Government has claimed the 25-year Farming Roadmap will give English farmers certainty beyond the next harvest and promised “immediate action” to boost farm profitability.
Defra has released the highly anticipated ‘Farming Roadmap 2050: Growing England’s Future’, which it said sets out how the Government will provide long-term stability for farmers.
Backed by “immediate action” from the Government’s response to Baroness Minette Batters’ independent Farming Profitability Review, farmers will reportedly have better access to the tools, technology, skills and supply chains they need to invest, innovate and grow.
A 25-year plan for farming
The roadmap sets out how farmers can adapt to the growing impacts of extreme weather and climate through nature-based solutions and water management. Collaborative models such as co-operatives will also play a much larger role in the sector in future, according to the Government statement, enabling collective purchasing and joint investment to lower costs and spread risk.
Defra said that an additional £53 million for the Farming Innovation Programme brings total innovation funding this year to £123 million, including dedicated funding rounds focused on robotics and soil health and water management.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds stated: “Farmers feed our nation and manage the land that shapes our countryside, yet their contribution has never been valued in the way it deserves. Our roadmap marks a shift away from only looking to the next harvest and towards a plan that gives farmers the long-term clarity they need to innovate, invest and grow with confidence for generations to come.
“I have spent every day in this role rebuilding our relationship with farmers brick by brick because they’re such an important part of our economy, our society and our environment. We are looking at how farming is valued economically and socially to ensure it receives the recognition it deserves.”
To help boost profits and productivity, Defra said Government is working with industry to create Sector Growth Plans, starting with horticulture and poultry, and bring farmers, retailers and investors together on the Farming and Food Partnership Board.
NFU responds to the Farming Roadmap
NFU welcomed the “positive ambitions” laid out in the roadmap but accused it of relying heavily on assumptions of productivity growth and private finance and called for urgency in its delivery. Success will be reliant on partnership between Government departments, farmers and private finance, said NFU.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw commented: “After nearly two years of waiting for this roadmap, it’s good to see resilience, profitability, productivity and sustainability at its heart – all areas we’ve been urging the Government to focus on. The Government is right to say that the national security context has changed. Combined with climate and economic shocks, the fragilities of our food system now feel very exposed, and we need to move rapidly into delivery mode to turn this around.
“However, while the roadmap is full of ambition, it falls short on action and even shorter on the means of delivery.”
“The roadmap sets out a welcome multi-year direction for farming, yet there is no long-term funding to go with it. Intent alone won’t deliver a secure and affordable supply of homegrown food for the nation.”
Bradshaw continued: “The roadmap sets out a welcome multi-year direction for farming, yet there is no long-term funding to go with it. Intent alone won’t deliver a secure and affordable supply of homegrown food for the nation, nor care for 70% of England’s landscape.
“The Treasury is conspicuously absent in this plan. Instead, it tips the balance of risk even more onto the shoulders of farmers, with much of the investment expected to come from business bank accounts which have been sucked dry over recent years due to soaring costs and unsustainably low margins. There has to be a greater partnership between Defra, the Treasury, MHCLG (Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government) and farmers if we’re to realise this vision for farming.”
