Farmers warn food security can't be taken for granted

Farmers at the annual Royal Bath and West Show have been sharing their concerns about the industry and its future.

The current price of milk, the rural housing crises and mental health have all been mentioned by farmers in what is being described as a "strange year".

But the themes causing farmers the most concern are the potentially seismic cost increases to fuel and energy linked to the war in the Middle East and climate change.

Richard Clothier, managing director of Wyke Farms in Somerset, said: "With climate change and the other geopolitical challenges around the world, food security can't be taken for granted any more."

"There's a lot of parallels between energy security and food security and we've seen quite blatantly how when things go wrong with energy how devastating it can be," he added.

About 30% of the world's fertiliser chemicals and 20% of the oil normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed by Iran since early March.

This has led to worldwide price increases that British farmers are now beginning to feel the effects of.

"Food security means different things to different people," said Jeremy Moody, secretarial adviser to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers.

"We look at the amount of food we could produce in this country, for consumption in this country, and that has been falling from well over 70% to now below 60%.

"We're now in a much more unstable set of international conditions and that raises pre-wartime type questions about what we could actually produce."

This year's Royal Bath and West show is coming straight after the hottest late May Bank Holiday on record and the issues arising from climate change are also causing farmers significant concern.

Last summer also saw long periods of consistently high temperatures that led to droughts in multiple parts of the country.

"Its been a strange year because we've had two dry months again this spring after a wet winter," said David Cotton, chairman of the Dairy Show and trustee for the Bath and West Society.

"A lot of farmers are feeling it's a repeat this year and everything is so early - we're making hay in May and you shouldn't make hay in May, it's not right.

"You never know whats coming and that's one of the things with farming is you don't know what's coming and you've got to be prepared for it.

"You start thinking what crops you should grow instead, and should I change my cropping management? Should I do more spring crops? Should I actually think about doing these environmental schemes and not do a crop at all but grow flowers and get the soil back in good heart because you can't risk growing a crop that might not germinate?"

Maureen Trott is a farmer and chief livestock steward at the Bath and West Society and works on the helpline for the charity, Farming Community Network, which works to support farmers and their families.

"The topic at the moment is the milk price, but you've also got succession and people wanting to hand their farms on," she said.

Trott says that financial concerns form the biggest single reason why people call the FCN helpline but they are also receiving an increasing number of people calling about their mental health.

"Farmers with mental health like to talk to the FCN because we are farmers, so we understand the problems and most of us have probably been through them.

"They don't think the doctors understand and they don't think that they will understand if they go for counselling - but the farming charities do."

The Royal Bath and West Show runs until 30 May and is expected to welcome tens of thousands of people across the weekend.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.