PM's £10M relief fund to protect food supplies

Farming minister George Eustice said: “It’s very important that the Prime Minister has announced a new £10M crisis fund, put together specifically to help farmers who had been affected by these floods.​

“The floods have been an overwhelming issue over the last month or so. It’s devastating for farmers, if they’re under water for two weeks then it starts to kill the crops and there’s very little recovery from that.​”

Eustice was speaking at the Agriculture, Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) annual Outlook conference, held in London yesterday (February 12), where he acknowledged the devastation the floods had caused in the south west of England.

Food security concerns​

Previously the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and others have criticised the government for investing in biodiversity, rather than making farmland more resilient to extreme weather.

Food security was increasingly threatened by extreme global weather, NFU president Peter Kendall told MPs at an Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee on food security yesterday.

Britain was well placed to meet the challenge of increased food production, he said, but industry and government needed work together maximise its potential and cut risks.

Extreme weather in recent months highlighted the importance of ensuring everything was done to protect agricultural land to allow farmers to meet future production challenges, he said.

 ‘Severe and acute problem’​

After the water subsides, only then will the costs be counted, Mintec market analyst LilianaGonzález said after the AHDB conference.

Some food prices could increase as a result of poor harvests, although only marginally, she said and added that repair work could also impact farmers’ returns.

NFU chief dairy adviser Robert Newbury said it was too early to tot-up the cost of flooding and assess the impact on production.“We’re not making predictions of reduced production at the moment,​”he said.

“Only two years ago when we saw the very difficult weather in late spring, the actual impact on output wasn’t as great as some thought, but that said, for the businesses affected it’s a very severe and acute problem.​”

There needed to be more focus on the clean-up now, said Eustice. The weather had been “unprecedented​”, ​but there should be some respite next week, “if the forecasters are to be believed​”, he added. ​ 

Parts of the country were battered with up to 100mph winds last night (February 12), bringing more disruption to farms and businesses.

Cameron’s flood promises: ​

• Cameron pledged £10M fund to help farmers
• More grants could be available to businesses and homes to rebuild flood defences
• A new Cabinet committee  to oversee flood recovery will meet for the first time today (February 13)
• Grants of up to £5,000 to be made available to businesses to pay for future flood protection
• Insurance companies will have to get into affected areas so claims can be made quickly