The need to boost the agriculture budget to £5.6 billion was a key issue raised at the Liberal Democrats annual conference in Brighton.
Kicking off the party conference season, the NFU hosted a farming reception for the Lib Dems where the budget, as well as ELMs, were high on the agenda.
The reception saw over 100 attendees, including MPs, councillors and stakeholders to hear about the party's plan to champion British farming.
Attendees heard speeches from NFU vice president Rachel Hallos, Liberal Democrat EFRA spokesperson Tim Farron MP and the new chair of the EFRA committee, Alistair Carmichael MP.
There was significant discussion about the industry's ask for an enhanced multi-annual agriculture budget to give farmers more confidence.
The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto committed to invest in UK food production, including properly funding ELMs with an extra £1 billion a year to support farming.
But the NFU used the event to call for an agriculture budget of £5.6 billion so that farmers "can continue to produce the raw ingredients that underpin our essential food and drink sector".
In her opening speech, the NFU's Rachel Hallos reiterated this to the MPs and noted the huge challenges farmers have faced over the past 18 months, leading to a collapse in farmer confidence.
Liberal Democrat Efra spokesperson Tim Farron also spoke at the event, stressing that food production and environmental protection go hand in hand.
As MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, he spoke about the challenges facing the uplands especially surrounding the impact of the agricultural transition plan.
Furthermore, he called for a Tenant Farmer Commissioner and for the Rock Review recommendations to be implemented.
Mr Farron closed his speech by saying that the Lib Dems were committed to being the party of the countryside and that “it’s not about the red wall or the blue wall, but it’s about being the party for the dry stone wall”.
The new chair of EFRA, Alistair Carmichael, spoke about his experiences of being at the sharp end of farming, jumping through the hoops to get into ELMs.
He noted the complexities of government funding saying how sometimes they can work against each other, as his farm is situated in an SSSI.
Government funding should not be referred to as farm subsidies, he said, stressing that subsidies are there for consumers in order to keep their food healthy and affordable.
Mr Carmichael reiterated the NFU call that food production should be a seen as a public good for which funding should be available for and was adamant that farmers were the bedrock of environmental protection.
He closed his speech by stating that his first priority as the new EFRA chair will be to look at the agriculture budget and to hold government to account on their commitment to roll over the Defra underspend into the new budget for farmers.
The NFU will also be heading to Liverpool for Labour party conference, which takes place on 22 until 25 September.
