The government has announced support for horticulture businesses under its Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.
Following lobbying from the NFU, the government has announced that horticulture businesses will now be included in the IETF.
The fund was launched to support energy-intensive businesses with rising costs.
The farming group had long campaigned for the businesses to be included due to the sector’s reliance on energy and the negative impact of rising costs over the past 18 months.
“We have repeatedly made the case that this is threatening the viability of many crops, including peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and those with long-term storage such as apples and potatoes,” said NFU president Minette Batters.
“One of the key outcomes from the Farm to Fork Summit at Downing Street was the need for greater energy security, so we are very pleased that government has responded to our calls to recognise energy intensive horticultural production within future energy price support measures,” Batters added.
“As we have stated many times, it is critical that all high-energy crops are recognised within this announcement, including protected cropping and those with long-term storage.”
The NFU has called for further clarification on the eligibility for horticulture businesses and the process by which they can register for the IETF.
However, the union has continued to express concerns about the continued exclusion of the poultry sector from the same scheme.
Batters said the NFU was “extremely disappointed” and “soaring production costs are putting producers under immense pressure”.
“We call on government to do everything it can so that the poultry sector is able to continue producing quality, affordable eggs and poultry meat which we know is valued hugely by the public,” she said.
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