NSA urges Government to prioritise food production

With the Bank of England last week announcing a rise in interest rates to 2.25%, the highest level since 2008, the National Sheep Association (NSA) is urging the Government to consider food production and the farming sector as a priority amid the cost-of-living crisis.

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker says: “British agriculture has a mountain to climb this winter. The cost of inputs, fuel, feed, labour, drought and fertiliser to name just a few have been crippling businesses for months. The time for action is now, government must prioritise UK food supply chains in the same way as it has prioritised energy supply, ensuring there is adequate support for food production businesses. If this doesn’t happen, we could see irreparable damage to our food supply chains and food security”

Russia’s weaponization of energy is proving to be a significant issue across the world. The Chancellor also made announcements at the end of the week regarding a new Growth Plan, aiming to tackling energy costs to bring down inflation, backing business and helping households.

Mr Stocker explains: “Although the energy support package has gone some way to remedying the situation not nearly enough has been done. Government must commit to ensuring priority of supply to the food production and processing industry.

“The Agricultural industry is being left in limbo between an outgoing and an incoming governmental team, yet to set out any meaningful priorities or direction for our industry, it is vital that businesses have some sort of continuity and direction in order to try and combat the upcoming and compounded issues following the announcements last week. It is not enough for government to aspire to striking trade deals across the world when we have domestic businesses that are struggling and ceasing production due to the unprecedented circumstances across all aspects of agriculture, this is an issue not just limited to energy. Seen time and again with the closure of small abattoirs most recently Mettricks, a 100-year-old businesses- but also throughout the industry - the UK’s pig sector has faced various supply chain challenges, including disrupted CO2 supplies and labour shortages which have resulted in more than 200,000 excess pigs being left on farms, and 35,000 healthy pigs being culled since last September. We are seeing irreparable damage across the industry with little to no certainty from government to allow businesses to forecast, plan or survive increasingly challenging horizons.”