UK agriculture must adapt to climate change which could cause a global food shortage, according to a National Farmers Union report due out today, the BBC has reported.
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The union says the UK is in danger of losing skills and land which could be vital for the future. Its report warns that 60% of the best farmland is five metres or less above sea level, so much may be lost if global warming causes levels to rise.
The NFU’s Peter Kendall said unpredictable weather patterns could mean the loss of some food sources. Increasingly unpredictable patterns might mean the UK could no longer rely on countries like the Ukraine to supply it with food, he said, adding that the UK must take farming food and biofuels far more seriously.
The NFU report, to be published will say that as scientists predict sea levels will rise as the world warms up, UK farms could have to spend a lot of money on flood defences to keep their land.
It will also warn that if oil prices continue to rise it will no longer be cost effective to bring in food from abroad, and far more will have to be produced in the UK.
