Norfolk's "frustrated" farming leader says Defra ministers have failed to inspire confidence within a food industry battling massive economic pressures.
Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey took questions from farmers during a tetchy Q&A session at the National Farmers' Union (NFU) conference in Birmingham.
Despite sharp falls in poultry and egg production, the Suffolk Coastal MP said she is “not necessarily seeing a market failure”.
And when asked about shortages of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers which have forced rationing in some supermarkets, she said "we can't control the weather in Spain" - one of the countries where poor harvests have been blamed for hitting UK import supplies.
Norfolk farmer Tim Papworth was also at the conference, where he was officially confirmed as the county's new NFU chairman.
He said he was disappointed by a lack of acknowledgement of the full reasons behind food shortages.
And he called for more action to develop a food policy which ensured fair returns for farmers and prevented them scaling back production - a decision he has already taken on his own potato crops.
"The biggest thing for me was the misreporting of the rationing of vegetables in supermarkets because of the weather in Spain and Morocco," he said.
"That is partly true, but the other issue is that the British producers who can produce at this time of year have scaled back production because of the cost of energy [to heat glasshouses].
"The supermarkets have screwed them down so low on prices, that they are empty. That is frustrating to me.
"We can be more self-sufficient on tomatoes and cucumbers, but because of the cost of energy we cannot. It is not fair to put it all on the back of Spain and Morocco."
Mr Papworth said he "doesn't feel any more confident at all" after the conference's political sessions, which also included Defra farming minister Mark Spencer and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who pledged that half of public sector food should be locally and sustainably sourced.
"There was no great excitement from any of the political sessions, and it will not inspire people to do more," said Mr Papworth. "In fact it might inspire people to do less.
"We should be more sustainable. We can grow more, particularly in potatoes and fruit and vegetables, but the prices have got to be there.
"I am scaling back potatoes again this year because why would I put the effort in and take all the risk at such a low margin? We are reducing by about 20pc, replacing mostly with wheat.
"Food in this country is cheaper than anywhere in Europe. We have got a cheap food policy driven by government. We need a stronger regulator with more bite, more power they can use on the supermarkets."
Another Norfolk farmer at the conference, Tony Bambridge, asked the minister directly what she would do to ensure farmers are treated fairly in the supply chain.
In response, Dr Coffey said while the supermarkets watchdog, the grocery code adjudicator, only deals with direct suppliers, the government has launched supply chain reviews in the pigs and dairy sectors, and there "could be role for the producer organisations to be more active in this area".
"I don’t pretend I’ve got specific answers - it’s not like government is going to start setting specific prices for different products - but there could well be opportunities for how we help with the entrepreneurialism aspect of making sure farmers get a good deal," she said.
Also speaking was NFU president Minette Batters, who warned that “the clock is ticking” for farmers battling huge cost inflation, avian flu, labour shortages and climate change.
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