Brown and Cameron woo farmers' union

British farmers are to be wooed by a raft of senior politicians this week as the National Farmers' Union kicks off its centenary conference.

Gordon Brown and David Cameron will be competing to see who can offer the most hope, each trying to persuade suppliers of food - and in the future, biofuels - that they are the farmer's friend.

Cameron, a known supporter of hunting and field sports, is likely to be their favourite, and his address to the conference will attack supermarkets (the farmer's bête noire) by suggesting an extension to farmers' markets, where farmers can get higher prices but food can also be sold at a discount by cutting out the middleman.

Gordon Brown will be attending the NFU's dinner on Monday where he is not expected to get such a rapturous reception, although he is likely to promise a much bigger role for farming in the age of climate change.

Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, will also address the conference where he will announce a £10m boost for a new environment-friendly system of disposing of slurry, which can pollute streams and watercourses. The process, anaerobic digestio, eats up the slurry and other waste like chemical by-products and cardboard, and the methane produced can be used to heat farms and villages.

He will also promise more action to stop animal diseases, pointing out that Britain cannot afford the £400m bill for blue tongue and foot-and-mouth.

This should be good news for Peter Kendall, the NFU president. He will say Britain has a moral duty to produce more food to lighten the load on poorer countries struggling to feed their growing populations under the shadow of climate change.

Kendall will demand more investment in science and research and less regulation to allow farmers "to develop the agricultural potential of this country", but will deny he is demanding more subsidy.

He will also warn that consumers must be prepared to pay higher food prices, condemning chickens sold for £2 by supermarkets using them as loss leaders. Such actions send "completely the wrong message" about the cost of producing food to guaranteed standards, he will warn.