The National Farmers Union (NFU) is urging the chancellor to recognise the risks facing homegrown food production and use the upcoming Budget to "strengthen the nation’s food security".

The call comes as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is putting the "resilience of the UK’s food supply under parliamentary scrutiny", the NFU said.

The committee is holding two evidence sessions on Monday 12 and Thursday 14 October to explore how prepared the UK is for a disruption to its food supply.

The sessions are bringing together representatives from farming, food manufacturing, and retail.

NFU

The NFU said it welcomes this discussion as both farmers and growers are dealing with issues such as global conflicts driving up production costs as well as climate change and disease "eating into margins".

The organisation said these issues are putting farm businesses under "severe pressure, damaging both confidence and investment".

NFU deputy president Paul Tompkins said: " Farmers are always looking to grow their businesses and deliver more for the country.

“Yet global volatility, escalating costs, extreme weather and disease are pushing businesses to the brink and weakening our capacity to produce food at home.”

Tompkins said the PAC is right to ask questions about food resilience, as this will allow the chancellor to "react accordingly and help British farmers".

“These pressures are eroding business confidence and stalling investment.

"For some farms, the immediate question is whether they can afford to produce food next year," Tompkins said.

Budget 2027

The NFU is calling for the chancellor to reduce the cost of producing food and restores farm business confidence.

It suggested a number of measures, including:

Increasing the Annual Investment Allowance to at least £5 million and extending its scope to include structures and buildings;
Providing funding for temporary interest-free Keep Britain Growing Loans, helping businesses hit hardest by this summer’s challenges to continue producing food next year;
Ensuring the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism does not put domestic food producers at a disadvantage to imports;
Removing changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief, giving farm businesses greater confidence to invest, grow and plan for succession;
Introducing enhanced capital allowances for incorporated and unincorporated businesses, encouraging investment in low-carbon technology and infrastructure.

The aim of these measures is to help farm businesses "move out of survival mode", unlock investment and build greater resilience into domestic food production, the NFU said.