A new report from the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission has found that farmers’ incomes have remained stagnant since the 1970s.
Over the past five years, the average income for a farmer has stood at £32,272, which after adjusting for inflation, is the same level as in the mid-1970s. During the same period, the economy has grown and real-terms wages have risen in other sectors.
Recommendations in the report include that the government should set core standards in trade deals around environment, health and animal welfare that are tied to domestic farming policy, meaning a ban on imports of food produced to a lower standard than that which is legal in the UK.
It also recommends establishing a food market regulator with a public value remit and targeting agriculture spending towards priority sectors such as fruit, vegetables, and pulses.
The report also outlines how consolidated the domestic supply chain has become. For example, four abattoir firms supply about 70% of the fresh beef in supermarkets. The latter also buy their own-label milk from just two dairy processors, which purchase about 40% of the 15 billion litres produced by UK farmers.
For further information, visit Paying the Price – Food, Farming and Countryside Commission
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