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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce UK reliance on imported wheat for milling.

British farmers are world-leaders and know their own land best - carefully planning their planting to suit the weather, their soil type, and their long-term agronomic strategy. Harvested production of wheat in 2023 was just under 13.9 million tonnes, which represents average UK production.

Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production and ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. In 2023, domestically produced wheat accounted for 83% of the wheat used in the milling grist. Due to environmental and climate conditions the UK milling industry require a certain level of imports of high protein milling wheat year on year to meet consumer demand.