Fenland farming leader says Cambridgeshire farmers need immediate support after Farm to Fork Summit

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted the summit at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, May 14.

It came shortly after the NFU revealed a crisis of confidence among farmers and growers in its confidence survey last week, which showed farmer confidence at a record low following the wettest winter on record.

The NFU called for the food summit in the run up to the Conservative leadership election in 2022, with the first being held at Downing Street in 2023. The NFU also called for it to be an annual event and for the publication of an annual Food Security Index, with this second summit attended by almost a hundred representatives from food and farming organisations, as well as members of Cabinet and departments across Whitehall.

At the summit, a series of announcements were made by the government including:

· A new blueprint to increase domestic production in the UK horticulture sector.

· The publication of the Food Security Index setting out key data and trends.

· Further support for farmers and growers affected by wet weather.

NFU Cambridgeshire Chair Alison Morris, a fifth-generation arable farmer based near March, said: “It was good to see the Farm to Fork Summit held again, putting farming firmly on the political agenda.

“I welcome the announcements made and they should make a positive impact in the long-term.

“But farmers here in Cambridgeshire, and other parts of the country, are facing immediate problems and support is urgently needed to ensure they can get through the here and now and still be in business to benefit from these long-term plans.

“Farmers have been through some real challenges over the last few years, from Brexit, to Covid, to the conflict in Ukraine.

“It has also been a hugely difficult time with the impact of the weather as well as the changes to environmental farming schemes.

“All areas of farming have been hit and we need immediate solutions.”

NFU President Tom Bradshaw, who attended the summit, said: “Many of the announcements are extremely welcome, particularly those long-term strategic ambitions around the launch of a UK Food Security Index and measures to boost the production of more British fruit and vegetables.

“But we cannot forget that our members have experienced the wettest eighteen months since 1836, including devastating flooding, and many are facing an acute short-term crisis.

“We will continue to engage with ministers on the detail needed for the immediate relief our farm businesses require and believe that core standards for food imports also need to be part of the long-term offer.”