The Importance of The Great British Farmer

“The future of livestock farming in the UK has never looked more precarious. Despite rising farmgate prices, increased costs and diminishing margins are taking their toll on British livestock farmers, be it beef, sheep, pigs, or dairy. We must also not forget that the backbone of agriculture here in the UK is of course the traditional family farm.  Costs and returns are just part of the story for these family run units. Many are no longer guaranteed to have sons or daughters who want to continue farming and  finding farm staff, especially those keen to work with livestock, is becoming almost impossible. The effects are nowhere more evident than in the decline in our national suckler herd.

 

But can we blame them? Where is their incentive? More and more land is being used to produce energy in the shape of solar farms or growing crop to feed anaerobic digesters, and good upland farms are being snapped up at unbelievable prices to plant trees. Are we ripping the heart out of an industry that should be proud to produce food to feed our nation?

 

On the subject of planting trees, the whole concept of huge global and national companies green-washing their pollutive activity to tick their environmental boxes by planting their carbon footprint on hardy productive upland ground is abhorrent. Don’t be fooled into believing that the only land being planted is unproductive. Good farmland is going for trees.

 

The Government’s slogan relating to the revised agriculture bill claims that UK farming support is focused on ‘public money for public goods’, such as better air and water quality, higher animal welfare standards, improved access to the countryside, or measures to reduce flooding. The overall objective of this policy is to achieve the government commitment to net zero by 2050. Now I wouldn’t argue with any of the above, but I would question why there is no mention of food in this national agricultural policy. And when it comes to net zero, yes, the whole population must play its part in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and lessening emissions, but when it comes to Britain’s rural counties, nobody can tell me where we are starting  from? What is the baseline? Take Cumbria for example, thousands of hectares of hills and fells and lakes, and extensively farmed ground, which surely must be near Carbon Zero already? Or maybe I’m delusional.

 

As for this public money, hands up those who have a clear understanding of what they need to do on their farm to attract the support they need to remain viable. It is little wonder how difficult it is to encourage the next generation to follow in their farming parents’ footsteps. Our leaders urgently need to get their heads out of the sand and wake up to the reality that every day that passes we edge closer to falling below the critical mass required to feed our nation with quality, sustainable produce, reared and finished to the highest production and welfare standards in the world.

 

It is widely accepted that there is only 48 hours’ worth of red meat in stock at any one time in the UK. In the last 6 months I am convinced that this will have shortened. Red meat processors are already under pressure to secure the volume they require to maintain the viability of their processing plants. Margins for them will be tightening, as the shortage drives values up and operating costs soar. This shortage has once again highlighted the value of the auction market. As the competition rises and processors begin fighting to maintain their market share, the auction mart is the place where farmers can be confident they are achieving the optimum value for their stock.

 

The exception as I write is the dairy sector, where, after a period when high prices helped to offset rising costs, the farmgate price of milk has fallen in the region of 25% in the last six months. Milk, one of the purest and most sustainable of commodities, has been used as a loss maker by the major retailers for years. It is time they offered a reasonable and consistent price and paid our dairy farmers for the commitment they make to delivering the very best produce to the consumer.

 

I firmly believe there is a bright future for farming in this country, and when the penny drops the great British farmer will be recognised as the cornerstone of one of the most valued industries we have retained in the UK. We will need to keep banging our drum and highlighting the shortcomings of the government’s misguided agricultural policy, or empty shelves and food inflation will become the norm.”