Regional Director: Pamela ForbesRegional Public Relations Officer: Brian FinnertyTel: 01638 672100 Email: east.anglia@nfu.org.uk
Key topics affecting tenant farmers will be under discussion at meetings organised by NFU East Anglia read more..
Advice from the Environment Agency on reducing phosphate pollution from domestic septic tanks read more..
A roundup of the news and forthcoming events from across the region for the week ending Friday 20 January 2012. read more..
Pupils at two Peterborough schools will enjoy a tasty start to the day next week, thanks to Cambridgeshire farmer Judith Jacobs. read more..
NFU members in East Anglia questioned candidates for the organisation’s top three posts at a hustings meeting in Newmarket. read more..
Farmers are being urged to hope for the best but plan for the worst with regard to water availability for 2012. read more..
Two Essex MPs are joining farmers on Friday (20 January) to enjoy a tasty start to Farmhouse Breakfast Week. read more..
A roundup of the news and forthcoming events from across the region for the week ending Friday 13 January 2012. read more..
Farmers from across East Anglia can question contenders for the NFU’s top three officeholder positions on Thursday (19 January). read more..
NFU members in East Anglia are being invited to a meeting in Newmarket on the 13th of February to hear more about proposed changes to NVZ rules which will affect how farmers use manure, slurries and other fertilisers. read more..
A roundup of the news and forthcoming events from across the region for the week ending Friday 6 January 2012. read more..
Farmers concerned about their water licence and water availability are being urged to contact the Environment Agency read more..
A roundup of the weeks news and forthcoming events from across the region. read more..
A Suffolk farming family is starring in a new DVD which looks at past and present arable production. read more..
A roundup of the news and forthcoming events from across the region for the week ending Friday 16 December 2011. read more..
A roundup of the news and forthcoming events from across the region for the week ending Friday 9 December 2011. read more..
A roundup of the week's news and forthcoming events from around the region. read more..
Ways of safeguarding water for food production in the Fens will be under discussion when the NFU meets senior Environment Agency officials. read more..
Christmas has come early for nine-year old Fran Axton after winning first prize in a farming poetry competition. read more..
Your chance to learn more about renewables and opportunities available for your farm business. read more..
There are new attractions and stands on offer at the 2012 East Anglian Game and Country Fair. read more..
Food and farming is at the heart of Herts Show. read more..
There's something for everyone at the two-day Suffolk Show. read more..
The Royal Norfolk Show is one of Britain's largest two-day agricultural shows. read more..
East of England Show is a celebration of all things rural. read more..
Why Farming Matters to the Broads | The region in pictures | NFU annual county meetings | Fodder bank
From the fertile Fens to the grazed grasslands of the Waveney Valley, East Anglia is one of the most productive agricultural landscapes in the world. As well as producing quality food, its farmers and growers support thousands of jobs, manage the countryside and offer solutions to alleviate problems posed by climate change.
The East Anglia region comprises Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. It is best known for its cereal crops, with farmers growing more than a quarter of England's wheat and barley. Out of a total farmed area of 1.4 million hectares, almost a third of that land was used for wheat in 2007.
But it is a major region for horticulture as well, cultivating everything from peas and beans to apples, strawberries, salad crops, flowers and shrubs. Farmers in East Anglia also harvest well over half the country's entire sugar beet crop - mainly in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. And almost a third of England's potato crop is grown here as well.
Britain's pig and poultry farms are centred largely on East Anglia - not surprisingly as so much of the grain needed for animal feed is grown here. Laying hens produce about 2.2 million eggs every day and our region's farmers supply a quarter of England's table chicken. We also have the second largest number of pigs in England, 1.1 million animals on around 1900 farms. Our sheep flocks, beef and dairy herds may be small compared with other regions but they are important to the farming 'balance' of the region and their grazing plays a vital role in looking after the landscape. About 50,000 people work directly within the agricultural and horticultural sector but many more jobs depend on it, including workers in engineering, livestock feed manufacture, transport, the veterinary profession and agricultural research and development. Agriculture and horticulture are also the backbone of rural tourism, a major regional employer supporting 167,000 jobs. Tourism brings hundreds of millions of pounds into the rural economy every year as well. Around three quarters of land in East Anglia is used for agriculture, so farmers play an essential role in managing the countryside. They carry out daily care for the countryside on a scale unmatched by any single conservation agency or government department. Some of the work is paid for under schemes such as environmental stewardship. East Anglia has more land covered by this new scheme than any other region.