Thank you for hosting me here today.
A lot has changed since the first Oxford Farming Conference in 1936.
In the early twentieth century, facing an explosion in population growth, Britain faced food shortages. But farmers collaborated with scientists and yields increased. During the Second World War, food from our farmers sustained the war effort. In the following decades, armed with new technologies, farming became more productive than ever before. In just a few generations, many parts of the sector adopted automation and precision farming. And embraced technology and innovation – from robotic milking to genetic breeding.
Faced with global supply shocks during the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine War, farmers grew the food that kept us fed. The sector has continually evolved and changed, to make sure one thing remained constant: through thick and thin, farmers have produced the food that feeds the nation. In the spirit of the examination halls where we are today, year upon year, farmers have passed the test.
Thank you for that.
Today, we stand on the edge of an unprecedented global transition. Food security is national security but we face new challenges. Leaving the European Union was undoubtedly the biggest change for British farming for generations, moving away from the Basic Payment Scheme that simply paid you for the land you farmed, to our Environmental Land Management Schemes that pay for actions that support sustainable food production. We’re experiencing more frequent and severe flooding and droughts as the climate changes, affecting yields and, vitally, your profits. We’re seeing increasing pressures and competing demands on our land. Geopolitical events such as Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine are damaging global supply chains, causing costs of fertilisers and energy bills to soar.
Yesterday I visited D’Oyleys farm, just outside Oxford. Fi and Phil are two of many farmers around the country already transforming their business to meet future challenges.They are embracing sustainable and regenerative farming practices. They are one of almost 50 farms working together to restore freshwater and floodplains across the Ock and Thames catchment. They have a Saturday farm shop and a wild camping business. They are producing food, supported by nature and new sources of income. We want to make it easier for all farmers to meet the demands of the transition and run successful businesses. But what I’m hearing from so many of you is that the turmoil of recent years has made farming incredibly tough.
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. Farms are battling volatile input costs and tight margins. Imbalances in the supply chain are preventing fair returns for the food farmers produce. A shortage of skilled workers is putting the brakes on growing farm businesses. Farmers spend long hours in the fields, followed by an evening of paperwork. There are growing concerns about more extreme weather. The promised continuing access to European markets after Brexit was broken. Other trade deals have undercut British farmers. The straws are piling up and up – and the camel’s back is close to breaking.
The last few months in particular have not been easy. You’ve heard it before, but the £22 billion pound black hole left by the Conservatives was bigger than anybody could have expected. The previous Government is being investigated by the Independent Office for Budget Responsibility – which they set up – for covering up the true state of public finances. Our planning in opposition was done without knowledge of a hidden financial black hole greater than the cost of the entire police service in England and Wales. It meant we had to take immediate tough decisions across the economy to balance the books, including on APR. We were shocked by the size of the black hole we were left to fill. I’m sorry if some of the action we took shocked you in return. 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.
Looking to the future, I will be frank about what’s coming down the line, delivering the news, good and bad, as and when it comes. I want our farming sector to succeed. I want it to be sustainable – financially and environmentally. I know we can only get there by working together in partnership. I am a politician, not a farmer. My job is to listen to your expertise and use my role in Government to support you.
During my time as a politician – including as a council leader – I have taken on the issues that matter to people and found a solution by working together with people on the front line. I listened to them, then acted with them. Like reversing a rising tide of knife crime. Turning round the council’s children’s services from one of the worst to the best-rated in the country. Bringing in investment to regenerate once-declining neighbourhoods. It’s an approach based on working together that I’m offering to you. I can’t control the weather, pandemics or how other countries act. But I will ensure the Government is there with you to face those challenges. That requires a clear end goal.
The last Government talked about transition – but never said what farmers were transitioning to. Today I’ll set that straight. Our farming roadmap will be the most forward-looking plan for farming in our country’s history; the blueprint that will make farming and food production sustainable and profitable for the decades to come. It will be built on our vision for the future of the farming sector. A vision that depends on three strands. First, a farming sector that has food production at its core. Second, a sector where farm businesses can diversify their income to make a fair profit and remain viable in challenging times.Third, a sector that recognises restoring nature is not in competition with sustainable food production, but is essential to it. It is only through pursuing all three that we will achieve long-term food security. That is our destination.
Taking the first strand, the primary purpose of farming has – and always will be – to produce the food that feeds the nation. Whitehall too often loses sight of that fact. This Labour Government is putting food production back on the agenda. For generations, farmers have produced the food we love from the family favourites at the dinner table to world-renowned British classics. A resilient food system relies on domestic production.
At the NFU conference last year, the previous Prime Minister declared ‘farmers are not in it for the money’, words repeated by the Shadow Environment Secretary. They misunderstand that farms are businesses that deserve to thrive. Of course, farmers feel great pride in producing the food on our shelves and stewarding our beautiful countryside. Farming is in their blood. But farming is not some sort of hobby project. The food and farming sector employs over 4 million people, providing jobs in every corner of the UK. If we are serious that ‘food security is national security’, farming must be recognised as a serious business that needs to turn a decent profit.
Right now, too many farmers don’t make enough money for the food they produce. People feel we’re becoming too reliant on imports. Climate change and external shocks will keep challenging the sector. We’re offering a New Deal for Farmers to help address this.
Our manifesto committed to use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce, with an ambition for 50% of food in hospitals, army bases and prisons to be local or produced to high environmental standards. For the first time, Government will now monitor where food bought by the public sector comes from, the critical first step in helping the public estate buy more British food, and ensuring farmers get a fairer share of the £5 billion pounds a year spent on public-sector catering contracts.
Our New Deal will tear down the barriers to trade with a new veterinary agreement with the EU to get food exports moving again. We will expand global trade opportunities, like increasing access for UK pork exports to China worth an additional £80 million pounds a year. And uphold and protect our high environmental and animal welfare standards in future trade deals. Risks and rewards are not spread evenly across the food chain. 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, and we’re working with all sectors to intervene where needed to guarantee fairness.
Technology and innovation are vital for farmers to produce food sustainably – and profitably – into the future. Through the Farming Innovation Programme, a farm in Kent is collaborating with the University of Greenwich and a Cambridge manufacturer to mount transparent solar panels on soft fruit polytunnels. Researchers in Lancaster, North Wales and London are developing a system that distinguishes and counts insects to help farmers manage pests. In Torquay and York, researchers are using sensors and AI to capture data on pollinators in the field and create land strategies that could improve crop yields.
We need to make it easier for farmers to take part in research and benefit from agri-tech, so that it is directed at the problems farmers face. The latest part of our Farming Innovation Programme, the ADOPT fund, will launch in the Spring. It will fund farmer-led trials to bridge the gap between new technologies and their real-world application. Some of those who worked with us to develop ADOPT are here today – your input is invaluable and a testament to what can be achieved through genuine co-design. Precision breeding offers huge potential to transform the plant breeding sector in England, enabling innovative products to be commercialised in years instead of decades.
I can today confirm we will introduce secondary legislation to Parliament by the end of March, unlocking new precision breeding technology that will allow farmers to grow crops that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease, resilient to climate change and benefit the environment.
As we’re seeing right now, flooding is becoming increasingly frequent, and can leave farmland under water for months on end, impacting crops and yields. We have paid out £60 million pounds to help farmers affected by unprecedented flooding last year, and are delivering a refreshed approach to bolster England’s resilience to flooding and protect crops in the ground. We’re investing £2.4 billion pounds to build and maintain flood defences, with a further £50 million pounds for internal drainage boards; our Floods Resilience Taskforce will ensure better coordination between government and frontline agencies; and we’re reviewing the existing flood funding formula to speed up new flood schemes and make sure funding goes where it’s most needed.
To make the most of new business opportunities and produce the food we need for long-term food security, farmers need to be able to be able to weather these storms of the future. Not only more severe and frequent flooding and droughts caused by climate change, but strains on our water supply, pressures on land use, changes to our ecosystems, and rising geopolitical tensions creating an unpredictable global economy. Food production will always be the primary purpose of the farming sector.
But for all farm businesses – tenants, uplands and others – to stay viable in an increasingly uncertain world, and make sure you can keep producing the food we need, you must be able to profit from other activities. This is the second strand of our vision. We will introduce reforms to support all farmers to innovate and diversify their businesses. Building business resilience so you can plan for the future, even if there’s a bad harvest or disease outbreak.
The Government will get Britain building again with the biggest planning reform in a generation. I am working with the Deputy Prime Minister to ensure farmers and rural businesses benefit from that.
In Spring we will consult on national planning reforms to make it quicker for farmers to build farm buildings, barns and other infrastructure they need to boost their food production. And we will shortly begin a series of planning roundtables with the sector.
Planning rules have got in the way for too long. We will speed up the system so you can grow and diversify your business. Like chicken producers who want a larger shed to boost the amount of food they produce. Or vegetable growers who want to upgrade or expand greenhouses, polytunnels, packhouses or other facilities so they can become more productive.
We will ensure permitted development rights work for farms so they can convert larger barns into a farm shop, a holiday let, or sports facility. And we will support farms to reduce water and air pollution, through improved slurry stores or anaerobic digesters that can lower business costs and increase resilience, or build small reservoirs to provide an extra water supply for crop irrigation.
Working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, we want to make it easier for farm businesses to connect to the energy grid. Whether a solar panel or wind turbine, small scale energy offers farmers the chance to diversify their income and reduce their bills. But too many farm businesses and rural communities are waiting too long for a grid connection. We are working with Ofgem to dismantle the queue so we can free up capacity for electricity generation in rural areas.
We have updated the National Planning Policy Framework so applications for renewable or low carbon energy are more likely to be approved.And our Onshore Wind Taskforce is tackling barriers to small scale renewable energy on farms. These reforms will enable more farm businesses and rural communities to connect to the grid from their own electricity generation, so you can sell surplus energy and diversify your income.
For farmers to invest confidently in measures that will make their business more resilient, you need to operate under clear and fair expectations. Just like any other business. Currently many farmers are looking after their soil or cleaning up water, then look over the hedge and see others not upholding their side of the bargain.
Regulation as it stands is holding farm businesses back. In our latest farm opinion tracker, only 28% of farmers fully understood the purpose of regulations that applied to their farm. That’s no surprise, there are over 150 pieces of legislation covering animal health and welfare and environment regulations alone.
We need to move away from a patchwork of regulations to a coherent system that is less time-consuming and easier to understand. That allows farmers to focus on growing their business, rather than what forms they have to fill in. In some instances this means rules may have to change – and where that’s needed, I’ll ensure there’s time to adapt. It requires Defra keeping our side of the bargain too – and we are reviewing our own regulations and how we apply them, to ensure they’re fit for purpose.
The third strand of our vision is nature. Restoring nature is vital to food production, not in competition with it.
Healthy soils rich in nutrients and organic matter, abundant pollinators and clean water are essential for sustainable food production. They are the foundations farm businesses rely on to produce high crop yields and turn over a profit.
Without nature, we cannot have long-term food security. That’s why we’re investing in the biggest ever budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with a total of £5 billion pounds over the next two years, to help all farmers – tenants, commoners and landowners – transition to more nature-friendly farming methods.
More than half of farmers are now signed up to our farming schemes. Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive, almost 2 million acres of arable land will be farmed without insecticides, 700 thousand acres of low-input grassland will be managed sustainably, and 75,000 kilometres of hedgerows will be managed to support nature.
Through our Upland Farmers and Tenancy forums , we’re working in partnership with the sector to design solutions to the specific challenges they face.
Looking forward, we will work with all of you across our schemes to evaluate what’s worked, what hasn’t, and make improvements. I know you need our help to move off old Higher Level Stewardship schemes into Higher Tier. We’re making changes and getting more farmers into Higher Tier than ever. But the pace is lower than your ambitions and I am pushing to increase that.
A cast-iron commitment to food production, more resilient farm businesses, and nature as the foundation. These are the elements that will underpin our farming roadmap as we work towards a more sustainable sector with food production at the centre. It will not tell farmers what to do. It will be led by farmers. It will involve Government and farmers working together to find answers to the challenges we face. It will support farm businesses to succeed.
The road map won’t exist in isolation. We will deliver a land use framework that protects food security, working for farm businesses and for nature. It will also be part of a wider reform of the whole food system, with a food strategy encompassing economic growth, food security, public health and the environment.
We will work in partnership with farmers, growers, manufacturers, processors, supermarkets, and all those across a fairer supply chain, to shape a long-term plan for the future of farming.
Farms deserve to be successful, profitable businesses. The prize is long-term food security, resilient farm businesses, healthy ecosystems, beautiful countryside, and nutritious food on our plates.
We will work in partnership to achieve our vision for the farming sector. A sector with food production at its core. Where farm businesses can diversify their income to make a fair profit and remain viable in challenging times. And which recognises restoring nature is not in competition with sustainable food production, but is essential to it.
Change is coming. It won’t always be easy but it brings real opportunity. There’s a place for every farmer in that future. Farmers will lead us along the road that gets us there.
Let’s seize this opportunity together and give farming back its future.
