Farmers are facing "almost daily" cost increases for essentials like seed and fertiliser, making the past year "shocking" for them, a recent report has stated.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, food production costs have jumped, putting a dent in farmers' profit, BBC stated today (2).
"I know people are paying more for their bag of potatoes or bag of carrots, but it's not because we want more money," the report quoted potato farmer Tessa Elliot as saying.
"Our costs have gone up drastically and we are still trying to understand where we can even make a profit."
Cash flow is always a challenge for potato farmers, who can wait more than a year to be paid for their crops after harvesting.
"For fertiliser we were paying £290-odd and it shot up to £900 for that same bag," said Tessa, whose family has run Cresswell Barn Farm for more than 40 years.
"Seeds were up £40 a tonne. Labour costs went up. There was nothing that didn't go up double, if not more."
The report comes after a warning from farming industry leaders over proposed voluntary food price cap, saying farmers must not bear the brunt.
"There is no room for any more pressure," warned Martin Kennedy, NFU Scotland's president. "We have already seen that happening in our egg sector and our fruit and veg sector is also under severe strain because of high costs associated with labour and energy.
"In the past month, every major retailer has already cut the retail price of milk and butter and that is working its way back to the farmgate for dairy farmers. It is also working its way into the retail inflation figures," he noted.
Food prices in the UK have soared at their fastest rate for almost 45 years, with grocery prices rising by 19.1 per cent in the year to April.
The Competitions and Markets Authority is currently investigating all supermarkets over high food and fuel prices amid allegations that customers are overpaying.
Simon Hannah
