After months of talking about the weather, growers will have welcomed the last few weeks. Potato planting in England is almost complete at the time of writing, and Scotland is hopefully nearly there by the time you read this. Low stocks and high prices have persuaded some growers to increase their area after years of falling production, but seed availability has been a limiting factor for many.
Elsewhere, while some areas are still suffering the legacy of the wettest eighteen-months since 1836, in much of the east crops have been sown or planted into ideal conditions and have established quickly. Although the idea of an ‘average’ growing season is something that seems increasingly alien, growers will be hoping that 2024 doesn’t throw them too many unpleasant surprises.
The big news this month has been the second Downing Street Farm to Fork Summit on 14 May, for some sceptics, even the fact that a second summit was held may be seen as a success. The economic, environmental and food security impacts of commercial horticulture remain a key priority for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his government and a host of new (and previous) policy announcements were made around the summit, with the aim of making the UK “the best place in the world to start and grow a fresh produce business.”
It would be easy to scoff at such lofty aims, particularly when self-sufficiency in vegetables (for which the UK has an ideal climate) is just 55%, and there is no doubt that the prospect of an election has galvanised (some) politicians into action. However, the announcement of a new Horticulture Resilience and Growth Offer, the reiteration of the Supply Chain Review, and extension of the Seasonal Worker visa all serve to deliver on actions that our industry – led by British Growers and the NFU – has been calling for since the announcement of Brexit.
As always, the proof will come with action. With farmer confidence at an all-time low it will take a lot to convince many growers that they can not only survive but thrive and profit going forward. As well as labour and funding, our industry faces challenges in terms of climate, technology, crop protection, planning and more. There have been numerous policy announcement designed to help address many of these issues too. From a policy vacuum a few years ago, we now have the closest thing to a Horticultural Strategy we can hope to expect.
Will these political ambitions be enough to convince those at the sharp end that there is enough of a future to stay and invest, boosting both homegrown production and public health? Only time will tell. Who wins the election, and whether or not a new government of any political hue will continue to pursue these objectives, obviously creates uncertainty. Having said that, if Westminster delivers on its promises, then we could finally begin to see some of the shoots of growth that growers have been seeking for the last few years.
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