Government attitude change needed to avert world food crisis
Thursday April 24, 2008
If the Government is serious about helping to tackle the developing world food crisis, it should be an encouraging friend rather than a dictatorial policeman towards farmers says NFU Cumbria County Chairman, Russell Bowman.
Mr Bowman's comments come after the NFU took part in a food price 'summit' at Number 10 Downing Street this week where despite the obvious importance of stepping up food production around the world, the Government still seemed to be reluctant to ask Britain's farmers and growers to play their full part.
"As farmers and growers, we are ready and willing to rise to the challenge. But a clear acknowledgement of the value of stepping up production, backed by some serious investment in research and development and accompanied by a genuine attack on the red tape which is holding us back, would make a huge difference," said Mr Bowman.
"At the moment though, Cumbrian farmers are not being incentivised and there is no even approach from Defra. Take the Single Farm Payment for example. A lot of farmers get paid in December but some may not get paid until May or beyond. Farmers like me.
"The Government want more food but beef farmers like me are being forced to pack up. I have had to cease beef production because it was too risky to carry on with. With no Single Farm Payment, I was being forced to increase my overdraft and when a disease like Bluetongue is hanging over the industry, the risk of borrowing more money becomes too big to take. This situation to my mind is trade distorting.
"The same is happening in the dairy industry. Milk production in this country has fallen by approximately 20 million litres per month. Yet the Government's proposed Nitrate Vulnerable Zone legislation could see dairy farmers needing to spend large amounts of cash on extra slurry storage facilities. This would see many dairy farmers leave the industry and would push retail milk prices higher.
"The bottom line is that food prices around the world have increased because we have not produced enough food. That is a direct consequence of the cheap food era, and the lack of investment in agricultural development, both in Britain and around the world, that was such a feature of it."
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