‘Best farmers’ in England at risk of going bust

The Farmers Guardian reports that a leading rural charity has warned that a combination of changing agriculture policies and high input costs risk putting the 'best farmers' in England out of business

Jude McCann, chief executive of the Farming Community Network, said the Government needed to learn lessons from New Zealand, where many farmers died by suicide during the move away from subsidies in the 1980s.

Giving evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee on rural mental health last week, Mr McCann said: ‘We could potentially lose some of our best farmers and farming families, I think that would be a huge shame for England.’

Alicia Chivers, Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution chief executive, also told the committee her charity had found evidence there was a strong link between the mental and physical health of farmers and the financial health of their businesses.

Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn has suggested that it is really important to manage people through the post-Brexit transition, urging that ‘politicians, civil servants and land agents… take a more holistic view of what they are doing to ensure people do not become the collateral damage of change’.

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The Farmers Guardian - ‘Best farmers’ in England at risk of going bust
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