Listening to the new UK secretary of state for agriculture Steve Reed speaking at the packed Oxford Farming Conference last week, it was impossible not to be struck by the lack of clear policies and intense funding pressures at the heart of the British government.

It was also striking how polite and unaggressive his audience was in the midst of such turmoil.

On the topic of levying inheritance tax on farmland in the UK, Steve Reed apologised for the imposition of the inheritance tax but said that his Conservative predecessors had left a large hole in the national budget, and that was the only reference made to it in his speech.

Generalisations

Looking at it from an Irish perspective, his address was alarmingly short on specifics, and dealt almost entirely in generalisations, such as that food security represents national security and that the primary function of farming is to produce food.

However, at the same time, despite the freedom that Brexit has given, he gave no commitment that public institutions would purchase British produced food.

Instead he said, schools, local authorities and hospitals would have a target to buy 50% of their food purchases from UK sources.

He was aiming to get a new veterinary agreement with the EU to allow easier exports from the UK to Europe, and he was aiming to increase UK pork exports to China.

One of his major themes was the need, as he saw it, for UK farmers to diversify their income streams and not just depend on food production.

He acknowledged that the international trade deals that the Conservatives had negotiated - mainly with Australia, New Zealand - would undercut UK farmers.

Gene editing

One area where he was completely clear as regards future policy was the short-term introduction of gene editing technology.

This is still under discussion in the EU and there seems little doubt that UK farmers will have access to this potentially very useful technology before we do.

Outside the hall, the minister was met by a noisy protest of people and tractors, but seeing as similar protests had descended on London since the budget, he was pretty unfazed.