NFU President Meurig Raymond opened NFU Conference 2015 by declaring the forthcoming election ‘one of the most important we have ever faced’.
READ THE FULL SPEECH HERE.
On the day the NFU launched its ‘Great British Food Gets My Vote’ campaign, Mr Raymond insisted that there is ‘no doubt’ that food and farming are key electoral issues.
“We, the NFU, commissioned the independent organisation YouGov to carry out a survey which shows that 85 per cent of British people want to see supermarkets sell more British food,” he said.
“The same survey shows that nearly eight out of 10 people believe the government should do more to ensure a secure and affordable supply of British food.
“That clear message from British people must be taken on board by the next government.”
He said that voters expect a British government to back its own farmers and food producers and, in the light of self-sufficiency statistics, that the challenge has never been more pressing.
“In 1984 we produced more than 80 per cent of what we consumed in this country,” he said. “If you like to look at it this way, our national cupboard lasted us until well into autumn.
“By 2013 the cupboard was bare by August 7. If we go on like this by 2045 we will run out by mid-summer.”
Mr Raymond refuted the accusation that he urges farmers to blindly produce more, insisting that he would never tell a farmer how to run their business, much less how to expand their production.
“But my point is this, the British population is growing faster than any other large European country- we will be 70 million people in 20 years’ time,” he added.
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“At the same time, our self-sufficiency is falling. The British consumer wants - indeed expects - to be able to source British food. Yet, if nothing is done, it will be far more difficult to achieve.”
Mr Raymond insisted the status quo is not what is best for Britain and that the government has a duty to tackle the volatility which is fast becoming the norm.
“The mechanisms we used to see to ensure stability have been dismantled: quotas for milk end this year and for sugar in 2017,” he said.
“Tariffs have come down and there are an unprecedented number of trade deals on the table that will expose European producers to further competition.
“Export refunds are no longer used and intervention, where it exists, is at a minimal level.
So, we need to find other ways to manage price volatility.”
Mr Raymond said there are several ways the next government can help; by making sure the food chain works correctly, providing unhindered access to futures markets, longer periods for tax averaging, better labelling regulation, the removal of barriers to diversification and more exports.
He also called on retailers to deliver on their corporate and social responsibility plans and put aside practices of the past by committing to longer term contracts and longer term relationships.
He called on European Commissioner Phil Hogan to simplify CAP, labelling the last reform a ‘dog’s breakfast’. In particular, greening and policies such as the three-crop rule need to be tackled.
“Instead of a reform which would have helped European farmers become more globally competitive we got a short-sighted attempt to defend a budget which has heaped costs and conditions on farmers with little or no obvious benefit to anyone.”
He demanded that Defra Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss ensure that the disasters of 2005 are not repeated with the new system for Single Farm Payments
And he also requested that the government remains faithful to the current bovine TB policy, which is delivering results in Somerset and Gloucestershire.