Government is ‘failing to support’ British farmers says Farron

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The National Farmer’s Union (NFU) has warned common vegetables could have to be rationed if the nation’s farmers are not supported through the cost-of-living crisis. President of the NFU, Minette Batters, said that without support for farmers, more products could be affected.

Ms Batters warned vegetables such as cauliflowers, potatoes, purple sprouted broccoli, and peppers could be affected.

She told Sky News: “Everybody wants to avoid rationing, effectively, which is what we saw with eggs in December. But I think there are going to be challenges on availability of some food items.”

Furthermore, she said the production of British tomatoes and cucumbers was continuing to fall. Ms Batters added the “last thing anybody wants to do is create a level of panic buying”.

Ms Batters said a crisis could be averted if the Government extended support to through its Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme to two of farming’s most energy-dependent sectors, horticulture and poultry.

Despite hopes of a solution, Ms Batters warned “the clock is ticking” for the government to act. She added: “The real danger here is that unless we can give farmers and growers the confidence to keep investing, they’re producing less.

“That will drive further cost inflation for consumers. That’s what we want to avoid. This is, of course, all driven by the price of gas, which has come down, but is still three times higher than it was in 2019.”

On Tuesday, the Government announced £168million in grants for farmers focusing on innovation, new technology, animal welfare, and productivity.

Ms Batters’ comments come as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) warned some supermarkets were beginning to run low on tomatoes including Tesco and Sainsbury’s. Among the reasons cited were “difficult weather conditions” in both the south of Europe and North Africa. This is significant because during the winter, the UK imports 90 percent of its fruit and veg.

However, as the weather gets warmer, the UK becomes more self-sufficient, reaching its peak of fruit and vegetable production in the summer.

Ms Batters said there was an even greater need to take self-sufficiency “seriously”. She added producing more fruit and veg in the UK was an ambition “we have held for a long time”.

How big a role climate change will play in the UK’s ability to be self-sufficient is yet to be played out, but droughts in Italy and other parts of Europe are giving cause for concern.

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