Grave concerns from farmers to be shared at Great Yorkshire Show and must not be ignored - The Yorkshire Post says

Major concerns are being voiced about the challenges facing the sector, which could have the bleak consequence of pushing smaller, independent operations in particular out of business.

The spiralling cost of living coupled with farming production prices and the cost of feeding and fuelling livestock and machinery means many of the region’s farming businesses are operating at a loss and there are genuine fears about the future viability of British independent farming.

It is to be welcomed that farmers, unions, suppliers and sellers are planning meetings to talk about whether there are ways to address the losses farmers are experiencing.

However, any suggestions – and indeed, any cries for help – must not be neglected by the Government, and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice, as the nation faces many months of economic difficulty ahead after an already turbulent two years during the pandemic.

For, as members of the industry and the National Farmers’ Union have pointed out, if hundreds of independent farmers, including in Yorkshire, are forced out of the business, that will have a knock-on effect for farm supply businesses and for food production, with fewer crops grown and less livestock being produced, reared and sold.

It is them, and their hard work, that is putting food on the plates of our nation – and action is urgently needed to support them to keep doing so.