Energy Support for Farms

Wendy Chamberlain Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered energy support for farms.

As a matter of openness and transparency, I declare an interest: I come from a small, family-run farm. Thank you for chairing the debate, Mr Robertson; it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I thank the Minister for being here and for his prior engagement on the topic. I thank hon. Members from across the House for giving their time to attend this debate on this important issue.

In the constituency that I represent, the agriculture sector is vital to our economic wellbeing. In the wise words of my grandfather, if the farmer is not doing well, no other industry is or will; such is the importance of our agrifood industry. Across the wider Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon area, we have 3,431 farms. They contribute approximately £376 million in goods value and farm support payments into the local economy. They provide employment in the agriculture sector and in the 265 local agrifood sector businesses that the industry supports. In Northern Ireland, we have 26,000 farming families. The agrifood sector is worth more than £5 billion to the economy, and we feed more than 10 million people with our top-quality produce.

As has been the case for all households and businesses, energy costs on these farms have spiralled since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Many farms are unavoidably energy intensive. Take dairy, for instance. Farmers who needed to renew their energy contract last autumn experienced increases of more than 400%. With an electricity price of 37p per kWh, the annual cost to an average-size dairy farm is now approximately £105 per cow. For a 250 cow herd, that adds up to £46,000 a year, which is up by £26,000.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. I absolutely agree with her and want to give my own example. I represent a local seed potato farmer whose costs have increased from £10,000 to £30,000. He has a generator and thinks he may have to come off the grid entirely. He faces an increase not only in energy costs, but in standing charges. Does the hon. Lady agree that farmers face a cliff edge at the end of this month and are disappointed that the Government did not do more to support them through the Budget?

[Carla Lockhart]

I think the hon. Member has been reading my speech. A cliff edge certainly is coming for this important industry, which is the backbone of our economy.

Another example is poultry. There has been an increase of approximately £87 a day, which equates to about £32,000 a year. That is a phenomenal amount, and only so much of that can be passed on.

Ahead of the Chancellor’s spring statement last week, our farming unions, alongside Members from across the House, had been lobbying to bring about a change in mindset from the Government in relation to support for farmers with energy costs. The Government must recognise the key role of the agriculture sector in feeding the nation. The industry needs support in the face of energy price pressures.

The current support from the energy bill relief scheme is due to expire at the end of March. It will be replaced by the energy bills discount scheme, which will run for 12 months. That scheme offers far less protection and support to businesses, with the removal of the price cap and its being replaced by a token discount. A pre-defined selection of industries has been identified for additional support under the energy and trade-intensive industries scheme. However, farming sectors have been left off this scheme, leaving them literally out in the cold without support. In the face of that cliff edge, the ask of the Government was straightforward. Our farming unions, on behalf of their members, sought the extension of the energy and trade-intensive industry scheme to include energy-intensive sectors, such as horticulture, poultry and pig production. That was a reasonable ask that the Government should have listened to.

Poultry businesses are reliant on gas and electricity to rear poultry and store fresh produce safely. Without sufficient support, there is no doubt that those farmers will struggle to absorb the huge hikes in energy prices that they will face. The same can be said for pig producers.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wendy Chamberlain]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way again. Wholesale energy prices are already falling. The Government have not spent the amount of money that they had expected to spend on their energy-relief schemes. Does she agree that the Government have the headroom to go over and above what they announced in the Budget and to date? They could use those additional funds to support our farmers.

[Carla Lockhart]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady. There is the headroom and available money. I encourage the Government to do the right thing by the industry and to support those farmers at this time of need. This decision will have consequences; the cliff edge will be too much for some farmers. They will exit the industry and others will reduce output, unable to absorb the cost of maintaining their current output. Consequently, UK food production will fall, processors and manufacturers in the supply chain will be impacted, food inflation may well increase, and consumers ultimately will end up paying more.

No one wins from this decision. I believe it is still in the interests of the Treasury and the Government as whole, the agrifood industry and consumers that this decision is revisited. I ask the Minister to undertake to explore this comprehensive case once more, and to step up with the support these farms need to face the challenge and conditions they find themselves in. I also invite him to visit my constituency in his ministerial capacity to witness at first hand the value that these farms add to our economy and the pressure that they are currently feeling.

We need to back British farming. The Government demand the highest standards of our farmers and must repay their endeavours to produce world-class produce to the best animal welfare, environmental and sustainability standards with sufficient levels of support to enable them to do just that.