The new government must prioritise national food security, which would help farmers in areas like Herefordshire following a difficult harvest, the National Farming Union’s chair in the county has said.

The annual Back British Farming Day takes place on Wednesday September 11, and Martin Williams, who farms 800 hectares at Fownhope, said it’s important the day continues to showcase the value of British food and farming to the nation.

“Government must take action to value UK food security and ensure important environmental delivery by increasing the current agriculture budget,” according to Mr Williams, who has been a strong advocate of more sustainable farming around the river Wye.

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“As farmers and growers, we want to provide more of the food people love as well as looking after the countryside we are all so proud of,” he said. “We need robust policies in place that give farmers the confidence to invest so we can continue to feed the country.”

With the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, British farming’s ability to grow crops and rear livestock “will be critical for families across Herefordshire and beyond”, he added.

Speaking ahead of a breakfast reception on the day for MPs in Parliament, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “Over the past 18 months we have seen a collapse in farmer confidence, driven by record inflation, falls in farm income and a changing climate with unprecedented weather patterns delivering relentless rain.”

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While Labour was in opposition, “we heard consistently that food security is national security”, Mr Bradshaw said. “We now need to see those ambitions realised.”

That would mean the government committing to a multi-annual agriculture budget of £5.6 billion in next month’s Autumn Budget, which he said is “essential in giving Britain’s farmers and growers the confidence they desperately need to invest for the future to produce more sustainable, affordable homegrown food”.

The NFU says 85 per cent on the public believe the country should become more self-sufficient in food.