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Scotland's farmers have warned that soaring energy costs and mounting pressure from imported food threaten domestic production, as they demand urgent government action to protect Britain’s food security.
Official figures show the proportion of the UK’s food supply accounted for by domestic production fell from 65% in 2024 to 60% in 2025, while the value of food, feed and drink imports rose by 4.8% to £67.8bn.
National Farmers Union, Scotland has warned that rising production costs, labour shortages, extreme weather and volatile markets are placing growing pressure on farm businesses.
The warning comes as Scottish Government figures show the average Scottish farm made just £500 profit from agricultural activity in 2024–25, despite average overall farm business income of £58,800.
NFU Scotland, which represents more than 9,000 farmers, growers and crofters, is demanding emergency energy support and stronger safeguards on imported food, warning that declining domestic production would leave Britain more exposed to international disruption.
In a briefing seen by UK ministers, NFU Scotland called on the Scottish and UK Governments to recognise food production as a strategic national priority, arguing that the country’s ability to produce its own food must be protected against rising costs and disruption to international supplies.
The union stated: “This is not simply a question of helping farmers with their input costs. It is about protecting domestic food production, food security, and the economic resilience of farm businesses.”
It adds: “If food security is to be treated as an important element of national security, domestic food production cannot simultaneously be left exposed to extreme and externally driven volatility in the cost of the energy required to produce that food.”
Official figures show that 58% of food consumed in the UK in 2025 came from domestic production, measured by the farm-gate value of raw food. The European Union supplied 23%, with the remaining 19% coming from the rest of the world.
The value of UK food, feed and drink imports reached £67.8bn in 2025, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), while exports were valued at £25.7bn. The resulting trade gap was £42.1bn, an increase of 8.6% from £38.8bn in 2024 after adjusting for trade price inflation. The import value rose by 4.8% over the year, with the 2025 figures marked as provisional.
NFU Scotland argues that this dependence on international supply makes it essential to maintain a profitable domestic farming sector, particularly when global markets are vulnerable to conflict, extreme weather and disruption to transport and supply chains.
Its analysis, which has been distributed to MPs looking it resilience of the UK’s food supply to disruption says: “If domestic production declines, we become more reliant on imports and more exposed to global shocks, supply chain disruption and geopolitical uncertainty.”
Fuel costs are one of the immediate pressures highlighted by the organisation. Red diesel, electricity and other energy supplies are fundamental costs of agricultural production, affecting the machinery and equipment needed to grow crops, rear livestock and bring food to market.
And NFU Scotland said red diesel prices are again at exceptionally high levels and warns that the additional reduction in rebated fuel duty is due to expire at the end of December 2026. NFU Scotland says farm businesses face another significant and immediate pressure on their viability as a result.
(Image: ROB HAINING)
The union is asking the UK Government to maintain and extend red diesel duty relief, introduce an agricultural fuel rebate threshold and ensure that farms can access emergency energy cost support. It also wants a new Farm Energy Resilience Fund to help businesses reduce their energy use and become more resilient in the longer term.
The requests come against a backdrop of considerable uncertainty in Scottish farm finances. The latest Scottish Government farm business income estimates, covering 2024–25 and published in March 2026 before being updated in July, found that average farm business income rose by 30% to £58,800, up from £45,400 the previous year.
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But that overall figure includes support payments, income from contract farming and money from diversified activities, such as renting out buildings or generating electricity. The average farm’s profit from agricultural activity alone was £500, compared with a loss of £13,900 in 2023–24.
The figures also show the importance of public support to farm finances. The average farm received about £45,700 in support payments and grants in 2024–25, while the average business made a profit of £13,100 without support payments. The survey covers commercial farms receiving support and excludes some sectors, including pig, poultry and horticultural farms.
NFU Scotland says the costs of meeting Scotland’s animal welfare, environmental and traceability standards also place domestic producers under pressure when competing with imported food.
It argues that some overseas products can be produced using methods that would not be permitted on British farms, citing caged egg systems and the use of prohibited medicines as examples. It says imports should not be allowed to undermine domestic production or public health.
The union said: “Our farmers and crofters produce high-quality food to world-leading standards of animal welfare, environmental stewardship and traceability. Those standards carry both direct costs, through inputs and compliance, and indirect costs. Domestic producers are increasingly competing with imported products which can be produced to standards that would not be permitted here, including caged egg systems and the use of prohibited medicines.”
It says those standards bring direct costs through inputs and compliance, as well as indirect costs, while domestic producers compete with products made under different rules.
NFU Scotland says UK ministers should introduce core production standards based on genuine equivalence with the legal and regulatory requirements British farmers must meet. It also wants greater transparency about the volume and nature of imported products, including closer monitoring of commodity prices, import volumes and disruption caused by imports.
Officials are also seeking extensive in-person audits of medium and high-risk countries, specifically naming Brazil and Ukraine, and an urgent review of labelling rules, including extending country-of-origin labelling to food served outside the home.
They point to recent concerns about salmonella in imported eggs, arguing that the issue demonstrates the need for stronger safeguards and more effective checks at the border. The union says robust controls are necessary to reduce the risk of animal and plant diseases entering the UK, maintain consumer confidence and prevent domestic producers from being undercut by food made to lower standards.
NFU Scotland says there should be immediate measures to protect farms from exceptional energy costs and longer-term investment in more efficient production. It argues that maintaining domestic agriculture is not simply a question of supporting individual businesses, but of protecting the country’s ability to produce food and withstand future shocks.
The union is asking ministers to act before rising costs undermine productive farms, reduce domestic output and increase reliance on overseas supplies. It says food production must be treated as a national priority if the UK is to maintain a resilient food supply.
A UK government spokesperson said: We have taken direct action to support our hardworking farmers by slashing duty on the red diesel fuel they rely on to its lowest rate in over 20 years in an 80% tax discount, saving farmers almost £300 million a year.
"We will continue to work with the farming industry and the NFU to manage the impacts of the Middle East conflict on the sector and have also boosted funding by £65 million to help farmers strengthen resilience for the future.”
A source added: "We are determined to keep costs down for farmers as the war in Iran drives up global fuel prices. Defra continues to meet with farmer’s unions and wider stakeholders to gather information on the effects of the conflict on the industry."
The source added that the government is taking "decisive action" to support farmers and fishers by cutting the duty on red diesel from 10.18p to 6.48p per litre, meaning red diesel now benefits from an 88% tax discount. On top of this they say they have extended the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of 2026, leaving diesel 11p per litre cheaper than it would otherwise have been for the rest of the year.
The source added: "Bringing bills down for good is our priority and clean power is key to how we get there."
They say the have also boosted funding by £65m to help farmers manage drought pressures, protect crops and strengthen resilience for the future.