Back British Farming Day: Shropshire farmers thank public for support amid call for more from politicians

Farmers and growers in and around the county are marking Back British Farming Day to celebrate food production and the public’s appreciation of a job they have ranked as one of the most important and well-respected professions in the country – second only to nursing, according to an NFU survey.

The public has also backed the NFU’s call for Government to prioritise homegrown food production and legislate to ensure the UK’s self-sufficiency does not drop below its current level of 60 per cent.

Shropshire NFU chair Graham Price, a livestock farmer at Ludlow, said: “Shropshire farmers from Oswestry to Cleobury and Clun to Shifnal would like to thank county shoppers for their continued support.

“Despite the many challenges that come our way we are committed to feeding the nation and caring for the farmed environment and our superb countryside, our workplace.

“Back British Farming Day is a celebration of our job and it is great that people think we have such an important and respected role.

“Our farms are helping to drive sustainability. We make a fundamental contribution to our economy and we can also offer many solutions to the climate change challenge.

“County farmers will continue to provide the raw ingredients for a food and farming sector worth more than £120 billion that employs some four million people.

“We now need to see our politicians value and back the production of home-grown food and our family businesses.”

Back British Farming Day celebrations was starting in Westminster with a breakfast reception at the House of Commons with more than 100 MPs in attendance.

NFU President Minette Batters said: “Britain’s farmers and growers are truly inspirational, and it is heart-warming to know the public really value the work we do in producing fantastic homegrown food.

“This food underpins the British food and farming sector and is worth more than £100 billion to the national economy, all while protecting and enhancing our iconic landscapes.

“As these survey results show, the public really appreciate what Britain’s farmers and growers do day-in, day-out. 90% of the public feel farming is important to the UK economy while 81 per cent agreed that British farms should grow as much food as they can to provide national food security.

“We really have some of the most forward-thinking, productive and innovative farmers and growers working across our sector. Despite the challenges being faced by everyone this year, we are still doing what we do best – producing great tasting British food.

"On this Back British Farming Day, we appreciate this public support more than ever and want to say a massive thank you to everyone.”

According to the NFU survey, that 87 per cent of respondents support increasing self-sufficiency in UK food production.

“This is a clear message that the public backs our calls for government to prioritise homegrown food production and legislate to ensure the UK’s self-sufficiency does not drop below its current level of 60 per cent,” Mrs Batters added.

“We’ve had everything thrown at us over the past 18 months – soaring production costs, global market instability caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine, extreme bouts of weather and significant delays to farm payments.

“The empty shelves we’ve seen this year speak for themselves; we need to be producing more of our food here.

“Now is the time to ensure those policies are in place to support the production of quality, climate friendly, homegrown food. As we’ve said before, Government has statutory targets for the environment – why can’t food production have the same status?

“Fundamentally, investing in domestic food production means we can increase our productivity, create more jobs and deliver much more for the economy and for the environment.

“We know we have huge public support – we now just need our politicians to also back British farming like never before.”