Getting quality British poultry products into China and securing a better deal for UK farmers from the EU were just a couple of topics discussed when the NFU North West team met with Defra Secretary of State Liz Truss MP at the Supreme Champion Farm in Cheshire – a prestigious award in a competition where some of the best commercial farms in the county are judged against one another.
Hosted by John and Robert Cross of Cliff Lane Farm near Warrington, the Secretary of State talked about the Government’s priorities for farming ahead of the NFU National Conference on 24 and 25 February (an event she will be speaking at). As part of her visit, the Secretary of State was keen to look around John and Robert’s 700 acre farm where they grow barley, oilseed rape, wheat, oats, peas and beans – the latter being sold into Egypt.
During the visit, John Cross asked what protection he’d have as a farmer if the UK was to come out of Europe.
Liz Truss MP answered: “We have the benefits of operating within a single market but there are also a lot of costs attached to it – including not having access to certain pesticides. I would like more decisions such as which pesticides we can and cannot use being made in the UK and we’d achieve this by securing a better deal with Europe. Basically we want the benefits of being in Europe without the associated costs.”
Cheshire based egg producer and NFU’s national poultry board chairman, Duncan Priestner, asked what work was being undertaken to widen the appeal of British produce on the global market.
Secretary of State Liz Truss said: “We are working hard to open up the US beef market and I think we are close to a positive result. I want to open our poultry market to China next. We already have pork exported to China second only in size to whisky. China will be the biggest importer of food by 2018 and I’ve already had some retailers practically begging me to get British poultry into China because of its superior quality.”
The meeting was organised by MP for Warrington South David Mowat and NFU Cheshire County Adviser Aarun Naik.
Mr Naik informed the Secretary of State about the Cheshire TB Eradication Group which is conducting a road kill badger survey with Liverpool University.
“We wanted to get an idea of the level of TB infection in wildlife in Cheshire as there is a perception amongst farmers that we are losing the battle in this county and that the infection is becoming endemic. One hundred badger carcasses have been submitted and there is a 20 per cent infection rate coming back – all with the Cheshire strain. We understand that vaccination of badgers is part of the solution but we’d like to see these vaccinated badgers being micro-chipped so that we can monitor them,” said Mr Naik.
The meeting took place on Friday 20 February and is part of the NFU North West’s campaign to meet as many sitting MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates as possible (before the election) to discuss investing for growth; protecting animal and plant health; securing knowledge and technology; building fair, safe and secure food chains; and caring for our countryside.
On Tuesday 17 February the NFU North West team also met with Amos Wright who is the UKIP Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Weaver Vale, and then on Thursday 19 February the union met Green Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Tatton Tina Rothery and Labour Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Congleton Dr Darren Price.
