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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional support his Department provides to (a) apple and (b) other crop growers whose crops have failed owing to weather conditions.

The Government recognises the important role our farmers and growers play in both feeding the country and in contributing to our economic growth, locally and nationally.

We have not received representations from either the apple or other crop growing sectors regarding failed crops as a result of adverse weather conditions. However, Defra and the Devolved Administrations have established mechanisms to monitor and assess the impact of market developments across the UK, including weather and supply chain issues, enabling it to provide forewarning of any atypical market movements.

We will continue this important work paying particular attention to the crop growing sectors in the coming months.