NFU President Tom Bradshaw choose Cereals Event 2026 to call on government to support British farmers and growers over rising fertiliser prices.
As part of the NFU’s Fertiliser Resilience Plan, Mr Bradshaw outlined a range of options already being taken by other countries which could be implemented in the UK should ammonium nitrate hit a ‘trigger price’ of £500 per tonne.
“There’s direct support in Spain of 22 euros a hectare; a flat rate that would mitigate the impact,” the NFU leader said.
“We've seen other countries say, well, actually we will pay 70% of the increased cost up to £50,000 pounds, again, mitigating the impacts of those increased costs.
“So, I think there are various different mechanisms that could be used.”
Describing the scale of the problem, Mr Bradshaw said at 25% of global fertiliser supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed due to the Iran war.
This, he said, alongside cuts to support payments and the lack of domestic fertiliser supply, meant the risk facing farmers and growers is greater than in any other global crisis.
“If we hit that trigger price, then we expect the government to step in in the same way that other European countries are to make sure that it's affordable for UK farmers to continue producing the country's food,” Mr Bradshaw said.
