So, we have a new government with its messages of ‘change’ and prioritising ‘economic growth’.
This is a reset moment and that brings with it some potential opportunities for our sector, but we also need to see some continuity.
The Labour Party manifesto was a bit light on detail on agricultural and horticultural policy – but there was a fundamental commitment to food security.
The latest Defra data shows a continuing decline in UK fresh produce production – this needs to be reversed and the key to this is rebuilding business confidence.
Rebuilding confidence
The simplest way to build confidence is to provide certainty and our priority topics in early discussions with the new government will reflect this.
We need to know that the 43,000 seasonal worker visas embedded in a five-year commitment will proceed as planned.
We must have a replacement to the Fruit and Vegetable aid scheme that supports and sustains businesses as they meet the government’s own food security and sustainability targets.
We need to urgently review a Border Target Operating Model that currently does not provide effective biosecurity nor the conditions for economic growth in our globalised industry.
“Your NFU policy team are immediately prepared for detailed engagement with the new government.”
NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board chair Martin Emmett
Crop protection and planning
Two other immediate concerns are crop protection and planning regulations.
We must recognise that pesticides (chemical and biological) are critical resources; those that can pass a risk-based analysis must be as accessible to UK growers as their overseas competitors.
We need a planning regime that facilitates nursery/farm developments and removes the burden of the Biodiversity Net Gain taxation on new greenhouses.
Because we developed, and this year revised, the growth strategy for horticulture, your NFU policy team are immediately prepared for detailed engagement with the new government.
We can’t wait to get going.
