Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border has warned the Government against a looming food security and animal welfare crisis, following an announcement that the UK’s last remaining active fertiliser plant and carbon dioxide producer will halt ammonia production.
Citing uneconomical production, CF Fertilisers UK – a subsidiary of US-based CF Industries – will temporarily halt ammonia production and begin importing the gas once the plant has been shut down. With carbon dioxide a biproduct of the fertiliser manufacturing process, the food and drink industry could be thrown into turmoil due to the wide-ranging uses of the gas. This news followed their announcement in June that they intend to shut down their CO2 and fertiliser plant in Ince, Cheshire.
Farmers, industry experts and consumers now fear that food prices will be forced higher and the nation’s food security will be compromised. From packaging salads and making beer to its uses in stunning animals before slaughter and keeping fresh food cold during transit – carbon dioxide is pivotal to modern food production.
Moreover, with fertiliser costs already sky-high some farmers risk being forced out of the profession altogether. This could in turn force further stresses on the UK’s food security which has already been detrimentally impacted by the horrific war in Ukraine and the pandemic.
Dr Neil Hudson has written an urgent letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs as the plant announced the temporary stop ammonia production urging the Government to take action against the potentially crippling impactions of the closure. Dr Hudson has also brought the matter urgently to the EFRA Select Committee, on which he sits. He has also tabled urgent questions to parliament.
This follows impassioned action on the issue from the Cumbrian MP who stood up in the Commons in June to warn Government ministers about the plant’s uncertain future, raised it as an emergency topic as a member of the EFRA Committee and tabled written questions to DEFRA on the issue. Dr Hudson has consistently called for urgent Government intervention to prevent the issue from worsening.
Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, said:
“As I’ve said before, food is pivotal to our lives and livelihoods. From Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine to the awfulness of the pandemic, food security has been brought into sharp relief recently and we cannot lose sight of just how damaging this halting in ammonia production could be for our nation’s resilience.
“With the cost-of-living crisis already taking its toll on people at the tills, now more than ever we need resolute support for our brilliant British food producers. This is a really difficult time for farmers dealing with spiralling fertiliser prices, recruitment droughts, and changing payment systems – and this closure can only impact their businesses negatively.
“Ultimately, this plant is the only UK producer of fertiliser and carbon dioxide – the loss of which could potentially damage our food and drink sector – with far-reaching implications, much of which not yet foreseen.
“Also and very alarmingly, as a vet I’m acutely aware of the impact this could have on our nation’s animal welfare. Carbon dioxide is used in some humane slaughter processes in the pig and poultry sectors. I am asking that the Government acts urgently so that we do not see pigs and birds being unable to be moved off farms, and the drastic negative animal implications that could ensue.
“This issue is not going away and I will continue to speak out so that the country does not sleepwalk into a potentially catastrophic food security and animal welfare crisis.”
