25 signatures reached
To: Rt Hon Mark Spencer
Support for British Farmers
Farmers need to make a fair wage so that they can continue. Please support our farmers before it is too late
Why is this important?
Farming communities in the UK have faced unprecedented challenges in the last few years. Uncertainty around Brexit and future policy, the pandemic, market volatility, the war in the Ukraine, declining BPS payments and avian flu. (Clarkson 2023)
Small farms are struggling to survive. Dairy farmers have had to contend with milk prices reducing, in December 2022 standard milk price was 49ppl. This years price as of 1st November will be 34ppl, this is also affected by quality brackets of milk sent, and is deducted if butterfat and protein is below a certain level, - cost of production is 41ppl average.
We are in a cost of living crisis and everything else is rising. Farmers have this to content with in every day life as do the rest of us though additionally they have the rising feed bills etc ? vet bills, cost to get a calf raised to a milker, costs to repair buildings, machinery and fencing etc
How are the cows being blamed for climate change when the country is shipping meat and dairy products in from abroad. Products which are readily available here. What is the environmental (carbon footprint) and financial cost of this?
We have the highest animal welfare standards in the world - though produce is shipped in from abroad, how can that be right? Ethically, environmentally?
Badgers are protected though they spread TB to cows and can result in loss of livestock, income, business, livelihood etc. How is this justified? How can this be right?
It costs more to shear a sheep than farmers are paid for the fleece. This is despite how beneficial the fleece from a sheep is. It is fire retardant, biodegradable, breathable, waterproof, insulating etc. Despite this plastic and other materials are shipped in from all over the world.
What happened to build back better? Have we learned nothing since the pandemic/brexit?
Britain used to be great, sheepskin and leather, the by-products of the meat industry though as we now have no tanneries, they are wasted.
It is estimated that the number of full time UK farm businesses will fall from about 54,000 (2020) to 42,300 by 2030. A reduction of around 20% (Anderson - farm business consultants). In comparison to the previous decade which was 4%.
Loss of the Basic Payment Scheme BPS, support for English farmers, which is set to half by 2024, (Richard King). Will cause further financial hardship and loss of small farms.
Farmers are vital. “You need a doctor once a year maybe and a fireman once in a lifetime, if you're unlucky. But you need a farmer three times a day” (Kaleb Cooper)
They don't get the credit or support they deserve. They work at times 14+ hours a day in all weathers in a thankless job. Bogged down by paperwork and policies.
According to the National Farmers Union, 5pc of dairy farmers left the industry in 2022.
According to a survey, some 70% of the farmers who grow cereals said Brexit had been negative for their businesses, while 76% of oilseed rape growers felt that way. Similarly, 68% of farmers with beef cattle, dairy cows or sheep had a negative perception.(23 Jun 2023)
This is also the same for fruit and vegetable growers, basically the whole of agriculture is in dire straits. It should not be this way.
Figures from the ONS show that there were 36 suicides in in 2021 in the farming and agriculture industry.
This cannot continue. How many more farmers are we going to lose?
I have set up this petition to call on you to make a change. To support farming and the agriculture industry to make Britain great again
Small farms are struggling to survive. Dairy farmers have had to contend with milk prices reducing, in December 2022 standard milk price was 49ppl. This years price as of 1st November will be 34ppl, this is also affected by quality brackets of milk sent, and is deducted if butterfat and protein is below a certain level, - cost of production is 41ppl average.
We are in a cost of living crisis and everything else is rising. Farmers have this to content with in every day life as do the rest of us though additionally they have the rising feed bills etc ? vet bills, cost to get a calf raised to a milker, costs to repair buildings, machinery and fencing etc
How are the cows being blamed for climate change when the country is shipping meat and dairy products in from abroad. Products which are readily available here. What is the environmental (carbon footprint) and financial cost of this?
We have the highest animal welfare standards in the world - though produce is shipped in from abroad, how can that be right? Ethically, environmentally?
Badgers are protected though they spread TB to cows and can result in loss of livestock, income, business, livelihood etc. How is this justified? How can this be right?
It costs more to shear a sheep than farmers are paid for the fleece. This is despite how beneficial the fleece from a sheep is. It is fire retardant, biodegradable, breathable, waterproof, insulating etc. Despite this plastic and other materials are shipped in from all over the world.
What happened to build back better? Have we learned nothing since the pandemic/brexit?
Britain used to be great, sheepskin and leather, the by-products of the meat industry though as we now have no tanneries, they are wasted.
It is estimated that the number of full time UK farm businesses will fall from about 54,000 (2020) to 42,300 by 2030. A reduction of around 20% (Anderson - farm business consultants). In comparison to the previous decade which was 4%.
Loss of the Basic Payment Scheme BPS, support for English farmers, which is set to half by 2024, (Richard King). Will cause further financial hardship and loss of small farms.
Farmers are vital. “You need a doctor once a year maybe and a fireman once in a lifetime, if you're unlucky. But you need a farmer three times a day” (Kaleb Cooper)
They don't get the credit or support they deserve. They work at times 14+ hours a day in all weathers in a thankless job. Bogged down by paperwork and policies.
According to the National Farmers Union, 5pc of dairy farmers left the industry in 2022.
According to a survey, some 70% of the farmers who grow cereals said Brexit had been negative for their businesses, while 76% of oilseed rape growers felt that way. Similarly, 68% of farmers with beef cattle, dairy cows or sheep had a negative perception.(23 Jun 2023)
This is also the same for fruit and vegetable growers, basically the whole of agriculture is in dire straits. It should not be this way.
Figures from the ONS show that there were 36 suicides in in 2021 in the farming and agriculture industry.
This cannot continue. How many more farmers are we going to lose?
I have set up this petition to call on you to make a change. To support farming and the agriculture industry to make Britain great again
