Meopham farmer says rural industries will suffer under a Labour government

KentOnline / KMTV

Criticised for just 87 words on farming in their manifesto - those in the industry say a storm is brewing under the party's control.

Transcript

00:00Not quite what you'd expect for the annual Kent County show, but what is to be expected,

00:09the British public still enjoying it. For more than a hundred years, Dettling Showground

00:14has been celebrating the agricultural sector, getting people engaged with the rural challenges

00:19the county faces, one being the weather.

00:22Are you still enjoying yourself despite the weather?

00:25Yeah, of course. Yeah, it's still good.

00:27I think the rain has kind of made the day more fun, actually.

00:30It's the first time I've been, I've had such a nice time. Honestly, the rain hasn't mattered,

00:35it's been lovely.

00:36First time here, I definitely will be back. Amazing.

00:39We're British, we're just having a good fun, even though it's raining.

00:42We're having a great time, it's all good fun. There is some shelter, so that helps, and

00:45we've had food, which is always fun.

00:46I'm a bit of a heels and dress girl, so I think I am going to be wearing my trainers

00:50up on there, so health and safety, I think.

00:53Need to get some wellies for next year, then.

00:55Wow, as I'm talking to you, the sun is coming out. You must be like a good luck charm.

00:59Well, I'm not going to hold my breath, call me a pessimist, but it's been on and off,

01:03but we're not going to let it stop us.

01:06The same pessimism from farmers too, worried the new government won't be aiming in their

01:12direction.

01:13Well, Kent was clearly a target for Labour, hitting slightly more of a bullseye than I

01:19just did there, but what does it mean for the future of the producers and traders that

01:23come here every year to a show like the Kent County Show, and what does it mean for the

01:27future of farming in Kent?

01:29In the manifesto for Labour, in the manifesto for Lib Dems, all the manifesto for Conservatives,

01:33before the general election, there's nothing in it.

01:37Ru and Matt are young farmers looking after a rare breed of sheep in Mepham. They have

01:4230 of just 500 in the country, as a way of maximising profits. But they say that could

01:48all change in the next five years.

01:51Nobody's mentioned about farming, really. Nobody's mentioned about any budgets, any

01:55tax wise, where the money is going to go. And I can't see, as every farmer I've spoken

01:59to in the last week, the next five years is going to be the worst ride we've ever had.

02:04The last four years have been bad enough, the last 20 years have been bad enough, but

02:07the next five years is going to be awful. So I can't see what Keir Starmer or the new

02:11cabinet are going to do.

02:13We're very small compared to, you know, a huge commercial farmer that's got 1,000 acres.

02:17We're nowhere near that.

02:19So what would you do? What would be the next step, what would be the next plan for a small

02:24farm like you if you don't get the support you need over the next five years? Have you

02:27got a plan B?

02:28There is no plan B.

02:29Open to the public more. You know, it's going to be, you're tired because you don't want

02:34to buy any more stock because you're unsure of your current stock. You don't want to go,

02:38so you know, it's, you're looking, it's again going back to the government telling you to

02:42diversify. You know, but you don't see a GP building a shop at the end of their road,

02:45do you? You know, it's all about farmers diversifying and that's going to be really hard.

02:49Labour's manifesto pledges for half of all food purchased across the public sector to

02:54be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. Also, the party want

03:00to introduce a land use framework and make environment land management schemes work for

03:05farmers and nature.

03:07Despite the grey clouds overhead, there's still some hope for the future of farming.

03:12So no matter how the votes have swung here in Kent, will the resilience of farmers, whether

03:18any storm?

03:20Abbey Hook for KMTV in Detling.

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