Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of supermarket pricing practices on farm incomes in North East Hampshire; and what steps the Government is taking to strengthen the ability of farmers to negotiate fair prices for their produce.

Fairness within the agricultural supply chain is a key priority for the Government.

The Government will use powers in the Agriculture Act to introduce ‘Fair Dealings’ Regulations, applying to businesses when purchasing agricultural products from farmers.

A sector-by-sector approach has been adopted. The first use of the powers led to the Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations (2024) for the dairy sector. The second led to ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations for the pig sector.

The regulations are enforced by the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator, who can investigate relevant complaints from farmers.