East Anglian farmers have been urged to plant new crops such as soya if they are to compete in a changing world.
Rural property specialists Savills hosted a business breakfast for farmers, amid increasing uncertainty in the largely agricultural region.
Peter Bennett, a Norfolk-born director of the company who now farms in Cambridgeshire, also said exploring machinery-sharing partnerships would be beneficial.
The main emphasis of the meeting was how farmers can grow different crops, such as soya. With a global rise in demand for protein-based animal feeds, this makes sense, he said.
The soya market has seen a continued rise as demand has begun to out-strip supply due to rapidly increasing demand from the Asian market.
He said it would make a viable alternative break crop for farmers as yields increased and margins became more competitive.
'Diversification'
“I think there will be more diversification in growing crops,” Mr Bennett explained.
“Essex had a really bad year this year – their oilseed rape has been wiped out by cabbage stem flea beetle, so suddenly we see crops like soya and lentils coming in.
“For the last three years I have been growing soya and I am seeing prices of £400 per tonne. It is quite a profitable and low-input crop to grow. The supermarkets want GM-free soya (free of genetic modification), and Soya UK want more seed, so the market is open.
“It is about looking at all opportunities. We might see grain maize or even blueberries in the UK – they grow them in Poland, so why not the UK?
“These crops are going to be needed, and we need to think outside the box.”
Southern Britain
Soya is a sub-tropical crop grown mainly in North and South America, however it has recently seen a revival in UK agriculture due to improvements in varieties and the demand for GM free soya.
The UK imports 1 million tonnes as beans and a further 1 million tonnes as meal, all for animal feed.
The area of soya grown in the UK at the turn of the millennium was about 1,700 ha, however it is currently down to less than 100 ha.
The crop is best suited to the warmer areas of southern Britain, where yields can reach 3t/ha, although averages are nearer to 2.5t/ha.
