NFU calls for culture change in response to crops supply chain fairness review

Arable farmers are ‘shock absorber’ for supply chain

The NFU has submitted its response to Defra’s review, outlining the changes needed to ensure fairer terms and a stronger voice for arable farmers.

NFU Combinable Crops Board Chair Jamie Burrows said the review is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact positive change for a sector in which the scales have been tipped against growers for far too long”.

“This is about the very survival of our farms and why we campaigned extensively for government to launch a review of how the crops sector operates, with the goal of bringing it in line with other reformed sectors like dairy and pigs,” Jamie said.

Fairness in the supply chain is one of the NFU Combinable Crops Board’s six key priorities and forms a key cornerstone of the board’s ‘Harvesting Growth’ strategy for building a stronger future for combinable crops. 

Jamie added: “For many years, arable farmers have shouldered the largest burden of risk while receiving the smallest share of the final value. Whether it is volatile input costs, challenging weather or unpredictable global markets, the arable farmer is almost always the ‘shock absorber’ for the entire supply chain.”

What has the NFU said?

In its consultation response, the NFU has outlined a broad and detailed range of asks including:

• The AIC No.1 Contract, upon which almost all grain sales from farm are traded, to be adapted to reflect a fairer balance of power and include greater clarity over specific contract terms and definitions. Importantly, to create transparency over contracts, this AIC No.1 Contract should not be varied by the purchaser unless expressly agreed by both parties at each point of sale.
• A change in the sampling process to enable farmers to have more involvement. For the vast majority of farmers who load grain on lorries arranged by the purchaser, they need the ability to take a representative sample either before or at the point of loading, and for this sample to be used for either the basis of payment or, at the very least, the sample for an independent test in the case of a dispute.
• The NFU is also asking for immediate feedback of data at intake to be a requirement of all contracts, so that there is transparency in the data coming directly from the intake and so that the farmer can act if there is a specification issue which can be remedied before loading more lorries and incurring further costs.

“Our response to the consultation, based on what many of our members have told us, outlines the urgent need to see a marketplace that is operating with integrity and transparency, where data is being shared openly and fairness is promoted,” Jamie said.

Contracts should be clear and consistent, provide fair returns to growers, and give them the confidence to make long-term decisions and invest in the future of the industry, Jamie added.

“A long overdue change of culture will help establish a more resilient, thriving and profitable UK arable sector – one where we can continue to produce high-quality food for 70 million consumers alongside protecting and enhancing our precious landscapes.”