What’s Next for Food & Farming?

“Nothing is more important than the food we eat,” she stated in a letter to Farmers Weekly following her appointment, continuing: “Food and farming generates more than £100bn/year for our economy, while managing nearly three-quarters of the UK’s land. The sector is a bedrock of our economy and environment.”

With food and the farming industry of such key importance to her, what can we expect from Andrea Leadsom’s Defra going forward? We speak to a producer/farmer and a farm retail co-operative to find out what they believe needs to be done

Alex Albone, founder of Pipers Crisps and active farmer

I was pleased to hear the Chancellor recently promise that EU funding for farmers, scientists and other projects will be replaced by the Treasury after Brexit. But it appears that this guarantee for agricultural funding only applies up to 2020 which isn’t really far enough ahead for long-term planning. If farmers and businesses can’t plan then they won’t invest, so we would welcome greater clarity, certainty and stability going forward.

I’d like to see the return of strong regional support for rural food producers to help build the strength, depth and diversity of the UK food and drink sector. Many of the previous grants have now disappeared. At Pipers Crisps we used to enjoy grants for marketing initiatives and support for business growth which has helped us grow from ‘one man and a van’ in 2004 to where we are now; a significant business in rural Lincolnshire employing over 75 local people.

Thanks to our high standards of food production and animal welfare, the British food industry has an excellent standing on the world stage. This makes our produce highly desirable, so we would like to think Defra will continue to develop and highlight these standards, as they are likely to be an excellent bargaining chip in our trade negotiations.

Since Brexit, the drop in the value of Sterling has certainly helped our export position and we need to capitalise on this advantage quickly, while it exists.

Strategy-wise, it would be very helpful for us to understand what kind of trade deals Britain envisages they will be able to negotiate with the EU and across the globe. The outcome of these deals will be critical to any export plans we make, and Defra should be at the centre of these negotiations making sure our industry’s needs are met.

It’s not just about Defra; every Government department needs to support exporters, particularly during uncertain times like this post-Brexit period we now find ourselves in. I would like to see continued trade support on many levels; in the past we’ve been involved in successful overseas trade delegations, had embassy and consulate help and we’ve had access to invaluable market research. Without central Government help this would be very expensive, perhaps impossible, for small businesses to fund on their own.

The quantity and quality of this support must continue. For example, the UK Pavilion at ANUGA 2015, supported by Government, was head and shoulders above any other national presence at the show.

Michael Mack, FARMA

The Princes Countryside Fund and the CPRE have both issued reports in the last month highlighting the importance of farm diversification in strengthening the rural economy and communities. With farm retailing being a very important element of the rural economy, we at the National Farmers’ Retail and Markets Association (FARMA) have been thinking about the key challenges facing farmers who are diversifying into retail.

Firstly, we are very pleased to hear that the government has committed to all schemes and contracts under the current CAP and Rural Development Programmes until 2020. This has provided reassurance to farmers currently developing projects or trying to establish budgets going forward.

Looking forward to the next programme period, one important element which we have concerns in is creating a platform which sees long term delivery programmes. By moving decision making to the UK government, there are concerns that the programme will be heavily influenced by the shorter cycle of UK politics.
It’s too early to look at specific activities, but we feel there are two important scheme elements we would like to see included in the decision making. Recent years have seen a lack of support at national level which makes collaborative projects significantly harder to implement; opportunities for specific training programmes or collaborative marketing project would be very beneficial for farmers. Secondly, the schemes at a national level needs to be simplified and an application process created which sees decisions made in a timely way.

We are getting a lot of enquiries from farmers looking to set up farm shops. The challenge of entering the retail world (one of the most competitive sectors) are not small, and many businesses struggle with managing margins, recruiting the correct staff, selecting the best products, attracting customers and ensuring supply of produce from the farm.

The big issue is always staff; getting the correct staff, training these staff and maintaining their enthusiasm.  FARMA is working on a number of elements in regards to staff, such as the launch of the new jobs listing website: farma.jobs.org.uk. But there are a number of issues which government support is needed. For example many farm shops struggle with attracting staff due to poor public transport in many areas. If a village loses its buses, the shop can lose its staff.