NFU issues warning on losses to arable sector

THE National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has reiterated how critical it is to avoid a cliff edge for UK farmers and ensure there is a sensible, phased transitional approach to alignment with the European Union as part of the future Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.

- STAFF REPORTER

NFU President Tom Bradshaw

(Jordan Pettitt/PA)

That stance, the NFU says, will ensure British farm businesses can effectively produce the nation’s food without crippling costs and loss of income.

It comes as analysis by The Andersons Centre, commissioned by CropLife UK, outlines how immediate and complete alignment with the EU on plant protection products available could cost the arable, horticulture and sugar sectors between £500 million and £810 million in the first year alone.

Since January 2021, and following rigorous sustainability and safety testing, four new plant protection products have been approved in the UK that are not yet available in the EU. Immediate alignment with EU rules in June 2027 could lead to the sudden loss of access to these and other key plant protection products, the NFU says. This would reduce British growers’ ability to control disease, weeds and pests in combinable crops, fruit, vegetables and root crops, hammering productivity and their ability to operate profitably.