The National Farmers Union (NFU) has warned that the UK is “sleepwalking” into a food supply crisis and demanded that the government step in to help farmers.
According to The BBC:
Yields of tomatoes and other crops will likely slump to record lows this year, it said, with potential supply problems ahead as already seen with eggs.
Soaring fuel, fertiliser and feed costs were putting farmers under severe pressure, it added.
The government said the UK has a “highly resilient food supply chain”.
Some supermarkets are rationing egg sales after farmers cut back or halted production because of rising costs – a situation made worse by the Avian flu outbreak.
However, the NFU warned that food producers in other areas were now facing difficulties.
It said production of energy-intensive crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and pears was likely to hit its lowest level this year since records began in 1985.
It also said milk prices were likely to fall below the cost of production, while beef farmers were considering reducing the number of cows they breed.
Rising costs were to blame, it said, with fertiliser prices for farmers more than tripling since 2019 and the cost of feed and diesel up by 75%.
NFU president Minette Batters said British food was “under threat” with the future of British fruit and vegetable supplies “in trouble”.
Already high food prices were sure to rise further if products became harder to source, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“This is about government prioritising food security, and if they fail to do so we will continue to see greater contradiction in our production, a reliance on more imports, and availability is just not going to be there,” she said.
“We are self-sufficient in eggs – it’s been a massive success story – and we now have 320 million less eggs for the same period this year than last year.”
