UK farmers face unlevel playing field due to fertiliser tax

Concerns have been raised that UK farmers risk being left at a significant disadvantage to other global producers as a result of a carbon tax on imported fertiliser.

Several industry bodies have calculated that the introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Cbam) from 2027 onwards will significantly increase the cost of UK fertiliser on farm.

See also: Carbon tax on fertiliser due to hit farms and food prices

However, the proposed legislation does not impose a carbon tax on imported foods entering the UK.

Therefore, food imports from outside of the UK and EU could be produced at a lower price point with reduced input costs, and create an unlevel playing field for UK farmers.

Farmer and Lib Dem food and farming adviser Stuart Roberts said that the carbon tax posed a direct threat to UK farming systems and that the issue was focused on production rather than consumption.

Mr Roberts felt that the general idea of the Cbam should be welcomed.

However, he argued that it should apply to imports of end products rather than just targeting certain inputs, such as fertiliser.

“Are we going to put an equivalent cost increase on end products that are imported into this country that use those inputs, without having that tax applied to them?” he asked. “No, we are not.

“I’m kind of proud of the carbon border adjustment tax, if it applies to everything – because, actually, if we take beef, UK beef has a carbon footprint which is 50% lower than the global average.

“If you apply a carbon border adjustment tax to beef, it is to our advantage if that is done everywhere around the world, because our footprint is lower.”

He added: “What this government has done is pick one input, and it has absolutely attacked our production, not the end product.”

A carbon tax on imports of other proteins, such as chicken, would also benefit domestic producers, due to lower emissions in the UK compared with the global average, according to David Read, chairman of procurement firm Prestige Purchasing.

Former NFU president and crossbench peer Baroness Minette Batters suggested that the carbon tax was potentially the most significant thing that came out for farming from the Autumn Budget, but it got very little traction.

She added: “There is a real danger that our consumption of emissions actually rises quite dramatically – where we are consuming higher emissions – because actually our efficient production system is being marginalised by the imports that are coming in.”