By Matt Donald, broiler breeder producer, north Yorkshire
I write this as I return from the NFU conference in Birmingham, what a fantastic event it was once again. Less fantastic was the Secretary of State, Therese Coffey, who does not accept that one billion fewer eggs in a year is a market failure. Her outright rudeness and disrespect towards Minette Batters left many in the audience questioning where their support lies within politics. In my opinion she does not have the knowledge to be doing the role she is in and appears as useful as a chocolate fireguard.
Business resilience was a buzz phrase and one to take home, in all aspects of agriculture but also poultry, people are constantly mentioning that word ‘diversification’. For numerous reasons: allow for succession, see an opportunity, expand the business or because they need an extra income stream for the farm to survive. There is nothing wrong with any diversification but how is it when farming produces the one thing that every single person in this country needs three times a day, we not left with enough profit at the end of it for reinvestment?
Profit is not a dirty word and should be on the mind of all farmers, but farming has got itself into a situation where our profits are in the hands of others. The poultry meat sector for example is struggling to turn a profit due to the inflationary pressures of every single cost of production right now. It seems to be that whilst supermarkets announce record profits worth billions, fairness in our supply chain is broken.
Fairness in the chain is something which I hope ministers will scrutinise and look at in depth, fast, because soon it will be too late. We now see empty shelves and rationing of fruit and vegetables. How many empty shelves will it take to make this government realise food security is on a knife edge?