The agriculture industry needs to be regarded as food producers and not just farmers, said National Farmer’s Union (NFU) president Tim Bennett, speaking prior to his speech yesterday at the IGD conference in London.
“There is no point complaining in two years time that there isn’t enough product,” he said. “The trade needs to talk to farmers now.”
Bennett stressed the fact that farmers will not produce if the long-term signals are not right.
Giving beef as an example, he said: “There is a lack of signals as to what production should be in 2007 or 2008. We need an absolute minimum of 2-3 years in order to prepare the cattle, and we need this information in the next two or three months or I will be very worried.”
Speaking yesterday at the IGD conference, Bennett pointed out that in the past the government has created signals to which British farmers have responded very well. But he raised his concerns about what will happen once the link between production and subsidy is broken from January 2005.
“There will be an increasingly reduced incentive to produce if there is no established market,” he said. “This means that in order to increase income farmers will have to look to the market. If they do not see a market for their produce they may simply not produce.”
He stated that up until now there has generally been an abundant supply of good quality British farm produce but he believes that we need to get the right structures in place now to maintain this or it may be too late. “Indeed, we might not appreciate the value of the UK industry until it no longer exists. What is certain is the British consumer will not thank us for that,’ he said.
For more information see The Saturday Essay in this week’s Grocer magazine, dated 23rd October.
“There is no point complaining in two years time that there isn’t enough product,” he said. “The trade needs to talk to farmers now.”
Bennett stressed the fact that farmers will not produce if the long-term signals are not right.
Giving beef as an example, he said: “There is a lack of signals as to what production should be in 2007 or 2008. We need an absolute minimum of 2-3 years in order to prepare the cattle, and we need this information in the next two or three months or I will be very worried.”
Speaking yesterday at the IGD conference, Bennett pointed out that in the past the government has created signals to which British farmers have responded very well. But he raised his concerns about what will happen once the link between production and subsidy is broken from January 2005.
“There will be an increasingly reduced incentive to produce if there is no established market,” he said. “This means that in order to increase income farmers will have to look to the market. If they do not see a market for their produce they may simply not produce.”
He stated that up until now there has generally been an abundant supply of good quality British farm produce but he believes that we need to get the right structures in place now to maintain this or it may be too late. “Indeed, we might not appreciate the value of the UK industry until it no longer exists. What is certain is the British consumer will not thank us for that,’ he said.
For more information see The Saturday Essay in this week’s Grocer magazine, dated 23rd October.
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