Farmers must work together to overcome the "extraordinary pressures" on their way of life, says NFU Norfolk chairman Graham Shadrack.
Farmers across Norfolk are facing some extraordinary pressures, and as NFU Norfolk chairman I have had many conversations recently with members worried about what the future holds.
Just recently, I spoke to a fellow Breckland farmer close to tears after a bird flu outbreak resulted in the cull of 10,000 birds.
I feel for the poultry farmers dealing with this awful situation.
The NFU welcomes Defra’s national mandatory housing measures and we continue to push the need for a poultry avian influenza vaccine plan.
Bluetongue and African swine fever are also major disease worries, and investment in biosecurity and disease monitoring are essential.
The NFU is working hard to support members affected by this and many other issues.
Last week I chaired the NFU Norfolk annual county meeting, where NFU president Tom Bradshaw spoke about the determined work being done behind the scenes.
The "family farm tax" continues to be a major focus and, with the Budget around the corner, the NFU is doing everything it can to engage with MPs and put forward amendments which protect farmers from the impact of this policy, including elderly farmers who have cruelly been given no time to make necessary changes to their businesses.
The inheritance tax proposals threaten the future of small and medium-sized family farms, including many here in Norfolk, where generations of families have fed the nation, cared for the Norfolk countryside and driven the economy.
Independent experts continue to join the NFU in pushing for the proposals to be reconsidered and the government must do the right thing and properly engage with the farming community.
I was pleased to see Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs stand up in Parliament to hold the chancellor to account on the family farm tax during Treasury questions recently, urging her to look at the proposal put forward by the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation and to meet with the NFU.
Among them were Norfolk Labour MPs Terry Jermy and Ben Goldsborough as well as Conservative North West Norfolk MP and shadow exchequer secretary James Wild, and we are grateful for this support.
Other concerns include the impact of the extreme weather, with floods and droughts becoming increasingly frequent, and harvest this year severely impacted by the driest spring in more than 100 years.
We need the government to work with us and to invest in infrastructure which helps farmers and growers to adapt to these extreme weather events, for the sake of national food security.
Meanwhile, the NFU continues to push for food standards to be protected in trade agreements, for environmental schemes to be reopened and widely available, for urgent improvements to farm safety, for action on rural crime and for fair deals for farmers from supermarkets.
I was pleased to see a good turnout at the NFU Norfolk annual county meeting and our determination to work together and fight for a bright future remains as strong as ever.
Farming is vital to Norfolk and East Anglia, supporting more than 11,800 jobs in the county and contributing around £1.4bn to the region’s economy.
We are grateful for the huge amount of public support for farmers, again rated second only to nurses in the public’s view of most valued professions.
As farmers we have been through many tough challenges in the past.
I urge farmers and the public to keep writing to their MPs to highlight the value of farming to the county and push for policies which will help our industry to thrive. By working together, I am confident we will come through this.
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