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The National Farmers' Union has reported that British farmer confidence has hit an all-time low this year and warned the government that food security cannot be guaranteed by imports.
Food production is eroding as farmers struggle to maintain crop yields amid record rainfall and soaring input costs while transitioning to new agricultural subsidy schemes. I'm warning you that there is.
The NFU's new chairman, Tom Bradshaw, who took over from Minette Batters earlier this year, said: “To believe we can simply get out of this is naive at best and foolish at worst.” Ta. Speaking at the launch of the NFU's annual Farmer Confidence Survey, he added that the government had taken food security for granted.
Farmers' business confidence is at its lowest since 2010, when the NFU began conducting research on this issue. In a poll of about 800 farmers and producers released on Monday, 65% of respondents said their profits were declining or their business was no longer viable.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged to keep the proportion of homegrown food consumed in Britain at the current 60 per cent as part of a bid to win rural support ahead of a general election expected this year.
But struggling farmers are concerned that government policies are having the opposite effect than expected. 86% of farmers surveyed said the phasing out of EU subsidy payments would have a negative impact on their business. The government has replaced subsidies with a system that rewards farmers for more environmentally friendly practices.
“There is an inevitability. [Basic Payment Scheme] The phase-out has accelerated structural change in the industry,” Bradshaw said.
Ahead of a general election later this year, Mr Bradshaw said the rural vote was “up for grabs” and farmers wanted policies that supported food production.
The Conservative Party is at risk of losing some of its core regional seats in the general election.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) Survation poll shows the Conservatives have lost 53 of the 96 local seats they currently hold, while Labor gains 51 seats, up from three in 2019. It is expected that this will happen.
CLA president Victoria Vivian said rural areas had become “politically homeless” for the first time in a generation. “After decades of economic neglect, it's no surprise that local loyalties are shifting,” she said, commenting on the results of last week's local elections. “The Conservative Party's defeat shows that traditional loyalties no longer apply.”
According to official figures, 8,000 farming operations have closed since 2019, a decline of more than 5% to 141,000. This is because farmers who can no longer maintain profitability sell to larger farms that have the capital to reinvest in technology to increase efficiency.
“These family farms are the heart of our rural economy. Once you lose your family farm, you can never get it back,” Bradshaw said.
Meanwhile, food production is being hit by extreme weather events caused by climate change. England has just experienced its wettest 18 months since 1836, leaving large areas of farmland flooded and farmers struggling to harvest and plant new crops.
According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Committee, an advisory body, only 45% of winter wheat was in good condition at the end of April, compared to 88% in April last year.
According to a March survey of this year's harvest so far, the planted area has decreased by 15% for wheat and 22% for barley compared to last year. However, as the rains continue, the number will likely be higher in the next survey, AHDB said.
