Major retailers are being urged to support the farming industry during a ‘perfect storm’ of challenges it’s facing as a result of extremely challenging and disruptive weather.
Exceptional rainfall and a succession of damaging storms have impacted livestock, arable and horticultural sectors and disrupted individual farm businesses the length and breadth of the country. No area of the UK has escaped with lambing, calving, planting and field work all proving very difficult and bringing additional cost to the business.
A joint letter from the national farmers unions throughout the UK says: “These challenges come at a time when many of our members are already struggling to remain viable due to the perfect storm of sustained and spiralling production costs, low market returns, and increasing levels of regulation.
“This latest challenge, whilst not new, is more acute than ever, and is compounding the pressure on our members.
“Farmers and growers continue to bear the lion’s share of the risk within their supply chains, and this is unsustainable. We are in discussions with our respective governments on further support to assist the industry in navigating these short-term challenges, but we also recognise the important role which retailers have to play in helping the industry to withstand this latest crisis.”
The letter calls for a commitment to local sourcing, fair supply chains, flexibility on product specification, rapid payments, and support for local suppliers.
The letter concludes: “It is no exaggeration to say that the current challenges are some of the most acute the industry has faced in a very long time, and we need your support more than ever to maintain food production across the UK and safeguard our food security.
“Our members will continue to work tirelessly in the face of this latest adversity to maintain their high standards of production and welfare that your customers have now come to expect. We now urge you to support our members’ efforts.”
