As a rural community I know how important it is to many people in our area that we support farmers, so on Friday I was pleased to be able to host the Rural Payments Agency and officials from the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs in Barlestone to meet with local farmers.
We discussed everything from food security - for which farmers are essential - to Government schemes and funding.
Two important takeaways:
Farmers are able to get a free (paid for by the Government) vet assessment for their live stock. More information here: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/.../the-annual-health.../
Basic Payment Scheme recipients can get free reviews of their farms to discuss future strategy. More on this here: https://www.gov.uk/.../get-free-business-advice-for-your...
The overriding message from farmers remains the same: the best thing we can do to support them is buy local British produce.
