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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to divert crops intended for biofuel production into food production.

In 2019, 96,000 hectares of agricultural land in the UK were used to grow crops for bioenergy. This area represents just over 1.6% of the arable land in the UK. 20% of the land used for bioenergy was for biofuel (biodiesel and bioethanol) for the road transport market, with the remainder mostly used for heat and power production.

Whilst growing crops for the biofuel sector offers farmers more routes to market for their harvest, and flexibility in their crop rotations, consideration must also be given to land biodiversity or carbon-store value.

Our fantastic British farmers are world-leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type, and their long-term agronomic strategy. It is not government policy to determine which crops farmers should prioritise to include in their crop rotation.