The new plant in the Humber Estuary which opened on Monday (8 July) will provide an important home for UK wheat, creating around 500,000 tonnes of animal feed per year and reducing UK reliance on soya imports from the Americas, while also providing an alternative to fossil fuels through its production of bio-ethanol.

The news will come as a relief to both the arable and livestock sectors following a difficult 12 months, which saw a below average harvest, the temporary mothballing of North East ethanol plant Ensus and high animal feed prices as a result of the poor weather across the country.

NFU combinable crops board member Brett Askew said: "It’s a boost to farmers to hear that Vivergo will be maximising their potential capacity in the run up to harvest. The industry’s troubles have been well documented over the past year and the latest noises emerging from Brussels on CAP reform have done little to lighten the mood.

"Multiple markets for our produce allows individual farmers the certainty we need to do what we do best and produce to satisfy market demand for food, feed and fuel. We have a responsibility to help drive a sustainable increase in production and the biofuels market can play a role in delivering the necessary economic certainty on farm that will help us all achieve this goal.

"We now need policy makers to take a really close look at the enormous benefits collaboration between the agricultural industry and biofuels sector can deliver and provide the consistency in policy making that will allow us to not only sustainably feed the country but also contribute towards a changing energy sector."