Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Farmers: Productivity

Thursday 9 December 2021 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions addressed farmers' productivity on 2021-12-09
  • The farming investment fund was launched to encourage productivity through technology and infrastructure
  • The fund supports agri-tech innovation like new livestock feeds and robotics in horticulture

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Greg Smith Con Mid Buckinghamshire
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP is concerned about the need for farmers to increase productivity in a sustainable manner.

Question

What steps he is taking to help farmers increase productivity?

Answer from Victoria Prentis

There is great potential for farmers to continue to increase productivity in an environmentally sustainable way. Last month we launched the farming investment fund, which will encourage that through, for instance, investment in new technology, new equipment and small infrastructure projects.

Answered
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Q2 Greg Smith Con Mid Buckinghamshire
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP acknowledges the previous visit to farmers in his constituency and seeks clarification on how the investment fund will foster agri-tech innovation.

Question

I am grateful for my hon. Friend's answer, and also for the time that she took to visit farmers in my constituency last month. How will the investment fund support agri-tech innovation, which is surely a pathway to prosperity and profitability for Buckinghamshire farmers?

Answer from Victoria Prentis

The fund is broad, and we are willing to look at all sorts of programmes within it. Some great solutions could include new livestock feeds that might reduce methane emissions, robotics in horticulture—I have seen some very good examples around the country—and bio-fertilisers, which we are particularly interested in developing at the moment.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer does not specify concrete actions or funding amounts for agri-tech innovation within the investment fund.

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Q3 Dave Doogan SNP Angus and Perthshire Glens
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP is critical of the government's handling of agricultural exports, labour shortages, and other issues affecting farmers.

Question

Far from helping farmers to increase productivity, this Government are demonstrating their keen ability to get in the way of productivity. We have a crisis in pig exports to China and seed exports to Northern Ireland and the EU, there are export health certificates for Scottish goods going to the EU but none for the EU's goods coming to Scotland, there are the tariffs on jute sacks, and there is also the gross shortage and obscurity of the availability of labour. Would the Minister like to apologise to farmers in Scotland and say how she intends to improve this dynamic?

Answer from Victoria Prentis

I am indeed concerned about farmers in Scotland, but that is because they are not benefiting from the revolution in agricultural support that we are undertaking in this country, and I am afraid that the Scottish Government are holding them back.

Not addressed: The issues raised regarding specific challenges faced by Scottish farmers were not addressed directly.

How: Blaming The Scottish Government

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