In her New Year message, the president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Minette Batters, said that government investment is needed to “unlock a thriving food and farming sector” in the UK.
In her statement released today (Friday, December 30), Batters highlighted the importance of food security, which the union has been drawing attention to this year.
“Clearly, events over the last year have made the job of producing food throughout the world so much harder. The importance of British farming to deliver food and energy has never been clearer,” Batters said.
“I never take for granted the huge public support farming receives and it is clear the nation continues to value our high food standards, produced to world-leading animal welfare and environmental protection, as well as our ability to produce renewable energy and contribute to the nation’s energy security.”
Batters referenced her recent meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak regarding food security and the importance of home-grown food production.
“I was very pleased to be able to end the year with a meeting with the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, where I pressed, again, the importance of food security and home-grown food production,” she said.
“In the summer he made a commitment to monitor food self-sufficiency and I am reassured that he continues to take this issue very seriously.
“It was clear from my meeting with the Prime Minister that he has the same ambition as us for British food and farming.
“If we are to continue delivering for the nation, we need to see him honour his pledge made at the NFU Hustings event in August – to support British farming by setting a target for the nation’s food security, with a statutory duty to report on domestic food levels.”
Earlier this month, Batters said she feared that the UK was “sleepwalking into further food supply crises” and called for the government to act soon as “tomorrow could well be too late”.
Net zero
Batters said the goal of achieving net zero by 2040 is possible, but that the commitment to this must be proved in 2023.
“Looking to the year ahead, we have the opportunity to build on these successes and deliver more for the country,” she said.
“We have the ambition and drive to produce more renewable energy, enhance our environment, care for our countryside and work towards our commitment to reach net zero by 2040, all while producing sustainable food.
“To do this we need to ensure that we build profitability and resilience into our farm businesses to allow us to safeguard the nation’s food and energy security,” she added.
“We need clarity on policies like the Environmental Land Management schemes, which will ensure we are able to plan financial resilience into our businesses and continue to produce climate-friendly food alongside green energy.”
