National Farmers Union tells UK government that Brexit-hit farmers need help

MINETTE BATTERS, president of the UK’s National Farmers Union, urged the government to support food producers.

This was the only way that farmers could supply British households and a growing world population, she said.

Batters, who owns a cattle, sheep and arable farm in Wiltshire, said farmers and growers had “an opportunity and a duty” to make the most of Britain’s maritime climate by producing food for consumers at home and abroad.

“Volatility, uncertainty and instability are the greatest risks to farms today,” Batters declared.

Farmers, unenthusiastic about the government’s post-Brexit subsidies introduced to compensate for the loss of the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP), were also affected by a chronic labour shortage, Batters said.

Agricultural overheads had risen by nearly 50 per cent since 2019 and this, together with huge cost inflation, could trigger a slump in UK food production, she warned.

“The consequences will extend far beyond farming and be felt across the natural environment and in struggling households across the country.”

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