Newbury MP champions farming at Newbury show

Englefield Estate's successful day

Newbury MP, Richard Benyon, was in his element at Newbury show today (Saturday), after his family estate scooped several agricultural awards, while championing the farming cause.

Speaking to Newburytoday, Mr Benyon said he arrived early at the show to several of the Englefield Estate's cattle win awards:

"I was very pleased when a Hereford cow from the estate was awarded reserved champion - an in-calf heifer," said Mr Benyon.

"Generally it's been a fantastic first day - superb weather. I've seen a few smiling faces," he added.

The show, he continued, had provided ample opportunity to chat to farmers, with the challenged financial plight of dairy farmers still very much to the fore.

"Its rare to find a time when almost every product/commodity prices are at a shocking low, it's not a great time to be in farming, particularly dairy," he said.

"I think people in niche markets are better off, for example ice cream making, rather then selling raw milk, but certainly things are tough."

Government action to tackle the issue he said included keeping business rates low and reducing the cost of borrowing, and in particular, cutting the amount of red tape farmers battled on a daily basis.