British households face the risk of carrot and onion shortages this year as the domestic farming sector struggles to adapt to more extreme weather and higher input costs, the president of the National Farmers’ Union has warned.
Minette Batters said on Wednesday that rising energy bills and labor shortages meant there was a “real danger” Britain would lose its horticultural expertise and become “more” dependent on food imports. This would make it more vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and increase the likelihood of empty supermarket shelves, he added.
“Leeks, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips. There’s a lot less growing this year because of the challenge,” Batters told the Financial Times. “So we’re becoming more dependent on imports. . . With weather events, disease issues, you don’t need a lot of things going wrong that make you short.
Batters’ comments followed a warning by onion farmers last week that extreme weather had reduced crops by “between 15 and 30 per cent”. Tim Casey, chairman of the Leek Growers Association, said domestic supplies of leeks would be exhausted by April, leaving the country dependent on imports.
The NFU on Wednesday called on the government to provide more support to farmers due to the rationing of new products such as tomatoes and cucumbers by supermarkets.
It repeated calls for ministers to add farmers to the list of “energy-intensive” industries that need extra help with costs, which the government rejected last week.
When the current energy bill relief scheme ends for businesses at the end of March, the industry will lose its price cap, with suppliers receiving a bill discount if costs rise above a certain threshold.
The NFU also called for a five-year seasonal worker scheme without an “unrealistic” cap on numbers – a crucial demand as eastern European workers stopped arriving in similar numbers after Brexit.
According to NFU estimates, in the first half of 2022, £60 million of food rots in the fields due to a lack of labour.
The post-Brexit seasonal labor scheme has been beset by problems, including claims of exploitation of Nepali migrant workers, which has led UK farmers to stop recruiting from the Himalayan country.
The government says it plans to issue 45,000 visas for farm workers by 2023, with another 10,000 contingent.
Batters said post-Brexit red tape had led to shortages of salad items in supermarkets in recent weeks, prompting five of the six biggest supermarkets to introduce rationing.
His remarks contrasted with the views of Spain’s agriculture minister, who yesterday acknowledged that red tape was a problem but said it was not the reason for the shortage.
“Brexit adds a level of complexity and friction and cost to that trading relationship,” Batters said. “We are a difficult market. A market of last resort for some [suppliers].”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it agreed with the NFU that “the domestic horticulture sector is vital to the resilience of our food system”.
“Although there are currently some problems with the supply of fresh vegetables, due to the bad weather in Spain and north Africa, the UK has a resilient food chain and is well equipped to deal with disruptions.”