Speaking at the opening of the two-day NFU conference on Wednesday, NFU President Peter Kendall delivered what he described as "the most critical message" of his career.

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In response to the processed meat scandal currently raging across Europe, Mr Kendall argued that there is need for a major shift in the way food is delivered. He said farmers must band together and forge closer, more transparent relationships with consumers to create more sustainable supply chains and restore confidence in the food sector, where it has been seriously dented by revelations of widespread mislabelling, contamination and corruption.

The NFU president urged farmers and retailers to do their part in forging shorter supply chains, which increase traceability and tend to provide better returns for all participants, and consumers to "be more demanding" of quality. He said farmers in the UK are "furious" over the fall-out of the scandal and illustrated his ideal food supply chain as "farmer -processor – shop."

Kendall said, "This boils down to a clear and simple message: we need shorter supply chains which source from British farmers and growers. We must make that our collective ambition. But if British farmers are to deliver more of what the British consumer buys, it's going to take a major shift in the way the food supply chain operates."

Already since late January, when traces of horse and pig meat were found in burgers labelled as beef and on sale at supermarkets throughout the UK and Ireland, shoppers have begun changing their habits. As the scandal in the meat processing industry deepened over past weeks, farm shops and local butchers have reported massive increases in sales. Consumers who have lost trust in large companies, with long, convoluted supply chains have opted instead to shop with businesses that have a closer relationship with their suppliers.  

However, on Wednesday Kendall revealed that his vision was for closer relationships with large retailers such as Tesco, which has seen its brand image tarnished by the 'horsemeat scandal'. He added that supermarkets appear to be showing general contrition and are pledging to work more closely with food producers to improve the damage done to their reputations over the past month, which could entail dedicated supply chains and potentially longer-term relationships.   

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke, who also spoke on Wednesday, echoed Kendall's comments and pledged to "bring meat production a bit closer to home" with "more partnerships, more collaboration with farmers." The Tesco executive said all poultry meat sold in Tesco stores would be British by July this year. He told the BBC "I hope [the new buying structure] doesn't mean price increases, but I can't stand here today and tell you it won't."

According to Professor Karel Williams of the Manchester Business School and Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change, the solution to shortcomings in the food system highlighted by the recent scandal may be more complex than merely sourcing more British produce. Speaking earlier in February, he acknowledged that "The problem is long and constantly shifting adversarial supply chains, where processors are buying in on price and the delivery by 40 tonne chiller truck comes from somewhere different each week."

However, Professor Williams' analysis differed from that of the Tesco and NFU leaders when he added that, although supermarkets can also make money from processing, which "is another way of meeting demand at low prices," as adopted by supermarket chain Morrisons, supermarkets such as "Tesco reject this model because they are buyer-led organisations" which do not make the products they sell. The professor continued, "The [horsemeat scare] is what academics call a 'normal accident'; inevitable sooner or later because it is inherent in system design. And it is unnecessary because we can have tight control of a short chain and no accidents if the industry adopts a model of vertical integration."

At the NFU conference in Birmingham, The president Peter Kendall also urged Defra to ensure "English farmers [are] treated fairly on the budget, and that the environmental conditions they face should be no different to those applied in the rest of Europe." This was in response to EU plans to allow 15 percent of the Common Agricultural Policy budget to be shifted between pillars one and two, which in the UK will potentially see money moving from direct payments into rural development.

Mr Kendall said, "If there's one thing that unites every farmer in every sector in every part of the country it's hatred of modulation [the proposed measure]. Defra has negotiated the right to cut English farmers' payments by 15 per cent. That's intolerable to us in the NFU. Particularly when we know that some other countries are planning to transfer 25 per cent in the other direction. Farmers across England are asking 'Who's batting for us in this CAP negotiation?'"