A Suffolk farmer warns that gaps in the UK’s food supply chain could leave the country vulnerable
Industry leaders are calling for stronger support for local agriculture.
A Suffolk farmer has warned that the UK’s food system is becoming increasingly vulnerable, as industry leaders call for stronger support for local agriculture.
John Watt, a mixed farmer from Laxfield, is among those featured in a National Farmers’ Union (NFU) report highlighting the measures needed to support growth in the sector and strengthen rural economies.
Instability within agriculture
The report, shared with MPs and industry leaders, comes at a time when farmer confidence remains low and concerns about the resilience of the food system are growing.
Mr Watt said global instability, including the war in Ukraine and uncertainty around international trade, had exposed weaknesses in how food is produced and distributed.
“We’re just seeing an incredibly unstable environment,” he said. “So it’s how can we manage food and feeding people in a world that’s so unstable?”
He warned the UK relies heavily on “just in time” supply chains, where food arrives only when needed, leaving little room for disruption.
“You have a food system that relies entirely on things arriving the day they’re needed,” he said. “We have very little storage for what we actually might need in the future, and that creates vulnerability as well.”
Supply chain worries
A key concern raised in the NFU report is the decline of small and medium-sized abattoirs, with numbers in the UK falling significantly in recent years.
Mr Watt said these facilities are vital to maintaining local supply chains and supporting smaller farms.
“Without a small local abattoir, the smaller scale livestock producers will have nowhere to send their animals, and therefore they will simply choose not to produce,” he said.
He warned that continued closures could force farmers out of livestock production altogether, weakening the wider food system.
“That straight away leads you into a position where you are not as resilient as you could be, because the supply chain has been broken up into or has been concentrated into one or two much bigger centres,” he said.
According to the NFU, small abattoirs have been closing at a rate of around 10% a year, and a survey of livestock farmers in the East of England found some would consider stopping production if the trend continues.
Impact to local economies
Mr Watt said farming plays a vital role in supporting rural economies, particularly in regions like East Anglia.
“Agriculture is so vital to the economy in this part of the world, and it always just gets undercounted,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of strengthening local supply chains to improve both resilience and sustainability.
“It means you’re not relying on one centralised institution that could easily stop for a problem,” he said. “It also means that the supply chains are far shorter… and it also therefore strengthens the local economy because every single part of that chain stays within Suffolk.”
What changes they'd like to see
Mr Watt said government action would be key to enabling change, particularly in supporting infrastructure and reducing barriers for farmers.
“It’s where government policy comes in because they can provide the framework to allow then the farmers and the local businesses to produce a short and resilient supply chain,” he said.
He added that long-term thinking is essential when it comes to food production.
“If you said tomorrow, we need more beef, that’s going to be a five-year process,” he said. “Farming is so, so much longer term than they ever think on.”
Mr Watt is now among those urging policymakers to prioritise food security and invest in the systems needed to support it.
“We all need to eat three times a day,” he said. “Providing the framework… to produce high quality local food… is probably the best thing you could do as a policymaker.”
Government response
A Defra spokesperson said:
“We recognise the importance of smaller abattoirs to our national food supply chain and remain committed to working with the meat processing sector in tackling the challenges they face.
“We’re investing billions of pounds in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery, slashing costs for food producers to export to the EU and delivering a new SFI scheme which will work for farmers while delivering for the environment.“