Farmers cutting down food production due to soaring costs: NFU

Farmers are being forced to cut back on their food production due to soaring costs, reports stated recently citing National Farmers’ Union (NFU)’s statement.

A third of arable farmers told the NFU they’re cutting back on crops for food, BBC reported. The survey by NFU found that 7 percent of dairy farmers are considering stopping milk production by 2024, which the union estimates could lead to 840 producers leaving the sector.

Minette Batters, the president of the NFU, says farming has always been a volatile sector, but price rises mean the decisions farmers are making now “feel more like a gamble than ever before”.

Many are switching from growing wheat for bread to wheat for animal feed, as it uses less fertiliser. The government said its schemes supported farmers.

Fuel, animal feed, fertiliser and energy have all seen unprecedented price rises in recent months, in part due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, putting financial pressure on farmers who cannot always pass those costs on to supermarkets and other customers.

Fertiliser costs began to rise last autumn when the wholesale price of gas, which is needed to produce it, started to climb. The Ukraine conflict has made the situation worse, with sanctions hitting supplies from Russia, one of the world’s biggest producers of some of the key ingredients in fertiliser.

BBC quoted a Lincolnshire farmer who revealed that his energy bills have doubled, red diesel – used in his farm vehicles – is up around 200 percent while he has also seen a 400 percent increase in his fertiliser costs. 

“If the fertiliser is too expensive and it’s not viable to apply the maximum amount, then the tonnes [of wheat] we’ll get will be less, which means there’ll be less food,” the report quoted the farmer as saying, who further added that food in the UK has been too cheap for too long.

It comes as the government announced its food strategy for England, saying it was “backing farmers” with a pledge to increase domestic food supply. The strategy included a commitment to invest £270m in farming innovation to boost production and an ambition for 50 percent of public sector food spending to go on locally sourced produce.