Presidents of the UK farming unions will meet UK ministers in Brussels to discuss ways to respond to the deepening European agricultural crisis ahead of a high-profile meeting of Europe’s Agriculture ministers on Monday March 14 2016.
The UK farming unions believe that urgent action is required at an EU and UK level. New ways to boost trade and improve the market, access to finance and fairness in supply chains need to be found to reduce the pressure on struggling farmers.
Liz Truss MP, Richard Lochhead MSP, Michelle O’Neill MLA and Rebecca Evans AM will meet with the four presidents of the farming unions at the NFU offices in Brussels.
Following the meeting, ministers will meet their European counterparts, as well as Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan, to discuss a range of measures proposed to help the industry.
NFU President Meurig Raymond said: “The UK food and farming sector is worth £103billion and employs 3.8million people – 13.4 per cent of the UK workforce.
“Our industry is currently experiencing major difficulties which need addressing urgently.
“We are calling on the Secretary of State to voice support for swift measures which could provide the urgent relief we need.
“Lifting of tariffs on fertiliser imports, establishing new financial instruments with the European Investment Bank and working to improve the dysfunctional European supply chain.
“As representatives of 70,000 farmers, we are committed to putting this across to the ministers on Monday.
“We are working at every level – local, national and European – to find new ways to take the burden off our struggling farmers.
“The cumulative effect of the Russian trade ban, supply and demand imbalances in the market and problems with the BPS payments delivery means that UK farmers are facing significant cash flow difficulties.
“We will suggest deliverable actions for the European Commission to tackle this undeniable farming crisis.”
NFU chief dairy adviser Sian Davies, speaking about the Copa Milk meeting yesterday, said: “Too many short term solutions are being thrown around without clear thoughts of the long term impact.
“Today is about learning what’s happening in other member states and agreeing where we clearly need the Commission to step in.
“We need to ensure the current market management measures are fit for purpose – look at increasing the threshold for intervention volumes so we don’t hit limits mid spring flush and a complete review of the intervention system to ensure it reacts quicker next time.
“Commissioner Hogan should ensure the Agri Market Task Force delivers on solutions to support farmers and the supply chain through periods of market volatility.
“The Commission can also look at ensuring that input costs are fair and that includes removing EU import tariffs on fertiliser.
“Any discussions on supply management should be between suppliers and their milk purchaser and not at government or European level.
“This is why we need more talks between these two parties – either through producer groups and producer organisations.
“At national level we need government to support the increased adoption of the voluntary code of contracts between milk suppliers and farmers.”
