The NFU south of the border has been tasked with collating coronavirus-related issues for farming businesses across the country for the UK Government.
The union has launched a new online service for farmers and growers to log any business issues they are experiencing due to Covid-19.
“We are living and farming through unprecedented times and it is vitally important we all work together to build a clear picture of the issues arising in food production and work with government, so ministers can respond quickly to resolve them,” said NFU president, Minette Batters.
“The NFU will be co-ordinating this effort on behalf of the farming industry across the UK, and I encourage all members and non-members from across agriculture and horticulture to please use the online form to log concerns. We will use this information to provide a daily overview to government of the business-critical issues farmers and growers are encountering, or expect to encounter, during the Covid-19 outbreak.”
The online platform for logging problems can be accessed at here.
Ms Batters added: “The NFU will continue to liaise with government and all parts of the food industry to minimise the impact of coronavirus on our supply chains and ensure homegrown food gets to shelves and into homes during this challenging and difficult time.”
NFU Scotland chief executive, Scott Walker, said the union would highlight the new service to its members.
He said: “At NFU Scotland, our short chains of communications across our board, regions and our committees have left us well placed to feed information directly in to the UK Government and those conversations with ministers and their officials are continuing to take place alongside regular dialogue with Scottish MPs on the impact the virus is having.
“This web portal provides an additional route to collate those issues centrally.”