FARMERS in North Shropshire are worried that spiralling fertiliser and fuel costs may mean they cannot afford to plant next season.

Those were the concerns put forward by the local MP Helen Morgan in a House of Commons Defra debate on Thursday (April 28).

And she called on the Government to reverse the cut to the basic farm payment schemes to help farmers "survive" the cost of living crisis.

Liberal Democrat MP, Ms Morgan said: “I have been contacted by several farmers in my constituency of North Shropshire explaining that because fertiliser and fuel costs are rocketing so quickly they may not be able to afford to plant for next season.”

She said “now is the time to reverse the cut to the basic farm payment schemes to help our farmers survive this crisis”.

The Government has said it will be phasing out the rural grant payments in England, with progressive reductions to 2027.

Environment minister Jo Churchill said “that is too much of a blunt instrument”, adding: “We are supporting all farmers and actually that’s why the fertiliser taskforce is so important and why the work across Government keeping an eye on the situation, making sure that we’re supporting correctly, is so important.”

Her comments came as ministers were told the Government needs to ensure supermarkets do not use the crisis to impose unfair food prices on farmers.

Conservative MP Chris Loder asked in the House of Commons what ministers are doing to give the supermarket ombudsman “more teeth” to ensure supermarkets “do not inappropriately take advantage of the difficulties that we see with food prices” when it comes to the prices farmers receive.

Mr Loder, the MP for West Dorset, asked the Secretary of State: “What is he doing to give the grocery adjudicator some more teeth to make sure that supermarkets do not inappropriately take advantage of the difficulties that we see with food prices?

“Because as he will well know, a lot of farmers face great pressure from supermarkets and some would argue that they (supermarkets) actually control the prices that farmers get, when that is not really how it should be.”

Environment Secretary George Eustice replied: “The supermarket adjudicator in recent years had made good progress to bring transparency to the way relationships work between supplies and the supermarkets, but in addition to that through the Agriculture Act, we have introduced new powers so that in future we will be able to regulate and improve the transparency and fairness of contracts between farmers and processors.”