National Farmers' Union vice president Robyn Munt spoke to about 50 farmers at the NFU Suffolk branch's AGM at Fynn Valley Golf Club near Ipswich.

She said a raft of economic, climate and policy challenges have forced farms into "some really difficult decisions" and left business confidence at rock bottom.

"But I also think we have to be careful not to define our industry solely by its challenges," she said. "We have enormous opportunities. We have some of the best farmers in the world, an industry with huge knowledge and expertise, an ability to innovate and, in a time of global uncertainty, an increasingly important role in food, the environment and the wider economy.

"What we need is a policy environment that supports that ambition, a supply chain that properly values what we produce, and farming businesses that are confident enough to invest in their future."

The fifth-generation farmer, who works with her family on the Isle of Wight and in Worcestershire, said the NFU had been lobbying the government to make policy decisions "that give businesses the confidence to invest and grow".

But she said last month's Budget was a "missed opportunity" to do this - with the NFU's appeals for changes to farm inheritance tax and annual investment allowances falling on deaf ears.

One area where she has "spent a........

© Eastern Daily Press