NFU piles on pressure for bigger farm budget

Farm leaders have ramped up calls on the government to increase its budget for farming – arguing that doing so is vital to maintain UK food security.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw made the call on 13 August – the day each year that the UK would run out of food if people could only consume food and drink produced by British growers and livestock farmers.

Recent decline

The UK is 62% self-sufficient in food. While this reflects similar levels of the past decade, some sectors have seen a recent decline. Self-sufficiency in fresh vegetables is only 53% – its lowest since records began in 1988.

Mr Bradshaw welcomed the government’s recognition that food security is critical to national security. But he believes Defra’s annual £2.4bn farm budget must be more than doubled to prevent self-sufficiency from falling from its present level.

The government is expected to announce its budget for farming in next month’s Autumn Statement. Any increased multi-year agricultural budget must include statutory commitment to ensure self-sufficiency does not fall, said Mr Bradshaw.

“On this Self-sufficiency Day, we want to highlight the importance of boosting Britain’s ability to produce its own food so families across the country continue to have access to healthy, balanced and affordable meals – something we all have a right to,” he said.