The NFU has said that a report on farmers' poor share of the overall retail price of food reinforces research that the NFU carried out last year.

The Liberal Democrat Party has published figures that show the cost of shopping basket favourites such as tomatoes has risen by 47 per cent since 1985, but that the proportion going to the producers has increased by just 12 per cent.

NFU president Sir Ben Gill said: “The NFU has for some time been highlighting this discrepancy between what farmers get and what shoppers pay. This reinforces our calls for a thorough examination of the entire food chain and where the money is going. We need to shorten the food chain and to make it more transparent so it is clear what margins are being made at each link.

“We, as farmers, also need to strengthen our power in the food chain so that we are more likely to gain any benefits that an increase in food prices may bring.”

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