Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of farmers on food prices.

Data from Defra’s June survey shows that the number of farmers in the UK (includes farmers, business partners, directors and spouses) increased by 0.4% from 300,629 to 301,834 between 2021 and 2022. This number has fluctuated year on year but is at the highest level seen in over a decade.

Consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates.

Tackling inflation is this Government’s number one priority, with a plan to more than halve inflation this year, and we are monitoring all key agricultural commodities so that we can work with the food industry to address the challenges they face.