Comment on announcement that CF Fertiliser Billingham plant to temporarily halt production

"The rising price of gas may cost British farmers an extra £760 million for fertilisers made from gas this year. Now the closure of the UK's main production plant could put fertiliser supplies at risk. This comes on the back of rocketing energy bills for farmers, and harvests that could be cut in half by dry weather. At the root of all these problems is one cause: gas.

"Burning fossil fuels that are getting ever more expensive - and driving climate change and extreme weather - is putting farmers and food production at risk. The solution is to support farmers to replace expensive gas with cheap renewables; to substitute high-carbon fertilisers with innovative low-carbon one; and to achieve net zero.”