Today’s Oxford Farming Conference saw another farming protest as hundreds of agricultural workers fired up their tractor horns during the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ speech.
The director of external affairs at Countryside Alliance Mo Metcalf-Fisher told GB News that farmers are “terrified” of what the future holds.
Protests from the agricultural community have been a result of changes to the Inheritance Tax, with a series of demonstrations at Westminster last year.
Making reference to the protests in his speech, the Defra Minister Steve Reed told attendees at the Oxford Farming Conference: “When farmers came to protest in Westminster last year, it wasn’t just about tax. Too many rural communities feel misunderstood, neglected and disrespected by politicians over many, many years.”
In 2023/24, average Farm Business Income was lower for all farm types except for specialist pig farms and specialist poultry farms. The fall in income followed exceptional highs for some farm types in 2022/23.
Reed’s speech lay blame on the previous government for leaving behind a “hidden financial black hole” for some of the action the new government has taken.
“I’m sorry if some of the action we took shocked you in return,” he added, “But stable finances are the foundation of the economic growth needed to get the economy growing again after it flat-lined through a decade of chaos.”
His speech highlighted the various challenges farmers have been dealt in recent years – from volatile input costs and tight margins to Brexit red tape and climate change.
“The straws are piling up and up – and the camel’s back is close to breaking,” he continued, as he set out the measures the government will be putting in place to support the sector from collapse.
What did Steve Reed promise farmers?
Among the promises is a new deal for farmers, with an ambition to get more hospitals, army bases and prisons (50%) eating local food or food produced to high environmental standards.
“For the first time, Government will now monitor where food bought by the public sector comes from helping to drive local food and to enable farmers to get a fairer share of the £5bn pounds a year spent on public-sector catering contracts,” Reed said.
He added that the deal will also include a new veterinary agreement with the EU and will look to increase access for UK pork exports to China worth an additional £80m pounds a year.
“We will act on supply-chain fairness so food producers and growers aren’t forced to accept unfair contracts. We will introduce new rules for the pig sector this Spring to ensure contracts clearly set out expectations and only allow changes if agreed by all parties. Regulations for the milk sector are in place, those for eggs and fresh produce will follow,” he added.
The speech also earmarked a date for the latest part of the Farming Innovation Programme, the ADOPT fund – set to launch this Spring.
“It will fund farmer-led trials to bridge the gap between new technologies and their real-world application,” Reed continued.
The Government has also promised to introduce secondary legislation to Parliament by the end of March, unlocking new precision breeding technology, alongside a £2.4bn investment into building and maintaining flood defences, with a further £50m for internal drainage boards.
In Spring, Reed said a consultation on national planning reforms to make it quicker for farmers to build farm buildings, barns and other infrastructure needed to boost food production will also take place.
Despite welcoming some elements of the speech, NFU president Tom Bradshaw has said the announcement “fails to recognise that the industry is in a cash flow crisis, with the lowest farmer and grower confidence ever record”.
“That’s today. Many are worried about making it to the end of 2025, never mind what happens 25 years down the line,” Bradshaw said, adding that many businesses won’t survive to benefit from the ‘new deal’.
Meanwhile the Soil Association has said bolder action is needed:
“These commitments from government are welcome, particularly the vow to protect our farmers in trade deals as this will help create a more level playing field for nature-friendly farming,” commented Soil Association policy director Brendan Costelloe.
“But if the secretary of state wants to achieve his goal of long-term food security, profitability and sustainability for our farming sector, then simply monitoring for British food in public institutions will not be enough. We need mandatory standards that actively help to get more British food on the public plate, especially local fruit and veg in schools and hospitals – and we must make sure this is coming from nature-friendly farms like organic.
“The proposed planning reforms will also need to be aligned with broader sustainability goals. This means putting a stop to destructive forms of food production and preventing the construction of new intensive poultry units, such as those that are destroying UK river ecosystems.
“The government’s forthcoming food and farming strategies need to be bold and they need to be aligned, so they can drive the kind of farming we need to protect climate and nature by creating better markets for healthy and sustainable food, and putting a stop to harmful practices.”
