Stay updated with breaking news from Brexit i don t. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
of labour and a demand that farmers produce more at less cost to the environment. my guest today is minette batters. she farms right here. she s also president of the national farmers union. as a society, are we asking our farmers for the impossible? minette batters, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it s a great pleasure to be on yourfarm. and the sun is shining and, in some ways, you would think the sun would be shining on farmers. food prices are spiralling higher. you would think that would be good news for farmers. is it? it s it s quite extraordinary. i don t think, in my lifetime, i ve ever faced into anything like the cost inflation that we re facing with our inputs now. so, we re seeing triple digit inflation on on fertiliser, we ve seen diesel costs up by 57%, feed costs up by nearly 60%. these are huge price pressures and, of course. you have chosen to alight upon the price pressures, i chose to start by talking about the prices you are recei ....
of labour and a demand that farmers produce more at less cost to the environment. my guest today is minette batters. she farms right here, she s also president of the national farmers union. as a society, are we asking our farmers for the impossible? minette batters, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it s a great pleasure to be on yourfarm. and the sun is shining and, in some ways, you would think the sun would be shining on farmers. food prices are spiralling higher. you would think that would be good news forfarmers. is it? it s quite extraordinary. i don t think, in my lifetime, i have ever faced into anything like the cost inflation that we are facing with our inputs now. so, we re seeing triple digit inflation on fertiliser, we ve seen diesel costs up by 57%, feed costs up by nearly 60%. these are huge price pressures. you have chosen to alight upon the price pressures, i chose to start about talking about the prices you are receiving because we know t ....
my guest today is minette batters. she farms right here, she s also president of the national farmers union. as a society, are we asking our farmers for the impossible? minette batters, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it s a great pleasure to be on yourfarm. and the sun is shining and, in some ways, you would think the sun would be shining on farmers. food prices are spiralling higher. you would think that would be good news for farmers. is it? it s it s quite extraordinary. i don t think, in my lifetime, i ve ever faced into anything like the cost inflation that we re facing with our inputs now. so, we re seeing triple digit inflation on on fertiliser, we ve seen diesel costs up by 57%, feed costs up by nearly 60%. these are huge price pressures and, of course. you have chosen to alight upon the price pressures, i chose to start by talking about the prices you are receiving because we know that consumers are struggling to meet the prices of the basic ....
You ve got a different approach to trade but don t forget the damage done previously, and two of the most formidable countries as far as agriculture goes in the cptpp are australia and new zealand. what has happened is those countries want access to our market for agricultural goods. we want access on services, so we ve ended up sacrificing agriculture for services. there s a different approach now, a different mandate, and i think kemi badenoch and rishi sunak, they get it, but a lot of damage has been done. i m thinking you have had five years in this job. you re the first woman president of the national farmers union. you have a powerful voice. and yet, i wonder what you have achieved. if one looks at the way agriculture and farming issues have an extraordinarily prominent position in countries not so very far from here, like france, like the netherlands, where a farmers movement political party has just scored an outstanding victory in local elections. ....
I can think of no better job in the world. and 28% of farmers according to your own nfu survey last year 28% of them looking actively at the possibility of giving up? 7,000 businesses were lost in 2019 to 2022. they either consolidated or they got out of the industry. i mean, there is no denying that it is you don t shut the office door. i never come back and think, i am going to have two days and stay indoors. you are on call 24/7 if you are a livestock farmer, and that is just how it is. but i genuinely think that, actually, the road that we are on now, the journey to carbon neutral food production, the ability to produce so many more of our fibres, fuel, food in a way that is truly sustainable, i think it is becoming a very, very exciting time and the young people when i speak to the young people, they do not have the baggage ....