A SOUTH Somerset farmer on the brink of eviction has challenge Michael Gove to do more to protect Britain’s agriculture.

Sue Osborne has been backed by the National Farmers’ Union after she called on the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to do more.

Mrs Osborne featured in the News when it was announced she was being forced out of farming after 16 years in Dowlish Wake, and was surprised to see a Farmers’ Guardian story published the same week in which Mr Gove defended food production farmers.

Backing an FG campaign to celebrate Britain’s farming industry, Mr Gove said: “It is farmers who produce the food we eat to keep us healthy and provide the opportunity for people to get together as a family around the kitchen table.

“It is farmers who are part of rural communities and ensure [auxiliary] businesses are capable of surviving and flourishing.

“Farmers are the backbone of the country and the fact Farmers’ Guardian is leading this campaign to remind us how much we owe farmers is to be hugely welcomed.”

However, Mrs Osbourne, who is also a Conservative district councillor, thinks unless the Government changes its approach, Mr Gove’s comments mean nothing.

She said: “Unless the Government takes a more robust approach to these estates being retained, that statement will remain just words, to be disregarded, as in Somerset and Herefordshire.

“I do think there should be some protection for tenants so they can’t just have to leave once the tenancy expires.

“There are a lot of younger people in the industry that aspire to have their own herds/flocks, and these holdings give them the opportunity to build up capital and stock numbers and develop their business and entrepreneurial skills.

“Without fresh blood, there is a risk the industry will stagnate and fall behind its competitors.”

This week, NFU President Minette Batters said farmers need to be at the heart of a future domestic agricultural policy.

She said: “Food production is at the heart of everything we do. If we aren’t producing food, we aren’t farmers.

“Not only is it important that this is recognised, but also that we ensure, in an uncertain future, we don’t take any steps that undermine those high British food and farming standards.”

A DEFRA spokesman said: “County farms play an important role in allowing new entrants into the farming industry, and this is vital if we want to see fresh ideas and innovation.

“While it is right that councils have the flexibility to make the budgetary decisions based on local priorities, the Government would like to see county farms retained by local authorities wherever possible so they continue to provide a valuable route into farming in the future.”