The MPs from all political parties headed to Arla’s site in Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, on Friday (7 February) as part of the NFU’s Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme.
The scheme launched last year in partnership with sponsoring organisations ABP UK, AIC (Agricultural Industries Confederation), Arla Foods, Barfoots, BEIC (British Egg Industry Council) and Fareshare, will showcase the industry and enable participating MPs to see first-hand how sustainable and affordable food gets from field to fork.
The group toured a nearby dairy farm, run by one of Arla’s farmer owners, before heading to the processing site and touring the facility which uses cutting edge technology and innovation, including renewable energy.
Find out more about the scheme:
NFU Dairy Board chair Paul Tompkins said it was important those MPs on the fellowship scheme were able to get out on farm, see such a state-of-the-art milk processing plant, find out more about the importance of British dairying and he wanted to thank Arla for hosting.
Industry visits key to lobbying work
He said: “English and Welsh dairy farmers are committed to sustainable British dairy farming and it was important for the MPs to get on farm and tour the Arla site.
“We are sure this helped give them a wider understanding of the importance of our farms, the dairy sector and the wider supply chain and its contribution to food production, the economy, jobs, communities and the environment.
“Years of high input costs for feed, fertiliser, and fuel, and now the threat from changes to APR and BPR, underline the importance of engaging with our politicians to give them the tools, knowledge and understanding needed, to gain the investment and growth required for the future of British farming and the dairy sector.”
MPs in attendance were: Callum Anderson, Labour MP for Buckingham and Bletchley, Lee Dillon, Liberal Democrat MP for Newbery, Catherine Fookes, Labour MP for Monmouthshire, Julie Minns, Labour MP for Carlisle and North Cumbria, Josh Newbury, Labour MP for Cannock Chase, Mike Reader, Labour MP for Northampton South, Rebecca Smith, Conservative MP for South West Devon, Dr Roz Savage, Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, Rachel Taylor, Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, Bradley Thomas, Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, Michelle Welsh, Labour MP for Sherwood Forest
Arla Foods UK is Britain’s biggest dairy company, processing around 3.5 billion litres of milk a year, with a turnover of over £2 billion.
As a cooperative, Arla is owned by 8,000 dairy farmers across Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and the UK.
The 70-acre site at Aylesbury was officially opened in February 2012 and employs hundreds of people including apprentices.
MPs on the NFU’s Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme will speak up in their constituencies but also in Westminster on some of the big issues impacting the farming industry which forms the backbone of the UK’s largest manufacturing sector – food and drink – contributing more than £146 billion to the economy.
See who has signed up for the scheme: MPs enrol on NFU’s Fellowship Scheme to champion British food and farming
