Many farms won’t make it to ‘New Deal for Farmers’, says NFU

Speaking to farmers and landowners at the Oxford Farming Conference, Mr Reed outlined how the government will “work with farmers to deliver a profitable farming sector and unlock rural growth”.

This will include a “cast iron commitment” to food security, while introducing reforms to help farmers diversify their income streams to support them during poor harvests.

As part of the Plan for Change, the Secretary of State has announced a series of reforms, delivering on the government’s ‘New Deal for Farmers’ including:

- Backing British produce: For the first time ever, the Government will monitor food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from. This is a significant first step to deliver on a manifesto pledge and make it easier for British farmers to win a share of the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

- Using planning reforms to support food production: Ensuring our reforms make it quicker for farmers to build the buildings, barns and other infrastructure they need on their farms to boost food production.

- Diversifying income streams: Helping farmers make additional money from selling surplus energy from solar panels and wind turbines by accelerating connections to the grid and support them during difficult harvests and supply shocks.

- A fair supply chain: Boosting profitability through fair competition across the supply chain. New rules for the pig sector will come this spring, ensuring contracts clearly set out expectations and changes can only be made if agreed by all parties. Similar regulations for eggs and fresh produce sectors will follow with the government ready to intervene with other sectors if needed.

- Protecting farmers in trade deals: The government will uphold and protect our high environmental and animal welfare standards in future trade deals.

Steve Reed set out his vision for the future of farming in three parts - food production, business resilience and nature restoration.

The government has pledged to work in partnership with the food and farming sectors to deliver the change needed, starting now, with the recently announced 25-year farming roadmap acting as the blueprint to get there.

“The roadmap, which will be published later this year, will be the most forward-looking plan for farming in our country’s history and involve government and farmers working together to identify solutions to challenges and ensure government support is in place to enable farmers to take the actions that will let their businesses succeed,” a government spokesperson said.

These announcements come alongside the launch of the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) Fund, which will provide grant funding for farmer-led trials of innovative technology and techniques that drive sustainable food production, tackle climate change impacts, and protect nature. Further details on how farmers can apply will be released shortly.

Responding to the announcement of the government’s ‘New Deal for Farmers’, the NFU has warned many businesses won’t survive to benefit from it.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “There are positive elements to this announcement, but it fundamentally fails to recognise that the industry is in a cash flow crisis with the lowest farmer and grower confidence ever recorded.

“That’s today. Many are worried about making it to the end of 2025, never mind what happens 25 years down the line.

“Devastating inheritance tax changes, national insurance hikes, crippling cuts to direct payments and delays to environmental schemes mean many businesses won’t survive to benefit from the ‘New Deal’.

“It’s great that government thinks farming and growing businesses should be more profitable and sustainable in the long-term. It’s also good to hear the government say the primary role of farmers and growers is to produce food, but how is it going to ensure food production is profitable when thousands of farmers and growers are questioning whether they’ll still be in the industry in the next year?

“The agricultural transition, which began with the previous government’s Health and Harmony consultation in 2018, assumed that the loss of direct payments would be offset by farmers getting a proper financial return from environmental schemes, significant improvements in productivity, and increased returns from fairer functioning markets. This has not happened.”

He continued: “The government must now face up to the reality of the fierce policy headwinds and challenging market conditions the industry is facing into and act to secure the future of British farming. Its first priority as a matter of urgency must be to pause and consult on changes to Agricultural and Business Property Relief and review the delays and challenges to agri-environmental schemes.

“To have a genuine reset moment with farmers and growers after the inflationary budget, all of these issues need to be addressed. Only then can the government’s long-term vision be achievable. As we go through the detail of today’s announcements, we will continue to engage with Defra and stand up for the voice of British farming.”