THE Jersey Farmers’ Union has called for ‘urgent, increased levels’ of government support to ensure that the industry survives.
JFU president Peter Le Maistre has urged his members to contact politicians to ‘persuade them to support our industry’, saying that a recent increase in the minimum wage had cancelled out rises in funding.
Writing in the recently published JFU annual report for 2022, Mr Le Maistre said: ‘As a union, we have been working hard to increase the level of support to our industry, and we have had some success.
‘However, we are only too aware that an extra £1 million in the budget has been wiped out by the 14% increase [to £10.50 an hour] in the minimum wage which was imposed on 1 November.
‘In light of this, urgent meetings are taking place at the time of writing to increase funding further in the near future.’
Funding for farmers this year has risen to £3.17m, with Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel saying recently that he would fight for more. A £400,000 government support package was also announced last September to support the struggling sector, with Jersey Dairy chairman Andrew Le Gallais saying they faced the ‘double whammy’ of spiralling operating costs and summer drought conditions.
The wholesale price of Jersey Dairy milk rose by 15p per litre yesterday as farmers continue to battle significant costs, as supply chain issues and market volatility affect profitability at local farms.
The JFU council member with responsibility for outdoor crops, Charlie Gallichan, said in the report that the picture ‘does not look pretty for 2023’, describing this year as looking ‘even more challenging’.
Mr Gallichan said: ‘The problem is that I’m not sure how much more of a challenge the industry can take.’
He added: ‘We need urgent, increased levels of tangible government support in whatever form is most appropriate through 2023 to help create a sustainable agricultural industry fit for the future, or I won’t need to write a report at all in 2024!’
Mr Gallichan added in the report that another challenge facing farmers – on top of labour pressures and the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – was a falling price for Jersey Royals.
He said: ‘While we have been enduring this period of high inflation across all of our costs, unbelievably, the products we sell have been deflating in price to the consumer.
‘Potato sales in the UK are now back to pre-pandemic sales volumes but the sales value those potatoes have achieved are down by nearly 12%.’
In the JFU report, Mr Le Maistre said: ‘I feel strongly that in recent years we have cleaned up the water, we have improved the biodiversity, we have planted trees and hedges and now we are tackling our carbon footprint and it is time we received some proper financial recognition for this.’
Update on the devastating loss of 100 cows at an Island farm on p8.
