‘Let farming lead the recovery’

AFTER seeing the latest food and drink export figures and the latest employment statistics for farming, the president of the National Farmers Union has said the UK government should look to agriculture as an example of how to kick-start the economy.

In his New Year message, Peter Kendall said that despite the short-term hurdles that lay ahead, he remained optimistic for the future of British farming.

“As I look forward to 2012, of all the statistics I have seen on the performance of British farming in this past year, none has impressed me more than the figure for the exports of food and drink: a staggering £5.85 billion in just the first six months of 2011,” Kendall said.

“That was up 13 per cent on the same period in 2010 and it leaves us on course to achieve a record level of exports for the full year.”

Kendall acknowledged that the favourable exchange rate had played a part in achieving the figure but added that the past year’s performance had outstripped expectations and showed that Britain could compete internationally.

He added: “If George Osborne and Vince Cable are looking for industrial sectors to kick-start growth and rebalance the economy then they should start by looking at farming.”

Kendall’s optimism for the future of farming was not solely based on the export figures. Employment in farming in England has increased 3 per cent.

That equated to 9,500 more people working on farms.

However, to achieve more in the future, Kendall said there would need to be what he called “the right political, regulatory and market frameworks.”

“To the government, I say we need a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy which encourages, rather than penalises, efficient farming and which frees the industry to grow, to look after the environment and to produce the food we need.

“To the retailers, I say stop these opportunistic practices that are driving the profits from the supply chain. Instead develop more long-term relationships built on fair play and trust; ones that allow us to invest in our farming businesses and continue to produce food sustainably in the future.

“To our customers, the British public, continue to trust British farmers to produce the goods, whether that’s affordable, top quality food; clean, green energy; or a countryside that’s the envy of the world.”

As a result of the major uncertainties in the economic world and the potential impact on the exchange rate, Kendall was reluctant to make any predictions for 2012, but he described himself as “incredibly optimistic for the future of farming”.

He said: “The prospects for our sector will be linked to the need for farming to produce more food, more sustainably, and that need has never been greater, nor offered more potential, to the nation as a whole.”