crops grown in Europe.

Which is madness, given that Europe currently imports more than 70% of its protein from abroad, much of it from South America in the form of soya for animal feed.

It’s a crazy situation whereby the efforts of the vociferous green lobby will force farmers in this country to continue to rely on imports of a crop which has historically been linked with the cutting down of rain forests.

But the short-sighted, ‘not in my back yard’ madness doesn’t stop there. One of the big benefits, by definition, of nitrogen fixing crops is the fact that they do just that, fix nitrogen – in an entirely natural and sustainable manner.

Not only do they provide enough for their own needs – saving a packet on fertiliser inputs in the process – but handled correctly, they leave a good residue of nutrients for the following crop as well, as anyone who has grown wheat after peas will be well aware of.

In recent years, a lot of grassland farmers have also realised the benefits of clover and other forage legumes in their swards as they generally provide plenty of nitrogen to grow the crop, again saving huge amounts in fertiliser bills.

But while it always gives a nice warm fuzzy feeling to save money, there should be an extra righteous glow added to this – as a considered use of nitrogen fixing crops can dramatically cut a farm’s carbon footprint as well.

For, while anyone trying to grow an arable crop might try to reduce their contribution to global warming by being more efficient with their fuel use and cutting down on drying costs, or even changing their methods of crop establishment, it’s a recognised fact that by far and away the biggest contributor to CO2 emissions in the growing of the vast majority of crops is nitrogen fertiliser.

Not only is huge amounts of energy used in their manufacture, but there is also an equal or even larger cost in the form of fertiliser-induced field emissions, through the release of nitrous oxides which makes carbon dioxide look like a rank amateur when it comes to global warming effects.

So, in this topsy-turvy world of short-sighted environmental lobbying, you’ve got to take your hat off to an effort which will more than likely simultaneously ensure that greenhouse gas emissions increase at home while rainforests remain under threat abroad– all while stifling the development of a market for home-grown protein crops. You couldn’t make it up!