Better food labelling and aninal welfare score out of five will boost farm profitability, Labour MPs say

This has been the key issue for the sector, which has been operating on razor-thin margins in the face of extreme weather, difficult harvests and the fallout from Brexit.

At the National Farmers’ Union conference earlier in the year, president Tom Bradshaw simply said: “Profitability is the first step towards true sustainability.”

Key to this, the LRRG says, is “honest labelling”. Consumers overwhelmingly want to buy more British produce with higher welfare standards, the MPs say, yet they face complicated labelling with overlapping and unclear symbols.

Currently, food can be labelled as “Made In Britain” if it is packaged here, even if the ingredients are imported.

The LRRG is calling for clear origin and manufacturing labelling, based on the Made-In-Australia system, which should help British farmers.

It also wants a tiered and colour-coded welfare label, with a score out of five, which would again boost high-welfare homegrown produce.

The Labour MPs say that British farmers deserve to have their high standards – some of the best in the world – showcased, and consumers should be able to make informed shopping decisions.

The LRRG is also calling on the Government to ensure that the same food standards domestically are applied to imported goods, so farmers are not undercut by cheaper, lower quality goods in trade deals.

Only this week, the European Union secured a free-trade agreement with Australia that protected beef farmers far better than the UK did after Brexit.

The third point the MPs call for is for the Groceries Code Adjudicator – which oversees deals between supermarkets and farms – to be brought into the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), to tackle “late payments, unprofitable pricing, or cancelled orders”.

Noah Law MP, the LRRG’s farm profitability lead, said: “It’s fundamentally unfair that our farmers are held to standards that don’t apply to imported food.

“Farmers deserve a fair deal when Britain negotiates internationally, and when they negotiate domestically with supermarkets.

“Shoppers deserve to know how their food was raised and where it comes from, and if people want to buy British and higher produce, it should be so much easier for them to do so.”

The report has been backed by industry, with the Country Land and Business Association president Gavin Lane saying: “Profitability across the farming sector is perilously slim, with farmers battling high input costs and volatile weather conditions.

“In such a challenging environment, it becomes even more important that farmers can compete on fair terms.

“Transparent labelling and a level playing field in trade help ensure that the high standards many British producers work to are properly recognised.”

Anthony Field, head of compassion in World Farming UK, said: “Consumers clearly want to back higher welfare British farmers, yet without policy changes to help them do so, they are often unable to make purchasing decisions that reflect their values.”

The report comes following the Batters Review into farm profitability, with the Government commissioning former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters to investigate issues within the sector.

In the review, published in December, she also called for clear labelling and uniform welfare standards. Defra said it would respond to the Batters Review in full this year.

A spokesperson said: “We're backing our farmers to produce food for the nation, announcing £345 million in grants for new equipment just last month. We're actively monitoring the Middle East situation so we can respond and support our food and farming sectors.

“We already have high food labelling standards and have stepped up action on supply chain fairness, including continued scrutiny of unfair practices, and will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage.”