UK: NFU campaign for clarification of unclear potato payment deductions

The National Farmers Union (NFU) are calling for transparency after potato growers suffered unclear payment deductions. They wrote to processors and packers urging for transparency in the supply chain, after potato growers reported severe payment deductions being made with little or no explanation. Some have experienced penalties of up to 30%, so now the NFU is calling for full, itemised breakdowns of deductions to be made available within 48 hours. The NFU potato forum chairman Alex Godfrey said the current situation could cause long-term harm to the sector, and growers need more information to better understand the issues which resulted in the deductions. Mr Godfrey said: “We exposed this issue in the NFU’s Catalyst for Change report and it is absolutely critical that growers get full, clear, itemised breakdowns of deductions so they can understand where issues are occurring on farm. It is not good enough to expect growers to simply accept levels of deductions like this without reasonable explanation. Farmers are telling us that this situation is getting worse, not better.” More