Farm diary: The landscape of agriculture cannot be changed quickly

A good example is the celebrations two weeks ago when the very last coal powered station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar shut down. That is of course a great achievement, and few will mourn the passing of this most polluting of fuels, but China has 243 gigawatts of new coal powered plants under construction, which puts things into perspective.

Last week at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London, where start-up companies engage with would be investors, the question was; is food the new oil? In other words, food, something we rely on, but take for granted, could become scarce which would put nations producing more than they need themselves in a position of real global influence? Whilst there is no imminent danger of this, the conference was asked to consider scenarios where that was not the case. Not enough food to go round as population continues to grow, or countries producing food choosing not to trade with enemies; as they once did with oil.

Horticulture allowed to wither on the vine in the UK by the last government, for example, leaving us increasingly dependant on imports of the healthiest food, when it can easily be grown here. How much monitoring of threats to food supply here and abroad is taking place in Westminster? Overt monitoring of any threats could shape and would help define what is needed to be done and where domestic food production should be prioritised against competing interests. These are real threats which will occupy us rather more in the coming years.

Citizens quite rightly want nature diversity and clean water, but as consumers they also want cheap food which does not work. There is a price to pay for everything and in the end it can only come from the consumer, be it the NHS, Net Zero, and all the other things we all want. Many farmers are struggling with difficult decisions; should I plant trees, but devalue my asset? Agriculture cannot be changed quickly, and it can only be done in collaboration with the industry and with meaningful solutions which work for all. The greatest stumbling block very often being the retailers who are constantly at war with one another, looking for any advantage to increase foot-fall.

Milk, beef and wheat are all going up in price as tighter supply and appalling weather make markets nervous. So far the lack of profitability, environmental measures and lack of confidence over time has eroded farmers appetite for increased production, with cereal farmers very worried that they are facing another autumn like last year as rainfall in some areas is 300% above the national monthly average for September.

A good example of weather driven shortage is olive oil. Two consecutive droughts in Spain, one of the world’s largest producers, reduced production there by 60%, resulting in an increase of 183% in the price between December 2019 and August this year. Thankfully, Spanish production is set to rebound as olive oil producers are expecting a moderately strong season and prices are starting to fall. 80% of our olive oil imports come from Mediterranean countries and the prediction is for more heatwaves and droughts in the area.

Another example is the fall of global rice markets as India raised supply by lifting export controls. The world’s biggest rice exporter had a ban on non-basmati white rice exports for more than a year and lifting it dropped the price by 11%. An above average monsoon season, expected to boost crop yield and re-fill reservoirs has enabled India to remove the minimum export price of £950/tonne for basmati rice last month with Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan lowering export prices on the back of this move. Global rice prices climbed to their highest levels in 15 years following india’s decision last year to ban the export of white rice.

They say the high street is dying, I can now tell you why, I think. I took the trouble to drive to Guildford the other day, which is only 30 mins away according to my sat-nav, but in reality with the traffic and Ukrainian-esque roads, it is a great deal more than that. My first stop was the Vodafone shop to ask for some assistance with my phone. I have been here before and I know it is run by schoolchildren who speak a foreign language with lots of ‘likes’ thrown into every sentence.

The girl in charge greeted me and after my mumblings of un-tech language, had that look on her face, took the phone and dived into areas in ‘settings’ I did not know existed. However, she was distracted by one of her third-formers dealing with a client, and I was asked to take a seat. Twenty minutes later, I went up to her as she was now doing something else and said I needed to go and could she finish the work on my phone. I am in charge here, she said and you must wait until one of the (children) are free. I left.

Next stop was HSBC bank and as I approached I could see two very well dressed ladies chatting as there was no one in there. I am in luck, I thought, there will be no problem here. It had come to my attention that I had a credit black mark against me and I wanted it cleared. No, the lady said, we can’t help, you have to go home and sort it out on-line. I have tried that I said, but they were not interested in my lack of prowess on the keyboard. I left, seething and drove home, crashing and banging through the potholes. Let the high street die I thought!

I eventually found that my energy company, OVO were the culprits who had a red cross against me with the credit reference agency Experian, so I rang them. Oh, said the very helpful lady, its because you pay your electricity company quarterly, which is very rare nowadays. But I pay on time, I protested. Yes she said, but we report to credit agencies monthly, so you get paid, not paid, not paid, every quarter. I was stunned and am changing contracts.

I have written to Andrew Griffiths MP to highlight this issue, as credit reference agency Experian are also brokers for finance companies that lend to people with poor credit records; no doubt at very high interest rates. This is a scandal, as it preys on the poorest in society and talking to finance experts, they inform me that this is quite normal and that the rules and regulations around finance in this country are nefarious (their word) and disgraceful. You will need to get Experian on the phone, they said and good luck with that! I won’t bother.