The crucial role played by agriculture and horticulture within the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads is highlighted in a major new NFU report. Why Farming Matters to the Broads shows how farming is linked with the environment, rural community, tourism and local economy within this unique landscape.

It explains how, with the right policies in place, farmers and growers can help meet future food and fuel needs, maintain and enhance the Broads environment and provide some solutions for adapting to climate change.

And it calls for polices that ‘help not hinder’ agriculture including:

·        A commitment to long-term investment in sea and river defences to protect the Broads, its valuable farmland and the people who live and work there

·        Changes to environmental schemes to recognise the essential contribution made by lowland graziers

·        Training programmes to help farmers maximise efficient use of water

·        Flexible planning policies that allow diversified farm businesses to flourish.

NFU East Anglia senior policy adviser Paul Hammett said: “Farming is an integral part of the Broads, producing food and renewable energy, managing the landscape and providing local employment

“Our aim is to demonstrate the pivotal role played by agriculture and horticulture within the Broads and to show how farmers can help meet the major challenges that lie ahead, particularly in relation to climate change.”

Why Farming Matters to the Broads includes a foreword from BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham and contributions from key figures including Broads Authority chief executive John Packman, Easton College principal David Lawrence, Norfolk Wildlife Trust president Sir Nicholas Bacon, and celebrity chef and hotelier Galton Blackiston.

The report is being launched by NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond in the heart of the Broads, at Beckhithe Farms, Reedham, one of the farm businesses featured as a case study.

Norfolk NFU county delegate Richard Hirst, chairman of the working group behind the report, said: “It is time to stop undervaluing the contribution farming makes to the Broads. As the report shows, this is an industry that generates more than £150 million annually to the regional economy, produces high quality fresh food and helps protect the landscape.

“It is farming that helped shape the Broads and it is farming that has a huge amount to offer as we grapple with issues such as climate change and producing more food while impacting less on the environment.”

Many of the farmers featured in the report will be attending today’s launch, alongside representatives from local authorities, wildlife and environmental organisations and voluntary groups.

It has been produced with the help of the Clan Trust and Norfolk Farmers’ Trust.