Domestic production has to be a priority – Herbert

Increasing home production should be a Government priority, yet UK self-sufficiency has fallen from 82 per cent to 74 per cent since Labour came to power in 1997, he told conference delegates yesterday (Monday, February 16).

"I recognise the benefit of a diversity of supply, but what about food miles? What about our national resilience? And what about our farmers?

"The pendulum has been allowed to swing too far away from domestic production."

Mr Herbert said he would 'yield to no-one' in his commitment to protect the environment but added farmers' first job must be to feed a growing world population.

"One of the greatest challenges of tomorrow will be how the world feeds itself. The uncomfortable truth is that global agricultural production cannot keep up with rising demand," he said.

A country boy

Mr Herbert also used his time on the NFU podium to outline his country credentials.

"I want you to know where my heart is," he said.

"It's in the countryside, and that means it's in farming. I could not be more enthusiastic about my new brief."

Mr Herbert was instrumental in setting up the Countryside Movement during the 1990s (now Countryside Alliance) to help bridge the divide between countryside and urban centres.

He has a rural constituency (Arundel and the South Downs), his grandfather was a farmer and he said he has had his fair share of practical experience of agriculture.

"If we win the next election and I'm lucky enough to be appointed, I suspect I'll be the first Secretary of State for some years to have spent the odd night in a lambing shed. I'm a country boy and I feel like I'm coming home," he said in an attempt to win over delegates.

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