By James Mottershead, broiler grower and chair of the NFU poultry board
I am pleased to have been given this opportunity to write for Poultry Business and I hope to be able to bring to life what I do as a farmer as well as my role as Chair of the NFU National Poultry Board.
Back home in Shropshire I farm in partnership with my father, uncle and brother and we have arable, sheep, beef and broilers across 1,000 acres. Alongside that we also have variety of renewable projects ranging from solar, wind, biomass and a combined heat and power plant.
Presently, all birds are traded on the independent open market where we operate two thins and a clear, which I find suits the farm best as we are able to sweat the assets and get more weight off the floor with fewer turnarounds.
I am incredibly fortunate to have a loyal team back at home that keeps things ticking over whilst I am away doing NFU business which comes and goes – however I still oversee the poultry operations and still manage and attend all the bird depletions myself even if I have engagements to attend the next morning!
I feel that we are in very dark times at the moment. In the past six months we have witnessed a new Government get sworn into power and a budget which has just about ripped the entire confidence out of farmers and businesses combined. Added to all of this, we have seen the return of Avian Influenza with the added risks and complications that comes with it.
On the 19 November, the NFU held a mass lobby event in Westminster and our brief to members was clear – go and meet your MP, look them in their eyes and tell them how this ill-thought-out budget affects your farming business. You know that things are heating up when the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason is filming inside Church House trying to capture the sheer emotion inside the room. Outside in Whitehall there was a rally where some 45,000 farmers descended onto Westminster that day. It was a very powerful day and one that I won’t personally forget.
Whilst the Prime Minister has met with the NFU President, a move which should be praised, the same can’t be said for the Chancellor. We are now in the situation where Rachel Reeves will not meet anyone from agriculture or business, nor will she meet Labour back benchers either.
My ask to you is simple: befriend your local MP. Get them onside and make sure they understand how this will affect your business. The number one rule in politics is that you have to count. The government has a huge majority and we know they will make the most of this. The reality is that until their own MPs start to rebel, the government will not alter these proposals. Change won’t happen until they feel they are in jeopardy of losing their seats, meaning we are all in this together for the long run.