Ruth Edwards invited Victoria Prentis MP, the Minister for Farming, Food and Fisheries to meet with farmers from across Rushcliffe last week.
They discussed the Environmental Land management schemes (ELMs) which will provide opportunities for farmers to build on the important work they are already doing to enhance the environment without taking out land which can support food production.
Key concerns raised with Ruth and Victoria include the war in Ukraine causing an increase in costs such as fertilizer, attracting more people to careers in agriculture, addressing labour shortages and increasing the amount of British produce bought by the public sector.
Today the Government has published a new Food Strategy which tackles many of these issues.
At the core of the strategy, is the commitment to spend £270 million across the Farming Innovation Programme until 2029 to unlock innovation and boost sustainable domestic food production. This will mean that we will be spending around £600m on farm-based innovation over the next 3 years.
Crucially, the strategy will also allow for an extra 10,000 visas for the seasonal worker visa route, including extending 2,000 visas to the poultry sector to address labour shortages in the short term.
In the longer term, the strategy will establish a new professional body for the farming and growing industry – The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH), creating clear career pathways and promoting the sector as a progressive, professional, and attractive career choice, encouraging more young people into farming.
The Government is also consulting on a new requirement for the public sector to buy 50% of the food it uses locally.
Victoria Prentis said, “It was a pleasure to meet farmers and producers in Rushcliffe. Food security is a top priority for this Government and we are investing in the sector to increase domestic production and work towards 50% of public food procurement expenditure being on locally produced food”
Ruth said “The food strategy addresses a lot of the concerns raised with me by farmers in Rushcliffe. They are the people working day in, day out to produce the nations food and so it is right that the Government is listening to them. We have some of the best quality food production anywhere in the world and I am glad that we will be using the buying power of the public sector to better support British farmers.”
This comes in addition to previously announced support to deal with inflation, including advancing half of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) this year, to help farmers facing higher input costs to meet cashflow needs in the short term.
Ruth holds her Agriculture and Rural Affairs Forums quarterly each at a different farm in Rushcliffe. If you are a farmer or work in the agriculture sector, you can register your interest to attend one of these meetings by contacting Ruth at [email protected].