Looming food crisis,what can uk ag industry do?

[teslacoils]

We're not compelled to grow food. An increase in food prices of 50 percent would lead to zero starving people in the UK.

 

[Yale]

Food banks frequented by folk with iPhone 13’s.

 

[turbo]

dont expect the government to do anything theres no votes in the countryside not enough farmers, more votes to be had from town people wanting rewilding etc hence why i voted against brexit, the EU had farmers backs which is now being proven

Hungry people won’t care about rewinding!What has the eu done that proves it’s got its farmers back,all I have seen they are doing is what Boris did over a year ago by removing the need for greening to claim bps.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

The government don't run my farm. I am responsible for what happens here and what I produce.

For the first time in God knows how long, prices are approaching a level where it's possible to actually farm at a profit, yet everyone seems to think we should boost production to create a surplus, which will reduce prices again.

is it just me?

 

[teslacoils]

Food banks frequented by folk with iPhone 13’s.

I do have quite a bit of interaction with a local food bank. By and large they won't take dried pulses etc as the users don't know how to cook them. Many aren't poor. They just don't know how to budget or produce meals from basic ingredients.

 

[Hilly]

Wtf

What should we do?

Not a damn thing.

exactly !

 

[farmerm]

Sure some products will be increasingly expensive and difficult to source but the UK is a long way from a genuine food shortage. Those in real trouble are those in places where they have for years been struggling to afford food and have been long reliant on the UN feeding them.

 

[farmerm]

I do have quite a bit of interaction with a local food bank. By and large they won't take dried pulses etc as the users don't know how to cook them. Many aren't poor. They just don't know how to budget or produce meals from basic ingredients.

I lack any sympathy for such people when they choose to spend hours watching Love Island but cant be bothered to look up a 2 minute youtube video on how to boil an egg or cook pasta... in the past natural selection would have run its course.

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

I suspect the vast majority of votes are in total ignorance of the situation... After all, food comes from Supermarkets...

Putin's troops could be about to cross the channel from France and some people would still be wanting more trees planted and more flowers for the birds & bees.

Food inflation has several causes, but taking thousands of hectares out of production (some annually and some permanently) is really not helping.

For the first time in God knows how long, prices are approaching a level where it's possible to actually farm at a profit, yet everyone seems to think we should boost production to create a surplus, which will reduce prices again.

For a commodity crop like feed wheat, increasing our acreage by 10% and producing another 1.5mmt is not even a drop in the ocean of global production and certainly wouldn't make a jot of difference to prices, especially with the Ukraine historically growing double the tonnage of wheat that the UK does.

A cough or splutter in the exchange rates of £/E or £/$ is going to make more difference to growers' pockets.

 

[digger64]

I lack any sympathy for such people when they choose to spend hours watching Love Island but cant be bothered to look up a 2 minute youtube video on how to boil an egg or cook pasta... in the past natural selection would have run its course.

you dont actually know that though do you

 

[digger64]

Putin's troops could be about to cross the channel from France and some people would still be wanting more trees planted and more flowers for the birds & bees.

Food inflation has several causes, but taking thousands of hectares out of production (some annually and some permanently) is really not helping.




For a commodity crop like feed wheat, increasing our acreage by 10% and producing another 1.5mmt is not even a drop in the ocean of global production and certainly wouldn't make a jot of difference to prices, especially with the Ukraine historically growing double the tonnage of wheat that the UK does.

A cough or splutter in the exchange rates of £/E or £/$ is going to make more difference to growers' pockets.

if you really really needed food would you be worried about the price ?
I think 1.5 mmt might make quite a difference for more than a few ,have you ever played musical chairs ?

 

[Y Fan Wen]

It took some time for War-Ag to become effective after it became clear that the nations' tummy was rumbling.

This was in the face of a 'clear and present danger' as modern parlance would have it.

Given that the machinery of Government hasn't changed its' spots at all in the last century I predict that it will take a while for the Whitehall people to see the approaching crisis.

Another couple of years before they wake up and by then it could all be over........

I remember in the times of set aside and intervention stores, one year Spain I think had a harvest failure and grain was going off Englands combines straight to ports and off the customers in the stricken country. Now intervention stores were there to hold the surplus in the 'seven good years' and release it out in the 'seven bad'. By the time the paperwork to release grain from the stores had been completed the shortage had disappeared.

 

[copse]

Why should we do anything?

 

[Treg]

Out of interest, when did the government in World War 2 increase production?
I would assume 1939 they had their mind on other things and would have been to late for that years crop, so probably why we was depending on convoys crossing the Atlantic.
So does anybody have the increase in production figures for 1940 - 1950?

 

[Hjcarter]

Don’t worry, our great leader is over in India organising our food supply .

Curry!

 

[Timbo]

I understand what you say, if government want increased production in this looming food shortage, they should be taking the lead.

IMHO , goverment are saying absolutely nothing because they know if they do, the GP will panic buy every single thing from the shelves and there'll be mass hysteria.

 

[Treg]

YAGRO How did Britain tackle the food shortages in World War II and what changes had to be made to Agriculture?

How did Britain tackle the food shortages in World War II and what changes had to be made to Agriculture?

yagro.com

 

[The Seeker]

Didn’t read the thread but I’m not going anything other than usual, I already make a blue arse fly look lazy, we now operate a Singapore style trade deals so I’m eating chicken n rice , oh but the ports are blocked for rice and the chicken men are struggling to keep up with inflation , but what a unique and exciting time it is…. Yum

 

[le bon paysan]

Didn’t read the thread but I’m not going anything other than usual, I already make a blue arse fly look lazy, we now operate a Singapore style trade deals so I’m eating chicken n rice , oh but the ports are blocked for rice and the chicken men are struggling to keep up with inflation , but what a unique and exciting time it is…. Yum

Ag today , which I watch most nights, had a report that Rice farmers are not planting in Asia. The price of Fert. Is to high, so they are buying as much as they can afford and planting the commensurate area for a full Fert. program.
Rice is the staple food for 3 Billion people.
Look at the state of Sri Lanka with a forced Organic program.

In Sri Lanka, Organic Farming Went Catastrophically Wrong

A nationwide experiment is abandoned after producing only misery.

foreignpolicy.com

 

[serf]

Curry!