Environment Secretary Steve Reed commits to farming roadmap

At the end of a difficult couple of weeks for farmers we reflect on how the Westminster government finally responded to the cries of anguish from farmers at the rally in London and their ongoing discontent.

It was with welcome relief that we heard Steve Reed at the CLA) conference (21/11/24) acknowledge that many farm businesses are not in a good place, and committed to developing a long term plan for farming. Recognising the challenges that UK farmers, large and small, face is critical for rebuilding relationships and giving farmers hope for the future.

Before making radical changes of this nature, the government has now recognised that it needs to set out its vision for farming and food. Even the Treasury seems to acknowledge the flaws in the tax proposals with the Government simultaneously saying it is imposing this charge to fill the public finance black hole, while telling farmers ‘don’t worry, most of you can get round paying the tax’.

A roadmap for farming

In his speech Reed said the Government will work with farmers “to transition farming to new models that are more environmentally and financially, sustainable for the long-term…by developing a 25-year farming roadmap that will be the most forward-looking plan for farming in our country’s history.”

UK governments have never actually said they prefer a family farm model to huge agribusiness. But he made it clear that he supports family farms and recognised that the huge inflation in land values has hindered not helped farmers in the long-term. And that this acts as a significant barrier to new entrants to farming, many of whom want to start out on a journey to agroecological farming approaches such as organic.

Growing nature-friendly farming

Reed reflected that farmers are not simply motivated by money. Increasing numbers are driven by environmental objectives as the rapid growth of the Nature Friendly Farming Network has shown.

Regenerating soils

The new plan needs to have rebuilding soils at its heart something organic farming has always practiced but which is now more widely supported with the rise in interest regenerative approaches. Mitigating the climate change impacts of farming will also need to be at the heart of the plan, which means slashing the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and boosting the growing of leguminous crops such as peas and beans and utilising the free supply of nitrogen from clover in flower-rich grasslands.

Better trade deals and fair supply chains

It was good to hear Steve Reed say “we’ll protect farmers from ever again being undercut by low welfare and environmental standards in trade deals”. It’s no longer safe to claim (as UK governments have long done) that we can always import food if we need to and the new plan for farming needs to have farm resilience at its heart as well as farm profitability.

Reed referenced the crucial need to make the supply chain fairer “so food producers and growers are not forced to accept unfair contracts”. The low returns in farming remain a major challenge as highlighted in recent work by Sustain – and if we acknowledge that society might need to start paying the real price of food how should poorer consumers be protected and helped to eat healthily?

“The grower at my local farmers’ market says he is getting the same price for his cauliflowers as he was getting 10 years ago. Who’d be happy with no wage rise for 10 years?”

Boost fruit and vegetable production

We must embark on a massive programme to increase fruit and vegetable production, and help farmers to fill that demand with brilliant home grown produce. The Department of Health needs to buy into this plan too if we are to slash the costs to the public purse of dietary ill health. This needs to be a food and farming plan if it is to work – and Defra could do well do dust down the strategy that Henry Dimbleby drew up for the previous government and have a look at some of the excellent citizen engagement work being done by the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission.

New farming entrants

It's also good to hear Steve Reed’s aspiration to bring new farmers into the industry - it has been claimed that one aim of the IHT changes is to bring more farmland onto the market and help new entrants. But land is now so expensive that the only likely purchasers are huge pension funds and corporate investors.
The plan needs to set out how land will be made available for those new to farming, especially the agroecological pioneers who want to help transform the food and farming system. This must include policies to encourage the supply of tenanted farms - at the moment all round England, councils are selling off their farmland to balance their books, closing off one of the best ways there is for people to start on the farming ladder.

Public sector procurement

Finally, it is good to see renewed commitment to use the Government’s own significant purchasing power to buy British – and crucially this must include food produced to higher environmental standards. An Organic Action Plan is vital for to increase the supply and consumption of healthier, organic food, and this should be the focus of the government’s support for innovation and agri-tech to boost productivity and protect the environment.

So, in the midst of the anger and gloom seen amongst farmers on the streets of London last week, it does seem that something positive can emerge, let’s crack on with creating this 25-year plan for a brighter farming future. And a good place to start would be the Consensus on Food Farming and Nature developed by farming and environmental groups making clear that there is more common ground on how to achieve a profitable farming sector whilst tackling the restoration of nature and meeting the huge challenge of climate change.