I recently sat down with farmers from across our constituency at a meeting with the NFU at Higher Fingle Farm between Drewsteignton and Cheriton Bishop. It was a very useful gathering with around two dozen meat, dairy and arable farmers present, hailing from Northlew (west of Okehampton) across to Silverton (near Tiverton), down to Teignbridge in the south of our constituency.
Farmers are the lifeblood of communities across Central Devon - one of the largest and most rural constituencies in England. I have always stood up for them in Westminster and one of my proudest achievements as an MP was to lead legislation that introduced fines of up to £100million for supermarkets that deal unfairly with our farmers.
Our meeting was held in the context of some very significant challenges for the industry, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine continuing to have a major impact on agriculture here in the UK. Rising energy and commodity prices have been exacerbated by the war, with farmers now paying up to twice as much for fertiliser compared to a few months ago. There have also been disruptions to global supply chains and because Ukrainian workers make up 60% of recruits under the UK’s Seasonal Workers Scheme, there are real pressures on the sector regarding access to the short-term labour it needs at various times of the year.
These challenges have compounded problems for a sector already in transition as DEFRA implements its new Environment Land Management Scheme (ELMS) for subsidies after our exit from the EU. The total level of support payments will continue for now in line with the payments that were received when we were members of the EU but as a part of our net zero mission, ELMS will more clearly reward farmers for carbon sequestration and managing land in an environmentally-sustainable way e.g. planting hedgerows, restoring woodland, or improving water and soil quality. There will also be higher subsidies for organic farming.
While I broadly support incentives for looking after our environment I am concerned that we keep our focus firmly on food production as well.
I followed up my meeting by discussing the issues raised by my farmers with George Eustice, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (himself a former farmer who represents a constituency in Cornwall). Specifically, I have asked for an urgent impact assessment regarding the transition to ELMS, further action on VISAs for seasonal workers and greater financial support to help farmers make capital investments in technology. I do think that government is in listening mode and looking for ways to make life easier for our farmers. This is vital at the moment given the cost of living pressures. We need to free them up and provide them with as much support as possible to keep producing some of the finest food in the world.