In fact, there have been more than 250 NFU mentions picked up by the NFU’s media monitoring service this week across all media outlets.
NFU President Minette Batters appeared on BBC2’s Daily Politics show on Tuesday lunchtime to talk about the NFU's response to the Government’s Health and Harmony consultation. Appearing alongside environmentalist George Monbiot and Labour MP Owen Smith, she said: “It’s not about food production in isolation; it’s not about the environment in isolation; it is about both having a shared ambition.”
NFU media manager Georgia Brown, on out of hours press duty throughout the Bank Holiday weekend, liaised and spoke to a number of media outlets including the Press Association. This resulted in many of Tuesday’s national newspapers covering the story either in print or online.
The I newspaper said the NFU had outlined its vision for the future of the industry and that it wanted to see a new farming policy after the UK leaves the EU that allows consumers to enjoy more sustainable, high quality and affordable British food.
NFU President Minette Batters was quoted in The Guardian saying that a future farm policy could uplift British farming’s ability to produce food for the nation – and enhance our reputation for high-welfare food which delivers for the environment. Minette was also quoted in The Daily Express with a comment taken from a press release we issued last week.
Over 80 pieces of regional coverage
Two of the biggest regional newspapers, The Yorkshire Post and Western Morning News, both covered the story on their front pages. The Yorkshire Post’s headline was ‘British farmers must be suppliers of choice’ while the Western Morning News opted for ‘Brexit boost for UK produce’. Many other regional and local newspapers as well as BBC and commercial local radio also covered
Radio 4’s Farming Today also covered the close of the Command Paper consultation on Tuesday morning and included part of an interview recorded with the NFU President in which she explained what the NFU response to the consultation is based around - listen again here (from 11 mins).