Farm incomes are falling, posing a threat to Britain’s food security. Official figures for England show a 19 per cent drop last year in the total income from farming to £4.5 billion. The fall was driven by decreases in farm gate prices for arable crops and milk.
The income from food production was only £3.4 billion. The remainder was income from diversification such as holiday cottages and subsidies not linked to food production. While that’s essential for most farmers, it means that income for food production for each farmer is shrinking.
The Labour manifesto said little about agriculture, but did acknowledge that “food security is national security”. Yet there are no actions behind those fine words – certainly nothing in the new government’s proposed legislation will improve food security.
The new farming minister Daniel Zeichner addressed a meeting of MPs, peers and NFU representatives the day after the King’s Speech. He pledged to continue the environmental land management scheme of the previous government.
This scheme pays farmers to fallow their land or to boost wildlife, adding to the encouragements for farmers to move out of food production. Increasingly that means pressure to use farm land for solar farms, which is counted as part of “total income from farming”! Lease periods for solar farms are increasing too – commonly 40 years or more – taking farm land out of food production for decades.