Defra is to publish a guide aiming to unravel the intricacies of the rapidly changing energy market to growers. It takes the form of a new chapter entitled ‘Intermediate consumption’ in the department’s annual report into UK agriculture.
The chapter presents long-term trends in crude oil prices and intermediate consumption eg fuels, feed, seeds etc and demonstrates how key inputs, such as fuels, electricity and fertiliser are closely linked to the oil price.