A report from Sustain argues that margins are wafer thin in the food chain with farmers in particular getting a raw deal despite the fact that they take a big share of the risks: https://www.sustainweb.org/news/nov22-unpicking-food-prices-new/
The report has a number of suggestions for change which it says should not force up prices for consumers, always a big worry for governments.
The appointment of Therese Coffey as Defra secretary confirms that the department is a way station for ministers on their way up or on their way out. Coffey lost her high prestige if somewhat meaningless job as deputy prime minister and, more importantly, the key role of health secretary.
Rishi Sunak wanted to make sure he included some Truss supporters in his government and no one was closer to Truss than Coffey. The fact that Coffey represents a rural constituency is little consolation.
Some of the crucial decisions will be made elsewhere and not just at the Treasury. Labour shortages in agriculture create a need for more seasonal visas, but Suella Braverman is unlikely to look on that need favourably given her views on migration.
Defra is something of a peripheral department in government, one of the last to be announced along with the likes of Welsh Secretary. It lacks the clout it needs for some important tasks.
The Truss government is reviewing farm policy and may delay the phase out of the domestic version of the CAP Basic Payment due in 2027.
The NFU has been banging the food security drum, but the Government seems to be more concerned about breaches in the blue wall after two rural constituencies were lost to the Liberal Democrats in by-elections.
The Treasury has always been opposed to the extent of farm subsidies, both because of their cost and the weak relationship with desired policy outcomes. Delaying their phasing out would cost money, but with the Treasury under new management, fiscal prudence has been effectively abandoned by what is a new Government.
The Government is also reviewing plans to make environmental payments for 'public goods' under the ELMS scheme. The roll out of this has been slow, but farmers taking part in the pilot were angered by a press report that it could be scrapped.
Conservation groups had already made clear their anger at the threat to environmental rules in the investment zones announced in last Friday's 'mini' budget. The National Trust commented that scrapping environmental payments would 'squander one of the biggest Brexit opportunities for nature.'
Farmers are also concerned that a reversion to payments based on land area rather than public goods would be more vulnerable to being reversed under a future government.
No final decisions have been taken, but kites are being flown.
UK growers are scaling back production in greenhouses as energy costs increase, a pattern that is replicated across Europe. Crops that require intensive heating in colder climates such as tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce are the most directly affected.
However, the energy crisis is impacting the EU food supply chain more directly. Bakers, dairy farmers and other producers, including growers of sugar beet and olives are struggling to pay bills. The price of inputs such as fertiliser and animal feed has shot up, alongside rising refrigeration and transport costs.
The UK's support plan for small businesses lasts just six months and so far lacks detail. It is claimed that 75 to 80 per cent of UK salad growers will not plant next year.
In the Netherlands, which accounts for a quarter of world tomato exports, many glasshouses are going dark. The largest tomato supplier in Sweden and Denmark is also switching off this winter. Growers in Spain and Morocco may not be able to fill the gap.
In Italy, where growers are already struggling with a drought, it is estimated that a third of farmers are operating at a loss. Monthly energy bills have typically tripled and fertiliser costs are up fourfold. Many farmers on fixed contracts are choosing to sell the energy on.
Farmers may increase output of less energy intensive crops such as peppers.
The latest Defra secretary has no direct experience of agriculture: https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/farm-policy/ranil-jayawardena-announced-as-new-defra-secretary
The Minister of State does have a farming background: https://www.farminguk.com/news/former-chief-whip-mark-spencer-appointed-defra-farming-minister_61090.html
Eustice hardly impressed despite the farming connections he often referred to, but will this be another case of up or out?
My new book on agricultural and food policy is now out.
This book takes stock of the urgent challenges facing food chains globally and provides a critical evaluation of radical new thinking and perspectives on agricultural and food policy. Wyn Grant investigates the principal drivers of change in food and agriculture, including globalization, climate change, the structure of the industry, changing patterns of consumer demand and new technologies.
Rethinking Agricultural and Food Policy provides a comprehensive account of the contemporary challenges impacting the food chain. Chapters explore the various barriers towards positive progress, exposing the deficiency of institutional architecture at a domestic and international level and examining how attempts to reform and revitalize it encounter inertia, embedded production structures, defenders of the status quo and vested interests. Proposing that a holistic, interdisciplinary approach is essential in making progress towards revitalizing policy and encouraging innovation in international governance, Wyn Grant calls for a new agenda to deliver real and necessary change and offer hope for the planet and its people.
Using critical insights from natural and social science to uphold its calls for a holistic, integrated approach to agricultural and food policy, this timely book will be an essential read for policy makers, as well as students taking undergraduate or postgraduate courses in agriculture, food and the environment.
More information here: https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/rethinking-agricultural-and-food-policy-9781800881204.html
Professor Tim Lang analyses the Government's disappointing National Food Strategy, concluding that it contains more politics than policy: https://foodresearch.org.uk/blogs/tim-langs-field-notes-more-politics-than-policy-in-the-government-food-strategy/?
