'We need food production targets' warns NFU boss
As food prices reach record highs, a study of farmers shows confidence in the industry has plummeted
Last updated 19th May 2023
Farmers - at the Devon County Show - have backed calls for targets on how much food the UK produces.
The idea's been floated by the President of the National Farmers' Union Minette Batters, who said: "We've got targets on housebuilding. We've got targets on green energy, on the environment, on water quality and rightly so.
"It's just extraordinary to me that we don't have a target for the food that we produce - that we aren't making better use of the land that's available."
In the coming weeks the region will also stage the Bath & West show and Royal Cornwall Show and ahead of them a survey by the NFU reveals that confidence levels in the industry were at their lowest level since 2020
The Farmer Confidence Survey found that the main concern for farmers in the region was steep increases in costs of production, with 88% saying they are being negatively affected by price rises of ‘inputs’ like energy, fuel and fertiliser.
Eighty-two per cent of farmers said the phasing out of current farming support payments – which were worth £120 million to Devon in 2020 – is negatively impacting their business confidence and 72% highlighted the impact of increased regulation and legislation.
The NFU say the research suggests farmers need more protection from being undercut from abroad, an increase in prices and a reduction in inflation pressures.
Devon NFU chair Paul Glanvill, a dairy farmer from Woodbury near Exeter said: “Our family farms are a key part of the county’s economy, with food and farming contributing more than £1.7bn annually. As a family we have invested heavily in facilities at our farm, and if we are to encourage the next generation into the agricultural industry then more farmers need to have the confidence to do the same.
“There are many challenges facing us at the moment and we will be asking politicians at the show what they intend to do to help secure the future of such a crucial industry. In particular we are still awaiting many details of the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) that is supposed to replace the Basic Payment Scheme, so it is high time we heard more about that.”
Mr Glanvill added that this week’s food security summit, which saw the NFU and other bodies calling on the government to make sure food security is higher up the policy agenda was a positive step in the right direction, but farmers needed the government to deliver action, not just words.
“We want to see a commitment to maintaining Britain’s food self-sufficiency at 60% whilst avoiding imports that may be causing environmental harm elsewhere in the world, and for supply chains to be made fairer.
“We also need to see Defra and Natural England recognise the role of farmers as custodians of the landscape, and work with us as we seek to enhance the natural environment that it is in all our interests to preserve.”