The government has demonstrated a complete lack in understanding of food production, has introduced completely contradictory policies regarding farming, and is at risk of repeatedly running into crises due to the absence of a post Brexit plan for UK agriculture, the leading representative from British farmers will state today.
Minette Batters will be the president of National Farmers Union. Her scathing attack upon ministers failures is unprecedented in recent times in its ferocity by a farmer leader.
Her harsh assessment of the actions of the government reflects widespread anger and concern among many sections of the UK’s farming and food production sectors, which are one of the largest manufacturing industries in the country and its employers. Plunging exports have caused hardship for farmers, as well as a slew of new bureaucratic red tape due to Brexit, staff shortages from EU seasonal workers leaving, and the possibility of flooding with low-quality, cheap imports following post-Brexit trade agreements.
Batters will highlight the dire state of the pig industry, which is in danger of collapse due to rising costs and staff shortages. They also warn that similar disasters could befall other farming branches if the government doesn’t act.
She will address the NFU conference at Birmingham: We need to have a plan that prevents crises from happening, rather than continually running into them. This country needs a strategy and a clear vision about what we expect of British farming. We have contradictory policies from the government. It is raising environmental standards at home, but seeking trade deals that support lower standards abroad. It is claiming that it values domestic food production, but making it difficult for workers to harvest it or process it. It is claiming that there are many opportunities for British food exports, but failing to prioritize the resources necessary to open new markets.
She will demand certainty, commitment, and consistency in government policies and point out the achievements of British farmers in raising animal welfare, food production standards, improving environment, and pushing for net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
She did, however, make a few digs at ministers for not planning and failing to respond to recent farming problems.
Pig producers are responsible for looking after 200,000 pigs which should have been slaughtered but can’t because there isn’t enough staff at abattoirs. Farmers are losing a lot of money by keeping the pigs at their farms. Farmers have had to cult approximately 40,000 pigs, which is costly and a waste.
According to Batters, this disaster in the pig sector could have been avoided. She will admit that the situation facing pig farmers is truly a disgrace. This is due to the government’s poorly designed immigration policy. I can only speak for its complete lack of understanding about food production and what it requires.
Boris Johnson the prime minister angered many farmers last season when he made a joke out of the crisis in pork production and told the BBC that pigs being raised for food were going to die anyway. It was not clear if he considered the cost to farmers and the distress they felt at having to kill healthy animals.
Tenant Farmers’ Association chief executive George Dunn called for ministers to pay more attention to post-Brexit subsidy reforms. These will see farmers receiving public money to purchase public goods. The EU subsidies will be replaced with ELMs (environmental land management contracts), whereby farmers are paid to achieve certain environmental improvement goals.
Dunn stated that the government needs to show more strategy in how its policy strands are connected into a coherent whole. ELMs are only one component of a range of initiatives that include support for new entrants and farming resilience, food policy standards, regulation and enforcement, and supply chain measures. At best, they will continue to be developed in silos. It seems like there are very few threads that connect the patchwork quilt. Farmers must plan for the long-term and be in line with the wider public policy. However, we risk losing alignment until that becomes clearer.
The NFU calls on the government to invest in British agriculture to sell more homegrown food in the UK and help farmers export it; to ensure that farmers get fair deals with supermarkets, who currently use their market dominance to squeeze farmers’ profit margins; to reform immigration policy so that more seasonal farm workers can be allowed; and to reform farm subsidy in a way to encourage food production and meet environmental objectives.
Batters will respond: Above all, we must all be working towards the same goals and aiming for a similar outcome. A plan is essential. A plan that allows Britain’s farmers to continue to grow and ensures that Britain remains a leader in high-quality, safe, and sustainable food.