Comment
Comment: Short term measures needed to solve food chain staffing crisis
The cereals and oilseeds harvest is a stressful enough time for farmers, especially with the unsettled weather we ‘enjoyed’ this August. So, they could have done without the added pressure from a shortage of HGV drivers to move harvested crops or even to deliver fuel...
Comment: Back UK farming as world food prices rise
Food prices are rising globally, with the latest Food and Agriculture Organisation (part of the United Nations) Food Price Index for May 2021 up by 4.8% on the prior month and by 39.7% year-on-year. The latest monthly increase, the largest since October 2010, is due...
Comment: Higher welfare standards will clash with new trade policies
The government’s policy agenda for the next session of Parliament, set out in this week’s Queen’s Speech, sets out a raft of measures aiming to strengthen animal welfare standards in the UK and abroad. Defra minister George Eustice’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare...
Comment: Where now for the AHDB levies?
The vote against statutory levies by the AHDB’s Horticulture and now Potato sectors are a blow for the organisation. The AHDB was created in 2008 by restructuring six independent levy-raising bodies into a new model with independent boards served by a central...
Comment: Positive signs for UK cereal demand – if supplies are there
Three announcements over the last month concerning additional UK cereals processing capacity are good news for the grain and feed co-product sectors. But longer term, UK agricultural policy needs to ensure sufficient domestic supplies are available. The government...
Comment: UK food standards and the Red Tractor
During last year’s Parliamentary debate on the Agriculture Bill, government voted down amendments designed to protect UK food standards by stopping imported products made under inferior conditions from undercutting them. This was despite agrifood industry pressure and...