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Costs for farmers soar amid war in Iran
Hosts Mike Greenwood-Wilkins and Jacks Weaver sit down with NFU Chief Economist Jack Watts to discuss the latest on red diesel and fertiliser costs and availability and the work the NFU is doing to ensure the government understands how the war in Iran is impacting farmers.
The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane through which around 20% of the world’s oil and gas shipments pass through and one fifth of the world’s global ammonia and urea supplies.
These are key components used in food production, with fuel and fertiliser typically accounting for between 25-30% of total costs.
“Grain prices haven’t moved in line with fertiliser prices so affordability of fertiliser looks really challenging,” says Jack. “We’re keeping Defra informed on what all this means and the impact of farming businesses.”
Listen from 2:15 to hear more from Jack.
Britain’s farmers have got talent
We also catch up with Ellie Maguire and James Florey, two farmers who have swapped the yard for the spotlight as part of the Hawkstone Farmers’ choir.
From recording auditions on their phones to earning a golden buzzer on Britain’s Got Talent, listen to find out more about their experience so far, the challenge of preparing for the semi-finals with limited rehearsal time, and the reaction from the farming community.
NFU lobbying and bringing MPs to the farm
What is prorogation and what does this mean for parliamentary business? NFU External Affairs Manages Ruairi Hodges and Neeve McGinty explain why parliament has been prorogued ahead of the local elections and what this means in practice.
They cover the NFU’s lobbying work on measures the government can take to mitigate the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on members and domestic food production.
“We have a number of asks we’ve put forward, and one of them relates to fuel duty,” Ruairi explains. “We understand that fuel operates on an international market and there’s not a lot of levers that the government has at its disposal that it can just pull and automatically bring the price down, but one that they do have is on fuel duty.”
They also tell listeners what happened when the NFU’s champion MPs visited Bromstead Farm with ABP (Anglo Beef Processors) and the work the NFU is doing to connect policymakers with the realities of modern farming.
Farming of the future
The episode also features Tom Beach, founder of Autonomous Agri Solutions and a Warwickshire-based NFU member working at the sharp end of agricultural robotics.
Tom explains how his Robotti system is already being used commercially to drill and weed crops without a tractor, and shares what he has learned from deploying the technology across the UK and further afield.
The discussion explores the gap between innovation and adoption, the commercial realities of robotics, and what still needs to change before more farmers can justify making the leap.
Hungry for more? Delve into some of the topics covered in the latest Shed Talks
Iran war impact on input costs for farming – timeline of NFU lobbying
Help us build a picture of the cost pressures caused by the conflict in Iran
Efra Committee highlights the impact of Middle East conflict on farmers
Impact of the conflict in the Middle East on farming: NFU asks
NFU members audition for Britain’s Got Talent with the Hawkstone Choir
NFU Fellowship Scheme demonstrates how food gets from field to fork to MPs
Local elections 2026 – How local authorities can help shape the future of British farming
NFU urges newly-elected councillors to back British farming
£50m ‘fast-track’ agri-tech package will bolster farmers’ resilience
Meet the speakers:
Jacks Weaver
Regional Policy Manager (South)
She helps drive the NFU’s policy work forward on behalf of members’ businesses, leading campaigning, policy, lobbying and external engagement strategy in the region, as well as supporting and advising members and colleagues on key policy matters.
Jacks previously worked in rural surveying and farm business management.
She lives on a family farm in South Gloucestershire, and has a passion for agriculture, and rural businesses.
Mike Greenwood-Wilkins
NFU Combinable Crops Board appointee (South)
At home, he works alongside his Mum, Dad and sister, where they farm around 2,000 acres, primarily arable, a mix of in-house and contract farmed.
They also run a range of native rare breed livestock: British White cattle, Oxford Sandy & Black pigs and Wiltshire Horn sheep, plus non-native Boer goats.
Mike is also manager of CP Farming ltd, a 4,000 acre mixed estate in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Previously, he studied Agriculture & Business Management at The Royal Agricultural University and also spent an additional year there as chair of the Students' Union.
His main passion in agriculture is a transition to more environmentally conscious farming, whilst maintaining food production.
Having taken great inspiration from the regenerative movement, he is reducing tillage, increasing cover cropping and incorporating livestock and herbal leys.
He is looking to understand impacts on soil carbon from varying cropping and establishment techniques to optimise rotations to maximise and retain soil carbon. He is also increasing low input cropping, growing miscanthus and exploring agroforestry.
He strongly supports the NFU’s net zero target, but to achieve this he believes that in the need to focus on neutralising farming's internal emission and in-setting within our supply chains before selling our good work out of the industry.
Neeve McGinty
NFU external affairs manager
Alongside elected officeholders, she meets MPs and Ministers, leads the NFU Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme, and organises regular events throughout the year to keep food and farming on the political agenda, including at the political party conferences.
Neeve joined the NFU in 2021 as a Public Affairs and Communications Graduate working on public facing campaigns and political lobbying. She took up the role of External Affairs Adviser role for the NFU's team in Westminster in 2022, and progressed to her current role in January 2025.
Ruairi Hodges
NFU External Affairs Manager
Alongside elected officeholders, Ruairi meets with MPs and Ministers to pursue the interests of the NFU’s members. He has a particular focus on international trade, rural crime, education and local government.
Ruairi joined the NFU in May 2025. Prior to this he worked in Parliament for over seven years for MPs representing seats in Perthshire, Derbyshire, Teesside and North Lincolnshire.
Jack Watts
NFU Chief Economist
Jack has featured heavily in NFU’s response work to the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the Iranian conflict, their impact on farming businesses and development of pragmatic policy mitigations. More recently, Jack is focused on the strategic importance of domestic agriculture to the UK’s foundational economy and value to broader society.
Jack is from a farming background with practical experience in the livestock and arable sectors with his family raising suckler beef cattle in North Devon.