Here are the UK government’s new plans for farms
Key Points
- The UK government published Farming Roadmap 2050: Growing England's Future, described as the most significant moment for English agriculture since the Second World War.
- Farmers produce around 65% of the nation's food, manage 70% of England's land, and underpin a £153 billion agri-food sector recognised as Critical National Infrastructure.
- An additional £53 million for the Farming Innovation Programme brings total innovation funding this year to £123 million, covering robotics, soil health and water management.
- Seasonal Worker visas will continue until at least 2030, providing reassurance to the UK horticulture sector.
- Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the roadmap shifts farming away from looking only to the next harvest towards long-term clarity to innovate, invest and grow.
- The SFI26 application window opens to all eligible farmers this month, and a £30 million Farmer Collaboration Fund opens this summer.
The government has today set out a long-term plan for English farming, publishing a roadmap that ministers describe as the most significant moment for the sector since the Second World War.
Farming Roadmap 2050: Growing England’s Future commits the government to supporting farming beyond the next harvest, in what officials say ends years of uncertainty for the industry.
Farmers produce around 65% of the nation’s food, manage 70% of England’s land, and underpin a £153 billion agri-food sector recognised as Critical National Infrastructure.
The roadmap sets out how farmers can adapt to extreme weather and climate change through nature-based solutions such as improved soil health and water management.
It was developed in partnership with farmers and is backed by the government’s response to Baroness Minette Batters’ independent Farming Profitability Review.
An additional £53 million for the Farming Innovation Programme brings total innovation funding this year to £123 million, including dedicated rounds focused on robotics, soil health and water management.
What’s in the pipeline?
The government said co-operatives and other collaborative models would play a much larger role, enabling collective purchasing and joint investment to lower costs and spread risk.
The government will also review how the economic value of agriculture is measured.
It said a single figure of 0.6% of Gross Value Added is misleading because it captures only primary agricultural activities, and it will work with the Office for National Statistics to develop supplementary statistics covering the wider food supply chain, from processing and manufacturing to distribution and retail.
Seasonal Worker visas will continue until at least 2030, providing reassurance to the UK horticulture sector.
To boost profits and productivity, the government said it will create Sector Growth Plans starting with horticulture and poultry, and bring farmers, retailers and investors together on a new Farming and Food Partnership Board.
It will cut EU trade friction through a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement and give egg and fresh produce growers legal protection against unfair supply chain practices.
To build resilience, the roadmap sets out how farmers can reduce reliance on costly inputs such as fertiliser through new technology and smarter nutrient management.
Multiple government services will, over time, be replaced with a single digital farming account to reduce administrative burdens.
On sustainability, Environmental Land Management schemes will become more focused and better targeted, with mitigation and conversion payments phased out over time as good practice becomes standard practice and regulatory standards increase in some areas.
Long-term payments for public goods such as habitat creation will continue.
Speaking on the report’s release, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said that farmers feed the nation and manage the land that shapes the countryside, yet their contribution had never been valued in the way it deserved.
She noted that the roadmap marked a shift away from only looking to the next harvest and towards a plan giving farmers long-term clarity to innovate, invest and grow.
She added that she had spent every day in the role rebuilding the government’s relationship with farmers, and that ministers were examining how farming is valued both economically and socially.
The government response to the Farming Profitability Review sets out immediate measures to improve farm profitability.
Improving profitability
These include extending supply chain fair dealing regulations to egg producers and fresh produce, launching a task-and-finish group to unlock private sector investment in sustainable farming, and establishing a new UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary area to cut export friction.
The new SFI26 application window opens to all eligible farmers this month, and a £30 million Farmer Collaboration Fund will open this summer to support groups of farmers in growing their businesses and sharing best practice.
The Groceries Code Adjudicator will transfer from the Department of Business and Trade to Defra to support a more joined-up approach to food supply chain fairness.
The government is also considering changes to the National Planning Policy Framework following recent consultation, including proposals to make the system more supportive of the infrastructure farmers need.
