At the Visions For The Vegetable Industry conference in Newark this week, government agricultural advisor Lord Haskins stated: 'I believe there's a better prospect for UK farmers than they believe.

'British farmers have the great advantage of being close to 60 million fat cat chimneypots [affluent consumers] – who want safe food which is easily sourced from local producers.

'With the world population set to rise by 50 per cent in the coming years, and shrinking resources globally, farms in temperate climates such as the UK should have no problem selling their product.'

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