British farmers will plant a million less apple trees this year as costs soar and supermarkets squeeze prices from breast and belly inflation Watch Video

⏲ Duration: 2:31
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✓ Published: 08-Mar-2024

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British farmers will plant a million less apple trees this year as the industry is ravaged by inflation, labour shortages, climate change and cheap supermarket prices.<br/><br/>Landowners across the country are digging up their orchards as apple production becomes financially unviable.<br/><br/>According to British Apples and Pears Limited (BAPL), British apple growers normally plan to plant 1 million to 1.5 million trees every year. <br/><br/>But this year growers ordered just 500,000 saplings - and they have since cancelled a third of those.<br/><br/>Last year a report by the agricultural and sustainability consultancy Promar for the NFU found that inflation for growers was running at around 23 per cent. <br/><br/>But they only received on average a 0.8 per cent increase in their returns from selling apples to supermarkets.<br/><br/>The BAPL has now published data highlighting the continued struggles for the top UK fruit growers - the biggest data set ever released at one time by the industry.<br/><br/>It reported that confidence in British apple growing is understandably low - with 70 per cent of growers admitting they are less confident than they were a year ago and almost half (45 per cent) of respondents said they have scaled back their future investment plans.<br/><br/>Just three per cent said they have a ‘true partnership’ with supermarkets, while 45 per cent say retailers only care about price.<br/><br/>The immediate impacts of orchards not being replanted is the loss of British-grown varieties, as well as biodiversity loss.<br/><br/>But long-term implications means a decrease in British apples in supermarkets for shoppers - at a time when buying local is being encouraged.<br/><br/>There are many factors as to why this is happening - but simply put, growers are unable to afford to invest in new orchards because they are getting such low returns for their fruit - they are no longer profitable.<br/><br/>James Smith, a fifth-generation fruit grower who runs Loddington Farm in Kent, has ripped up three orchards because apple production is no longer financially viable.<br/><br/>He has been in the business for over 20 years, but says growers cannot afford to invest in new orchards because they have such low returns on their fruit. <br/><br/>When he joined the farm 98 per cent of their income was from apples and pears.<br/><br/>But Loddington Farm's commercial apple production has dropped from 80 per cent to 4 per cent since 2018.<br/><br/>His remaining orchards are currently being converted to organic production but there has been no new planting since 2018.<br/><br/>James says climate change, labour shortages, energy prices and retailer behaviour all play an equal role in the farm's decision to step away from apple production.<br/><br/>He said: \