Vast solar farm construction could remove 25pc of agriculture land production, study finds

Britain risks being crippled by a major food security crisis because of Ed Miliband’s net zero blitz, MPs have warned. The Telegraph has the story.

The construction of vast solar farms to help meet the Government’s green energy targets could lead to a quarter of the UK’s farmland being taken out of production, a study from a cross-party committee said on Monday.

This risks Britain’s food production falling by one-third over the next few decades unless urgent action is taken, said the report from the science and technology in agriculture committee.

George Freeman, who chairs the committee, said: “We need to support farmers to grow more of our food. We’re heading for a situation where we could easily see a very serious food security crisis.”

In the past 25 years, the UK has lost over 1.8 million acres of farmland – a 4.4pc decline – contributing to a 12pc fall in food production.

Fears are now growing that the trend could accelerate as the Government ramps up its solar blitz.

Renewable energy companies are currently paying farmers over £1,000 an acre to allow the construction of solar panels on their land – around ten times as much as a landowner would receive in rent for allowing cattle to be grazed.

Mr Miliband is currently pushing through an 8,000-acre “mega solar farm” in central Norfolk, which is part of Mr Freeman’s constituency.

“To call it a farm is an insult to a proud farming county. We simply cannot afford to lose prime farmland to meet renewable energy targets,” he said.

Read the full story here.