Consumers should not expect to see cheaper food on the shelves any time soon, despite Government pledges to halve inflation by the end of the year, the NFU has warned.
Speaking before the Environmental Audit Committee, NFU president Minette Batters said politicians and the public would have to accept that the ongoing issues facing the farming industry specifically high energy costs which she described as off the scale, would mean higher prices for consumers for the foreseeable future.
Ms Batters highlighted farming was a long term business.
"If we look at fertiliser, so many of food and farming costs are driven by the price of gas.
"A tonne of ammonium nitrate last year was around 1,000; this year it is 400. But a lot of people bought last year.
If we look at the price of gas per therm, she continued. Yet again, we are looking at prices 150 per cent higher than they were in 2019. Last year, the rise was 600 per cent.
As a result, Mrs Batters told MPs that the failure of primary producers to be included in the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries Scheme had led to contraction in all sectors.
Ms Batters was asked whether lower fertiliser costs would herald a period of greater stability.
She said: I just do not think we can go there on that. The ability of Russia to weaponise [food] is enormous and I do not think we can give any assurance that the current situation is going to change anytime soon.
