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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she made of the potential impact of agricultural cooperatives on the rural economy.

The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring and recognises the important role they play in rural communities. For instance, through collaborating farmers and growers can benefit from peer to peer learning, being able to share equipment and being able to act at scale.