Farmers in call for boost to agricultural budget with many 'at tipping point'

The call, including from Midland farmers, came on the 9th annual Back British Farming Day with politicians, the public, retailers, food processers and manufacturers invited to celebrate and champion British agriculture and its importance to the UK economy.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “British farmers and growers are proud to produce the raw ingredients that underpin our essential food and drink sector, the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, worth a huge £148 billion, and employing more than four million people.

“But there are huge challenges.

"Over the past 18 months we have seen a collapse in farmer confidence, driven by record inflation, falls in farm income and a changing climate with unprecedented weather patterns delivering relentless rain which left thousands of acres of farmland under water.

“While in opposition we heard consistently from Labour that food security is national security. The Prime Minister, speaking at NFU Conference last year, pledged that Labour “aspires to govern for every corner of our country, and will seek a new relationship with the countryside and farming communities on this basis, a relationship based on respect and on genuine partnership”.

“We now need to see those ambitions realised. Today we’re calling on government to truly value UK food security by delivering a renewed and enhanced multi-annual agriculture budget of £5.6 billion on October 30.

"This budget is essential in giving Britain’s farmers and growers the confidence they desperately need to invest for the future and deliver on our joint ambitions on producing more sustainable, affordable homegrown food while creating more jobs and delivering for nature, energy security and climate-friendly farming.

“Our farmers and growers are much loved and valued by the public who rank our job as one of the most important and well-respected professions, second only to nursing. 91 per cent also believe farming is important to the UK economy, with 85 per cent believing we should increase our self-sufficiency in British food.

“On this Back British Farming Day, we are at a tipping point, so we call on government, all MPs, to also show their unstinted support. Seize this opportunity to harness the passion and the drive of British farmers and growers to ensure a thriving future – a future that is good for shoppers, good for the environment and good for a secure supply of British food.”

Ludlow farmer Graham Price, NFU Shropshire chair, said a difficult harvest and issues for farming families across all sectors showed why it was so important to continue to showcase the value of British food and farming to the nation.

“Food security needs to be a priority for government – which is why the work we do, including on Back British Farming Day, is so very important,” he said.

“We need robust policies in place that give farmers the confidence to invest so we can continue to feed the country – Government must take action to value UK food security and ensure important environmental delivery by increasing the current agriculture budget."

Paul Brown, NFU Staffordshire chair, added: “We want to continue providing more of the food Wolverhampton and Staffordshire people love as well as looking after the countryside we are all so proud of.

“In a cost-of-living crisis, farming’s ability to grow crops and rear livestock will be critical for families across the region and beyond.”