Cornish farmers stage tractor solidarity rally in Truro

© Farmers Movement Cornwall

Farmers in Cornwall have staged a tractor rally in support of fellow farmers who are protesting and demanding more support for the industry.

About a dozen tractors and more farm vehicles took part in a procession through Truro on Saturday (16 March) to show solidarity for farmers across the UK and Europe who have been taking part in protests.

Rally organisers the Farmers Movement Cornwall said farmers are up in arms over the threat to their livelihoods posed by “extreme environmental policies”, which they say are being justified by the need to reach net-zero carbon emissions targets.

See also: Short films reveal harsh realities of farming in Wales

In a statement, the group said: “The Welsh Labour government has laid out a proposal that mandates all farms in Wales to have 20% of their land in woodland and rewilding schemes for them to be eligible for subsidy support.

“This enforced loss of 20% of their income-producing land is the straw that broke the camel’s back of the already struggling farming community.

“The threat to both their livelihoods and to the nation’s home-grown food security cannot be ignored.”

Watch a short video of the tractor rally below.

Farmers fear “draconian and economically harmful green policies” such as these will destroy the model of traditional, independent family farms towards corporate/state ownership of farmland, the group warns.

Insufficient price protection from cheap imports, which are often grown to lower environmental and animal welfare standards than in the UK, and from commodity price suppression by large supermarkets, is contributing to the anger, the group says.

A lack of meaningful union representation for the everyday farmers is also causing frustration, the group adds.

“Not only would this represent the largest wealth transfer ever seen, but it would leave populations entirely reliant on the political classes for their food security.”

The Farmers Movement Cornwall is also launching a campaign for an agricultural reform bill which unapologetically works in the best interests of Britain, including the first principles of full homegrown food security for the British people and the full support for the nation’s farmers.